First of all, I've got lots of hearts for all of you who have come this far with me, Bella and Iverson.

You are amazing and this clueless writer hearts you!

Iverson paced back and forth in Biggie's living room, every thirty-five seconds he would stop behind the chair Biggie sat on and reel back and forth on his heels, then he would peer at the laptop Biggie was working on and groan at the lack of progress before repeating his activity all over again.

"Can't you make it go any faster?" He asked impatiently during one of his intervals. Time was crucial and every other second they spent without the knowledge of Daniel's whereabout felt like a pierce on Iverson's sanity.

"I don't hack for a living bro, but here's a thought the system might actually cooperate if you stop breathing down my neck." Biggie said, leaning forward towards the screen as he made several random clicks.

Claire huffed from her position at the corner of the room. "Maybe we should just call the police." She suggested a second time since the boys got back from Cynthia's place. Apparently Cynthia had gotten into her car and driven away like a scared cat without giving them the address to the house she said Daniel bought three months ago. Now her phone was switched off and she was probably out of the country already.

Iverson had gotten on the Internet immediately, Real Estates had public records and it didn't take long until he found not one but four houses tied to someone by the name 'F. D. Campbell'.

Iverson sooner made the connection, remembering Daniel's last name had been Campbell when they first met during freshmen, before he'd suddenly changed overnight and became Jacobs. The problem was three of the houses had their purchases and addresses privatized for whatever reason and the only available one happened to be the one Daniel wasn't in.

So Biggie offered to try hacking into the RE database to retrieve the information they desperately needed but so far they were short on lucks.

"Biggie, let's call the police." Claire whispered again.

"I'm almost through with this stuff." He said then casted a quick glance at his girlfriend and noticed her worried expression. "Look Cupcake, I fancy the cops as much as the next guy but it's been two fúcking weeks since Bella's been missing and look what incredible job they've done so far."

"Yeah, that ásshole inspector James is busier trying to get in her mother's pant than doing any real searching." Iverson snorted in annoyance. He couldn't believe the police didn't even bother checking out Daniel's acclaimed alibi, they only gave her a phone call?!

He didn't know much about law but if that was how investigation of a missing person was carried out in the country then God help us all.

It wasn't mid-day yet and he'd had a fair share of surprises. No, scratch that. He was well and truly stunned with the turn of events, not only was Daniel Bella's brother but he owned the house they lived in and three other fúcking houses! Who the hell was that guy, really?

And he was so smart, he had even provided Iverson with papers of the yearly lease he claimed he got on their shared apartment so that Iverson would know their individual quota of the rent before moving in.

The more Iverson realized what a smooth snake Daniel had been, the stronger the dread ruffling his stomach got.

God, I hope she's okay. He prayed silently but knew it was a bit too late for prayers. She wasn't okay, he could feel it in his guts and it was eating him alive.

"Yes!" Biggie suddenly exclaimed and both Iverson and Claire rushed to crowd over him. "I got him! Son of a Pikachu." He drawled out and wrote the addresses down on a piece of paper.

Anxiety sizzled Iverson's body to the tip of his fingers like electricity as he hurriedly scanned the laptop' screen and tried to memorize what Biggie was jotting down, half of him was in the room and the other half of him was already running out of the door to the first and nearest address.

He straightened when Biggie stood up to hand over the piece of paper to him and Iverson quickly reached for it but Biggie had a firm grip on it and refused to let it go.

"Before I release this, I need you to promise me that if you and Bella end up together I get to be the Godfather of your first child."

"Really Biggie? Right now?" Claire snapped in disbelief as if she didn't know her boyfriend was missing some nuts.

"I'm very ruthless in business." Biggie grinned.

"Anything you want." Iverson said and snatched the paper from him. Wasn't the keyword here 'if'? And after what Iverson just did the night before, he truly didn't deserve Bella.

None of these would have happened if he hadn't gotten involved with Derrick's girl or if he had at least had the balls to tell Bella before she found out from somebody else, she probably wouldn't have kicked him out of the house, there wouldn't have been any misunderstanding with how Valeria chose to dress.

Bella wouldn't have tried to hurt him with words by telling him everything was for revenge, they wouldn't have gone to Kadeville, he would have been around to protect her from her psycho brother.

"No man, don't do that." Biggie shook his head in disagreement like he could somehow read Iverson's train of thoughts. "None of these is your fault."

Yeah right. Iverson turned his back on him and face Claire, he hadn't even believe she was missing and he'd jumped into bed with the first willing girls he found.

"Okay, so here's the plan. Me and Biggie will go and thoroughly comb out these addresses, break in if we have to, I'm not coming back without Bella. But I need you to get Jenna and I need you two to shadow Daniel's apartment. If he shows up there or you see any sign of him, call the police and call me immediately after."

"Right, got it." Claire nodded and picked her phone from the centre table, set to leave.

"I know how much you'd want to curse him out for hurting your friend but please babe, save that for when everything is clear. Do not approach him, he is sick and we have no idea what he's capable of." Biggie added, walking over to pull her into his body by the waist. "Do you understand?" He asked and she nodded again.

"Be safe, okay?" Biggie whispered and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Iverson sighed in exasperation where he waited impatiently on his toes by the door. Still, the act tightened his heart. He knew he didn't deserve Bella but he was selfish enough to want her more than before.

What if Daniel had done something really bad to her? What if Iverson never get to hold her again? What if he never saw her again?

"You and Claire make it look so easy." He said when Biggie finally joined him and they both half marched, half run to the car to begin their search.

"It's actually pretty easy, you and Bella are just mad." Biggie grinned.

