Marie was had it, it was six in the evening and she had just finished a late lecture and was looking forward to seeing what Logan and Lucy had cooked up for dinner, and then crawling into bed. Though on second thought, she might skip the dinner, she was still feeling a little queasy from that Mexican food she'd had for lunch… yesterday - that would teach her to splurge unnecessarily on takeaways.
As she turned the corner into their street she frowned, there were no lights on in the house, that was odd. Pulling into the garage she shut her car off, and headed inside.
"Logan? Lucy? You two aren't waiting somewhere to jump out and scare me, are you? You know I don't like that," Marie called, warily but with amusement, into the house. She flicked on lights as she headed for the kitchen, it was the most likely room to find the pair in at this time of night.
Snapping the kitchen light on she was concerned to discover that, not only was the kitchen empty, it appeared no one had been in there tonight, there was no dinner cooking, or cooked, no dishes even.
Worriedly, Marie pulled out her phone to call Logan, what if Lucy had some accident and he had to take her to the hospital? But wouldn't he have called and told her that...? She jumped when the phone in her hand suddenly started ringing, a glance at the caller ID told her it wasn't Logan, instead Lucy's kindy. "Hello?" she answered quickly.
"Hi Marie, I know Logan's listed as main contact but I've tried to call him three times with no answer, Lucy's still waiting for a pick up and the after-school program is about to close for the night..." a female voice explained.
"Logan didn't pick her up?" Marie interrupted, not quite comprehending what she was being told. "What about the parent’s event this afternoon, was he there for that?" she asked, Lucy had insisted Logan come to kindy for parents’ day, and he had agreed, that was not the sort of thing Logan ever had, or ever would miss.
"No, he didn't, which was really odd, that was the first time I tried to call him, Lucy was really, well, confused more than upset," Kate informed her.
"Oh god, this isn't good, something's not right," Marie said, suddenly panicking, "I'm on my way, I'll come get Lucy, I'll be there soon." Hanging up she hurriedly dialled Logan's number, it immediately responded with the phone company recording that the phone was switched off or outside the coverage area. Hanging up again, she scrolled through her contacts, as she waited for the garage door to open again, for Marty's number.
He answered on the third ring, just as Marie was starting the car and pulling out of the garage.
"Hey Marie, is everything alright?" Marty asked curiously, a hint of apprehension in his tone.
"Have you seen Logan?" she asked hurriedly.
"Not since he left at lunch to go to Lucy's kindy thing," Marty replied.
"What!?" Marie asked in surprise.
"Yeah, he left for the kindy early, so he could have lunch with Lucy, when he didn't come back I figured something was up with Lucy, like she was sick or something and he just forgot to call and let me know. He still hadn't turned up by quitting time, I tried to call him but his phone was off so I just locked up. I've been worrying all evening thinking something was wrong with her," Marty explained, "What's going on?" he asked.
"Logan never arrived at the kindy," Marie replied, her voice breaking as she began to tear up, "And didn't pick Lucy up after, I'm on my way to get her now, they haven't been able to get hold of him either, and I tried to call and I'm just getting the switch off message too. This isn’t like Logan he doesn't just disappear, and he'd never leave Lucy hanging like that, something's wrong!" Marie cried.
"He left on his motorcycle to go to the kindy, you get Lucy and I'll do a drive by of that route and see if I can spot anything," Marty replied, trying to sound calming and reassure the young woman, who sounded like she was on the verge of having a panic attack.
"'Kay, okay, thank you, I’ll get Lucy and I'll come and meet you..."
"No you won't, you'll take Lucy home, and you'll give her dinner, and you'll tuck her into bed and tell her everything's going to be alright," Marty replied, "We'll find him Marie, everything will be okay, you just focus on that little girl, she'll be all mixed up about her dad not being there."
"Okay, alright, but call me as soon as you find anything?" Marie requested, as she pulled up in front of the school. She ended her conversation as she ran inside, heading straight for the after school kindy room.
Lucy ran to her as soon as she saw her, worry and tears in her eyes as she hugged her mother. "Mommy, why didn't daddy come? He promised he would!"
"Lucy, sweetie, I don't know, Marty said daddy left the shop to come here, he was going to surprise you and come early and have lunch with you, but... we don't know where he is sweetie, he... he got lost," Marie replied.
"That's not true!" Lucy cried, “Daddy never gets lost!"
"Lucy, I don't know how to explain it sweetie, no one knows where daddy is, Marty's out looking at the moment to see if he can find him, or his motorcycle, daddy's phone isn't working so we can't call him, we'll find him sweetie, okay?" Marie tried again to explain to the five-year-old why her daddy hadn't come.
