Looking for Something

Chapter 16

So tell me how long 

How long it's gonna take until you speak, babe 

'Cause I can't live my life 

Without you here by my side 

Ooh... 

You gave me the feelin', feelin' in my life 

-Maxwell; Ascension

~~Narrator~~

This is probably the busiest the police precinct has ever been. This is definitely the most college kids these officers have seen in a while.

Even though everyone is trying to keep their noise down to a minimum, it all collects making it louder than it really seems. Everyone is here, the entire dance team, students from Sydney's art class, half the football team, and basically anyone else that has seen, talked to, or interacted with Sydney in the past three days.

Kids are waiting their turn to go into the interrogation rooms. So many people showed up, that they must take turns inside.

Dominic waits in one of the interrogation rooms staring at his reflection in the one black window facing him. The constant question of, how could I let this happen, and what was I thinking travels through his mind a million times. The sounds of busy feet going up and down the hallway, talking, and the ticking of the clock are all he hears.

"Alright, Mr. Adams." The detective from outside earlier comes and sits across from him. "How's your hand?" Dominic just looks at him. Bags are sagging under his eyes showing the lack of sleep, and the anxiety eating him alive. The detective knows what he is thinking. He has seen that look on almost every face that walks in here when someone they love is missing. He takes a sigh and starts his recorder. "You have questions?"

"Where is my girlfriend?"

"I think we both know the answer to that kid."

"What are you doing to find her?"

"Everything we can do. Have cops going to every place she has been to in the past three days, questioning all who saw her there. Half your school is standing outside those doors waiting to walk into this room, and sit in the same seat you are sitting in, and to get questioned just like I am going to question you."

"Why are you questioning me?"

"We can never be too sure kid." Dominic just looks at him. He does not like that fact that the cops are looking at him as a suspect, but whatever. He has nothing to hide and he is not going to act like he does. "So, just a few questions. Honestly..." He reaches over and presses the pause button on the recorder. "I know your ass is innocent because I saw you punch that tree, and I am glad you didn't lean on me for support." At any other time, Dominic would laugh...but at the moment he just wants him to ask his questions so that he can get the next person in here.

"Look, no disrespect, but just ask me what you want to ask me and get the next person in here." The detective nods in understanding and starts the tape recorder again.

"Alright, when was the last time you saw Sydney?" Dominic blows at the repeated question, but then answers it anyways.

"Yesterday morning around eight. She was leaving dance practice and I was on my way to football practice."

"I know you had to exchange some words."

"Well, I---"

"Give me word for word."

"Okay, I saw her walking with another girl and I said, 'Babe, where are you headed?' And she said, 'Back to my dorm' so I asked her if she would take my backpack to her dorm, and I would pick it up later. She put it on her back, then I gave her a kiss and I jogged off because I was already late for practice. That's it."

"So, tell me about this girl...that was with her. What'd she look like?" Dominic knows every detail, and does not hesitate to describe her. He always made sure he had a full description of anyone hanging around Sydney since the stalker appeared.

"...brown eyes, probably about 5'5, chocolate skin, dark hair that stopped right above her shoulders. I think I saw her out there standing with the dance team. Want me to go get her?" The process is moving too slow for him. Dominic thinks to himself that they could be questioning five kids at a time.

"Whoa, slow down kid." Dominic sighs and sits back down. "We will get to her. Matter of fact, I will bring her in after you. Come on...now, we have something one on one to talk about." Again, the detective reaches over and cuts the recorder off. "I need you to be honest with me. No bullshit, and no lying to me. You talk as if this was kind of expected. Like, something more was happening in your life that makes this just add on to the earlier anger you already had. You have something you want to tell me?"

Officer Banks just looks at him, and Dominic just looks back at him not sure how to tell him what is going on. "Around June, when Syd and I traveled back to Chicago, she started getting texts and anonymous gifts."

"Why didn't you report it?"

