9. Getting Closer

~Jackson

It was the sound of a phone ringing that brought me out of a fitful sleep. All four of us sat up as I watched Kyle grab his phone, none of us really having been asleep in the first place.

As soon as he put the phone to his ear, Kyle's eyes widened. He nodded his head and made a motion to us to get us. "We'll be right there," he said into the phone before hanging up.

"What's going on?" Josh asked as he jumped out of bed and ducked into the bathroom, leaving the door open. "Did they find him?"

"I don't know, but they found something."

"What time is it?" Leo asked, sounding tired, not unlike the rest of us, although for some reason he's been getting a better sleep each night than the rest of us. I know that's been bothering him. He said the other day that he wished he was having those nightmares now, when our son was actually in danger, rather than when everything was perfectly fine.

I was staring right at the time, so I answered. "Six thirty, just about."

That wasn't too bad. We would have had to get up soon anyway to get Ashley ready for school. It's been just over a week since it happened, and we had to sit down and explain what was going on to her, so that she would understand. Honestly, I think the whole thing really put her into perspective about her behavior, and she hasn't been her usual deviant self this week, but that could also just be the stress of us worrying about Logan and her missing her brother, which she'll probably never admit to.

As I was heading for the bathroom, Josh popped out, looking more ready for today than the rest of us felt. He was the one who kept us all positive about the situation, even though he cried for the first two days.

"I'll go see if Alyssa's awake," he said. "Maybe she'll get Ash ready for us."

Alyssa had taken it upon herself to unofficially move in with us. I wasn't sure when she had decided that, but I was glad it was her and not some of our parents. As much as we appreciated their concern and support for us this week, it was better at a distance that wasn't too suffocating, like the beginning of the week.

We didn't stay at home too much longer after that, too anxious to see what the police found out about Logan. Alyssa had agreed immediately to get Ashley ready for school, making us promise we'd tell her what ever news we found out as soon as we knew. Sometimes I wondered if she really thought we wouldn't tell her things as important as this. Of course we would.

When we got to the police station, none of us knew what to expect. Josh had walked in just ahead of me, and I could see him clenching and unclenching his fists because of how anxious he was. We had no clue if we were about to get good news or bad news, or even something in the middle.

I put my arm around Josh's shoulder as we walked up to the woman sitting behind the front desk - Keira. She looked up from her computer screen as we approached. "The Chief wanted you guys to head straight into the back room," she said. There was no emotion in her voice to give us any kind of indication about what kind of news we were about to be told. Maybe she didn't know.

Kyle walked in front of us, leading us down a short hallway until he stopped at a door, which he knocked on hesitantly.

"Come in," a muffled voice said from the other side of the closed door.

Kyle pulled on the door, holding it open for the three of us to go in first. Removing my arm from around Josh, I placed my hand on his back as I followed him into the room, where the police chief was sitting at a table, typing away on a laptop.

The Chief looked at us when we walked in. "Have a seat," he said, motioning towards the four chairs that had been placed on the opposite side of the table from him. "There's something you need to see." I noticed that his voice, like Keira's, held no indication of anything. That worried me.

"Did you find him?" Leo asked once we were all sitting. "Is he okay?"

Instead of answering, he turned the laptop around. On the screen was a paused video taken from what was probably a security camera. It was a grocery store, and just off to the left side of the screen were unmistakably Paul and Logan. The Chief then reached over and pressed a key on the keyboard, making the video play.

It was short, maybe only fifteen seconds of them being on the screen. But Logan was definitely crying, I could tell by the way he was holding onto himself. Paul had a hand on my son's shoulder roughly ushering him to a different part of the store. A couple other customers were in the frame as well, but none even seemed to give them a second glance. I wish Logan would have just screamed for help, but that wasn't something he'd do, unfortunately.

"Where are they?" I demanded as soon as the video ended. I was about ready to punch someone, namely, that sick fuck that took my son. Did they send people after him yet? Did they find Logan? I needed to know. "When was this taken?"

The Chief turned his laptop back around so that it was no longer facing us. "This is from approximately eight-forty last night at a Wal-Mart off the side of the highway about an hour from here. They're going south, from what we can tell." He paused for a moment as he typed something. Then he turned the screen towards us again and hit play.

This time it was the parking lot, probably of the same store. Paul opened the back door of a car and practically shoved my son in. Josh audibly gasped at that part and I knew I was ready to seriously hurt Paul for touching our son. After a moment, Paul got into the driver's side and drove off.

