Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
005 a gang of serbian thieves
"Evan, you gotta eat something." Natalie spoke softly in the other room, Maleea's phone began ringing, the brunette digging through her pant pocket to grab it. "Hey." She whispered. "Hey, Maleea." Chin's voice drifted through the phone, meeting the brunette's ears. "We found one of the men who grabbed Roland." He informed the girl. "He give you anything?" The woman questioned, shifting on her feet. She was hoping for Evan's sake that Danny and Steve had managed to find any lead possible. She knew what it felt like to lose both parents at a young age, she didn't want the same for the younger blonde boy. She also couldn't shake the feeling that something was not sitting right with her about this whole situation.
"No, but we found out he's part of a gang of Serbian thieves. I'll e-mail you a picture. Listen, you think you can talk to Evan? Ask him if he knows this guy." The woman turned, seeing Natalie still seated next to Evan, she sent a small smile to the pair before turning back. Something felt off about her. "Or anything about his dad's business. International contacts, overseas phone calls, anything that might be able to tie Roland to the Serbs." Chin finished. "Yeah, sure. I'll try." She mumbled. "How's the kid doing?" The man on the other end of the phone enquired. "He's doing pretty well considering his mom is dead and he doesn't know whether he'll ever see his dad again." She spoke lowly, checking behind her to see if either of the pair were listening - they were not. "How about you?" The man asked, genuinely concerned for her well-being. "I'm fine, Chin. Thank you for checking in." She forced a smile to make her voice sound chirpier. "I have to go now. Bye." She concluded the call, hanging up the phone and roughly shoving it back into her pant pocket, spinning on her heel and retreating back into the main room.
"Hey, Evan." She noticed the absence of Natalie when she sat down. She picked a piece of paper up from the stack sitting in front of him and began folding a paper plane. "Hi." He smiled lightly at the woman across from him, feeling more comfortable with her as time went on. "Hey, so, I just got off the phone with my travel agent." Maleea spoke up. "That's who was on the phone?" Evan asked, genuinely intrigued by the conversation the girl had started up. "Yeah, I'm going on a holiday to Spain soon, had to iron out some final details." She nodded, beginning to fold yet another plane. "It's really exciting going on a holiday in another country, you know?" She rhetorically asked the question, Evan however, answered. Making it much easier to coax the specific answers she was looking for, out of him. "No. We never go anywhere. Hawaii's the furthest from Virginia we've ever been." He answered.
The brunette, feeling that she had Evan's trust, and feeling that he would answer truthfully, pulled her phone out of her pocket, pulling up her e-mails. "Do you, um. . . Do you recognise this guy?" She asked showing the blonde boy the picture Chin had forwarded to her inbox. The blonde analysed the picture for a moment. "No." He shook his head. "Is be the man who took my dad?" Evan questioned. "We think he's one of them, yes." Maleea answered honestly. "We got him and we'll get the others, I promise." She smiled at the boy, his eyes cast down to the pair of paper planes sitting on the table. "Should we have a paper plane race?" He asked, the girl grinning back. "Duh."
-
"Hey, Natalie, do you have a spare piece of paper and a pen? Evan and I want to keep score of who's winning." Maleea walked into the kitchen speaking to the blonde woman currently occupying the space. "Top draw." She pointed, Maleea casting her eyes down to it. "I just put some water on for tea. Do you want some?" The blonde offered, crossing the room. "No, thank you. I don't drink tea." The brunette politely declined the offer, opening the draw, moving a few things around, she saw a yellow ruled notepad that caught her attention. There was writing on the pad which she instantly recognised to be Serbian. She furrowed her brows, turning to face the blonde. "Everything okay?" Natalie asked, the brunette pushing hair out of her face. "Yeah, everything's fine." Maleea responded, shifting on her feet. Her next point of action was to assess the easiest and safest way to get Evan away from the blonde woman unharmed.
"Evan okay?" The blonde queried. "Yeah, he's hanging in there." Maleea nodded, closing the draw, she ducked seeing Natalie grab a knife in her peripheral vision. A fight between the two began, somehow the pair made their way outside, Natalie hitting Maleea into the pool with a makeshift weapon. The blonde jumping in after the brunette, forcing her head underwater. In a swift move, Maleea grabbed Natalie's arm, forcing it backwards and switching the pair's position. "Hey!" Maleea heard a man's voice, turning to see Evan being held by a man, a weapon pointed in his direction. "Let her go!" The man demanded. On immediate instinct to protect the blonde boy, Maleea released the blonde woman, who resurfaced moments later, grabbing a hold of the brunette. "Come on, we're all going to take a ride together." The man spoke, glaring at the brunette.
The pair of offenders forced Evan and Maleea into Natalie's car. The man in back with Evan, whilst Natalie sat in the passenger's seat, having Maleea drive. The pair spoke in Serbian as the brunette lifted her eyes to the rear view mirror to check on the blonde boy, who was silently crying. "Turn left ahead." Natalie directed, Maleea scoffing at the blonde, but did as told. "You shouldn't have involved the boy." Natalie scolded her partner in the back. "Well, you should have done a better job. You could have convinced him to sell it on the open market." He informed her, causing an instant reaction out of the woman who began speaking aggressively in Serbian. "More time? It's been months. He was about to hand it over to the U.S. Military." The man answered in English, both Maleea and Evan hearing every word.
"You've been watching my dad for months?" The blonde boy questioned the blonde woman shakily, just as Maleea's phone began to ring. Natalie picked up the phone, the brunette able to see the screen, relief flooded through her. "It's my boss. If I don't answer he'll know somethings wrong." The brunette explained. "Tell him everything is fine or the boy won't see his next birthday." The man calling the shots responded. Natalie pressed the answer button lifting the phone to the brunette's ear, she prepared herself. "Steve." She spoke, her tone immediately alerting the man who knew her so well to the fact that something was wrong. "Maleea, am I on speaker?" She heard his comforting voice through the phone, instantly calming her nerves. "No." She answered, waiting for his next sentence. "Natalie's working with the Serbs. We're on the way to her house. Where are you?" He asked, hoping she was safe. "Yeah, everything's great." The woman kept her tone calm, Steve hitting his fist on the steering wheel, knowing she intentionally changed the topic of conversation because she was compromised.
"Copy that." He spoke through gritted teeth. "Just stay on the line as long as you can, we're running a trace. Leea, can you tell us where you are?" He questioned, panic starting to rise in him. "Yeah, I may even take Evan out to Mokuleia Beach for a swim." Maleea responded, hoping he'd understand why she would bring that up. "Okay and you're headed north." Steve concluded, Maleea letting out a trapped sigh. "Exactly." Natalie took the phone hitting the side of Maleea's head with it. "I know what you're doing." The blonde informed, throwing the brunette's phone out the window.
