"I found something!" Easton said as he burst through the door.
"What?" I jumped up from my chair.
"I had some other deputies help me comb through footage from the traffic cameras Eloise's kidnapper drove past after taking her and we managed to get an ID on our kidnapper," Easton said as he moved to the kitchen table where I was standing.
Easton placed a file on the table and opened it to reveal pictures of a man dressed in all black. "Meet Leo Stetson. He is part of The White Lions gang. And do you know what is even better?"
I raised my brow at Easton.
"The plates of the car that the kidnapper was driving match the plates of the car that Eloise's father was driving when he was in town. So we finally have hard proof that her father is involved with her kidnapping." Easton said and his smile faltered a bit when a realization hit him.
"Why do you have that worried look on your face?" Lexi asked carefully as she moved to stand closer to Easton.
Easton's brows scrunched in confusion. "What worried look?"
"Your face does this scrunchy thing." Lexi said as she waved her hands and mimicked the face Easton made.
He stared at her as he crossed his arms over his chest. "No, it does not."
"Guys please, can we focus on saving Eloise?" I snapped. I was getting antsy. We were so close to getting Eloise back and I couldn't wait a moment longer. I needed her back and safe in my arms again desperately.
"Sorry." They both said at the same time. They both exchanged weird looks.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "What did you want to say before." I said as I looked at Easton.
Easton's gaze moved back to me. "Oh right. Well if Eloise's father is working with The White Lions gang the urgency to find Eloise just got a lot more serious." Easton paused before continuing. "The White Lions gang does not like loose ends and at the moment Eloise is a loose end. They'll probably only keep her alive until they get want they want from her." Easton blew out a breath and looked anywhere but at me.
"She's tougher and smarter than you think." I said angrily as I left the room. I needed a breather. It felt as if my nerves were eating me alive and I just couldn't take it anymore.
I took a seat on one of the porch steps and buried my face in my hands. I missed Eloise so much. This whole ordeal has shown me that I wouldn't want to spend a day without Eloise in my life. If we were ever getting out of this mess, which I believed we would, I was going to ask her to marry me. I now understood that Eloise only lied because she was only doing what she thought was right. I couldn't even count all the times I made mistakes only because I thought I was doing the "right" thing and thus I couldn't fault Eloise for doing the same. I knew that now. I just wish I could tell her that.
"Drew, it's time to go get your girl!" Lexi grinned as she opened the front door and stepped onto the porch.
"Easton found something?" My eyes widened as I jumped up.
"He might just have found where they are holding Eloise." Lexi said as we made our way back into the house.
As I entered the house I noticed Easton who sat at the kitchen table typing away on his laptop. He noticed our presence and moved the laptop so that we could see what was on it. It was an address of an abandoned factory.
"I thought Stetson's name sounded familiar. So did a little more digging and turns out it wasn't for nought. There is a property just outside of town registered under the name of his brother. Vincent Stetson, the boss of The White Lions gang." Easton said nervously.
If The White Lions' leader were here it meant we were in real trouble. Vincent was desperate. His presence here confirms it. Which was bad, because desperate people were often dangerous.
"When can we leave?" I looked at Easton.
"There is no we. I am leaving right now. We both know I can't let civilians get involved in a potentially dangerous situation." Easton said pointedly as he stood up from the table. I stood up a moment later.
"There is no way you are going there alone and I need to see if Eloise is okay. And you can't stop me." I crossed my arms over my chest. Easton took one look at me and sighed as he rubbed his hand over his face. He knew I wasn't going to just sit on the sidelines knowing someone I love was in danger. So Easton sighed and nodded.
"Fine, but you have to listen to every word I say. If I say "stay back", you stay back. Got it?" Easton eyed me. I grunted in agreement. Easton grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter and made his way to the front door. Lexi and I trailed after him.
Easton spun around as we neared his parked car. "Where do you think you are going?" Easton asked my sister with a raised brow. "With you guys, obviously." Lexi said as she placed her hands on her hips. Easton moved closer to my sister. Every instinct told me to step between them, but just as I was about to intervene Lexi gave me a hard stare. "I can handle myself" was written all over her face. Okay then.
Lexi tilted her head to the side as she smirked at Easton. "You know I'll just follow you if you don't let me ride along, right?" Easton held her stare for a moment and then sighed. "There's that familiar Owen's streak of determination." Easton chuckled.
Easton opened the backseat door for my sister. She climbed in happily. "One of these days your recklessness might just kill me, Owen." Easton said to my sister before shutting her door. "You and me both." I chuckled.
***
It was a bit of a longer drive to the factory than I anticipated, but eventually, we made it. The factory was just outside of town. It was almost dark as we climbed out of the car. A yellow glow illuminated from inside of the factory. "Looks pretty occupied for an abandoned factory." Lexi noted as she came to stand next to me. I hummed in agreement.
Easton pointed at my sister. "You stay here. We need someone to be here if we need a quick getaway."
"Sure, that's why I should stay here." Lexi chided but stayed where she was. One less thing to worry about at least. I had a feeling Easton would agree with me. "You stay behind me at all times, okay?"
I rolled my eyes and nodded. I would do anything if I could just get Eloise back safely.
We slowly but surely moved closer to the factory without a sound. As we got closer I heard voices coming from inside of the building. Male voices.
The White Lions gang no doubt.
