Chapter 8

T yler paced the length of the room as they waited for an update from the agents that'd remained when Justine left with the other two. The outfit she wore, the way she had her hair styled, her makeup…it all reminded him of when they were in high school. Well, other than the fact that her father would never have let her leave the house wearing that short of a skirt and a crop top. Hell, if he didn't know her entirely he'd have sworn she was Hailey and Isabelle's age herself dressed like that.

Nothing he'd learnt today had prepared him to see her come out dressed like that. The knowledge of exactly what she was prepared to do—seemingly had done in the past and the little things that'd worried him about Justine's reactions recently came back tenfold with entirely new possibilities as to how and why they happened.

"You're going to wear a rut in the floor if you don't stop," Grace said, pulling him down the hallway to the room that was once his but now served as a guest room. "So tell me, are you freaking out more about Isabelle being missing or Justine leaving here dressed like…"

"A seventeen-year-old to go find my actual seventeen-year-old little sister that appears to have been taken by some sick fuck," he offered, scrubbing his face with his hands as he let out a groan. "I don't know what's worse, thinking that Justine was in a ‘bad relationship' or that her freaking out on me has something to do with her job—which by the way, she claimed to be resigning from weeks ago."

"You think she didn't? That she lied about that because she came here to help out?" Grace questioned and he shrugged not knowing what to think or believe right now. "If she's been out on vacation it's possible that they decided to let her stay on the books until it runs out before her resignation becomes official, let her keep health insurance longer, that sort of thing."

"She's been home for nine weeks, Grace. Nine . What kind of job lets you have nine weeks of vacation?"

"I don't know, the FBI maybe? Or she may have on an extended leave, especially if she went through something on her last assignment that left her shaken," his cousin suggested gently and that fit more than her having unending vacation hours. "It could explain why she didn't say anything about what she did until it landed in her lap. From the sound of the agents outside, we're seriously lucky that she was here to get a jump on things."

"That was clear by how quickly she was able to get info from Isabelle's computer."

"I don't know how they were able to find the report so quickly…what?" Grace asked as an odd expression crossed his face.

"Justine was at my place…for the first time overnight," he added as her brow rose in surprise. "She stayed upstairs while I went down to see who was there but overheard Hailey telling me that Isabelle was missing. She asked me to send Isabelle's phone number to her. That she had friends in D.C. that might be able to try and track a location on it. I didn't want to think it necessary but figured it wouldn't hurt anything. I texted her later that they were filing a missing persons' report, so she'd know I didn't know how long I'd be here."

"You think she had her team looking for it—that she was already certain it was a type of situation she'd dealt with when she got here, don't you?"

"Her warning…the way she handled Dad…yeah, I do," he said resting his head in his hands, his elbows on his knees. "Which makes her being out there worse yet better at the same time. I don't want her in any sort of danger but if she and her team really are the best…"

"You wouldn't want anyone else out there looking for Isabelle right now. I get it. I'm just thankful that the two of you feel the way you do about each other, that the feud means nothing because it means that she'll do whatever she can to bring Isabelle home to us. That's all any of us want right now," Grace said, and he nodded as the door opened and Jeremy popped his head around it.

"The agents out there said that the ones from D.C. are heading to wherever Justine went to check things out with a full tactical team. Said that she'd made contact with the men they think took Isabelle," he said, and Tyler let out a quick breath of relief when it seemed he hadn't overheard anything he and Grace were discussing before coming in. It stuck in his throat though knowing that if Justine had truly ‘made contact' it likely meant she was now at their mercy with just two agents as backup until the others arrived.

"Thanks," Grace said, and Tyler nodded his.

"Who'd have thought that Justine Crawford would be an FBI agent? I mean damn…she hardly looks any older than the twins do," Jeremy said shaking his head and Tyler's jaw tightened in irritation at the look in his eyes.

"It's why she was chosen for her job apparently," Grace stated calming him a hint as Jeremy let the look fade. "The agents outside said that their team handles the biggest cases, tracks down the worst groups, so we're lucky that Justine was here and could help. If she finds Isabelle and can bring her home…that's all that matters right now."

"Well I'm pretty sure she's about to have half the sheriff's department following her with their tongues hanging out after seeing her in that skirt. She might be a Crawford but she's hot," Jeremy said with a shrug and Tyler got up with a hard glare his way.

"Isabelle's missing and you're checking out the only person that could get her back? Seriously?" he seethed wishing he could deck his older by seven years cousin for that quip because Justine was his and no one else should be talking about how gorgeous and sexy she was but him. No one.

