Hidden Tracks | ✓

12 | running like water

For a fraction of a second, I was frozen in place.

Then, I took off.

I sprinted after Mehmet with lightning speed, and I could sense Miranda and Soler right behind me. Soon, Soler caught up, and we raced through the narrow lanes.

Chasing after Mehmet Dogan was much harder than it seemed, because we had to avoid all the numerous big and small shops standing in our way, all the busy sellers and buyers haggling with each other. It was getting darker outside, and the narrow street was becoming even tougher to navigate.

After a while, we lost track of our man. He'd fled, but he couldn't be too far away. The Grand Bazaar was like a maze-- an intricately stitched tapestry of colourful shops, and rich handmade products.

But a maze nonetheless.

I groaned in frustration as I walked stealthily through the crowd, gun in hand, ready to strike if the moment called for it. Of course, I wouldn't actually shoot Mehmet, but if he tried to attack first, I wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in his leg.

I crept through the hoardes of people, and after two minutes, Soler, Miranda and I split up to search in different directions. Soler took the right, Miranda disappeared into the left, and I went straight ahead.

In front of me, all I could see were different stores selling Turkish delights. The sweet smell of the delicacies was wafting through the air, along with the calls of the shopkeepers to try their products.

Ignoring their pleas, I looked ahead, and ran down the street, searching everywhere for Mehmet. It was getting progressively dark and chilly, and I was getting a bit worried I wouldn't be able to spot him even if he were nearby.

Suddenly, I saw the light at the end of the road. No, literally. Nestled in a corner of the street was a shop selling all kinds of glowing lamps and lanterns, and thankfully, it lit at least a part of the way for me.

And it was in that light that I finally spotted Mehmet Dogan, crouching behind a mannequin to the side of a shop window.

He would've been hidden in the dark if it hadn't been for that lamp store. The golden light from all those lamps fell on the top of his head without him even realising it.

I smiled to myself. Found you.

By the time he saw me, I was already standing less than five feet away from him. He had no chance.

He still made a last-ditch attempt at running, but I tackled him before he could get away, and we both fell to the ground in a heap.

He was bulkier than me and much better built, but I had greater agility. Plus, I hadn't trained all these years for nothing. I might not be as good in combat as Soler, but I'd definitely dealt with tougher guys in my career.

I pushed him to the ground and resisted his struggle. Before he could attack me, I twisted his arms and locked them in a stronghold. Thankfully, there was only one other seller out on the street in this area, and it was the one selling the lamps.

And he fled the scene in fright as soon as he witnessed me tackling Mehmet.

Bummer. I'd wanted to thank him for (unintentionally) helping me find the guy.

As Mehmet struggled in my death grip, I looked him in the eye. "Don't even try to run away, Mr Dogan." My body hovered over him, blocking any space for him to run.

I slowly lifted my gun for him to see. His eyes widened in fear. I smiled.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

I doubt he could understand what I was saying, but my assumption was proven wrong when he replied, in English,

"Please don't kill me!"

His eyes were desperate, pleading. His face suddenly looked very tired in the light of the lamps.

Before I could ponder any further, I heard someone's footsteps on the gravel, and in a moment, Soler was beside me. His eyes widened at the sight, but he quickly composed himself and knelt down beside me.

He pointed his gun at Mehmet and asked him in Turkish, if he knew English. The man nodded and Soler let out a breath. "Good."

Soler kept on pointing his gun at him, and said, "We're going to ask you a few questions, Mr Dogan. If you don't try to run away again, nothing will happen to you. But if you don't cooperate with us..."

He let that sentence hang in the air, and in that moment, I have to admit, he really sounded scary- green eyes hooded, voice low, and a deathly calm expression on his face.

Mehmet looked absolutely terrified. He nodded fervently. "I cooperate. I do anything but please don't kill me! I have wife, daughter!"

Satisfied that he wasn't going to run away anytime soon, I released my grip on him while Soler kept guard. I quickly gave a call to Miranda, sending her our coordinates on the phone and asking her to reach us as soon as possible.

Five minutes later, Miranda arrived and nodded at us, panting. She must've been quite far away when I'd called her.

I looked at Mehmet. It was time to begin the interrogation.