Devil With a Shotgun

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

<Gavin Forrester>

Gone. Just gone. Vanished into thin air.

It's been two days since Victoria walked out on me and normally, I wouldn't be concerned but under these circumstances, with Talon so close to us, I'm freaking out. Usually after she walks out, she'll either come back or I'll find her somewhere in town but not this time. 

I have combed the town at least ten times since she vanished and there's not a trace of her left. She hasn't answered any of my calls or texts and she hasn't tried to contact anyone else we know. I know I might be just a little paranoid at the moment but somehow I get the feeling that wherever she is, she didn't go willingly.

"Gavin, I can't track her phone. It must be turned off or something." Ainsley calls from the kitchen table, interrupting my pacing and bringing me back to reality.

"It can't be. She's never turned it off." I mutter and walk towards Ainsley, my stomach doing somersaults as I stop right behind her.

"Genius, maybe it ran out of battery." She rolls her eyes and looks up at me.

"We have to find her. There's something wrong; I can feel it." I give her a serious glare and then sit down at the kitchen table with Ainsley.

"Well, how do you propose we do this?" Ainsley asks in a condescending tone.

"Damn it, I never should've let her go. I should've known something like this would happen." I curse and glare stonily at the laptop screen map which is empty.

"There's nothing you can do about it now except find her." Ainsley retorts and then begins to type something on her computer. "Let's see...She doesn't have any credit cards, her phone is turned off, her laptop was destroyed; damn, we lost a girl who you, yourself, made untraceable."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence, Ainsley." I grit my teeth as I try to think of some way for us to find Victoria.

"Is she chipped or anything?" Ainsley asks in a tone of someone who's just pitching ideas.

"Yes, but Chief Grayson had it shut down and only he can turn it back on." I say, my eyes staring at the ceiling as I attempt to get lost in thought.

"Maybe you should just call him and ask him to turn it back on. At the moment that's all we have to go off of." I turn sharply to Ainsley with an incredulous look as she finishes that sentence.

"Are you mental? I can't call up Victoria's father and tell him that I've lost his daughter! He'll be on a plane down here to kill me before I can even set one foot out the door! No, there has to be something else I can do." I rub my chin and try to come up with a better plan.

Silence envelopes the atmosphere and is only broken when Slick and Blaze come into the room, both pale and panic stricken. I raise an eyebrow at them and stand up.

"What happened? You two look like you've seen a ghost..." My voice trails off as my eyes land on the large, orange envelope in Blaze's hand. "What's this?"

"It's from Talon." Blaze shudders as he thrusts the already-opened envelope into my hands. "It was addressed to all of us."

I reach inside of the envelope and pull out some pictures and a folded piece of paper. My eyes widen when I see what the pictures are of. The first one is of a group of guys surrounding a helpless looking girl. They seem to be stripping her with a knife and the girl, my Victoria, looks completely humiliated.

My fists clench as I move onto the next picture which shows Victoria struggling against the group of men who are biting her and man-handling her. Anger burns furiously in my veins and then multiplies when my eyes land on a figure standing off to the side in the assault picture. Jeffrey sold us out...He frickin' sold us out to Talon Tenebris...I look at the third and final picture, tears burning in my eyes as I see Victoria chained up to the wall like an animal.