The mystery of Eddy's kidnapping is solved in week 5 of volume 4 of BOYSTOWN. Catch the launch of volume 5 (and the 100th chapter!) on 12/31!

CHAPTER 21 - TRAPPED


Eddy could hear the distinct sound of a woman sobbing as she came to. Looking around the dimly lit room, she saw that she was completely alone.

"Who's there?" Eddy called out.

The sobbing came from inside the closet next to the bed. "I'm so sorry," the woman sobbed from behind the door.

"Don't be sorry! Get us the fuck out!"

"I can't. I'm tied up. This is all my fault... I'm... I'm so sorry."

"Who are you? Where are we? Who's doing this to us?"

The woman continued to sob. "If I would've known... Eddy, I didn't mean for this to happen... "

"What exactly is... ?"

"I don't know how much longer I... she shot me up full of I don't know what... but I feel my heart going... "

Eddy looked to the outer door. There were no sounds coming from the other side, no sign that anyone else was there.

"When is she coming back? How long do we have?"

"I am so... " the woman managed with one final sob before her head thudded against the door.

Then there was silence.

Eddy was pretty sure that the woman in the closet had died. If she didn't get the fuck out of there and fast, she would be next. Judging from how much lucidity she'd regained against the amount of time that would lapse from her injections of tranquilizers, she knew that her captor was away. That bought her some time. Not much, but hopefully enough. She looked at her arm handcuffed to the bedpost and struggled to pull the bedpost off the frame with all her strength.

###

CHAPTER 22 - BEHIND YOU

"So that little bitch just broke up with you on the street?" LaTrice asked, finishing her Jell-O cubes.

"Yeah. It sucked a lot... but was also a big relief at the same time. I don't know. It was easier when I thought we were the same age, but being the older one... I mean, what the fuck do I know about anything? That's just... "

"You need someone that's grown, boo."

"Yeah, I guess." Tyler quickly shook himself out of his own angst. "But geez, forget that. How are YOU doing?"

"Oh, much better," LaTrice said, smiling with a secret satisfaction that Tyler was single again.

"You know, Hunter told me what you said before they brought you here. About me."

"He did?" LaTrice asked, her heart leaping to her throat.

"Yeah, and that's just silly."

"Oh," she said, her heart bypassing her chest on the descent and landing directly for her stomach.

"Yeah. Of course I would miss you! You're a wonderful person and a good friend."

LaTrice was shocked. "But... after what I did to you... "

"That's all behind you now. You're starting a new life and I'm happy to be a part of it."

"Stop it," LaTrice said, tearing up. "You're gonna make me mess up my mascara."

"All right, that's enough for tonight," the doctor said as she came into the room. "Our girl here needs to get her rest."

"I'll be back after work tomorrow," Tyler said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Isn't that sweet?" the doctor said as Tyler left the room.

"That ain't nothin'," LaTrice blushed. She studied the woman for a moment. "Where's Doctor Ben? He told me yesterday that he'd be checking in on me today."

"Oh, um, Ben got called away," the doctor said abruptly. "Out of town. I'm... covering his rounds." As she reached over to check LaTrice's chart, LaTrice noticed the blood on her sleeve. There was no way that was from some surgery, that blood was still fresh.

"What the... ?" LaTrice gasped. Dawn knew she had to act quickly to shut LaTrice up. LaTrice screamed as Dawn prepped a needle full of she didn't know what, but this crazy bitch was for sure gonna kill her.

*

Waiting for the elevator, Tyler could've sworn he heard a scream coming from LaTrice's room. All the hairs on his neck stood up and he ran back to make sure she was ok. When he got back to the room, LaTrice was going into seizures in her bed. Tyler immediately rushed over, trying to find the "call nurse" button.

LaTrice fought with everything she had to warn Tyler that Dawn was right behind him... ready with a loaded syringe.


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CHAPTER 23 - THE ONLY SUSPECT

"You realize that we can't legally do anything if she answers the door," Virgil said as they pulled up to a town house in the Gold Coast. "Not without a warrant."

"We're not going to do anything," Fitz said, painfully aware that he wasn't in uniform as they got out of the care. "Just ask some questions."

"We're not detectives, bro. We have no right."

"There's a missing person. We're simply canvassing known areas of frequenting and alerting citizens of the fact."

"Uh huh. And this has nothing to do with impressing a certain bartender personally associated with the case?"

"I just want to help if I can."

