MISSING

Three

It turns out Joshua's parents hadn't reported him missing because he sent them a text message, saying he was staying at a friends house the night before. Harry and Charlie pull his phone records and discover that the area his text was sent from matches with that of Louis last text.

As they look further into Joshua's case they realise how similar to Louis it is. Obviously Joshua didn't send his last text, like they believe Louis didn't either. Charlie and Harry belive that they are linked. but they need to find out why Joshua's body turned up before Louis which is not the usual pattern. They have a theory, but it's also hard to process and they just hope they find Louis soon.

When Charlie and Harry finally make it to the boys apartment that night they exit the lift and find
The boys all in the lounge room, on their computers. The house looks exactly the same as Harry and Charlie's office, pictures of Louis all over the room with suspects pinned up. Maps of Louis last steps are on the board with red circles around certain places. There are takeout containers all over the floor. It looks like the boys haven't slept in days.

"Guys, have you slept?" Charlie asks as he puts dinner on the bench and starts dishing up the boxes.

"No time" Drew says

"Boys, come on. Let's have a break and have some dinner hey" Harry says

The boys sigh but agree, rubbing their tired eyes as they meet the other boys in the kitchen.

They all dig into their food, this has been the routine for the past week. Harry and Charlie have practically moved in to the boy's two spare rooms and they go over the case and any new leads they find. The boys have all taken leave from their jobs until Louis has been found and normally Harry and Charlie wouldn't allow the family to be this active on a case but the boys are determined and will stop at nothing to find Louis. Harry and Charlie think involving them will help the boys mentally and it might be good having fresh eyes on everything.

"So any new leads?" Edward asks Harry and Charlie.

"Was the body found today related to Louis case?" Drew asks

"We think so, but somethings not right, Joshua was missing 24 hours before his body showed up. The killer usually waits two weeks to the day before he will place the body" Harry says.

"So what does that mean?" Scott asks afraid of the answer

Harry and Charlie look at each other and sigh.

"Tell us" Drew says

"We think maybe the killer is trying to throw us of the scent" Charlie says

"We think.....we think he might want to....keep Louis" Harry says swallowing hard.

"Keep him?" Drew asks

"What does that mean?" Scott whispers

"We've seen this on a few cases before. The killer takes a shine to one of his victims, they mean more to him than the others. They become more addicted and possessive of their victim. Joshuas killing might be the result of his frustrations, Louis has thrown him and he's trying to get control back. Which means killing and replacing what Louis was supposed to be. So he can keep Louis longer" Charlie says.

The boys try to process what they've just been told.

"Wait so, he wouldn't be hurting Louis then? He's definitely still alive?" Edward asks hope in his voice.

"We think he's alive yes" Harry says and the unanswered question doesn't go unnoticed, but the boy's can't think of Louis being hurt like that.

"So what do we do" Scott asks