Chapter 1: You Never Know What to Expect

As far as mornings went, it was a calm one. The sky wasn’t clear, and the sun wasn’t shining, but it was a perfect day nevertheless. Still if a person was going to be outside for a long time, you had to wear sun block. Sun rays do not have to be visible for the UV rays to cause skin cancer, but sun rays make for a happier mood.

Zac Hanson needed a reason to be happier since he lost the left shoe to his newest pair of Converse Chuck Taylor’s. They were blue low top shoes, and Zac was aggravated that the shoe had just disappeared into thin air. He was on his hands and knees searching around his bedroom, the couch, Isaac’s room--Heaven knows why his shoes would be in there somewhere--, and any other place Zac figured he’d been since he had the shoes on. Finally after getting frustrated, Zac followed through to his last resort. “Isaac!”

Isaac’s voice came echoing through the rooms, not too glad to hear Zac’s disgruntled call, “What?”

Zac sighed and knew Isaac would criticize him for all ready losing one shoe. “Have you seen my left shoe?”

Isaac, who was drinking a cup of coffee to feel completely awake, rolled his eyes. “Where are you?”

“Why does that matter if my shoe isn’t where I am?” Zac asked trying to figure out why Isaac needed to know where he was.

“Well what if the shoe is where you are?” Isaac asked setting his empty mug down.

“It’s not, or I’d found it.”

“Where are you, Zac?” Isaac asked getting frustrated with the game he and Zac were taking part in.

Zac sighed. “Your room,” he replied.

Isaac furrowed his eyebrows. “Why the hell would your shoe be in my room?”

“I don’t know, but I figured I may as well look.”

Isaac started walking towards his bedroom. “Well, I suggest you look somewhere else.”

“What, do you have something to hide?” Zac asked as he laughed. ‘Isaac will freak out over that,’ he thought.

Zac scrambled onto his feet before his brother could arrive and accuse him of snooping around his room. He stared at Isaac with a half-grin on his face. “What,” he asked with a smirk.

“Get out because your shoe is not in here.” Isaac warned.

“You’re hiding something in here, aren’t you?” Zac teased.

“Shut up, Zac. Your shoe is probably under the couch.” Isaac said walking over to his laptop computer and pushing the screen down, so Zac couldn’t see the computer desktop. He was working on a graphic design blog for his girlfriend, and he didn’t want Zac to see it--if he hadn’t already.

“I’ve checked under the couch.” Zac complained.

“You checked thoroughly?” Isaac asked crossing his arms over his chest.

Zac stood up straight and mimicked his brother’s stance, which got little laughter from Isaac. “Go find your shoe, Zac.”

“Yea, yea, I’m going.” Zac replied as he hobbled a little due to being unbalanced by wearing only one shoe. That got a chuckled out of Isaac, who covered his mouth as he laughed just to keep Zac from storming in and going off for being laughed at.

Zac was down on the floor and checked closely under the couch one more time, and he found that he had been mistaken. The blue Chuck was mockingly sitting under the couch, and Zac sighed. ‘What does Ike have some kind of power that I’m unaware of? I just checked under this stupid thing, and the shoe wasn’t here.’

Zac slid the shoe out from under the couch and pulled the shoestrings up. Quickly, he got his shoe on and tied it. He heard Isaac walking back into the room, and Zac looked down at his shoe. “I see you found your shoe.’ Isaac said taking pride in knowing he helped Zac find his missing shoe.

“Yea, yea, go gloat now.” Zac said dryly.

“I’m not going to gloat, Zac.” Isaac told his brother as he picked up his coffee mug and began refilling it.

“So, do we have a plan for today, Ike?” Zac asked as he got in the refrigerator and got a Dr. Pepper. The can popped and fizzed as Zac opened it, and he took a long sip of the bubbly liquid.

Isaac took his coffee mug and stood by where Zac was on the couch. “I guess we should start picking the songs we’ll put on our next album.” Isaac said before taking a drink of the scalding liquid overrun by caffeine.

Zac groaned, “We’ve done that since we got off tour.”

Isaac took one more sip. “Well, we have to pick the songs some time, Zac.”

Zac sunk down into the couch. “Well, that doesn’t have to be today. How about we rest and relax today?”

Isaac sighed but realized that would be a great thing since they had been home for two weeks. The Underneath tour had wore the Hanson brothers out, and they had slept for two days straight when they finally reached home. “I guess it won’t hurt to hang around and do nothing all day.” Isaac agreed.

“Yes, my point exactly.” Zac replied. “Now, I have to--”

“Go call Kate.” Isaac finished his younger brother’s sentence.

“Yes.” Zac’s voice was monotone.

Isaac held up his hands. “Hey, it’s your habit. It’s not that hard to notice after this long. Hell, I caught on the first month you started the habit of calling her every morning.”

“I don’t call her every morning.”

Isaac thought for a moment then shook his head. “No, you do call her everyday around this time.”

“I didn’t call her every morning this summer.” Zac remarked.

“Yes, but seeing that she was on the bus, you didn’t have to.”

Zac sighed. “Okay, keep the control over your daily schedule. Go doodle on that computer of yours. That keeps you busy and leaving me alone for hours upon end.”

“It’s nice to know my brother loves me.” Isaac said sarcastically.

“Hey, at least I don’t punch you as someone else has been known to do.” Zac replied.

“Hey, don’t bring Tay into things when he isn’t here to defend himself.” Isaac said.

Zac snorted as he laughed. “Please, you both exchanged a few punches, I know. Don’t act like it didn’t happen because it did.”

“Traveling is a stressful time.” Isaac stated.

Zac nodded mockingly. “Or, clashing of attitudes, maybe.”

“Go call Kate, Zac.”

“Hey,” Zac said setting his hands against his chest. “I didn’t start it.”

Just as Isaac was about to reply to Zac, someone began pounding on their door. Instinctively, Isaac and Zac moved far away from the door because it was abnormal for someone to pound on it. Both brothers eyed the door from their safe distance and saw that the door was giving in to the incessant banging on the other side. Isaac grabbed his brother’s arm. “Let’s move to the back,” he said quietly never taking his eye off the door.

Zac nodded, and he sprinted away from the room with Isaac close behind. Isaac paused when he heard the door crack and break open. He saw five men stroll into the room, and they all wore black trench coats.

“Shit.” Isaac whispered.

Isaac started to run after Zac when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He turned as he cleared a corner and saw a bullet hole in the wall. “Oh God.” Isaac started running, but he didn’t get far. The men cut him off, and pointed their guns at him.

Isaac kept quiet and backed up against the wall. He was trapped and standing unarmed in front of five men who obviously weren’t. Their shiny guns pointed at Isaac’s head, and he used all his strength not to shiver from fear. ‘Remain still,’ his mind told him. ‘Don’t provoke them into shooting you.’

Zac stopped and waited for Isaac to catch up with him, but he didn’t. He walked to the doorframe of Isaac’s bedroom and listened. He heard the men’s voices, but not Isaac’s. That worried Zac. ‘What’s going on,’ his mind asked.

“Where is your brother?” The tallest of the five men, who Isaac dubbed as the leader of the pack, asked.

“Who wants to know?” Isaac asked, trying to avoid the question.

The man stepped closer to Isaac and held the gun right between Isaac’s eyes. “Don’t play dumb, kid, because we all know you aren’t.”

Isaac tried not to stare at the gun, but staring into the eyes of the man before him didn’t do much to settle his nerves either. The man had blocks of ice for irises, and what frightened Isaac most was the total lack of mercy in his eyes--and inevitably, his soul. Despite that it was winter, sweat began to pool on Isaac’s back. He swallowed hard as the gunman’s gaze seemed to never break.

“Where is your brother?”

Isaac took a deep breath and cracked. “Which one?”

The man let out a sigh in the form of a laugh. “That’s funny, kid, I’ve heard you were funny.”

“Hmm, odd that I wasn’t trying to be funny.” Isaac replied instantly wishing he hadn’t.

The man tightened his grip on the gun, and Isaac made a mental note to hold his tongue next time. “Don’t be a smart-ass with me, kid. I would hate to have to shoot you so soon.” Isaac didn’t like the ‘so soon’ part of that sentence. “Just tell me what I need to know.”

“How can I when I don’t know who you’re looking for?” Isaac asked the man.

The man grabbed Isaac by his dress shirt collar and pulled him close to his face. “The taller one with the long hair. He has something of ours, and we’re here to get it back.” The man’s voice was deep when he spoke softly.

“So, you’re looking for Taylor.” Isaac said trying to keep from being shot while trying to keep his brother safe as well.

“Yes, so tell us where he is.”

Isaac shakily took a breath and replied, “He isn’t here.”

Zac was listening from Isaac’s room and found himself trembling inside because the armed men had his brother. His body winced when he heard a thud and Isaac cry out in pain. He felt a rage mixed with fear as he thought over those men hurting his older brother.

The man had thrown Isaac against an adjacent wall when he didn’t answer the question. The other four men aimed their guns, and the leader spun around to face them. “Shoot him, and I’ll kill you. We need to find this Taylor.” The four men holstered their guns.

