Chapter Three: Serpent's Fang
Nat went to check her phone last night. She hoped that Will had sent her text. She was disappointed when she was greeted to radio silence. She sent him a text. She sat there, staring at her phone. She laid down on her side. "Mommy?" came a voice.
Nat looked up. She saw Owen standing in the doorway. "I can't sleep."
Natalie frowned. She patted her bedside. Owen climbed into bed with her. Natalie held him close. She knew why he couldn't sleep. Will had been missing for two days. Yet those two days were rather rough on the both of them.
It was hard for Natalie to just leave the whole situation in the police's hand. She rubbed Owen's backside. She let out a sigh. I can't do this anymore. I have to do something. She sat upright. "Owen, baby."
Owen looked up at her. She touched his cheek. "Mommy is going to go looking for Will. Okay?"
"What about me?" he asked.
"Your going to stay at your Aunt Aaren's." replied Natalie.
Aaren Ranger was Natalie's neighbor. She worked at a local animal shelter. She was the first one to greet and befriend Natalie when she first arrived. The two became rather fast friends. "You'll have a good time with her. Maybe you'll go get to see the animals?"
Owen nodded. "Okay mommy."
Natalie slid out of bed. She checked her phone again. Still no text from Will. She began packing her things. She got a bag ready for Owen. She took her son's hand. They went next door. Natalie knocked on the door. A dusky brown haired woman answered. "Hey Nat! Owen! What brings you two by?!"
"Hey Aaren. I need a favor."
Aaren nodded. "Of course. Come on in." she motioned for the two of them to enter.
Natalie and Owen walked into her home. Natalie paused near the door. "Can you watch Owen for me? I have to do something."
"Sure. How long will you be gone?"
"One of my former coworkers is missing. Actually, they're my ex-fiance. Anyway, I need to find them."
Aaren lofted an eyebrow. She smirked slightly. "I didn't take you to be the kind of girl to take action."
"Yeah well I lost one husband and I'm not going to lose another. Can you keep an eye on Owen?" prompted Natalie again.
"Sure. Good luck. Oh and if you need some help, my brother works for the police. His name is Austin. I could give you his contact info if you want." suggested Aaren.
"You know, I'll go ahead and take it. Thank you."
Aaren wrote down her brother's information. She handed it to Natalie. Natalie put it away in her pocket. She knelt down in front of her son. She touched his cheek. "Behave for your auntie. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Owen hugged his mom. Natalie held him close. She soon pulled away. She thanked Aaren before heading out. She decided to head to the airport first. Her hope was that somebody saw something the day Will was taken.
The airport parking lot was slightly empty. Natalie parked not too far out in it. She couldn't help but get an eerie vibe. She got out of the car. She headed up to the enterance. She began searching around the building.
The sides of the building were rather dark. She followed the building to the left. She saw something dark laying on the sidewalk. She ran over to it. She picked it up. It was Will's bag. The bag itself looked to have been gone through. She clutched it close to her chest. She looked up to see a glowing red light. "A camera." she whispered. Hope filled her.
She took the small card out of her pocket. She headed back to her car. She placed Will's bag in the passenger seat. She dialed the number on her phone. She held her phone up to her ear. A male voice came through. Detective Hunter speaking.
"Hi. Austin, was it? I'm Natalie Manning. I was wondering if I could ask a favor." She leaned her head against her phone.
What sort of favor are you asking?
"I have an ex that went missing. I need to find him. I'm here at the airport if you want to meet up."
Give me a couple of minutes and I'll be there. He hangs up. Natalie went through her messages. She still hadn't received a message from Will.
Natalie waited a while in her car. She looked in her rearview mirror to see a black car pull into the parking lot. Her phone buzzed. A text came in from an unknown number. Where are you?
She only hoped that it was Austin. She sent a text back to it. The car pulled up alongside hers. A dark haired man stepped out of it. They tapped on the passenger side door. Natalie rolled down the window. "You Natalie?" they asked.
Natalie nodded. She picked up Will's bag. She set it down gently behind her seat. Austin climbed into the car. He sat down into the passenger seat. He held out his hand toward her. "I'm Detective Hunter. We spoke over the phone."
Natalie shook hands with him. She felt Austin let go. "Right. Why don't you tell me what I'm dealing with here? More importantly why your hanging out in the parking lot this late at night."
Natalie began explaining what was going on. She also mentioned that the two are currently in contact. She showed him the weird number that Will texts from. "He mentioned that a Jack Dayton has him hostage."
Austin tilted his head. "The billionaire? Of course we've got a rich guy situation. Alright. Do you know his last location?"
Natalie shook her head. "No, but I had a look around the airport and noticed signs of struggle. I think there's a camera close to where I saw Will's bag at."
"You want to take me to the spot?"
Natalie took him to the spot. She left the rest of the evidence for him to go over. Austin searched for a bit. He noticed a piece of cloth on the ground. He picked it up. Strange white powder fell to the ground. He opened the cloth. There was more of it on it. He examined it. "Looks like they used knock out powder on him." He placed the powdered cloth into a baggie. He noticed tire marks. He made a mental note of it.
He spotted the camera that Natalie had talked about. "Nat, why don't you wait out in the car? I've got to head inside and ask about that camera."
"I want to come with you. I have no plans on staying out of this one." countered Natalie.
He sighed. The both of them went inside. Austin spotted a security guard walking around. "Hey you." he called.
The security guard paused. Austin showed him his badge. "I was wondering if I could view the tape of a particular camera. I need to see footage from two days ago."
The security guard nodded. He lead them to a private office. He began pulling up the tape. Austin turned to Natalie. "Do you know what time he went missing?"
"Let's see, he was supposed to be in by noon."
