AUTHOR'S POV     

The scream was primal. It had a raw intensity that told of urgency and desperate need. The heartbreaking scream comes from a place of terror...telling of a mind in absolute fear. A white van that's typically used for deliveries, but are also very commonly identified as the getaway vehicle in many abductions, bolts through traffic...its tires skidding all over the street and driving at such a dangerously high speed that its close to several collisions. The loud sound of car horns from angry drivers on the road blare at this maniac behind the wheel. In the back there's sheer terror on the face of the child held captive while frightened tears pour from her eyes. Her frightened and shaky voice cries out, "papas" and those tears flow harder when she realizes she isn't heard. Then her eyes shut tightly and she does her best to hold onto anything in arms reach when she feels the van swerving from side to side. The road has now turned into something not so smooth and the speed of the van has also slowed down then eventually comes to a stop. Silence falls and while she waits to see what happens next her eyes are widened in fear, her body trembling and all she wants is her family. Suddenly the van doors swing open and she screams when she sees the captors face. She's instantly grabbed and a hand is placed over her mouth to muffle the sound. Her legs begin flailing to get away the moment she's pulled out...but this monster is so powerful in his hold on her that she can't. She's taken inside a very unfamiliar building which has a very distinct odor. It's one of must and it's extremely overpowering. Seconds later a creaky door opens and now the monster is walking down a flight of stairs. The further he goes down the darker everything becomes. It's a basement and her feet are dragging against every step he takes to get to the ground floor. He puts her in a sitting position against the wall then stares at her for a moment and smiles which is quite possibly the most heinous of smiles as those terrified eyes look up at the evil entity before her. Knowing that he has her right where he wants her he merely turns around and leaves her alone for the time being. More tears stream down that sweet face as she whispers, "please save me papas". At that moment Larry shoots up in bed as he belts out in a distressed whisper, "Kaylee". His deep, panicked breathing is accompanied by a heaving chest. The cold sweat that had broken through his skin while in the midst of this terrifying nightmare is free flowing...like condensation on a window pane. It beads on his forehead then drips from his chin. Their baby girl cried for them and the nightmare was so thorough that he's now wondering if it was more so of a vision of how her abduction actually happened. He extends his hand over to gently shake his love awake as he softly but frantically speaks to him, "baby wake up". Laurent quickly sits up and looks at the fear all over Larry's face... 

Laurent: "What is it bebe"?

Larry: "Kaylee. She's in a basement baby. I just had a nightmare for that". 

Laurent: "Did you see what area the house is in"?

Larry: "No. I just saw a basement but she was taken in a white van and...she called for us. She called for us to come and save her". 

Laurent feels a pain deep in his heart as he can actually hear her scared voice calling for them and tears prick his eyes. He then sees Larry's eyes go wide and in a rushed voice...

Larry: "The old house I went to. There has to be a basement in there that I didn't notice. We need to go there baby. Now". 

It's been a few days since Larry searched that abandoned home and Laurent recalls the look on his face as his love described the agony he felt being filled with the hope that she would be found only to come up empty. But, with this dream and Larry envisioning a basement in this place they flip the covers off to get out of bed and practically leap from here to there getting ready. The time is 6 am, and with the devastation of Kaylee in danger, sleep hasn't come so easy to them. They lie in bed for hours upon hours until their bodies shut down. Often times it's before they have to get up again and push through the day which only resorts in a couple hours of sleep. Larry hadn't been asleep long before the nightmare but he's never felt more energized to go back to that home to search again so he and Laurent are freshened up and changed in a matter of minutes. When the door to the bedroom is open they take care to head down the hallway in a calmer manner as to not wake up the kids though they do need to wake mama to let her know why they have to step out so she isn't alarmed by the discovery of them not being here. Laurent waits by the door while Larry tip toes inside the guest room and over to the bed. He calls for her in a voice that's gentle yet loud enough for her to hear him but not so loud that it alarms her. Her eyes flutter open and right away she sees the urgency in his eyes so she quickly raises up...

Mama: "What is it son"?

Larry: "Mama, we need to go out and search again. I know it's early but I had a dream that I think was a vision about where Kaylee is. It was the abandoned house I went to and we need to search again because I may have missed something the first time". 

Mama: "Of course my love. I understand. I'll make breakfast for the kids and take care of everything here". 

Larry: "Oki. Thank you mama. We love you". 

Mama: "I love you too". 

