Hi everyone! Sorry to be gone for a long time again as life got in the way once more but I am going to be writing every day this week and I am off work all next week so I am determined to get so much more of this written. So expect the next chapter soon! FYI, the app that was introduced last chapter and in this one is inspired by a real app for safety of individuals called the holly guard. It has recording capabilities when activated as well but my version doesn't. It is an amazing app and the work the Holly Gazzrd Trust do is wonderful. I really implore everyone to look up their incredible work.

Chapter 29

A constant slow rocking stirred Lottie awake. She was laid on her right side, her arms behind her back. She felt so dizzy that combined with the rocking she felt like she could be sick at any moment. When she went to open her eyes she found that she couldn't. There was a something strapped across her eyes that forced them closed and there was tape across her mouth forcing her lips shut. She tried to change position but found she couldn't move. She was handcuffed and her left shoulder screamed with pain when she tried to move making her scream out before she realized what she did. It was then she remembered being thrown to the ground as she struggled to be released once grabbed. Her left shoulder must have taken the brunt of it. Her legs were strapped together at the ankle and knees as well. She began to panic; her breathing quickening and tears began to fill her eyes. She realized she was in a van as she heard the voice of a man calling to her from what she gathered was the front of the van with a thick Turkish accent to "shut the fuck up". Knowing she needed to buy time she calmed her breathing and the Turkish man had stopped yelling at her. He hadn't stopped the van so she knew he was satisfied. As gingerly as she could she moved her legs to see if there were any objects nearby her she could get to use but nothing. When she moved her fingers she realized directly behind her back was a freezing cold thick metal bar about the width of a tree trunk, the chain for the handcuffs being looped around it so she was pinned in her position. All she could do was wait and pray that her app had worked to send the signal for help.

"It all started after Dot attacked Lottie. She wanted to do something to help others feel safe so she started working with a college friend on an app. If you felt unsafe you would trigger it to open either by opening the app itself or doing something like rapidly shaking your phone and it would send a signal to those you designated as your contacts. The app on their phones would activate and show via a map where the individual is. I thought I was the only one to have it and it was a prototype. I had no idea she was being serious! If I had known, I swear I would have told you all" Maneet explained teary eyed.

"Shit" Steve hissed and pulled out his phone quickly dialing Lottie's number he knew by heart. It rang out but Lottie didn't pick up and it went to answerphone. He hung up. "Where is the tracker showing where she is now?"

"It doesn't work like that. It shows a map of where they are at the moment they trigger the app not a tracker showing their movements after the fact. She wouldn't be able to do that with the tools she had available without breaking the law" Kate explained. She showed Steve the app on her phone and the map was still stationary as being outside the building Steve and Lottie lived in with the timestamp of the app being triggered. Maneet's desk phone began to ring and she welcomed the change in focus from her tears.

"How did the app get on our phones?" Ted asked.

"She's a teenager. She's used all our phones of course at one time or another. These may be police issued but all she had to do was spend time with us and wait for our guard to drop to access them. She could have used our phone, downloaded the app and let it sit in the background for the day it was needed and we were none the wiser" Ted explained.

"Sir!" Maneet called from her desk to Ted. "Officers have found Lottie's college bag in the alley way by her building along with her headphones, tape and blood as well as signs of a vehicle being used."

"Right, get everyone here now! I want this to be our full focus. Get a team to that building to do a full sweep of that alley way and I want all CCTV possible for all routes in and out of that area. And I want all of our suspects relating to Christopher's case here immediately. We need to determine who has done this, now!"

"Yes, Sir" Maneet pulled out her mobile phone from her pocket and rushed to the doorway to get additional help.

"What about Lottie? She could be anywhere" Steve asked starting to feel panic fill him.

"We'll find her Steve. Remind me, when her phone got re-issued to her did she change any of the settings that we put in place to protect her?" Ted asked.

"No, at least not that I know of."

"In that case tracking her phone may be difficult but not impossible. We made it as difficult as we could without giving her a burner phone but it depends on if she changed it."