"Grandpa can find him, grandpa can find anyone," Lucy suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea sweetie, let's go home and get some dinner, and call grandpa," Marie replied, hugging the girl as she picked her up, tears in her own eyes.
Kate, the kindy teacher, had overheard what she had explained to Lucy, and concernedly hugged Marie. "Everything with be okay Marie," she reassured; it wasn't at all likely Logan had 'gotten lost' on the short trip from the shop to the school, and the alternatives didn't bear thinking about.
Marty pulled up at the house as Lucy sat at the dining table picking at her dinner, Marie was on the phone to Victor. "Any luck?" she asked hopefully, as she opened the door for him.
He shook his head resignedly. "I even checked a few different routes in case he went a different way, no sign of him."
"So how long since he was last seen?" Victor asked, through the speakerphone.
"He left the shop at eleven fifty-five," Marty replied, "He had his jacket, keys, phone, and motorcycle with him when he left, that's it."
"Has anything at home been disturbed Marie? Backdoor, clothes, anything moved around in the medicine cabinet?" Victor asked. Marie could hear, in the background of the call, a car door closing, followed by an engine starting and knew he was making good on his promise to be there soon.
"Backdoor hasn't been disturbed, it's still locked, none of his clothes are missing, even the shirt he left on the bathroom floor this morning is still there," Marie replied, with a huff that was probably meant to be a laugh but came out as more of a sob. "And the car is in the garage, untouched, the computers too, wherever he is he didn't come home."
"Alright, I’m on my way Marie, I need you to call the Police and start logging a missing person's report, make sure you stress to them how out of character this is for him, and that he's already been gone seven hours, they probably won't start looking until tomorrow but so long as they know now... and give Lucy a big hug for him... I'll be there soon Marie," Victor replied.
Marie could hear the worry in his voice, she couldn't help the niggling feeling that he had a theory about what had happened, and she wasn't going to like it.
As soon as she hung up from talking to Victor, she phoned the Police, an officer came to the house to take the report directly from her. As Victor predicted, aside from checking hospitals and jails to see if he had been booked into either of those, they wouldn't start a search until midday the following day. Victor arrived as the officer was leaving, clearly having blown every speed limit to make the normally two-hour trip take little over an hour. Marie finally broke down the minute she saw him, bursting into tears as he walked in, while Victor hugged her and attempted to calm her, he explained to the officer who he was. The officer looked relieved that he wasn't leaving Marie alone after the day she had had, and left them in peace, with the confirmation that if he found any admittance, he would let them know straight away.
"Grandpa?" Lucy asked softly, from the doorway a few minutes later.
"Hey Lucy-lu, come here," Victor prompted, setting Marie down on the couch beside him, and opening his free arm to the little pyjama clad girl.
"Are you going to find daddy?" Lucy asked, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked up at his pleadingly.
"I'm not gonna stop looking until I do sweetheart," Victor replied, hugging her tightly even as Marie also smiled softly at his words. As Marie pulled herself together some, and brushed the tears from her cheeks, Victor turned his full attention to Lucy. "Now sweetie, I know you are a really well-behaved little lady but right now, your mommy is really upset, and worried, I know you are too, so it is very important that you are on your best behaviour right now, okay?"
Lucy nodded, hugging him tightly before she asked, "Are you going to look for daddy now?"
"In a bit, I've got to make sure your mommy's okay first so we need you to go hop back into bed, and go to sleep, okay?" Victor prompted.
Lucy's eyes flooded with tears. "I was trying," she whispered, "But... daddy hasn't read my bedtime story yet."
Victor grimaced as he pulled the little girl closer, hugging her tightly again. "I'm sorry sweetie, no bedtime story tonight, but I'll make sure daddy makes it up to you when we find him, how about that?" Lucy giggled against his chest, wiping her tears away with his shirt, she nodded as she pulled away, before reached up to place a kiss on his fuzzy cheek. She then moved to her mother, the pair hugging tightly before sharing a goodnight kiss, Lucy said goodnight to each before wandering back to her room. Victor heard her pause in the hallway, her whispered 'goodnight daddy', directed toward the front door almost broke his heart, and it was already halfway there to start with. His son, his only son, was missing. It was like losing Lucinda and Sally all over again, but this time without closure.
Turning his attention back to Marie he gently questioned her on the events of the day, and the preceding few weeks. Nodding in thanks to Marty, who brought him a mug of hot coffee, he had the sense to bring Marie a warm herbal tea, it smelled like chamomile, it would help her calm down, and hopefully sleep.
