It had been four days since I returned home - four days since I was found severely dehydrated with a dislocated shoulder in an underground bunker. My arm still ached with every move I made, but thankfully, they were able to easily pop it back into place.

The bad part was, they had yet to find Steven.

The news consumed my every waking minute - not one second passed where the broadcast wasn't repeating itself on my television screen. There was a nationwide search for the guy, but not even a slight indication of where he was.

How was it so hard to find him? He was lurking around, I could almost feel his presence at some points. I'd be sitting on the couch and feel him watching me. I'd be making myself food in the kitchen and feel him staring through the window above the sink. But when I'd look, there would be nothing there.

I sat back in my couch with Liv beside me, my eyes glued to my television screen. Bella was no longer staying with her, so she decided she would stay with me for a little. She came straight from work, with her uniform on and everything, because I told her I had a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something felt off, and it was torturing me.

"Is it really a good idea that you watch the news after what happened to you?" Liv asked suddenly, looking over at me. Her large eyes stared up into mine as she spoke. "You need to heal."

"I just want him found," I told her. "I don't care about my healing, I care about the kids' safety."

"We're doing the best we can, don't stress too much," Liv told me, before she stood up and turned the dial to sift through the channels.

My shoulders deflated. How was Steven so skilled with outsmarting us? It made me nauseous to think that he wasn't behind bars.

Liv flipped to a movie before sitting down beside me again.

"What the hell is wrong with you, James?" she asked suddenly, and I furrowed my eyebrows, turning to look at her.

"What?" I asked.

"How did you land yourself in an underground bunker? How did it happen, James?" she asked, her tone frustrated. "I thought you were dead. We all thought you were dead. Even Jared was worried, and I didn't know he was capable of emotion."

"Liv, I told you, I don't know what happened. I don't know what came over me," I explained, staring at my lap as the memory of the woman in the woods flashed through my mind. "I just- I didn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" she asked before scoffing in disbelief. "James, it was so dangerous what you did, do you even realize that?"

"I left that trailer feeling awful," I told her, my heart racing at the recollection. "I mean, I thought the guy in the tub was him, but something was telling me he was still out there. I just, I felt so useless. I still feel useless. When the woman came up to me, I- I just, I don't know," I admitted. "I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I thought I could actually help somebody for once."

"You are anything but useless, James. Goodness, I mean, do you have a death wish?" Liv asked, her eyes staring into mine. "You didn't call for backup or anything."

"I just wanted to help," my voice was beginning to shake. "I didn't... feel like anyone would care if... if something happened."

"How about your kid, James?" Liv asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

"My kid that doesn't even talk to me," I said. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying not to get too upset about the fact that he hadn't even given me a single phone call to see if I was all right.

Liv's gaze softened with sympathy. "It's only because your ex wife is a bitch," she said gently, reaching up to push a few strands of hair off my forehead. "He still loves you."

I watched her. "I had a nightmare while I was there... that, that they kidnapped Benny. And I couldn't do anything," I said, taking another deep breath. "I keep having them, over and over."

She bit down on her lip in thought. "I'll stay tonight."

"You don't have to," I started, but she stopped me.

"You're not in the right state of mind. You- you can't stay here alone," she said, her hand resting on mine.

I stared at the floor, my fingers shaking against hers as I recollected my nightmare. She was right.

When I looked over at her, I saw that her eyes were filled with tears. She was trying to hide it from me, but she couldn't. She blinked and allowed a few of them to drop down her flushed cheeks as she slowly leaned in and kissed my forehead.

The tears began to fall more rapidly from her eyes as she stared at my casted arm.

"I can't believe you did that," she whispered through tears.

She leaned in to place a gentle kiss against my lips. They were salty from the tears that rolled down the slope of her cheek and into them. My heart raced in my chest as I reached up to push her short, dark hair behind her ear.

When she pulled away, all I could do was stare at her.

"Liv," my voice was hardly audible as she reached up to wipe the tears from beneath both of her eyes.

"I love you, James. I really do," she said, swallowing hard as she pulled away from me. "I was so scared."

Liv always said she loved me, because we were great friends as well as partners. But this time, it felt different. I couldn't remember the last time I felt that way.

"I love you, too," I told her, my fingers shaking as she took my hand in hers.

"But I'm still mad at you," she said, her smile dropping. "That was stupid. Really, really stupid."

"I know, I learned my lesson," I responded, before the phone on my wall started ringing. I looked at Liv with furrowed eyebrows, before I glanced at the clock. It was nine at night, who could have been calling?

I stood up and picked the phone up. I didn't even get a second to speak before I heard the sound of heavy crying on the other line.

"Hello?" I said, looking at Liv who was staring at me with muddled eyes.

"Officer Rocklin," the feminine voice cried, and with the strong Italian accent threaded through the words, I knew exactly who it was.

