Disentanglement
"Well, whatever your circumstances are, you better give it your all."
Lee Dongmin, the new recruit to our so-called team, nodded his head and hastily reached out his hand towards me. "I promise to do my best."
I looked at his hand for a moment, then turned to walk away from it. As I did so, another member wrapped his arm around my shoulders and spun me around. He laughed at my movements.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that Caltrop. Give the new guy a break."
I rolled my eyes, pushing off his arm. "I doubt you didn't torment him."
The older member chuckled, stroking his dark brown beard with his dry palms. "We all did, infact, but you're a little late." He looked to Dongmin. "This is Caltrop. She is one of the baddest people we got here. Her mother? She created this 'ere rescue group."
The boy looked to me in surprise. "I didn't know that."
My lips thinned into a tight smile. "Not many people know right off the bat." I waited for a second before sighing. "So are we going to go or what? I have very little patience."
Tony, the eldest member, shook his head. "Not yet, we ain't. This 'ere boy doesn't have a special nickname." Tony extended his big arm towards the kid and slapped his back, causing the boy to stumble forward.
"He doesn't need one." My attention moved away from Tony. "Just don't announce your name and we will be fine."
Dongmin nodded. "That's good for-"
Tony disagreed. "That ain't right Caltrop and you know it," he spoke in irritated tone, jabbing a stubby finger my way. "Give 'em a dang nickname and then you can go."
I sighed. "What is your talent?" I asked, attempting to learn a bit more about him so his name wouldn't be far off.
"Kidnapping and distracting."
I made a face. "Whatever. Then I will just call you Eun Woo."
Tony's eyes sparkled at the name. "Wow! That's the first ever Korean name. Caltrop and 'er mother always use English or French." He frowned for a moment. "Except mine. Mine's Italian."
Eun Woo smiled a little. "Eun Woo? I like it."
Tony nodded in agreement, stroking his beard again. "Cha Eun Woo. That sounds good." He looked to me. "Now get ta gettin'. Those kids need savin'."
I lead the way to the truck outside, knowing the newbie would struggle for awhile. After handing him his ear piece, I attached mine and started up the vehicle. "Four children at the football stadium basement. Three are girls and the boy has panic attacks often. We have to show him first that we will take him to his mother."
Eun Woo buckled his belt. "Using a picture of his mother is not going to settle him. How about a video message?"
I nodded. "That might work." I pressed onto the ear piece to activate it. "Tony, call the boy's mom and get her to make a video message. Tell her to stay as calm as possible."
"Roger that."
I glanced at Eun Woo. "Don't mess this up. We got one shot at saving these kids."
"Understood."
The moment we got close to the stadium, I caught sight of two cop cars standing out front of the building. I slowed the vehicle down and readied to turn the opposite way.
"No," Eun Woo called to me, placing his hand over mine to stop the turn. "There is three black vans behind you on your left. One has rust on the bumper and seems out of place; the two are cops, the one isn't."
