Right Where She Belongs

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I'm needy
Warm me up
And breathe me

- 'Breathe Me' by Sia.

Don't know if this song had any relevance to this chapter, but here it is anyway :P

___

[Kat's P.O.V]

Grim expressions twisted every ones faces. All eyes were locked on the discarded white handkerchief in front of the empty motel room. Rupert was right. The motel was vacant and Adrian and Caleb were nowhere to be seen.

Dallas knelt down on one knee and made as if to pick it up before Jesse's voice stopped him.

"Don't," the gruff man warned, "We need to keep that as evidence."

"Evidence," I repeated. Gosh, this was like a bad episode of C.S.I.

And my best friend was the victim.

Shudder. Gag. Sniff.

Sam's lips thinned. "Once we get these bastards, we're handing them to the cops. We've got enough evidence with the threatening notes Adrian received and the obvious signs of struggle to have a steady case against whoever is behind this."

"Besides," Dallas muttered, rising to his feet. "Adrian's old man is a lawyer. A damn good one, too. He'll send these guys away for a long time,"

Swallowing down my steadily building alarm, I turned to Jesse (who looked even more like Vin Diesel with the dark shades covering his eyes). "How do we know where to find them?"

At this, Rupert snapped to attention. "Oh oh, I've got it! Pick me, pretty girl!"

Sam threw him a withering glare. Rupert ignored him.

"Before we left, I got Caleb to swallow a tracking device," Rupert smirked triumphantly at Jesse who might have rolled his eyes behind his shades, I couldn't tell. "Hold the applause, please. Anyway, it's not the kind of device the guys are gonna be able to yank out of him. You know, unless he shits it out." Seeing the slightly panicked look everyone shared, he was quick to reassure. "Don't worry! I've already got a lock down on the system." When we breathed a sigh of relief, Rupert muttered, "For all I know, he's taken a dump on the side of the road, and we could be heading nowhere."

I didn't look, but I heard the harsh slap of skin-on-skin and the answering "Ouch, man! What was that for?"

Narrowing my eyes, I knelt down in the same position Dallas was in previously. I didn't touch the handkerchief, but just stared at it in amazement.

Could this seriously be happening? I hoped with everything in me that this was a dream - a very bad dream. I honestly half expected Aston Kutcher to pop out at any second to tell me that I've just been Punk'ed.

Shit fuck! My stomach coiled and bile rose to my throat. I had to force back the stubborn tears burning my eyes. Now was no time to be weak. For all we knew, Adrian and Caleb could be severely hurt in a place much worse than where Sam and I were kept.

We needed a plan and we needed a good one.

"Right," I straightened, forcing a hard mask over my face to hide how truly frightened I was. "Rupert, write down the coordinates and address. Jesse, I need you to check to see if those reinforcements are going to make it in time. We move out in fifteen. Dallas, supply everyone with some firearm," I turned to Sam and raised an eyebrow. "That is, if you know how to hold a gun?"

Sam flushed guiltily but didn't lower his eyes.

Figures.

"Who made you the man in charge?" Jesse demanded. "Far as I know, you have no experience in this kind of thing,"