Congratulations! You now temporarily have Security Level D.A. granting you access to the following mission file: Christmas Hostage. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

A light dusting of snow had fallen and turned Stanbur completely white overnight. Not that it bothered Lee; he was glad for the colder weather. He wasn’t a very big fan of the heat. His time in South America had been torture.

Grabbing up a light jacket, Lee dressed and hurried down the stairs. 

“Morning,” Lee mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled into the kitchen. Like always, his father was wide awake and as active as ever. That was one of his traits that Lee hadn’t inherited. 

“Morning. Your cereal is on the table,” his dad said, glancing up from his phone as Lee entered. “milk’s sitting next to it.”

Lee nodded, fighting back a yawn as he made his way toward the table and sat down. “Thanks,” he said, sliding into his chair as he ran his gaze around the room. “You know, it’s strange to wake up here. It’s still kind of like I’m in a dream.”

His dad laughed. “Tell me about it; I had the house all to myself, and now I’m back to raising a teen.”

“I’m not sure you can call it ‘raising’ anymore,” Lee said, picking up his spoon. “I’ve done more with my life than most adults have.”

“That would be comparing you to normal people,” his father said, setting his phone down. “And I’ve never done that.”

“Yeah, and look how I’ve turned out.” Lee laughed. 

“Was that an insult to me, or to you?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, I’ve got to go into work early this morning, and I’m probably going to be gone all day. So, I decided you could stay here alone until I get back.”

Lee let his jaw drop in mock shock. 

“Really? Are you not feeling well?!” he asked. This would be the first time his dad had left him alone anywhere since he’d come back home three months before. It was as if he was afraid if he turned his back on him, Lee would vanish again. 

Lee couldn’t blame him for that. He had left without warning the first time and didn’t show up again until he was the Phantom Thief.

“Don’t give me that,” his father growled, “or I’ll change my mind and make you come with me. You could play in the corner with Eric’s five-year-old.”

“Well, that would be appropriate, since that’s how you’re treating me,” Lee said, grinning. “Come on, Dad. I’m just playing with you. You do remember that I did perfectly fine without any babysitters, or anyone watching me for two years? I think I can stay by myself for one day. I am fifteen, or have you forgotten?”

“Well, it would be easy to do, since I missed your last two birthdays, thanks to you,” his dad growled, “and you did have someone watching you during that time; they’re called cops and they kept a very close eye on you.”

Lee snorted. “They don’t count, since they were keeping an eye out for me, not on me. And before you say ‘Watcher and Tracker’, they don’t count either. If I wasn’t doing something for them, they didn’t care what I did.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” his dad asked, crossing his arms. “Because it’s not working. I have a phone I want you to keep,” his dad said, reaching into his pocket, “and don’t even start arguing with me.”

“You’re kidding, right? You know I hate phones!” Lee groaned. “I thought after everything that’s happened, you’d understand why.”

“Did you not hear a word I said? I told you not to start. But since you did… yes, I do understand. It’s because they can be tracked, and that’s just why I want you to take it,” his dad said, still holding it out to him. “Take the phone, or I won’t let you stay here alone. Maybe one of the neighbors will come over here and babysit you.”

Lee moaned, dropping his head back against the chair. “Fine… I’ll take the dumb phone, if it means you’ll drop this conversation.”

“Yes, it is dumb.” his dad said, sliding it to him. “I’m not wasting a lot of money on a smart phone for you.”

“Of course not, what would be the fun in that?” Lee asked, taking the phone from him. “Did you buy this from an antique store or something? I didn’t even know they sold this kind anymore.”

Sighing, his dad rose to his feet. “This should be the last time I have to work until after Christmas,” his dad said, pulling on his jacket. “Tonight’s Christmas Eve, so I expect Aunt Helen to want to come over with the kids, so Frank can put out the gifts.”

Lee raised an eyebrow. “Do they still do that? I thought the twins would be too old for that.”

His dad rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I mean, you outgrew it years ago. I’m not sure why they’re still doing it.” 

Lee grinned. “Dad, we never did it. You and mom couldn’t pull it off, even when I was little.”

“Well, it’s not like we tried that hard,” he said. “I never understood the whole thing anyways. Why give the credit of the gifts to someone else?”

He laughed. “Some of the gifts you got me, you might have wanted to give the credit to someone else.”

“Haha,” his dad said, moving toward the door. He stopped just in front of it and glanced back at Lee. “Don’t make me regret doing this, Kiddo.” He was treating him more like a child than he had when he was six! But knowing his dad, it was best not to point that out.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep out of trouble,” Lee said, still playing around in his cereal. “I mean, it’s not like there’s that much to do in this town anyway.”

He sighed. “Alright, see you tonight. Try not to burn the house down or get yourself killed.” With that, Lee’s dad grabbed up his things and stepped out of the house.

As the door clicked closed behind him, silence settled over the house.

Lee sat there for a few minutes more, finishing his breakfast. But once he was done eating, he realized the house was too quiet for him. If he stayed alone here all day, he was bound to go mad. Or madder, as some people might say.

Maybe he’d go for a walk around town. It wasn’t as if he’d be in any danger. Stanbur wasn’t that big of a town, and like he told his dad, he knew how to take care of himself.

Once he’d made up his mind, Lee cleaned up his stuff and readied himself to leave. Slipping the phone into his pocket, he grabbed up his coat and headed toward the door. He stepped out of the house and shivered as a cold breeze blew against him and he hurried down the steps to the sidewalk.

The snow crunched under his shoes as he wandered away from the house, hardly paying any attention to where he was going. Even if he hadn’t been back for a few months, he could have easily found his way around town with his eyes closed (literally). He’d done it before.

He hadn’t gone more than a block from his neighborhood when there was a ruckus ahead of him. A group of teenage boys were standing together, probably up to no good. He instantly recognized one of the boys on the edge of the group.

Killian Young.

Before the boy had a chance to look his way, Lee ducked down one of the alleyways and vanished from sight. Once he was sure he was far enough away not to be seen, Lee stopped and rested his head back against the brick wall. He wasn’t ready to deal with all that crazy stuff.

He doubted Killian even knew he was back in town, so it would probably be really awkward to just bump into him. They’d been best friends once upon a time, but the last time they’d seen each other hadn’t ended well.

It would have been slightly funny if he had bumped into him and been like, ‘Hey, how’s the last three years of your life been?’ Lee didn’t even know if he knew about his ‘rebellious’ years as the Phantom Thief. He doubted it. As far as he knew, his dad was the only person, other than his handlers, that knew about that part of his life. 

He sighed and closed his eyes. They’d been inseparable as kids, but that had all changed when Killian started high school. The three year age difference had suddenly become a lot wider than it had been before.

Lee was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of someone coming down the other side of the alley. Strange that anyone else would be back here. School was out and most of the town was closed for Christmas Eve. In fact, his dad was probably one of the few people working today. 

Something inside Lee told him to investigate what was going on. So, as silent as the falling snow, he moved toward the sounds the unknown strangers were making further down the alleyway.

Still keeping himself in the shadows of the building, Lee crept forwards until he reached the other end. Then he quickly looked around him.

A dark van was parked just around the corner, hidden almost completely from sight. 

Two big thugs stood leaning against the front of it. Both of them kept glancing at their watches, then around them. They were waiting for someone that was for sure. There was definitely something off about the whole thing. 

Even as a kid, he’d always been suspicious of any kind of van. Probably thanks to his dad. He’d always told him to stay away from strangers, and all the stories he’d heard about kids being kidnapped and shoved into vans. His dad had worked some of those cases, and had always made sure it gave Lee a health fear of strangers with vans. Even now as a teenager, he didn’t really want to go any closer to it.

Lee skirted a pile of trash and moved closer, still keeping out of their line of sight. 

The two men stood to attention when another man appeared around the corner with a girl in tow. “Where… where are we going?” the little girl mumbled, but the big man who dragged her along shushed her. “I want my mommy!” she cried, as her eyes began to slide closed.

There was something obviously wrong with her… Lee’s body stiffened when realization hit him. The girl had been drugged! Not just that. Lee had a feeling he was just about to witness one of those kidnapping stories he heard growing up.

No one else was there to help her, and he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing! Lee gritted his teeth. So much for staying out of trouble. He took in a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows. “Now, what do we have here?” he called.

The two thugs spun around and reached into their jackets, but when they saw that it was just Lee, they stopped. “Where did you come from?” the one on the left growled.

Lee shrugged. “Just down the alley. Didn’t you see me? I’d expect watch dogs like you two would have noticed.”

“Watch dogs?” the man on the right asked. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean could you have been more obvious?” Lee asked, glancing toward the man with the girl. “He’s the boss, and you guys of course were watching out for anyone else, while he kidnaps the girl.”

“Well, you obviously know too much!” the boss said, pulling the girl closer to the van. He yanked it open. “Grab him, and let’s get going.”

Lee stepped back. “Hey, I don’t want any trouble,” he said, holding up his hands. 

“I think it’s too late for that, now isn’t it?” the boss said, nodding toward his men as he pulled the girl into the van.

“Make another move, and I’ll blow your brains out!” the thug said, drawing the gun and training it on Lee.

Lee hesitated. He could try and take the man down, but there was no way he could take on all of them and make sure the girl was safe. If he took this one out, he’d tip his hand and let them know that he wasn’t just a nosy teenager who’d gotten himself involved in something he hadn’t meant to.

“No need to be so violent,” Lee said, still holding his hands out in front of him. “I won’t try anything. I’m not stupid.”

The one thug snorted. “If you weren’t stupid, you wouldn’t be here, now would you?”

Lee thought about contradicting him. It was because he was smart that he was there. He’d figured out what they were doing, and he couldn’t allow himself to just walk away from it. That’s why he was there, not because he wasn’t smart.