Isaac scrambled off of the floor only to be pulled backwards by his collar. He was slammed against the wall and forced to stare right into the leader’s icy eyes again. “I’m not playing games with you, kid. Tell me where your brother is.”

“I told you, he doesn’t live here anymore.” Isaac said shutting his eyes.

The man held Isaac by the throat. “Why should I believe that?”

“Because he moved out about a year ago.” Isaac said through the choking he was faced with from the leader’s hands.

“Where did he move to?”

Isaac didn’t reply because he wanted to protect Taylor. The leader was angry with Isaac’s behavior and threw him into the nearest room, where Isaac hit the floor. He leaned up on his elbows and prepared to run. But, the leader was quick and had his foot on top of Isaac’s back before Isaac could even lift up off the floor. Isaac lay silent on the floor to keep from being thrown--or worse, shot.

Chapter 2: If I never Said I’m Sorry

Upon hearing the commotion in the nearby rooms, Zac ran to a safe place to call for help. He grabbed Isaac’s cell phone and ran to the bathroom. He dropped down to the floor to hide behind the very large bathtub. He quickly dialed 9-1-1 and waited for an answer. A woman took the call quickly. “Emergency, how can I help you?”

Zac glanced over to the door and kept his voice quiet. “My brother and I have five men armed in our apartment. Right now, they have my brother. It sounds like they’re throwing him around the apartment. Please, just get someone here.”

“Okay, tell me where I need to dispatch a unit.”

“All right.” Zac replied.

Isaac felt the pressure of the leader’s foot off of his back, but he felt the man pick him up by the shirt. “Kid, don’t do this the hard way. Just tell me where Taylor is, and I won’t have to continue this.”

Isaac didn’t look up into the man’s eyes again, and he didn’t tell where Taylor was either. The leader stared down at Isaac and sighed angrily. “You’ll break soon enough and tell me what I need to know. I assure you that.” Isaac flinched at the man’s words and felt his head throb from just being thrown against the wall.

‘God, please let Zac being calling help.’ Isaac thought.

Zac hung up the emergency call after he was told that help would be there shortly. Zac could have hoped for sooner than shortly, but shortly would have to work. Zac had heard Isaac being thrown around, and he felt a shaky rage race through him. His brotherly love was creating an adrenaline, but he had one more thing to do before he let his adrenaline consume his entire being. Call Taylor.

Zac trembled as he dialed his brother’s cell phone and held the phone to his ear. It rang one, and it rang again. “Come on, Tay,” Zac whispered, “pick up the phone. Pick up the phone.”

Zac closed his eyes as he heard the phone ring for the last time before Taylor’s voice mail would pick up. Any other time, Zac wouldn’t have minded not getting a hold of Taylor right away. But now, that was different. Isaac was in danger, and Zac knew he wasn’t out of harm’s way. “Please,” Zac begged the phone, as if it would help, “Please, Tay, pick up your phone. Just this once.”

The ring was about over, and Zac felt his stomach drop. “Hello?” Taylor’s voice came over the line.

“Taylor.” Zac whispered relieved.

“Zac? What’s going on? Why are you whispering?”

“Taylor, listen, five men in trench coats burst in here and are looking for you.” Zac explained.

“Shut up, Zac, you’re wasting my time with this prank.”

“Taylor, I’m not joking. They have Isaac, and they’re throwing him around. Taylor, they want to know where you are because they swear you have something of theirs. God, Taylor, I can’t take them hurting Ike.” Zac’s voice nearly broke.

Taylor sat with his cell to his ear in a coffee shop, and he began to believe Zac. “Okay, Zac, knock it off. Tell me you’re joking and Ike’s fine.” Taylor’s had nothing but concern in his voice.

“Taylor, I wish I could tell you I was joking, but I’m not. I’ve called 9-1-1 and everything. I just had to call you and tell you what was going on. I think they’ll come after you, so get Natalie and Ezra somewhere safe.” Zac heard Isaac cry out again, and he cringed. “God, Taylor, I can’t let them keep hurting Ike while I can do something.”

Taylor’s mouth was suddenly dry, even if he had been drinking coffee only moments earlier. “Zac, stay where you are. Don’t give away your position.”

Isaac was struck with a punch from the trench coat leader, and he cried out from the sharp, throbbing pain in his jaw. He stumbled back into the wall and slid down the wall. Isaac sat down on the floor and stared up at the man who hit him. “Who are you?”

The man’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why does that matter, kid?”

Isaac took a deep breath. “I just would like to know the name of the guy who’s beating me up, that’s all.”

The man laughed. “That’s interesting, kid. My name’s Kevin Maxwell.”

“And, will it hurt you to stop calling me kid?”

“What’s wrong with it, kid?”

“I’m twenty-four and have a name.” Isaac said flatly.

Kevin stooped down in front of Isaac. “I don’t give a damn if you have a name, and I don’t care how old you are. I’m the one in charge here, and I have the gun. So, you can either take being called kid or be shot. You got that?”

Isaac nodded, and Kevin pulled him up by his collar. Isaac fought against the pull, and he found himself being punched in the face again. He fought back his urge to cry out in pain by taking in deep breaths. He glanced up at Kevin, who seemed upset that Isaac didn’t show pain from his punch. ‘Oh, don’t worry,’ Isaac thought, ‘It hurt. I just hope Zac gets help here soon.’

“Zac, come on, man, don’t hang up.” Taylor told his brother. “Wait for help.”

Zac leaned against the wall, and took a deep breath as he heard the sound of someone getting punched. Zac figured that Isaac was the one being hit, and he whimpered. “Tay,” Zac whispered quietly.

“What’s going on?”

Zac put his right hand to his face. “I think they’re beating up Isaac.”

Taylor took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Oh, God,” he whispered.

Zac listened and heard muffled talking, but he couldn’t distinguish the words. Soon, he heard a sickening thud against a hard wall, and Isaac yell out. Zac bit his lip and tried to ignore the horrible clenching of his heart. But, there was no ignoring it, and Zac found couldn’t fight the need to save Isaac. “Tay,” he told his other brother calmly, “I have to go.”

“No, Zac--”

“Taylor, if I never apologized for all the shit I’ve done to you, I’m sorry.” Zac said letting his voice waver a little.

“Zac.” Taylor whispered not sure how to respond to his brother’s confession.

Zac sighed. “I just needed you to know that if something happens here today, and we never see each other again,” his voice broke in mid-sentence, but he was just admitting the truth. There was a very high chance that Zac would never see Taylor again.

“Zac, Zac, listen to me. You have to wait for help to get there. Wait just a little longer. I’ll get over there, okay, just wait.” Taylor said frantically as he rushed out of the coffee shop and onto the sidewalk. The early December air took Taylor’s breath away for a moment because it was so cold compared to the temperature inside the coffee shop.

Zac heard Taylor speaking, but it didn’t register in his mind. Nothing could change Zac’s mind at that point; he was going to save Isaac without help from police or anyone else that might come to help. There just wasn’t enough time to wait for help to come, and Zac reacted to the situation the only way he could. “I have to go now Tay. Tell Kate I love her. Oh, and Tay, I love you.”

“Zac, no wait!” Taylor shouted into his cell phone only to hear the line go dead on Zac’s side.

Taylor stood with the cell to his ear for a moment before pulling it down and staring at it. “Oh, God, no.” That was when Taylor ran to his car.

Zac put Isaac’s cell phone into his pants pocket and walked out of the bathroom in a kind of trance. Nothing seemed real to Zac, even though two of his senses were heightened. He was hearing and seeing sharper than ever, and Zac knew that would come in handy for what he was planning to do. No thoughts crossed his mind except getting to Isaac in time. He came into Isaac’s bedroom, and Zac walked over the doorway. He slightly peered around the door to see the men gathered behind their leader, Kevin, and Zac saw that Kevin was holding one of Isaac’s acoustic guitars. ‘What’s he doing?’ Zac thought to himself.

Then, Zac got the answer to his question. Kevin walked up to Isaac, who was laying left side down on the floor, and swung the guitar like a baseball bat down against Isaac. Zac stared in stunned disbelief for a few seconds. Then, he felt the rage fuel the adrenaline in his body, and he glanced around the room for something to attack the trench coat men with.

Isaac lay on the floor wincing at every slam he received from the guitar, and he cringed knowing that Kevin was destroying the guitar to injure him. Isaac didn’t have to open his eyes or touch his scalp to know that he was bleeding from his forehead. There was a slow stream of blood that seemed to crawl down his skin, and Isaac knew that he had no control in the situation or hope of gaining any control. Kevin and his men were serious about whatever they were looking for.

Kevin crouched down beside Isaac and threw the only piece of the guitar, the neck of the guitar, he had in his hand aside. He smiled victoriously at the shards of the acoustic guitar. Isaac opened his eyes and stared at Kevin without emotion in his eyes. Kevin grabbed Isaac’s collar and started pulling him up. Isaac cried out in pain, and Kevin grinned sadistically at Isaac’s pain. He was proud of the beating he’d bestowed upon Isaac, and he stared into Isaac’s eyes. There was fear deep within those eyes, and Kevin was glad. He wanted Isaac afraid of him just to keep his control, which he couldn’t lose at that point. Or, so he thought.