"While you're off duty? After the captain told us in front of this bartender and his friend that all the evidence we had was circumstantial."

"Shut up," Fitz said as they arrived at the front door. As he knocked, the door swung open. They looked at each other then into the house. Fitz partially stepped in a bit and peered around.

"Fitz, we can't just go in," Virgil whispered loudly, grabbing his partner by the shoulder.

"This is the police!" Fitz called out, stepping further in. "We're canvassing the area and noticed that your door was unlocked. Is everything ok?"

"What are you doing?!"

"It's a knock and announce now," Fitz said over his shoulder. "Just checking on the well-being of the homeowner."

"Who happens to be the only suspect we have in a missing person case."

"Check for signs of foul play," Fitz said as he turned on his flashlight and roamed around the living room. His foot kicked over a wallet on the ground. He grabbed a Kleenex from the coffee table and picked up the floor. There was nothing in the wallet but a driver's license: Monica Wilson's.

"Everything seems to check out," Virgil said, coming in from the kitchen. "No signs of foul play."

"Look at this," Fitz said, offering up the wallet.

"Someone cleaned her out. No credit cards, no nothin'. Must've been someone she knew."

Fitz noticed a framed picture on the wall of Monica Wilson with her arm around a young woman in graduation robes. He frowned: the last person seen with Eddy was a blond and neither of them were.

"Oh I know!" Virgil said after a moment of studying the picture with Fitz.

"What's that?"

"I know who she looks like. The red head? Looks a lot like Megan Fox."


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CHAPTER 24 - BATTERED AND BLOODY
LaTrice's eyes widened as Dawn crept closer and closer to Tyler. Suddenly, the hairs on Tyler's neck stood on end and, as if granted the heightened awareness of a spider, he knew that he was in immediate danger. Without a glance backwards, he ducked down just as Dawn lunged forward to inject him. Crouched low, Tyler fanned his leg around on the ground, knocking her backward.

He stomped on the syringe then brought his other foot down on her throat to keep her from running. The whole time, the mantra Hunter repeated when he trained Tyler to protect himself repeated over and over in his head: "Anything can happen." It was at this exact moment, adrenaline pumping, sweat dripping down his face, having LaTrice's (and almost his) assailant pinned down, that he was extremely grateful for Charlie's parents sending them a Kinect as an early Christmas present. The rounds of playing "Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth" truly paid off in real life.

"She's mine now. I have her all to myself," Dawn spat out.

"What are you talking about?" Tyler demanded.

"Nobody can get in my way. Mom... Ben... that little girl over there. They tried and I stopped them. Don't think I won't stop you too." There was obviously no reasoning with her, so he knocked her out, afraid that she'd try something crazier. A team of nurses ran into the room, alerted by the commotion.

"Call the police!" Tyler told them. "Doc here's gone crazy. Shot my friend here full of something. Talking about having done stuff to other people." One of the nurses ran and attended to LaTrice while another ran to call the police.

"Doctor... Ben... " LaTrice stuttered as they changed her IV.

"What's that?"

"That bitch. She... she did something to Doctor Ben."

As another team came in to roll LaTrice out for further care, Tyler texted Charlie about Ben. Charlie rushed over as soon as he got it, arriving right after the police had. Tyler was giving a statement about the incident to them in LaTrice's room. Another officer took Charlie aside.

"So there's an allegation of foul play befalling Benjamin Finn. I understand that he's your boyfriend?"

"Well, we're dating."

"And when was the last time you saw him?"

"Just a couple of hours ago, actually. We were sipping cocoa outside before his rounds. He was supposed to come over after, get breakfast."

"Could it be possible that he didn't actually come into work? That he might've taken off or... ?"

"Absolutely not. If that woman is as crazy as Tyler was saying... "

"Maybe there's something in his personal affects that could give us a clue. Would you maybe help us identify anything out of the ordinary?"

"However I can be of help, officer." The officer walked Charlie to employee lounge. Just as the cop was about to locate Ben's locker, Charlie heard a muffled groan coming from within one. He indicated it silently to the cop, who slowly approached it. Using bolt cutters cut off the lock, the locker door burst open and Ben's bloodied body slumped out.

"Ben!" Charlie cried out, running to catch him in his arms. The officer ran to get reinforcements, leaving Charlie holding the battered and bloody Ben in his arms. "Please be okay, please be okay... " he repeated over and over again between sobs.

"Charlie?" Ben groggily groaned.

