THE RESCUE
Ryan and Seth were driving around the beach, passing by motels.
"Look for an Irish-looking pub." Ryan instructed Seth.
Seth was looking out the window while Ryan was busy driving. After a while, Seth pointed out, "Dude! I see one. Over there!" The both looked over to the right hand side and saw a dark building with a bright neon 4-leaf clover that says Dublin Neighborhood Pub. "And right beside it, Dexter's Motel." Seth said.
Ryan pulled into the parking lot of both the Pub's and the Motel's. "She must be in one of these rooms."
"Okay so what's the plan?" Seth said.
"No plan. Stay in the car. I'll handle this. Just get in the driver's seat. If something happens, I need you to find Caitlin and get out of here."
"We're not leaving you behind, Ryan."
"If I guess correctly, Caitlin's gotten herself with guys like from Chino. I've dealt with these men before. They play ugly."
"But still–"
"No 'but's. I need you to stay in the car. If something goes wrong, get out of here as fast as you can with Caitlin. Call the cops once you get home. I'll be okay."
"Okay fine. Just please keep your cell on you? Call if anything happens." Ryan nodded at Seth and stepped out of the car. He crept around to the back of the motel and Seth lost sight of his brother.
Ryan made his way and peaked through each window to see if there's any sign of Caitlin. But no luck. He heard a debate going on around the corner so he approached it.
"Trust me on this one!" he heard some guy say. He peeked around the corner and saw two teenaged boys. One of them, the same guy he saw at the Bait Shop.
"She gave me the money so let's just let her go!" the familiar face responded to the other boy.
"I don't care, Adam." That's his name! He's Caitlin's drug dealing ex-boyfriend. "He said he knows what to do, he'll handle it." Who's 'He'? Ryan wondered. He knew that Caitlin must be close to where they are so he tried thinking of something. He grabbed a rock that was near him and threw it on the other side of the building, making a loud BANG noise.
"What was that?" Adam said, scared.
"Stop being a whimp. C'mon, let's check it out. Kev should be here soon." Kev, probably the guy they're waiting for, Ryan thought. As the two boys disappeared, Ryan ran to the door they stood in front of arguing. He looked through the window but it was blocked by the curtains. He tried playing with the knob but the door was locked.
"Damn it." He said to himself. It would only be a matter of time until the two boys would be back. Ryan knew he had to act quickly. He ran into the door but it wouldn't budge. He tried again, but nothing. He was now getting impatient and angry. He rammed into one last time and surprisingly, and it bursted open.
"Caitlin?!" he whispered into the room. "Where are you?!"
He heard a sound from coming from a room. He unlocked the knob from outside and opened the door. He saw Caitlin, hiding in the corner. "Caitlin!" He rushed over and gave her a hug.
"Ryan!" Caitlin held him tightly, tears streaming down his face and soaking Ryan's shirt.
"C'mon we have to leave, NOW!" he said, helping her up and leading the way outside.
As they exited the motel room, he saw now three guys approaching their way. Adam started to run after them, "HEY! Stop!"
Ryan started to run but Caitlin couldn't. He looked at her ankle that was bruised. "C'mon Caitlin!"
"I can't! My ankle is sprained."
Ryan looked over Caitlin's shoulder and saw Adam almost near them and the other two guys running not too far behind him.
"Hold on," Ryan said, grabbing Caitlin's arm and wrapping it around his neck. Caitlin limped as fast as she could with the help from Ryan, all the way around to the front where Seth was. Ryan opened the passenger seat and helped Caitlin in, "You both need to get out of here. GO!"
"No, Ryan, what are you going to do?" Caitlin cried.
"LEAVE NOW. I'm going to hold them back but you need to hurry!"
"Ryan–" Seth tried to argue.
"I don't have time for this. GO!" Caitlin closed the passenger seat and Seth began driving away. Ryan looked towards the three guys that caught up to him.
Adam was furious and began to approach Ryan, but a voice called him out, "WAIT. Adam. Stop." It was a deep voice. But because it was dark Ryan couldn't make out his face. But that voice, he recognized it.
Adam stopped and the other two guys walked to where he was, facing Ryan, only 10 feet away. Ryan didn't know what was about to happen. But as the deep voice man approached him, he took a deep breath.
"If it isn't Lil rich Bitch." The voice said.
"Volchok."
"So you remember me?" he snickered.
"What did you do to Caitlin? What do you want?"
"She owed some of my boys some money..."
"But she gave it to you, why'd you have to hurt her?"
"I didn't do anything. My two helpers here just had to do something to stop her from running away." He smirked.
"Don't you dare do anything to Caitlin ever again." Ryan threatened.
"Look man, I just needed a favour. After finding out she's a Cooper, I realized she can help me get to Marissa. I haven't seen her in a while. And I was curious as to how she's doing."
"Don't call me 'man' and leave Marissa alone."
"Listen, I don't care what you say. Marissa owes me a little talk. It's been 3 years."
"She doesn't owe you anything. Leave her alone. Leave all I know alone." Ryan glared at him then started to walk away.
"Whatever Lil Bitch. I bet you if I ran into Marissa, she'd end up in my sheets one way or another. Don't blame me."
Ryan's anger built up inside him and he tackled Volchok to the ground. He punched him repetitively. After a few punches, he got up and started to walk away. "Stay out of our lives."
"Hey Lil Bitch, I'm not done with you." Volchok threw his cell phone and hit Ryan in the head. Ryan turned around with rage in his eyes. He punched Volchok again and Volchok punched him back. They continue to fight while Adam and the other teenager stood there, in horror. He didn't know what they gotten himself into. The other boy didn't know how to react so he took Adam by the shoulders.
