Please review and tell me what you think.

This chapter has a lot of Lily in it, but it was necessary. We need to know what happens when she learns what is being done to her son, and what she would be willing to do to help him. I will get back to Noah and Holden in the next chapter. There will be more flashbacks of Luke and Noah before and after the break-up.

The Search – Chapter 6

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Holden and Noah had been on a plane for 12 hours, they were exhausted, but neither was about to take the time to rest. They had landed at the airport in Malta and were to meet with a private investigator that Lucinda had hired. He was supposed to be the best at what he did; finding and retrieving people. Some would probably call him a mercenary, his tactics left little to be desired. This man was an ex-marine, who had had two tours of Iraq and even volunteered for many dangerous missions. After his departure from the U.S. Military, he decided to go into business for himself, utilizing the many contacts he made during his many times in Africa and the Middle East. The man was very good at what he did and he was worth all the money he charged. At times, some casualties where a result of his involvement, but he always got what he went looking for, whether it was a missing child, taken by their parent back to their home country or a runaway teen. He was ruthless and highly intelligent, a combination that sometimes proved lethal. Holden would never have believed that one day he would be dealing with a man like this. He never believed that he could want someone to suffer the way he wanted Damian Grimaldi to. But he knew he had no choice, whatever the price, he would pay to find his family.

The man extended his hand towards Holden, "Mr. Snyder, my name is Max, Mrs. Walsh informed me that you were in need of my services." It was so unreal; this man who was a killer was shaking hands with a farmer from Illinois, who would have ever thought this was possible. Holden took the man's hand and shook it, "Yes, Max we are in great need of your service. I assume that Mrs. Walsh has informed you of our situation." Holden let go of the man's hand noticing the strength behind the grasp. Holden and Max turned towards Noah and Holden introduced him to the mercenary. "Max this is Noah Mayer, my sons' boyfriend." Noah, knew why Holden had introduced him that way, he was trying to see Max's reaction to the news. Max was ever the professional though he could care less about someone's sexual orientation as long as he got paid. Max turned towards the young man, he extended his hand in greeting, noticing how Noah had a reserved strength in his grip. "It's good to meet you Noah…" Max stopped mid-sentence looking at Noah in an odd way, "Mayer? Are you by chance related to Colonel Winston Mayer?" Noah's grip on the man tightened and his eyes turned dark with hatred. Being able to read people was a necessary part of his job and Max could see the change in the young man at the mention of his father's name. "Yes, the Colonel was my father, but I'd rather not advertise it." Max knew when to let things go, he could tell the subject of the Colonel was not one the young man wanted to talk about. "I see. Well then, let's get your luggage and get going."

Same Day – Grimaldi Compound

Lily paced back and forth in the room she had awoken in hours earlier. Her mind racing trying to remember what had happened prior to waking up in this nightmare. Lily had received a phone call from a man from one of the Grimaldi ship hands; he told her that he had seen Holden fighting with Damian and had watched as Holden killed him then threw his body on the deck of the ship. Lily couldn't believe this was possible, but then she remembered Luke's conversation with the Captain of the Grimaldi freighter, and knew that something had happened to her husband. She grimaced at that thought, Damian Grimaldi was not the man she thought he was and she no longer considered him her "husband," hell if she never saw him again it would be too soon. As she paced she thought over and over again about what had happened. She had agreed to meet with the man to find out what his conditions were. He told her to board the Grimaldi Freighter called "Cara," that should have set off all her alarms, but all she could think about was Holden, and how she was going to do anything she could do to keep this man from telling his story to anyone else. She remembered boarding the ship, and getting a text message telling her to go down to the steps and to the 3rd room on the left, he would be waiting there for her. She remembered entering the room and then.... then things became hazy. She remembered turning at the sound of the door closing behind her, her eyes widening as she looked at the face of the man who was supposed to be dead standing in front of her. Lily was so shocked that she didn't think about screaming, or using her phone to call for help, hell, she was rooted to the spot where she was standing as he walked closer to her. But when his left hand grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him, she finally came out of her trance. "Cara" was the last thing Lily heard before she opened her mouth to scream and found that he had placed some type of cloth over her nose and mouth. Lily tried to fight but the cloth was wet with something that tasted extremely bad and seemed to make her very tired. She fought against the impending darkness, all the while looking into the eyes of the monster she married, and seeing him smile as she lost consciousness.

Lily began to tremble; she knew now what had happened. Something else though was making her chest hurt and her body shake. A memory that was forming was now coming to light. Lily remembered being placed on a small boat, she was coming in and out of consciousness and fighting whatever else he must have given her. As the boat crashed through waves, Lily was bumped into something lying beside her. She opened her eyes slightly and looked upon the face of her oldest child; he looked so peaceful sleeping there next to her. Her mind was screaming that there was something wrong, that Luke was not supposed to be there, but her body wasn't responding to her mind. She wanted to scream, to take hold of her son and protect him from his father, but whatever drug she was given was driving her back into darkness. The last thing she could remember was hearing Damian's voice again, this time in a gentle whisper against her ear, "we're a family now. No one will ever take either of you from me again."

