Shadows In Durango

*****Vincent's POV*****

"Would you just calm down for a minute?!" Reid bargains, as I launch another glass off of the wall in my office, smashing it in to a million tiny pieces.Content is © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

"How is there no sign of her in any hospitals?! Where the fuck is she then? Where has he taken her?!" I rage, not liking the update that my father had brought back to me an hour after he left.

"Vincent you won't be able to find her in this state!" My father deadpans next, as I feel myself losing more and more patience as time stretches on.

I just watched her pass out on a sidewalk before being hauled in to the back of a random guys car. How did they expect me to remain calm? This was all my own fucking fault!

Any sadistic maniac could have her right now for all we know and all because I fucked up and kept secrets from her!

"Hey?" We all turn to find Emma poking her head around my office door, before her tired eyes grow wide at the destruction I had caused in here.

It looked as though a tornado had hit the office... but I needed an outlet for my anger. It was either this, or I would go out and find Daryl to beat the shit out of him instead... and so they should be glad that I chose this option! "Your silly mother keeps fucking calling me! Let me go see what she wants, I told her to stay away from us today." My father mutters, eyeing another incoming call on his phone with a hard expression.

She was the last person I needed to see right now! I feared that if she got in my way today, I wouldn't hesitate to strangle the air right out of her...

Watching him leave, I reach up to tug at my hair, pacing back and forth with the shards crunching beneath my feet.

This whole thing was soul destroying! There must be something else? Something we are all missing? She can't just vanish with a stranger without a trace!

"What I don't understand is why she even stopped to talk to him? It's as though she recognised him..." Reid gives me his input, as Emma enters fully to join us now - her curiosity piqued.

"My father seems to think that she just felt dizzy or something and asked him for help... before she collapsed." I state, continuing to pace with my brows pulling together in deep thought.

I felt as though there was some secret code to crack, as though we were missing some key information...

"Wait what?! What do you mean she collapsed?! What did I miss? Did you find something?!" Emma panics, reminding us both that she had been asleep this whole time until now.

Crap... maybe we shouldn't have spoke about this in front of her. She could do without the extra worry over her friend.

Sighing, Reid quickly turns to look down at her. "Yeah they found some camera footage from around town. One was Sofia walking, the other was at a cafe and the last was her walking not far from your place before a guy in a silver car pulls up..." Reid trails off, as Emma's eyes grow wider by the second.

"W-What?! A guy? Do you know what he looks like? What happened next?!" Emma rambles, her gaze darting between us both as I leave it to Reid to explain.

"Yeah... but the way she stops when he pulls up, it's almost as if she recognises him at first, as if she is nervous on what to do next. That's what I gathered from it anyway. But the worst part is, Sofia seems to take a dizzy turn when he climbs out of the car and she collapses on the pavement." Reid tells her, as Emma's eyes begin to build with water.

"S-So he just took her after that?" Emma confirms her suspicions as Reid only nods which causes for her to gasp in horror, beginning to cry.

Hearing it out loud all over again was hurtful, tugging at my heart strings since Sofia could very well be in terrible danger right now and nobody even knew where she was...

Emma quickly wipes her tears away, shaking her head as if trying to force herself to think straight. "I need to see the footage," she says, her voice shaky but determined.

I glance at Reid, and he nods, moving to pull it up on his phone. "It's not easy to watch," he warns, handing it over to her reluctantly.

Emma's hands tremble as she takes the phone, her wide eyes glued down to the screen.

The silence in the room stretches, thick and heavy as Emma watches the video, her breath catching as she reaches the part where Sofia collapses.

"Oh my God..." she whispers, her voice barely audible.

Her hand goes to her mouth, but then suddenly, she freezes, her eyes narrowing. "Wait..."

My pulse quickens as I stop pacing. "What?"

Emma looks up at me, her face pale but her expression sharp. "She told me something the other day... the reason why she was upset that day at school but didn't want to tell any of you... I can't believe I didn't think to say this sooner! Oh my God!" Emma begins to babble, her face contorting in horror as if the pieces of the jigsaw were finally starting to click.

"What the fuck is it?!" I rush her, needing to know if she had any information that would help us to solve this.

"A-At school, when she went to do her storage room duties, somebody else was in there that she didn't expect to see." She starts, before I cut her off and grow increasingly impatient.

"Who the fuck was it?!" I demand sharply, as Reid gives me a look to say 'watch it' which I completely ignore.

"A guy called Asher, or Ashton maybe? I think it was Ashton... but to cut to the chase, he's her dick ex-boyfriend from back home... she was really upset because apparently he's just moved in to town and lives with his grandmother now, so what if he's the one behind all of this? That could explain why she seemed to know the person who pulled up in the car, couldn't it?!" Emma poses the new information as I can't begin to process what she was even saying.

Why didn't Sofia tell me this right away?! It wasn't exactly small information?! She knew I was keeping her safe!

"Wait, I'm sure Daryl was put in charge of showing the new kid around at the start of the week - said it was a guy and that he seemed pretty decent... it's maybe worth calling to see if it's the same guy?!" Reid suddenly adds, as I move quickly towards my trashed desk to grab my phone and notes feeling frantic.

Sofia had told me about her ex and about how he worked under her father for some time - ultimately treating her like shit as a result of that too.

The fact that he was now in town and had run in to her at school, before she goes missing isn't a fucking coincidence is it?!

My jaw tightens. "I need to know where he lives? What else do you know about him?" I ask Emma, my tone desperate as I write down everything she had shared so far to avoid missing out on any details.

Emma shakes her head frantically. "I don't know much, just that Sofia was really shaken up with seeing him. She didn't want to tell anyone because she felt like you already had a lot going on, she didn't want to pile that on top. I really thought she might have skipped town, I can't believe I didn't think of him being behind this sooner!" Emma suddenly sobs, blaming herself as Reid moves to comfort her.

This wasn't her fault, although I did wish she would have shared this major news with us sooner, but at least she had told us about it now...

I pick up my phone, doing what Reid suggested as I call Daryl without even questioning the choice, hoping that it would lead to more information about Ashton.

Daryl and I weren't exactly on good terms, but right now, he could be the key to getting Sofia back home and safe... or so I hoped.

The phone rings endlessly, every second stretching out like torture until Daryl finally answers. His voice is thick, probably from lack of sleep. "Vincent? What the hell do you want now? I told you that I didn't find anything else at the cafe..." "I don't have time for your attitude, Daryl," I snap, pacing again. "The new kid you showed around earlier this week - was his name Ashton?"

Daryl is quiet for a moment, as if trying to recall. "Yeah, Ashton something. Why?" He tests, not understanding where this was going.

My grip tightens on the phone. "Did he mention where he was staying in town? Give you any details at all?" I push on, before hearing him sigh heavily.

"Just said he was an army kid, that's why he moved school at eighteen. But why do you care? The guy seemed normal enough." He retorts, as my muscles tighten at his words.

"Normal enough?" I bark out a laugh, my patience long gone. "That 'normal' guy is Sofia's ex from back home, and I now believe that he's took her. As for the whole army kid story, that's all bullshit, he told Sofia he lives with his grandmother in town but whether that's even true we don't know. I need his fucking address, Daryl." I state the facts, as silence fills the line next.

There's a pause on the other end, and I can hear Daryl fumbling with something.

"Shit... fuck, I didn't know, he didn't exactly say much. I mean, he was kind of quiet, but I'll swing by the school and see if the buildings still open today, maybe I can go in and sneak his file?" Daryl offers, his tone shifting to one of concern next. Time is running out...