The guard reversed the tape. He got the point in time that Natalie had said. They saw Will leaving the airport. A crowd of people had come out behind him. They saw him stand a little ways from the door quietly. Looked like he was getting ready to take his phone out of his pocket.
A white van parked close to where he was. Men in what appeared to be suits walked up to him. One of them went up to Will from behind. Will looked up from his phone. He got ready to flee. However, just as he was getting ready to flee, he was subdued. He went limp in their arms. The people quickly loaded him into the van. The van then took off.
Austin frowned. He had seen those people in suits before from a previous case. Natalie had her hand over her mouth. She looked at Austin. Austin cleared his throat. "Thank you. I need you to email me that footage. That way I can view it in my office."
The security guard emailed him a copy. Natalie and Austin left the airport. "Natalie, let's head to my office. I can take a look at the footage again. I wasn't able to see if that van had tags. I've seen those people before, however."
"Who were those people?"
"We haven't been able to put names to them yet but they work for an underground society. I don't know if you've ever heard the name "Creakwood" pop up."
Natalie shook her head. "No. I haven't. Who are they?"
"We don't have a whole lot of information on them yet but they're behind some people disappearing. I'll explain more in my office."
Austin took Natalie to her car. Natalie got in. She waited for Austin to head out first before following after him.
The branch that Austin worked for sat was downtown. The building was rather large. Austin's office was on the second floor. He opened the door for her. She entered the room. He flicked on a light. The light hummed to life. He had a desk with a computer on it. There was also a white board up on the wall with writing on it. Natalie noticed weird symbols.
Austin held out a chair for her. Natalie sat down in it. She pointed to the symbols. "What are those?"
"Oh those? The victims that do manage to escape Creakwood's clutches aren't the same afterwards." explained Austin. "They have vivid nightmares and see those in their dreams. As to what it means, we aren't sure yet."
Natalie felt her heart rate pick up. That could mean that Will was in danger. Austin pulled up the footage on his computer. He reviewed it one last time. He zoomed in on the plates. The plates were Arizona license plates. "Well there's a good chance that your ex could be in Arizona."
He saw Natalie go pale. "Arizona? That's miles away."
"Well I'll run the plates and see if I can't get an owner. Chances are we won't get a name til morning. You said he's got a number that he's texting you from?"
Natalie nodded. She wrote the number down for him. Austin took it. "Go ahead and get some rest. I'll have more answers for you tomorrow."
Natalie booked a hotel room close by. She went through Will's bag. She only found his clothes inside of it. He didn't pack any valuables on him. She took out one of his shirts. She held it close to her chest. His scent washed over her. She laid down with it. Goodnight Will. Sweet dreams. Her world faded to black.
Natalie woke up the next morning to the sound of her phone going off. She picked it up. She hoped it was Will. It was from an unknown number. She answered it. "Hello?"
Hey Natalie. Sorry if I woke you up. Can you come down to my office in an hour? Asked Austin.
"Yeah. I can. Did you find out anything?" She slowly sat upright.
I did. I think I have our heading. I'll explain more when you get here. Just take that hour to mental prepare yourself. He hung up.
Natalie looked at her phone. She checked her messages. Her inbox was rather empty. She put her phone away in her pocket. She tied Will's shirt around her neck like a scarf. She figured she would carry a bit of him around her. Natalie headed downstairs. They were serving breakfast. She grabbed something light and sat down at a table.
There was a TV screen on the wall. It was displaying a news broadcast. The news broadcast was talking about several other people that were missing. Most of the people that were missing were other health care workers as well as people with varying disabilities. Natalie's heart beat painfully. She could only think of Will. She took her phone out of her pocket. She decided to text Maggie. It had been ages since the last time the two of them spoke.
It didn't take long for Maggie to get back in touch with Nat. Missing? What do you mean he's missing? Does Jay know?
Just as Natalie was getting ready to text her back, Maggie began calling her. Natalie grimanced. She picked up. "Hey Maggie."
Girl, talk quickly about what's going on. I've got an ED to run but if I have to say something to Goodwin and the police, I will.
"Will was taken by people in suits. I don't know if you know anything about Creakwood but they're behind this as well as Mr. Dayton."
Jack Dayton? I should of known that fucking asshole was going to do something. I just didn't think he was going to target Will. When Sharon walks in, I'll say something to her. We'll get Chicago PD to help. Trust me, you aren't going to face this alone.
"I've already got a Detective on the case. The man's name is Austin Hunter. Him and I are going to talk in about an hour."
How are you holding up? I'm sure you must be worried sick.
"I am. I decided I wasn't going to let this one just sit. I'm going to help too. I want to find Will and bring him home safely."
That's good. Honey, I've got to go but I will talk to Sharon as soon as she gets in. Sit tight. I'm sure someone will find him.
"Bye Mags. Tell everyone at Med that I said hi."
Will do. Bye baby girl. Maggie then hung up.
Nat took a bite of her muffin. She had just enough before standing up. She dreaded the news she was about to hear.
Austin leaned forward on his desk. "Right, well I won't keep you for much longer. Let's start with the number you gave me. I wasn't able to track the number to a location. It's one of those spoofed numbers."
Natalie felt her heart break. Austin could see the pain in her eyes. He held his hand up. "I'm not finished. We did get a name for that van. It's a rental company in Spokane. I thought about heading down there to question who may of rented the van through them."
"Can I come with you?" asked Natalie.
"Well your deep in this case now so I suppose so. Try to stay out of trouble, okay?"
Natalie nodded. Austin stood up. "Right well pack and meet me on the outskirts. It shouldn't take us that long to get there."
Natalie headed back to her hotel room. She packed her bags. She picked up Will's bag. She slung it over her shoulder. She looked at the picture of the two of them together on her phone. Don't worry, Will. We'll find you. No matter what it takes. She vowed as she left the hotel room.