The Hunt

Carl zips over to Popular Falls. It's a upcoming development on the southern outskirts of Atlanta. He told his realtor friend he wanted a new place to live. Somewhere in the country, away from he busy city life. What he was really searching for was a place to hide in case his and Doc's plan goes south. After viewing several homes, his buddy took him to a developing subdivision. A majority of the land had been cleared and a model home built.

"I knew the place would come in handy." Carl laughs admiring the mansion of a home. The tri-level, five bedroom, five and a half bath house had everything you'd ever dreamed of and more. Carl joked about how he was surprised it didn't come with a maid and a mousses. His friend said, he could arrange it for him. He even offered a substantial discount for being the first buyer. Then offered him a second for being a cop. A million dollar home was to rich for Carl's blood. He told his friend he'll keep it in mind.

He grabs the netting from the pickup and gets to work. If one doesn't get you, the other will, he thinks, carefully putting the traps in place.

He's admiring his work when he discovers headlights beaming down the road. Your timing couldn't be better. Carl tosses Manny's phone in the woods and then darts towards the house.

Several vehicles screech to a halt. Carl looks over and sees several burly goons climb out of the car. I need to get inside before they see me. He darts across the lawn. I'm almost there. He pants. Reaching the house, he lifts the window, and then he squirms his rounded body inside.

The burly men continue across the soggy grass. This isn't as easy as it use to be, Carl thinks. The footsteps continue to get closer. I'm almost in. He squirms a little more. His legs flop to the floor. Carl lays motionless on the earth-toned carpet as Marcus and his crew tromp past. Hearing the footsteps fade away, he sits up. That was close. Securing the window, Carl dashes up the stairs.

Finding Manny's phone at the edge of the woods, Marcus glances around. Where are you, Manny? he thinks, searching the desolate land.

"What do you want to do, boss?" Raul asks.

"I want everyone to split up. Hidalgo, Sancho, you two to go north, Raul, Paco, you two go east. Lewis and I will go west. Remember, I want the kidnapper brought back to me alive."

Nodding, the four men head towards their appointed direction.

"That's the way, boys, walk into my trap." Carl laughs, watching the men dart out of sight.

Marcus doesn't make it too far when he hears Manny's' plea for help. Throwing caution to the wind, he darts towards it. "Hang on, little brother, we're almost there," he yells, picking up his pace. A menacing feeling washes over him halfway across the field. This grave warning gets stronger with every step. It's this intuition that's kept him and his brothers alive. He stops at the edge of the forest and shines the light around. He didn't see anything a first glance. Looking closer he notices the cord on the ground, and then the netting in the trees. Someone is using Manny as bait. The more he looks the madder he gets. I'm going to find and kill whoever is behind this.

Hearing his partner's footsteps coming up behind him, Marcus spins around. He puts his arms up to block him and says, "Don't go in there..." He shoves his brother away.

Lewis jumps to his feet. "What he hell, Marcus?"

"You don't want to go in there."

"We have to save our brother." Lewis shoves his sibling away.

Marcus grabs his arm and jerks him back. "He's not there."

"I heard him call for help."

"What you heard was a recording." Seeing he perplexed look on his brother's face, he shines his flashlight around and says. It's a trap."

The cool night air blows softly across the desolate area. Owls hoot in the near distance. Tiny night creatures scurry away from their unwanted visitors as they continue to look around.

"You think this is a setup?" Lewis gulps.

"Look." Marcus moves his flashlight around. He hopes to find their brother beyond the mass of netting but soon discovers he's nowhere in sight. "You need to warn the others before it's too late." Hearing something, he moves the flashlight to the other side only to find a small creature hopping around.

"What are you going to do?"

He sweeps his hand through the air and says, "I'm going to figure out who's behind all of this."

Lewis recalls the countless death threats made on their lives. They'd terrify him, but Marcus would laugh it off, saying it was the cost of doing business. "I don't know if it's a good idea for you to go after them on your own."

Marcus huffs. "I'm certainly not going to sit back and do nothing when our little brother's life is at stake."

"That's not what I'm suggesting. I think..."

"I don't have time to argue with you about this. Just grab the others and meet me at the vehicles." Being a little over a year apart, the two disagree on everything, often leaving their younger, brawnier brother, Manny, to break up their fights