~Kyle

"We were able to get a partial of the plate from this video," the Chief was explaining, moving his laptop so that he was once again looking at the screen. "We're still running it through the databases trying to match it to the make and model of the car. See if anything turns up."

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Before any of us could say anything, the door opened and Keira popped her head in. "Sorry to bother you, but these just came through."

I was sitting the closest to the door, so I got up and grabbed the papers she held out. I flicked through them quickly then looked up at her. This was exactly what we needed. "Holy shit. God, I love you, Keira."

"Kyle, love?" Leo asked. "Need I remind you you're gay? Come over here."

I rolled my eyes, but went over and, instead of sitting in the chair I had been in, sat on Leo's lap. "You'll love Keira too when I tell you what she brought us." I scanned the papers until I saw what I was looking for. "Paul's real name is Paul Abromovich. We've got his most recent address, too."

"The bastard kept his first name the same?" Jackson muttered next to me. "Idiot."

"May I take a look?" the Chief asked, so I handed the papers over. He read over everything before placing them on the table. "I'll send a team out immediately to this location. It's near the Wal-Mart they were spotted at. We'll bring your son home to you."

"I'm going with you," I said automatically. This was my son. I was going to whatever it took to get him back. And at least I had experience in these kinds of situations through work, and if this was happening, I wanted to be there.

But the Chief didn't see that logic. "You're too invested in this, Hart. No."

He shut the laptop and stared me down over the table. "We can't have your emotions thrown into this."

I stood up from Leo's lap angrily. "I am more than capable of keeping my emotions in check. I want to be there when you find Logan. He's terrified as is and having a bunch of cops come for him won't make him feel any safer."

The Chief went to say something, but Josh spoke up from next to me. "Sir, if you excuse me, I agree with Kyle. I think he should be there, for Logan's sake. Logan has the strongest attachment to him, and if Kyle's capable of going with you, I think he should."

The Chief sighed. "Fine. We're leaving in an hour. Don't be late, Hart."

~

Two hours later, we we were driving by a small house located near the end of a dead-end street. It was such an unsuspecting house of a crazed kidnapper, but just the sight of it gave me hope that my son was there and I'd be bringing him home with me today.

We parked a few houses down from the Abromovich household, so as to not tip them off, then made our way over. Two of the team went to the front door, while Officer Morton and I went around to the back, just in case they tried escaping when they realized they were caught.

Morton put her finger to her lips when we took up our positions on either side of the back door. It was the only visible exit, aside from windows, and the most likely one to be used for an escape. The muffled sound of the doorbell ringing throughout the house reached my ears. Then there was what sounded like someone hushing someone else, before they went to open the door.

I couldn't hear anything else going on. But Morton and I kept eye contact with each other while we waited. After a couple minutes, the back door flew open. We reacted immediately.

It was Teresa - Paul's wife - who was trying to make a break for it. As soon as she saw us standing there, she tried slamming the door again, but was too slow. I wedged myself into the house, pushing the door all the way open for Morton to follow me in.

The first thing I did was scan the room. I could see the front door from where I stood, but it was closed and no one besides myself, Morton, and Teresa were in sight.

I turned to Teresa, getting angry. "Where's my son?" I demanded, getting into her personal space.

Teresa looked frightened, but she stood her ground. "You don't have a son."

"Like hell I don't," I sneered at her. I went to take a step closer to her, but a hand on my arm stopped me.

Turning around, I saw Morton pointing at the other end of the room, where Hampton and the Chief were entering. Hampton had Paul in handcuffs while the Chief had a hand on Logan's shoulder, guiding him into the room.

I immediately rushed over to my son, kneeling in front of his as I pulled him into a tight hug. He hugged me back and I could feel my shoulder becoming damp from his tears.

"Did he hurt you at all?" I asked quietly.

Logan shook his head, but didn't get the chance to say anything when sounds of a struggle started happening behind me. I didn't look up, not when Logan started whimpering in fright so I held him closer to me, whispering in his ear how I got him and he was safe.

"Hart! Get him out of here!"

I barely even registered who had spoken before I was on my feet, still holding tightly onto Logan. Behind us, Paul had somehow managed to break free from the hold Hampton had on him - which he didn't seem like he would have been capable of doing. Both the Chief and Hampton were restraining him now as he tried going after me.

"He's mine," Paul was saying in between the rapid breathes from all his struggling. "Alyssa told me the truth. He belongs to me, not you! I deserve him!"

I shifted my hand from Logan's back to his head, which was resting against my shoulder. No one touches my son and gets away with it.

But I didn't have time to say anything, or even move. Logan suddenly lifted his head up and screamed, "Daddy!" It was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.