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.
"You're not going," Matias snapped as he grabbed my arm. I hadn't even heard him move into the room.
"Yes, I am," I responded. I looked at the phone as if that were actually the man who was threatening to destroy my entire life by taking the people I cherished the most. "He wants you to choose. Between me and Cruz, right? That's the choice he wants you to make. And he wants to watch you make it. Just like he wants to watch you suffer when he hurts the one you chose."
Matias didn't answer, but I didn't really need one anyway. I yanked my pants on. As soon as I got them closed, I poked my finger against Matias’s naked chest. "You're going to choose me, do you hear me? You're going to choose me and then you're going to get my children and your brother out of there. That's it. No debate, no argument. I don't care how, but you're going to make that happen. You're going to save my children because you know that's what I need. If you love me even a little bit, you will do this for me. Do you understand me?"
I expected an argument. I was mentally and physically prepared for one. What I wasn't prepared for was for Matias to grab my arm and drag me against him as he said, "I hear you. I'm going to get them out of there and I'm going to get you out of there and when this is over, I'm going to prove to you that a little bit doesn't even begin to describe how much I love you. Do you understand me?"
Under any other circumstances, his declaration would've had me celebrating with joy. But all it did was remind me how much I was really going to lose when this all ended the way I knew it would.
Matias kissed me hard and then he disappeared into the bathroom so he could retrieve his shirt from the night before. He was tugging it on as he came back out of the bathroom. "How did this happen?" he asked Ronan.
"Not sure," the man said. "I just got the call a few minutes ago from one of my men. Bishop managed to get inside the house where Cruz and Elliot are staying with Ryan. He killed one of my guys and used a vehicle fire to distract a couple of the other men. From what they can tell, Bishop was able to get into Ryan's room through a window, but that doesn't make any sense because Cruz would've made sure all the windows and doors were locked before they went to bed."
"Ryan can open windows," I murmured. "He likes the sound of the bugs at night, so he often opens his own window. Even though he has limited mobility, he can use his hands to move the locks and lift the window enough to create a gap."
"That doesn't explain how Bishop found them!" Matias snapped impatiently. I automatically reached my hand out to him. He took it without hesitation and linked his fingers with mine. My intent had been to calm him, but I needed his strength just as badly.
"My guess is Bishop was able to track them using the communication board that Ryan uses," Ronan said. He shifted his gaze to me and asked, "That's how he called you just now, isn't it?"
I felt sick to my stomach as I nodded. Ronan had made it clear before Elliot and Cruz had left that neither could have their regular cell phones on them, just the burner phone. It hadn't even occurred to me that Ryan's communication board had a cellular connection. "Oh God, this is my fault," I whispered.