He's missing

Austin shakes his head and puts a hand on Katie’s shoulder, remaining calm, despite his overwhelming dread. “It’s not your fault, Katie. Don’t you dare blame yourself for it, okay? What’s done is done, and now we’re going to find him.”

“Find who?” Cindy looks into the kitchen. She’d been curious as to why Austin and Con had left, and now only heard the last bit.

Austin doesn’t even want to tell Cindy, but he has no choice. “Cindy…it’s Jason. We believe he’s been taken…probably by the Agency.”

Cindy’s hand goes to her mouth as her face pales. She tries to speak, but nothing comes. The past comes rushing back to her like a chilling wind. It was happening all over again. “No….” Her voice trembles and she takes a step backward, shock setting in. “Oh, Jason…” The first tear falls, bidding more to come, and in a moment, the flood of emotions takes over to break forth in sobs as she leans against the wall, sinking down to the floor.

Austin kneels next to her, feeling completely helpless. “It’ll be okay…we’ll find him…” He tries to comfort her, but just doesn’t know how.



Sparky squints at Damien, then his gaze shifts to Angel. “If you’re willing to help us out, it’s not like we can’t use more eyes and hands on this thing, and we’ll tell you what’s been going on…. As long as that’s okay with the rest of the folks in here.” His question falls on Angel, though he hates putting her on the spot.



“Tell me where they are!”

The back of a hand is smacked into Jason’s jaw, sending his head to the side. He strains against the ropes that bind his hands behind the chair, but it’s no use. He recovers to glare at his masked captor. “Not on your life.” Blood from a loosened tooth pools in his mouth and he spits it in the man’s direction with spite.
Another slap is applied with dizzying force, and Jason’s eye catches the glint of a knife.

“Talk, or you’re gonna wish you’d never been born,” the voice sneers.

Jason aims a swift kick at the man’s legs, sending him sprawling onto the floor. In the next instant, somehow he wriggles free of his ropes and stands, turning for the door. Not fast enough, he’s brought down from behind. Struggling on the floor for several moments, he rolls over in an attempt to rid himself of his assailant. A sudden force tears into the side of his face and across his eye. Blood blurs his vision and he covers his wound with a hand, blindly trying to avoid another strike with the knife.

“Let him go!” A voice barks.

Jason is suddenly free of the weight on his stomach and he lies still, unsure of what’s happening now.

“He’s not gonna talk,” the one sneers. “Why can’t I just finish him off?”

“No – the boss said not to kill him. But if he’s going to be this hard of a case to crack, take him to the basement. A few days down there will loosen his tongue.”

Jason is pulled to his feet, his arms twisted behind his back. He blinks, trying to regain vision in his one eye as he’s shoved toward a door. As it’s opened, he’s pushed, and his body crashes down the metal stairs. Sinister laughter follows him, and he tries to right himself, but his world is spinning.

It’s several hours until he wakes again to find himself in a position even he can’t hope to escape from.