Chapter 17

Ezra POV

Ezra couldn't believe what he was seeing. The picture was horrific. Nothing but fear was shown in Aria's hazel eyes. She was sitting in a wooden chair with her wrists tied to the arms of the chair by a thick rope. Her ankles were tied to the front two legs of the chair. Blood trickled down from her forehead. The thin stream of blood traveled down to just right of her left eye. Tears filled his eyes as he bit down on his lip to conceal the sob that was about to escape.

"Uncle Ez?" he heard a whisper behind him. Quickly, he slammed the laptop close and wiped the tears from his eyes. Sniffling, he turned around and put on a brave smile for his nephew. Zane was sitting up on the sofa with big eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked softly. Ezra nodded unable to say anything.

"Go back to sleep, buddy," Ezra whispered back. Zane nodded slightly before lying back down and rolling over to face the back of the couch. Ezra clenched his jaw and flared his nostrils in anger. He picked up his cell phone to make a call.

"Hello?" he heard a sleepy voice say.

"Clarissa, I'm sorry to wake you but it's an emergency. I didn't know who else to call," Ezra rushed out in a panicked voice. He could hear the slight rustling of sheets on the other end of the line.

"Is it Zane?" Clarissa questioned.

"No, it's a friend of mine. She's been kidnapped."

He heard Clarissa sigh. "Look, Ezra, tell the local police."

Ezra grunted in frustration. He got up from the chair and made his way to the farthest side of the room away from Zane. "They sent me a picture," his voice was full of pain. "She's tied to a chair. Blood was…blood was streaming down her face. Please, Clarissa. You have resources that Rosewood Police don't have." There was a long pause on the other side of the phone. "Clarissa," Ezra grinded out angrily.

"I'm here, Ezra. I'm going to have to see the picture. I'll be there in a couple of hours."

Ezra closed his eyes and smiled. "Thank you." He flipped the phone closed and stood there for a moment staring off into space. He thought back to when he met Aria. The way his heartbeat skipped a few times when she smiled at him. The cute blush that rose to her cheeks whenever they were in the same room together. He shook himself out of his thoughts. Taking a deep breath, he walked back over to his laptop. He made sure Zane was still sleeping before he slowly lifted the laptop screen. He squinted at the sight of Aria.

He made himself focus on the background of the picture hoping to catch a glimpse of something to give away her location. His eyes squinted even more when he thought he saw something in the background. He clicked on the picture hoping it would zoom in. He sighed in frustration when nothing happened. He sat back and stared at Aria's face. Her eyes made it look like she was trying to tell him something. Something he was having a hard time figuring out.

Aria POV

Her head bobbled down as her eyes started to close. She sprung it back up with a jolt trying to stay awake. She couldn't fall asleep. God only knows what this woman is capable of.

"Aria, nice to see you're still awake," Maria smiled brightly down at her. Aria breathed heavily as she glared up at her. Maria's smile remained. Aria briefly looked down at the water in her hands before meeting Maria's humorous gaze again. Maria looked down at the water in surprise. "Oh, you want some water?" she asked sweetly. Aria remained silent.

Maria grinned and took the cap off the water. Using her free hand, she gripped Aria's chin and shoved her head back. Aria tried to fight her but Maria was surprisingly strong. Maria grunted as she poured the water over Aria's mouth. Shaking her head from side to side, Aria began coughing rapidly as the water made its way down her throat.

Maria stopped pouring and shoved Aria's head to the side. Aria leant forward as she coughed. Maria turned her back to Aria. Aria sputtered as she watched her retreating back. "Ezra will hate you." Maria halted before spinning around with anger in her eyes. She stomped back up to Aria. Aria sat up straighter as if she was ready for whatever Maria threw at her.

Maria knelt down and was a mere two inches from Aria's face when she spat out, "You think I give a shit what Ezra thinks?" Maria scoffed. "I was only using him. Besides, he never really liked me anyways. He only has eyes for you," Maria stood back up and smiled down at Aria mockingly.

Aria looked at her confused. "Using him? For what?" she breathed out. Maria's smile widened and her eyes shown with love. Aria's eyes began to droop. Maria's smirk became blurry with each passing second. The room was spinning. "Maria, what did you do to me?" she drawled out.

"Night night, Aria," Maria said as she gently smiled down at Aria. That was the last thing Aria saw before darkness consumed her.

Ezra POV

Ezra was pacing around his apartment and chewing on his fingernails. Should he call the Montgomery's or wait until Clarissa got there? The thoughts that had consumed his mind for the past several hours were broken by a knock at the door. Ezra sprinted to the door and swung it open. He grabbed Clarissa by the arm and pulled her in before slamming the door closed quickly. He strode over to the laptop without a word and brought the picture up for her to see. She followed him and sat in the seat to take a closer look.

