As soon as the shock wore off, Noah and Holden raced out of the house and to the docks where they knew the Grimaldi ships where docked. On the way Holden called Margo Hughes to inform her about what had just happened.
"Margo, Damian's alive and he has Lily and Luke." Holden was speaking so fast that it took Margo a minute to catch what he said.
"Holden, slow down, please start over. Did you say Damian has Lily and Luke?" Fully exasperated by having to repeat what he just said, Holden took a deep breath and tried to calm himself.
"Yes, Margo, Damian is alive and he has kidnapped Lily and Luke. He has them on a Grimaldi ship. Margo you have to get to the docks, we're running out of time." Margo knew Holden, and knew that if he said Damian was alive and he had Luke and Lily then it was true. Margo gathered some officers and headed out of the station towards the docks, sirens blaring.
Noah and Holden pulled up to the docks in Holden's truck. Even before Holden put the truck in park, Noah was jumping out and running towards the ships, Holden running right behind the younger man. They reached the Grimaldi slips, and stopped, though both Noah and Holden had enough adrenaline running through them to run through every ship in search of their loved ones, they also knew that it would be a waste of time. Looking around they found the Grimaldi office and the harbor master and decided to start there. They ran into the office, finding one man working behind a desk. Noah ran up to him breathing hard and sweating even though the temperature outside bordered on 30 degrees.
"It's vital that we know which ship Damian Grimaldi is on." The man looked up towards Noah with a bored expression on his face,
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about." Before Noah could say another word, Holden had grabbed the man by the collar and had lifted him up off his feet and had his face only a couple of inches from the harbor masters. He had the man so tight around the collar that Noah could swear he was turning purple.
"Tell us where Damian is or I swear I will strangle you with my bare hands, and dump your body where no one will ever find it." The man's eyes opened wide. Noah could see the terror in his eyes, and looking at Holden's face he could see why. There was no doubting that he would do just as he threatened. Noah decided then to help Holden out. He knew the man meant what he said and he couldn't afford to let him, not if they wanted Luke and Lily back.
"You better do what he says, cause, I'm not going to stop him. The two people we love more than anything in this world are on one of those ships, and they are in danger. If he doesn't kill you, I will." With that the man tried to speak but found his voice was not working due to the strangle hold Holden had on him. Noah reached over and put his hand on Holden's shoulder, "Holden, he can't talk if he can't breathe." Holden let go of the man, and he dropped onto the desk he was leaning over, gasping for air.
"The…Grimaldi…..ship…you are…looking for...is gone. It left port 2 hours ago." Noah felt like someone had just punched him in the stomach; he couldn't breathe. He could see the same expression on Holden's face. It was one of pain and terror. They were too late. Why was he is always too late to help the man he loved. How could this be happening?
"Luke," was all he could say, before he felt the tears runing down his face. Holden saw the defeat in Noah's eyes.
"No, you can't give up on him now Noah. Luke needs your strength now more than ever." Noah looked at the older man and nodded, he couldn't talk for fear that he would begin to sob. Holden reached out for the young man and brought him into an embrace, just as Margo and the other officers arrived.
Margo walked towards Holden and Noah, taking notice of the man lying on his desk coughing and gasping for air. She decided it was best to ignore him at the moment.
"Holden, Noah, have you found them?" As she looked into their eyes, Margo could find the answer to her question without them saying a word. Holden told Margo what the harbor master told him, leaving out the fact that he got the information by nearly strangling the man. The harbor master, having finally caught his breath, climbed off his desk and approached the lieutenant.
"I…want…to….press charges! These men accosted me." Margo looked at the tiny wiry man and spoke carefully to him.
"Sir, you have every right to press charges, if in fact what you said happened actually happened. Are there any witnesses to this, accosting?" The man stammered and his eyes opened wide at the Lieutenants question.
"No, but look at my neck. Can't you see the bruises?" Margo leaned towards the man and inspected his neck.
