Missing

"We don't know her name or her age. She has both of the children in the front seat of the car with her. Physically both kids look ok. However, they're visible upset. The hostage negotiator has been trying to talk to the young woman, but she refuses to talk to anybody but you." The detective was filling Andy in on the details of the situation as the car he was giving Andy and Jake a ride in, came to a stop at the end of a barricaded road.


The police cars here were blocking the street in front of an automobile collision junk yard, to make sure no one passed by. Parking the car behind the others, the detective opened the door. "We'll get out here, the car she has the kids in, is just up ahead to the left."


Jake got out of the car with Andy who was still trying to process what was happening. They were both approaching the black Nissan when the detective put out a hand to stop Jake. "Andy should go alone." He insisted. However, Andy had already mentally prepared himself to be at the car with Jake by his side. "What if she has a gun?!" Jake seemed to read into Andy's apprehension.


"As far as we can tell she doesn't have any weapons, nor has she reached for any. She's just adamant on speaking with Andy and Andy only." The detective replied. Andy's heart was pounding as he looked over at the car. "My kids are in there, right now?" He asked. The detective nodded and without any further consultation, Andy found himself anxiously clenching and releasing his fists as he walked up to the car. All of the cops were standing a good distance away from the car, except for the hostage negotiator who was looking into the windshield from the front of the car still talking to whoever was inside.

Andy came up from behind the car, eyeing the empty backseat. He could hear a baby crying. He would recognize that cry anywhere. Andra. He was too nervous to approach the driver side so, heart pounding, he walked up along the passenger side instead and glanced inside the car window.


The first person he saw was Arlo. His son was wearing an oversized blue Hollister hoody staring at the dashboard. He had a few tears on his cheeks and Andy could see that his little face was red. He looked more exhausted than anything, as he rubbed at his eyes. There were twigs in his blonde hair, and it angered Andy to see the state of disarray his son was in. He couldn't see Andra but he could see a shirt moving beside Arlo on the driver's seat.


There were both sitting in the lap of a young curly headed brunette who looked fresh out of Highschool giving a dirty look to the hostage negotiator through the windshield. As Andy reached for the passenger door handle, Arlo caught sight of his dad's shadow and turned his head to look at the passenger window.


The anger in Andy washed away when he saw the way Arlo's weary face broke out into a grin as he saw him. "DADA!" Arlo exclaimed, trying to propel himself over to the passenger door. The girl holding him, however, quickly grabbed onto his shoulder to stop him from moving.

She held on to both kids tighter as she looked through the passenger window. Andy was speechless as he made eye contact with the girl who abducted his kids for the first time. He didn't know what to expect from this disgruntled fan, as he gripped the passenger car door handle. He tried to open the door but found it locked.


To his surprise, the girl in the car suddenly smiled as she looked down at Arlo. "See! I told you Daddy would come for us!" She replied. Huh? The girl leaned over and manually unlocked the passenger side door. Andy opened the door and reached his hands out for his kids. The girl shrank back holding on to them. Andra continued to cry even as Arlo kept calling out for his dad trying to get off of the girl's lap.


"Get in!" The girl instructed. Andy firmly shook his head no, wanting to just grab his kids and get as far away from the delusional girl as possible. "Give them to me!" Andy insisted. "No! I'm not letting them go out in the cold! Just get in!" The girl snapped. "It's fine! Just give them to ME!" Andy clenched his teeth. "NO! Get in the fucking car or LEAVE if you don't care about them!" The girl replied.


Reluctantly, Andy glanced at the police officers who were still giving him space. He wanted them to help him but they didn't seem to get the memo as they just continued to stare at the situation. Andy sighed, "If I get in, will you hand them to me?" He asked. The girl smiled and nodded quickly. "Of course, Andy. You're their daddy." She promised. Andy climbed into the passenger seat, keeping one leg out of the car. He tried holding his arms out for the kids again but the girl growled, "WHY are you acting so selfish?! Get all the way in and close the fucking door behind you!" She growled.


Andy did, not liking the way her personality kept switching between playful and then livid. As soon as he shut the door behind him, the girl instructed him to relock it, so he did, biting his tongue the entire time. She still hadn't let his kids go and she was just staring at him smiling, as he looked at her uncomfortably.


He readjusted his eyes to look at Arlo who was still reaching for him. "Dada?" Arlo was asking, seemingly confused as to why the girl wouldn't let him go. "Can I please hold them now?" Andy asked, trying to remain calm. "I'm Tinsley Rome. I love you - I mean, well, I love your entire band!" She gushed, ignoring his question. Getting frustrated and just wanting to hold his children, Andy repeated his question. The girl, Tinsley, grinned. "Yeah- here you can hold Arlo! He's being squirmy. By the way, he really needs his diaper changed." Tinsley said, releasing his son.


