warnings: crime, language, violence, mentions of abuse

-

The atmosphere in the house felt cold, deserted, and lonely. The crunching underneath his brown boots made him look down, eyes fixed on the broken glass surrounding the beige carpet. Taking slow steps, he walked through the house, eyes trailing over the mess; tables turned over, wine glasses broken, curtains torn, windows shattered. A familiar sight made him kneel, grabbing the broken picture frame, its glass falling apart. His eyes examined the picture, getting up and walking through the rest of the house. Another pair of footsteps followed, as they walked around, taking in the shattered pieces of furniture and, a missing you.

"Mate, look at this." he turned, seeing his best friend bent down over the grey carpet, noticing stains.

The color stood out against the dull grey, bright red marks, and trails, all heading to the door, and disappearing.

"Who could've done this?"

His best friend looked him in the eye, eyes clouded in worry. "You know exactly who, Tom."

-

His feet paced his office, arms crossed over his chest as he was deep in thought. His brothers were sitting down in front of his desk, watching him pace around, their own thoughts clouded with concern and worry.

"How could he have gotten access to her house? We're the only ones who knew," he asked, as his brothers sighed.

"I don't know, Tom."

"Where's her phone?" he changed the subject, as his brother, Sam, grabbed a plastic bag, pulling out her black iPhone. "Give it."

He handed it to him, as Tom unlocked the phone, noticing the red bubble with a 20 on the phone app. Opening it, he noticed the various calls from an Unknown Number. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as his brothers picked up on his frustration.

"What's wrong?" He handed them the phone, as confusion crossed their features. "What the hell?"

"Now we know how they contacted her. That means whoever had her phone, worked with us." Tom said as Harrison walked into the office.

"Tom, we might have something," Harrison said, as he motioned for him to come, closing the door behind him. "I had Jacob look into our employment records, and we found a match. Jaxon Lopez, we hired him as a bodyguard about a year back. He hasn't come in, in over a month."

Tom nodded, "Look into him. Home addresses?"

"None listed. Bu-"

Harrison was interrupted by Jacob running inside, laptop in his arms. "Tom, I just got this."

Jacob placed the computer on the desk, all the boys crowding around before he pressed play. The screen was dark for a couple of seconds before it shifted focus, and the sight made everyone gasp. Your body was sat in a chair, arms, legs, and waist bound to the chair with rope. Burns were evident on your skin, eyes filled with hope, and tears streaming down your cheeks. Tom's stomach churned at the sight. As they kept watching, they noticed little things about your appearance; your shirt was torn, your shoes missing, your hair had been forcefully cut, and now sitting on your shoulders, a bright red word had been written on your forehead, branding you for the world to see. Whore. Your fingers were tapping against the wood of the chair, your gaze switching from the camera to the chair, frantically hoping whoever was behind the camera would understand.

"Mate, it's morse code," Sam spoke, pointing to her hand, as Jacob deciphered it.

Tap, dash, dash, dash.

Tap, dash.

Dash, tap, tap, dash.

"Jax." Jacob nodded, looking back at Tom.

"Alright, love, c'mon, give us more," Tom whispered under his breath, silently hoping you could tap out more.

Looking around, you quickly continued tapping out another message. You had been taught this method of communication by Jacob for this very reason, and it had come very handily.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Dash, dash, dash.

Tap, tap, dash.

Tap, tap, tap.

Tap.

Tap, tap, dash.

Dash, tap.

Stopping, her eyes went wide, as she opened her hand, displaying five fingers out before the camera was cut.

"What? What happened?"

"Jacob, did you get it?"

Jacob frantically worked, getting the address you had tapped out for them. "House on 5th.. got it! Directions sent to your phones."

All four of them ran out, heading into their respective cars with security following. Tom's grip was white on the leather steering wheel, his gaze locked on the streets of England. Cursing under his breath, his eyes locked on the traffic in front of him, as he quickly turned the steering wheel, following his brothers and best friend through another alley, away from the traffic, and closer to you.

-

"Sneaky little whore, are you?" his figure was hidden in the shadows, as another hand came in contact with your cheek, the hit stinging for a few seconds as you hissed. "They'll be too late anyway, I have all the time in the world and I am going to love this."

Undoing the ties that hooked you against the chair, you were forcefully picked up, his hands on your back as he threw you over his shoulder. Walking a few steps forward, he dropped you against a matress in the far corner as the impact knocked the wind out of you. Your chest began to heave, as he knelled over you, beginning to undo the buttons on his jeans, a smirk on his face.

Tears began to fall from your eyes as you realized what was about to happen. Your mind began playing back a memory from a while ago, one that had taken place in the training room at the compound.

"What if I'm ever tied with my hands behind my back?"

Tom sighed, beckoning for Harrison to bring over some zip ties as he placed them on his own wrists.

"You're going to need to feel some pain, love." he sat down, his arms bent behind his back as he beckoned for you to lean and watch his wrists. "Make sure you have enough room to bend your elbows and bend the one with the most room up. You're going to feel a pop and a stinging, that just means you dislocated your shoulder. Keep going until you can pull them over your head. While you do this, rub the two ties together to create enough friction. When they are over your head, break the ties."

Jaxon turned, his pants unbuttoned as he grabbed the knife on the table behind him. Your arm tingled as you felt the searing pain before bringing them over your head, and snapping the ties off, putting your shoulder back into place. You quickly kicked your feet up, the ties evident on your ankles as you fumbled for the knife on the floor your assailant had dropped. Picking it up, you ripped it across the ties as they broke loose, your assailant now reaching for your outstretched arm. He knocked the knife down, your hand coming up to swing at his face as he hissed. Your other hand came up and came into contact with his opposite side, as he fell, the force hard enough to knock him back.

You took off running, opening the door and running as fast as your legs could take you, rounding corners and slamming into walls as his footsteps echoed behind you. In the dark, you blindly reached in front of you, grasping a door handle as you yanked it open, your eyes spotting two pairs of lights in the distance. Your feet were bare, as you took off running on the gravel. The searing pain in your feet was evident as you waved your hands, hoping that got the attention of the light as they came to a stop.

A familiar face quickly got out of the car, enveloping you in his arms as you heard a yell from behind.

"Hey! Come back here, you bitch!"

Harrison was quick to get out of the car, his handgun aimed at Jax as he took a shot, killing him.

"Is he dead?" you asked, clutching his biceps as he nodded.

"He's gone, love."

You sighed, letting go of Tom as you clutched your shoulder, the adrenaline dripping out of your system as the pain began to set in. "I did the thing, Tom. I managed to get out."

"Zip ties?" he asked as you nodded, "Let's get you to the hospital, love. I'm so proud of you."