"Because, we at first assumed that it was just this crazy girl from our school. Another student that calls herself having a crush on me, and it kind of just made sense at the time. So the texts kept coming, and the gifts kept being sent and even though Chantelle was still the one we suspected the most, it started to shift. But, I didn't know who else to suspect. Sooner than later, I was going to tell her we are taking it to the police. Sooner was still too late."

"Do you think Chantelle is here in this station." Dominic just shrugs and stares off into space.

"I don't know." A few minutes of silence go by, and the only sound is officer Banks scribbling on his notepad. Dominic is lost in his thoughts trying to think as hard as he can about what could have possibly happened.

"Alright, thank you Dominic, you are free to go."

"No, I'm staying."

"You really don't have to---"

"But I am staying." Dominic picks up his chair and moves it into the corner. He sits down and put his head into his hands trying to calm himself down. He constantly repeats to himself 'this is all your damn fault' and 'how could you let this happen'? He hears the door close and does not look up when it opens again.

"Hello Ashley. How are you?" Dominic looks up and recognizes her from when she was walking with his girl. If she had anything to do with Sydney going missing, Lord help her. He watched the two talk back and forth. Listening to the girl's answers.

"So, you have not known Sydney that long?"

"No sir, only for a few weeks."

"So, do you like Sydney?"

"Yes sir, she is cool and very laid back. I think if we were in the same year she would be a good friend to have. Now I guess I look at her as a role model."

"So, why were you walking with Sydney that morning?"

"I wanted to speak to her about practice and ask her some questions."

"Questions like?"

"Well, I asked how come they did not make her captain of the team. Um, I asked her how long she had been with him." She motions towards Dominic.

"Why'd you ask that?"

"Just a thing I ask couples. Answers are interesting to me." Banks starts scribbling on his notepad again.

"Alright, you may go, but you are not allowed to leave the station yet seeing as you were the last one to be with the victim." Ashley nods and gets up to leave the room with officer Banks following her. Dominic puts his head back into his hands...what can he do? He could always go out and search for her, but he would not know the first place to look.

"Alright Miss Rosetta, please take a seat on that side of the table. I will be back." Dominic looks up and watches Rosetta sit at the table with a blank stare on her face. He can tell she has been crying. Her eyes are big, puffy, and red. Her and Syd had grown really close over the past few years. Of course, Andie and Syd were closer and sometimes Rose did not like that, but she knew she had a special part in Sydney's heart and that was good enough.

"I've been crying all morning." Dominic is shocked when she speaks.

"Me too, well I was, but I think I ran out of tears."

"She's not dead. I can feel it. She is not dead and I know it. She can't be. There is so much we have not gotten to do together yet. Her life is not over Dominic, you believe that?" Rose finally looks at him. Yes, Dominic KNOWS she is alive, because he out of all people would feel if she was dead. He would probably die himself. Before he can answer her back, the officer walks in and sits down again.

"How are you, Miss Rosetta?" He looks at her.

"Well, my back is aching, I'm hungry, my baby just sat on my bladder making me really have to pee, and I have cried all morning. Other than that, things are going fantastic." Rosetta looks him with that 'b***h really' look and officer Banks moves on.

He clears his throat, "Oh, I'm sorry. Um, would you like to use the bathroom before we continue."

"Yes please." He directs her out of the room and shows her towards the bathroom. After five minutes Rose is back in the room and ready for questioning.

"Well, when was the last time you saw Miss Williams?"

"Yesterday night, she stopped by to bring me some food and check up on me before she went to her room for the night."

"Did she seem, upset...worried...frustrated?"

"Well, she was frustrated, but only because she kept going on about she didn't know if she would have enough red paint for an art composition she had to do. Not anything serious." Dominic gives a weak smile at the thought of her going on about something as small as that. That definitely sounds like his girl. He sees officer Banks give a faint grin as he starts scribbling again.

"Did she ever talk about feeling watched, or anyone coming up on her in any way?"

"No, not that I remember. And I would remember."

"How long have you known Sydney?"

"I have only known her for about three or four years now. We first met freshmen year of college. We were roommates for two of those years, but we were always on the same floor."

"An--" There is a knock on the door, then another detective walks in and looks at Dominic.

