Hey Guys! Welcome to another Monday upload night.

I hope you all had a fantastic fortnight and enjoyed reading the last two chapters. I got quite a few responses this time round so I actually put everyone's name in a hat and drew 6 at random to respond to. I'll do 3 here and 3 next chapter.

Awakening1991- Thank you for your comments I'm glad you're enjoying the book. As far as Ben being killed, time will tell. I'm actually wondering what you all would think if I killed someone.

Thisisjustme- I'm glad you're getting suspicious of those people because I'm starting to feel like almost no one is trust worthy in New Haven. I can definitely reveal that there are atleast 3 people on 'Team Evil' so-to-say, maybe more.

Reklama- Yes Sam could be a suspect. At this stage I wouldn't count anyone out at all. As they say it's always the ones you least expect. Whether they have had one to two moments or many everyone that has been introduced is a suspect at this stage.

Well where we left off Bryce told Jay that Andy had given up on him. Has he?...Read on.

Chapter Twenty-Eight – You have two Choices.

The rain had come and Andy was not happy to see it. This would only further the delay of looking for Jay and he wasn't surprised at all to see Rein and Ms Taylor run into the foyer dripping wet. What did surprise him and Lauren alike was what Rein screamed out as she ran in.

"Ben's gone!" she screamed.

"Gone?" Lauren questioned.

"What do you mean gone?!" Andy demanded.

Despite the fact that others had abandoned the cause he knew there was simply no way in the world that Ben would be one of them. Mel ran into the room equipped with towels and robes.

"Go and dry off in there and put these on," she instructed briskly. "It won't be good if you guys catch a cold."

So before Rein could even answer Andy's question she and Mrs. Taylor fled into the dining room and Rein closed the dividing doors so that they could have some privacy. While he understood why she did it, Andy was furious with Mel for interrupting what seemed to be a very urgent moment.

"Mel?" he asked accusingly. "Ok?"

He flung his arm towards the dining room needing no further explanation.

"Do you want them sick and have no one on the search team? 'Cause it's not going to happen on my watch."

Without waiting for an answer Mel swiftly turned and made her way into the kitchen area. Andy turned to Lauren in disgust.

"How can she possibly think of her stomach at a time like this?!" he demanded.

"Sweetie, I get it," Lauren said. "Just give them two secs, I'm sure they'll be changed soon and then we can hear all about it."

She wasn't wrong. Just moments later the dividing doors re-opened and Andy as though linked to her magnetically rushed to Rein's side.

"Rein!" he screamed.

"Ok, whoa, whoa!" Lauren yelled out. "Let's all sit in the dining area ok? Occupational hazard people."

Everyone moved into the dining area and Mel followed them in with a trolley on which sat mugs, cookies and hot cocoa.

"Thought you might need some warming up from the inside," she smiled pouring the steaming liquid into mugs for everyone.

Lauren, who was now sitting next to Andy leaned over and whispered.

"I don't see any coffee up there, guess she didn't bring any."

"Guess not," Andy harshly replied intent on one thing and one thing only. To find out what had happened to Ben.

"Ok Rein," he rushed "Ben? What happened?"

"Honestly I don't know that much," Rein replied, lowering her mug.

She had been about to take a sip, but Andy's interrogation had put that on hold.

"We were getting gas," she continued. "I went inside to pay and then grabbed some coffees. By the time I came out his car was speeding off and Ms Taylor-".

"Jenny dear," she corrected. "After everything we've been through, call me Jenny, please."

"Jenny," Rein continued. "Informed me that someone had taken Ben."

"Taken?" Andy gasped having no idea that it that serious. "Ben's been kidnapped?"

Ms Taylor nodded.

"And you," he referred to Mel "Thought we had time for tea and biscuits."

"Hot cocoa and biscuits Andy," Mel corrected smiling.

But Andy didn't see the joke nor how she could even crack one at this very moment. Now not only had one person Andy loved been kidnapped. Now there were two.

"Ok before we go any further-" Lauren started.

"What?" Andy snapped, having no idea why she would want this information interrupted again.

"Ok, chill dude," Lauren replied. "I was just going to ask if anyone knew where Micah was because he'd probably want to know about this."

"Sorry Lauren," Andy replied. "That's actually a good point. I'll call him."

And with that Andy got up and exited the dining room to make the call. Things were really unraveling fast now for Andy. It was one thing for Jay to be taken, thank god everyone came together to plan ways to get him back. But then for people to abandon the cause and on top of everything else his Dad to be gone felt like the final proverbial straw. Andy yanked out his cell and quickly punched in the numbers. It didn't take long for Micah to answer.

"*"

Micah was with Rick in Debbie's room as planned but unfortunately with no information that they knew of there seemed to be a huge lack of anything to do and so the pair had gotten to talking.