Andy was so relived when Arlo jumped into his arms, that he had to stop himself from tearing up as he hugged his son close to his chest. Arlo wrapped his arms around Andy's neck and buried his face in his shoulder. He didn't say anything at first and just refused to let Andy go. "Hey buddy...are you alright?" Andy said trying to keep his shaky voice steady. Arlo nodded his head into his dad's shoulder quietly. Then as Andy started rubbing Arlo's back gently, his son turned and whispered into his ear. "Home? Go home?" Arlo begged. Andy nodded, "Yeah buddy we're going to go home now." He promised.


"Where's home?" Tinsley asked Andy curiously. Ignoring her, Andy sat Arlo on his right leg, closest to the passenger door, and reached out his left hand for Andra. "Hand her to me!" Andy demanded. "She's fine." Tinsley replied nonchalantly, picking Andra up out of the shirt she was wrapped in and placing the infant against her own chest. "She's crying!" Andy snapped. "Oh...she's just hungry." Tinsley said. "We'll give her to me so I can go feed her!" Andy tried.


"No, it's ok. I can feed her again." Tinsley offered. "Feed her what? She's a baby! She can't eat just anything! -" Tinsley cut off Andy's rant with a laugh. "Oh you're so funny, Andy! Of course she can't just eat anything! I give her my breastmilk!" She admitted. "What?!" Andy snapped not quite sure he heard her correctly. Then to his horror, Andy watched as Tinsley pulled one of her breast out of the purple sports bra she was wearing, and placed it near Andra's mouth.


Andy's blood boiled at her blatant display of disgusting disrespect and he howled, losing his temper. "Don't you DARE!" Andy growled. Tinsley seemed taken aback for a moment as she stared at Andy. "She's hungry!" She gasped, readjusting herself until Andra finally went quiet, latching onto Tinsley's nipple and starting to nurse. Andy wanted to reach over and snatch his daughter away from Tinsley. The sight of someone other than his wife breastfeeding their daughter made him furiously ill. " You can't do that! Andra has allergies! You can't feed her!" Andy lied. "HEAVEN! Her name is HEAVEN!" Tinsley shouted. "What? Are you insane? Her name is Andra! My WIFE named her Andra!" Andy insisted. "Your OLD wife was a bitch! She purposely left your babies all alone on that bus to die! She didn't love them! I love them! I'm their NEW mommy and I can be your new wife!" Tinsley snapped.


Andy gawked at her, not entirely sure of how to respond to that. Clearly the girl was out of her mind. "Give me my daughter!" Andy finally said, reaching over, ready to pull Andra off of Tinsley. Tinsley just shrunk back, holding the infant closer to her as she nursed. "After she's done eating!" Tinsley replied. At the mention of eating, Arlo piped up that he too was hungry. "Pass him to me, I have plenty of milk." Tinsley offered. Disgusted, Andy unlocked the passenger side door and opened the car door, letting Arlo down outside.


"What the fuck are you doing?! Bring him back in here!" Tinsley snapped. Andy told Arlo to run to Jake. He at least wanted to get one of his kids as far away from Tinsley as possible. Arlo hesitated, preferring to stay with his dad, but After Tinsley made a lunge across the passenger seat, trying to grab him back, Arlo turned around and ran toward Jake, who quickly scooped him up. Growling, Tinsley slammed the car door back and locked it. Then she turned to Andy and slapped him across the face. Andy's first instinct as the sting ran out across his skin was to haul off and slap her back. However, she was still holding on to his daughter and Andy didn't want to hurt Andra.


"How could you let your poor child out into the cold street like that?" Tinsley demanded as she sat back with Andra still nursing in the driver's seat. Each second she continued to hold on to his daughter, Andy found himself getting angrier and angrier. "You're going to make her sick!" Andy growled, attempting again to pull his daughter away from Tinsley. "She's FINE! I fed her earlier on the bus and she's obviously still alive!" Tinsley snapped. "Juliet's a vegan! The milk Andra's used to -" "HEAVEN! Her name is HEAVEN!" Tinsley interrupted but Andy continued on, "- from my WIFE and her MOTHER-" Tinsley exploded, causing Andra to jump, startled. "I AM HER MOTHER NOW! THIS IS MY DAUGHTER!" Tinsley shrieked.


