Justin awoke to the sound of his cellphone ringing. It wasn’t atypical for his phone to be going off this early in the morning, but he didn’t feel like speaking to anyone. He didn’t want to talk about his work so he didn’t bother to look at it.


The phone continued to ring and buzz. Whoever was calling was persistent.


“Hello?” He groaned, putting the phone up to his ear and rolling back over. 


“JUSTIN? It’s Tanya. I just got off the phone with the police,” She said frantically. 


Justin shot up in bed, nearly falling over as he planted his feet on the floor. “The police? Why? What’s going on?”


“Michael’s mother contacted me. She said she hadn’t spoken to him in a few weeks, but before that he had told her that he bought a cabin in Kernville. It’s about 3 hours from here.”


Justin’s head swarmed with ideas. Kernville? He didn’t know much about the place, but the thought of Zenia and Grace being 3 hours away from him was worrisome. 


Tanya continued, “She heard about Zenia and Grace disappearing and after not hearing from Michael for awhile she considered the thought that maybe he did take them. She called him to try to get an address. She told him she just wanted to send him some money and can you believe he actually told her?”


Justin took in all this information. He wanted to jump for joy but he couldn’t allow himself to get his hopes up yet. He listened to Tanya ramble and interrupted her, “What’s the address?”


“I gave it to the police, Justin. Let them go out there and scope it out themselves. It could be dangerous.”


“I don’t care how dangerous it is. Please tell me. What’s the address, Tanya?” 


She hesitated, knowing if she told him the address he would immediately be on his way. 


“ 1225 Lockwood Lane.” She said shakily. “Justin, please be careful. His mother said she suspects that he is on drugs-“


“Thanks, Tanya.” Justin cut her off. He didn’t give a shit what the guy was on. “I’ll call you once I get our girls back.” He ended the call and hurriedly put on his shoes and left the house.


—


Justin looked at the GPS system which told him he had 30 more minutes left until the destination. His stomach growled in hunger, as he didn’t think about food or anything before he started his drive. He had one focus and one focus only: To get to Zenia and Grace as soon as possible. 


He anxiously drove thinking over how this scenario could unfold once he got there. He could find them, bring them home, no problems. Or he could potentially have an altercation with Michael. He had a feeling it would be the latter.


He heard his phone ring and the alert pop up on the infotainment screen in his car that read: JC Chasez. He contemplated answering it, but knew it was JC’s daily check in on him.


“What’s up, C?” He answered, trying to mask any emotion in his voice. He didn’t want JC to know what he was up to or he would try to stop him. 


“Nothing, just seeing if there have been any updates. Are you driving?”


“Yeah, uh just driving around.”


JC sighed dramatically, “J, you’re a horrible liar. Where are you going?”


“I found out where they are. Michael bought a cabin in Kernville. I’m driving there now.”


“Man, I dont think that’s a good idea. Do the cops know? This could go bad quickly.” Jc warned. “I love that you are committed to them. I know how much this has effected you, but let’s think sensibly here. What if he has a weapon? What if-“ he hesitated, not wanting to speak the next words, but wanting to be upfront with Justin, “What if they’re dead? That’s not something you need to stumble upon by yourself. Let the cops do this. Please.”


“They’re not dead” He gritted his teeth. He really wished people would stop alluding to that. “But fine, I’ll let the cops handle it. They’re probably already there. I’ll hang back until I know its safe.” Leave it to JC to talk some sense into his friend. 


“Okay,” JC was still unsure that he believed him, but knew he said and did all that he could do. 


—


Justin drove up the long winding road leading to his destination. He started to question if he was going the right way. There were no other houses around and some of the roads were unpaved and rocky.


As he drove further, he noticed the flashing lights. The multiple police cars. His heart skipped an unsettling beat.  He was ordered to stop by an officer standing in the road. 


“This road is blocked, sir.” The officer in formed him as he put his window down. 


“I’m Justin Timberlake, sir. I’m trying to get to my girlfriend and her daughter.” Justin said shakily. 


“Mr. Timberlake, we have an active hostage situation right now and I cannot let you go any further for your own safety and the safety of everyone involved.”


“Hostage?” Justin choked out, his heart race quickening. 


“Yes. My team is doing all that they can right now to safely get your girlfriend and her daughter out of that house.” 