"From what I see, this could have happened at anytime today." Just as the wiry man was about to respond, Margo put on her best poker face and continued, "though, if anyone should be pressing charges it would have to be either Mr. Snyder or Mr. Mayer. According to them you knew about a ship that left here, with a known criminal and two hostages. Just how would you know that Damian Grimaldi was on that ship if you did not speak with him personally?" The wiry man grew even paler then he already was.
"I didn't know about the hostages. Mr. Grimaldi owns those ships, he didn't tell me what he was planning." Margo smiled at the man, which in turn made him flinch.
"Mr? What was your name, sir?" The man swallowed, clearly uncomfortable with the Lieutenants gaze,
"Andrews, Eugene Andrews." Margo continued to smile as she stepped even closer.
"Mr. Andrews, if I were to check your bank accounts, I wouldn't come across, say, a very large and recent deposit. Would I?" Andrews lost all color in his face and then he began to weep.
"I didn't know, really. He came to me and said he would make it worth my while if I was able to hurry the paperwork along, in order to get the freighter going faster." He was almost to the point of hysterics, when Noah who could take no more, grabbed the man by the shoulders and shook him roughly.
"Where was the ship going? Tell me, before I shake the life out of you." Even Margo was surprised by Noah's action; the young man who was always the law abiding citizen and the clear head in the relationship, when Luke was always the rash and spontaneous of the two. Luke was always the one to lose his temper and Noah was always there to calm him down. To see Noah this angry was very upsetting to the Lieutenant. She could see in his eyes that if he had to, he would shake the man until he got what he wanted or until the man lost consciousness.
Holden placed a hand on Noah's shoulder, and began to talk to him like he did his horses when they were spooked.
"Noah, you have to calm down. If he loses consciousness we won't get anything from him." Of course Holden knew he was not one to talk about calming down, since just minutes before he was ready to strangle the man. He knew though that this was a side of Noah that didn't need to come out, because if he lost the part of him that Holden knew Luke loved so much, he would never be the same again. Noah released the man and stepped away, breathing hard trying to calm himself down.
Margo stepped up to the crying man and asked as calmly as she could, "I need the manifest of the freighter. Where was it going?" The man nodded and wiped his nose with his sleeve, he then turned and grabbed the paper work of his desk and handed it to the Lieutenant. Margo took the sheets, and told the man to leave before she arrested him for accessory to kidnapping. She didn't have to tell him twice, the harbor master turned and walked, well he actually ran away. Margo made a mental note to inform the DA about this man's finances. As she looked over the manifest, Holden looked at her. When she gasped he and Noah both hurried over to her.
"What is it? Where is it going?" They both said at the same time. Margo looked up at them and the sadness in her eyes told them it was not good.
"They're heading out towards international waters. The manifest says that the ship is headed to the Mediterranean Sea." Noah began to feel numb, he didn't know how he was still standing. He couldn't even feel his legs.
"Margo, what happens if they reach international waters before we find them?" He knew the answer to the question even before he asked it, but part of him needed to hear.
"We won't be able to board the ship, hell we may not even be able to stop it. International laws protect it." At that point all Noah could hear was a buzzing noise in his ears. His head began to hurt, and his eyes were burning. It wasn't until this point that he realized he was supposed to have taken his headache medication and he should have been wearing his dark sunglasses. Even though it had been a month, it would still take some more time before Noah was fully healed. He grabbed his head and doubled over in pain. Holden was standing next to him when he noticed the sudden change in the young man's posture. He reached over just in time to catch Noah before he fell to the ground.
"Noah, are you alright. Margo call an ambulance." Noah tried to speak, he shook his head, and tried again.
"No, just….need my meds…..they're in my coat pocket." Holden searched Noah's pockets and found a prescription bottle. He read the label and handed Noah the correct dosage. Margo had called for one of the officers to find some water for the young man. He came back quickly with a bottle from his car. Noah took the water and swallowed the pill. He closed his eyes against what little light there was left and laid on the cement holding his head with his hands. Holden lifted Noah's head and placed it on his lap. This young man was as much a son to him as Luke was, and he knew that he needed time for the medication to work. Unfortunately, time is what they were short on.