“Give me your phone. Now!” the man said, holding out his free hand, the other hand still holding the gun. Lee glanced toward the other guy, who looked like he was just looking for a reason to draw his own gun and shoot him.

Lee was glad his dad had made him take the phone. Not that the phone itself was going to do him any good. But the man probably wouldn’t have believed him if he’d told him he didn’t have one. Lee was sure he was the only kid his age who didn’t like them.

Reluctantly, Lee reached into his coat and drew out his phone. “Fine. There you go. Happy now?” he asked, placing his phone against the palm of the man’s hand.

Glaring at Lee, the man dropped it onto the ground and smashed the phone under his boot. “I don’t think you’ll be using that anymore.”

“I never used it,” Lee mumbled under his breath as he stared down at the broken remains of the dumb phone his dad had literally just bought him.

A lot of good the phone was going to do him now. Yeah, Dad. Great idea that was. At least now they’d know where his last location was, if they found out he was missing. That was a big if, since his dad wasn’t supposed to be back until late that night and no one else in the city even knew he existed. 

“Oh, are we going for a ride?” he asked, as they both grabbed him and dragged him toward the van. “You know what? I’m good. I think I’ll just head home.”

They ignored him as one of them pulled a black bag over his head before they shoved him into the back of the van and slammed the door shut behind him. A second later he heard the sound of them jumping into the front.

“No need to be so rough,” Lee said, half to himself as he shoved himself to his knees. 

“Stay where you are!” the boss growled. “We can still shoot you, even in here.”

“Do you really expect me to try something?” Lee asked. “If I was, I’d have already done it before you put me in here.” He couldn’t see anything, but he didn’t need to. The van had once been used for cleaners of some sort. The smell of soap was still strong.

“Well, we’re not going to take any chances, now are we?” a man whispered, coming from the other side of the van. The next thing Lee knew, there was someone behind him. Before they even pulled away, they had his arms tied tightly behind his back with rope they must have found in the back of the van. 

They hadn’t been planning on kidnapping two kids, or they would have brought more drugs. For that, Lee was grateful. There was no way he’d let these guys drug him, no matter the reason.

He wasn’t as afraid of them as he was of what would happen when his dad got home from work that night and he was gone. He’s going to kill me. The amateur kidnappers were the least of his worries.

Chapter 2

As the van bounced along the road, Lee did his best to feel around for anything that he might find useful. 

Before they’d even left, the thugs had tied Lee and the girl’s arms behind their backs. It made the ride quite uncomfortable, but Lee was more worried about the girl than himself. He’d been in worse situations. 

“Get them out of there!” the man (who Lee guessed was the boss) yelled from wherever he was inside the van. “We need to get rid of this thing before the cops start looking for it.”

The next second, Lee felt two men grab him and yank him back to his feet and out of the van. He could hear the other men grab the girl and yank her out after him. Still gripping their arms, the men drug Lee and the girl away from the van.

By the echoing of their steps, Lee could tell they were in a fairly big room. Maybe a warehouse? Did bad guys ever pick somewhere nice to take their hostages? 

The next moment Lee felt stairs before him, as he was forced up them. They were going up stairs, probably into an office of some sort. Lee counted the steps, and when they finally stopped, he was sure they were three stories off the ground. It wasn’t a small warehouse, that was for sure.

“Put him in the chair!” the boss ordered, and Lee heard the sound of a door closing behind them. “We’ll deal with him first.”

They shoved Lee into the chair, then one of the big dudes Lee had seen earlier yanked the bag off his head, glaring at him. “Stupid kid,” he grumbled, tossing the bag to the ground. “You should have minded your own business, but I can already tell you’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”

Lee smiled at him. “What gave you that idea? Was it my charming smile? Or the fact that I wear glasses?”

The man glared at him. “I doubt we’ll get anything for you. Who’d be dumb enough to pay to get you back? But the boss still wants to ‘talk’.”

“Great!” Lee said. “I just love a good chat. Don’t you?”

He snorted. “My boss doesn’t chat much, but he’ll get you to talk.”

We’ll see about that. Lee thought to himself, as he continued to smile at the man. “Well, is he going to come in? I don’t like to be tied down for too long.”

With one last glare, the man stepped back and moved toward the doorway. “He’ll be in when he feels like it.”

“I’m sure he will be,” Lee said, and the man seemed to cringe at his cheerfulness.

Lee loved these kind of guys. It was so easy to get under their skin. They hated it when people weren’t afraid of them.

As it turned out, the ‘boss’ didn’t wait long to meet with Lee. And without the bag, or the distraction of trying to figure out what he was going to do, Lee found it quite easy to profile the man. He wasn’t too complicated.

Mid thirties, with lots of tattoos. He was the ‘bodybuilder’ type, who cared more about muscles than how they got them, even if they had to use steroids. There were small bruises along his arms, hinting at the fact that he probably liked to live life ‘high’, you might say. 

His eyes were too focused for him to be on anything at the moment, but Lee had a feeling that was a rare thing. He was glad for that. If he had been drugged up, Lee would have had the unfair advantage of having a brain.

“How did you find out what we’re doing?” the boss asked, pulling another chair in front of Lee before sitting.

Lee blinked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, really? I have a hard time believing that. You just happened to stumble across us?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I was avoiding a kid I used to know and then I stumbled onto you. Now, if you don’t believe me, doesn’t that make it your problem, not mine? I can’t make you believe me.”

He eyed Lee. “You seem oddly familiar. Have we met before?”

“I doubt it. I’m not the kind of teenager who joins random gangs.” Even as he spoke, Lee ran the man’s face through the people he’d met over the years, and he was almost certain he’d never seen him before today. 

Slowly, he nodded. “I’m sure… And what’s your name?” Nice try. There was no way he’d just tell the guy his name, whether or not they knew each other.

Lee smiled. “Nicholas, Saint, Nicholas.”

“Your real name!” he growled, bringing his hand up into a fist in front of his face. “Now! I don’t like hurting kids, but I don’t like being played with either!”

“I’m not giving you my name.”

He lunged toward Lee and grabbed him around the neck. “Did you know, with the right pressure I could snap your neck! It would be so easy to do.”

“Is that something they taught you in prison?” Lee wheezed out, not even trying to fight the big guy off him.

The boss growled, stepping back as he let go. “You assume I’ve been to prison because I’ve stooped so low as to kidnap a ‘little girl’?” he scoffed. Lee joined in on his laugh, and that stopped him short. “And why do you think that’s funny?”

“Because, that’s not why I think you’ve been in prison,” Lee said. "I assume that because of the tattoo on your neck. It’s most popular in eastern state penitentiaries.”

The man sat back down and narrowed his eyes at Lee. “You seem to know a lot about things you shouldn’t.” 

“You might say it’s a hobby of mine.”

“Is it also your ‘hobby’ to get involved in things that have nothing to do with you?” he asked.

Lee smiled again. “Sometimes. But most of the time, it just happens naturally. Today for example.”

“You’re a very strange kid.”

“Now… it’s your turn,” Lee said, looking quite comfortable in the chair with his arms tied behind his back. “What can you tell me about myself?”

Tat Boss (as Lee had dubbed him) glared at him, as he shoved himself out of his seat once more. “I’m not playing your childish games!”

“You started the games first, Tat,” Lee whispered. “I’m just better at playing it than you are.”

The boss glared at him. “I guess we’re done then.” With that, he spun on his heels and marched toward the door. He yanked it open and yelled. A moment later, the two men he’d called ‘watch dogs’ earlier moved toward him and yanked him out of the chair.

“We’ll see how cooperative you are after you have some time to think it over,” Tat Boss said, nodding toward the doorway. “Lock him until he wants to talk.”

Without any prompting from their boss, the watch dogs tightened their grip on Lee’s arms and dragged him out of the room and to a run down, rusty hallway and into another room. 

But unlike the last room, this one didn’t have any furniture.

Roughly, they shoved Lee through the doorway, and he was barely able to keep his balance. He knew all too well how painful it would be to fall. He turned back toward them and forced a smile. “Thanks for showing me to my room.”

They just glared at him. “Let us know when you’re ready to talk.” With that they slammed the door shut behind them. They were probably upset with themselves for not getting anything out of him.

But hey, it wasn’t his fault they were amateurs and he wasn’t. 

He turned away from the door, and it took him less than a second to realize he wasn’t alone. The little girl they had kidnapped sat curled up in the corner, she looked scared, Lee couldn’t blame her.

Slowly, he moved toward her and dropped onto his knees.

“What’s your name?” he whispered, smiling at her. Lee maneuvered into a sitting position, even with his wrists tied. “Don’t worry, I’m a friend. You can tell me your name.” 

The little girl glanced around and blinked at him with big blue eyes. “Em… Emma.” she stammered, dropping her gaze back to the ground. “My name is Emma.”

Good. She seemed to grow more alert with every passing second. Maybe if he kept her talking, she’d grow even more alert. Hopefully whatever drugs they’d used on her would be out of her system quickly. 

He hated the thought of any child being drugged, but he also needed her to be able to think. If things went south, she might have to escape on her own. Lee knew if it came down to it, only one of them might make it out and he planned on making sure it was her. 

When this was all over, his father would kill him anyway.

“Nice to meet you, Emma. I’m Simon,” he said, glancing toward the door. “I’d shake your hand, but I seem to have misplaced them.”

The girl giggled. “They’re behind your back, silly.”

“Oh… is that where they went?” he asked, glancing behind him. “I don’t see them.”

“That’s because you’re tied up,” she whispered, no longer laughing. “Did… did the bad guys do that to you?”

Lee did his best to continue to smile, but it was hard. “Do you understand what’s going on here?” he whispered to her.

Slowly, she nodded. “The bad guys took me away from my family,” she said, fighting back tears. She was a brave little girl. Lee wasn’t sure how his own cousins, who (at seven) were a little older than her, would have handled it.