“So, they’re alive?” 


“Yes and we’re trying to make sure they stay that way.” The officer gave him a grim look. 


“Okay. I’m going to wait here. I drove all of this way and I’m not leaving without them.” Justin said firmly. The officer nodded at him understandingly and Justin put his window back up and parked on the side of the road. 


He felt a small sliver of hope knowing that Grace and Zenia were still alive, but he was now worried about them being in an active hostage situation. He could only put his faith in the hands of the trained officers to do what they could to rescue them. 


—


What started off as a normal morning for Zenia quickly turned into something that she could have never imagined. When she thought of how she and Grace would be found, she never thought that it would turn into what it was now. 


That morning, Michael let them out of their room and asked Zenia to make them breakfast, which she quickly obliged. She was starving and knew that Grace was too. She made them toast, scrambled some eggs and they ate together while sitting on the couch. She couldn’t quite tell if Michael was sober or not. He seemed in a weird mood. Little did she now, he had begun to panic after speaking with his mother the night before. She had offered to send him some money and for Michael, money meant more drugs. As soon as the address rolled off of the tip of his tongue, he knew that was the end. Ever since then, he had been a little more jumpy, a little more on edge.


The first thing she heard was a loud knocking on the door followed by a booming voice, “MICHAEL HAMMOND, THIS IS THE POLICE. PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR.”


Zenia froze, fearing what would happen next. Grace began to wail, the loud unexpected noises frightening her. 


“Shit!” Michael yelled, slamming his fists down on the coffee table.


They heard the knocking again. 


“OPEN UP THE DOOR. THIS IS THE POLICE.”


Michael scrambled to the kitchen area and grabbed a large knife. Zenia’s eyes widened, “What are you doing?”


“Shut up! Don’t talk!” He ordered, he pointed the knife in her direction, “Shut her up too!”


Zenia put Grace into her lap and softly tried to muffle her cries with her hand, but it didn’t stop them. 


The knocking again. 


“THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING BEFORE WE BREAK THE DOOR DOWN. OPEN UP!”


Zenia tried to reason with him, “Michael, listen. If you just open the door and let us go, it’ll be much easier. I’ll tell them I came here because I wanted to,” She lied.


“I said SHUT UP, ZEN!” He screamed. He grabbed both Zenia and Grace up from the couch with one arm, still weidling the knife in the other and backed away towards the furthest side of the cabin. A second later, the door was busted open as multiple officers flooded the small cabin.


“POLICE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!” The one leading the pack commanded, pointing a gun in their direction. They walked in slowly.


Grace was crying uncontrollably at this point in Zenia’s arms. Zenia held her as tight as she possibly could fearing what would happen next. The police were here but somehow she didn’t feel like this was over. She didn’t feel the relief yet that she thought she would feel when they were found. She didn’t feel that because of Michael’s grip around her and the weapon in his other hand.


“Drop the weapon, sir. We just want to get everyone out of here safely.”


“No!” Michael screamed, sobbing. “This is my family and no one is taking them away from me!”


Zenia was sure that she had dissociated. After what seemed like hours in the same position, the police began to come closer and so did the knife that was now in front of her face. It was reaching a crucial point and she knew only a few options were left: Michael would let them go and they would walk away safely, the cops would shoot Michael, or Michael would use the knife that was in front of her face and harm them.


“Michael..” A small voice spoke up, “I know you’re my dad. I am not mad at you. I’ll never be mad at you. Please just let me and my mommy go home,” Grace said softly, lifting her head up from her mother’s chest. 


Michael gulped, “You know who I am?” A tear streamed down his face as he looked at the small child.


“Yes.”


Though he had been in that cabin with them for a few weeks now, he had never told Grace who he was and neither did Zenia. She kept referring to him as her “friend”, but Grace was a smart girl and she quickly made the connection after a few days. Once she studied Michael’s features that looked much like her’s — The sandy brown hair, the high cheek bones, some of the same facial expressions — she knew who he was though he was never in her life.


Michael dropped the knife on the ground, the loud clank causing Zenia to jump. He loosened his grip on her as he dropped to his knees.


“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” he said over and over.


The next few moments were like a blur, with Zenia and Grace being whisked away, Michael being placed in handcuffs. 


It was over.


It was finally over.