Ezra pointed to the object he saw earlier. "You see this?" Clarissa nodded her agreement before taking out her phone. Ezra listened intently as someone on the other end of the call told her what to do. She forwarded the message to another address.

Clarissa pulled the phone down away from her mouth to address Ezra. "Were there any other messages? Ransom demand, maybe?" Ezra shook his head. He had no idea what these people wanted from him. Why would they take Aria? No one knew about them. Or at least nobody that he knew of. Clarissa ended the call. "He said he would call back after he enhances the photo and is able to zoom in on that object." Ezra nodded. Clarissa turned to him. "Ezra, what do these people want?"

Ezra shook his head and shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Why would they take this girl? What's her name by the way?" Clarissa questioned.

Ezra sighed. "Her name is Aria. She's one of my students. I don't know why they took her or why they sent me the email."

Clarissa narrowed her eyes at him. "You know I know when you're lying Ezra," she stated. Ezra opened his mouth slightly and stared at her.

"We're sort of…" he paused unsure of what to even call it. He hadn't officially asked Aria out. They were just kind of testing the waters a little bit. "I guess you could say we're dating. Sort of."

Clarissa closed her eyes. She opened them and was about to protest when he held up his hand. "I know. I know. You can't say anything to me that I haven't already said to myself. There's just something about her. She's different." Ezra smiled.

The sound of Clarissa's phone ringing caused the smile to quickly disappear. Clarissa cleared her throat before flipping the phone open and putting it her ear. She listened intently for a few minutes. Ezra strained to hear but the voice on the other end was too low. He was beginning to get impatient. He tapped Clarissa on her shoulder but she held up a finger to tell him to stop. He ran a hand over his face. Clarissa looked up at him while still on the phone. He shook his head as if to tell her to tell him what the other person was saying. She still remained quiet which bugged Ezra even more. Finally, she said something. "Send the picture to the email I sent it from, please." She closed the phone.

Ezra was waiting for her to say something to him. "Well?" he questioned agitated.

She held up a finger to him once again. Ezra was about to yell when she clicked on a link and the picture of Aria was brought up. "That's a dress hanging in the background. Do you recognize it?" Clarissa finally spoke. Ezra looked intently at the zoomed in photo of the dress. It looked familiar but he was unable to place where he had seen it. He shook his head.

"It looks familiar but it's a dress. We men don't really pay that much attention to a woman's attire." Ezra pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Clarissa nodded.

"Have you talked to her parents?" she whispered. Ezra's only response was a shake of his head. Clarissa stood and faced him. She placed her hands on the sides of his face. "Look at me. We need to go talk to them. They may know who took her." Ezra nodded. He looked over at Zane.

"What about Zane?" he asked. Clarissa looked over at the peaceful boy. She smiled.

"I'll stay with him. You go tell Aria's parents. If at all possible, get them to come back here with you. I need to ask them a few questions." Ezra nodded. How was he supposed to tell this family that their daughter has been kidnapped and being held hostage? How was he supposed to explain the email being sent to him? Ezra shrugged his jacket on. He opened the door but before he stepped out he turned to Clarissa.

"Clarissa," he said softly. The woman turned to him. "Thanks." He smiled his gratitude which she returned.

"We're family. Besides, I'm an FBI Agent. It's my job." Ezra nodded. "We'll find her, Ezra." Ezra stared back at her and clenched his jaw before nodding and leaving.

Aria POV

Aria finally came to. Her head was pounding. It felt almost like a hangover. She blinked several times to clear her vision before examining her surroundings. She was facing the ceiling. She furrowed her brow in confusion before she looked from side to side. Maria was on one side of her smiling down at her. On the other was a man with dark eyes. The guy looked familiar but her mind was blank. He wasn't smiling though. His mouth was in a thin line. She looked down and saw that she was lying on a bed with her ankles and wrists tied to the bed posts. Frantically, she looked from side to side.

"What's going on?" she asked frantically. Maria continued to smile at her. The man beside her stood over her. She looked up at him and the angle made him appear even darker than when he was sitting down. He remained silent as she studied her. His eyes roamed from her face down her body stopping momentarily on her breasts. He licked his lips before looking over at Maria. Maria looked up at him and gave him a short nod. He gazed back down at Aria and took in a deep breath. He bit his lip as he took out a pocket knife. Aria's eyes grew wide and she began to flop frantically trying desperately to release the ropes hold on her wrists and ankles. Maria laughed loudly.

"Aria, honey, you're not going anywhere. There's no point in doing that." Maria looked to the foot of the bed. A person was standing there. Aria looked down to see if she could make out a face but the person was standing deep in the shadows. She saw a camera lens zoned in on her. She looked angrily at the camera as the picture was taken. The person quickly took the camera down from their face after snapping the picture making sure that the flash of the picture showing up on the screen didn't brighten their face.

