"Tell me everything," JT said steeling himself for the worst. Was she that pissed off with him to run off without an explanation? Surely she can't be that irrational.

Then anger took over. If only she'd have met with him or taken his calls before thinking the worst, then he'd have explained by now. Guilt flooded him next. Could he have made a better effort to pacify her? He knew he got sidetracked with this whole Tom business. But damnit he was doing this for her safety!

Common sense was close behind, nipping at the heels of his guilt. How could she have known? He never told her! Back to square one, if only she'd taken one call! 'Damn that woman,' he swore.

Nervous energy flowed liberally on both sides of the phone. Aunt Jasmine took a deep breath and rattled off as quickly as she could, "Well she woke up early, too early, had a bad dream she said. Then she went on and on about this woman she saw at the shelter. Neither Mrs. Puri nor I have ever seen this person Tara was talking about..."

"So insomnia, nightmares, and hallucinations?" he recapped ignoring the other details.

"Oh, stop interrupting. And then she and I spoke for a while, and Gwen confessed that she was sad, lost, and on the precipice of ..."

"Did she cry?" He curled his toes and rocked back and forth on his feet. Damn! This situation was a whole lot worse than he had imagined. He didn't understand it. He didn't understand her. How did they end up here? One moment he's spinning around the world courtesy the best kiss he's ever been at the receiving end of and the next, she's not speaking with him.

"Yes, and stop interrupting! It's very annoying. And then this woman came to meet her..."

"What woman?"

An exasperated sigh later Aunt Jasmine continued, "I'm getting to it! Now listen quietly. Erm, I think her name was Mary... Matty... Matilda. Yes, that was her name. Matilda. Anyway, I got this weird feeling, and I asked Mrs. Kapoor to watch. She's the only one here who can understand English when foreigners babble. So Mrs. Kapoor said Matilda wanted to grab some tea and Tara agreed. So within minutes, Tara was rushing out, bag and wallet in hand. And that's the last we saw of her." Aunt Jasmine finished with a loud huff like she had been running a marathon.

"And this is disturbing because?" JT asked, confused. It seems Gwen had a reason to step out and that she hadn't disappeared.

"Because she left ten hours ago!" the older woman sighed melodramatically. She twirled the archaic telephone wire around her fingers.

"Oh." Now he was stumped. "Really?" He asked scratching his head.

"Weren't you listening to anything I said?" Aunt Jasmine asked frustrated with her nephew. He didn't seem to be taking this as seriously as she had expected.

"I did. It's just ... she's a big girl, Aunt Jasmine. If she wants to go out with her friend, I can't fault her. Yes, perhaps she should have told you how long she'd be gone for, but still..."

This time Aunt Jasmine cut in, "Young man, you listen to me. There is something very wrong here. I say so, and therefore you must listen."

He disliked it when she used that tone with him. It was very motherly, and he was done being a kid a very long time ago. "If you're so worried, perhaps you should call her?"

"Sarcasm? Nice try. And I did. Every hour for the last ten hours. Her phone is switched off. It has been since morning." Aunt Jasmine was being very patient with James. Or at least she was trying. Couldn't he see that if this were normal, she wouldn't be bothering him?

"Okay, so she ran out of battery. No big deal." Before jumping off the deep end, something he thought his Aunt had done, JT wanted to make sure he covered all bases. She was presenting him with information, and he was trying to think of logical situations and explanations. The last thing he wanted to do was step into this space Gwen wanted, like some crazy-worked-up-worried-to-death stalker.

"James, what if they're lost? What if they were in an accident? What if something worse happened? Mauled? Robbed? What if she ended up like ...?"

She didn't go there! To mention his parent's accident was unjustified. "Aunt Jasmine that was a freak accident. You can't possibly... now, wait just a minute. You know something don't you?"

This was so not going the way Aunt Jasmine imagined the conversation would go. She was worried about Gwen, and she thought her nephew would jump in and help. Isn't that what she had taught him all these years? Why was he stalling? Why wasn't he worried? And now what was this mumbo-jumbo? "What? Me?" She asked completely confused.

"No, sorry Aunt Jasmine. Not you. I'm here with Gwen's ex-boyfriend. I think he knows something about this. I will call you back when I know more." JT trained his eyes on Tom's face.

Tom was trying to look very uninterested, but the conversation had caught his attention. And while his face was stoic, something was gleaming in his eyes. Something that looked a lot like satisfaction.

"Be careful." the older woman said before disconnecting the call.

JT slid the phone in his back pocket and stalked over to Tom. He was still unconvinced that foul play was involved here. However, he was not going to take any chances. He was going to be his intimidating best and hope that his Aunt was wrong and that the look in Tom's eyes was something else. His blood rushed through his veins like a freight train out of control. To consider the alternative... JT shuddered.

