Bonded

Chapter Thirty Four

"She's calling again," James said as he held out the vibrating phone in his hand.

Louis curled the blanket around himself even more as he sat on their hotel bed. He hid every part of himself with the comforter and leaned his forehead into the headboard, completely ignoring his partner.

"She's been calling all weekend," James reminded as the phone started to light up anew. "Shouldn't we answer?"

Louis humphed at the gentle worry in James's voice and in a fit of self rage he snatched the phone from his partner's hand and whipped it against the wall.

James sighed helplessly as he slid off the bed and picked up the phone. The screen was cracked and jagged in multiple places so he shut it off and left the room.

Noah stood up from where he sat at the table as James came out. "Did he talk to her?"

"No," James said as he handed the phone over to Noah. "Could you get this fixed for him please."

Noah frowned as he assessed the damage. "Do you want me to try to talk to him?"

James shook his head. "You two fight on a good day."

"I wouldn't mess around in a situation like this," Noah argued.

James reached out and patted Noah on the shoulder before sliding into the seat across from him. "I know you wouldn't."

Noah looked down at the exhaustion on his cousin's face and left to go to the kitchenette to brew some coffee. The sound of it dripping echoed through the silence as the smell permeated the entire hotel room.

Noah returned shortly after, placing a cup before James.

James ran his hand over his face. "How's the search going?"

Noah sat back down at the table. "We still have police assistance. After your request, they have extended their protocols and are still treating it as an active missing persons case but I don't think they will continue that for long."

"It's fine," James exhaled. "We should be grateful for their help however long it lasts. What about the CC footage?"

"We were given access to the city's surveillance system but the camera's are too cheap and old to pick up anything useful that late at night. We are trying to track a couple potential leads though.

"That's a shame," James said as he rubbed his hand aggressively through his hair. "If you need anything else from the city let me know and I'll talk to them. Has the order been seen by a judge yet??"

"Yes," Noah declared, happy to finally have something positive to share. "The emergency order was seen by the judge and he sided with us. Daniel will not be able to leave the institution until after Harry is found and in the meantime the lawyer is working on compiling a stronger case against him."

"That's good," James said with a nod. "With Isaac and Ollie's help hopefully it won't take long for them to gather enough evidence."

"The lawyer said he should be done in a day or two," Noah agreed. "Isaac refused to leave Daniel most of the weekend but surprisingly still met with the lawyer whenever he called."

"It was part of our agreement, he has no choice," James cut in. "If he wants our help in forcing Daniel to complete the program the least he can do is assist without being begged."

Noah hummed in acknowledgement and nodded slowly. "Well, despite his reluctance to leave Daniel all weekend, he still showed up to work today and seems to be willing to do whatever."

James took a drink of the coffee. "If he's willing to help then cover his work and have him drive around with Ben to any dangerous or sketchy area that would be risky for Harry to be at. We might as well use their bond while it lasts."