thin white lines | l. hemmings

36

Apparently, coffee does not solve everything.

Delaney went to the concert still rather tired. She had exhausted her mind trying to figure out the puzzle of the girl with a missing piece. It was impossible.

When the envelope was delivered to her, there was one factor necessary for the threat to carry through. Luke was the missing piece.

But Luke wasn't there to see the picture. Calum was. And so the mystery was unsolvable until Luke got involved.

However, it may be tricky to involve Luke since Delaney is still not exactly speaking with Luke.

She failed to even think about Luke possibly knowing more about the girl than Calum because they were in the same business, and it didn't occur to her that she might have anything to do with his personal life. Like, perhaps, an ex-girlfriend.

Of course, she didn't know this when she tiredly walked with the band to the venue. Photo tucked in the back pocket of her jean shorts as she ignored the hopeful looks from Luke, Ashton and Michael who were seeing her out voluntarily for the first time since she heard the news.

That was the last thing on her mind.

She had memorized the face printed in the photo and was almost obsessively trying to match it to anyone who walked by.

Even if she was able to do so, she didn't really know what that would mean. But it meant a possibility that it really wasn't sent to her, and that perhaps she was safe from the threat.

But, they made it to and from the concert without seeing that girl, and Delaney felt somewhat doomed.

Her better judgment was telling her that there was nothing to worry about because surely if it was a credible threat, there would be something tying her to it. Her name. A photo of her and not just a random teenage girl. A photo of literally anyone she knew, or the name of anyone she knew.

Without that, all that tied her to this threat was an eerie feeling. But it was enough to set her on edge.

It made her glad someone was watching over her while she observed the concert.

She noticed throughout the setlist, Luke looked back to her. Shooting a smile or just glancing to make sure she was okay. Seeing her there sparked a hope that perhaps she was nearly ready to forgive him, but that wasn't exactly on her mind.

If not for the fact that the four boys had a job to do, he would've approached her before she was off to bed, to check in with her while he had the chance.

Minutes before they went out to play—just as Adam came to collect Delaney—Ashton received a phone call telling them about a particular girl in the crowd who was important for reasons he didn't have time to explain. The gist of it was that keeping her hostage for a few hours would earn them some cash.

This job didn't particularly pertain to them and what they were doing, but the convenience of it was too perfect to pass up.

From the phone call to the opening song, they had six minutes to whip up a plan that would be good enough to use.

"Why don't we just grab her?" Calum suggested, sucking down the last bit of his cigarette.

"That's a great idea, Calum! I'm sure not one person will see us and get suspicious of why we're grabbing someone random from the crowd. Or why we're even going into the audience at all," Ashton countered, a sarcastic smile on his face.

"Plus, did you get any sort of unique description or where she'll be sitting?" Luke asked, sitting on the edge of the couch, elbows propped up on his knees with his hands clasped together.