“Why don’t you tell me where your brother is now.” Kevin suggested, though it sounded more like a demand that a suggestion.

Isaac held still and didn’t answer. He just held the stare with Kevin, who seemed displeased with Isaac’s stubbornness. ‘I won’t let him go and hurt Taylor for something he didn’t do.’ Isaac thought.

Zac glanced around until he saw a baseball bat lying under Isaac’s desk. The bat was from a game that Isaac and Taylor forced Zac into. They made him pitch because they knew he sucked at it, and they kept the bat--which didn’t have a speck of dirt on it--to make sure Zac remembered that game. But, Zac had a new use for the bat. To give a beating to the five trench coats.

Zac gripped the bat and made sure he had a feel of the bat before he made a move out of the room. He watched to see if the men would notice his entrance into the room. They wouldn’t, and there was a perfectly good reason for why they wouldn’t see Zac enter. ‘They don’t know I’m here.’ Simple as that, but there was danger to it once Zac made himself known. But at the current moment, that was the only advantage Zac had in the situation.

Zac stepped into the room without turning attention to him, and he was thankful for that. Zac carefully chose each step as he neared one of the trench coat men, who was barely a larger body build than Zac. Zac stood with the bat over one shoulder, and he took a deep breath. He knew his swing wouldn’t be less than bone shattering since drumming had granted him amazing upper body strength. The muscles in his arm tightened as he gripped the bat harder.

Kevin slammed Isaac into the wall, and Zac let loose on the man in front of him. He heard the bat smash into the man’s jaw and crack the bones. It was a disturbing experience for Zac; disturbing that he enjoyed and hated the sound all in one instant.

Zac watched the man stumble over and collapse onto the floor, bleeding. There was only a second for Zac to save himself from an attack of the other men, and he moved like liquid over to the next man in line. Zac pulled the bat behind his left shoulder again and swung as hard as he could.

This time, the bat hit the shoulder of the man before Zac. The man cried out, but the injury didn’t phase him. He reached for his gun, and Zac quickly slammed the bat into the man’s face. No time for reaction on the man’s part, and that left him with a broken nose. He staggered back and stared down at the red liquid that covered his palm. Dizziness overthrew the man’s senses, and he dropped to his knees babbling to himself.

The two other men lunged for Zac and were determined to make him pay for the surprise attack. Zac retreated back a few steps to try to separate the two men, but there would be no such luck. The two men were upon Zac before he could even swing the bat. One grabbed the bat, which Zac held onto with an undying grasp, while the other grabbed Zac’s shoulders. Zac struggled against both men, and he was doing quite well. Neither of the men had the time to reach for their guns because if they even let one hand free, Zac would be loose. They weren’t dumb enough to let that happen after seeing the damage Zac could dish out.

Kevin chuckled to himself, and Isaac stared at him as he failed to see the humor in the situation. Neither side of the scene before him had an up side; Zac had beaten two of Kevin’s men down nearly effortlessly, and Kevin’s men had a hold of Zac to try and save themselves from his wrath. ‘What could Kevin see in this that is so damn funny?’ Isaac wondered.

Kevin stopped his chuckled. “That little son-of-a-bitch,” he said. He looked down at Isaac. “He’s good. Had I left two of my guys outside, this fight would have been evened up. I’d been the only one left standing, but I’d still have the advantage.”

Kevin pulled out his gun, and Isaac froze. No thoughts stirred in Isaac’s mind as he sat staring at the gun, horrified. “Zac,” he whispered nearly inaudibly.

Kevin heard Isaac whisper, and he smirked as he stepped forward in the direction of Zac. Isaac stayed where he was for a second then tried to stand up. White hot pain shot through his entire body and made him drop back down to the floor panting. Kevin came back over just to kick Isaac hard in the side. Again, he laughed. Isaac rolled onto his left side and waited for the pain to subside. At that moment, Isaac couldn’t seem to find a spot in his body that wasn’t aching.

Kevin strolled closer to Zac supremely confident that Isaac was down for the time being and wouldn’t be coming to the aid of his younger brother. Kevin was determined to show Zac a taste of justice for cheating, or what Kevin considered to be cheating in his business. There was no justice in the situation since Zac was only showing the same gratitude that Kevin had showed Isaac. Now, Kevin was going to make the score uneven once more.

Zac saw Kevin coming for him, but he had nowhere to run now. Kevin wouldn’t let him get away. Zac’s glance fell upon the gun in Kevin’s right hand, and his body went numb. ‘Oh God, he’s going to shoot me.’ Zac thought.

Kevin stood right next to Zac, and motioned his men to let Zac go. Since they feared their leader, they released Zac, who didn’t even try to run from Kevin. Zac knew there was no need to run because he couldn’t outrun a bullet, so there was not need to try.

He just stood still for a second before he was grabbed by his tee shirt and thrown to the floor.

Kevin grabbed the baseball bat from one of his men, who had ended up with it when Zac had paid attention to Kevin. Zac rushed to get up, but never had a chance. Kevin swung the bat down against Zac’s back as hard as he could. The bat slammed against Zac, who screamed out in pain. The bat hit Zac’s shoulder blades but didn’t break them, fortunately for Zac. Yet, Zac was still in pain from the hit. He didn’t even have time to get over the first hit when the second hit came.

Isaac leaned up on his elbows and saw Kevin beating Zac with the baseball bat, and he knew he had to stop Kevin. By the time Isaac got up to his knees, Kevin had hit Zac over nine times. Isaac couldn’t take seeing his younger brother beaten, and he screamed out, “Brooklyn.”

Kevin paused mid-swing and looked over at Isaac. “What did you say?” Kevin asked before bringing the baseball bat down like he had intended a moment earlier.

Isaac cringed at seeing and hearing Zac being injured. “Brooklyn. Taylor lives in Brooklyn. Now, leave Zac alone!”

Kevin, not appreciating being spoken to so forcefully by his victim, rolled his shoulders and stepped over to Isaac, who was cowering from the man still clutching the baseball bat. Isaac didn’t want to know the kind of beating Kevin was capable of with the baseball bat, but he was determined to keep Kevin away from Zac. Isaac would have glanced over to see if Zac was all right, but he wasn’t going to break eye contact with Kevin. The man was dangerous, and not keeping an eye on him was the wrong thing to do.

Kevin was three feet away from Isaac, and his six-foot-five frame towered over Isaac by about five inches--enough to be intimidating. Kevin was also built like a football player, and Isaac knew the man outweighed him by at the least one hundred pounds. Even though Isaac had taken a few courses on self defense, for an occasion that called for it, he saw no positive outcome for his current situation. So, Isaac backed up against the wall and waited for Kevin’s move.

Kevin tapped the bat on the floor three times then lifted it up, so he could clutch it with both hands. He saw the embedded fear in Isaac’s expression, and Kevin fed off of that. Kevin swung the bat, and Isaac closed his eyes tight as he brought his arms up to protect his face. He waited for contact with the bat, but it never occurred. Isaac heard the bat smash into the wall beside him, and he glanced over to see the bat stuck in the wall. ‘He wouldn’t have missed.’ Isaac thought staring at the damage. ‘So, what’s he up to?’

Kevin picked Isaac up by his throat and slid him up the wall until they were eye-to-eye. Isaac struggled and gasped, but Kevin held on tightly. “Look at me,” he growled. Isaac quit struggling and stared directly at Kevin. Kevin squinted slightly, and his eyes looked all-the-more intimidating. “I don’t like being given orders by captives, and I sure as hell won’t let you continue this type of behavior. I have plenty of options of killing you, especially since the boss never mentioned anything about not killing you or your brother. And, I’m not talking about Taylor, I’m talking about that sneaky brat laying in the floor. If you want to be foolish enough to keep up the ‘big brother’ thing, I suggest you shut up or else I’ll kill you both real quick.” Kevin exhaled then growled, “Are we clear on that?”

“Transparently.” Isaac replied, which was a challenge considering how hard Kevin was clutching his throat.

Kevin muttered, “Good,” and tossed Isaac onto the floor, hard. He walked past Isaac and stepped over Zac. He headed over to Isaac’s bedroom then turned around to face the two men that were still standing. “Watch them. I don’t really think they’re going anywhere, but we were fooled once.” Kevin stared hard at Zac, who shut his eyes in response. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

Isaac got up and ran over to Zac, and the two men just stood there perfectly still. Isaac was glad that they were more relaxed, and he felt that his attention didn’t need to be disturbed by their presence. He tentatively touched Zac’s shoulder in fear that Kevin had broken it with the baseball bat. “Zac.” Isaac said quietly. “Is anything broken?”

Zac started to lean against his elbows so he could look up at Isaac, but everyone of his muscles screamed out in protest. He whimpered and replied to his brother, “I can’t tell.”