“Do you have any idea why they picked you?” he asked. “I mean, what reason would they have to pick you instead of another kid?” These guys were obviously not pros when it came to kidnapping, but it seemed to him like they’d planned this one out pretty good. Why else would they be so upset that he’d shown up? 

“My… my dad’s a… a police officer,” she mumbled, her eyes glazing over again.

She was a cop’s kid? That was good and bad news. He knew for a fact that they would pull out all the stops to find her, but that was the good news.

Lee bit his lip and scooted a little bit closer to her. “Emma, what’s your last name?” he asked, realizing he needed to keep her talking, or whatever drugs they’d used on her might kick in again.

Emma frowned and seemed to have to think hard about the question. “Rathal,” she finally whispered.

Rathal? Lee recognized the name. Her father wasn’t just any officer; he was the Chief of Police. And he had a feeling that was why they’d picked her. They’d have a heyday if they knew who he was, too.

Lee glanced across the room from him toward the window.

For a moment, he wondered if they could escape through it. But then he realized there was probably a guard standing outside the room, just waiting to hear them making too much noise and by the looks of the wood floor, they’d make quite a lot of noise.

If he had to guess, he’d probably say he had about seven hours before his dad got home and noticed he was gone. If he didn’t get back there before then, his dad was going to kill him and never let him out of his sight again.

In the back of his mind, a clock started ticking.

He needed to get her out of here, before something bad happened to them. It was only a matter of time before their hosts started demanding things from the girl’s father, and Lee knew for a fact that they couldn’t give the kidnappers much more than money. Even then, her family wasn’t rich and couldn’t pay much of a ransom.

Lee was just about to ask the girl some more questions when he heard the sound of the door’s handle rattling as someone unlocked it. 

“No matter what happens, just stay quiet. Okay?” he whispered. “I’ll get you out of here. But let’s not let them know you’re not still all drugged up.” Emma nodded just as one of the men, Lee hadn’t nicknamed yet, stepped into the room and they both fell silent.

“Ah… I see you two are getting along,” he said, closing the door behind him. He let out a long sigh. “So, I’m stuck babysitting you two, huh?” 

Lee quickly studied the man. He didn’t have as many tattoos as the rest of the group, and as far as he could tell, none of them were from prison. If Lee had to guess, he’d say he looked like a normal guy who just got in over his head in this whole thing (he didn’t look like the type to enjoy kidnapping children).

Out of all of the people Lee had met so far, this man might be willing to listen to reason and maybe, just maybe, he’d let them go. But Lee had to play his cards carefully.

“Are you going to give me any trouble?” he asked, crossing his arms. “Because it would be so much easier for us both if you didn’t.”

Lee shrugged. “No, sir.”

“Good.” He nodded, leaning back against the wall. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Lee wanted to make his first move now, but he needed to wait for the right time, or he’d mess the whole thing up. At the same time, he also couldn’t wait too long or he wouldn’t be able to do any good. 

Time passing would be a blessing and a curse.

Chapter 3

Lee and Emma watched as the man grew bored guarding them and started to pace the room.

“This is a stupid waste of my time,” he grumbled to himself, looking very much like he wanted to hit something. This was the time Lee had been waiting for, and if it worked, they might be getting out of there soon.

“Seems to me like the rest of them don’t appreciate what you bring to the table,” Lee said softly, as he leaned back against the wall. “I mean, they probably think you’re not as important to the team as they are, because you’re new and all.”

The man eyed Lee. “What do you know about anything?”

Lee shrugged. “I know more than most people expect.”

“Oh, really?” he scoffed. “You’re just a kid! What do people expect from you?”

A lot. “I’m just a kid? Is that what your boss thought when we were talking? Come on, you guys can’t be that dumb,” Lee said, bending toward the man. “Would I still be here if I was useless?”

The man opened his mouth, then frowned and closed it again. “I don’t know. Can’t say I know what the boss is thinking about any of this. If you ask me, this whole thing is just stupid! Why he’s started listening to those people I don’t know. But did anyone ask me? No!”

Ding! Ding! Ding! He had a winner. It had been pretty easy to label the guy; now to use that to his advantage.

“No one asked me to come here,” Lee said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure no one asked her, either. She’s just a little girl. She shouldn’t be treated like this,” he said. “Should she really be used as a pawn in whatever game you’re playing?”

The guard shifted on his feet. “Hey, look, it’s not my call to make.”

“Isn’t it?” Lee asked, before the man could continue. “Do you even know what game you’re playing here? It seems to me like your boss is keeping you in the dark as much as us!”

“No!” the guard yelled, spinning around to face Lee. “That is not true! I know what’s going on here.”

Lee raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”

Before the guard could answer, someone knocked on the door behind him. The guard growled, spun on his heels and stormed out of the room. “What?!” he yelled before slamming the door closed behind him.

Lee sighed when he heard the sound of him locking the door. Well, at least he was getting under his skin. That was one point to their side.

“What are you doing?” the little girl whispered, scooting closer to Lee. “You’re making him mad.”

Lee shot her a grin. She was smart for her age. Heck, she would have been smart for twice her age.

He could probably trust her with his plan; after all, if it didn’t work they were both stuck there. “Alright. You want to know what my ‘real’ goal is?” he whispered. “I have to get him to put his guard down so you can get out of here. He seems pretty easy to manipulate, but we’ll see what happens.”

Emma frowned at him and crossed her arms. “I don’t want to leave here without you.”

“Believe me, I want us to both get out of here,” he whispered, glancing toward the door. “But that might not happen. Don’t worry, I can take care of myself perfectly fine.”

“Oh? really? And that’s how you ended up here with me?” she asked. “Besides, I’m the one untied, not you. I can help us both get out of here.”

Lee smiled. “Thanks, but I’m not letting you get hurt. Just stay quiet and out of his focus hopefully he will forget about you completely and I can get you out of here.” 

Before she could protest, the door opened again, and reluctantly she slipped back into the shadows just as the guard entered once more.

“Stupid people! I’m not an errand boy to help pay their bills,” the guard grumbled. “And they stick me with babysitting. It’s not fair! I’ve worked harder than anyone else here.”

The guy sure likes talking to himself, Lee thought, watching him as he fell back into his pacing of the floor. But it was to his advantage; he didn’t even have to try to know what the guy was thinking. He was literally telling him.

“You’re afraid that if you let us go, your boss won’t be happy,” Lee said, breaking the silence that had fallen after the man had finished his ranting. “But how would he even know about it? By the sounds of it, he doesn’t pay any attention to what you’re doing.”

“You…” he said, pointing toward Lee. “Don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Don’t I? We’re just a couple of kids. Do you really think we deserve to be pulled into this?” Lee asked. “Just let us go.”

“I can’t!” the man snapped. “And you’re not talking me into it, nice try though.”

Lee blinked. Well, he’d tried to talk sense into the guy. What happened next wasn’t his fault and he’d feel no guilt about it.

The second the guard turned his back on him, Lee leapt into action. He slipped his hands free of his ropes and quickly held his finger to his lips, wanting the girl to keep quiet. She did, but her eyes grew big. 

He could have easily freed himself earlier that morning, but this was the moment he’d been waiting for. When the guard wasn’t expecting anything and obviously thought he was in control.

Gripping the rope tightly in both hands, Lee crept up behind him. He quickly looped the rope around the guard’s neck and dropped to one knee. In less than three seconds, the guard passed out and crumbled to the ground.

Lee quickly stepped out of the way, so he wasn’t pinned under the dead weight.

When he hit the ground, Emma yelped, but quickly covered her mouth with her hands. She looked at Lee with her big eyes.

He flashed her a smile. “It’s alright, he’s still alive. Just taking a long nap,” he said, grabbing the pole he’d spotted earlier. He moved toward the door and shoved it up against it. The pole wouldn’t hold for long, but it would hold for long enough. At least, he hoped it would.

Shaking away these thoughts, he moved back toward where the guard lay. It had been fairly easy to figure out how to work their escape. 

The way they’d tied him up was the first sign that they weren’t pros. So as soon as the guy had let his guard down, Lee had struck him without the man seeing it coming. Just like so many other people, he hadn’t expected much from Lee. 

What sane person was afraid of a teenager being smarter than them? From his experience, not many. “Egos always get in the way,” he mumbled to himself as he searched the guard’s pockets for anything that might be useful. 

The guy had a lot of junk in his pockets.

Pieces of trash, along with a few mushed dollar bills. Lee was just about to give up finding anything of value in his pockets when he found a strange piece of metal in his jacket pocket. 

It was roughly the size of a quarter, but Lee knew what it was. It was a thumb drive with a strange marking on the bottom of it. Lee turned it upside down and instantly recognized the logo. He’d seen it enough times in his life to recognize it anywhere.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mumbled to himself. This guy was with the UG? Man! Without Griffin, they’d really lowered their standards. Poor Gration. He’d gone to all that work to get into their ranks and now that he was in prison, they were hiring anyone.

Was the UG ‘those people’ the guy was talking about? Lee had a feeling it was. He twirled the thumb drive around in his hand, then he shoved it into his pocket. He’d figure out what was on it later.

Maybe there was more going on here than just a random kidnapping. The UG didn’t do those kinds of things, but maybe without their leader, things weren’t at all the same. He’d have to check with his handler about all of this later. 

Finally, he shoved himself back to his feet and turned toward the little girl. “Don’t worry, Emma. I’ll make sure you’re home for all your Christmas plans,” Lee whispered, moving toward her. “But I need you do what I tell you. Okay?”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered back. She looked tired, but at the moment Lee had to ignore that fact. She was better off out of there no matter what else happened.

Lee edged his way toward the window and looked it over. To his surprise there weren’t any alarms on it, or even so much as a lock. He guessed they thought a six or seven-year-old girl wouldn’t try to escape through it. 