"Well let's face it, everyone likes things in certain ways. We always feel odd is something is –" Kate began and then stopped mid-sentence. She suddenly looked deep in thought and her eyes widened. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed and grabbed her phone.

"Kate, what is it?" Steve asked urgently. After swiping and typing through her phone she smiled.

"Your sister is a fucking genius. Look!" she turned her phone around and turned to show it to Ted and Steve. It was her settings relating to airplane mode. "Ages ago I was talking to her about first dates and staying safe when out at night. I taught her a few things and she taught me this. When you put your phone in airplane mode it means that you can't send or receive any calls or texts right? Wrong! It means that it disables all wireless and phone signals but you can manually select signals back on such as Bluetooth and wi-fi allowing you to make calls and texts through those."

"Right?" Ted asked confused.

"You saw her this morning. Which headphones were she using and which ones are in the alley way?" Steve's mouth fell slightly open realizing.

"Her white wireless pair she got for Christmas from mum and dad."

"Which means to use then she had to have her Bluetooth on which means we can track her. Whoever took her will look and her phone and think the tracker is off if they don't know this information so we have to be cautious here. We have to track her but not give the illusion that we are on to them. Whoever is doing this has been watching all of us, they must have been and they may still be now."

"What if she's dead?" Steve asked softly the question her was dreading to ask but somehow needed to get the words out.

"I'd like to see the person who tries to do that because I can tell you now they won't succeed. We are going to find her and bring her home Steve, you have my word" Ted said putting a hand on Steve's shoulder to comfort him.

It suddenly felt like the AC-12 office was suddenly busy. Everyone was doing their upmost to find Lottie. "We need to check her devices, are they in her backpack?" Ted called across the room to Maneet.

"We don't need to. Lottie always uploads things to the cloud for her college work and such. We saw that when we last had her laptop. We still have her username and password on file" Kate explained. She logged into the system via her desk computer and reached for her cup of tea as the log in loaded. When she did she knocked it off the table but didn't react. Her eyes were fixed on the screen. Ted saw as her face turned from confusion to surprise and she looked over to him wide eyed.

"Sir, we have a situation."

Despite having her eyes tight shut and feeling sick, Lottie didn't allow herself to fall back asleep. She spent her time focusing on every little sound she could hear in the hopes that she could figure out where she was and provide police with information they needed. After what felt like an eternity the van came to a stop and she heard two doors from the end of the van where her feet were positioned open. She now knew there were two of them. Panic began to fill her once more. All of a sudden everything felt a million times louder as the van doors were torn open and two sets of hands grabbed at her. She tried to struggle to get free but it was no use. No matter how hard she struggled they were far more powerful and easily dominated her. They carried her into a freezing cold building with a terrible echo that emphasized every tiny sound and the two pinned her down into a chair. She was re chained and the tape ripped off her mouth. She tried to bite at whoever took off the tape but they moved their hand too quickly for her.

"PLEASE, LET ME GO!" she begged in a whimpering scream, unable to control herself.

"Tut, tut tut. You aren't in a position to make demands, love" a calm male voice came from across the room. He wasn't one of the two men that had grabbed her, she could tell. Those two were out of breath having to deal with her struggles. This man had not been anywhere near her. "If I were you I'd keep your voice down."

"Why? Afraid someone will hear?" she asked shakily, the cold and fear taking control of her body. Tears had begun to leak from under the tape.

"Do you think I'm stupid? You are far away from where anyone can hear you so please scream all you want it will do you no good. If you want to keep your energy up I suggest you stay quiet because you aren't going to be getting anything like food or water I can promise you that. No point trying to get out of that chair because you won't. I may be an old man to you but I still remember how to tie someone securely to a chair at least. You learn some dark things the longer you work for the force. Takes me back to questioning the old fashion way." Lottie let out a sigh to calm herself. She finally fell quiet.

"Good girl," the man muttered and she heard him move closer towards her.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" she asked calmly.