Isaac closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. He sighed and opened up his eyes. “Why didn’t you stay hidden? They didn’t even know you were here.” Isaac asked his brother as he stepped over him and knelt down.

Zac took several short, but labored, breaths. “I couldn’t take hearing them hitting you and throwing you around anymore. I had to do something.”

Isaac was touched that Zac had attempted to help, but he hated seeing Zac laying there in worse condition than he was. “You succeeded in getting yourself beat up. You should have just let someone come before coming out. They wouldn’t have--”

“They would have killed you because you wouldn’t have given them a place to search for Tay if my plan hadn’t backfired.” Zac muttered trying his best not to focus on the pounding in his head and back. From the pain he was in, Zac concluded the it was the equivalent of being hit by a four-wheeler, or maybe something large like a small car.

Isaac shook his head a little, and he knew he’d screwed up when his head began to throb again. “They wouldn’t have killed me.” Isaac said quietly so the two men watching wouldn’t hear. “They needed to know where Taylor lives. Now, they know and have no need for us. These guys have no problem with killing us, Zac. We have to be careful.”

Zac groaned as he brought his hands up to his face. His muscles ached tremendously as Zac rubbed his eyes. He knew he would have serious bruising on his right side and hoped none of his ribs were broken. By all the pain mixed together, Zac had no idea if he had any broken bones. All he knew was that he could feel a variety of pains he’d never experienced in his nineteen years.

Isaac watched his brother lay before him writhing from severe bruising and possible bone breakage, but he had nothing that he could do to ease Zac’s pain. He also had no way to get Zac out and to a hospital, which he could benefit from as well. “Why did I wait so long before telling them Taylor is in Brooklyn. That’s not specific enough to find him quickly. Tay probably would have figured out to get away.”

“Especially since I called him.” Zac whispered staring over at Isaac.

Isaac stared down at Zac with a kindled flicker of hope building up inside. “What?” Isaac asked quietly to make sure that he had heard Zac correctly.

Zac gasped a couple times before taking a deep breath. His side was making breathing a difficult task. “I called for help then I called Tay just to tell him what was going on. I told him to get somewhere safe.” Zac’s voice was barely audible, but Isaac preferred that over having the trench coats hearing. Isaac was sure they would shoot Zac if they learned that he had called for help and to warn Taylor about their search for him.

Isaac gave Zac a pleased grin. “Good, Zac. That’s good. Now, Tay knows to get out of his home.”

Zac’s eyes drew distant. “If they find that Tay’s not there, they’ll kill us.”

“Then, let’s hope that someone gets here before Kevin comes back.” Isaac whispered.

“Who?” Zac asked as he began forcing himself to get up. He reached out in front of him as a way of asking Isaac for help without using words.

Isaac grabbed Zac’s hand without ever noticing Zac was reaching; he’d just been a big brother long enough to respond automatically. “Kevin is these trench coats guys’s leader.” Isaac said quietly as Zac finally sat up.

Dizziness was the first experience Zac had after sitting up, and a near-blinding pain was the second. Zac gasped a few times and was about to lay back down when he heard footsteps treading closer. “Isaac.” Zac said incapable of forcing his body to standing and back away like his instincts were telling him.

Isaac protectively moved in front of Zac as Kevin came into sight. Again, Isaac knew there was little he could do to protect his brother against the bulky man, but his brotherly instincts didn’t bother listening to reason. His brown eyes went from warm and loving to very hard and distant as Kevin drew closer every second.

Zac noticed the gash on Isaac’s forehead, which had naturally clotted because of platelets in the blood, and he remembered Isaac had been hit with the acoustic guitar only several minutes earlier. “Isaac, you’ve been…hurt.” Zac’s brain grew fuzzier by the minute, and Zac couldn’t remember if he’d been hit in the head or not. ‘Even if I haven’t been hit, I’m still suffering from being attacked,’ he thought.

Isaac turned his head slightly, never taking his eyes off Kevin’s moving form, to speak to Zac. His voice was soft and quiet as he told his brother, “I’m all right.”

Zac knew Isaac was lying, but he wasn’t in the mood to argue about it. It was funny in a twisted, ironic way that he didn’t want to argue after purposely arguing with Isaac just twenty-some minutes earlier. ‘We were just facing a regular day then.’ Zac thought. ‘There was never any possible death threat upon our heads at that point. What if I don’t get to tell Ike I’m sorry for kidding around with him?’

Frantic because of analyzing the possibilities of the situation, Zac grabbed a hold of Isaac’s shoulder. Isaac turned to scold Zac for steering his vision away from Kevin, but he never got the chance. Isaac was pulled up off of the floor by Kevin, who had two coats draped over his shoulder. ‘Oh God, he’s taking us with them.’ Isaac thought at the sight of his and Zac’s coats. Kevin handed Isaac his coat and said, “I’d put this on if I were you. It’s a bit cold outside.”

Isaac thought, ‘No shit, it’s winter, dumb-ass,’ but he decided that was not appropriate to say. So, he took his coat and slipped it on without protest. Kevin seemed pleased that Isaac was listening to him., and he hoped Zac would be as cooperative. Isaac felt Kevin grab him by the collar and lead him closer to Zac.

Kevin tossed the remaining coat into Zac’s lap, and Zac just sat staring at it. He didn’t have the strength at that moment to put his coat on, but he knew that Kevin would hurt him again if he didn’t attempt to get the coat on. Zac sat up and bit back his screams of pain as he reached out and picked up the heavy garment.

Isaac watched his brother and felt a desperate need to help him get his coat on. He leaned down to help Zac, but Kevin pulled him back up. Isaac didn’t glare at Kevin, but he wanted to. He wanted to show Kevin the pain that he and Zac were feeling; but if that was going to occur, it wasn’t that particular moment. Kevin was still sitting high with all the control.

Zac was slow in getting his coat on, since he had to fight the constant piercing pain of his protesting muscles. He was on the verge of passing out, but he fought it since he didn’t know if Kevin had hit him in the head. He couldn’t risk passing out with a concussion. He looked up at Isaac and derived strength from his older brother because he was reminded they had to get through the tough spots before it could get better. ‘Maybe if I take long enough with my coat, help will get here.’

Kevin stepped closer and leaned down to Zac. “Hurry it up, boy,” he growled, “We don’t have all day to wait for you. We have a tight schedule to follow.”

‘So much for waiting for help.’ Zac thought as his right sleeve slipped on, causing pain to shiver down his spine.

“Now, get up.” Kevin ordered.

“I can’t.” Zac said meekly.

It was the honest truth, but Kevin wasn’t pleased. He motioned his men to step forward. “Get him up,” he demanded.

The two men pulled Zac up to his feet, despite Zac’s screams of pain. But, Zac wasn’t strong enough to stay on his feet and lost strength in his legs. The two men couldn’t drag Zac the whole way, and Kevin rolled his eyes at his weak associates.

He threw Isaac in front of him and grabbed Zac by his collar and pulled him up on his feet. Kevin had to basically carry Zac, but it was more of a drag, while the two men escorted Isaac. Those two would return to get their fallen comrades after securing Isaac and Zac in their vehicle. Isaac didn’t go willingly, and the trench coat men were pulling him the best they could. They’d even threw him into the glass door to try and break his will. But, Isaac struggled against their grip on his arms and nearly pulled free. He finally had to quit when one of the men jerked him hard to the right and caused his head to throb and his muscles to scream out in pain. The two trench coat men were pleased when Isaac quit fighting their hold on him.

Zac didn’t even try to struggle against Kevin because he ached too much, so he didn’t have near enough strength to defend himself from Kevin’s fists. Each dragged step, Zac could feel his muscles contract and leave constant pain. The sharp, burning pain hindered all rational thoughts inside Zac’s head. He was desperate to clear his mind and discover a way to get through being abducted. Obviously, there was no upside to the situation. But, Zac knew there had to be a way to stay alive through the ordeal.

The sound of the police sirens brought Zac’s thoughts into perspective.

Taylor sat in his silver Aston Martin Vanquish for a moment and tried to get a grasp on the information that Zac had given him via telephone. Isaac and Zac were in danger, and help would arrive as soon as they could. Even Taylor, in his shaken up state, knew that “as soon as they could” would take more time than Isaac and Zac had. Taylor’s fingers fumbled with his keys as he searched for his car key. Zac’s voice kept circulating in Taylor’s head, and he remembered that Zac told him the intruders were looking for him. Zac had also instructed Taylor to get his family somewhere safe, and Taylor didn’t waste anymore time with his keys. He had to devise a plan to save his brothers while he got his wife and son somewhere out of the trench coated men’s reach.

Taylor picked his cell phone back up and dialed to his house. It rang enough times for the answering machine to pick up the call. Taylor listened to his voice on the machine giving the standard message ending with “leave your message after the beep…” and sighed fearfully. He heard the mechanic beep, and he took a deep breath. “Natalie! Pick up! This is serious, you have to get to the phone if you are there! Oh God, please be there to pick up the phone.” Taylor paused a moment and waited to find out if Natalie was there.