Which almost made sense. She probably wasn’t even tall enough to climb out of it, but it still had been a foolish move on their part.

Carefully, Lee shoved the window open as far as he could while making as little noise as possible.

“Alright, now Miss Rathal, let’s get you out of here.” Lee lifted the girl up onto the fire escape and motioned for her to start climbing upwards. The last thing they needed was for someone else to hear them, so he held his finger to his lips and warned her to be quiet. “Be careful of ice,” he whispered before pulling himself out after her and up the side of the warehouse.

If the ‘bad guys’ realized they’d escaped, they’d assume they headed downwards, not upwards. Lee knew they would be safer up there at the moment than anywhere else. As quietly as he could, Lee slid the window closed behind them and started up the steps.

They were almost to the top when the yelling started.

Lee heard the sound of the window below them being forced open again. “They probably went out this way!” he heard someone yell, followed a second later by groaning. 

He grabbed the girl and yanked her back, quickly covering her mouth with his hand. “Stay quiet,” Lee whispered into her ear. He knew without seeing them that someone was on the fire escape now.

He held her back and away from the edge of the roof. He prayed they wouldn’t be seen, but it would be just their luck to be spotted after all this work to get away and have to go back in there with a grumpy guard.

Finally, the yelling slowly grew faint as the searchers moved away from where Lee and Emma still stood on the roof. It was then Lee realized Emma was standing a little too still considering everything that had happened and that fact that she was only six or seven.

“Are you okay?” he asked, kneeling down in front of the girl.

Slowly, Emma shook her head. “No. I don’t feel so good.” She moaned, her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Lee lunged forwards just in time to catch her.

“Emma!” he cried before he could stop himself. He glanced around, but he was pretty sure no one had heard him. Carefully, he laid her down on the roof and checked her pulse.

The drug must have done something to her, Lee realized, and a sour feeling entered his stomach. What was he going to do? He couldn’t just leave her like this, and even if the police showed up that very moment, he doubted they’d know what to do either.

He had a gut feeling, that whatever they’d used on her wasn’t something common.

They’d probably gotten it from the Black Market, or worse… the UG. Lee bit his lip. He didn’t want to leave her alone on the roof, but she was safer out there than she would be inside, and he knew he needed to go back to find something to help her.

Surely they’d known this was going to happen.

“Hang in there, Emma,” he whispered, pulling off his coat and wrapping it around her. “I’ll find something to help you.”

He shivered but did his best to ignore the cold as he shoved himself back to his feet and reluctantly moved toward the fire escape again.

This was going to be interesting.

Chapter 4

Lee swung himself onto the fire escape and down to the next floor. It didn’t take him as long as he’d thought it would take to make it to the bottom of the stairs. Without lowering the ladder, he leapt to the ground.

His back still pressed up against the wall, Lee quickly looked around him at the dirt and weed filled yard. Interestingly enough, he recognized where he was. He’d seen this place several times when he was a kid.

It was a warehouse just out of town that had been shut down before he was born.

Before he moved, he closed his eyes and pictured what he was pretty sure the inside the warehouse looked like. It wasn’t easy, since he could only use the information he gathered from when he was blindfolded. He’d have to fill in the blanks once he got inside.

As silently as the snow would allow, Lee edged his way toward one of the warehouse’s nearest windows. He grabbed onto the metal, crate-like structure built into the wall and pulled himself up onto the top of it.

Taking a piece of metal, Lee shoved the window open as slowly as he could so it made no sounds. When it was halfway open, he bent down and twisted through it.

The warehouse was eerily quiet. Lee lowered himself to the ground and looked around him. There wasn’t much he could see from where he was, but he knew where to go to find the rest of the group. He’d heard them in a room earlier, right before the room where he and Emma had been held.

Monstrous machines loomed above him, he made his way deeper into the warehouse. He had no clue what the place had once made, but whatever they were had to have been something big. Maybe cars or something. That made sense why they’d shut it down; not many of them were built in the US anymore.

Lee moved around one of the old machines and deeper into the warehouse, toward where he could see the doors of old offices. Keeping to the shadows the whole time.

There was the room he was looking for! Lee could see the watch dogs and a few other men through the window looking inside. It was ironic that even bad guys had break rooms to relax in.

After watching them for a few seconds, Lee decided on his next move; he needed to find a way to get them out of that room so he could take care of them (hopefully without hurting them too badly). They’d be easier to neutralize out in the open than they would be inside the room. Besides, he needed information out of them.

Lee looked up toward the roof, and an idea came to him.

Moving toward the nearest wall, he grabbed onto a wobbly ladder and began the long climb up to the next floor as fast as he dared. He wasn’t sure how much more time Emma had. For all he knew, she could be dying up there! He didn’t have time to waste.

The rumble started from somewhere on the other side of the warehouse from them, drawing all their attention to one of the machines.

“What’s going on here?” Tat Boss asked, stepping into the room. “We’ve lost the girl, and you’re all just standing around here doing nothing!”

“Not quite nothing, sir,” one of the watch dogs said, stepping bravely forwards.

“Oh? Then what are you doing?” he growled. “I’m so interested!”

The watch dog’s cheeks flushed, and he ducked his head. “It’s this machine, sir. It seems to have started up on its own. We don’t know why.” 

“I can tell you why!” Lee yelled before leaping from the edge of the platform and onto the floor below. 

The men all jumped, spinning around to face him. None of them had seen him up above them. They hadn’t noticed him tinkering with the machine. He’d been just as surprised as they were when he’d actually gotten it to work.

“What the…?!” Tat Boss started, but Lee held up his hand and silenced the man.

“I don’t have time for your stupid questions!” he spat. “What did you do to the girl? Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. What were those drugs you gave her? And what’s the antidote?”

He glared at Lee. “Now, why should I tell you?”

Lee smiled, taking a step forwards. “I used to work with the UG, Tat. Do you really think they didn’t teach me anything during that time?” he asked, tilting his head. “In fact, they taught me quite a lot on how to get what I want.” With that, Lee pulled on a lever. 

Tat Boss man didn’t even see him do it, and he didn’t know what was going on until the thick metal wire hooked around his neck and pulled taut. Lee did it just tight enough that the man couldn’t move or pull himself free.

“Now, I believe I asked you a question!” Lee hissed, tightening the wire a little bit more around the man’s neck. “What did you do to the girl? And how can I help her? I’m not in the mood to play around, are you?”

Slowly, Tat Boss shook his head. “It… it’s over there,” he gasped out, fumbling to point toward a cabinet next to the wall. “Not even locked.”

Slipping the gun out of the man’s belt, Lee worked his way toward the cabinet, keeping a close eye on the rest of the group as he did so. He pointed his gun toward the nearest gang member as he unlocked the cabinet with his free hand.

One thing stuck out to him, which he was sure was what he was looking for. It was a black pouch with a red ‘X’ on the center of it. Everything else in the cabinet looked old, but not this. He reached for it, and at the same time, he heard the sound of a shoe squeak.

Quickly, Lee brought his gun around and fired it above the man’s head, all without moving his gaze toward him. “Make another move, and the next one goes in your head,” he said, unzipping the pouch.

There was a syringe inside, as he’d expected. Once he was sure nothing was missing, Lee took the pouch and slipped it into his jacket. Then he turned his gaze back to the man who’d moved earlier.

Smiling to himself, Lee stepped toward him. The man stiffened but didn’t try anything. “Hold up your arms,” Lee ordered, and reluctantly, the man complied. Lee reached toward him and took the phone out of the man’s pocket. “Repayment for the one you destroyed,” he said, slipping it into his own pocket.

Lee glanced back toward Tat Boss and realized he looked like he wanted to yell at his men to get him free, but none of them were dumb enough to move when there seemed to be a slightly crazy teenage boy waving a gun around. None of them knew, that Lee had no intention of shooting any of them, even if they went at him. He wouldn’t become a killer to save his own skin, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make them think he would. 

Fear was sometimes stronger than truth.

“None of you will follow me,” Lee said, calmly taking a step back from the group but staying closer to where Tat Boss still stood. “Do you understand me?” A couple of them dared to nod in response, and Lee smiled. “Good.”

With one swift movement, Lee swept the wire away from the man, quickly hooked the end of it onto Tat Boss’ clothing, and yanked the lever next to him once again. The man flew up into the air and dangled like a big fish.

“You’re going to pay for this, boy!” he yelled, flailing about in the air above them.

Lee fought back a laugh as he covered his mouth with his hand and watched the man dangle there. “I don’t think so,” he said, stepping back. “But thank you for the useless warning.”

He swung himself up onto the ledge behind him, then turned and made a run for the nearest door. He wouldn’t be so foolish as to believe they truly wouldn’t try to follow after him, once they knew they were safe to do so.

Lee went straight outside and toward the fire escape. Before starting the climb he made sure none of the gang were following him, and he hurried up to the top. Once there, Lee shot across the roof toward Emma. Quickly, he dropped to his knees beside her and pulled out the pouch.

He reached over and pressed his fingers against her neck. Good. She was still breathing. He wasn’t sure what he would do if she wasn’t. Probably go back downstairs and punch Tat Boss in the face and make sure he went to prison for life.

Grabbing out the syringe, Lee fumbled with the needle as his hands shook from the cold. As he got it ready, he thought about cleaning her arm, but he didn’t have anything to do it with and her skin was cold enough it probably wouldn’t cause any trouble.

“Better to be alive and sick,” he mumbled to himself, deciding it was best not to wait any longer to give it to her.

Lee sat there, waiting several minutes in the snow. But nothing seemed to change, and a sour feeling entered his stomach.

It wasn’t working!

Maybe Tat Boss had lied to him and this wasn’t the antidote? What would he do then? He could be the cause of this little girl’s death!

