Missing

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:

Chapter 18 (Crushed)

"So Monica, was there anything you actually liked about being overseas?" Tori took a bite of her breakfast and studied the older woman seated beside her father. "It was Africa, right?" Monica sighed heavily and stabbed the pancake with her fork.

"It was not a memorable time for me, dear." That much was evident, but there wasn't any harm in asking. "My father just wanted me to busy myself. His idea of giving me something to do was forcing me to go on a mission trip. I don't mind volunteering to help those in need, but when you're forced to do something that most people would otherwise feel good about, it's actually hard to feel good about it at all."

"I understand." A lot of the woman's pain could be felt and seen without her saying much at all. "It also forced you to stay away from your daughter. I can't possibly imagine what that feels like. I'm sorry." She wasn't going to pretend she knew what it was like, not when she never had a kid herself. She did imagine what it would be like to have Victoria taken from her, which at this point, the child was so close that it would be like tearing a chunk from her heart.

"I'm still processing that woman taking her. Threatening my life if I made contact-what kind of person…"

"Someone very messed up." Tori felt nothing for her own mother that wasn't anger or hatred. She dared not lead herself to believe that Holly didn't abuse Trina when Victoria herself had bruises and said that Trina had been struck too. "We're not that close to finding out where she's holding her, but when we do, I can't tell you what I'd do to Holly."

"You're better than that woman is," Jade said from across the room. She and Beck brought their kids over to play with Victoria, but the child was still asleep. "I know what I would have done when I was a teenager, I can tell you'd probably do the same thing. Just be careful, and remember when we find your sister, we're only there to rescue her, Cat, and to arrest everyone else."

"Oh I'll arrest them." She pushed her food into her mouth and chewed angrily. She visualized Holly standing in front of her sister, striking her. With each violent strike, each terrorized scream, Tori's blood boiled. She wanted to kill the woman, to tear her apart limb by limb and to destroy her for the things she'd done to her sister.

Jade was right in what she said, though. She was better than that. Whenever they found Trina, found Holly, she knew killing the woman would only put her on the same level. Tempting as it was.

David's hand rose over his mouth and his forefinger tapped the indent between his nose and lip. "You know what has me upset?" The others looked to him and his eyes narrowed. "The fact that my former partner on the job has had my daughter for nine years. I trusted that man, I forgave him when he said Holly started the affair." Tori closed her eyes and felt her stomach curl as his voice darkened. "And now I learn that not only has he had my daughter, he had that Shapiro kid by gunpoint in that damn jeep."

"Do we still need physical evidence pointing to them?" Jade asked. The woman lifted her bowl of chowder up to spoon the soup into her mouth. When she finished her bite, she lowered the bowl. "In any investigation we need evidence. What we have is a random phone call from Catherine Valentine telling us herself that she and Trina are trapped. We have Robbie's car that links him to the testimony of that girl across the street-we have no other evidence to prove Holly and Gary had any part of this before or after Robbie took Trina."

"Right." Tori leaned back and looked to the kitchen doorway. "And I don't want to pressure my niece too hard. We cannot pull our evidence from her. We need something more, we need something physical."

Testimonies and confessions were always great to have and welcome in court, but very rarely did they win a case without some sort of evidence. This was the truth. DNA evidence was even great, but they just did not have that. The closest thing to DNA evidence was Victoria herself, but her father was Sinjin, and he was not one of the kidnappers.

"We have proof that Robbie was the one that took her." Beck sliced his hand down in the air, motioning and narrowing his eyes as he spoke up. "Your team even got his old Jeep from parents. Did you find anything in that?"

"Blood in the backseat that belonged to Trina." The car had been sitting in the grandmother's garage until the parents took it and put it in their storage. They didn't bother looking in the backseat to clean it up. Regardless of cleaner, luminal would have detected something. "There wasn't much, but it was pretty clear someone struck her in that car. The drops were gravitational as well, which means she was probably hit in the face."

