Chapter 7

Having found the first lead was not something the boys should have been excited about.

The three had rushed home to greet a shaken Mrs. Knight and a wide-eyed Katie. The tape… it had come in the mail, Mrs. Knight told them. They had watched the first minute of it and couldn't go on. Tears ran down her face.

Kendall pulled his mom and baby sister in for a hug. Mrs. Knight gave Kendall the tape, too distressed to say another word. She and Katie left for their bedroom. Kendall was no doubt worried; what could be so bad that his mother and sister were so shaken up by it?

Looking at his two friends, Kendall nodded to himself and popped the tape in. No matter what lay in those tapes, they had to know the truth.

The first few seconds were all Kendall needed to understand why his mother and baby sister had been so terrified.

James was sitting on a red couch with a couple of holes in it. He was surrounded by stone walls, almost like a dungeon. Behind him, a faucet dripped eerily and all hints of sunlight was blocked by dirty green curtains.

"Oh my gosh..." Logan breathed out. Carlos whimpered and buried his face into Kendall's shoulder. Kendall's eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat for a second.

James's face was covered in bruises. Both his eyes had black and blue rings around them. There were painful-looking bruises on his cheeks and neck, and there was blood trickling down his nose.

But that didn't compare at all to his eyes. James's hazel eyes were empty. Empty, like he didn't know why he was even alive and what he was living for.

"Hello, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and whoever else might be watching." The three boys flinched a little at the voice. James's voice. It was hoarse, almost mechanical-sounding. James sounded almost like he was being controlled, like he was a robot being forced to read off of a script.

"K-Kendall..." Carlos sniffled into Kendall's shirt. Kendall pulled the boy closer to his chest.

"It's okay, Carlos, it's okay." Kendall whispered, even though he didn't believe it.

"I have been kidnapped and my kidnapper is requesting a..." His hazel eyes faltered a bit. "A one million dollar ransom payment for my return. When you return the money, I will be returned to you." Then there was silence, only the sound of James's heavy breathing.

Suddenly his eyes lost that empty look, and he stared into the camera. Kendall felt like James was staring directly into his eyes. "Mom, I know it's N-November and you're probably in I-India playing g-golf at that h-hotel we always used to go to during your business trips and take t-tango dance lessons at... but please help me. Please understand. Please." He begged, his eyes tearing up and his whole body trembling. "Please." He looked right into the camera, his eyes desperate and hopeless.

"Please." The camera went black, and the tape became static. James was gone. And if they couldn't cough up a million bucks soon, James wouldn't be coming back.

"No!" Kendall shouted, standing straight up. "We need to help him! We have to find him! J-James, he's gonna die! He's gonna-"

"Kendall, stop!" Logan demanded loudly. Kendall clamped his mouth shut. "Please, calm down. We have to think this over first. What he said in the video clearly didn't make any sense. There's gotta be something else to it. He asked us to understand; he's trying to tell us something." He spoke aloud to himself.

"Like what? James needs the money. It's simple." Kendall argued, calming down a bit. Logan was right. They had to think before they acted. James's life was on the line.

Logan shook his head. "Yeah, I know that... but there's something else... James's mom has never gone to India before. And James hates golf."

Kendall nodded. "Yeah... you're right. But what does that mean?" He asked. Carlos looked up at both of them.

"J-James's was so scared... W-we have to help him." Carlos got out, sniffling and wiping his sleeve across his eyes.

Logan looked at him. "The stutter! That's it! Kendall; replay the tape."

"What stutter? What are you talking about?" Kendall asked, confused.

Logan shook his head. "Just replay the tape!"

"Logan, you're gonna scare all of us again just for-"

"Just do it, Kendall!" Logan said loudly. "Please. I think I'm onto something."

Kendall nodded slowly, rewinding the tape to the beginning. Carlos covered his eyes with both hands. Kendall pressed play and re-lived the worst moments of his life again. After the tape was over, all they could hear was static.

Then Logan smiled.

"Night. Night. That's what it is!" Logan said excitedly, as if he was a Californian migrant who had just discovered gold.

"Night? What does that mean?" Carlos asked.

Logan looked at the both of them. "James doesn't stutter. Only Carlos does that. But if you listen to the tape, the words James stutters on spells out something. It spells out the word 'night'". He explained.

"What? How?" Kendall asked, still not getting it.

"It's the military alphabet. November, India, golf, hotel, and tango. N-I-G-H-T. Night." Logan finished.

Kendall took a deep breath in. "Dude... that's genius!" Logan beamed at his newfound discovery. For a second, they almost forgot James's life was in danger.

"So... what does that mean?" Carlos asked innocently.

Logan looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know... it could be an address, but is it a road name or a hotel name or what?" He thought out loud.

Kendall was just glad they had Logan; he and Carlos would have never figured that out by themselves, that was for sure. "I don't know, but this narrows our search down tons! This is the best lead anyone's gotten so far!" He explained excitedly, even though they had no idea what 'night' could possibly mean.

But then he remembered the bruises on James's face. They needed to find him fast. Or else...

"Are they... t-t-torturing him?" Carlos asked fearfully, the horrible word forcing its way out of his trembling mouth.

Kendall shared a sad glance with Logan. "I'm sorry, Carlos… but yes. But if we find him fast, then maybe things will be okay. We'll save him before they can do anything worse to him." In other words, before they killed him.

Carlos just sniffled and didn't respond. Logan placed an affectionate hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's going to be okay. We're best friends; we won't stop until we find James, right?" Carlos nodded sadly, not saying a word.

Kendall glanced at Logan worriedly. They had to find James fast. Or else... or else they might never see James alive again.

Officer Daniel Akin, the lead officer on James Diamond's case, closed his files and looked up. He had a balding head and a brown mustache on his chin. "James's previous two fathers both had solid alibis the night of James's assault and kidnapping."

Detective Borg nodded thoughtfully. "So they're both cleared. We've found no other suspects so far, other than James's friend Kendall Knight. We should investigate him further."

The officer nodded. "Perhaps a polygraph test or something. It could either clear him or put him at the very top of our suspect list."

"Yes, but polygraphs can be reliable, especially if this Kendall is a good liar. He seems pretty charismatic; you know what that means."

"Yeah, it means he could lie out of any situation. But we still gotta at least try, right?"

The detective sighed. "Yes, we have to at least try. Let's go pay Kendall Knight a little visit tomorrow."

A/N- Hey, all! Sorry I haven't updated… at all… but it's winter break and I don't have that many plans, so perhaps I will be updating more often? Don't get your hopes up though, haha… Thanks for all the support, even now when I'm being a poor updater. I really appreciate it. Wow; it's already been a whole year since I updated this story.

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