15

Three months later:
Ty looked like absolute shit. That was something Pam and Yaz could definitely agree on as they watched him miserably swallow a scalding cup of coffee at Pam’s Place after yet another restless night. He went there almost every day, desperate to hold on to any piece of Lo he could find after all this time apart from her.
The case was running cold. They had tried everything they could think of in trying to find Lo but it seemed like she had disappeared off the surface of the earth. There wasn’t even enough evidence to keep Lou and Ben in holding as prime suspects and the assholes knew it. Her car had disappeared and no car that fit its description had been seen anywhere in the state. Her phone had been disconnected from the network.
Everything was driving Ty fucking crazy and the fact that he couldn’t do anything about it was a stick in his ass. Pam and Yaz noted that he had lost weight and the grey smudges under his eyes were now an everyday accessory. He was eating little and sleeping less. Thanks to Lee, his business was still thriving but he really couldn’t care less. The girls knew that it hadn’t been easy for them and as such, they couldn’t imagine how it was for Ty who loved Lo so much. What tortured them the most was the knowledge that Lo wasn’t at some resort relaxing and sipping cocktails. Lou and Ben would met out the worst punishments they could think of on her; they could possible kill her. Yaz surely wouldn’t put it past the douchebags. But they had thought of everything they could and even the police had started getting tired of the case. The only thing that kept them looking for her was Ty’s position and power: even the governor owed Ty a few debts.
Ty sat and hardly noticed when Pam dropped a croissant in front of him and sat across from him, although he was vaguely aware of the aroma that wafted into his nostrils.
“Ty,” Pam started, “you can’t go on like this. We are all scared shitless for Lo but you won’t be any use in finding her if you don’t eat.”
Pam didn’t get it but Ty humoured her and nibbled on the croissant. He missed her like crazy but he also didn’t let himself forget what she was probably going through. Whenever he felt pangs of pain due to hunger, he reminded himself that Lo was probably not being served buffets and it was his fault. Whenever he couldn’t sleep, he wondered what kind of cave Lo was locked up in and whether she would be able to sleep either. It was really just a vicious cycle of wondering and continually hoping she was okay.
“I’m meeting with JT again today,” he told Pam when he was halfway done with the croissant, “he’s the only person who still thinks there’s a chance to find Lo.”
Pam noticed the way his voice broke when he said her name and her heart broke a little more both for him and her friend. She was no detective and she had no idea how these things worked. They had already tried everything she could think of and more. Pam’s Place had closed for two weeks but she had been forced to reopen. She missed Lo terribly and she refused to think of what that bastard Lou had put her through.
“She will be found, Ty. And she will be fine,” she said, even doubting herself as she said it. Her friend was a strong son of a bitch but everyone had their breaking point. She just hoped Lou hadn’t found it.

Three hours later, JT walked into Pam’s Place and spotted Ty immediately. In his forty years in practice, he had never come across a case he couldn’t crack and he wasn’t about to start now. It had been difficult to crack this one but today, he had found something that he thought would be a great lead.
He sat down and got straight to the point, “One of the men I had watching the house noticed a small fire at the backyard. He went to check it out when it died out and amongst the ashes, he found this.”
He brought the brooch out of his coat pocket and slid it over to Ty. It had once been either gold or silver metal but it had been blackened by the fire.
Ty saw the brooch and picked it up, instantly remembering the day Lo had met Gem, right before she had left to give Lou the money.

* “I don’t know how you manage to deal with my asshole of a brother to be honest,” Gem said.
“Oh come on,” Lo replied laughing, “he’s nothing but a big teddy bear.”
“Yeah, with fangs.”
They both laughed and spoke some more, almost forgetting Ty who sat on a stool beside Lo in the kitchen, content in making more chicken wings disappear.
“I really like you too, Lo. You’re much better than the airheads my brother is usually around,” Gem said, making Lo blush slightly.
“I like you too, Gem.”
Gem unpinned the brooch that was on her cashmere sweater beneath her apron.
“I want you to have this. So if my brother ever fucks up, which I know he will, you won’t have a choice but to return this to me so I can convince you to stay with his stupid ass.”
The brooch was beautiful, with silver metal interwoven among emeralds to form a butterfly.
“Gem, it’s beautiful. I can’t possibly take it. It must cost a fortune.”
“Come on. It’s not even silver; it’s just silver-plated.”
“Okay but you have to take something from me too.”
“Deal.”
Lo removed the silver ring that glinted on her thumb and handed it over to Gem, collecting the brooch which she slipped into the pocket of her ass-hugging jeans.
*
Bringing himself back to reality, Ty said to JT, “Gem gave this to Lo on the day she went there. So that means they burned her clothes but this brooch is what’s left.”
“At least that means we are sure they have her,” JT said, “Do you want me to send some men to search again?”
Ty swallowed visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, “No. I’ll take care of it. Just stay nearby in case I need help.”
They left the bistro and Ty called Lee to meet him at Lou and Ben’s house.