They started talking about Andy. Things they knew about him and sharing things the other may not have known and then moved on to Micah's accident. Now they were discussing Rick's situation with his girlfriend and child. He was just about to bring up what happened with him and Jay when Micah's phone rang out to the tune of the latest Batman theme song.

"Dude, you are such a nerd," he laughed as Micah picked up the phone.

Micah threw a pillow at Rick and spoke into the receiving end.

"Hello?"

"Hey Papa, its Andy," his son answered gravely.

"Andy…?" he replied. Rick went to throw the pillow back but Micah stopped him. "What's wrong son?"

Rick knew the situation was bad he could tell by the tone of Micah's voice that this was not a simple 'I need my father' moment. He placed the pillow back on the bed and walked over to the window to look out and onto the street. He always felt it was rude to listen in on conversations and so figured taking a quick look out and onto the streets would do the trick.

He was surprised to see that it was raining; bucketing actually and he wondered if there had been an accident.

Micah slammed his phone shut and called out to Rick.

"Yeah," Rick started, but as he turned around he noticed that the man had turned white as a sheet. "You ok man?"

He walked over to where he had left Micah and the closer he got, the worse he noticed Micah looked. He was shaking uncontrollably and looked on the very verge of tears.

"B-Ben," he began, though it was hard to form the words. "B-Ben's b-been captured."

"*"

Meanwhile back down at reception, Andy was waiting for Rick and his Papa to join him. Micah had advised that he would explain the situation to Rick and that they would be right down.

Presently Rein walked up to him.

"Hey Andy," she said very faintly. "Hug?"

She held her arms outstretched and Andy didn't wait a moment longer both of them getting the few moments of comfort they needed at that point in that warm embrace.

"I know it seems hopeless Andy," Rein said now pulling back. "But don't give up. Any moment now we could get a clue or some small thing that points us in the right direction and we'll find them. Both of them."

"The clue!" Andy beamed, completely having forgotten about the anonymous text. He found the message and shoved it into Rein's hands.

"I received this from an anonymous phone earlier, it has a number and everything maybe you could track it down."

"Oh my god! Great work Andy!" Rein praised. "Yes, we can definitely track this phone, I have everything right h-"

She paused as her eyes grew wider and wider, clearly she was reading the text.

"I know it's terrible isn't it?" Andy asked.

Ding!

Just then the elevator light lit up and Andy quickly whispered to Rein.

"Stow it away and show no one please," he asked.

"Of course," she replied stowing his phone in her robe pocket.

"I'm begging to wonder who I can trust around h- Papa!" Andy stopped mid-sentence as both Micah and Rick made it to their side.

Andy hugged his Papa and then motioned to the dining room where Mel and Lauren were still seated.

"I'll meet you guys in there," Rein said. "Just need to check on something."

As Rick and Micah made their way into the dining room Andy looked back at Rein who winked at him and then sped off up the stairs. He took a moment crossing his fingers and silently said.

"Whoever you are, whomever is listening up there. Please, please help Rein to find some answers."

"*"

Ben awoke suddenly and realized right away that something was not right. For one thing it was cold and for another he seemed to be lying on quite a damp floor. Sitting up he realized he was in a room.

The room was mostly pitch black with the exception of a small amount of light that seemed to be coming from somewhere. He stood up and turning around slowly noticed a television monitor placed on one of the walls. Aside from that this room seemed to hold nothing. No furniture at all, not even a chair.

Upon closer inspection Ben noticed some writing on the screen and walked over to it to get a better look. Once there he noticed letters in red font that spelt out:

Ben – I have removed you from the rest as you were proving too valuable.

However now you can prove your worth.

You have two choices, choose wisely.

But there was nothing else on the screen. Ben didn't care about the words though all his mind could think about was getting the heck out of there. He traced his palm along the wall looking for a way out. It was very hard to do this as the monitor was really not providing that much light for what he was slowly realizing was a very big room.

Ben banged the wall with his fist. He was mad that he had ended up in this situation. All they had been doing was looking for Jay. He had been convinced Jay was lost but felt they were very close to finding him. If only he could just get out.

Suddenly the writing on the screen changed. Now it was green and Ben raced back over to the monitor which spelt out:

Choice One: You may leave the room. A door will open freeing you from this place however you will have to navigate through a maze. If you make it through the maze you will find the boy you have been looking for. But be warned danger lurks around every corner, life threatening danger.

Choice Two: You man remain in the room. After 60 seconds the door will close ensuring your safety from the maze. However, every hour the temperature in this room will drop 2°F. If you choose this option and survive you will be released in the morning.

It's a tough choice Ben, think it over. But just so you know your 60 seconds have already started.