"That girl better start talking or else she might just lose a few fingers." A man's voice echoed from inside the building. "She'll talk, don't worry. She's too worried about her pretty little boyfriend getting hurt." Another voice joined in. A familiar voice I realised. It was Eloise's father. I clenched my fists. I was gonna kill that man with my bare hands for dragging Eloise into this mess.
"We need to make a move now." I urged Easton on. "This was just supposed to be recon mission." Easton sighed. "We can't leave Eloise here with those sickos! You heard what they have planned for her!" I whisperyelled. Easton let out another sigh. "Fine. Just let me call the station for reinforcements." Easton took a few steps away from the factory to avoid being heard.
Easton pulled out his phone from his back pocket and dialled the station's number. Someone picked up at the second ring and Easton turned around explaining our current situation to the officer on the phone. I didn't tell Easton, but there was no way I was waiting around for reinforcements. I quickly slipped away as Easton had his back turned to me and made my way to one of the factory's other side entrances.
I pulled the steel door open that was surprisingly unlocked. I guess the kidnappers didn't think that anyone would come poking around at an abandoned factory. Well, do I have a surprise for them.
I quickly slipped into the factory. I was blinded by the factory lights as soon as I stepped inside. I blinked a few times and took in my surroundings. There were a ton of boxes in front of me. I peeked around the boxes and saw that I was in fact in a very large room. Probably the main room. My anger bristled as I saw Eloise's sore excuse of a father and three other men. My brows lifted as I noticed a lion tattoo on all three men's wrists. Members of The White Lions gang were in the factory. Well, this just made my rescue attempt a lot harder. Just great.
I decided then and there if I was going down, I'd go down fighting for Eloise. I took a deep breath and stepped in front of the boxes, revealing my presence. Heads swirled in my direction. The White Lions gang leader- Vincent Stetson took a step towards me. "This the boyfriend?" Vincent Stetson looked at Eloise's father and he nodded in response. Stetson smirked. "You just saved me the trouble of finding you."
I held my chin up high. "Just give me Eloise and we can forget this ever happened."
Stetson and his two goons laughed in response. "If you think you're leaving out of here alive you made a big mistake, boy." Stetson smirked as pulled out a gun from the back of his jeans and pointed it at me. I let out a soft curse. Maybe I should've grabbed a weapon of a sort before I came rushing in. Some type of rescuer I was.
I did the only thing I could think of and tried to buy myself some time before the cops got here. "What could you want so badly that you had to kidnap your own daughter?" I directed my question at Eloise's father. He stiffened at my unexpected question before curling his fists. "I only want is partially mine." He huffed. "And what is that exactly?" I shot back at him with a steely look. "I want my part of the inheritance." He crossed his arms over his chest. I stilled. This whole mess was because of some damn money? Damn, Eloise's father really was some messed up dude. Eloise never even mentioned any inheritance.
Just as I was about to stall further the front door of the building burst open. Easton came rushing in with a few other officers who all had their guns pointed at the gang. The gang member's faces twisted in disgust. The gang members all but took one look at each other before they began shooting. I leapt behind the same boxes I stood behind mere minutes ago. I quickly eyed the rest of the room searching for any other doors. My eyes snagged on one steel door on the other side of the room. I immediately made my way to it as the shoot-out progressed on the other side of the room. I was just a few feet away from the door when it abruptly flew open.
I couldn't believe my eyes. A few feet away Eloise stood in a doorway. She was alive. A wave of relief washed over me. I ran as fast as I could and captured Eloise in my arms as I lifted her up into my embrace. I pulled back and pressed my lips against hers. She moved her lips against mine longingly. "I missed you too." I said as pulled back to look her in the eyes.
Eloise looked over my shoulder to the scene behind me and I set her down on the floor gently. The shooting had finally stopped. Eloise's father and two of the gang members lay on the ground, dead. Eloise's eyes widened. "Are they...are they dead?" She stammered. "Yes. I'm sorry you had to see that." I said as I kissed her hair and pulled her close. I held onto her for a moment before letting her go. "Let's get you out of here. I think you've been here long enough." I said as I led her outside through the back door. Easton and Lexi were standing near the car as we stepped outside the building. We silently walked over to them.
Lexi's face brightened as she saw Eloise. Both women ran to each other and captured each other in a hug. Tears were running down on both of their cheeks as they pulled away and smiled at each other. "Don't ever do that to me again." Lexi said through the tears. "Trust me I'm not planning on it." Eloise shivered. Eloise shook it off and gave Easton a small hug as well. "Thank you so much for finding me." She smiled at Easton. He smiled in return. "It wasn't just me, it was all of us." He gestured to Lexi and I. Eloise turned to face all of us. "Thank you guys for everything." Eloise smiled through the tears. I put my arm around Eloise and pulled her to my side. Eloise let out a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad it's over."
Easton cringed. My brows rose in alarm. "What?"
"Vincent Stetson slipped away during the shootout." Easton said as he kicked up some dirt.
"Did he?" Lexi smirked as waved her hand at the figure lying behind her car. My mouth fell open. The car blocked my view of the body before, but now as I took a step closer I could see him as clear as day. Lying unconscious on the ground was the boss of The White Lions gang who just got outmatched by my sister. I smiled at the thought. Easton's eyes widened in surprise.
"Is that-"
"The one and only leader of The White Lions gang." Lexi smirked.