"What the fuck is wrong with you, you crazy bitch? That's MY daughter and you're going to give her back to me -NOW!" Andy demanded. "How DARE you not appreciate anything I've done for our babies!" Tinsley replied. "OUR babies?! Do you hear yourself?! You're fucking delusional! You need help! Those are MY kids that I had with my WIFE!" "I AM YOUR WIFE!" Tinsley responded.


"-I don't even fucking know you!" Andy spit. Tinsley put Andra on her shoulder and started trying to burp her, as she gave Andy a dirty look. "I can NOT believe after all I've done to keep our babies safe, you're going to act like this." Tinsley said. Andy was getting more and more confused at the hostile fan's delusional display. Was she being serious? "You killed a man!" Andy reminded her, "How is killing a man keeping my kids safe?" "Our kids, Andy. OUR!" Tinsley replied. She didn't say anything else so he repeated himself, fixing his mistake to play along with her sick little mind game. "How is killing a man keeping...our....kids safe?" Andy asked.


Tinsley smirked, "I didn't kill that old man. That was Lincoln." She replied, rocking Andra in her arms now. "Lincoln?" Andy asked. Tinsley nodded, "He's my pimp." "Your WHAT?" Andy spit. "My pimp. He's the one who tried to kill our kids after he found them on the bus. I had to keep them safe Andy! Don't you understand? I ran away from him in to the woods to save our babies. He would have slit their little throats if it wasn't for me! You should be thanking me right now!" Tinsley insisted as she started to hum to Andra.


Silently taking in the wild explanation, Andy finally slowly stuck his hands out toward Tinsley and Andra one more time. "Thank you...for keeping them safe. Now please...can you please hand me....Heaven?" Andy asked slowly. "Why? She's not crying anymore. She's fine." Tinsley replied. "I know, I just...I just want to see her ok?" Andy tried. "You can see her from right there." Tinsley defied. Andy closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he thought about what to do next. What he really wanted to do, was punch Tinsley in the face, grab his daughter and bolt from the car. Yet, too much could go wrong with that plan and Andra could end up getting hurt.


Plus, he didn't really want to hit Tinsley anyway. He didn't hit girls. Especially mentally ill girls. Maybe he could play into her fantasy a bit more. He opened his eyes, "Tinsley?" He said looking at her, seriously. She smiled, "Yes, Andy?" Andy took another deep breath before he continued. "You have to give me Heaven so I can make sure she's ok." Andy said. "She's fine." Tinsley replied. "No...she's not fine. You see Juliet - I mean her old mommy - did leave her on the bus alone because she was sick. Really sick." Andy started. Tinsley paused and stared at him so he continued. "You see...Heaven...was really sick and her old mommy didn't want her to come inside the dirty venue so she left her on the bus with Arlo. Arlo's fine he wasn't sick, but Heaven...Heaven is sick. So I need to see her to make sure she's not getting even sicker, ok?" Andy asked calmly.


Tinsley nodded but made no move to hand over Andra. "Can you please hand her to me, so I can make sure she's ok?" Andy asked. Tinsley started to, but then paused. "What?" Andy asked, his heart pounding in anxiety. "Get in the backseat." Tinsley replied. "Excuse me?" Andy said. "Get in the backseat and you can hold her." Tinsley promised. It was an odd request and awkward to fulfill, but Andy got up and slid himself into the backseat of the car. As soon as he sat down in the back, Tinsley was shoving Andra at him.


Andy smiled as he finally held his daughter in his arms once more. He could feel tears of relief threatening to well in his eyes as he stared down at Andra's sleepy face. She blinked slowly a few times before letting out a small yawn that melted Andy's heart. "Hey sweetie..." Andy cooed gently, kissing the girl's cheeks and forehead. "...Daddy missed you so much." He whispered, holding her close to him. Then he reached out to open the backdoor only to realize it was locked.


Tinsley just smiled from the front seat as she stared back at them. "The back doors won't open from the inside. It's called child locks." She grinned, devilishly. Andy held his daughter tighter. "Tinsley, you have to let us go." He said. "Go where?" She responded. "Just let us out of the car, Tinsley." Andy asked. "Why? Where are you going to go?" Tinsley demanded. "I just want to take my kids home." Andy admitted.


Tinsley stared at him for a long time, silently. As she stared at him, Andy could see the police officers moving closer to the car. One was motioning for Andy to duck down in the backseat as he raised a police baton over his head. He was going to smash the front windows out. "Ours...our kids." Was the last thing Tinsley said before the baton connected with the window.


The loud clash, made Andra jump in Andy's arms, and he quickly ducked down in the backseat, protecting his daughter in his arms as he heard the glass shattering.

Notes

Sorry it took me so long to re upload this chapter. I'm using my Tablet and the spacing keeps popping up weird.