I spent the next two months or so talking to Lynn as often as possible. We mostly met near dusk between our buildings. It was starting to become the highlight of my day, and seemingly the highlight of hers too. We usually talked about what we wanted to do with our lives. She confided in me that she wanted to leave Russia and settle down somewhere and have a family. I told her about the plans Veronica and I had made to do mostly the same. She didn't like to talk about her family much; just that her mother and older sister had died somehow and her father blamed her for it. One thing about her I found a bit odd was that she always wore long sleeves and usually a jacket over it. Even in the late summer, when it wasn't cold enough for jackets and long sleeves yet. I never pressed her about it, though; she was incredibly shy. Several times I suggested she meet the rest of the guys and in doing so made her practically sprint back inside.

While Lynn was taking up my evening time, I spent my days with the police officers getting updates on what they were finding out about the creeps who took us and their possible whereabouts of them. After searching the warehouse more thoroughly, they had found more fingerprints and other suspicious items that were helping speed the search. Each new finding brought out a feeling of relief in me, and a feeling of helplessness at the same time. While they were busy examining clues, she was out there somewhere, possibly being tortured and suffering. What made it worse was the fact that the town we were in was only a few square kilometers in area, so she could be in the basement next door and we were wasting time with silly fingerprints! The long hours in the cramped office were almost unbearable for me. And I still wasn't able to sleep most nights.

One day, Lynn didn't show up in the alley like she usually did. I stood there waiting for almost an hour before she poked her head out the door. She quickly glanced in all directions before addressing me.

"Tom, I can't come out tonight," she said in a hushed voice.

"Why not?"

"My father, he is back from my uncle's. I cannot see you anymore."

"Lynn wait-"

But the door slammed shut before I could call her back. I trudged back up to my room glumly. What would I do with myself now if I didn't have someone to talk to? I knew I had the rest of the band and the other people who came with us, but talking to Lynn was……how can I put this? Different. She seemed to understand me when I talked about the life I wanted with Veronica and she didn't get into the whole "Keep your spirits up and I know you'll find her" crap. She understood what it felt like to lose a loved one; how lost you feel without them. I also felt bad that she would have to deal with her abusive father again. I decided to go see what the other guys were doing. I found Bill in his room getting ready to go out it seemed.

"What are you all dressed up for?" I asked.

He was wearing a pair of clean black pants, a freshly ironed white dress shirt and a pinstripe vest. His hair was styled in a big, spiky Mohawk and his eyes were heavily lined.

"Gustav and Georg and I are going out for dinner. You should join us," he said as he made sure every strand of hair was in place.

"What's the occasion?"

"We just felt like we all need to relax for a little. You especially; you haven't been sleeping lately and you spend all your time outside talking to Lynn. Come out with us, have a few beers, loosen up."

"Fine, I'll go."

"Good; now go clean yourself up. You're starting to grow a beard."

I went back to my room to try to take his advice. I hadn't brought anything worthy of going to a restaurant with me when I packed for this trip. Silly me, why would I over look that possibility (not)? I found something kind of appropriate for a restaurant in my mess of wrinkled t-shirts and stained jeans. I stepped into the bathroom to rid myself of the beard Bill claimed I was growing. Wow- I did have a beard growing in. Shaving it off actually did make me feel a little bit better. Changing into nice clothes lifted me a bit as well, although I would probably never shake the feeling of anxiousness in my stomach. After meeting up with the others in the lobby, we stepped into our rented car and drove to a quaint little bar almost on the edge of the town. I was surprised there even was a restaurant in this place.

We sat at the bar and ordered a round of beers and some food. After downing those, we ordered another and another and another until we were almost falling off our stools. The others were cracking stupid jokes and laughing like a bunch of hyenas. I, on the other hand, became angry as hell for some reason. Why are we sitting in a fucking bar when we need to be trying to find Veronica?? I thought over and over again. The more I drank, the angrier I became. Suddenly the lights got dimmer and loud rap music was pounding throughout the room. Women in skimpy outfits in ridiculous heels appeared on the bar and started teasing the guys sitting at the counter. Everyone else, including my brother and the G's, started shouting vulgarities at the women. It only fueled my anger further.

"Hey-y Tom, why s-so s-sad?" Bill slurred, noticing my bad mood.

"I'm not in the mood for a strip tease," I grumbled, taking another sip of my beer.

"You know, you r-really need t-to loosen up," he said as he flagged down a waitress.

"Can y-you s-set my brother up with one of these l-lovely ladies?" he asked her, handing her a small wad of cash.

"Da," she said, eyeing me.

She grabbed me by the arm and dragged me towards the back of the bar.

"Go get 'er, Tom!" Georg called after us. The others began cheering briefly as the women on the bar came over to them.

The waitress pulled me into a hallway that led into the back of the building where several other rooms were located. There were moans and other sensual sounds coming from several of the rooms. She stopped at a door and pulled a big ring of keys from her pocket.

"I really don't want-"

"Your bother pay for one hour. I come back in forty five minutes to give you warning. Use condom, they in the drawer," she said as she opened the door and shoved me inside, shutting it behind me.

The room was small and dingy; it only held a full size bed and a nightstand. The walls looked like they hadn't been washed in years and there were no sheets on the mattresses Sitting on the bed was a young girl wearing a bra and a pair of short shorts.

"Uh, look, you're very pretty, but I don't want to-"

"Tom?" a familiar small voice said.

"Lynn? What are you doing here?"