Hold Me Down (Peterick) ➳ Book 3

Two

Out of all the things Pete missed, waking up next to Patrick was the one  he missed the most. He missed the way Patrick would cuddle into him for warmth, his growing stomach pressing against him. He was probably seven months by now. Hopefully, he was okay. Wherever he was.

Ryan noted the way Pete had deflated when Patrick went missing. He'd felt it firsthand when Brendon was taken. That's why he was doing everything to find both of them.

They'd received the reports of a small attack hundred of miles from them on what appeared to be an abandoned building. The scouts who had been near the building couldn't identify what had attacked or who had been attacked, but it was something Ryan was going to look into. They hadn't authorized any attack; they didn't even know of the building. So who did?

Ryan was operating on Pete's orders. At least that's what everyone assumed, and that's what they were told. No one would want to follow the broken man sitting under a crown if they knew just how unstable he was. Josh had taken a nasty fall a few days ago; Fun Ghoul was still being repaired; Ryan was nursing a black eye—all of them would be fine, but Pete. . . .

They were doing what they could, but to Pete it wasn't enough.

Ryan knew Pete loved Patrick. He didn't doubt it for a second. But he also loved what Patrick came with, an heir. And sometimes Ryan didn't know which one Pete loved more. He tried to fool himself into believing that it was always Patrick, but by Pete's plans to find another suitable substitution he wasn't so sure.

"Can we try and find him before you go off with backup plans?" Ryan asked as he watched Pete pace the floor. "It's been a few weeks, not years."

"But weeks turn into months which turn into years. I have to have a backup plan."

"Why can't Bronx be king?"

"You know why."

It was alway a touchy subject with Pete, but Ryan never got it. Sure Bronx had been a product of an unintentional act of lust when Pete was younger, but despite the fact that he was illegitimate Pete had done everything he could do for the boy. Except marry Ashlee.

Pete couldn't bring himself to do it, nor would his father allow it. But in Arkkarredian law Bronx still had claim to the throne until a true heir was born.

"No. Not really," Ryan said.

"Ashlee won't let him."

"And you agree?"

"I think he could be great. But I think she has the best intentions for him. Better than mine."

"I'm sure you only want what's best."

Pete shrugged. "No matter. Once we find Patrick we won't need to worry about it. You said you had a plan, so hit me."

"Well, our biggest issue was Brendon and who kidnapped him. Agents Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley suspected Hayley Williams as his kidnapper and have proceeded to investigate some areas. They'll be near the explosion site, so why not have them do some digging before we send an entire army. If there's someone there they're more likely to trust Andy and Joe rather than any Arkkarredian guard that turns up."

Pete nodded slowly. "Do it."

"I'll call them right away," Ryan said.

*

Andy, Joe, and Gabe stepped out of the car and quickly scanned the area. No one was around, but that didn't mean no one was watching. Everything within a few miles of the large building had been carefully arranged, making it so painfully obvious that people were around.

"So what do we do? Knock?" Gabe asked.

Andy shrugged. "Well it's obvious we're here. So why not."

Joe walled over and confidently knocked on the door. The all stood around waiting for something to happen.

"Will they let us stay?"

"I don't know, Gabe," Joe muttered. "I don't know."

After someone had opened the door they were lead through a series of hallways and left in a room with the instructions to wait. They sat in silence, each mentally going through their story in their heads. One by one they were taken away to be questioned, each one passing inspection and given access to enter the hideout.

Dallon was assigned to show the three new members around and he did so will little enthusiasm. Until Brendon showed up.

Gabe didn't know if he was aloud to say anything, so he didn't, but Joe asked the question they all wanted to know.

"Who took you, Brendon?"

Dallon stiffened and shot Joe a look.

"He means nothing by that question, but he was the one who came to the conclusion that a woman named Hayley Williams kidnapped you after taking some from His Highness's office. He wanted to know if he was right," Andy quickly explained.

"Yeah, but she's not here anymore. She vanished sometime during the explosion. We're not sure if she's even alive," Brendon replied.

Joe smiled softly, proud at himself for having cracked the code.

"Should we tell Pete?" Gabe wondered.

As part of their conditions of being apart of the human rebellion Andy has requested they maintain contact with the crown and give them little to no true information about what they were discovering while looking for Hayley. The leading head of the rebellion operation hadn't been thrilled about it, but once Joe had laid down how bad things could go for the base if Pete were to come knocking—because this was the last place they'd checked in—he was more than willing to give in. Also Gabe had an arsenal of information to tempt them with. In the end the agreement was very satisfying.

"We'll give it a few days," Andy decided. "After all we just got here and haven't even had time to look around."

Gabe nodded.

"If you do anything to put our lives at risk I won't hesitate to kill you," Dallon threatened.

"Dal, stop it," Brendon snapped.

"You're already risking your lives by rebelling," Joe pointed out. "But we won't do anything to make it worse."