"You might want to ask your brother that."

"Steve? What's he got to do with you?"

"That's my business." All of a sudden she felt fingers touch her right cheek making her gasp. She realized it was this new man. He was stroking her cheek admiring its smoothness she thought. A new wave of sickness hit her stomach.

"You really are a pretty girl you know that?"

"… Thank you … Bit unfair I don't get to see your face."

The stroking of her cheek suddenly stopped. Instead she felt the full force of a smack across her face from the back of his hand and her cheek split open as a ring made contact with it. She screamed out in agony.

"In time" he said calmly. "Now, you sit there and think about what you've done."

"I haven't done anything" she hissed through the pain. She heard him pull something out of his pocket.

BANG! BANG!

Two gunshots rang out and she heard the two men who had captured her fall to the ground groaning with pain. She screamed.

"Actions have consequences Lottie. You think on that as they bleed to death around you. See you later." He planted a kiss on her split cheek and she felt him smell her hair.

"Haveyoueverseenjurassicpark?" she asked quickly pulling away from him. He looked at her confused.

"What?" he asked.

"Have you ever seen Jurassic Park?" she asked again slower, embarrassed.

"Why?" he asked confused.

"It was the first thing to pop into my head," she explained sheepishly. Silence fell between them. He didn't answer; instead he chuckled and tussled her hair like she was a child. Then he turned on his heel and walked out slamming a heavy metal door behind him. Lottie, unable to help the men, her or even move, did the only thing she could and began to cry.

It was a profound thing to listen to those two men slowly die. She heard the groans, the attempts to stop the bleeding, the gurgling as one drowned in his own blood. He fell quiet five minutes or so after the three were left alone. The other said what sounded like prayers over and over in his native language as he tried to get up but he suddenly stopped mid-sentence and fell quiet. She had softly told them she was sorry through her tears in the hope they would hear her. The room grew colder with the silence somehow and a new realization that she could die there came to her. She thought about all the things she had said and never said, all the things she didn't do in her 16 years and she never will attempt to. She thought about Alex, Steve, Ted and Kate and the thought of them finding her dead in whatever building she was in. She was so focused she didn't noticed the door open and the man come back until she felt him wrap a blanket around her shoulders.

"Have you learnt your lesson now?" he asked. She didn't want to tell him she didn't know what she had done wrong yet so she nodded. The heave chains keeping her locked in place fell away apart from the ones around her wrists. She felt him use a knife to cut the bind around her legs but he kept the bind around her eyes on.

"You're coming with me." He stood her up and guided her out of the building, an arm wrapped around her like a loving gesture of a family member or a friend. She let him do it, not really caring at the moment. She knew she had to comply or she would be dead. She stumbled a few times given her legs having circulation again, but whenever she did he quickly tightened her grip and made sure she didn't fall. It was raining as they walked between building and the new place was lovely and warm, somewhat homely. She felt what seemed to be a staircase near her shoulder and decided to attempt something new.

"I need to use the bathroom," she told him.

"I'll get you a bucket" he replied.

"No please, I have a medical condition. If I go in a bucket you could end up with blood stains on the floor. Besides, with this mask on I'm bound to knock it over. At least in a toilet I can avoid making a mess. Please, I won't ask you for anything else I swear." He seemed to think for a moment.

"I'll need to take you upstairs."

"Fine with me. If you take off the blindfold it will make it easier else I might need your help when I do my business. I'll be blurry eyed for some time thanks to this being on my face so I won't see much. You know that. Please?" Finally she felt him reach out and peel away the tape from her eyes. The light was blinding to her and she had to scrunch up her eyes at first to handle the intense pain from the light. He then did something he didn't expect. He put her glasses on her face. The two dead men who took her must have given them to him. She never expected to have them again. He led her up the stairs and true to what she said, she couldn't make out anything. When they reached the bathroom she felt about for the toilet rim and turned around. He stood in the doorway staring.

"Are you going to watch?" she asked.