As hysteria began to set in Taylor’s mind, the phone was answered. Taylor felt the tightness in his chest ease at the sound of Natalie’s voice. “Hello,” she said worriedly.

“Nat, thank God.”

“What’s going on, Tay,” she asked.

“Zac called me. Intruders have broken in the apartment and are assaulting Ike and Zac trying to get them to tell where I live.” Taylor wasn’t sure if he understood the underlying meaning to his sentence, but he hoped Natalie got the message out of the mess.

“Tay, that’s not funny. He’s kidding, right?”

Taylor shook his head before realizing that it did no good with no one to see him. “No, by the end of the call, I heard Ike yell. He was really being attacked.”

“Oh my God, Tay, what do we do?”

Taylor glanced around at the light traffic in the streets as he drove. He was silent for a few seconds as he realized there was only one thing he could do. He had to save his brother’s. “Get Ezra somewhere safe, and please be quick about it. I’ll call your cell later and meet you.”

“You’re not coming?” Natalie’s voice didn’t hide any of her fear, and Taylor felt sorry that he was leaving her alone to deal with an escape all by herself. But, he knew she was strong and could take control after a moment of reflecting upon the situation.

“It’s important that I make sure Ike and Zac are rescued from these creeps. I swear I’ll be careful.” Taylor had a nagging feeling that he’d just lied, but he wasn’t going to be openly honest about a plan that wasn’t formed yet.

“Please be, but don’t let anyone hurt Ike and Zac. And, I mean serious hurt because I think they may all ready be using force to get the information they’re requesting.”

“Yea, I won’t let them get away with beating up my brothers. Just make sure you get far away from there.”

“I will, don’t worry. I’ll be gone in minutes.” Natalie assured him.

“Good. I have to go now. I will call you later to see how you are.” Taylor told her.

“I know you will. I love you.”

“I love you, too” Taylor said. He hung up his cell phone and tossed it into the passenger seat. He focused on the streets as he realized he was going to New York City to help his brothers.

<><><><><><><><>

Kevin turned around to hear better, and he knew the sound of police sirens when he heard them. He cursed and looked down at Zac, and he tightened his grip on Zac’s neck. “You little son-of-a-bitch,” he growled. “You called for help, and you’ll pay.” Kevin let go of Zac’s neck and grabbed a handful of Zac’s thick brown hair.

Zac let out a yowl. “I thought I was past the petty hair pulling when I cut my long hair off,” he blurted.

Kevin smirked. “Some things, boy, are never the past. Not while they still work perfectly.” Kevin had to admit inside that he enjoyed yanking Zac’s hair. He liked all the power he got from bullying Isaac and Zac, and he figured he would toy with them for a few more hours.

Kevin opened the door to a Hummer H2 with tinted windows. Zac knew he was in trouble as Kevin pulled out a pair of handcuffs and snapped them on his right wrist. Kevin then shoved Zac into the Hummer H2and latched the other handcuff to a metal rod that hooked to the door. Kevin slammed the door shut, and the metal rod’s end disappeared where the door shut. Zac pulled at the handcuffs for a few seconds just to make sure he was trapped, momentarily forgetting the pain he was in. Sure enough, the handcuffs would not come off the metal rod.

Isaac was led over to the left side of the Hummer and shoved in. He struggled once more to try to escape from the captors, but they snapped the handcuffs onto Isaac’s left wrist and to the metal rod on the door near him. Frustrated, Isaac sat back against the seat and let the pain he was in take over. His right shoulder and arm had tender places where he’d been beat with his guitar, and the side of his face was starting to swell from Kevin’s punches.

Andy McQuarter and Chris Keane were the only two of Kevin’s group that hadn’t been left unconscious from Zac’s batting practice. “Kevin, should we go back for Mick and Joel?” Andy asked.

“No, idiot, we have to get out of here now! Police will be here in minutes, so get in!” Kevin screamed.

Andy and Chris didn’t argue with Kevin and jumped into the vehicle. Kevin wasted no time in starting the Hummer up and getting the vehicle out of there as fast as he could. The NYPD never got a chance to reach the scene before the Hummer was gone, and the echoes of sirens began to fade into the distance. Zac felt all hope die out with the final fading of sirens.

<><><><><><><><>

Taylor found his way to the swarm of police cars and detectives around Isaac and Zac’s apartment. There was no thoughts coming to Taylor as he stared at the scene before him. There were no ambulances, so Taylor assured himself that his brothers were still alive. But, he couldn’t believe how unreal the situation felt and had trouble grasping the idea that his brothers had really been taken captive. “What is it that they want?” Taylor asked himself. He really wished he knew the answer, so he could set up some sort of exchange for his brothers safety.

Natalie was about ready to walk out the door when Kate and Jessica walked in. They came by for a visit, and Natalie began to worry. From what Taylor had told her, there was little time to wait around before leaving. She had no choice but to let Kate and Jessica know the terrible events taking place.

Kate and Jessica realized something was wrong with the few bags packed and the worried look on Natalie’s face. “What’s going on?” Kate asked eying the bags in the floor.

Natalie took a deep breath. “There’s a problem.” She had full attention from Kate and Jessica. “There’s men looking for Taylor, and they’ve assaulted Ike and Zac so they tell where this house is.”

All the color drained from Kate and Jessica’s faces. There was little time to fret over Isaac and Zac’s troubles because an unfamiliar vehicle pulled up in the driveway. Natalie looked over Kate’s shoulder and out the window. The vehicle was a black Dodge Ram truck with a man driving. Immediately, Natalie feared that it was someone who had come looking for Taylor.

“We have to get out now,” she told Kate and Jessica, who turned around to see what was going on.

Kate motioned towards the truck. “Is that one of them?”

“I don’t know, but Taylor told me to get away from here.”

Kate turned around and stared at the truck for a few seconds, and she felt her face flush with anger. She was angry over how Isaac and Zac had been treated to get information on where Taylor lived. Since someone was there, Kate figured they had told. “Nat, take my car.” Kate told her.

“What?” Natalie asked a little confused at what good that would do.

Kate turned back towards her. “I’m betting this guy doesn’t know my car. So, give me your keys, and take my car out of here.”

Kate held out the keys to her Porsche 911 Carrera to Natalie, who hesitated before taking them. She saw the man get out of the truck and took Kate’s keys. She pulled the keys to her Porsche Cayenne Turbo and handed them to Kate, who took them quickly. “I’ll wait in here for a few minutes and cause a distraction. You and Ezra get out of here, okay?”

Natalie nodded. “I don’t know how I’ll thank you after all of this.”

“We’ll worry about it later. Let’s get through this.” Kate said nervously glancing to the window at the man who was growing closer. She realized that he looked exactly like Taylor from a distance. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

“What?” Natalie and Jessica asked.

“I think I know why people are after Taylor.” Kate replied unable to take her eyes off of the figure movie closer to the door. He had long, blondish-brown hair that brushed his shoulders. He was also tall and thin but muscular like Taylor was, and his facial features even resembled Taylor’s. Whoever the man was, he had done his research on creating his alias to be identical to Taylor Hanson.

Natalie and Jessica turned and saw the man in the window before he moved out of sight. Natalie gasped and tried to form a thought of reason for the man pretending to be her husband. She didn’t get much time to think before a pounding started upon the door, and Kate pulled her away towards the back. “Hurry.” Kate told her.

Natalie didn’t bother with anything but her son and her purse before she exited through the back door. Kate stood at the front door and unlatched the locks before running away as fast as she could. Jessica was waiting at the back for Kate to come, but Kate had to wait for the impersonator to get into the house before she could leave. She huddled on the other side of a wall between the living room and the way out. She tried to keep her breathing as quiet as possible, but she was terrified of her situation.

Geoffrey Pike, the man posing as Taylor, heard the door locks rattle. ‘And, I thought this was going to be hard,’ he thought. Quickly, he slipped inside and found no one standing around. That instantly brought a frown to his face, and he knew something was not exactly going his way. There was someone inside who was less than ready to meet up with him in the house. It wasn’t Geoffrey’s plan to leave survivors to snitch on him, so he felt obligated to hunt down Natalie--or who he assumed to be Natalie. But it’s not good to assume anything.

Kate was cowering behind the wall, but she heard the footsteps of Geoffrey lightly upon the plush carpeting. Sweat began to gather on Kate’s back, and she closed her eyes to try and calm her nerves. With little success, she opened her eyes at the sound of Geoffrey’s voice.

“I don’t know where you are, but I will find you. Don’t worry about that. I intend to finish what I’ve started, and I’ve started the end of Taylor Hanson. Shame that he had to be so easy for me to imitate since I’ve heard nothing but good things about him.”

Kate heard the roar of her Porsche, and she knew that it caught Geoffrey’s attention. So, she used the moment to get out of the house. Kate bolted for the back door, where Jessica was restlessly waiting. She didn’t know that her sudden movement had drawn Geoffrey’s attention away from the noise outside and over to her. Fortunately, she had enough lead to get away before he’d reach her.