"Mrs. Mancini, what's wrong? Is everything okay?" I asked, and Liv practically jumped to her feet in a panic.

"Pictures. My boy. They were outside, and," with her frantic mumbling and her broken english, it was almost impossible to understand her.

"Slow down, and tell me what happened," I said, trying to stay as calm as possible. "Is everything all right? Is Cole all right?"

"Come, please, please come, they will kill my boy. Please," she said through a heavy sob, before she hung up the line.

I didn't waste any time before I grabbed my keys off the kitchen counter. I didn't care that I was off duty to recover. I grabbed my walkie and my gun, and Liv had her walkie with her as she followed me to my front door.

"What's wrong?" Liv asked, watching me as I pulled my jacket over my arms.

"We have to go to Cole's house, I think they're in danger," I told her, before we both practically bolted out of my house and into my car.

When we arrived at the small house, we walked up the porch and practically pounded on the front door. The door swung open almost immediately, and the small, thin woman's body racked with sobs. When she looked up at me, her icy grey irises were surrounded with red.

"Come," she ushered, and we walked inside the dimly lit house.

Mrs. Mancini wouldn't stop sobbing as looked at me through her tears.

"Someone put pictures near my house. I see them, and they say horrible words," she said, blowing her nose into a tissue as she pointed to a small pile of pictures. "Horrible pictures."

Liv picked some of the pictures up and looked down at them.

"I brought them to police station, they are no help there, they say it will take long time, I think my son will die," Mrs. Mancini cried out as I observed the pictures.

One picture was of Rose pinning Cole up against the wall. It appeared that Rose, herself, took the picture. She was beside Cole, who was shirtless, and he seemed to be struggling to move away from her. He was squinting his eyes from the flash of the camera, and Rose had her tongue against his neck.

I flipped the picture over and the back of it read, 'your little boy isnt so innocent' in black marker.

There were more pictures, graphic ones of Cole's mistreatment that I couldn't stomach looking at. I picked them up and shoved them into Liv's grip quickly.

My heart dropped when I spotted another picture, a more recent picture, which was taken of him without him knowing. It was taken through what appeared to be the outside of his bedroom window, and his back was facing the camera. Cole seemed to be writing something at his desk, unaware of whoever was photographing him.

The back of it read, 'you will be the parents of two dead sons soon. and if you sorry foreigns dont understand what this says, you will know soon enough'.

I looked at Liv with worry threaded in my stare, before looking back at Mrs. Mancini.

"Is Cole here right now?" I asked her, and she nodded.

"He is. Will he be killed?" Mrs. Mancini asked, her eyes watering as she stared between Liv and me.

"Is it just you two here?" I asked as she shook her head.

"My husband is in bed," she answered. "He has long day at work. Please help, Officer. Please."

"I need to speak to Cole, if that's all right," I said. "Where is he?"

Mrs. Mancini walked me into the familiar hallway and gave a subtle knock at the door. There was no response, so she looked at me.

"He may be sleeping. He doesn't sleep much. He scream at night, he wake up sweating and scared all the time," she said, and took a deep breath as she slowly opened his bedroom door for me.

Liv stayed behind to continue talking to Mrs. Mancini as I walked into his room.

I looked in and saw that he was awake, staring at his ceiling with the lights off. Mrs. Mancini flicked the light on, illuminating the room. He turned to look at me, before he rolled his eyes and sat up in his bed.

I walked a bit closer to him. "Hi, Cole, how are you doing?" I asked as he stared at me. His hair was messy and his pale coloured eyes seemed exhausted.

"Shouldn't I ask you that? Weren't you underground for a week or something?" he asked, and I knelt beside his bed.

"Listen-" I said, but he cut me off.

"I know why you're here," he said, running his fingers through his thick, black hair. "Those pictures showed that disgusting bitch all over me, and my poor mother had to see that. My father had to see it... and they don't understand it."

"Cole," was all I could say.

"Maybe he needs to be put me out of my misery, do you ever consider that?" he asked, his eyes staring into mine. "I've caused my family so much pain."

His eyes were so numb, just like in my nightmare. He was justifying his mistreatment, and that concerned me more than anything.

I swallowed hard and stared at him. His words sent a chill down my spine.

"Cole, you- you don't understand how much everyone needs you. Please, you need to listen to me and follow my directions, please!" I felt bad raising my voice, but his words were terrifying me. "You have to-" I was cut off by Liv who rushed into his room.

"We need to go, James," she said, her voice filled with haste. She was holding her walkie, which told me that something awful happened. I sucked air through my teeth in pain as she grabbed roughly onto my injured arm.

"What's going on?" I asked, and Liv stared at me with wide eyes.

Liv didn't care that Cole was in the room, she didn't even give herself a minute to think - she just blurted the problem out in sheer panic and fear.

"Apparently Bella's father called the station too. He can't find her, he said she left a note. He thinks she ran away."