"I'm here, Ben. The cops are getting help, you'll be... "

"Wait. I know what happened to Eddy."



##

CHAPTER 25 - CRAZY SHIT


"What are you doing on walkie, Fitz?" Virgil asked annoyed as he lifted the unconscious suspect onto a stretcher.

"Just checking in, seeing if there were any updates." Fitz said on the other end.

"Bro, take a day off. Seriously. We've got a twenty on the victim. As soon as I get the suspect in custody, I'm going over."

"Just you?"

"This is an easy one," Virgil said, pulling out handcuffs to secure Dawn to the stretcher. "She's out cold. She's not going to give me any... "

The sudden blow to the head knocked the radio out of Virgil's hand. The next blow knocked him out completely.

"Virg? You there?"

All Fitz could make out was a car screeching away.

*

Eddy had been struggling for what felt like an eternity and hadn't made any progress on breaking the bedpost free from her bed. She heard a door open and shut outside the room. As the door to the room opened, she closed her eyes and feigned unconsciousness until she could figure out her next plan of attack. Every footstep that came closer to the bed made her heart race faster. She heard someone approach the closet door and open it. The heavy thud of a body shook the floor a bit.

"Night mother," she heard a voice say. Stealing a sneaky peek, Eddy saw the psycho bleach blond kneel beside the body and kiss it on the forehead. As psycho bitch got up, she caught sight of the dead body's face: it was her client Monica Wilson. She quickly shut her eyes again as psycho blond stood up and walked to the window.

"They'll be here soon," said psycho blond. "I tried to stop them but it's only a matter of time. Everyone wants to keep us apart. Those bitches that stole you from me. My mother. Ben. The whole world." Eddy could make out the sound of her fiddling with a syringe and tapping it. She crawled onto the bed and hovered over Eddy.

"No worries, my love. We'll always be together. For all eternity." Eddy could feel her bringing the syringe towards her. Feeling this bitch's breath on her, Eddy brought her knee to the bitch's crotch and kicked her off the bed, as the syringe tumbled its way down by Eddy's foot.

"Temper," psycho bitch said as she brushed herself off and got up, crawling on top of Eddy once more. Eddy kicked the syringe up with her right foot and kicked it toward psycho bitch with her left. Psycho bitch stiffened and fell over just as the door was kicked open by two police officers.

"Took you long enough," Eddy said.

One officer uncuffed Eddy while the other checked on Dawn.

"She's cold," the officer said, lifting and releasing Dawn's lifeless arm.

Fuck, Eddy thought, that bitch was gonna kill me.

*

Fitz waited with Charlie in the lobby of the station as Eddy gave her statement. "Thanks for your help," Charlie said. "Sorry I was such a dick earlier."

"Hey, if it was my sister, I'd be the same way," Fitz said. Eddy came out of the interview room, still quite shaken. Charlie ran up and put his arm around her. "Come on," Fitz said. "I'll give you guys a lift home."

Eddy was quiet for most of the ride. When they finally got to her condo, she simply said: "I don't understand."

"What's that Edds?" Charlie asked, his arms still wrapped around his sister.

"I just don't understand how this could happen. What could possess someone to hold someone captive? Hurt others just to keep them where they want them?"

"People do crazy shit when they're in love. Or at least, think that they are," Fitz said. "She'd been following you for a while it seems. We found pictures of you everywhere. There was one with you at dinner with Monica Wilson."

"Her mother. That must've been when she snapped. God, how can you harbor that much baggage? I never led her on, I never gave her the impression we were anything more than we were."

"Some people just don't get over things that easy," Fitz said. "Granted this is an extreme but... bad shit can happen if you hold onto stuff like this. If you don't let go."

"It's pathetic," Eddy said, getting out of the car. "Chuck, will you... do you mind spending the night at my place tonight?"

"Of course," Charlie said, getting out of the car. "Fitz, do you mind walking her up? I have to make a quick call."

"Absolutely," Fitz said, escorting Eddy into the building. Charlie thought about what they said, about letting shit go, about how holding onto things could make you crazy. They were right. He took out his phone and dialed a number he never thought he would ever again.

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end.

"Hey Tom. It's Charlie. Can we talk?"

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Volume 4 has been a blast! Stay tuned, as we launch Volume 5 (and the 100th Chapter!) on December 31! Ring in the new year with us at BOYSTOWN THE SERIES. And until then, happy holidays!

Volume 1 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 2 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 3 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

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