Lee fought against the thudding of his chest to try and calm himself. This couldn’t be happening! She was so young; she didn’t deserve to die!

“I know I haven’t talked to You much in the last few years, and I’ve made excuses for it,” Lee whispered, looking up toward the sky. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done, and with Your help I’ll try to trust in You more. But please, don’t let her die! I can’t lose anyone else like I lost Jimmy.”

He felt so guilty about this. When he connected with someone, he tended to grow attached to them quickly. Maybe too quickly. He wasn’t sure he could handle losing someone else like this and continue on living.

Lee squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his chin against his chest. “I know You don’t owe me anything. You don’t owe anyone anything, but please…” He swallowed. “Please, don’t let her die too.”

Lee’s eyes began to sting as he thought of what to do next. But then he heard a groan, and his eyes flew open. Emma lay there in front of him, her eyes open, staring at him as if he’d grown a third eye.

“What… What happened?” she mumbled, slowly sitting up and pulling away from him. “What did I miss?”

Lee laughed softly as he quickly checked to make sure he wasn’t crying. How awkward would that be? “You almost died, that’s what happened,” he said, smiling at her. “Luckily, you  decided not to.” He silently thanked God as he helped her to her feet and stood himself. “Are you feeling better now?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good,” he said. Then Lee pulled the phone he’d taken from one of the guys out of his pocket and dialed the police station. A number he knew from his childhood, but today his own number had to be blocked. He didn’t know what stupid things the guy might have done with it.

As soon as they answered, Lee started. “I’m calling in a tip about Emma Rathal,” he said. “You can find her at the old warehouse on the east side of town, the one with a metal fence still standing around it that they used to make cars in. Oh, yeah, and the kidnappers are all inside right now best to hurry.”

Before they could ask him any questions, he hung up and tossed the phone to the ground beside them. 

“There, they should be here pretty quickly.”

Emma nodded. “Are… are the bad guys still here?” she whispered, glancing around as she shivered and drew Lee’s coat tighter around her shoulders.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” Lee said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “How about when the cops show up, we get down from here?”

Emma smiled. “That sounds great! I’m so ready to go home.”

“You’ll be home soon enough,” Lee assured her, “I’m sure your parents want you back just as badly as you want to go.”

“Do you have parents waiting for you?” she asked.

Lee sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“How?”

Was he like this as a kid? No wonder his mom ran out on them. He couldn’t imagine trying to answer questions twenty-four-seven, especially when he didn’t want to give the real answer. But luck was on his side. Before he could answer her, sirens cut through the air not far from them.

Without a word, Lee moved to the edge of the roof and looked down. Sure enough, five police cars and two unmarked cars came speeding into the empty lot in front of the warehouse. The police cars came to a stop first, and the officers quickly rushed to surround the building. 

“Come on, Emma,” Lee said, turning back to her. “Let’s get you home.”

They both hurried toward the fire escape again and quickly descended to the bottom of it. Before Emma went racing off toward the waiting cars, she turned back toward Lee.

“You need it more than me now, I think,” she said, holding his coat out to him. “You’re shivering like a wet cat.”

Lee laughed as he took it and pulled it on. It was probably a good idea to take it back now. Especially since he didn’t plan on meeting the police with her. He was already as close to them as he wanted to go.

“I’m glad you seem to be feeling better,” Lee said, pulling the gun he’d slipped off of Tat Boss. One less gun for these jerks.

After checking to make sure the safety was on, Lee tossed the gun into the old trash can. He was glad it had been cold, or he wouldn’t have been wearing gloves today, and he didn’t want his prints on that thing.

“You’d better hurry along; by the sound of it, they have all those idiots taken care of,” Lee said, when he heard the sounds of men yelling.

“You’re not coming?” Emma asked.

“No, it’s best I don’t.”

“Why?”

“I’ve got my own family that will start to worry if I don’t get home,” Lee said. “Just go down to that police car there and you’ll be safe.” She glanced in the direction he was pointing, but she didn’t move. “Don’t worry, I’ll be watching until I know you’re in good hands. Okay?”

Slowly, she nodded and quickly moved toward him. “Goodbye,” she whispered, hugging him tightly. “I’ll never forget you. Will you come and see me?”

He shrugged as he pulled away. “Maybe, but I’m not promising anything.”

She smiled at him sadly. “Alright, goodbye.” With that, she turned and moved toward the police. Her pace quickened the closer she got to the group until she was almost running. As Lee watched her, his gaze moved to the detectives and police officers waiting for her.

He instantly recognized one of the men in suits. Lee might have said he knew him too well. Of course his dad would end up here today, instead of stuck down at the station doing paperwork. Was everything going to work against him today? So far everything seemed to be against him.

At least now he knew for sure that Emma was in safe hands. Out of everyone there, he trusted him to take care of her until she got home. His dad wasn’t the warmest person, but he did care about others, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to an innocent kid if he could help it.

“Where’s my daddy?” Emma cried, running up to them. “I want my daddy!”

“We had to make sure this was a real tip, sweetheart,” Lee’s dad said, kneeling down beside her. “Emma, can you tell us where the man who called us is? We need to talk to him about what happened.”

Oh, boy. He should have expected his father to wonder about that. Not much ever slipped past him. 

“Sure,” she said, turning to point toward Lee. “He’s over there.”

Chapter 5

The second she started raising her hand, Lee knew what she was going to do and quickly ducked back. He pressed himself as far against the wall as he could go and held his breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

It would be just his luck to get this close and have his father find out his first day alone hadn’t gone so well. This wasn’t really his fault though. Would it have been better to leave the girl to her own fate? 

“He’s… he’s gone,” Emma whispered. “I don’t understand he was right there just a second ago. Where’d he go?” It was slightly funny that she was asking the same question they were asking her.

“Are you sure that’s where he was?” his dad asked gently.

“Yes!” she cried. “I’m not stupid. Simon was with me the whole time. He said he couldn’t come over here because of his own family.”

Please, don’t see me. Lee pleaded silently with his dad. It was bad enough Emma had told his dad his first name. Hopefully he wouldn’t put it together.

“Okay, I believe you, Emma,” Lee’s father said, sighing. “Come on, let’s get you home. Your parents are already worried sick about you.”

Lee waited until he heard the car doors open and close before he dared to breath again. 

If his father found him there, he was dead, and his dad would never let him out of his sight again. It wasn’t Lee’s fault trouble seemed to follow him everywhere. In fact, if it was anyone’s fault…

“Boo.”

Lee jumped, and his eyes flew open. “What the heck? Gee, Dad! Come on, that was unfair! You made it seem like you were leaving, then what did you do? Loop back?” Lee said, his face flushed from realizing how easily his father had snuck up and scared him. 

“Looks like I found our anonymous tipster,” Lee’s father said, smirking as he crossed his arms. “And where is your phone, by the way, Kiddo?”

“Blowing around in an alley somewhere,” Lee answered, shrugging. “You’d be surprised how easily those things can be crushed under a heavy boot.”

“You haven’t even had it a day, and you’ve already destroyed it?” his father asked. “I think I know the real reason you don’t like cell phones. You can’t keep one.”

“It wasn’t like it was my fault. The guy didn’t want me taking my phone with me when they kidnapped us.”

“How did you get yourself involved in this, anyways?”

Lee shrugged. “Wrong place, right time? I did help Emma escape. By the way, how’d you know it was me?” he asked. “I mean, I blocked my number, it wasn’t my number in the first place, and I know the police station here doesn’t record all their tips, so you couldn’t have heard my voice and known it was me.”

His dad laughed. “I’d make a terrible detective if I didn’t put the pieces together.”

“What pieces?”

His father eyed him. “I called you several times today, and you never answered,” he said. “So I figured either you were ignoring my calls (which you better never do) or something had happened to your phone. The person who answered your call said it sounded like a young man and you used the old tip hotline.”

“There’s an old tip hotline?” Lee repeated. “If it’s old, then why do you still have it?”

“Because, people like you still call it,” he said. “Now, come on, let’s get you down to the station so we can get everything done before dinner time.”

“Please, Dad. I do not want to go down to the police station,” Lee said. “You know I have a perfectly good reason for not liking police stations. It’s not like there’s anything I can tell you that Emma and the kidnappers can’t tell you. Besides the fact that there’s a gun in that trash can over there, which now you know.”

His dad frowned, then licked his lips and glanced toward where the rest of the squad was still waiting for him. “Tell you what, beat me home, and I’ll forget seeing you here. How does that sound?”

“Really?” Lee asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded. “Really.”

There was probably a catch, but Lee didn’t have time to find out what it was. At least he was letting him go for now.

“Alright, then you’ve got yourself a deal,” Lee said, shaking his dad’s hand. Then he bolted toward the fence and was almost there when he stopped and turned back toward his father. “Oh, yeah! I almost forgot, the UG was involved in this somehow. I saw their logo on something our guard had on him.”

“What?!” his dad said, his body stiffening. “Winnie, you didn’t say anything about the UG being involved!”

“Bye, old man!” he yelled back with a wave and a wink, then turned and took off running.

Without looking back again, Lee grabbed onto the fence and scrambled up. Careful to use his coat to protect himself, he maneuvered around the barbwire and was on the other side within seconds.

As soon as he got back to his feet, Lee took off across the empty lot that stood beside the old warehouse. Luckily for him, they weren’t too far away from the neighborhood where he’d grown up. If nothing else crazy happened, he should be able to make it back to the house in time. What was an hour long run, when it meant not going to the police station? None of this was Lee’s idea of a nice holiday, but he’d had worse. 

As he picked up his speed, Lee realized he wasn’t as tired from being kidnapped as he might expect. In fact, Lee didn’t feel different than any other day. Besides, it wasn’t as if this was the first time he’d been held against his will, so it didn’t affect him much.