"I'm not stupid. I need to know you aren't going anywhere. If you are going to go to the toilet, then go." With shaking hands she lowered her jeans and knickers before sitting down and urinating. The whole process was degrading but she made sure to stare at him the whole time. She may not have been able to make out his eyes but he could see hers. When she was done she felt around for the sink and accidently knocked the toothbrush holder over when reaching for the soap.

"I must look a mess" she commented catching a blurry sight of her face in the mirror in front of her. Her hair was a mess but had managed to stay in its ponytail somehow.

"There's a hairbrush in the cupboard under the sink if you want to use it" he suggested. Knowing this is what he wanted to reached down and found it. She slowly ran the brush through her hair multiple times and got her ponytail back to perfect form.

"Better?" she asked with a soft smile as she finished wrapping the scrunchy she had used around her tightly fitted hair bands.

"Beautiful," he commented with a smile. She could see clearer now but she couldn't tell him that. She adjusted her glasses as they started to slip down her nose. Suddenly a phone rang out and made her jump. It wasn't any phone, it was hers. It was in his pocket. She couldn't help mentally thanking God for being in an area with signal wherever that may be.

"That's be your brother again. Three times he's called you over the past few hours. The tracker is off if that is what you are thinking. Checked it." A flutter came to her stomach but she managed to keep her face neutral. He really didn't know what to look for.

"What time is it?" she asked, a sudden idea suddenly entering her mind.

"Half-eleven."

"Shit! I was supposed to meet him outside college now for an appointment. He's going to be worried sick. I have to answer that."

"That's not how this works."

"It's how Steve works. He's meant to be picking me up today from college. He'll keep calling unless I pick up" she lied. "If he doesn't hear from me he will track my phone."

"That's called overprotective."

"That's called love you fucking bastard!" That earned her a punch in her jaw which made the throbbing in her head worse. Her phone stopped ringing in his hand and then started again. "Told you and if you now turn it off he'll know something is seriously wrong. Let me talk to him and then you are in control, alright?"

The man held out the phone to her.

"On speaker" he commanded to which she nodded. He put the phone on speaker.

"Hey, you still at college?" Steve asked. To everyone else he sounded normal but she could hear the concern in his voice. She knew the silent alarm had worked. "I thought I was picking you up today?"

"No, sorry. Something came up. I should have told you but it was all very last minute."

"With Alex?" Steve asked. Lottie shifted her gaze up to the man.

"Yeah I should have told you. I'm sorry."

"Where are you?" he asked.

"We're on the train heading for Manchester." She saw the man's eye twitch. That hit a soft spot.

"Manchester, why?"

"He's managed to get us two tickets to see Taylor Swift's Red tour. Isn't that amazing?" she asked trying to sound enthused.

"No it isn't. I'm your guardian while you are here Lottie. You have to run these things by me." An idea suddenly hit her.

"But Steve, she's a superstar! These tickets are like gold dust! If I see this concert I am going to be on top of the world!"

"I don't care. Get back here now!"

"Sorry, I can't do that. We are on a train and the next stop is central Manchester which is half an hour away. I don't know what train I can get back giving they will be packed with rush hour commuters. It's gonna take some time."

"Put Alex on the phone" Steve demanded.

"No" she said quickly.

"No?"

"That's right, you heard me, no! You aren't going to get Alex for my choices Steve. Stay out of my stuff! I'm sixteen, I'm not a child. We'll talk about this later."

"Don't you dare hang up."

"You can't tell me what to do. I love you Steve but I have to do this. I'm sorry, I'm not hiding anything from you anymore … I love you." She nodded at the man who hung up the call and turned her phone off.

"Nicely done" he commented.

"Little sisters know how to talk to their brothers and wrap them round their fingers. Shall we go back downstairs?" he nodded and she pretended to stumble because of her blurry vision which he took for truth. He guided her back down the stairs not knowing that hidden in her hair scrunchy was a microphone attached to a portable battery which she turned on when she fixed her hair and it was now recording everything.