Before it's too late

Disconnected

THEN

The horse's hitch smelled horrid Trevor noted when he gained his barring's. His head was pounding; it felt as though Hector was still bashing his head into the wall. He stood slowly as the car stopped moving. Was this his final destination? He tried to look out the small barred windows but the light had long disappeared from the sky and he could only see shadows within the darkness. The car started up again and Trevor stumbled against the wall, leaning on it for support. The vibration from the car's moment made it seem like Trevor's brain was jello, giggling around in his skull. He fell to the ground clutching his head as he went. He curled up in a ball unable to move.

When the car finally stopped Trevor wasn't in any condition for a fight, let alone stand up. Hector and Drake dragged him out of the car and dropped him heavily on the prickly ground. Trevor tried to open his eyes but he was being pulled again, his head hitting everything in the progress. The grounds sticks, rocks, and weeds never felt so harmful.

Trevor felt the ground smooth out under him but he didn't dare open his eyes, he heard the clank of chains and hushed voices as he was moved to his temporary home. Trevor's eyes flickered open to see the old industrial barn. It looked like it was converted to a slaughter house. Trevor let the tears fall down his face as he saw a man strapped down to a table, his organs spilling out of him.

"A new one? Already?" Prudence the woman standing over the open man asked as she put down her carving knife.

"Had my eye on this one for a while Pru, remember" that was a lie, the brothers were out having fun when they saw Saoirse smash his car. They initially wanted Saoirse, she was a fighter but she left in a hurry. Trevor was the easier target even though he put up a damn good fight.

"Looks like he got you good" Prudence stated as she motioned to his lip. Drake had a spilt lip but it was nothing compared to what he had planned for Trevor in the days to come.

"I will survive, I can't say the same for any of them." Drake laughed as he squished Trevor past the cage door, and Trevor landed on an area of damp blood and dried tears. Trevor charged at the door crawling with urgency on his knees, his hands making it to the doors opening but it only slammed on his fingers, Trevor withdrew his hand cursing at the pain radiating through his fingers. They felt broken from the impact, as pain traced up and down his fingers a numbing pin prick feeling, causing his hand to tremor.

"Where is the other one?" Prudence asked as she stuck her head out the barn door only to see an empty hitch.

"Handled..." Prudence rose a skeptical brow, "I have my mind set on another one, don't worry, it's still a pair."

"Stocking up for winter Pru, don't worry, we will get her." Trevor's mind raced, they got rid of Brandi who did they have in mind? But as the question went through his mind Saoirse's broken face appeared in his mind.

"No, no, no" he screamed pounding on the bars through the pain. "No."

NOW

"I don't think... well maybe... I can check on that... thank you... I would..." Max Coleman put the phone down and let the woman talk to the counter.

"Sounds like an interesting phone call" Brent said sarcastically.

"These people think I can fix all their problems with a simple flick of the wrist!" Max said out ragged but also laughing. He picked up the phone, the woman was still blabbering. Officer Irons just shook his head, a small smile on his face as he pulled up the Waters, Danvers, and Litt cases.

Cassie and Caleb Danvers belongs were found destroyed by what was suspected to be bears and there was no sign of them being there. The truck was still there and all their supplies and clothes and phones from what the ranger could tell. There was no real blood near the sight, that is until about half a mild down the unmarked trail where the dogs found a pint of dried blood and what appeared to be human skin.

"Abduction, send it to Irons and Coleman because they are just great at finding these people" Brent said harshly to himself as he flipped to the next file on his desk.

Sandra and Rodrigo Litt. Pulled over at a gas station and went to use the washroom an hour later their car was still parked out front and there was no sign of them. Except for a bit of blood which verified them along with a security camera that saw what was later found out to be a stolen car make its way in and out of the station rather quickly.

"Abduction," Brent said again "send it to Irons and Coleman because they are just great at finding these people."

"What are you yammering on about?" Max asked as he once again picked up and put down the phone again. Brent spun around in his chair.

"We suck at this" he stated and handed over the files.

"We don't suck, these people," he lifted the files waving them for all to see. "They suck. They suck for abducting people and leaving us to have these awful jobs." There was a long pause while Max took a swig of his Pepsi. "What would you be doing if bad guys didn't exist?"

"What do you mean?" Brent asked taking back a file.

"If all with right in the world and we didn't need to find evil people, what would you be doing right now?"

Brent wanted to say he would be with the one person he cared most about that he would never let him out of her sight again that if no evil existed he wouldn't take another moment for granted.

"Like if Jesus came back down to earth, apocalypse, rapture type situation?"

"No, well maybe. Maybe Jesus comes back but we are stuck here to clean up the mess..."

"No way man I'm going up when he comes down."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"I didn't peg you for the Catholic kind."

"Christian but not the point, I won't be here for the end of the world, thank you very much."

"Right, so you would be with some chick, without a job and just living life?"

"Yeah pretty much" Brent reasoned even though she wasn't just some chick, it would be his sister. "What about you?"

"I would be the president." Brent started laughing so hard his knee hit the desk and the phone fell off the desk and onto the floor, the wire pulled free and disconnected the call. "Damn it man, now when she calls back I'm going to have to listen to her whole story over again and how I'm ruining her life."

Brent picked back up the Trevor Waters case and Brandi Minnow's file as well. He had called the hospital but there was no improvement, and she was their best lead. Their only real lead.

Brandi Minnow was found in a forest 20 minutes outside of the suburb. There was no real trace of blood, hair, saliva, anything that could identify the kidnappers that sent her unconsciously into a tree. They had a direction, North, but that was pulling for strings. The hair that was found was of a man how reported his car stolen and his wife's. They needed Brandi to wake up and they needed her to wake up soon. What Brent didn't know was that Drake and Hector drove the wrong direction so if and when the cops found Brandi they would be looking in all the wrong places. They brought Brandi north while they went a good hour south afterwards. They had their plan set and packed. They knew what they were doing, after all they had done this dozens of times before.

Brent went through the medical report again and again but it did no use. He reviewed the report he did on the Water's and Saoirse but still was left with nothing sustainable.

"Yes, ma'am I'm sorry we got disconnected" Max started as he rolled his eyes in announce at Brent.