The two men knocked on the door of the duplex that Ben and Lou shared and Lou wrenched the door open. Immediately he saw who was at the door, he rolled his eyes, “Not you two again.”
“We know you have Lo,” Lee said, pushing his way into the house despite the fact that Lou was considerably bigger than him. Ty followed.
“I’ve told you dick-wads a billion times. She’s not here.”
“Then why was this in your backyard?” Ty raised the brooch in his hands. Lo visibly faltered but he regained his composure.
“We burned some things Ben’s lady-friends brought over. Some spring cleaning.”
“Spring cleaning but this house still smells like horse shit,” Lee said.
Lou only smiled in reply.
Ty could feel his anger bubbling madly. He wanted Lo and he wanted her NOW. Fuck this bastard for taking her away from him. Before long, all he could see was red and with a roar, he lunged at Lou, who was at the other side of the living room.
He had the other man on the floor and had pounded him into a bleeding nose, a blackened eye and a swollen cheek before Lee pulled him off. With great difficulty, Lee wrestled a seething Ty out of the house, Lou hurling insults at them along the way.
“I’m driving you home, Ty,” he said, “get some sleep and I’ll come to your place first thing tomorrow morning.”

Lee didn’t show up until noon but even then, he rushed into Ty’s bedroom like hellhounds were at his feet holding some prints in his hand. In the bedroom, Gem was trying to coax Ty into eating some sort of soup she had cooked up.
“I think I know where Lo is,” he announced. Ty stood faster than the eye could catch and was in front of Lee.
“Where?” he grunted.
“When you rushed at Lou like the barbarian you are,” Lee explained as he walked over to the huge table at the side of the table and opened the prints wide, “I noticed that your second step sounded very hollow compared to the other steps you took.”
Gem and Ty were behind Lee, peering down at the prints that were on the table. They looked like the architectural plans for a house, “I made some calls and found out that all the houses on that street are owned by the same real estate company and I found the architectural firm they enjoined the work to. With some bribes, I was able to get a copy of the plans.
“Like I expected, every house on that street has a basement that can only be accessed by a trapdoor in the middle of the living room. Terrible planning, to be honest, but the basement runs across the entire house, as you can see here, and the center of Lou and Ben’s living room is covered with a rug. On the plans, the trapdoor opens inwards instead of outwards so there’s no requirement for a handle that would poke through the floor. My guess is that you stepped on the trapdoor yesterday, hence, the hollow noise.”
“You’ve always been too smart for your own good, Lee,” Gem praised.
“I know,” Lee replied smugly, “so Ty, what’s our next step?”
Ty didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He also couldn’t believe that he had been so close to Lo and instead of noticing the sound of his own footsteps; he was busy bashing an idiot’s face in. He was ashamed and angry at himself but this was no time to beat himself up. He had to find Lo and make sure she was safe.
“Our next step, Lee, is to get my woman back.”

It was Ben who opened the door this time.
“What do you ass-wipes wan-” he couldn’t finish his sentence because Ty had given him a skull-breaking punch right in the center of his face. He reeled back and held his face.
“Motherfucker! You broke my nose,” he wailed. Surely, his nose now stood at a painfully awkward angle.
“I was hoping to smash your face in but I’ll settle for a broken nose seeing as there are no nose-jobs in jail.”
“Lo’s not here. Now GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE,” Ben shouted and Lou could be seen coming down the stairs to see what was causing the commotion, still sporting the wounds from his encounter with Ty the previous day.
Ben’s outburst earned him a swift kick to the stomach by Ty and a punch to the neck when he doubled over to hold his midriff. Lou saw Lee raise the rug that covered the trapdoor and bolted back upstairs.
Lee pushed the trapdoor in and the smell that came out was like a slap on his face. His eyes actually started to water.
“Ty, go in. I’ll stand guard here in case Ben regains consciousness.”
Ty nodded and descended the stairs that led into the basement, steeling himself against the awful smell.

“Lo! Lo!!”
Lo tried to raise her head but her muscles felt like steel. She was so weak she was surprised her ears could pick up the sound of her name.
But that wasn’t Lou’s voice, neither was it Ben’s. It was a voice she only heard in her memories. Yes, that must be it. She was fantasizing again. She was imagining how wonderful it would feel if Ty would come save her. But he hadn’t come all this while… she highly doubted he was coming at all.
“LO!” the voice called again. Despite the fact that she was sure it was only her imagination, the voice nagged at her heart and demanded an answer.
With all the energy she could muster, she opened her mouth and tried to lick her dry lips but her tongue was too swollen. So she just opened her mouth and forced any sort of sound out. It could have been a groan, grunt or sigh for all she knew. She had given up on talking, sound or screaming herself hoarse a long time ago. But then she didn’t have time to ponder what sort of sound she had made because that little effort was all she had left and she once again slipped out of consciousness.
Ty picked up the sound that was a cross between a sigh and squeak and looked to his right. When he stared hard in the darkness, he made out a figure and rushed to it. She was unconscious but he felt for a pulse in her neck and it was slow, but present.
As carefully as he could, he carried Lo and started climbing the stairs. It took so little effort to hold her in his arms; she was the weight of a child and Ty felt none of the fat he had known her with before. She had reduced to an emaciated skeleton. From what he could see and smell in the darkness, she had been relieving herself where she was tied up; there was urine, shit and vomit everywhere.
He finally made it into the living room and looked down at the love of his life. He couldn’t help it; tears flowed. Her once round cheeks were now sunken and she had bruises everywhere, from welts to knots and her skin was different shades of yellow, red and purple as it healed. It was just then he noticed that her hands were bound with rope so he gently laid her on the carpet and untied the ropes. The skin on her wrists was swollen and a fiery red colour. Her wrists visibly pulsed as blood was finally able to flow through them and she let out a small breath of relief even in her unconscious state. He also noticed that the middle of her thighs was sticky with semen and blood.
Ty picked her up and Lee covered her up with a blanket that he had taken off a couch seeing as she was totally naked. The steely look on Lee’s face told Ty that he had also seen the obvious swell of Lo’s belly.
Lo was pregnant.