Jessica rushed out the back door at the sight of Kate running over, and Kate was right behind her. Kate was relieved to see Jessica climb into the back of the Cayenne, mostly she was relieved to know the doors were unlocked and saved a few more seconds. Jessica was all ready safe and out of view inside of the Cayenne before Kate reached it. She pulled the driver’s side door open and was distracted by Geoffrey’s not so graceful or quiet exit.

Kate wasted no time in getting into the Cayenne after seeing the look on Geoffrey’s face; he meant business, and Kate didn’t want to find out what was in store. So she climbed inside the vehicle and slammed the door. Shakily, she got the keys in the ignition and started up the Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Checking to see where Geoffrey went, she saw him bound into his Dodge Ram.

Kate put the Cayenne in drive and pushed her foot against the accelerator. The vehicle roared as it gained speed quickly. Glancing up in the rear-view mirror, Kate saw the black Dodge Ram right on their trail. She realized that there would be no more hiding from the man because he saw them and assumed that she was Natalie. Kate guessed that it was better that the man knew little about Natalie or else she couldn’t have fooled him. ‘At least he’s chasing me instead of Natalie and Ezra.’ Kate thought.

Chapter 6: Could It Be It’s Too Late For Me?

As Kate turned onto Hudson street and sped up as fast as the legal limit was, but the Dodge drove faster than the Porsche Cayenne Turbo was going. Geoffrey was relentless in his pursuit because he was positive he was chasing Natalie. Fortunately, he had never really researched much about Natalie’s appearance because all he was going by was the brunette hair. But, Kate was still in danger because whether his target was the right one, he was still going to make sure his plan worked. She would be run off of the road, so she kept her foot on the accelerator.

Geoffrey slammed his foot down on the accelerator so he could bridge the gap between the Porsche Cayenne and his Dodge Ram. The black pick-up closed in on the Cayenne with yards then feet. Kate could see the grill of the Dodge in her rear-view mirror, and she swallowed down a lump of fear growing in her throat. ‘Stay calm,’ she thought to herself. ‘Fear won’t do anyone any good now.’

Kate pushed the accelerator down to the ground and could feel her heartbeat in the back of her throat as she heard the Cayenne roar with the extra speed boost. She thought everything was all and well until a sports car appeared in front of her. Kate let out a fearful gasp, which drew Jessica’s attention to the road. “Oh no,” she whispered before turning around to see that the Dodge was not giving up the chase.

The Cayenne was right behind the blue Nissan 35OZ, and Kate realized that she and the driver in the Nissan would be in trouble if the Dodge got any closer. She noticed her speed had dropped down to fifty-five miles per hour, and the Dodge was still coming at near ninety. Jessica’s voice wavered as she said, “Kate, he’s getting closer.”

Kate decided there was no more time to think on what to do; she had to just get out of the Dodge’s path. She whipped the Cayenne to the left and began passing the Nissan. Jessica turned around, fighting the protests of her seatbelt, and saw that Geoffrey wasn’t letting them get away so easily. He had his dodge on the shoulder at an even faster speed. He was passing the Nissan on the shoulder, which startled the Nissan driver. The Nissan stopped in the middle of the road and watched in shock as the Dodge was jerked back onto the road.

Kate saw the Dodge in her right side mirror. “Damn it,” she cried out. She only had one choice, and that was drive as fast as she could. Back in the correct lane, Kate urged the Cayenne to travel at a speedy eighty-seven miles an hour. She knew there had to be more cars on the street, but she prayed that she could escape the Dodge before then. Her reasoning told her that wouldn’t happen because the Dodge had pushed its speed up enough to be right on the Cayenne’s bumper once more.

“Come on, Kate.” Jessica pleaded as she looked over her shoulder at the hovering pick-up.

Kate pushed the accelerator some more, and the Cayenne gained a little bit of a lead over the Dodge. But, the victory was short lived when Kate spotted a line of four cars in front of her. At the speed she was going, there was no way she could follow those cars. The Dodge would ram her before she ever got close to the trailing car. Kate’s heart madly pounded in her chest as she began to draw closer to the line of cars.

She was mere yards away when she knew she had to pass the whole line. So, Kate pulled into the left lane and slammed the accelerator down. The speedometer rose up to ninety-five as the Cayenne passed the second-to-last car. Kate glanced up ahead of her and saw a car heading her way in the left lane, and she turned her glance to her right. She still had three cars to pass before she would be safe. ‘I don’t think I have enough time,’ she thought as she tried to estimate how much road she had left until the oncoming car slammed into the Cayenne.

Geoffrey saw the oncoming car, and he let out a growl. “I will be the end of this girl no matter what,” he said. That was when he jerked his Dodge back onto the shoulder and began his dangerous stunt once more.

The whole line of cars gasped and screamed inside their cars, even though Kate and Geoffrey had no way of hearing them, as they saw Kate was heading for a crash and Geoffrey was heading for a ticket. Afraid of either outcome, they slowed their speeds to get away from the commotion taking place beside them.

Kate saw the car was not fifty yards from her, and panic settled in. Jessica was nearly panting as she saw the car get closer and closer. She glanced out her window and saw that the line of cars was far behind them. “Kate, turn right, now!” Jessica screamed. Kate didn’t need to hear the order twice; she jerked the Cayenne into the right lane only to see the car pass by her. Kate let out a small sigh because she was glad to be away from that brush of death.

But, there was no time to celebrate being alive with Geoffrey’s Dodge right behind the Cayenne yet again. Kate didn’t have time to speed up before the Dodge rammed into the Cayenne’s bumper. Kate and Jessica felt the Cayenne be pushed ahead a few feet, and the screeching of the scraping metal was hard to ignore. Kate checked her rear-view mirror only to see that the Dodge was pulling into the left lane. “Oh God,” she whispered as the Dodge was even with the Cayenne.

Geoffrey glanced over into the driver’s window of the Cayenne, and he smiled with triumph. “And this, girl, is where it ends.” He jerked his truck over until he was at the edge of the left lane, then he swerved the Dodge over into the left side of the Cayenne.

The Cayenne was pushed over onto the shoulder, but Kate maintained it. Slowly, she tried to pull it back onto the highway. But, she saw the Dodge was preparing for another ran. Jessica whimpered, “Kate, he’s going to do it again.”

Kate merely nodded in response as the Dodge slammed against the vehicle once more. Kate tried, but lost control of the Cayenne. ‘God, please don‘t let this be the end.” Kate thought right before she and Jessica screamed as the Cayenne tilted over towards the deep ditch. It landed on its side but rolled over twice before coming to a complete stop.

Geoffrey, seeing the Cayenne come to rest, slammed the accelerator down and chuckle with pride. “Checkmate,” he muttered to himself as he drove out of sight of any witnesses present. He had more plots to fulfill before he would let his guard down and let witnesses be the end of him. He had much more in store before the day came to a close.

Even though the gray Hummer stuck out in the crowd of cars, trucks, and SUVs, no one gave it much thought. No one knew two rock stars had been taken hostage by a group of men demanding to know the whereabouts of the third rock star. They didn’t know that, and the primer-colored vehicle was not giving that away.

Without hope of being rescued, Zac felt very tired. He leaned over against Isaac’s shoulder when he found that he couldn’t take sitting up straight any longer. The handcuff on his right hand limited his movement, but he was able to lean over a few feet to where his brother was sitting.

Isaac didn’t mind Zac leaning over against him because it was a reminder that he wasn’t alone in present events. Isaac still had hope that they could find a way to escape, and he was desperately forcing his brain to conjure up a plan. He was thankful that if he failed to come up with a plan that Taylor was still alerted to the situation and would stop at nothing until he found them. ‘Let’s hope that’s before something bad happens.’ Isaac thought as he returned to what Kevin had told him about having plenty of options of killing him and Zac.

Isaac glanced over at his brother, who had his eyes shut. Zac’s hair was all ruffled from being pulled by Kevin. Isaac noticed the bruises on Zac’s right arm, and he felt hot rage filter through him. Zac had gotten injured just to save him from serious damage; being beaten by his own guitar left enough damage to Isaac without added attacks. But, there was nothing Isaac could do but glare up into the rear-view mirror at Kevin’s smug face. ‘Damn him.’ Isaac thought.

It wasn’t long before Isaac noticed that the Hummer was in a parking garage for a mall, and he felt his senses were alert once again. His eyes darted around the surroundings beyond the Hummer, and he saw that there were video cameras stationed on every pillar in the parking garage. ‘Why are they risking being taped?’ Isaac wondered.

The Hummer pulled around to the back of the parking garage, which was packed full of shoppers. Kevin, Andy, and Chris had to report to their boss that they had Isaac and Zac as captives as bait for Taylor. Kevin parked the Hummer then pulled out a cell phone. He wasn’t surprised to have service since they had planned to call from the parking garage no matter if they had hostages or what they were looking for. Kevin dialed up their boss, and paid no attention to anything else.

Isaac touched Zac on the shoulder, and caused Zac to sit up. “Stay here,” he mouthed to his younger brother.

“What?” Zac mouthed back in horror.

Isaac held up right hand. “Stay here until I get out, then run for it,” he said careful to make no sound.