"Why do you look so pleased?" He snarled at Tom.

All the others look confusedly between JT and Tom.

"Bro, what's up?" Dev asked, shuffling forward and grabbing JT's elbow.

He shrugged off the gesture. He was not going to be calm about this. Not till he was certain. His eyes bore into Tom's. "Aunt Jasmine called. Gwen's missing, and it looks like he knows something." JT finished, a firm finger stabbing Tom's chest.

"No, no, I don't. But I am enjoying your predicament." Tom shook his head vigorously. The local anesthetic applied before the stitching had removed all the throbbing aches and pains in his head and jaw. He shook his head a couple of times more enjoying the light-headedness.

"Bullshit, you are part of this set-up. I can feel it in my bones." It was late. With so many things to be done on Gwen's property, the day had stretched on forever. JT had been battling with Gwen even though she was missing from the battle. The events of the night, the rain, watching his hard work blow up in smoke, literally, and now this. He was ready to snap. A distraction. Something that would quell the unease growing inside him.

"No man, I don't," Tom replied, pretending to study his fingers.

Tom's nonchalant response and attitude cut into JT like a knife. This was real! "Cut the crap, Tom. She's your money ticket out of trouble. If you were uninvolved, you'd be just as worried."

"Can I deck him for you?" Aalam interrupted, cracking his knuckles. "At least then we can get past this back and forth quicker."

"Lay a hand on me again, and your precious Gwen will be lost to you forever." Nastiness dripped from Tom's tone. An admission and a warning, all rolled into one. JT's blood boiled in his veins. His Aunt had been right all along. Something was amiss, and now, he knew for sure.

The five men exchanged glances. When did Tom find courage? Where did that sniveling, groveling, whipped man disappear to? It didn't matter. They still had him, and he wasn't going anywhere. Now that he confessed to being involved, the latter was a definite.

JT smiled at that last thought. "Right, first things first. Let's get the fuck out of here, in style." He said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Jute rope gnawed at Tom's wrists, and a scarf was wrapped around his face. It stank like old motor oil, and god knows what else. Pushed, shoved, tripped, elbowed in the ribs till his leg connected with a military police jeep. Tom arrived at his destination dizzy, bruised, and in pain. His stitches had reopened, and blood slowly trickled down his chin.

However, he still grinned. The cogs in Tom's mind sputtered to life. He had to think of a way to walk out of here. He just had to. With Gwen vulnerable, he could finally get what he wanted. A huge paycheck in his pocket. And a very angry loan shark would be satisfied. He was close. So very close. He didn't care what Gwen did with herself after as long as he got out of trouble.

"Now what?" Dev asked.

"It doesn't look like he will speak." Brij pitched in.

"We can't hurt him, and you know that right," Aalam said. Although he really wanted to hurt that grinning fool.

"Yeah, pity about that."

"We don't need to," JT said. There was more than one way to get information.

"How will we find her?"

"Send the boy scouts out to the TRH's," JT said to Aalam. "If Matilda isn't holed up with the slimeball, she will be close by."

Aalam pulled out his phone and hurried to the nearest empty room to make his calls.

"Dev, this is yours," JT said flinging Tom's phone to him. "Get wifi on that shit. Check messages, WhatsApp, texts, emails, photos, browser history, phone log. Anything that will give us a lead on what she looks like, where she might be staying. You know the drill."

"You got it."

An hour went, by. And then another. And then another. Or perhaps it was the same hour ticking by slowly? JT didn't know anymore. He pressed redial every five minutes. "Come on, Ring... Ring ... Ring..." He silently commanded the phone. "Damnit!" the flat tone told him that her phone was still switched off or unreachable.

He stomped around the room like a pissed off elephant, ready to charge at anything that moved. He hated it when everything stood still. It was suffocating. Something needed to change and soon. The tension was thick. Every ten minutes he would hover over Dev's shoulder and ask the same old questions. Dev sighed with the mounting stress and irritation. Tempers were short and answers, even fewer.

As the first rays of the sun threaded through the darkness, suffusing the expanse with hues of pink, purple and yellow, the most welcome sound came with it.

"I got something," two voices said in unison. Dev came rushing out the same time Aalam came running in. They looked at each other and chuckled.

"What the fuck is so funny?" JT was at his wit's end.

"I think I found her," they sad in unison, again.

"Spill, Dev first."

"Here are pictures of Matilda." He handed out printouts "...And from her last voice mail, she's at the Queen's Meadow hotel. Not shacked up in any TRH mind you."

"So she has Gwen there? Tom would join them and then what? He expected her to just fly back with him to London? Just like that? No, it can't be that easy. There has to be something we're missing." JT mused looking at the picture in his hand.

"A leverage perhaps?"

"Sounds like it. "

"Let's go find out shall we?"