Alexis

It’s been a week since I talked to Noah. He asked me to give him a few days and it’s been a week. I told him that Lola had been kidnapped and he asks for more time? What part of kidnapped didn’t he understand? We still don’t have any leads on Lola and I have never felt so scared in my entire life. I spend most of the time at the safe house watching the twins. I try to keep them occupied, but they keep asking for their mommy. Frank has been so busy trying to find Lola, that he hasn’t spent much time with the twins either, which hasn’t helped the situation.

After putting the twins to bed, I find Oliver, Alex, and Thomas huddled together whispering. Oliver notices me watching him and touches Alex’s arm and nods in my direction. They all look at me and suddenly stop talking.

“Hey. Did you find out anything about Lola?” I ask, and Thomas shoots a suspicious look in Oliver’s direction.

“No,” Alex responds, and I glance at Oliver who won’t make eye contact with me

“Okay. I know when I watch police shows they normally say if a person isn’t found within twenty-four hours, it means…”

“We’re not the police, Alexis,” Alex cuts me off before I can finish the statement. “She was taken because of us and they are only waiting long enough to make us desperate enough to give them whatever they want when they ask for it.”

“How do you know that? How do you know Lola isn’t dead?”

“Because if she was dead, they would have already sent us pieces of her,” Alex states, and I wish I had not asked.

I don’t know how long I can stay in this house. There are too many people here and I am starting to feel suffocated. It’s been a week and a half since I talked to Noah. I am becoming painfully aware that Noah isn’t going to help. He couldn’t care less about Lola and even less about me.

I stare out the window and watch Thomas and Oliver in another intense conversation. I need to leave this house. I watch as Thomas storms into the house and looks at me. When I ask if everything is okay, he grunts and walks past me. He walks over and grabs keys out of the desk. “Are you going somewhere?” I ask and he looks at me and grunts. As Thomas is walking out of the door, his cell rings and he walks back to the kitchen to answer it.

I watch Oliver and notice that he is leaning against the black Suburban facing away from the house. I sneak out of the house and quietly crawl onto the Suburban floor. I need to get out and what safer place than in the backseat with Thomas and Oliver?

After ten minutes we pull out of the driveway. Thomas and Oliver discuss how unhinged Frank will become if they don’t find Lola. There is doubt in their voices that Lola will be found and if she is found if she’ll ever be the same. My heart sinks as I listen to them and I pray that Lola survives. After a few minutes of silence Thomas asks Oliver if they can make her talk. A wave of apprehension swept through me as I wondered who they were talking about? When Oliver mentions that she’ll have to die in the end my pulse began to beat erratically at the threatening in his deep voice. Thomas agrees as a chill black silence surrounded them.

Thirty minutes later the Suburban finally stops. Thomas and Oliver get out and slam the doors. I slowly get off the floor and sit on the backseat. I gasp when I see who they are meeting with. A cold knot formed in my stomach.

As I watched in shock, I feel a hand over my mouth and nose. I struggle for a few seconds and everything went black. A few seconds later, I am being laid down on something soft. I feel warm and comfortable. Maybe when I wake up this will be nothing more than a bad dream.

I hear several voices and they are all familiar somehow. Someone is asking how the hell she even got here. Am I the ‘she’ they are talking about? A second voice asks why someone didn’t check the backseat. I can tell they are pissed off and it’s because of me. I trust them, they won’t hurt me. Did I just say that I trust them? These people have lied to me for most of my life and now I trust them?

Someone is shaking me and telling me to wake up. No, they are telling me to wake the fuck up. They are pissed off and it’s still directed at me. I must be dreaming, I couldn’t have seen what I think I did. Someone is shaking me harder and their voice is getting louder. I moan as I slowly force open my eyes. I am in a big room and there are bright lights. Dark eyes stare into mine with concern. I recognize those dark eyes. They are gentle and belong to Oliver. He narrows them at me and I realize that those dark eyes are pissed.

“Do you want to explain to me what the hell you were doing hiding in the fucking backseat?” Oliver grunts as he helps me sit up on the mattress that is lying on the floor.

“I…I needed to get out for a while. I thought the safest place would be to go with you and Thomas,” I whisper, and Oliver tilts his head and grunts at me.

“You thought that, huh? You thought wrong,” Oliver practically yells, and I jump as I pull my hair away from my face.

“Oliver, did I see…” I start to say, and Oliver cuts me off.

“I am taking you back to the house. You didn’t see shit…do you hear me? You didn’t see shit.” He repeats himself slowly as he pulls me up by the arm. When we get back to Suburban, Oliver opens the passenger door for me and he gets in the driver’s seat. I turn to ask him where Thomas is, and he holds up his hand. He isn’t telling me anything.

Oliver wants me to stay quiet and say I didn’t see shit. That isn’t going to work for me and I have questions that I need answers too. I know that I won’t get those answers now, but I plan on getting them soon.