Chapter Fifty-Four

**Aiden**

I had been brooding at the bar for the better part of the day, trying to rein my anger in as well as ignore the throbbing in my jaw. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to find the little fucker who had taken Elli and beat the holy shit out of him until he told me where she was.

The problem was, while that would be immensely satisfying, I knew I wouldn't get the answers I was after and worse still, I'd probably be the one who ended up in jail.

Noah Winters might be some kid from a rich family but he wasn't normal. Everything he had done didn't scream of your average schoolyard bully. He was sneaky and clever. He had been able to stalk Ellie for this long, not to mention cause the most amount of damage with very little effort. He was a sociopath or worse, a psychopath and his parents were giving him free rein to do as he pleased.

There was a much smarter albeit longer way to getting Ellie back. It was obvious the police weren't taking this too seriously for one reason or another. I hadn't totally worked out what was going on there. So far I was down to two theories, neither of which sat well with me. It would be easier just to assume it was because they were inexperienced to the point that could be argued as negligent but that was too simple an excuse. No, my mildly drunk brain was more inclined to believe that the police didn't care because Ellie was from a prominent family. That or Noah's parents had already paid the police off.

Taking another mouthful of my bourbon, I didn't bother looking up from my seat at the bar when someone sat next to me. The bar wasn't hugely busy so there were plenty of seats for the person to choose from and yet they sat next to me.

"Can I get two bourbons, no ice?"

The familiar voice made me freeze for just a moment as guilt licked up the back of my skull.

To say I was surprised to be hearing Liam’s voice again so soon after he punched me would be putting it mildly. I had almost resigned myself to the realisation that Liam would probably never speak to me again. It felt very much like the time we got into a fight at school when we were thirteen. It had been my fault and I was sure Liam would give me the cold shoulder for eternity. However, the next day we were talking again as if nothing had happened.

This was very different though.

Glancing up, I watched as Liam paid for the drinks without looking at me before sliding one of the glasses over to me.

"What's this?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"A peace offering." Liam replied before taking a sip of his drink then working to shrug his coat off.

"Figured it would be me crawling back to you offering an olive branch of sorts."

"Dunno about an olive branch but I figured I owed you." Liam shrugged. "You were right about the cops. They are useless."

I said nothing to that. I wasn’t in a position to gloat.

“So tell me about this Noah kid and why you think he has Ellie.” Liam asked.

“I don’t think, I know.” I replied, finishing my drink in one mouthful. “He’s obsessed with Ellie, so much so he broke into the house to plant a camera and follow her everywhere. We went to the police several weeks ago, before...well you know.” I couldn’t bring myself to talk about Ellie’s suicide attempt. “We don’t have any solid proof but we think he was behind Ellie’s drink being spiked. It seemed like no matter what we did, he just found a way to get to Ellie. It was dragging her down but we thought we had figured it out. She left school, she was doing better. She had been attending self defence classes and counselling.”

“The detective mentioned you had been away. Did you leave Ellie alone or…”

“No, she was with me.” I replied reluctantly.

There was a long silence that followed.

“Remind me to kick your ass later.” Liam muttered after a few choice curse words.

“Sure.” I replied.

“So now what?” Liam asked.

“Find Ellie.” I replied simply. “The cops won’t find her so we have to.”

“How? We know nothing about this guy?” he sighed heavily.

I realised then Liam looked exhausted. He had been on a flight for god knows how long only to come home and find his sister missing. I hadn’t been able to sleep and I was effectively running on fumes so I could only imagine what this was like for him. The thing was the military trained you to run on less than empty. You slept when you got the chance but you also had to be ready for anything. This was second nature to us but that didn’t stop it from leaving you feeling like absolute shit when you hit hour 72 without any sleep.

“Not necessarily true.” I replied, getting up to round the bar. “His parents are pretty respected. Daddy is a property developer and mummy is a doctor. Also, I thought you might give Anna a call.”

Anna was a very good looking girl that Liam had a fling with the last time in town. It ended abruptly and it’s safe to say Anna might be Liam’s number one hater. However, she worked at town hall. It was a long shot but I thought maybe she would be able to give us something on the Winters which could bring us closer to find their shitbag son and hopefully Ellie.

The mention of her name certainly had Liam grimacing in displeasure. I could tell he’d rather walk over hot coals than talk to the blonde bombshell but we needed to start somewhere and so far, from what I could tell, Noah hadn’t shown his face at school.

“I guess I better go make some calls.” Liam sighed, standing up.

“Here,” I poured him another drink. “On the house.”

“Fucker, you let me pay?” Liam gawked.

“Well I couldn’t refuse your olive branch.” I pointed out, smirking when he flipped me off.

---

Two days.

Noah left me trapped in this fucking cell for two days.

I’m certain he put me in this room on purpose so I could watch the hours slip away. Another day came then went out and then another came in...

I hadn't slept in that time either. How could I? The place was freezing cold and I couldn't help but fear that at any moment Noah would be back. Between that heart-attack inducing anxiety and the horrific despair over being trapped like a bird in a cage, sleep wouldn't come. I kept repeating to myself to be strong and not let Noah win but at some point the tears had come and I had let out every ounce of my terror and panic within those four walls. It only came when I knew Noah was nowhere near. Then the floodgates opened and I poured every sick twisted emotion out as if purging myself of a poison that was crippling me.

By the time Noah slithered back, I was empty and done. I was too exhausted and too numb to even look at him. That numbness was a shield though. At least it would come to be one for my mind when Noah started up his next twisted game.

"Well don't you look like crap?" He sneered as he walked into the cell, letting the fall shut behind him. "Not sleeping?"

I bit my tongue, holding back all the horrible things I wanted to scream at him. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of thinking he had affected me in some way. Sure it made him angry but it also meant he wasn't getting what he wanted.

It also meant I could focus.

I had been sat on the cot this whole time, not even bothering to move when Noah came in but I had seen the small slip up Noah had made as he came in.

He had left the door unlocked.

I wasn't sure if that was a mistake or not but I'd be damned if I wasn't going to take this opportunity to try and escape. My plan wasn't foolproof but I was hoping I remembered enough from my self defense classes to stun Noah if not knock him out long enough to make it out of here. After all, there had to be an exit somewhere.

I just needed to take this one step at a time.

I flinched back as Noah stalked towards me with a dark look on his face that sat somewhere between maddening excitement and predatory determination. I didn't want him to touch me or be anywhere near me but I forced myself to hold my ground, my heart racing as I waited for the right moment to act.

It came when Noah went to grab me by the hair. I kicked out as hard as I could, my freezing cold foot smashing into his ribs and gut with all the energy I could muster. Noah doubled over and I quickly smashed my fist into his nose. The sound and feeling of crunching bone was enough to have me retching but I couldn't stop now. Shoving him onto the bed, I darted off of the cot, ignoring the curses and screams of pain behind me. I could barely hear them over the sound of my own blood roaring my ears.

My limbs felt like jello as I stumbled into the door. The adrenaline in me had my hands trembling and fumbling as I grabbed the handle and pushed. Part of me didn't think the door would open but relief washed through me like hot water when it did and I ran down the corridor looking for an escape.

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A/N: we are very close to the end now so i just wanted to take a moment and thank you all for reading and please check out my latest creation *Legion*