"I think you should go back out," Grace warned, and Jeremy held up his hands, backing away with another shrug that made him want to hit him even more. "Calm down or everyone's going to figure out what you're really upset about, yeah?"

"Yeah," he grumbled, wishing he was next to Justine wherever she was.

∞∞∞

Justine slid the little tube that looked like it was simply lipstick back into her pocket. In reality, it detected hidden cameras and thankfully, it didn't seem like there were any in the barn. There were hints of movement around her, but she couldn't see anyone else from her cell and she didn't want to risk bringing Harvey and Wendell back inside if she called out for Isabelle.

Her best move was to get out of the cell and find the girl, figure out how to get them out of here without being caught because she didn't trust the two agents there as backup would get to them fast enough to help. It was better she rely on herself, especially since there hadn't been any communications from Moe since she'd gotten thrown in here over an hour ago.

It was after four o'clock now. Her team had landed but they weren't here yet and before they stormed the place, they'd do more reconnaissance to ensure the team could get in and out safely. Even bringing a SWAT team wouldn't hasten their movements, in fact, it'd likely delay them further so they could come up with a breach plan. She didn't know how long they truly had—not if they had some sort of plans tonight. While she might be safe enough that didn't mean Isabelle was.

The lock on the bars across the opening of the stall was different from the padlock, but thankfully, she was able to reach it. It was more difficult to do with just one hand, but the lock-pick set that was hidden within the decorative hair comb that she wore gave her a fighting chance at getting it open.

It took over an hour for it to work, but the lock finally snicked open, and she pushed the bars open just enough to slip out then shut it back. With it closed, it wouldn't be obvious right off in case they came back in before she could get out.

There were several girls in stalls up and down the walkway, most of them appeared to be drugged and barely conscious, and while she wanted to help every single one of them, they'd need medics or at least to be carried out, which meant leaving them for now. The sound of sniffling further down caught her attention, and she slid down, seeing three more girls in similar states as the other five, but the last stall was a different story.

"Isabelle," she said softly, pulling the girls' head up and relief swept through her seeing her eyes weren't the same glazed, vacant stare as the others' were. On top of that, her outfit while dirty, didn't seem to be in the varying stages of torn shambles as the others wore.

"What? You're…Justine?" Isabelle gasped, her eyes blinking, and she shook her head as though trying to confirm she was truly there.

"Shh," she cautioned, glancing down the walkway towards the front of the barn before going to work on the lock of Isabelle's stall door. "Moe, I found her…Moe. Do you copy?" she added not hearing anything on the other side as Isabelle's brows furled tighter.

"What's going on? Who's Moe?" Isabelle asked, thankfully in a near whisper this time.

"He runs tech for my FBI team," Justine answered her, seeing the girls' eyes widen further. "Your sister was worried when she didn't hear from you last night. She went to Tyler around six this morning to get him to help her tell your parents you were missing. Since I was in town, when the report was picked up, they asked me to go over and see what I could find out before agents from Seattle could get there."

"My dad would never…"

"He wasn't happy about it, but he didn't really have a choice," she said as the lock slid open, and she slipped into the stall with Isabelle to check on her first. There was a bruise across her face, but other than that, she didn't look bad. "I promise, I'm going to get you out of here. Did they hurt you more than this?" she added brushing the hair from Isabelle's face to see the intensity of the bruising.

"No…I…I was waiting for Sean when a van pulled up. I started to walk further down the block, but someone pulled me back into an alley and before I could even scream, he punched me, and I blacked out. I woke up here sometime yesterday morning."

"Did they have you text Samantha and Hailey?" Justine asked and the way Isabelle's eyes widened said she didn't have a clue it'd happened. "Samantha had a message from you saying you'd gone up Wednesday instead of waiting for yesterday and not to worry about you not showing up to spend the night with her. Hailey said you'd told her you arrived safely yesterday."

"Sean asked me to come up Wednesday instead of waiting for Thursday when we talked Tuesday, but I didn't tell anyone, just came up here. I don't know what he's…"

"Isabelle, there's a lot to explain but Sean isn't real," she told the girl gently. "Part of my job is to track online predators. The photo he sent you is the same photo that we'd been tracking on the east coast for over three years now. That's how I knew something had happened to you and you weren't just hiding out with some guy you'd met online. The two out there have been running a scam on teenage girls for years using that photo, luring them out so they can grab them for whatever sick shit they want. The rest of my team is heading up here, but my earwig isn't connecting in here to let them know that we're here and to come in, so until I can get hold of them, our best option is to stay until it's dark. They claim they have something they have to do tonight…"

"The younger one…he kept telling me that as soon as the weekend was here I'd get a taste of the highs they can make me reach. He never shuts up," Isabelle added, a look of utter disgust on her face replacing the fear and Justine couldn't help but give her a light smile. "I don't know what they're doing, but it's apparently going to make them a lot of money so they can keep more girls."