****

Dear mother,

If you are reading this, I'm sorry it's too late. I simply cannot go on and I've decided to abandon the struggle. My heart is broken and my spirit is weak, my world is empty and I do not fit anywhere.

My life have been one mistake after the other and I am right to want to clear the space and do the world a favor. You should have let me go the first time I tried jumping off the bridge, you would have gotten over the heartache of the inevitable by now. I've accepted that my destiny is to go this way, I love you mother and I hope you don't beat yourself over this, it's my decision and there is nothing you could have done. Be happy mother and don't bother looking for my body, get that cat you've always wanted and name it Riley like you said you would.

                                                               All the love,
                                                                                 Isabella.

The words Bella had shakingly scribbled down with a gun pointed to her head as Daniel dictated what to write still haunted her in her sleep, her body shuddered and quivered every now and then even though she was barely awake.

Her temples pulsated angrily and the throbbing pain in her leg matched it rhythm. What she would give for a blanket and a chance to be able to curl into herself and cry. Or sleep. Or both.

"Bella, wake up."

The voice struck panic within her and she struggled to open her eyes quickly before he got upset and hit her again but her eyelids seemed heavy and weigh down.

"Wake up, Bella?" He said again with firm grips on her shoulders shaking her out of the darkness she so wanted to succumb to get away from him.

After much tried and his consistent shaking, her eyes finally fluttered opened and she stared into the concerned-brown eyes of Daniel through the haze of the hair matted across her face. He reached forward to brushed it out so he could see her clearly and Bella tried not to flinch at his touch.

"I think you're coming down with something, your temperature is very high and your eyes are red." He told her as he tenderly felt her forehead and neck with the back of his hand.

He crouched before her to check her legs and Bella bit her lip at the pain his touch caused even though he was being careful.

"It's infected." He said what she already knew with a helpless sigh. "I'm sorry it has to be this way for now. I promise we will put all these behind us soon and I'm going to see you smile genuinely again, I'll make you happy, Bella. I promise you." He said sincerely.

"I'm going to get our new passports from the CIA guy I told you about, we will be out of here as soon as possible, you'll see."  He said again.

Though fear almost split her heart open at his words, she managed a weak nod and a stiff smile.

She had hope now. It was very tiny and almost insignificant but it was all she had. That her mother would see right through the letter and know those couldn't be her words.

For one, Bella never call her mother 'mother', it had always been Momma or Mom when they disagree but Daniel didn't know that, she wrote it down just as he dictated.

Bella never tried to jump off any bridge, there was rarely any bridge in Kadeville. She had rather tried to OD'ed, good thing she never confided in Daniel how that went down and when he asked her to add another personal information to validate the letter, she told him about how her mother had always wanted a cat.

Which was true but she'd never talked about naming it Riley.

Riley, was the name of an ásshole her mother dated when Bella was in middle school.

"I shouldn't be gone for long so I won't sedate you, don't make me regret trusting you this one time, Bella." Daniel was saying. "I'll bring you something for your fever and food, what would you like to eat?"

Bella thought about it for a second, the thought of food made her hungry and nauseous at the same time. "Something really greasy." She croaked and Daniel smiled at her.

"That's all you've requested for since you got here. How about I bring you something different for a change?"

"Pepperoni pizza, with extra cheese and a side of chicken wings with fries and barbecue sauce." She couldn't help it, those were the kind of food she'd been craving since she got here. Maybe it had to do with the room and lack of air to her brain.

Daniel laughed and rose to his feet. "Alright then, I'll feed you fat." He said and ruffled her hair.

That side of him always warmed Bella's heart, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. She knew he was a prisoner to his emotions as she was his and she only had their mother to blame.

Hopefully, the Daniel she knew was still in there somewhere and would be fine if he got help.

But she also knew how fast he could snap.

As he walked out of the basement and locked the wooden door behind him, leaving her still chained up, she prayed he wouldn't figure out the lies she wrote in the letter. Because if he did, she was a dead woman.

Bella dozed off and on, treating herself to a steamy lucid dream of she and Iverson, more like memories to be honest. She felt like she was relieving the memory of the love they made at the beach and how they played after. She was so happy that night, Claire told her she was glowing.

It was one of the best days of her life and now it seemed like another lifetime ago.

Iverson left without saying goodbye. He left because she pushed him to, now she would never get to prove her love for him. She ruined what they could have had because of her uncontrollable temper.

Bella jolted awake when she thought she heard voices. She lifted her head and paid attention to the door, was Daniel back already? She wasn't sure how long it had been since he left.

"There's a door down here!" She heard a voice called out, it sounded familiar but it wasn't Daniel's and it was muffled by the door so she couldn't really place it.

She sat straighter and every part of her stood at attention, even the hair on her skin rose in anxious goosebumps.

And then there was series of knocks on the door and Bella almost jumped out of her skin in fright. She bit her lip hard and fidgeted nervously in her restraint.

"Hello! Bella you in there?!" The voice on the other side of the door shouted. It almost sounded like Biggie but she couldn't be so sure.

She started to cry silently. What should she do? Should she answer? Scream for help? Keep quiet for them to go away?

"Don't make me regret trusting you this one time, Bella."

Daniel had said before he left. What if that was him testing her loyalty? She dreaded what he would do if she failed him, if she betrayed him.

What if those were the police? She didn't want the authorities involved, she wanted help for Daniel not jail time.

"Hello! Anyone in here?!" The voice shouted again.

Every part of her screamed for help but she just stared longing at the door and bit her lip harder in an attempt to stay quiet and let whoever it was go away.