Lee soon found himself back inside the city lines, with buildings sprouting up on both sides of the street. He went down another street and realized he was heading in the same direction where the kidnappers and his ex-friend had been.

But what were the chances he was still there? Apparently it was pretty high, because Lee soon saw him and the other boys again. Luckily, he spotted the gang before they spotted him and his mind went to work on what he should do.

Come on, really? They were still there? Did they have nothing better to do on Christmas Eve? Lee could think of a few things he’d rather be doing than trying to avoid these guys.

Lee sighed. He didn’t have time to go around them, again. His last detour to avoid them had taken up his whole day.

He’d just have to hope for the best.

Flipping his hood up, he slowed to a walk. Lee dropped his gaze and stared intently at the ground as he moved closer to them.

“Watch it,” one of them growled, shooting Lee a glare even though he was still several feet from them. 

Well, he was obviously territorial. Lee thought to himself and decided to avoid them completely.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, skirting the gang the best he could. Come on! He could do this without any of the other members seeing him. He was almost away from them when he heard his name.

“Winnie?”

Of course he’d have to recognize him! Lee was not having a good day.

Slowly, he stopped and turned toward the boy he’d once called a friend. “Hey, Killian. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” 

“What… what the heck are you doing back in town?” he asked, glancing around as he took a step away from the group of boys and toward Lee.

Lee shrugged. “I live here.”

“You mean, you used to live here.”

He gritted his teeth. What right did he have to say anything to him? They weren’t friends anymore. “And I live here again.”

“Oh,” Killian mumbled, crossing his arms. “How long have you been back?”

“What is this? An interrogation?” Lee asked, though he knew it was. He’d been through enough of them to know one when he was a part of it. “I’ve been back for awhile now.”

“And no one told me?”

“Not that many people know, and I didn’t figure you’d care.”

Before Killian could respond, one of the other boys stepped forwards and eyed Lee.

“You know this loser, Killer?” he asked, nudging him as he nodded toward Lee. The last time they’d met, Killian hadn’t been making the best choices in friends, but this guy? He was something else. 

So, by the looks of it, Killian had joined a gang. His new best friend was a poster boy for the after school programs to help ‘troubled’ teens. He looked to be in his early twenties but was trying way too hard to look older.

In other words, he was bad news.

“Yeah, I know him. We um… we used to do school together,” Killian stammered, glancing toward Lee. What? He didn’t want to tell his new little friend here that he was tutored by a kid four years younger than him? And that kid didn’t even go to his school? 

Now that he thought about it, it was a wonder they’d ever been friends.

“Yeah, but that was a long time ago,” Lee said, crossing his arms as he mirrored both their stances. “Wasn’t it, Killer?”

“School!” Killian’s new gang friend scoffed. “You know each other from school? Really? That’s so… lame. That’s like saying you met him in kindergarten.”

Lee blinked. Was this guy kidding? Or just being an idiot? Lee was leaning toward the latter. “You do realize ‘kindergarten’ is school, right?”

“Do we have a problem here?” a new boy asked, stepping up behind him. “Because I love dealing with our problems,” he said, rubbing his hands together. Lee had no doubt he did.

Poster boy’s eyes narrowed and he turned back toward Lee. “I don’t know, should we have a problem, loser?”

Loser? It was a pitiful insult, and Lee was almost insulted because of that.

Looking at the two gang members, Lee realized they could probably cause quite a commotion in a street fight, but not when it came down to life or death. Lee had dealt with worse people than them, but today he didn’t have the motivation or the time to teach them a lesson.

“No,” Lee said, shrugging. “I’ve got enough problems in my life without asking for more of them.”

Killian’s friend (who was obviously the leader of the gang) smirked. “Smart boy.”

“Don’t call me ‘boy’,” Lee said, smiling politely back at him. “Or ‘Kiddo’, or any other childish terms. I’m fifteen, I’m not a child and I’d thank you to not treat me like one.”

To Lee’s surprise, he laughed. “You’ve got spunk, that’s for sure. But don’t come around here again. Alright? We may not be so nice to you next time.”

“I’ve got to get home, and don’t worry, I didn’t want to be here in the first place,” he said, stepping back. “So why would I come back?”

The gang leader frowned. “Good point.”

“But I’ll see you around town?” Killian asked, biting his bottom lip, something he always did when he was nervous. He glanced toward the other boy and dropped his gaze.

Why was he nervous, and why did he care if he saw Lee again? He’d made it quite clear last time they’d seen each other that they weren’t friends anymore. 

Lee turned to answer him and suddenly realized how much they’d both changed since then. They were almost the same height now. For as long as he could remember, he’d always been so much shorter than Killian, and now, he and the older boy were almost the same size. 

“Yeah, probably. Stanbur isn’t that big of a city. I’ll probably see you both again.” He eyed the other boy for a second longer, then stepped back and turned to leave. “But I don’t know why you care,” he added under his breath before calling, “I bid you all adieu,” over his shoulder. 

“I don’t remember saying you could leave yet,” the gang leader said, grabbing Lee’s arm and yanking him back around.

That was it! Lee wasn’t going to take it from this guy. He thought he was so big and tough because he’d knocked off a few gas stations and drug stores? He had no clue how little he intimidated Lee, but he was about to learn. 

He’d taken on a gang of real criminals just a little bit ago; he could handle this guy.

“Did I ask?” Lee asked, tilting his head. “Because, I don’t remember doing such a stupid thing as that.”

“This is my turf!” he spat, shoving Lee back. “And you ain’t talking to me like that!” 

“I just did,” Lee said, standing his ground. “And this is an alley in the old part of town, not your ‘turf’.”

“He already told you he wasn’t looking for trouble,” Killian said, quickly moving to stand between them. “Isn’t that right?”

“I’m not so sure that’s true anymore,” the gangster said. “Now move, Killer. Or I’ll move you myself!”

Reluctantly, he stepped back and glanced toward Lee. “What are you doing, Winnie? Are you trying to cause trouble?”

“Stay out of it, Killian,” Lee growled back at him. “This guy just got me on a bad day, and I don’t see why you even care.”

“Come on, Winnie…” Killian started, and Lee was sure he was going to try and talk him out of starting a fight, but he never had the chance.

“Winnie?” the gang leader scoffed. “Like the stupid little bear from the kid’s books?”

“Why? Your mommy still read you those stories?” Lee asked.

“Why, you little!” he growled, punching his fist against the palm of his hand. “You’re going to regret that.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?” Lee asked. “You know, that’s really funny. You don’t scare me a little bit.” What was wrong with him? Lee wasn’t even sure himself why he was egging the guy on. Maybe he wanted to get in a fight. This guy could sure use a lesson in humility. 

“You’ve got a big mouth, for a dead man,” the gang leader said, yanking a knife out of his belt.

Chapter 6

Lee didn’t so much as flinch when the guy lunged at him with a knife. He’d already expected that from him and knew what he needed to do. In one swift movement he disarmed him, tossing the knife to his other hand. At the same time, he twisted the gangster’s arm back and shoved him to his knees.

“I’ve had a bad day, and I’m not in the mood for this,” Lee whispered in his ear. “So I’m going to go easy on you. Right? Now, you’re going to walk away, before the rest of your little gang sees how easily I can humiliate you. Understood? Or do I need to break your arm to get my point across?”

Reluctantly, the gang leader nodded his head.

“Good,” Lee said, yanking him back to his feet before he shoved him away. Lee had learned how to deal with scum like him a long time ago. Show them they weren’t the top dog, and nine out of ten times, they’d back down.

“He might be as good as you, Killer,” the gang leader said, brushing himself off. He seemed to be taking his little beating pretty well, and that made Lee nervous. Why? he wondered, then another thought hit him. Killian knew how to fight? Lee hadn’t known that, so it must have been something new he’d learned. 

“Yeah, you’re an idiot to challenge him, Wrecker,” Killian said, shaking his head at the gang leader. “I tried to stop you.”

“See you around, Winnie?” the gang leader asked, friendly enough that it bothered Lee.

Instead of answering, Lee glared at him. “All of you can stop calling me that. My name’s Simon. That includes you, Killer.”

Winnie had been his childhood nickname, and he didn’t like his ex-friend calling him by it.

“Understood,” the gang leader said, holding up his fist. “Respect, Simon. Maybe you’re not as much of a loser as I thought.”

That had gotten weird really quickly. Lee had expected him to leave him alone afterwards, not become friendly toward him.

“Thanks?” Lee said. Wrecker (as Killian had called him) laughed again and turned to leave.

Killian shook his head at Lee as he moved closer to him. “That wasn’t a good idea,” he whispered. “Now…” He glanced back toward the rest of the gang and cut himself short when he saw they were still listening. “It just wasn’t a good idea. Don’t tell your father about this. You can’t.”

“What are you talking about?”

He just shook his head again. “See you around… Simon.” 

Lee watched as they all headed back to whatever they were doing before he’d shown up. There was something else going on here; he could feel it. Killian was keeping something to himself. Why was he part of the gang in the first place? The boy Lee had been friends with would never have done such a thing. His father wouldn’t let him. Then again, Lee knew that didn’t always stop someone from doing something.

Slowly, Lee shook himself out of his thoughts and glanced up toward the sky. 

He probably didn’t have much time to get home, even if the paperwork at the station took his dad a while. He needed to get moving if he wanted to make it in time.

Without letting himself think any more about what Killian had gotten himself into, he turned on his heels and bolted down the street as fast as he could without drawing too much attention to himself.

Ten minutes later, he turned a corner and spotted his house up ahead. The white painted walls caused it to blend in with the other houses around it. Unassuming and plain looking, much like his family, it wasn’t what it appeared to be.

Avoiding one of the neighbors he’d already figured out was nosy, Lee made his way toward the front of the house. He jogged up the steps and toward the door.