"Damn it, Robbie…"

"Not sure if he's the one that hit her then. If Cat's right, Gary was in the backseat too." The important thing was that Trina's blood implicated Robbie for the abduction. "Very likely he drugged her with some sedative, she woke up at some point during the trip and tried to get out, so her attacker would have struck her."

"Robbie's a definite then," Jade muttered. The woman set her dish on the counter and crossed her arms. Her eyes fell to the floor and a scowl stretched across her face. "I know what you're feeling Tori, Beck and I were friends with him too."

"He didn't take your sibling."

"No. No he didn't."

"She was always harping on me about letting you guys have your way with her. Talking about her, treating her like shit, and I let it happen." She scoffed while Beck and Jade bowed their heads. "I thought, oh she'll get over it. They're harmless! Now I find out Robbie kidnapped my sister from right under my nose, and who else? Who else am I going to find out is behind this?"

Victoria walked into the kitchen and Tori lowered her hands from her face to smile at the child. The girl rubbed her left eye and looked up to those in the room. She was in a floral nightgown that used to be Trina's when she was a young child, and her hair was in a frizzy mess.

"Aunt Tori? There's a car in the driveway." The driveway was beside the guest room. "They woke me up." She pushed back from the table and stood. When she opened her mouth to speak, there was a frantic and heavy knock at the door.

"I'll get that." The others followed her into the living room where Kyle and Amanda were seated on the couch. As she made her way to the door, she heard Jade instruct her kids to move into another room.

She was surprised to see Jesse and Sam when she opened the door. Sam walked in without a word while Jesse stood there looking like he was trying to think of something to say. His eyes fell onto Victoria and his complexion went white.

"Jesse!" Victoria cried with joy. At that, the entire house silenced and Tori watched the girl run forward as though all of time slowed. She leaned backwards and curled a finger over her upper lip, shocked at what she was seeing. Victoria ran straight for Jesse and was now hugging his legs as though she were incredibly familiar with him.

"Aunt Tori, Grandpa, this is momma's knight!"

"Her…knight?"

"What she was talking about in the park," David replied while stepping beside Tori. "The man that Trina's kidnappers let her see once a month." Tori rolled her head to the right and ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth, then flicked it off her upper teeth.

"Jesse?" Jesse closed his eyes and crouched down to Victoria's level. The girl hugged his neck and jumped in place. This was a side of the girl that she'd not seen yet. "Is there something you'd like to explain, and why do I feel the urge to hit you?"

"Give me a moment," Jesse sighed, "Just a moment." He hugged Victoria and raised his eyebrows when the girl asked if he'd seen her mom again. Tori heard Sam cough out the word 'yesterday', and she instantly remembered Jesse's date with the 'mystery girl'. "Victoria, we're going to find your mom, and I am going to bring her back." He pat her shoulder and smiled tenderly at the child. "'Knight's' honor, right? But first, I need to have a talk with your aunt, she may or may not kill me in the next few minutes."

Tori's lips lifted but her eyes widened and her eyebrows rose with her annoyance. "Victoria, go play with Kyle and Amanda, okay sweetie?" Victoria nodded and rushed off. Jesse stood up and Tori uncrossed her arms. "Why would I have a reason to kill you, Jesse? Is it about Trina?"

"It is clearly about Trina," Sam chortled. Jesse shot a glare at the woman and let out a heavy sigh.

Tori turned partially and glared out the corner of her eyes. "Sam, I am asking Jesse. If I want side commentary I'll ask you." Sam cleared her throat and Jade moved her hand up to her chest. "Now." Tori looked back to Jesse and growled. "I want answers. Clearly you have not seen Victoria since I rescued her from that creek, but if you had, you probably would have realized something you didn't know, I'm hoping?"

"That is correct. Anytime I've met with her at the café, she's been disguised. The only inkling I had that anything was suspicions over the last two years was her name and the fact that whenever she was there, someone else was too. I never questioned it, but I was curious."

"Okay." She motioned her head into the house and waited for him to take a seat on the couch. At least he didn't know it was her, but she had no doubt that if he knew, he would have brought it up. "You had a day with her on Saturday, I imagine you figured it out then."