"Adam, we have to get out of here!" Adam didn't move. "DUDE! C'mon, the cops might show up soon." He grabbed Adam by the collar and dragged him away. They both ran, leaving Volchock beating Ryan. He continued to beat him repetitively. Ryan became even more furious and fought back harder. But Kevin was tougher than before. Before, the night of prom, Ryan was able to beat him up until he was unconscious. But this time, it was Kevin that was winning. Ryan was close to giving up until he heard two guys approaching them.
"Hey! Stop it!" A big guy said. He had on his work clothes that showed he was a bartender at the Irish pub. He ripped Volchok away and the other guy ran to Ryan's side.
"We gotta call 911" he said looking at Ryan's state. Ryan looked at the man. "Hey buddy, can you hear me?" Ryan wanted to respond, but he was too weak. And the next thing he knew, it was all black.
/
Ryan woke up to find himself in the back of a cop car. "Where's Volchok?" he demanded the police officer who was driving the car.
"Listen kid, we're going to the station. And your friend is meeting us there."
Ryan didn't know what to do. His hands were cuffed, his lips were throbbing and he could barely see through his own eyes that were swollen up to the size of a tennis ball. But then he remembered. Why he was there in the first place; all he could think of was if Caitlin was safe or not and how much Marissa would be disappointed.
The car pulled up into the Newport Police Station. The cop got out and got Ryan to get out of the car as well. He escorted him inside and sat him down on a chair. Ryan saw the cop make his way to a desk and talking to another officer. Through the front door, he saw Volchok soon enter in with cuffs behind his back, being escorted by a cop as well. Their eyes net with one another, Volchok smiled an evil grin but Ryan could only glare back.
"Ryan!" Caitlin ran to him, Seth following.
"You're safe." He said, giving her a hug.
"I took us straight here to send you some backup... we just finished getting questioned." Seth said.
Caitlin started to cry, "I'm so sorry for this. This is all my fault." She looked at Ryan's beat up face in horror and guilt.
"Hey, it's okay. Don't cry. I'm just relieved you're safe."
"Excuse me, sorry. But you are not allowed to see Ryan just yet, would you mind waiting in the waiting area?" A man said to Caitlin and Seth. They nodded and left Ryan there. Caitlin took one more glance at Ryan. His eyes were barely seen through the swollen up bruises around it. His lips were busted and his face in general, was in the worst possible shape. However he managed to smile a comforting smile at her. She smiled back sadly. "We've contacted Sandy for you. He'll be here soon." The man said, sitting down beside him.
"Who are you and how do you know Sandy's my lawyer?" he asked him.
"My name's Willis Kramer. People just call me Kramer though." He showed Ryan his badge. "I'm a friend of Sandy's and I worked with him a couple of times in the past. I'm now a detective, but before a private investigator. Believe it or not, I was helping him out with your case back then, finding your mom. But this is the first time officially meeting you."
Ryan looked at him, "Thank you... and thanks for all you've done in the past for me..."
"My pleasure. I know you're a good kid. We still have some questions for you though. Kevin's in questioning right now. I'm doing Sandy a favour, I'm not questioning you until he's here."
And it was perfect timing as Sandy walked in through the door. "RYAN! What happened?" He rushed over to him.
Ryan stood up and offered a sad smile and shrug to him.
"Kramer, thanks."
"No problem. We've got to ask him some questions now. Then we can determine whether to let him go or not."
/
"Why were you at Dexter's Motel in the first place?" Kramer asked Ryan. They were in a dark room with only the two of them. A mirror was on the right side, and Ryan knew Sandy was on the other side of it.
"I got a call from Caitlin that she was in trouble. She's my girlfriend's little sister. And she's also like a sister to me. So I had to go help her."
"And so how did Volchok come into the picture?"
"He and his two accomplices were the ones who took Caitlin. I don't know how they are related. I'm guessing drugs? But I mean, Volchok and I... We... don't really get along."
"How so?"
"He dated Caitlin's older sister before. But he was a bad influence. Though at the time, Marissa and I broke up, I never stopped caring for her. Volchok, he wasn't good for her."
"So you beat up Volchok?"
"I hit him and I do take responsibility for initiating the fight. I was angry. He said some things that he knew would tick me off."
"Things like?"
"Just about Marissa and threatening Caitlin..."
"Alright."
"Look, I did hit him because I was angry. I know that's wrong. But I wasn't there to fight him. I was just trying to find Caitlin who was missing. And I did find her, and she's safe. That's all that matters to me."
"Well, that's all the questions I need answered. You're free to go."
"I am? No charges?"
"Oh there are. Sandy will explain that to you. But Volchok was the main target. He's been doing illegal businesses for a while now and we've always failed to catch him. So I guess I'm thanking you for helping us out, getting him."
Ryan nodded and made his way out of the room. There he met Caitlin, Sandy and Seth.
"Oh and Ryan!" Kramer called out, "Remember, you're a good kid. Saving Caitlin was a brave thing to do. But stay out of trouble, I don't want to see your face here again."
Ryan smiled and turned back to Sandy.
"We can talk about this later. C'mon, let's go home so you can wash up." Sandy said.
Ryan knew Sandy was upset, but he also saw the relief in his eyes. He turned to Seth and remembered, "Wait, does–"
Seth interrupted him, "Her, Summer and Julie are meeting all of us back at the house. Don't worry, I'm going to let you and Caitlin explain; I didn't say anything to them, just to meet us there. Let's go."
Ryan gave Seth a thank you nod and Seth returned with a smile. He and Sandy led the way back to the car. Ryan wrapped his arm around Caitlin, "I'm sorry again, Ry."
"Hey, shhh. I don't want to hear any more of it. It's okay. Just don't ever do that to me or your sister or anyone else... ever again."
"Promise."