Remembering he didn’t bring a key for the house, Lee felt along the top of the door. Unlike normal houses that had a key hidden somewhere in case of an emergency, Lee and his dad hid a pair of lock picks and a tensioner. 

The average burglar wouldn’t know how to use them if they did find them. And if they did know how to use them, they probably already had some with them. For Lee and his father, it was just as easy as having a key, but a whole lot safer.

Lee slipped them into the lock and quickly pushed the pins into place. The second he heard the ‘click’ of the door unlocking, he shoved it open, hurrying to enter the code in the alarm system before the alarm went off. Lee was just reaching for it when he realized someone had beaten him to it. 

He sighed, dropping his hand to his side. “How long have you been home?” he asked, turning around.

The couch in the room beside him moved, revealing his grinning father, looking very pleased with himself. Maybe a little too pleased. “You were so close to beating me home,” his dad said, shoving himself to his feet. “But not close enough, unfortunately for you.”

“I would have beaten you, if I hadn’t bumped into Killian,” Lee grumbled, crossing his arms. “So, technically it wasn’t my fault; it was his.” 

“Oh? Well, that’s too bad,” his dad said, leaning against the doorjamb. “That had to have been awkward.”

Lee snorted. “You have no idea. The last time I saw the guy, he dumped a bucket of dirty water over my head and called me a ‘Soggy, four eyed, loser, who no one would ever call a friend’.”

“But obviously you’ve forgotten all about that.” 

“Yeah, obviously.”

“Well… no matter the reason for your being late, you’re still late,” his dad said, pushing himself back to his feet. “Which means I win our little deal. So, should we go down now or after dinner?”

“Come on!” Lee said, tossing his coat onto its hook. “You’re not going to drag me back to the station, are you?”

“Don’t you think I should? Even if I didn’t know you were there, I’d know you were the boy in there with Emma. It’s my duty.”

That gave Lee an idea and he smiled. “But… you did know I was there. And you’d have to admit that you knew I was there the whole time and didn’t say anything. That wouldn’t look very good for you, would it?”

He chuckled. “That’s a good one. Luckily for you I’ve already decided not to, for Emma’s sake. She’s calling you ‘Simon, her guardian angel’,” his dad said. “I’d hate to be the one to tell her, her ‘guardian angel’ is a reckless teenage boy, who likes to get himself involved in things he shouldn’t.”

“Simon’s a common name,” Lee pointed out.

His dad laughed. “Not as common as you like to make it.”

“What do you want from me, Dad?” Lee asked, shrugging.

His dad grew serious. “What I really want is for you to stop keeping secrets from me.”

Lee sighed, rubbing his face. “I’m trying,” he whispered. “But it’s not as easy as you seem to think. I’ve kept everything to myself for a long time, and it’s going to take time for me to get used to it.”

His dad sighed. “You know what? I’m hungry. Do you want something to eat?” he asked, moving toward the kitchen. 

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten since that morning. “Sure. What are you making?”

It didn’t take his dad long to whip up a couple of sandwiches for them. When he was done, Lee stared down at the sandwich but didn’t touch it. He didn’t know why, but now that there was food, he didn’t seem as hungry.

“I’ve got something else I wanted to ask you,” his dad said, wiping his plate clean.

Lee looked up from his own food and frowned. “What?”

“Did Killian say anything else to you, besides the awkward part, I mean?” he asked, leaning against the counter as he watched Lee closely for the answer.

But he wasn’t going to answer that quickly. “Why?”

“So he did?”

Lee shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Just tell me what happened.”

“I can’t; he told me not to tell you.”

“And you think that’s a good idea?”

“I don’t know what to think, Dad. Okay? None of this makes any sense, and it’s mainly my fault,” he said, dropping his face into his hands. “I can’t just expect to jump right back into the life I had before leaving.”

His dad sighed. “Look, I know you’re trying to play me, so for both our sanity’s sake, don’t.”

Lee sat back up and eyed his dad. “Fine, but I’m not telling anything until you tell me what you know. Deal?”

“Deal, like you beating me home? Or one we’ll really keep?”

“One we’ll keep.”

“Alright,” his dad said. “Less than a month after you left, he showed up here.”

“Killian did?”

“No, the boogeymen,” his dad answered dryly. “Yes, Killian.”

“What did he want?”

“I was going to get to that, if you’d stay quiet for more than two seconds.”

“Gee, sorry I’m such a blabbermouth.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said. “Normally you don’t talk at all.”

“That just proves it then!” Lee said, leaning back. “There’s just no making you happy.”

“Can we just get back to what we were talking about before all of this?” 

Lee nodded, fighting back a smile. 

“Good. Alright… so Killian came to see you about something, but obviously you couldn’t see him.”

“What did he want? And did you tell him?”

“He wanted to talk to you about something, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was,” his dad said. “I couldn’t tell him where you were, seeing as I didn’t know. So I told him you went on a trip, and I wasn’t sure when you’d be back, both of which were true. Ever since then he’s acted weird, and he still has never told me what he wanted to talk to you about.”

That was strange. Why would he want to talk to him after the way they’d ended their friendship? Killian had been a jerk; he had to have known that. So why would he still have come over to talk to me? Lee wondered.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he turned back to his father. “None of this gives me a reason why you’d be so interested in what he was doing today. Unless you’re just a nosy neighbor?”

“Maybe I am?” his dad said, holding up his hands.

“Yeah, right! You always have a reason for your ‘nosiness’. So what is it? I said I wouldn’t tell you anything until you told everything.”

“You want to know why I’m interested?” he asked. “Because for the last six months he’s completely cut contact with his father, and Evan’s getting worried. In fact, I was talking to him about it this morning. If you know something that could help us figure out what’s going on, you need to tell me.”

Lee bit his lip. “I don’t really know what’s going on myself. I only saw him for like five minutes.”

“And in those five minutes…?”

“I learned he still knows who I am, that he hasn’t grown any since the last time I saw him and… oh, yeah! He’s joined a gang with a way too friendly, (and probably insane) leader.”

“He’s joined a gang?”

“Well, they weren’t sporting T-shirts that advertised it, but yeah,” Lee said. “I was pretty sure of it when their leader attacked me with a knife?”

His dad’s eyes narrowed. “He attacked you with a knife? Are you okay?” 

What a parent thing to say. “We’ve been talking for like ten minutes, and I haven’t bled out. What do you think?”

“What has Killian gotten himself into?” his dad mumbled, shaking his head as he ignored Lee’s snide comment. 

“I don’t know, but there was something… off about the other guy, and I don’t just mean the fact that he’s a gangster,” Lee said. “He acted excited when I took him down, (after he attacked me with the knife and I died from blood loss).”

“Very funny. I think I’ll call down to the station and see what I can find out about this gang you’ve been talking about,” he said, moving toward his jacket.

“You can’t do that, Dad,” Lee said, jumping to his feet.

His dad stopped and turned back to him. “Why not?”

“Because I think that’s why he didn’t want me to tell you,” he said. “Because he knew you’d start looking into it, and maybe he has a good reason for not wanting that.”

“What ‘good’ reason could he have?”

“I’m not sure, but I know from personal experience that it can happen.” Lee sighed. “Dad, I don’t think he’s in any trouble you can help him with. I think he was trying to keep me away from the gang; at least he tried to stop us from fighting, and he didn’t seem too happy when the leader seemed impressed with me.”

“Those fighting lessons are paying off,” his dad said. “Come on, Winnie. I know what you’re trying to say, but not everyone that does bad things has good reasons for it.”

“I know, and I’m not trying to defend him. Believe me, I wouldn’t. Maybe you could just talk to his uncle first and see what he thinks?”

“Deal,” his dad said, tossing his jacket onto the back of the chair again. “I’ll even wait to do it until after the holidays. Would that make you happy?”

“Yes,” Lee said, then he sighed. “You know our conversations are a little strange, right?”

He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Like every conversation we have either turns into an interrogation, a debate or a negotiation.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yeah, because we never really just talk.” Lee bit his lip and regretted saying anything at all. “Never mind,” he mumbled, turning to leave the kitchen.

“Alright… what’s bothering you?” his dad said, blocking his way out.

“Nothing’s bothering me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to turn this into an interrogation then?”

Lee sighed. He’d kept his father in the dark almost the whole time he was the Phantom Thief, but apparently he couldn’t anymore. He’d tipped his hands by saying anything at all, and now he couldn’t get away with not telling him. 

Chapter 7

Lee ran his hand through his hair and sat back down on his chair. His dad sat across from him. “Alright, out with it.”

How could he just spit it out? It had been bothering him ever since he’d come back, but he just didn’t know how to start. Maybe the best way was to just get it over with.

Lee took in a deep breath. “Dad… do you think God will forgive me for, you know, everything I’ve done? I wish I could say I did it for good reasons, but I know even then it wouldn’t be enough. I’m not stupid. I know I’ve lied, stolen and manipulated people for a while. Heck, I shot at someone just today.”

His dad blinked, then sighed. “I’m not sure what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. And I think I’m going to just ignore that last part.” He rubbed his head, then looked up at Lee again. “Have you asked Him to?”

“What?”

“Have you asked God to forgive you?”

Lee bit his lip and dropped his gaze. “I don’t know,” he mumbled. No, he hadn’t. But that was another part he wasn’t sure he could do. 

“When you were little, I always made sure you went to church, but it was never your choice,” his dad said. “I don’t even know if you ever believed what you were learning. But I know you’re smart enough to know that no one can make you believe any of it. You have to make the choice on your own.”

Lee sighed and just nodded, fighting the urge to run out of the room. This was something his brains couldn’t help him with.

His dad placed his hand on Lee’s shoulder and forced him to look at him. “Do you know what we celebrate this time of year, besides delicious food?” he asked. “We celebrate the birth of Jesus, of Hope. But even more than that, we celebrate the forgiveness God gave us when he sent his son.”