Zac wearily nodded as Isaac glanced up at the front seats of the Hummer. The three men were preoccupied, and Isaac took that to his advantage. He grabbed the door handle and pushed it open. With the door open, the handcuffs slid right off the metal rod they were attached to and left Isaac free. He ran as fast as he could behind the row of cars then the pillar. He silently hoped that Zac was quick in escaping.

Zac was about to escape when the men noticed Isaac had escaped and jumped out of the vehicle. Kevin glanced up in his rear-view mirror and saw that Isaac was gone, and he growled. He hung up his call and glared over to Zac, who shoved his door open. Kevin got his door open and ran over to the other side of the Hummer before Zac had a chance to step out of the vehicle. Kevin grabbed Zac by the collar and glared at him with hateful eyes. “You’re going to wish your brother hadn’t done this,” he assured Zac, who felt his stomach drop.

Isaac listened closely to make sure that he heard if the men drew close to him. He was pretty safe behind the pillar, and he could lean over and see the shoes of the men. ‘Where’s Zac,’ he wondered since he had no idea that Kevin had grabbed Zac before he escaped. Isaac didn’t know what happened to his younger brother, but he figured he wouldn’t like it.

Kevin dragged Zac by his collar over closer to the line of cars next to Isaac’s hiding spot. He quickly drew his gun from a holster in his coat and placed it firmly against Zac’s temple. “Listen up, kid!” Kevin shouted to Isaac. “I’m going to give you a choice in this. You come back over here to us, and your brother isn’t in danger. Or, you stay where you are, and I splatter his brain all over the ground. I‘ll count to three”

Isaac didn’t need a count down; he stood up the second Kevin threatened Zac’s life and walked into clear view of Kevin and his men. He stood there and stared into Zac’s eyes. Fear was embedded in them, wide as they were. Isaac wished that Zac had gotten away from Kevin, but there was no need to wish. Kevin had the upper hand once again, and Isaac was forced to fold.

“Even the strong-willed can be reasoned with.” Kevin replied smugly at his victory.

Isaac took a stepped closer at a slow rate just to buy time; he knew that someone had to see Kevin on the monitors with his gun pressed against Zac’s head, so he wanted to give enough time to the person watching to call for help. But, all Isaac achieved was getting a witness involved because they saw him walking so slow towards Kevin. The witness was a young woman, mid-twenties, who first recognized Isaac from the new videos. Then, she caught sight of Zac, and she let out a gasp.

Unfortunately, Kevin heard her and saw her stare directly into his face. Holding tightly to Zac’s collar, he aimed the gun at the girl. She screamed and started to run, but Kevin fired a few shots her way. Isaac turned away but could hear the sound of the woman falling to the ground. “Oh God,” he whispered.

Kevin pulled Zac with him as he walked up to Isaac. His glare bore down upon Isaac, who slowly looked up into the hateful pair of eyes. Kevin drew back his right hand and brought it swiftly towards Isaac’s face. Isaac didn’t even have time to duck before Kevin’s gun made contact with his jaw, and he fell backwards. His jaw wasn’t broken, but he was lucky since Kevin had put all his might into that swing. He gingerly touched his cheek and sucked in air when the light touch stung.

“I warned you not to try anything, didn’t I?” Kevin asked Isaac, who meekly nodded. “You try even so much as a wrong glance, kid, your brother dies. Are we clear on that?”

Zac didn’t budge but he felt his body tense up at the threat because he knew that Kevin wouldn’t bluff. He looked down at his brother and wished things had gone well. Now, Isaac had to behave according to Kevin’s rules or Zac was dead. Zac didn’t care for the terms, but that was all there was. He knew Isaac would follow the rules with Zac’s life on the line, and Zac wasn’t sure if he was grateful or not. Isaac had nearly gotten them away from Kevin and his men, but Kevin had been too quick. Without Isaac planning an escape, he and Zac were stuck.

Taylor was their last hope.

<><><><><><><><>

The police officer in charge of watching the surveillance cameras was busy reading his newspaper until he caught a man with a gun out of the corner of his eye. He threw the paper down and stared at the scene before him. He immediately called for back up.

Unfortunately, the police didn’t arrive in time to rescue Isaac and Zac. Kevin locked them into the Hummer once more, but put a set of handcuffs on Isaac’s right wrist and connected it to Zac’s left wrist. So, Isaac couldn’t even try to escape because Zac’s other set of handcuffs were reapplied to the metal rod on the door. But, Isaac’s spirit wasn’t in the fighting mood anymore. Kevin’s threat had beaten the rebellion out of him, and he slouched down against the Hummer’s seat.

Zac stared over at his older brother and felt despair creep up his spine. He didn’t like seeing Isaac looking so defeated because it brought back memories of harsher times he and his brothers had faced; he didn’t want to reminisce about those times. He moved his left hand to try and get Isaac’s attention. He wanted to see the spark of hope that Isaac had kept in his eyes. Isaac did look over Zac, and Zac wished he hadn’t. There was evident fear in his brother’s eyes where the hope had once been. Zac looked away and silently prayed for help.

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Upon seeing Isaac and Zac Hanson were the captives in the surveillance tape, the tape was immediately given to the media to spread the word; that was a good use of media’s unlimited resources. Within minutes, the tape, and information about it, spread like wild fire. There were clips posted on the internet, pictures and video on nearly all news channels. Some still shots from the video were given to the newspaper and magazines to print up the story. People all around New York City knew that Isaac and Zac had been taken hostage, and Kevin’s identity was the one people saw the most. He was the guy they were after, and he had no idea he was a wanted man because of the surveillance tapes.

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Taylor turned on the radio to stop the chatter in his mind because he couldn’t take all the negative thoughts anymore. He needed a slight distraction to get him back on track. The first thing he heard was laughing, then the DJ came on. “This is serious, Dave, two of the members from Hanson have been taken hostage by some huge man, who obviously doesn’t play by the rules. For all of you who saw the surveillance tape, or snippets of it, know that one of them escaped and hid. But, this huge guy uses the other one as bait to lure the first one out.” Taylor felt his chest tighten at the news of his brothers. He felt angered by Dave’s resumed laughter. “Dave,” the DJ growled, “It isn’t funny. This guy had a gun to the younger one’s head. It doesn’t matter who it is, a gun to someone’s head is damn serious.”

“Yea, Tim, I know. But, how dumb could the guy be to just let that one escape? Obviously, he was using such drastic action to make up for his foolishness. And, why did he have the two in an area with surveillance?”

“Hopefully that was just a mistake for the better.” Tim replied. “But, we’re needing anyone’s help on this. Anyone who has information on this Hummer’s whereabouts. And to everyone listening, turn on the news this morning and check the information on this story.”

Taylor shut the radio off and felt even more tense. “God, please help someone find Ike and Zac.”

The cars that Kate had passed had stopped when the Cayenne had been pushed off of the road by the Dodge Ram. The drivers and passengers of the vehicles got out and rushed over to see if they could help. A college student called for help on her cell phone while the rest edged closer to the wrecked Cayenne.

Kate and Jessica were alive, but Kate wasn’t conscious at the moment. Jessica, still seat-belted in the backseat, was and saw the people standing around the Cayenne. Muscles aching as she unfastened her seat-belt, Jessica slid up to the front passenger seat. Luckily, the Cayenne had landed right side-up when it stopped rolling because it would have been harder for Jessica to get to Kate had the vehicle been upside-down.

Jessica touched Kate’s right shoulder lightly and whispered, “Kate.”

After a moment, Kate’s eyelids fluttered and opened. Kate glanced over at Jessica and around the interior of the Cayenne before she remembered where she was and what had just happened. Then, she bolted up. “We’ve got to get help!”

Jessica put her hand on Kate’s shoulder. “Help’s been alerted,” she said gently gesturing to the bystanders, who saw the Kate and Jessica were alert.

Kate looked out. “I’m glad they stopped. I’m too shaky right now to be helpful.”

Jessica nodded and stared out the busted up windshield. Her thoughts couldn’t help but wander to her older brothers, especially Isaac and Zac. Geoffrey was serious about something to have pushed them off of the road, and Jessica wanted to know what he’d been up to. ‘Why would he impersonate Tay,’ she thought. It was a question that only Geoffrey had the answer to.

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Upon hearing the news on two members of their favorite band, the Hanson fans of New York, as well as any nearby area, were frantic but ready to help track down the Hummer holding Isaac and Zac hostage. Fans were leaving work early, some standing outside staring with narrowed eyes at traffic, desperate to find any Hummer. The unseen witnesses from the parking had told the media that the Hummer was gray, so everyone knew what they were looking for.

Even Taylor knew what he was looking for, but he didn’t know where to find it. So, he decided to start in the place where the Hummer had once been; the parking garage. So, Taylor’s Vanquish headed towards the mall while Taylor hoped that he’d find a clue to where to turn after that. From the bleak situation, he feared that would not happen. ‘Just keep an open mind,’ he thought. ‘Keep an open mind. An open mind.’ No matter how many times he repeated this in his mind, Taylor couldn’t stop dreading the lack of clues that awaited him at the parking garage. His mind also found its way back to worrying about Isaac and Zac’s well being. Taylor found there was a lump in his throat that refused to budge the closer the Vanquish got to the garage.