The man next to her leaned down close to her face. For the first time, he grinned wickedly at her. "Precious," he whispered hoarsely against her cheek. Aria shoved her head in the opposite direction to get as far away from him as possible. The man's smile instantly dropped. He grabbed her chin roughly and brought her face back to face him. He stuck his tongue out and licked her lips. She tried desperate to move her head but failed. He was too strong. He pried her mouth open and shoved his tongue inside. She closed her eyes tightly as she brought her teeth together with his tongue in between. He jolted back with a grunt. He brought his hand up to his mouth. "You bitch!" he yelled angrily as he slapped her roughly across the face.

Aria swallowed the soft cry that threatened to escape. She had to be strong. She couldn't show the fear she was feeling deep down. Why were they doing this to her? What did she ever do to them?

Once again, the man grabbed her chin and roughly turned her face toward him. He brought the knife up to her cheek and softly ran the knife across it. He breathed out as he did so. Aria closed her eyes tightly and once again bit down on her lip. She screamed out when he pressed down a little on the knife. The cut wasn't deep but it was enough to draw blood. The wound stung. He leaned in next to her ear. "Maybe later we'll play," he whispered before laughing. He stood up and smiled down at her before him and the camera person left. Aria looked around for Maria but she was nowhere in sight. Aria sat her head back down on the bed and let the few tears escape from her eyes.

Was anybody looking for her? Did Ezra assume she ditched him and stayed home? Did her parents assume she was with her friends? More tears escaped at the thought of what these people were going to do to her penetrated her mind.

Ezra POV

Ezra rang their doorbell for the third time. He looked down and took in a deep breath as he heard footsteps on the other side of the door. The door swung open to reveal a very dreary Byron Montgomery. Ezra smiled softly at him. Byron squinted at him. "Ezra?" he questioned sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you but it's important. May I come in?" he whispered. Byron stepped aside and let him enter. Ezra immediately walked to the couch and sat down. "You should get Ella as well." Byron went upstairs and a few moments later Ezra heard two sets of footsteps making their way down the stairs.

"Ezra, is everything okay?" Ella asked. Ezra looked up at her. This woman had already lost a child. How was he supposed to tell her that she could possibly lose another? He took in a deep breath as he looked between Ella, Byron, and then finally landed on his hands.

"Uh, no. I got an email tonight. It-It was a picture…of Aria." Ella and Byron looked at him confused. "She was tied to a chair. She didn't look too good. Ella…Byron…Aria's been…" Ezra cleared his throat and took a deep breath. He looked into their eyes and saw the fear there. "Aria's been kidnapped." Ella let out a short sob. Byron wrapped an arm around her and shook his head slightly.

"Well, what do these maniacs want?" Byron asked angrily. Ezra shrugged.

"Look, I called my former sister-in-law. She's an FBI Agent. She's at my apartment right now looking over the photo. She would like for the two of you to come back with me. She has her own questions for you." Byron nodded. He helped Ella upstairs to change. Ezra placed his elbows on his knees and laid his head down in his hands. He let out a quiet sob. At the sound of footsteps, he straightened and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Let's go," Ella said. A completely different Ella stood before him now. She was no longer the crying, fearful mother he saw a few moments ago but the determined, angry mother. She was going to get her daughter back. She was going to make these crazy people suffer for whatever they may do to her daughter. Ezra nodded and followed Ella to his car.

Ezra opened the door to his apartment and allowed Ella and Byron to walk through first. Clarissa closed the laptop quickly before standing to greet them. "I'm Clarissa Santiago." She held out her hand and shook their hands quickly. She told them to take a seat on the sofa. Ezra looked over to the bed. Clarissa had moved Zane over to his bed. He was curled into a ball with his favorite blanket and his thumb in his mouth. Ezra smiled softly at the sight. Clarissa went on to ask the Montgomery's some questions about their daughter. She asked of anyone who would want to harm her but they responded like most parents do; everybody loved Aria. Ezra actually believed that. Well, before today he would have. It was hard not to love Aria. Ezra blinked once in realization. He loved Aria. He loved Aria Montgomery. He shook his head. Now was not the time to deal with his feelings for Aria. Now was the time to find her before something even worse happened.

The room had fallen silent. Clarissa sighed. "I want to show you two photos." Clarissa turned to face Ezra. "While you were at the Montgomery's another picture was sent. This time with a ransom note. They're asking for money; lots of it. I had some guys back at the office where I work take a look at it. There's someone in the background. See if any of you recognize who it is." She opened the laptop and zoomed in on the face. Byron, Ella, and Ezra gasped in shock.