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"Get a grip," I muttered to myself. I listened for footsteps in the hall, but when I heard nothing, I quickly climbed out of the bed and hurried to the bathroom. I laughed out loud when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I looked very well-loved. I grinned like an idiot as I ran my fingers through my hair. I made quick work of brushing my teeth and running a warm washcloth over my body before hurrying back to the bed. I grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms to put on, though I wasn't really sure why.
I shook my head as I dragged the pants on. I climbed back onto the bed and began arranging the duvet over my lap when my phone began ringing on my nightstand. It wasn't the burner phone, though, it was my real phone. I was tempted to ignore it, but since I didn't hear any movement outside the door indicating that Matias was on his way back down the hallway, I reached for the phone to check the caller ID.
I was surprised to see my son's name on the phone. His communication board had a feature built in where he could call me, but I'd just assumed that Elliot would've told him to tell Elliot if he wanted to talk to me. That way, Elliot could set the call up through the burner phone.
"Ryan, buddy," I said as I answered the phone. "It's Daddy. Is everything okay?"
There was a long beat of silence, but I knew better than to worry. It just meant that Ryan was in the process of using his eyes to select images from the communication board. It would take a moment for the computer to translate that into words.
"Bad man, Daddy. Bad man here."
My heart immediately lodged in my throat. I threw the covers aside as I said, "What, Ryan? Did you say bad man?"
"Bad man, Daddy. Bad man."
"You've got a fucking computer for a voice, kid, and that's the best you can do? Bad man?" a strange voice said. My insides froze as I realized what was happening. I covered the microphone on the cell phone and climbed out of bed, then yelled Matias's name out the door.
"Daddy, you listening?" the voice said again. It was definitely an adult male's voice. I knew in my gut who the owner was.
"Please, please don't hurt him," I whispered, switching the phone to speaker mode with trembling fingers.
"Good, you can hear me," the man said.
"Bishop, please, he's just a little boy."
There was a momentary pause in which I could hear Ryan crying. I had to cover my mouth to stifle my own sobs. I could hear footsteps coming down the hall, but they seemed far away.
"So you know who I am," Bishop observed. "Where's your new boy toy, Sam?"
"Ryan, honey, Daddy's here. Daddy’s gonna come get you, okay?" I said.
"Where is he?" Bishop demanded.
"I'm here," Matias said from behind me. At some point, I'd sunk to the floor and pulled my knees up to my chest. I had my fingers wrapped around my cell phone like it was my only lifeline to my child. In reality, that was exactly what it was.
"Matias, it's been too long."
"Let's meet up," Matias responded, his voice strangely calm.
"You know that isn't how this works," Bishop returned.
"I know you need to see me to get off on all this," Matias said. "Tell me where you are."
"You know where I am."
I managed to turn my head enough to look at Matias. Despite the calmness in his voice, the rage was written all across his face. For once, I had no desire to help him tamp it down.
"I'm coming," was all Matias said. None of it really made any sense to me. How could he know where Bishop was? But in the end, I didn't really care. I just needed my sons back. I'd heard Ryan's voice, but not Elliot's or Cruz’s. What had happened to them? Were they okay? Were they with Ryan?
"Don't forget to bring the boyfriend," Bishop said.
"No," Matias said instantly. His voice faltered just a bit. I began shaking my head because I was absolutely going with him. My kids were out there.
Bishop made a tsking sound. "Now you know that's not how this works, Matias. You have a choice to make. If you want to see the kid or his brother again, you'll come prepared to make that choice."
With that, the phone disconnected. "No, wait," I said, but it was too late.
"What about Elliot? What about Cruz?" I asked Matias, then Ronan who I finally noticed standing in the doorway.
Matias took the phone from my hand but didn't say anything. Fine, I'd find out for myself. I rushed to my dresser and pulled out a shirt and some jeans. I didn't care that Ronan was standing right there as I began changing into the clothes.
