We parked a few blocks away from Fitz' house. The car Tino gave us was a crisp black Audi that fit in well with the lifestyle of the residents of the neighbourhood. Its windows were tinted to match the colour of its exterior. The inside had an unfamiliar freshness, and there wasn't a spec of dirt anywhere. We were about to smear that with our funk.

No one would think a car like this parked out in front of a two-story mansion as suspicious. And, if we did everything perfectly, there'd be no shots fired, therefore no police would be called.

The sun had already given way to the rising semi-full moon, and the chill of the night settled around us.

I took out the laptop again and started to skip through the cameras, to find out exactly where the office was and a possible escape route if things went awry. But there was none.

Devin would have to get out the same way he got in. But what if he couldn't? What would I do?

"Devin?" I spoke just above a whisper.

"Yea?" he turned to face me. His eyes had been glued to the street before us, watching every pedestrian and passing car.

"What if this is all just a trick? What if Dahlia is in there? And they did this to get to you? Or to us?"

"I don't know who is behind this or why. But I know one thing's for sure, they'd have to kill me before they get either one of us."

Shivers ran down my spine as he spoke? What if he dies?

I didn't understand why we were being drawn into a sword match between Gills and Fitz. If Gills was behind all of this. I still wasn't sold but if it was him, and we failed, we'd all end up dead.

Devin was confident that somehow this would get us one step closer to finding out who took our sister, and why.

~~~~
*Dahlia*

Dahlia was left alone all day. There was no one watching her, at least that she heard for that matter. She'd been blindfolded all day so she wasn't sure. During the night, she'd heard crickets singing cheerful songs. But she'd never heard them back at the house. Her only conclusion was that she wasn't in the city anymore.

Not even the now-familiar tobacco scent was there anymore. He'd left from the night before. The door never opened to bring her food or water.

Her throat was scratchy and her mouth was pasty. It was almost November time so the days were generally cooler than in the summer.

She sat there unmoving for an eternity. She listened keenly for any movement, or sound of cars, trains, aeroplanes; something, anything to give her a clue as to where she could be. But the silence was deafening.

As the sunset, the temperature dropped exponentially and an evening breeze from the lone window sent shivers down her neck to her arms.

More time had passed, Dahlia still didn't shift in the slightest until the door creaked.

She heard heels clicking on the concrete floor and she knew it was the bitch from the previous night.

The sound of clicking heels travelled from before her to stop on her left. Dahlia whipped her head to the side, expecting a slap but none came. The woman only spoke.

"Twenty four hours almost up and your brother still hasn't delivered the money," she said. Hatred dripped from every word.

"He must be dead by now," she added.

"Fuck off you bitch!" Dahlia spat.

The woman slapped her this time, and her jaw stung. Then the woman grabbed her hair pulling her head back.

"Call me bitch again." She said in a low threatening voice. Even in her state, Dahlia wasn't frightened by this woman.

She could beat her, torture her, whatever she wanted, but Dahlia would never let her have the power of fear over her.

"Bitch." The woman let go of her hair and struck her on the left side of her face. The blow was hard enough to topple the chair over to the right.

"I'll show you who's the real bitch," the woman said, kicking Dahlia in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her  She laid there bound and helpless, gasping for air.

"Bitch," she said one more time before another kick came in her abdomen. It was obvious the had a personal vendetta against her, and Dahlia would taunt her with it.

Dahlia knew that when she escaped, she'd definitely have to kick this woman's ass. She acted tough while Dahlia was bound, but how powerful would she be in a fair match?

They'd find out eventually. Devin isn't the only badass in the family.

"Enough!" she heard as Dahlia prepared for the third blow. The deep, gravelly voice was powerful and commanding as it rolled through the room. 

Dahlia couldn't see the man but she knew it was the guy from when she was first brought in. His authority filled the room and swallowed her.

"Lift her up," he directed. She felt as the chair was eased up and steadied on all four legs.

Dahlia still found it hard to inhale and could feel the bruises forming on her stomach and abdomen.

"Take off the blindfold." The cloth was yanked from her eyes. She saw the man standing in the threshold of the door.

It was now twilight so it was difficult for her to make out a face. He still wore the glasses.

The lights flicked on and Dahlia had to close her eyes momentarily, then blinked several times to get rid of the dark spots that danced before her.

When she finally could see, the man had stepped inside. The woman was now standing beside him and two other men dressed in all black stood on either side of the couple.

"Hello, Dahlia. I hope you have found our hospitality very pleasant and courteous" Dahlia snorted at the comment.

"Why don't you untie me and I'll show you how thankful I really am," she said looking at the woman.

The lady shifted on her feet. She was threatened by Dahlia.

"I would. But unfortunately, that's not possible." The man stepped forward

"We need you like this so your brother will do what we want."

"And what do you want?" Dahlia asked.

"Oh you'll find out soon enough," the woman said stepping up next to the man.

There was that familiarity again with her; the way she walked, her voice, her eyes. She couldn't figure it out then but she knew she would find out.

"Down girl," the man said and the woman backed up.

"What do you want with us? Is it Gills? Huh?"

At first, when she was taken, she was sure Gills was behind it. But now she wasn't.
She knew almost everyone in his crew and she'd never seen these two or any of the other men around.

If Dahlia did something to piss off Gills or Juno, he'd send someone to beat her up, not kidnap and torture her. It wasn't his style.

The man chuckled to himself, exposing those yellowing teeth.

"Gills, ha. I just came to check on you as our guest and to make sure you understand that in a few hours if we don't get what we want, you'd overstay your welcome." He ran a cold finger up her arm and every hair stood at attention. It was like her body reacted in fear while her mind was trying to stay strong. The touch brought her back when Barry would brush against her when passing in the hallway. Reminding her of what he'd done to her the night before.

Dahlia understood all too well what he meant. But she wasn't sure that this was all about the money.

There was something else, and she'd stay alive long enough to find out what.

She needed a plan to get out.

"Morty, keep Ms Vickers company will you?" The man run his fingers through her tangled hair, and she shuddered at his sudden touch. The man and woman standing together we're striking replicas of Barry and Margaret. He seemed more put together than Barry's drunk ass, but the woman, she was just as much of a bitch as Margaret. Then, the tobacco shuffler aka Morty walked in.

Morty's eyes coursed over her, before he removed the blunt, crushing it below his feet. Then he ran his tongue over thick cracked lips and smirked. She recognized the look all too well.

"See to it that she is well taken off," the man said before turning to walk out. Morty only nodded.

"What's your name?" Dahlia called out before the door shut. Only the woman turned around to answer.

"Don't ask questions, bitch." Now it was just her and Morty for the night.