Larry turns around to leave the room so he and Laurent can take off but first they stop by the kitchen to retrieve some flashlights that they keep on hand for emergencies. It only takes mere seconds for them to get in the car with Larry backing out of the driveway then in full gear in the direction of the home. They're very anxious while en route and Larry ultimately whispers, "she has to be in there". Laurent looks over at him and when he notices Larry's hand is placed over the gear he delicately places his hand on top. It's an unspoken agreement that they can only hope that he's right. The early hour indicates that the sun is still resolutely below the horizon and the residents of all the other homes have yet to get up and start their day. Since it is so early there aren't a lot of cars on the road and thankfully Larry doesn't have to wait at the few traffic lights en route to the home. They arrive minutes later and with the flashlights flickered on Larry leads the way towards the window he broke. He helps Laurent in and right away they begin looking for a door that possibly leads to a basement. They search everywhere when suddenly Larry hears, "over here" so he follows Laurent's voice. Tucked away is a door that's completely naked to the eye if one isn't familiar with the property. Laurent flings it open and ahead of them they see stairs leading down into the basement. Laurent's foot hits the first step and a loud, creaky sound erupts from it so with each step thereafter they're very careful. Once they've successfully made it to the bottom they get right to it...the bright flashlights illuminating the basement as they search every square inch. There's another door that leads to something unknown and upon discovery it's a bathroom with only the rust stained porcelain. She isn't here and nothing was left behind to indicate that she could have been. Silence falls between them and as Larry runs one hand through his fro he belts out a deep sigh of despair. Laurent gazes into those pained eyes and he's completely stripped from words. He doesn't know what to say to his love and that's largely because he feels exactly what he does. Eventually Larry's broken voice speaks up...

Larry: "The dream was so real baby". 

Laurent: *soft sigh* "I know it was bebe". 

Larry: "That's why I don't understand why I would have that dream if she wasn't here". 

Laurent isn't sure how to answer that but now he's watching Larry become emotional and all he wants to do is hold him. The next second he's doing exactly that. Larry's emotions become so overwhelming that he begins shaking so Laurent holds him tighter as he sweetly kisses him over and over again. The idea of Kaylee being held captive in this place or anywhere for that matter hurts them...but they can't help but think that at least if she was here they could finally bring her home. He eventually feels Larry's trembling slowly dissipating so he pulls away and with heavily weepy eyes...

Larry: "Where do we look now baby"?

Laurent: "We look everywhere again. We will check the same places twice...three times if we need to. We will stay on the police to make sure they're doing their job to find her and we will find her bebe. I know it hurts and it's scary to think for...but anytime we step into fear we need to step into faith". 

A stray tear falls from Larry's eye and with a gentle nod along with a soft sniff he replies in a weakened but still beautifully sweet voice...

Larry: "You're right baby. Step into faith". 

Laurent: "Oki. I love you", he whispers.

Larry: "I love you too", he whispers back. 

Another tear falls from Larry's eye so Laurent wipes it away then embraces the man of his life again. They then agree to go home to Emma and Ayden...

Upon entering the home they see their sweet little Emma on the couch with her favorite stuffed bear close to her as she watches cartoons. She sees them then happily gets down to run over to give her warm hugs. They hear mama in the kitchen and Ayden's gleeful voice cooing beautifully so Larry picks Emma up and they both walk over. Ayden is in his high chair with a few of his favorite soft baby biscuits spread about and when he sees them his little legs begin kicking as he smiles with glee. Naturally that smile brings a smile to their faces which was very much needed after such an emotional morning. Laurent goes over to give him a kiss on the cheek and Larry does the same then he takes a seat at the table with Emma sitting on his lap. Laurent converses with mama who tells them that the kids have already been fed. Then Ayden begins to cry with the most adorable pout which means he just wants to be held so Laurent walks right over and takes him out of the high chair. That instantly settles him then Emma gets a good look at Larry's face...

Emma: "Are you tired papa", she asks sweetly. 

Larry: "Papa is tired baby but I'll be oki after I get some more sleep. Did you eat all of your breakfast"?

Emma: "Yes papa". 

Larry: "That's good my love. Now papa is going to eat breakfast oki"?

Emma: "Oki", she replies softly. 

Larry sets her on her feet and as she goes over to take a different seat at the table he stands up to go and make himself a plate of breakfast. He keeps it light as his appetite is still very small then comes back over to the table where Laurent is sitting with Ayden still in his arms. Mama is at the table too and is having a cup of coffee. For the first several minutes it's very quiet as they merely watch and smile at Ayden...but mama could tell from the moment they stepped into the kitchen that any signs or clues they went back to look for came up empty. She watches Larry slowly take bites of his eggs then looks over at Laurent who's smiling at Ayden but without question has pain behind his eyes. She looks at Emma who's always the happiest little girl but she too is feeling a huge void. They all are and mama has her own thoughts of her time with Kaylee. Never has anything shaken this family up so much and she suddenly feels tears stinging her eyes...but she wipes them away and tries to compose herself. She doesn't want her little Emma to see her so emotional as it's already been hard for her to see her papas down so instead she shifts focus...

