Brothers in Arms

A Haven fanfic

By Jeannine Trevizo

Chapter 2

-x-

“Let’s go,” Nathan said in a commanding voice as he started past Duke to the exit of the cabin.

“Hold up,” Duke replied, turning for the back part of the living space. He moved to the bedroom and knelt down along the Captain’s bed frame, pressing two fingers into the wood which suddenly popped a compartment.

Within the drawer sat a series of guns and ammo clips and he pulled out a handgun and shoved it into the back waistband of his jeans and then slid two of the clips into his pockets. Standing he used his foot to close the compartment and then turned to look at Nathan who stood there staring.

“You think I’m going out there with you without a weapon?”

“No. You sure you don’t want to bring another?”

Duke’s eyebrows rose significantly and a look of surprise filled his face. There was no way that Nathan even considered for a moment that the weapons were legal but he wasn’t batting an eye. But then, considering the fact that Nathan needed the back up to find Audrey, he wouldn’t be surprised if Nathan threw out the rule book in total to track her down.

Of course his busting onto the boat and threatening his life demonstrated just how far he was willing to go.

“We’re wasting time,” Nathan complained again and then turned to leave.

This time Duke followed Nathan off the Cape Rouge and to the blue Bronco sitting on the dock. Nathan didn’t even wait for Duke to get in before he was in the driver’s seat and turned over the truck. The passenger side door slammed shut just as Nathan swung the vehicle around and started back toward the road.

There were lots of trees to shake and people to interrogate and Nathan had no idea how much time they had…

“What about Haven PD? Aren’t you going to report Audrey missing?”

“I didn’t have time…” Nathan began, his hands unconsciously gripping the steering wheel tighter for a brief moment before he eased his grip.

“You just headed straight for me,” Duke stated as he realized once Nathan had been pointed towards him he’d gone on auto-pilot.

He glanced around and noted a dress jacket and tie abandoned on the back seat of the Bronco and wondered what Nathan had been doing at Audrey’s…

Nathan nodded but didn’t say anything. He was still seething about how easily he’d been manipulated. Still, he knew he probably should call the station... but once he did not only would he have people on the ground helping hunt for Audrey and see if there was anything at the scene, others would know he knew she was gone and that could put her in more danger.

“If I do they’ll start combing over Audrey’s place and since I don’t know who took her and who I can trust…”

Duke understood. He normally didn’t trust any cops, Nathan and Audrey now the exception. But then again, his uncomplicated life of smuggling high end booze and delicacies had seemed to have become secondary to him helping out Haven PD whenever Audrey called him for assistance these days.

“What about your big buddy Dwight? Isn’t he supposed to help you with weird shit…”

Nathan swung his eyes towards Duke briefly with a look that said he’d totally forgotten about the Chief’s clean up man. He’d been there to help more than once under difficult circumstances. Fumbling for his phone he pulled it from his jeans pocket, and when they hit a stop light as they drove through Haven he dialed the number he had for his ‘fixer’ and waited for Dwight to pick up.

“Dwight, we have a problem,” Nathan said into the phone quickly, “Audrey’s gone missing. I need you to put out your feelers, see if you hear anything. And if you can check her place…”

Duke watched as Nathan nodded as Dwight obviously responded. The sasquatch of a man might be the ally they needed to locate Audrey fast, having seen the man in action in the forest toting his crossbow…

“Okay, call me if you get anything.”

Quickly closing the phone Nathan shoved it away as he drove through the now green light. Dwight would see what he could find through his own channels. But for right now Nathan had his own suspicions as to who would have wanted to grab Audrey and he swung the truck around a corner and looked up the street at his destination. Duke looked down the street as well and recognized the Good Sheppard Church down the road ahead.

“So, starting at the Rev’s?” Duke questioned, his voice showing his skepticism as they drove closer to the church.

“Come on Duke, you saw all those troubled people the Rev’s followers had kidnapped and planned to kill. Ever since Audrey shot Driscoll things have been… tense.”

“Understatement.”

Nathan flashed him an irritated look making Duke shrug. Truth was truth, no matter how it was said.

“They might be thinking that if they get rid of her…” Nathan started and the trailed off, not even wanting to contemplate the idea of finding her too late.

He couldn’t lose her…

Nathan pulled up in front of the church and threw the truck in park, turning off the engine. He gripped the wheel tightly, his knuckles going white as he fought for control. They needed to be careful; they couldn’t screw this up or tip their hand. If the Rev’s people had Audrey and she was somewhere else, one phone call to whomever had her letting them know they were on their trail could be disastrous.

Duke watched how Nathan closed his eyes and took deep breaths as he sat there behind the steering wheel. He could tell the other man was doing his best to hold it together under the stress of Audrey’s disappearance. Letting out one final deep breath Nathan opened his eyes and turned them towards Duke, determination and fire visible within.

Heaven help anyone who got in Nathan’s way of finding Audrey Duke thought abruptly as he was pinned by Nathan’s gaze.

“Okay, we go in, we look around and God wiling we find Audrey and get her the hell out of there,” Nathan said, reaching for the door handle.

“Gotcha…” replied Duke before he reached across the space between them and caught Nathan’s arm, making the man look back at him, annoyance and questioning showing on his face. “We will find her Nathan. She’ll be okay…”

Nathan nodded and pulled himself from Duke’s grasp as he got out of the Bronco, his eyes focused on the church ahead of him as he did his best to believe that Duke, in this instance, was right.

-x-

Audrey Parker woke to darkness.

She tried to move but found she was bound, hands and feet both tied securely from the feel of it. Wherever she was, it was dark, cold, and cramped as she found when she struck out with her feet and hit walls immediately. Without being able to get to her watch she had no idea how long she’d been out or what day it was even.

She couldn’t believe what had happened; one minute she was nervous and excited for her dinner with Nathan and then the next…

Her heart lurched in her chest as she suddenly realized that Nathan would have shown up at her apartment to find her gone. She couldn’t imagine what he would be thinking, but it meant without a doubt that he’d be looking for her.

Find me Nathan, she thought in the dark…

- End Chapter 2 -

Sorry again for the short chapters. As I said above I’m posting as the stuff comes to me. Hopefully that means short but frequent updates. As always, your thoughts are appreciated. Thanks for reading! Ms. J.