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Kate and Jessica had been rushed to the hospital to be checked out, with police there hounding them for all the information they could get for Geoffrey Pike. They had about all they needed after hearing the witnesses; because from them, they’d gotten Geoffrey’s license plate number. His Dodge Ram was being hunted just like the gray Hummer, which contained three men after Geoffrey’s head but were tricked into believing they were after Taylor. None-the-less, the police wanted Kate and Jessica’s telling of the events they’d been involved in.

Luckily, Kate and Jessica had been released with no serious injuries, just bumps and scraps. Upon being released, Kate pulled out her cell phone and dialed up Taylor’s cell. She and Jessica had heard about the Hummer being sighted--and they had saw the clip of it on the televisions in the hospital waiting room--and they were headed to a nearby internet café. After three rings, Kate heard Taylor’s panicked voice. “Hello,” he breathed.

“Tay, it’s Kate.”

“Kate, do you know what’s--”

“Yes, and I know who they’re really after. Some man impersonating you ran Jessica and me off the road.”

“God, are you all right?”

“Yes, just be thankful it was us and not Nat and Ezra, who the man assumed he was tailing.” Kate replied.

“Oh my God.”

“Nats and I swapped keys, so the bastard thought I was Natalie. She got away.”

The other end of the line was silent for a moment. “God, Kate, I don’t know how to thank you.”

Kate and Jessica had reached the internet café and stepped inside as Kate told Taylor, “By finding your brothers.”

Taylor let out a sigh. “I don’t know where to start,” he said miserably.

“That’s where I’m here to help you.” Kate said as she sat down at one of the free computers. Jessica sat silently beside her; she was still a bit frazzled by all that had and was happening.

“I’m going to research all I can on the Hummer and any leads to its location on the internet.” Kate informed Taylor.

“I’m heading to the parking garage trying to get leads.” Taylor told her.

“You could try questioning security there or any employees of businesses near there. Someone surely saw the Hummer bolt out of there.” Kate said as she furiously typed upon the keyboard.

She was amazed at how many pages came up mentioning the Hummer and Isaac and Zac’s abduction. She clicked on a few but found no information out from them. “Tay, I have an idea. I’ll call into a radio station and see if any leads have been found. So, I’ll let you go. But, call me if you find anything.”

“Likewise.” Taylor replied.

“Hope to hear from you soon. Bye.”

“Bye.” Taylor replied as he flipped his cell phone shut to end the call.

Taylor parallel-parked in front of a few shops near the parking garage. He shut off the car and pulled his keys out of the ignition. He pocketed them momentarily as he put his cell phone away and opened up his car door. Shutting it, he pulled his keys out once more and hit the lock button and heard the answering beep from his car. Then, he headed into the store.

Taylor was recognized right away and bombarded by questions and pleads to sign items. But, he kindly said he was busy trying to find his brothers, and no responses were give to him. The employee at the counter said she’d just arrived ten minutes earlier and had not been there to witness the disturbance. Taylor cursed under his breath and left the store.

He entered the next shop, which was a candle store, and was taken back by the mixture of smells. All the scents of the candles were enough to give him an even worse headache than he’d been experiencing due to stress. Again, he was recognized by most of the people in the shop. A few people said they’d heard about what had happened and were sorry for it. But he left the candle shop with no more information than he’d all ready had.

Frustrated, Taylor let out a sigh and pulled a cigarette out of the pack in his coat pocket along with a lighter. He shielded the end of the cigarette as he lit it. Quickly after it was lit, Taylor put the lighter away and took a long drag of the cigarette. His body felt a little more calm, but his mind was nagging at him. He knew he shouldn’t be standing there doing nothing but smoking, but he had nowhere to go from where he was standing. He was clueless as to where to go next since no one seemed to have any more information on the whereabouts of his brothers than he did.

Taylor stood on the sidewalk as people passed, some stared but none spoke to him. He smoked the cigarette as he stared up at the dreary sky wishing for a miracle. Slowly, he shut his eyes as he took one last drag on his cigarette. Taylor held the smoke in for a moment before slowly exhaling.

“You looking for that Hummer,” a voice said next to him.

Startled, Taylor jumped and opened his eyes. He saw a girl, or whom he assumed to be a girl since he couldn’t tell by her outfit, dressed all Goth and had her hair, tinted magenta at the ends, spiked out on both sides of her head. Her pale face contrasted the black eyeliner and mascara and dark pink eye shadow that spread up to her eyebrow. The girl had a pierced lip, nose, eyebrow, and ears. She was dressed in a heavy black coat with buckles, bondage straps, and zippers all over it and pants that matched the coat. She wore battered, black converse Chuck Taylors--which made Taylor cringe because they made him think of his brothers.

“Yes, I am looking for the Hummer.” Taylor replied wearily as he eyed the girl further.

“Would you like to know what I have to say, or would you rather keep eyeing me because of how I’m dressed?

“Sorry.” Taylor admitted quickly. “Sorry. I would like to hear what you have to say because I’ve got nothing to go on.”

The girl nodded. “Alright, here’s what I know. A big gray Hummer H2 passed by here twenty-five minutes ago heading north. My guess would be to bypass prying eyes by getting lost in traffic. Tinted windows, so no one in the cars next to it will see who is sitting in the back, so these guys believe that to be the safest route to save their asses.”

Taylor watched the girl with curiosity. Her idea was smart, and he appreciated her help because she had obviously given it some thought before he’d found her. ‘Perhaps she’d been thinking of calling in to the radio station and telling all,’ he thought. ‘But either way, I have a place to start. I just really hope that she’s not lying just to talk to me because that would be really shitty to do right now.’

“My name’s Cali by the way.” The girl added.

“Taylor.”

“Yes, I figured.” Cali replied. “I had a feeling you’d be here to get information.”

Taylor had that suspicion of Cali again that she was just messing with him. “Why did you stay here this long without calling in what you knew?”

“No one would have believed me if I told them they were probably heading into traffic. They would call me crazy just because they would guess the Hummer would stick out in the crowd and that the people in the cars would have heard that your brothers are hostages. So, they wouldn’t believe me when I said they’d head for traffic simply because someone would see the Hummer and stop it.”

“So why would they head that way.” Taylor agreed with the fact that someone would see the Hummer in traffic.

“Because these guys want everyone to think that. I think they have a plan to get out of whatever they get in.”

“But, the police will stop the vehicle.” Taylor insisted.

Cali raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think these guys care about laws, Taylor. They would sit around and let the police get them. They’ll run if they see police, even if it means smashing through the traffic to get away. Besides, north is the quickest way to big buildings with big storage areas. Seems to be a perfect place to hide hostages with little chance of being seen--if you are good at what you do.”

“Why exactly should I believe you aren’t telling me bullshit?” Taylor asked.

“You told me yourself that you’ve got nothing to go on.”

Taylor sighed, but he didn’t take his eyes off of Cali. She worried him, but he didn’t really know why. He saw her eyes stare down at the sidewalk where he was standing. “Move two feet back,” she demanded.

“What?”
“Just do it.”

Bewildered, Taylor stepped away from where he was. Before he could ask any more questions, a large ceramic vase smashed to the ground in thousands of pieces. Taylor just stared at the broken vase with hysteria; if he hadn’t moved, the vase would have fell on his head. He forced his eyes off of the vase and looked at Cali. He heard a panicked worker from above yell, “I’m sorry,” down to Cali and him.

“How’d you know?” Taylor stuttered.

Cali shrugged. “Sometimes, I see things. Usually, it leaves me alone, but today I’ve been seeing things like that all morning.”

Taylor assessed his situation; he didn’t believe there were psychics, but he figured that Cali may be helpful along his search. “Will you help me?”

“What?” Cali asked skeptically.

Taylor glanced down at the broken vase again. “Maybe you could help me today.”

“I thought you didn’t know whether or not to believe if I was telling you bullshit.” Cali replied a little coldly.

Taylor pointed at the vase. “You saw that was going to fall, and it did. Maybe the Hummer will head for traffic. If that’s the only shot I have at saving Ike and Zac, I’m going for it.”

Cali sighed. “Okay, at least I’ll be putting my foresight into some good use for a change.”

Taylor lead her back to his car and unlocked it. “What do you think I’ll be able to do to help you?” Cali inquired.

Taylor opened his car door and slipped into the driver’s seat and waited for Cali to sit down in the passenger’s seat. She was uncomfortable in the situation; she didn’t know him, and he didn’t know her but wanted her help. The fact that he needed her help worried her because she’d never tried to help anyone with issues larger than ones like falling vases or falling down on ice. She didn’t know if she would have any more “visions” that day, so it worried her to think Taylor was hoping she would lead him somewhere helpful.

“I don’t know what to think anymore, especially not today.” Taylor sighed as he slipped the keys in the ignition and started up the Vanquish’s engine.