"There is a call for you son." Dominic is hesitant about leaving, because he wants to hear what everyone says, but it might be someone important on the phone as well, so he gets up and follows the officer out into the hall. They make their way out into the main office area. He can feel the eyes of his classmates and team mates following him as he follows the detective. He leads him to a desk with a phone hanging off the hook.

"Hello?"

"Dee, oh my gosh! I heard what happened to my Sydney! Where is my best friend? Do they know anything? They won't tell me s**t and they best believe I am on my first flight over there because--" Andie goes on and on into the phone and Dominic for some reason loses control of his emotions and tears start falling again. Maybe it is because of just hearing her name from a familiar voice, or maybe because Andie reminds him of Sydney too much. "Babes, are you okay?"

"I'm holding up."

"Good, you have to! She is going to need someone strong to hold onto when we find her, because we WILL find her and there is no doubt about that."

"I know." His voice cracks, Andie thinks she hears her heart crack a little. In all her years that she has known Dominic, this is the most pitiful he has ever sounded. Even when his parents died, he stayed strong for Hope, but right now...she does not know who this guy is standing on the other end of the phone.

"Hey kid, come here."

"Andie, I have to go."

"Okay, stay strong! I'll see you tomorrow." Dominic hangs up the phone and walks over to officer Banks.

"Okay, so...when you told me about the texts I sent Sydney's phone over to the computer lab to see if they could trace the calls back, they could not get far, but they did find out what kind of phone the calls came from. It is a black Motorola phone, maybe a 2000-2001 edition. Old phone. I don't even know if they sell these anymore, but then again you can get anything off the Internet. So, I need you to do something."

"Anything." Dominic takes the papers from him, showing all the text message history and what they said.

"Did you throw away every gift Sydney got?"

"Uh, no...they became so frequent that we had to throw some into her closet sometimes and dispose of them later."

"Bring them down here and wear some gloves. Don't get anymore of your prints on them, if we search them, we might find some fingerprints, giving us any new leads." Dominic nods and immediately heads toward his truck. He hops in and drives over to Sydney's dorm. There are cops all over still searching the place. He walks in and goes into her room to get the stuff out of her closet.

"Um, can I borrow some gloves?" He asks one of the forensics ladies this and she says sure, then hands him a pair. He grabs, one of the baskets, and three of the teddy bears with the now dead flowers. He walks out of the room and heads for the door.

"Sir, you cannot take those things. That is evidence."

"Man, back up." Dominic pushes his way out of the door and starts heading for the elevator. He is so sick of the cops. He is trying to help find his girl and they are getting all in the way prohibiting him. He puts everything in the passenger seat beside him and heads back for the police station. He picks everything up and carries it to Banks at his desk. "Uh, if you are over here at your desk, who the hell is questioning people?"

"They got some one to take my spot. I have to investigate more, and you are going to help me." Dominic throws his gloves away and sits across from him. "Oh, this isn't my desk. We will go into the room. That is my office, I am just taking care of some things here."

"Okay." He gets up and walks over to Banks' office.

"Dominic!" He turns his head and he sees Chasity running towards him. She grabs him in a hug and he hugs her back. "I'm so glad I found you. They were about to make my pregnant ass go off. Telling me I am not allowed back here. I am her damn sister! I am the closest thing she has in this world. They need to shut the f**k up and worry about finding my sister." Dominic cannot help but grin at Chasity. She reminds him of Sydney too, but it is funny how the hormones are getting to her, because usually she is the calm one trying to calm everyone else down.

"Miss, we already told you, you cannot be back here." Just when Dominic is about to come to her rescue, she rescues herself.

"Look b***h, I am her sister! Don't make me report your ass. I don't care if you have that police badge, I will report you in your own precinct!" The door opens behind them and Banks comes out of his office with an aggravated look on his face.

"Kid, what's with all the noise?" He looks at Chasity then at the officers.

"They won't let her back here."

"And who are you?"

"I am her sister!" Chasity glares at him, daring him to test her at this moment.

