27. Chase

It was just after seven in the morning when Chase decided to slam his laptop shut and head out to the back patio for some fresh air. He'd been up all night combing through the journal and scouring through his notes, trying to find something… anything that might help him locate Levi.

Stepping out into the morning air, a wave of sadness quickly fell over him. It wasn't right that he was able to feel such a wonderful warm breeze on his face, yet Levi was off suffering, God knows where. Once again, God was proving what a cruel and fucked up world they were really living in. First, his sister was brutally raped and murdered and taken away from this world; now Levi, the most beautiful unicorn he had ever laid eyes on, was missing, being held captive by a monster, who knows where.

Seriously, how can anyone say that we live in a just society when bad things happen to good people all the time?

No, we lived in hell, and eventually, after all our suffering, we either get rewarded with a light at the end of that tunnel… or we continue our suffering in that burning inferno underground.

Life was a cruel joke evil gods played on humanity.

"Morning," Matteo said, flipping through something on his iPad. "Come sit and have some coffee."

Chase grunted as he pulled up a chair next to Matteo. He was in no mood for pleasantries. The man he loved was missing, and he hadn't found a fucking clue all night.

Before he could say anything, a server appeared next to Chase and asked him what he wanted for breakfast. That was one of the perks of living in Matteo's magical kingdom—you lived like a fucking king.

"No thanks," Chase mumbled, reaching for the coffee and pouring himself a mug.

"Yes, he'll have a three egg whites spinach omelet with extra cheese, three sausages, and a slice of whole wheat toast on the side. And a glass of orange juice, too, please," a voice ordered to Chase's left.

He looked up just in time to see Marc and Alex approaching the table.

"You need to eat and keep your strength up if we are going to rescue your boy," Marc said. He quickly turned to the server and ordered more for him and Alex.

Grumbling, Chase watched as Isaac and Jared spilled out of the house as well. Isaac was shirtless, wearing only a pair of gray joggers. Jared followed in a sleeveless tank top, which showed off his bulging muscles, and black walking shorts that were way too tight for any man to comfortably wear.

"Isaac, you know the rules," Matteo lectured as Isaac reached for the chair next to Jared.

"Sorry, M. Can we ignore the rules this one time? I had a really shit night freaking out about Lee," Isaac asked. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he hadn't slept a wink. To be honest, none of them had.

He passed his hand through his messy blue hair that looked like it hadn't seen a comb in over two weeks. As he brushed his hair down, his nipple ring shifted with the movement of his body.

Jared wrapped an arm around Isaac's side, trying to offer the man some comfort. From what Chase had seen, Isaac and Levi were pretty close. Given that they were both the same age, they would have made the perfect set of twins—minus the looks, of course.

Matteo's eyes lowered. "Sure. This one time."

"Thanks."

"So, did we learn anything new since last night?" Chase asked impatiently. He was beginning to lose his cool. Why were they playing house when a member of their family was missing?

Marc was the first to speak. He spent the evening combing through Peabody's holdings and property assets. Apparently, the guy was loaded. He inherited his home from his mother when she died, his father unknown. He owned a cottage in Toulouse, which was located in the south of France. The property originally belonged to his grandparents, and he hadn't visited the property in over five years. Apparently, Peabody pays a family to maintain the grounds and keep up with the upkeep.

"The one thing I did find suspicious is his grocery bill. He always seems to buy enough food to feed an army, yet he never hosts dinner parties or entertains. As far as I can tell, he's a loner and doesn't seem to have any friends. So, what is he doing with all that food?" Marc asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Do you think that means he's holding others captive as well?" Alex asked, gently pushing his blond hair away from his eyes.

"Perhaps. There might be hope of finding Nancy still alive," Marc answered.

Nancy was the woman who had vanished after going on a date with a man with a rose tattoo on his wrist—a man who seemed to fit Peabody's description to a T. Nancy's sudden disappearance was one of the reasons they had decided to focus their attention on the Peabody case first. Perhaps the woman reminded Chase of his younger sister. If he could save just one girl…

"What about you guys?" Matteo asked Isaac and Jared.

They both shook their heads. Other than the brief interaction by Jared, no one had seen or heard from Levi or Mr. Peabody.

Chase pushed around the food on his plate. They had no leads. The more he thought about it, the more he grew angry. Levi didn't deserve any of this. He was too good of a person to ever suffer any sort of horror or trauma.

If they didn't have any clues, he would have to take matters into his own hands…

He jumped the moment Marc's hand fell on his.

"I know that look. Before you go and do anything stupid, give us a chance to see what we can find," Marc said in a gentle voice. "Going after someone, guns half-cocked, always leads to bad results. The last thing you want to do is something that puts Levi in danger."

Like hell, he was going to sit around and wait for shit to happen.

"When I got kidnapped by that psycho serial killer, Marc came after me guns-a-blazing, which only ended up with him getting caught as well," Alex noted.

"You were kidnapped by a serial killer?" Isaac asked, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Marc and I got stuck in this game of cat and mouse on this psycho's kill farm. But it all worked out in the end," Alex said, smiling and linking his hand with his husband's.

Marc pulled Alex's hand toward his lips and gave it a kiss. "That was when my little kitten killed his very first bad guy."

"Barbie over here killed someone?" Jared asked, not seeming to believe that the well-behaved and seemingly ordinary man sitting at the table could have ever harmed a fly.

"Yup, fed him alive to his own pigs," Marc answered, looking lovingly into his lover's eyes.

"Wow, talk about demented," Isaac whispered, leaning into Jared and looking somewhat impressed.

Chase looked over at Alex. He never would have thought that sweet, blond, blue-eyed Alex could be capable of murdering a man. Come to think of it, he had no idea that both Marc and Alex had ever been held captive by a serial killer. Huh, he really didn't know much about his boss or his boss's husband.

"What about you?" Marc asked Matteo, who was busy looking down at his iPad again.

Matteo looked up before shaking his head. "I've had guys outside Peabody's house watching him all night. They haven't seen anything suspicious. I also reached out to Ares to see if he had any background info on this sack of shit that might help us. I'm still waiting to hear back from him. In the meantime, I'm going to continue looking into who Mr. Peabody really is. See if there is something that might help us."

"You reached out to Ares?" Isaac asked, seeming shocked by the news. "Thought you hated the guy?"

Daggers were thrown at Isaac by way of Matteo's death glare. "Yeah, well, one of my boys is missing. I'd even ask the Devil himself for his help if I thought it would do us any good."

"To you, he is practically Satan himself," Isaac snorted.

Chase could sense the tension rising from Matteo. He took a bite of his eggs and lifted his toast.

"I'm going back to Peabody's house today. I'm going to break in and have another look around. You love birds willing to give me a hand?" Chase asked, glancing up at Jared and Isaac.

Jared pushed Isaac off of him. "Oh, we're not together."

"We would be if you would put your dick inside me," Isaac grumbled, throwing Jared some shade.

Jared rolled his eyes and grunted. "Never gonna happen. I like not having chlamydia."

Isaac's mouth fell open in mock shock. "I never!"

Finally losing his patience, Chase put his fork down. "If you two idiots are done playin' around, I'd like to go and rescue Levi now."

"Sorry," Isaac apologized, lowering his eyes. "Of course, we'll help."

Turning back to Marc, Chase grinned. "I've got a plan."