Mama: "Emma"?

Emma: "Yes grandmere"?

Mama: "Sweetie you go back to watching cartoons then later you can help your grandmere with dinner, oki"?  

Emma: *nods* "Oki", she replies softly. 

Emma is placed on her feet so she can go back to her cartoons then mama looks at her loving sons...

Mama: "Are the detectives any further along? Do they have any leads at all"?

Larry: *shakes head* "No ma'am but I need to call the detective again and ask for that". 

As if on cue the doorbell rings and they all look at one another confused since they're not expecting anyone. Ayden is given to mama and Larry goes over to the couch with Emma to essentially guard her while Laurent walks cautiously to the door. He looks through the peephole and sees detective Lane so he turns to tell them that it's oki. Larry and mama feel a bit more at ease as Laurent opens the door. They greet each other then Laurent steps to the side to invite him in. The detective is then introduced to mama who states that she will take the kids and leave them to talk so with Ayden in her arms she extends her hand for Emma then leads them to the back. Once Larry and Laurent hear the door close they turn their attention to the detective...

Laurent: "Thank you for coming detective. You're here to give us the results"?

Lane: "Yes, I am. We did find fingerprints but when we ran them through the system we didn't get a match".  

Larry: "So this was someone who's never committed a crime before". 

Lane: "That's possible but we don't think it's likely. I'm not saying it couldn't have been the suspects first crime but for him to be as stealth as he was we believe there's previous criminal history. That's why we don't understand there not being a match". 

Laurent: "Did you talk to Ms. Lebeau"? 

Lane: "Not as yet though we are trying to contact her for questioning but while we still intend to talk to her as she could have played a part in this I must tell you that the fingerprints are male". 

Laurent: "How do you know that"?

Lane: "It's a fairly new technique and the test is based on certain amino acids of the fingerprints. Hand size is also taken into consideration because in general a man's hands are usually larger. Those factors combined are how we know that the suspect is male". 

Larry and Laurent look at each other and they're at a loss for words being just as perplexed as the detective. Then their attention goes back to him when he speaks again...

Lane: "Of course, the prints could belong to one of you which is why we didn't find a match".

Laurent: "Yeah that makes sense. I styled her hair that morning". 

Lane: "I see". *pause* "Well a few officers including the responding officers on the scene that day went to the neighborhood near the school to question the residents".  

Larry: "I did that but everyone I talked to said they didn't see anything. There were a few people who weren't home so I guess they were at work". 

Lane: "It's possible that those you didn't speak to weren't at work but maybe didn't hear your knock at the door. Some could have been on their way back from running errands and perhaps they saw the getaway vehicle speeding past them and didn't think anything of it at the time but since the alert is out including the location of where she was abducted they will recall seeing the vehicle and provide a description. There are several possibilities so a second round of questioning can only help".  

Laurent: "Good. That gives us hope". 

Lane: "The news stations are running the story regularly. Any updates we give them will be included in their morning and nightly broadcasts".

Larry: "Oki. Thank you for coming by detective". 

Lane: "You're welcome. I'll be in touch soon". 

They each shake his hand then Laurent locks the door behind him while Larry goes to tell mama that he's left. He finds them in Ayden's room and being the sweet, loving grandmere she is she's playing with them so he stands at the door to watch them. It's certainly a beautiful sight to see but naturally there's a gnawing at his heart because there's someone very special missing. He manages to hold his emotions back as he gets her attention...

Larry: "I just wanted to tell you that the detective left so you and the kids can come back out". 

Mama: "It's oki son. I think we'll just stay in here and play for a while". 

Larry: "Oki. Then Laurent and I will wash the dishes from breakfast". 

Mama: "Oki my love. Thank you". 

Larry: "Welcome", he replies softly. 

Mama puts her attention back on the babies and Larry watches for another moment before pulling the door in to close it. He goes back to the family room and sees Laurent picking up a few of the kids toys then over to the toy box that's kept in the corner. He turns around and stops when he sees Larry gazing at him with a look of heavy concern...

Laurent: "I'm oki bebe. What the detective said gives us hope. She'll be home soon". 

Larry: *nods* "Yeah", he replies softly. 