"Yes." Jesse bent his elbows on his knee and interlaced his fingers together at his chin. "She confided in me, wanted me to protect her. I told her I would. This was not until the very end of the date." She could smell perfume coming off him, it was burning her nostrils.

"I hate cologne." She wiggled her nose and Jesse dropped his head. "Did you put some on prior to coming here?" He didn't look all that cleaned up. His hair was a mess, his clothes were thrown on and he had a five o'clock shadow. "I'm guessing not?"

"No. I don't wear cologne. That perfume is Trina's, likely put on her by Cat."

"Wait a minute." She narrowed he eyes and leaned forward, sniffing. "Did you do what I think you did?"

"I'm not going to lie. Whatever you ask me, I'll be open and honest." Tori cracked her neck to the side and let her shoulders fall. She was angry, and she wanted to demand further answers, but now was hardly the time. "She did not tell me exactly that she was a kidnapped victim until after the fact. She appeared vulnerable beforehand and I told her that I would not take advantage of her vulnerable state."

"Well that's good of you, because clearly something happened. But if it was consensual, I don't want to hear anything more about it." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the ground. "Where is she now, Jesse? You said you told her you would protect her, so where is she and why did it take you all night to get over here?"

"One of her kidnappers showed up." He pulled down the collar of his shirt and revealed a bright red dot on his neck. "Hit me with a tranquilizer dart. By the time I came to my senses, both of them were gone. Leaving this behind…"

He removed a photograph and Tori swiped it from him. She was amazed to see a vehicle with its license plate. There was also an address and times listed. "I don't know what this has to do with anything, but if the kidnapper left it behind, it might be useful."

"That's what I'm thinking. That guy, somehow he found my house, which means we were followed. I don't know for how long, but just the thought that he was out there…" His eyes narrowed and his muscles tightened.

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"I did." Jesse turned his head up to her and frowned. "He was dark-skinned, had these piercing brown eyes and a brick-like face. His hairstyle was made up like dreads and the hair color was dark brown. The man seemed built like an ox, broad shoulders and a muscular body."

Her nostrils flared out and her eyes fired up with rage as anger and nausea swished around inside of her. She heard Beck utter a curse while Jade screamed and struck the wall.

"I'm going to be sick." There was no need to question who it was, and by the look on everyone's face, those who knew the man were well aware of his description. "I cannot believe…" She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, but calming down wasn't the struggle. The struggle was keeping the vomit which burned her throat from shooting out. "Of all the people. To be involve in my sister's kidnapping." Her chest expanded and her eyes grew until they began to bulge painfully. "The one person in that entire group that I trusted more than anybody else…"

She put her hands to the front of her face and slid them down, growling as her deep anger spun out of control. She was trying not to scream or curse, not with children in the house.

David put his hand to her shoulder and spoke softly, but his calm voice was no comfort to her. "It'll be okay, Tori…" She moved her hand to her stomach and pulled away from him.

"I need to go for walk, or drive, or…be anywhere but here for the next few hours." She motioned to Jesse and looked to the others. "Continue telling them everything, and all of you work on the investigation a little more. I'll be back after I've calmed down."

She stormed to the door and listened to Jade call out to her, saying they're just as upset. This was not the time to have this discussion. When she opened the door, she turned and looked to the picture sitting now on the coffee table.

"And start working on figuring out who's damn car that is. Now!" She stepped out and slammed the door behind her, where she finally let the furious tears fall. "Two of my best, trusted friends. Who the hell did I let in the house?" She was aware that all the answers weren't there, and perhaps there was something more to it, but right now she needed the time alone and time to process what she'd been told. "How could you do this, Andre? I thought I knew you-she even introduced us, asshole. I swear if you've done anything to her, you better hope not to be in my path. Because when I find her, I'm getting her out, and anyone in my way is going down…Start praying."

Well, the news of Andre hit her hard. What are your thoughts this chapter?