FIRE & BLOOD • EVAN 'BUCK' BUCKLEY / 9-1-1

69

EVAN

She was gone. Stella left without even telling me her plan and I couldn't decide how to feel about it all. Why couldn't she come to me? What does she plan on doing? I was mostly frustrated that she would even leave and put herself in danger after all we have been through. Risk her life just to keep ours safe. I don't give a damn about my safety. All I care about is her and I was going to start going crazy soon if I didn't hear her voice soon. Every single one of my calls have gone to voicemail. 

"Hey man, we need you to calm down. I know it's not what you want to hear right now but we know where she is. But we need you to not do anything. Neither one of you, let us handle this" Jay glances back and forth between me and Eddie. The detectives believe Gigi was taken hostage and could also be in Florida right now, being used as a tactic to get to Stella. Jay had placed a tracker on Stella's car and I couldn't be more thankful that he did because if he hadn't then we would be ten steps behind trying to figure out where she went. This is all fucked. I should be on a plane right now to be able to make it to Florida as fast as I can but both Jay and Ayla belive it's best that both Eddie and I remain here. I don't know how they expect me to stay put while a psychopath is going after my girlfriend.

"What's the plan? Are you guys going to Florida-"

"Buck, we have no authority to go to Florida. Ayla is on the phone right now with Hank telling him everything and seeing what we can do."

"So you expect me to just sit on my ass?" I practically shout at Jay but I can't help my emotions right now. 

"We need to do something" Eddie hasn't spoken a word since the detectives got here. He's been sitting on the couch, staring at the same spot on the ground. "I need to know that Gigi is okay. That she is alive so I need you guys to find this asshole."

"That was Hank. He knows the sergeant down in Siesta and is going to give him everything we know and will call us as soon as he can but he wants us to sit tight for now" Ayla walks into the living room, glancing around to all of us. Her face is the exact reflection of Gigi's it's unbelievable. I look to Eddie and catch the pained expression on his face as he looks to Ayla. 

"We will call you guys as soon as we know anything. Please, don't do anything stupid. I know it's a lot to ask in this situation but please... just call me if anything" Jay says to me, then looks to Eddie, waiting for us to tell him we will listen. I nod my head despite that voice in the back of my mind telling me to hell with waiting around. And I see Eddie give Jay a small nod as well before his eyes slide over to me, as if we both were thinking the exact thing.

We weren't going to sit around. 

***

GIGI

Everything was aching. I woke up with a pounding headache, squinting my eyes as they try to adjust to the bright light shining in through a window to my left. I blink a couple times and try to make out my surroundings but my vision is blurry, nothing was coming into focus and I feel extremely nauseated. My chest feels like it's going to cave in at any moment, heaviness taking over my body when I try to move. My wrists and ankles are still bound, this time to the metal frame of the bed. The room looks like a dingy motel. The walls were painted a dull beige color with horrible, filthy red carpeting with stains I had no interest in findig out what they were from. I tried moving my limbs but they feel detached from my own body, seeming too heavy for me. And the stench in this place...

My body goes completely still when I hear a toilet flush. I'm not alone then. A chill runs down my spine, my whole body shaking. Oh god, my head is killing me. The pounding was becoming unbearable and pressure was starting to build behind my eyes. Why can't I move? The sound of a door opening makes my body tug at the bounds but they don't give. I need to get away from him but I feel so weak. I flutter my eyes, blinking hard as I try to keep them open but it was impossible. A whimper escapes my lips when I feel the touch of cold metal slide up my abdomen. Hope slowly started to disappear as the reality of the situation sank in. Nobody was coming to save me. And if they did, it will probably be too late. Judging by the dark look in his eyes, he has no intetion of keeping me alive for long. I'm bait. That is all I am to him. 

"You can fight it all you want but you will be knocked out again soon. I'm not going to tell you what I gave you but I will tell you that it will make you feel like your body doesn't belong to you. Make you feel weak and vulnerable which is exactly how I need you to be right now if I want to get Stella. You see, I have been watching Stella since I learned she left Florida. I have been watching you and your other little friends too. Maze is it? And Amanda. I almost took Amanda because she really is the weakest link in your group but you" the laugh that comes out of him makes my skin crawl, "you are her favorite person. Besides her boyfriend, of course, but I have plans for him when we are done here. You and Stella are the closest which is why you are the lucky winner of a free Florida trip!" There was a hint of a smile in his tone. I had no strength to lift my head up and look at him. The room starts to spin when I try to move my head. "For now, I need you to sit tight and get some rest! We have work to do."

My scream barely comes out as one, there is no energy in me to muster out a real one in hopes that someone will hear me. Anyone. 

"Oh Gigi, no one is going to hear you. I picked this motel for it's vacancy. Nobody is around to hear you, they're not going to come to your rescue so, scream all you must but I think it's best you save that energy. You're going to need it."