Laurent drops his head to look around and when he realizes he's cleaned up everything he looks back at his love...

Laurent: "I need to look into more information for home school. We need to get someone in here soon for the girls so if you need me I'll be in the office". 

Before Larry responds Laurent begins walking towards the hallway that leads to the home office but stops in front of Larry to give him an endearing forehead kiss. He then proceeds to walk past him but he feels Larry gently grab his arm to stop him so he turns around. Larry doesn't utter a word. He just steps forward then takes his husband's face in his hands and pulls him in for a short but sweet kiss. In a soft voice Larry tells him, "I just wanted you to have that". Laurent gazes lovingly at him then raises his hand to hold the tip of Larry's chin between his thumb and pointer finger. A second later he's coming in for another kiss then pulls away...

Laurent: "This family will be together again bebe. All of us". 

Larry: *nods* "I know", he whispers. 

Larry raises his hand to gently place on Laurent's cheek for a smooth caress. As Laurent looks into his eyes he turns his head slightly to place a soft kiss to the palm of Larry's hand. Then he begins making his way to the home office while Larry goes to the kitchen to clean up...

~meanwhile~

The detective arrived back at the precinct and has been sitting at his desk going through the details of Kaylee's case thus far. He expects his team who's been questioning the residents of the nearby neighborhood to come back with reports of their accounts of that day. He can't put his finger on it but something isn't adding up about the case. He's had his share of kidnapping cases but it's been several days since Kaylee has been missing and they don't have anything solid which is odd for a kidnapping that occurred in broad daylight. Suddenly he hears a knock on his door so he raises his head and sees one of the responding officers to the kidnapping scene who also was a part of the neighborhood questioning...

Lane: "Officer Dupre".

Dupre: "Hey detective. I bring bad news. We didn't have any success with the residents".  

Lane: *sigh* "Ok. Thank you". 

Dupre: "Is something wrong"?

Lane: "I'm just in shock that we don't have any leads considering how long it's been. Usually we have a description of the getaway car or even the suspect but it's just really strange that we don't have either". 

Dupre: "I agree with that but to me it seems the kidnapper knows what he's doing and that's why the case isn't further ahead". 

Lane: "You're probably right but I have a question. When you responded to the kidnapping how was the behavior of the Bourgeois men"?

Dupre: "I spoke to, I believe, Larry first and he seemed really distraught. He was shaky and very emotional. Laurent Bourgeois didn't arrive until several minutes later and he seemed pretty shaken too. I presume him to be Larry's twin". 

Detective: "Yeah and they're married". 

*brief pause*

Dupre: "Wow. That's certainly different". 

Lane: "It's more than different. It's strange". 

Dupre: "Perhaps but I don't...." 

Lane: "Was Laurent Bourgeois emotional too"?

Now officer Dupre is very confused as to why the detective abruptly cut him off and why he has this preconception of Larry and Laurent's marriage...which also seems to be more of a focus than solving the case...

Dupre: "Not really emotional when I saw him but I think it was the shock. People handle stressful situations differently but he was definitely shaken and I'm unclear as to how their marriage relates to the case. They both appeared extremely worried about the victim".

Lane: "It's just strange. I've never known anything like it before. That's all". *pause* "I went to their home to give them the forensic results. We realized that the fingerprints belong to one of them since we didn't find a match in the system and Laurent Bourgeois stated he styled her hair that morning". 

Dupre: "Then that's very likely and I believe the reason there weren't additional fingerprints or DNA is because the victim was trying to get out of the kidnapper's grasp causing the headband  to fall from her hair".   

Lane: *nods* "I will agree with that". *pause* "We just need to work more aggressively to solve this case. We also have to contact Erin Lebeau again for questioning. This time we need to try to make contact with family and friends if possible". 

Dupre: "Yes sir. I'll get right on it". 

Lane: "Thank you". 

Dupre: "You're welcome".

Officer Dupre leaves while the detective rests his back against the chair. He saw the way the officer looked at him when he brought up Larry and Laurent's marriage and if he's being honest with himself he knows that the officer was correct in saying that it's their life...only he has several years as a detective working against him. He's seen his share of what he considers odd and while the officer stated that he doesn't understand how it relates to the case the detective is sure he's never seen the things he has...but he has a responsibility in this investigation as the primary focus is finding Kaylee...

---------------------------- 

A/N: So, did the detective get under anyone's skin in this chapter? The officer didn't understand why he was making their marriage a factor and he essentially reminded him of the bigger picture though the detective did appear to be more focused on the case towards the end but please share your thoughts. I'll be replying soon. Love you guys. ❤️