"Alright, then we'll wait until night to make our way out of here if I can't reach my team before then. I need you to promise me something though," Justine said, waiting for her to meet her gaze before speaking again. "If I tell you to do something, don't question it. Don't hesitate, okay? If I tell you to run, you run and you run as hard and as fast as you can. If I tell you to hide, I need you to hide. I will do everything I can to keep you safe but that might require you to keep going while I stay back. Whatever crap is between our families back home means nothing here, alright? I don't care who your parents are or what the families have done to one another, okay? I would never let something happen to you out of spite, I swear."

"So do you think the feud is stupid too or you just don't want to get in trouble with your boss?" Isabelle asked and Justine gave a soft chuckle liking Tyler's little sister more and more.

"I think the feud is pointless. No one has a clue what caused it any longer. I swear it has to be stubborn male pride that's kept it going this long and I want nothing to do with it."

"Then why do you and Tyler fight?" Isabelle countered making her brow lift in surprise. "I heard some of the others at church talking about it. That you gave him Angela's note at your reunion and the two of you were snapping at each other until you were separated."

"Most of it stems from high school," Justine hedged because now was definitely not the time to get into her real relationship with Tyler. "Your brother made my life hell always tossing out Crawfords this, Andersons that, so I guess it's been a defense mechanism with him that instantly came back since I was giving him Angela's ‘Dear John' letter."

"He picked on you in high school?" Isabella asked and she nodded. "That rat, he always told us we needed to be nice even if we hated someone. Although…he also said that sometimes guys pick on girls that they like."

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, shaking her head, hoping Isabelle couldn't read the truth in her eyes.

"Well if you looked anything like you do now, I could see it being the case. Might be a little weird if he liked you now though since you don't look any older than me."

"It's the makeup," she joked, staying with the girl as the evening turned to night, holding her breath with every loud noise, hoping it wasn't the two coming back to check on them since she still couldn't get hold of her team.

It was closing in on ten when the squalling of the van started up and she peeked through the slats of the barn wall that were crumbling seeing both men in the vehicle. She waited until the quiet of night fell back around them again before getting up, pulling Isabelle along with her.

They crept towards the door, each moment making her heart race faster until she was able to reach through to grab the lock. She slid the key in and turned it, then quickly pushed the chain aside and slid out into the dark night, hating that there wasn't a light of any sort on. After the dim ones inside the barn it was pitch black for several long moments until her eyes finally began to adjust to the dark once more.

She tugged Isabelle around the edge of the barn with her, being cautious despite the two having left. It was possible they could trip an alarm and bring them back. There was nowhere to hide between the barn and the copse of trees and then from the trees to the road, and with the electric fence that was their only way out.

She tried to get in touch with Moe again but there was still nothing but dead silence on the other end, and she took a deep breath before telling Isabelle, "Do you see that thatch of trees? We're going to make a run for them. Hopefully when we're there I can get hold of my team. There's an electric fence around the property so we need to be careful to avoid it. I don't know if there's…"

A loud bellow stopped her hushed words, and she tensed, as vile curses flew loud and fast from the other side of the barn. The voice was definitely that of Harvey and she slipped a hand over Isabelle's mouth when she let out a gasping whimper.

"I swore he was in the van," she whispered to the girl knowing their option of going for the trees would never work. He was too close and getting closer from the sound of heavy footsteps pounding up the walkway inside the barn.

The house was their nearest cover, and she put her finger over her lips before grabbing Isabelle's hand, giving it a firm squeeze and whispered to her, "Don't let go, follow me."

She took off, feeling Isabelle right behind her and they slid around the side of the house as the barn doors slammed shut while Harvey yelled, she guessed into a phone likely at Wendell.

"They're gone…the two new ones. What did you do?"

The voice was getting closer, and she edged them around the house, then back behind the garage and flipped her shirt inside out so it was black instead of pink. Isabelle was wearing a black tank top and dark wash shorts which would help them not be seen.

"The barn door was shut when you left and it's open now so they can't have gotten far," Harvey was saying near the house and she kept them where they were until the voice faded as another door slammed.

Beyond the garage was a small wooded area and she knew it was their best chance to hide until her team could get there to get them out. As long as she could get hold of them that was.

She kept them low and moved quickly, slipping into the woods as Harvey came back out with a bright flashlight, scanning the area around the back of the house before he headed towards the barn, giving her a few extra moments to get them deeper into the woods and further from him.