As he read the last bit of information he noticed indeed that a timer had begun in the top left hand corner. It was already at 40 seconds and he knew he had to make his choice. The tough part about it though, was that his logical side and his emotional side both seemed to be battling for different options.

The logical side knew he could easily survive a drop of 2 degrees fahrenheit it may have been cold but it certainly wasn't freezing and being the teacher he was, Ben knew the human body could survive to at least 30 degrees fahrenheit and right now it felt more like 60 then even 40. And even if it did get cold he would be released the next day and he could go back home to his son and husband.

But the emotional side was screaming at him to go and save Jay. Knowing that Jay would be at the end of the maze seemed to be enough info and Ben made his choice.

With 15 seconds remaining Ben rushed to the door that was very slowly starting to close and exited the room.

However he couldn't see anything on the other side of the door. Unlike the previous room there wasn't even a speck of light in this one and the door was halfway closed. Any thought of re-entering the room vanished however as the door closed shut with a loud bang.

Ben stood there shaking in the pitch blackness. It was one thing to navigate a maze filled with supposed danger around every corner, quite another to do it in the dark. However just then like a scattering of falling dominos, flame lit torches stuck to the wall on both sides of him ignited and a monitor to his left showed an arrow pointing forward. Below it read the word Proceed.

"*"

Andy sat alone in the dining room. Many had offered to stay and comfort him, but he shrugged them all off. He even begged Micah for some moments of alone time. As nice as it was to have people comfort him he needed a chance to just be on his own.

When we take a step back we know who we can trust and who we can't.

Lauren had said those exact words to him only recently and since then they had been playing over and over on a continual loop.

But who can I trust? Andy thought to himself.

Aside from Lauren, his dad's and Jay, Andy had no idea anymore. After all, so many people abandoned the cause and others didn't seem to care about finding him. Some were just content to sit around and then there were those that Andy knew from experience could easily lie to your face, then turn around and stab you in the back.

Sadly now two of the four people he implicitly trusted were gone. Ben for sure had been taken and Jay, well even now Andy had no idea what was happening to him. The more he thought about it though the more he figured a similar thing must have happened to Jay. No matter the reason, there was no way his boyfriend wouldn't have returned by now if he could. And if he were lost they would have found him by now. After all it had been a while since he'd gone missing.

Just then he heard a kerfuffle at the entrance to the dining room.

"But, I need to talk to him!" came the sound of Rein's voice. "It's important."

"No sweetie," came the distinct crisp tone of Mel. "He doesn't want to see anyone right now."

Andy stood up and walked over to the entrance. He was shocked to see Debbie, Carmita, Lauren, Rein and Mel all standing nearby. Mentally shaking himself for not knowing this, while simultaneously being glad he hadn't said any of his thoughts out loud Andy cleared his throat.

"It's ok Mel, I'll see Rein for a moment. Everyone else could you give us a minute alone please?"

"Sure thing," Lauren replied. "Come on everyone, let's get a coffee."

"And some cocoa," Mel replied.

"I just so happen to have a batch of my famous kind," Debbie said with pride and the four of them headed towards the kitchen as Andy ushered Rein inside.

Rein closed the dividing door and then walked with Andy to the furthest point away from the entrance.

"You can never be too careful believe me I get what you were trying to say earlier," she said responding to the look on Andy's face.

"Tell me about it," he replied. "All I asked for was some time to myself and I wind up with four bloody body-guards."

This quieted Rein completely, so Andy softened his tone.

"Not you sweetie," he continued now looking excited. "What'd you find out?"

"Well," Rein replied a smile as bright as a Christmas tree lighting her face once more. "Good news, I've actually managed to track down the number!"

Andy squealed in delight and Rein couldn't help but join in.

"Rein that's amazing!" Andy said. "Not surprising being you, but amazing none the less. How'd you do it?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Rein replied coyly. "And the good news is he isn't far from here."

"Oh good, let's tell the others!" Andy replied heading towards the door.

"Wait!" Rein cried, halting his movements. "There's more."

Andy couldn't believe it her smile actually widened and he didn't think that was even possible.

"Oh?" he asked curiosity now at its peak.

"Yeah, so I um-" Rein stopped herself her cheeks going a bright shade of red. "Actually replied to the text."

"You did?" Andy asked.

He wasn't mad or even upset. Actually he thought it was a genius move and he was glad she had thought of it since the thought had never once crossed his mind.

"What happened?"

"Well, I was wondering why you never received your first clue," she continued. "Remember how he said something about solving his clues?"

Andy nodded.

"Yeah so I basically replied and requested the first clue."

"Oh my god!" Andy replied.

By now he was simply flawed by her genius.