Marty filled him in on what happened at the shop and Logan's demeanour when he left. The fact that all three were in agreement that Logan hadn't simply 'left' sent chills down his spine, there were very few things capable of taking down a mutant like he and Logan, which left the most logical conclusion. Logan hadn't gone missing, he'd been intentionally targeted and taken.
By the time they were finished talking it was close to eleven. Marie, despite her stress, or maybe because of it, was almost asleep. Gently, Victor picked her up and carried her to bed, tucking her in still dressed and leaving her to sleep.
"Thanks Marty, for being there for her," Victor said, as he came back to the living area, "Logan would appreciate it."
"No worries man, well, I'm going to head home now, get some sleep, I'm no good at seeing in the dark so not likely to be much help until daylight anyway, I'll join your ground search in the morning," Marty replied, shaking the other man's hand before he left. He'd only met Logan's father a few times but he was a good man, even for a mutant.
As soon as Victor was alone in the quiet house, he pulled out his phone and dialled the Professor's cell phone. He had spoken to Charles on the drive up, to fill him in and ask him to start doing a psychic search of the area, hopefully he had found something.
"Victor, I'm afraid it's not good news," Charles said, as he answered the phone. "I picked up very brief flashes, of what I believe to be Logan's mental signature, about fifty miles out of town, but when I tried to focus in on him there has been nothing further."
"Do you have a location?" Victor asked, grabbing a blank sheet of paper and a pen from the desk in Marie's study to write down the approximate coordinates Charles gave him a moment later. "Get some sleep, check again in the morning, I don't want to say this but... it looks like he's been taken," Victor advised, "Possibly one of those mutant hating groups, or worse, a lab, keep your ear to the ground and see if anything comes up, send me any leads and I'll follow up as soon as I can."
"You're certain Logan hasn't just... needed a little breathing room?" Charles asked, the meaning behind his statement clear.
"No, everything's great, home life and work, nothing to suggest that might be the case, and Logan would never leave Lucy hanging like that, he was supposed to go to her kindergarten for a parent day, that's what he was heading to when he vanished, he would never do that to Lucy," Victor stated firmly.
"It does indeed sound most out of character," Charles agreed, before promising to check for any sign of Logan again, first thing in the morning.
With a sigh once he had signed off Victor fixed himself another coffee, to go, before letting himself out of the house, locking the place down securely behind him with the spare key he had had since the pair bought the house. As he started his truck, he punched the coordinates Xavier had given him into the GPS, he would swing by the shop first and then head out.
--
When he arrived at the coordinates, he found himself on an empty stretch of highway, fields on either side stretching off into the distance. There were no signs of disturbance to the grass verges, or further in to the paddock fences, so he doubted Logan had had an accident. He suddenly whipped past a dirt track driveway. Doubling back on the empty highway, Victor decided to check out what was down there. He wasn't surprised when the driveway ended at a large shed, all manner of farming equipment packed into the space. Pulling the truck into an out of the way spot, ready to leave at a split second’s notice, Victor went to scout the place out and see what he could find.
Diesel was the first scent to hit him, the place was saturated in it but not surprising given the machinery, the next was people, about a dozen different scents, most several hours old. He followed them further into the yard, toward a large run-down barn, opening a smaller access door he cautiously entered. The scent hit him suddenly, here in the enclosed space and still air it was easier to separate the individual scents, and there, without a shadow of a doubt was Logan's. Heading deeper into the barn he followed the scent trail to a stall; it was empty now but it hadn't been.
There were heavy eye bolts fitted to the opposite walls but the wall around each bolt was splintered and cracked, like something had been secured to the wall and tried to yank its way free. Despite the amount of water thrown around the stall Victor could still smell, and see, the blood on the floor, and walls. Someone had Logan, and it looked like they were struggling to hold him, they must have had to move him to a new location to keep him secure.
Victor catalogued the other scents, as he searched the rest of the barn, hoping to find some trace of the identity of his son's captors. Aside from a few wayward cigarette butts there was no sign anyone had been here. He missed the security camera, hidden up among the rafters, it's little red ID light blacked out to hide its location in the shadows.
--
"It looks like you were right sir," a black-clad commando in full night kit said, handing a handheld monitor to the more casually dressed older man in the front seat of the speeding Humvee they were traveling in.
The Colonel scowled. "Take the motorcycle, and his clothes, throw them off the next bridge we pass and light it all on fire, hopefully that will be enough for the father to be fooled into thinking he's lost, at the very least it should slow him down until we can get the subject underground."
"Yes sir," the commando replied, radioing the instruction to the two vehicles behind them.
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