Back in the room Lily began to scream, she knew that Damian had done the most horrific thing of all, he had taken Luke, and only God knew what he was going to do. She felt like she did when Damian had kidnapped her son when he was eight, helpless and broken. Lily knew her son, and she knew that he would fight Damian with all his strength and that would only get him hurt. She ran to the door and pounded on it with her fists and legs, kicking and screaming, hoping that someone would hear. She did this until her hands where as numb as the rest of her body, then she slid down the door frame and cried some more. Her body shook with her sobs, she felt as if her life had been ripped away, leaving a gaping hole in her chest. Where is her son? What has he done with him? These thoughts were going through her head as she heard the sound of a key being put into the lock on her door. She stumbled to her feet and stepped away from the door as it began to open. She watched as the man of her recent nightmares walked into the room. Lily felt a surge of rage run through her veins and saw red as she let out a primal scream and hurled herself at her captor. She didn't know how but she had managed to jump on him, kicking and punching every part she could reach. To her disappointment, the adrenaline rush only lasted a short while. Damian had been able to grab her by the arms and spun her body around and in the process was able to restrain her against his body. To her horror she could feel his excitement at the proximity of her body against his. She screamed and tried to fight to get loose, but he was much stronger then her, and she could not break his hold. "Cara, stop fighting me. I don't want to hurt you, but I cannot allow you to keep hurling yourself at me. You are only going to end up hurting yourself." Lily's breathing was frantic and she could feel her body loosing strength. If she didn't calm her breathing she would hyperventilate and pass out in this monster's arms. She would not give him the satisfaction of carrying her to the bed. She slowed her breathing and relaxed in his arms. "Where is Luke, Damian? What have you done with my son?" Damian feeling that Lily was calmer now, turned her around and looked into her beautiful brown eyes, eyes that their son had inherited. He may look a lot like his father but he had Lily's soul. "OUR, son is well. He is somewhere else right now, he'll join us soon. Don't worry Cara, I would never hurt you or Luciano." He raised his hand to her face and cupped her cheek, wiping away the tears that still ran down her face. "I want to see him, please Damian, let me see my son. I'm begging you. I'll do whatever you want, just let me see him." Damian's eyes darkened with desire at her words, and Lily couldn't help but take a step back, a step that led her right to the bed. She looked at the bed then back towards Damian, "I'll give you what you want, as soon as you let me see Luke." Inwardly she was screaming, but she would do anything to help her children. "I'm tempted Cara, but Luciano is not ready to be seen yet. Once they are finished with him, you can see him anytime.

Lily's eyes widened in horror, "when who are finished with what? What the hell are you doing to my son?" She could feel the anger welling up in her again; she clenched her fists, trying to keep her voice calm. "Damian, please, you have to know how this is hurting me. I need to know that Luke is all right." How could he refuse her, when she had such a bargaining chip. He nodded, took hold of her hand and they walked out of the room. They walked to an elevator at the end of the hall. Damian pressed the "B" button; Lily could only assume they were headed to a basement. Why would Damian have Luke in a basement? When the elevator stopped on their floor and the door opened, Lily was surprised to see a white corridor with a door at the end. Damian took her hand and put it in the crook of his arm, almost as if they were walking into a restaurant for a date and not towards a door that behind it held her son. When they reached the door, Damian opened it, and what Lily saw made her blood run cold. Her son lay on a gurney with some sort of electrodes attached to his head, and an IV attached to a vein in his arm. Lily broke loose from Damian's grasp and ran towards her son. She brushed the hair away from his eyes, "Luke baby, it's me, mom. Please, baby wake up and look at me." She turned toward Damian and through clenched teeth said "what are you doing to him? Damian answer me, dammit, what are you doing to my son." Just then she felt Luke stir under her hand, "Mo….m, help me" he slurred. Lily could feel the tears flowing freely from her eyes, "baby I'll get you out of here, I promise." Just when Lily thought things couldn't get any worse, a voice from the past made her freeze. "Mr. Grimaldi, all is progressing as planned." Lily turned slowly, afraid of what she would see. When she was fully turned around, while leaving her hand on her son's head, she felt her heart stop. "Ross Krieger.. Oh my God, Damian, NO!!! NO, I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS!!!" Lily quickly turned and began to pull the electrodes of her sons head and pulled the IV out of his arm. She was grabbed from behind by Damian, who pulled her away from her son. Luke had begun to wake more fully and could see his mother struggling, but couldn't find the strength to get up from the bed. He was no longer strapped down, but they had drugged him so much that he felt as if he were moving through mud. His mother had his hand in hers as she was yanked away. Luke sat up as much as he could and reached out to her. The last thing he saw before he was pushed back down was the image of Damian Grimaldi struggling with his mother who was frantic. Then watching in horror as he slapped her across the face, which stopped her long enough for Krieger to come up behind her and inject her with a sedative. Luke tried hard to call out to her, but couldn't get his voice loud enough. Then there was someone standing above him again, inserting another IV into his arm. The drug burned as it went into his vein. Luke could feel the tears trailing down the side of his face. "Noah…" was the last thing he said before he fell back into darkness.

To Ditzybea: Thank you for all you've done to help me bring this to life.

Next chapter: Noah and Holden get bad news