Teenage Runaway

Chapter 24

Liam sat up and rubbed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean he's here, Liam. I know he is."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now," Liam said, his voice sleepy. "I'll kick his ass in the morning, go back to sleep."

She tried to. All night she worried, tossing and turning, getting out of bed numerous times for a drink of water, snack, or to use the bathroom, checking on Bentley each time she arose. By the time the sun started to rise, her eyes were drooping but her mind was racing, patiently waiting for someone else to get up to get her mind off of things. As she stood at their window, watching the sky go from pink and purple to yellow and orange, her phone vibrated on her night stand.

"Hello?" She said quietly into her phone. It was Sam.

"Taylor, thank god. I'm freaking out. I think my water just broke, and it's only been twenty six weeks. This isn't normal, right?"

"Holy shit, you need to go to the hospital."

"I can't, Niall's sleeping, and I still haven't told him."

"Wake him up!" Taylor said, trying to shake Liam awake herself. "Go to the hospital, I'll meet you there." She said, hanging up.

"What is it?" Liam said, swatting Taylor's hand away.

"Sam is in labor, we have to go. Call Harry and Louis to tell them."

Liam quickly got up and got dressed. Taylor packed some things in her Long Champ; headphones, phone chargers, going downstairs to pack some snacks and juice. Liam went to wake up Taylor's mother to bring her along while Taylor went to wake up Bentley and get him ready. After getting Bentley dressed, she met everyone else in Liam's sleek black escalade. 

As they were driving on the main road that stretched throughout the city to get to the hospital, an undercover police car turned on his lights behind Liam. 

"What?" Liam said, glancing at the rear view mirror. "I haven't done anything." He put his blinker on and turned into a shopping market parking lot. None of the stores had opened yet--only a few vehicles littered the lot. The cop followed Liam and parked next to him.

A man got out of his truck, a hat concealing his face as he approached the car. The backseat door opened on the drivers side, and the man hopped into the car and took his hat off. Taylor gasped when she turned around and her eyes met Jake's, who promptly removed his gun from his holster and pointed it at the back of Liam's head.

"Drive." 

Liam did as he was told, taking the directions Jake was giving him. Jake had lowered his gun from Liam's head, now directing the barrel to his side--so if a real cop was driving by they wouldn't see the weapon's silhouette. Shortly after, they arrived in the suburbs of London, a lower middle class strip of town homes. Jake put his hat back on and his gun in his pocket, still cocked and ready to fire. He directed them around back, and slid open the dingy door to the basement. 

The basement was unfinished, with concrete floors and visible insulation. Other than the water heater and various electrical wiring hanging from the ceilings and dangling from the walls, and an aged wooden table with multiple hand guns on it, only four chairs stood.

"Sit down," Jake said as he slid the door shut, waving his gun around behind them. The door got jammed as he was halfway through, and Jake struggled to jimmy it out, keeping his back turned to his hostages. 

Taylor glanced at Liam and her mother, then at her son in her own arms. She had wondered why Jake had been stupid enough to leave out his murderous weapons so freely. With Jake's back still turned, she put Bentley on the floor and pushed his body behind hers and picked up a silver revolver. The door shut at the same time Taylor had pulled the hammer back on the gun to cock it, thankful that it had been loaded.