"I got a response saying something like 'Good Boy' but that was about it."

"Oh," Andy replied slightly crestfallen.

"He did add though that you'll get the first clue tomorrow," she continued.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Andy asked. "If we track him now we may get Jay out without the stinking clue!"

"My thoughts exactly," Rein smiled, snapping the phone shut and heading towards the entrance.

Andy stopped her moments before she exited.

"Rein," he called out. "Thank you for this."

"I'm just happy I could finally help," she beamed. "Now come on, let's go!"

And the pair raced towards the kitchen to fill in the others.

"*"

While the ladies had convened in the kitchen drinking Debbie's famous hot cocoa, the men were back in Rick's room talking. They had grown a mutual friendship throughout the day and by now were very comfortable around one another. Speaking of comfort that was exactly what Rick was doing for Micah when he received a call on his cell. Jumping up off the bed they were lying on he grabbed his phone. Noticing the name 'Bryce' flashing on it Rick jumped out of his skin.

"Ah, I have to take this," he told Micah.

"Ok," Micah replied getting up.

"No no," Rick countered. "You stay, I'll be back."

He quickly slipped out of the door and answered the phone power walking his way down the hall.

"Hello?" he answered nervously.

"Rick my man!" Bryce joyously responded on the receiving end. "Apologies for the delay."

"Delay?" Rick replied. "That's what you're apologizing for?"

He quickly checked himself and lowered his tone incase Micah could hear but remained as fierce as before.

"You don't ring me for days, you kidnap Jay and you still haven't paid me and you choose to apologize for the delay?!"

"Rick, I'm sorry about all of that," Bryce conceded. "I want to make it all up to you. I will pay you and explain everything. Meet me tonight at midnight outside the Latro-Mare. Come alone and all will be answered I promise."

"Ok," Rick replied. "But what about Ja-"

But before he could even finish that sentence the line went dead.

At least I'll finally get paid, Rick thought to himself as he headed back to the room. All he had to figure out now was how to get to Latro-Mare without being followed.

"*"

Meanwhile downstairs Rein and Andy had filled everyone in on the news. They had purposefully omitted the parts about the text and the replies and simplified it down to the fact that Rein had finally tracked down the number. Everyone was thrilled and they all agreed to go there at first light. Andy was hesitant to delay everything but Rein insisted that he needed a proper night sleep especially since they didn't know what sort of situation they were heading into.

Reading between the lines, Andy agreed and everyone slowly traipsed out of the kitchen promising he would fill Micah in and Debbie advised she would tell Rick. Mel offered to tell her new roommate Edward however Andy insisted he remain behind and cook telling everyone that he actually was pretty good at baking. This was of course a lie, as far as Andy knew Edward had never cooked but Andy wanted to make sure he did not follow them tomorrow as he still didn't fully trust him yet.

As everyone left Mel remained behind to do the dishes.

"Oh don't worry about that," Lauren remarked after everyone left. "Ramoan will take care of it in the morning."

"Meh," Mel replied casually. "I work well with busy hands."

"I'll bet you do," Lauren smiled innocently.

Mel smiled back, wondering for the millionth time since meeting her if Lauren was in fact a lesbian. She hadn't after all seen her with anyone it was a possibility.

"Ok, well if you insist," Lauren finally gave up. "Night sweetie."

She gave Mel a quick kiss on the cheek and left the kitchen to head home with Rein. Mel being taken a little aback by the kiss stopped what she was doing and smiled off into the distance. It had been a while since she had met someone as nice as Lauren.

As she was staring off she noticed a jacket flung neatly over one of the nearby bar stools and walked over to pick it up. She looked at the tag and it clearly read the name 'Emmett'.

"Must have forgotten it when he left in such a rush," Mel laughed to herself recalling Debbie's reaction to the news and the speed with which he had flown out of the hotel.

Just as she was about to put it back on the chair she felt something inside one of the coat pockets. Wondering if it might be something he would need Mel reached in and pulled out a piece of paper. Opening it she read the note and her mouth fell open in surprise. There on the paper was a note made out in pen it said:

Everyone will meet tonight to discuss what to do with Jay.

"*"

Wow! Does this mean Emmett was in on it? Or could it have been Ted's note? What if Emmett just innocently happened to find it? What do you think?

Poor Ben having to go through a maze. You've got to appreciate that he's going after Jay though. What would you have done if you were faced with the same dilemma?

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I hope you are continuing to enjoy the book.

And good work Rein for finding the location of the phone from which Andy's message was sent. I wonder where it will lead them to. I can tell you that you will find out for sure next chapter.

And good news is, the next chapter is ready. So take another deep breath, look before you leap and most definitely keeps your friends close since you never know who the enemy is and when you're ready… click on over to chapter 29.