"Oh, Ms. Williams, right this way. What is wrong with you guys? It's her sister damn it, show her some respect." Banks grabs Chasity's arm and leads her to his office with Dominic following behind them.

"You really need to think about the officers you let into this building. Dumb asses do not even know what they are doing." Chasity says this as she sits in a chair in front of Banks's desk. Banks laughs and starts flipping through papers again.

"I can assure you, they are some of the finest officers we have. They just have to be precautionary because we never know who could walk in here."

"Ugh, whatever. What do you have about my sister so far?" Dominic listens in closely waiting for the answer.

"Well, we are looking for a male suspect, he is smart, but not smarter than us. Whoever this person is, he has two phones, one for him and one specifically for Sydney. His fixation with her, means that he has spent time by her. He has grown close to her, and he has been watching her, so we are looking for someone local, someone who lives in this area. Someone most likely on your campus." Banks looks up at Dominic and he cannot read the look on his face. He knows that anger is there for sure.

"So are you saying that somebody at my school has kidnapped my girlfriend?"

"It is very possible. Student, teacher, a guest...we don't know. Just know that it is possible and we are going to need you to keep your guard up, and return to school. See if anything suspicious or out of the ordinary happens. Snoop around. There will be officers all over the campus who will have your back, so don't worry."

"So, do you think they are going to come after me?"

"No. Sydney was obviously his main priority and now that he has her...everything else is irrelevant." Secretly, that disappointed Dominic. He wanted this guy to come after him so that could whoop his ass, but looks like it will not be that simple.

"So, where do I go from here?"

"I am about to go with a team to the garage where the dance team was practicing before. Would you two like to come?"

"Well, you two have fun. I am going to help out around here." Chasity gets up out of the chair and heads toward the door. "Don't worry Dominic. We're going to find her. ALIVE and WELL." Dominic nods at her as she walks out the door.

Deep down inside he knows this, and he believes it too.

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~~Sydney~~

Why am I so hot? Why can't I open my eyes? s**t, my head hurts so bad.

Things are starting to come back to me though. Last thing I remember was I was walking with Ashley from practice and then, I am here...tied up? I move my wrists and there is something holding them together behind my back. My ankles are wrapped up tight and I have been tied to the chair I am sitting in. I am guessing there is some sort of cloth wrapped around my eyes. It is so dark. I hate the dark.

I try to see if I can move my chair, but I am too weak. I don't know if it is night, day, evening. Is it the same day, or the next day? How long has it really been? Have I been down here for weeks and no one has found me?

No Syd, don't be stupid. Dominic would have found you by then, right? Ugh, Mickie is probably so mad at me right now. I have not been able to call him or anything. Lord, I know he is worried to death. I just hope he knows that everything will be alright. I intend to make it out of here alive. I hear a door open.

"Who is it?"

"Ah, good morning sleepy head." That voice...where have I heard it before? It is so familiar.

"What do you want from me?" I hear footsteps coming towards me. "Don't come near me!"

"Sh sh sh, don't worry Sydney...I won't hurt you. If you cooperate. I mean, I do love you after all. It was just so hard to not have you here, with me. I just could not take it anymore." Oh my God Sydney, think! Who's voice is this? Where have you f*****g heard it...damn. This is not a time for you to be absent minded. My real focus is being interrupted by the constant pounding in my head.

"Just let me go, please. I just want to go home. I want to see my family, and friend, and my boy--" She smacks me. This b***h smacked me.

"SHUT UP! Don't talk about him. He doesn't love you like I do and he never will." My cheek stings where she hit me, and I feel myself start to sob a little, but I quickly pick myself back up. Don't you dare cry for her ass. "I'm sorry Syd. Please forgive me. I don't want to hurt you." I feel her hug my face to her chest, and something bumps my chin. That's when I get it. Hell no...I won't believe it...

I get very still and I feel her move back a little.

"Sydney, what's wrong? Something has upset you."

"R-R-R-Rose?" I feel the blind fold lifted from my face and Rosetta stands in front of me smiling.

"You are just so smart. I think that's what I love about you the most."