Something about the empty house feels wrong, and when I see the mess in our 'team' room, my stomach twists into knots. There's broken pieces of tech strewn across the table top, and Victor's laptop is open and running beside it. The cabinet door is hanging open, and the earbuds and night vision goggles are all gone.
My intuition screams out at me when I don't find a note. Something's happened that had them scrambling, and now, none of them are answering their phones. I pull out the burner cell that Victor gave me and power it up for the first time. I try each of their numbers with no response, and with this lack of communication, I'm beginning to freak out. I dial Phil's cell, but remember that he's in surgery until four, and am not surprised when it goes to voicemail. I hang up without leaving a message and take a seat at the table. My mind is racing and I'm having a hard time pulling my thoughts together.
I take a deep breath and practice grounding myself. I smell the residual scents from each of the guys. I separate out Kota's spice, Victor's berries and moss, Silas's ocean, and Luke's vanilla. I rub my hands across the glossy table top and hear the faint squeak as my skin skids across the lacquered surface, and as I center myself in the sounds and sensation, the panic recedes and I'm able to think a little more clearly. I pull Victor's laptop in front of me and go through his lessons in my mind.
Since it's already on, I don't have to worry about his passwords, and I open up his tracking program. It shows all nine of their phones inactive, and when I run it back, they all go dark within minutes of each other at a vacant building downtown. I remember that Owen carries a backup, and when I look for it, I find it about seven miles away, near the docks. The second phone is also inactive, but it didn't become so until at least twenty minutes after the others.
The tiniest spark of hope flares at this small clue.
I look at the clock and see that they've been off the radar for over an hour now, and I know in my heart that something is wrong. My family is in trouble, and I'm the only person who knows. I think about calling Rosie, but I know that they're at the funeral parlor right now, and I'm not sure how much they'd be able to help, anyway. Kayli's team is out of town, and for a moment, the panic threatens to come back with a vengeance. The urge to escape to my bathroom for a release is intense, like a siren's song, and I almost give in.
I slam my fist on the table and growl. I can't give into this right now. The boys need me. I make a snap decision and jump to my feet. I grab the three go bags in the corner, as well as the laptop and a stun gun. I pull out my key ring and find the dark blue key. I send a little prayer of thanks out to North for thinking to give me copies of all of their car keys, and I load my equipment into Silas's sedan.
I take a deep breath before adjusting the seat.
You're not alone anymore, Sang. You have a family, and they need you to find them.
I start the car and activate the GPS on my phone. I may know how to drive now, but I'm still pretty clueless as to where anything is in this city. I'm so utterly in over my head, and there's only one person who can help me right now. I pull out of the driveway and head toward the hospital.
***
While I'm waiting for Phil to get out of surgery I plot out the path from where their phones went dark, to where Owen's backup last pinged. I stare at the map, hoping that I'm wrong. If you follow the road from Owen's phone for a couple more blocks, you end up directly in front of the building that Volto took me to. The one that he blew up.
Volto.
Oh God, Volto has them!
I find the program on Victor's laptop that is linked to the cameras and pull up the feeds from each of their houses. I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for, but I know that I need to find something more if I'm going to be able to come up with a plan.