“I know,” Lee mumbled, dropping his gaze again.

“Kiddo…” His dad scooted around in his chair and seemed unsure of what he should say next. Finally, he took a deep breath. “Do you want to ask God for forgiveness and to come into your life?”

“I want to…” Lee looked up and sighed. “But it’s hard.”

His dad laughed. “I know; it was hard for me; it’s hard for everyone who does it.”

“Yeah, but you did it like a hundred years ago.”

He shook his head at Lee. “Don’t try to deflect.”

Lee licked his lips, then cleared his throat. “Dad, will you… will you help me do it? Become…” He swallowed. “Will you help me become a Christian?”

His dad nodded. “Yeah, if that’s what you want,” he said, standing. “Do you want to do it now, Kiddo?”

Forcing out a breath, Lee nodded. He knew if he didn’t do it now, he might lose his nerve. As it was, he felt a little sick, and he wasn’t even sure why.

His dad moved into the living room and dropped to his knees, motioning for Lee to do the same. A little reluctantly, Lee knelt beside him and closed his eyes. He wasn’t even sure how to start, but he was glad his dad was there to help him.

“How do I start?” Lee asked, without opening his eyes.

“Just talk to God,” his dad said. “And yes, I know that sounds a little strange. But just tell Him how you feel. He knows what you’re saying even if you don’t think you did it right.”

He nodded (even though he doubted his dad could see him), then he started. 

“I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that You sent Him to earth, to die for my sins,” Lee whispered. “I ask You to forgive me and come into my life. I… I submit my life and everything in it to You. Amen.”

Quickly, he sat up and opened his eyes. He didn’t feel a ton different, though (he knew it would be cliché to say) he felt like a weight had been lifted off him. He turned toward his dad and flashed him a smile. “Thanks.”

“It was my honor, and Winnie? I’m proud of you,” his dad said, smiling as he gave him a quick side hug. “I know it wasn’t easy.”

They both heard the sound of a car pulling up in front of their house at the same time and turned their attention to the front door.

His dad shoved himself to his feet and moved to check one of the windows, carefully pulling the curtain back before looking out at the driveway.

“Is it Aunt Helen?” Lee asked, scrambling to his feet.

His dad looked at him, grinning. “Yes, with the kids. But they’re not completely predictable, because Frank is in tow.”

“Still, I wonder if people know how predictable they are?” Lee asked, moving to stand next to his dad. “I don’t think they would be so predictable if they knew,” he said, then he frowned. “You know, it’s kind of creepy that we’re staring at them while they get out of their car.”

His dad laughed and stood back up. “Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t do that. I don’t want them thinking we’re doing surveillance on them.”

“Only our family would think that,” Lee said, laughing as he too moved away. “At least they’re not as predictable as most people are.” Lee couldn’t imagine if he could guess every word his extended family said before they said it. It would make conversations with them much shorter, even though they didn’t talk that much as it was.

In fact, Lee had only seen his twin cousins since coming back. His dad had been watching them, and his aunt and uncle hadn’t really been around since, though he was sure they knew he was back. Aunt Helen had wanted to see him the first day she heard he was back and had come to pick up the kids, but he hadn’t been ready then.

Hopefully he was now.

Lee laughed as a thought struck him. “If they’re here all night, I hope they don’t want me to dress up as the fat dude.”

“I’m pretty sure they’ve got that covered,” his dad said. “Frank hasn’t been working out lately and he’s been enjoying his Christmas food a lot. We’d better open the door before they plow through it.” His dad unlocked the door, then moved a couple steps back. “You’d better step a little further away too, Kiddo,” his dad said, grinning as he nodded toward the door. “They turn into wild monkeys when they first get here.”

“Okay…” Lee said, taking a step back. “Are you sure they don’t turn into monsters instead? Because that’s what it sounds like to me.”

Just like his dad had predicted, the twins bolted through the door and toward Lee’s dad, who stood there waiting for them. They threw themselves at him, laughing.

Man! Even if he hadn’t had such a crazy day, he doubted he’d have as much energy as they did. It hadn’t been that long ago he was their age, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

“You guys are acting like you didn’t come here a couple of weeks ago,” Lee’s dad said, grabbing the twins up as he spun them around the room. “But I guess that’s a long time to be away from your favorite uncle.”

The twins giggled, and Lee fought back a smile. 

It felt like a lifetime ago that he was that age. But in a way it had been. He’d lived a different life since then. Before the madness with becoming the Phantom Thief and Griffin had started, he and his father had played around a lot. Then after Jimmy’s death, he was forced to grow up. 

Shaking away those depressing thoughts, Lee reminded himself that he had his life back. And in some ways, it was better than it had been before. “Hey! You two better be careful, he’s getting old,” Lee called, leaning against the hallway wall as he watched them play. “You don’t want him to throw out his back or something.”

“Oh? Really?” His dad asked, still spinning the kids around. “I can still take you on, Kiddo, and don’t forget that. Maybe I’ll show you one of these days.”

Lee laughed. “Sure…” he said, giving his dad a wink. “I mean, you grew up fighting off dinosaurs, right? Taking me on would be easy compared to those carnivores.”

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” his dad asked, as Eric climbed onto his back and Ally stood by watching, laughing the whole time. 

Lee grinned. “Maybe just a little bit.”

“Guys, did you say hello to your cousin?” his dad asked the twins, spinning them around so they were facing Lee.

Lee held up his hands. “If that’s how you say ‘hello’, I’m good.”

“Are you sure?” 

Before Lee could respond to his dad, the front door swung open again and the kids’ parents entered, a cold breeze blowing in with them. “Man, it’s getting cold out there!” Frank said, shaking off the snow before taking Helen’s coat from her. He handed her the container of food they’d brought with them.

“Well, it is winter out there,” Lee said, crossing his arms. “Or haven’t you heard about the weird phenomenon?”

The man turned toward him and shook his head at Lee. “It really is you, Winnie. You’re so grown up.”

“Hey, Uncle Frank,” Lee said as his uncle moved toward him. “It’s been a long time.”

“When Helen and the kids told me you were here, I’ve got to say, I didn’t believe it,” he said, giving Lee a quick hug. “Still getting yourself into trouble? Other than vanishing off the face of the earth for two years, I mean.”

“Are you kidding? Dad won’t let me do anything fun. All I do is sit around here and do nothing,” he said, giving his dad a wink. “Nothing interesting ever happens to me. Now does it, Dad?”

His dad snorted. “Yeah, right, nothing at all,” he said, lowering the twins down so they could go play with something in the living room. “He’s a perfect angel all the time.”

Frank raised an eyebrow, but Helen didn’t seem to be listening as she went to unload the food in the kitchen.

“Are you going to tell us what happened to you while you were gone?” Frank asked.

Lee frowned. “What are you talking about?”

His uncle sighed. “I figured as much,” he mumbled, moving into the kitchen. “Where’d you find such a good looking turkey?” he asked Lee’s dad when he spotted it on the counter. “I know you didn’t make it.”

“How do you know? You haven’t been around much,” his dad answered. “Maybe I’m taking cooking lessons.”

“If you have, then we’d better not touch it,” Frank said, stepping back from it.

“Did you bring pie?” Lee asked, rubbing his hands together as he ran his gaze over the piles of food they’d brought.

His aunt laughed. “I made one especially for you,” she said, holding one of the pans out to him.

It smelled good! he thought, taking it from her. He pulled the plastic back and smiled when he saw it didn’t have a crust. “Thanks, Aunt Helen.”

“Anything for my favorite nephew,” she said, patting him on the cheek.

“Honey, he’s fifteen; he’s not a child anymore,” Uncle Frank called, tossing a few of the pans into the oven. “You really shouldn’t treat him like one.”

“Oh, Frank, I wasn’t treating him like a child,” she said, pressing her lips together before she grabbed a spoon off the counter and flung food at him.

He stopped what he was doing and turned back toward her. “You did not just do that,” he said, then he splashed water at her and in a matter of seconds, a food fight ensued between them.

Lee smiled to himself, then laughed and shook his head. Yep. This was his crazy family, and he was stuck with them, but they were stuck with him too. He sighed. Unfortunately, there were a lot of secrets within their family too. If he was honest, they didn’t really know him. 

“Hey, Winnie, could you go grab the last container of food out of the car?” Helen asked, glancing over at him. 

“Sure,” he said, pulling himself out of his thoughts. He ignored the cold as he hurried down the stairs and toward his aunt and uncle’s car. Something was off. Lee could feel it; he slowed his step as he drew nearer to the car.

All his senses were on high alert, so when he saw the shadow of someone moving toward him, he reacted.

Spinning around, Lee caught hold of the person’s arm and shoved them against the car, pinning them down with his knee to their back. “Killian? What are you doing here?” he growled, reluctantly letting him up.

“I came here to see you, obviously,” he said, rolling out his shoulder. “Remind me not to sneak up on you again, gee.”

Lee forced himself to take a deep breath before he said anything. “Why did you come here?” Lee asked, crossing his arms. “Did your little gang friends send you to beat me up for humiliating your boss?”

Killian glanced around and took a step closer. “Hey, look Winnie… Did you tell your dad about what happened today?”

This had to be a joke! That was why he’d come? Lee bit his tongue and swallowed how he really wanted to reply. “Yeah, I told him,” he said, shrugging. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Killian groaned, rubbing his face. “Why did you do that?” he whispered. “I asked you not to.”

“You don’t get to pin this on me!” Lee said, pointing at him. “You were the idiot that joined that gang, not me.”

“Well, that’s nice,” Killian scoffed. “At least they don’t run off without a word to you.”

“And you expect me to take that as a reason?” Lee asked. “I defended you to my father. Why I did that after the way you treated me? I have no idea. We weren’t friends when I left, so why would I tell you I was going? Heck, I didn’t even tell my dad.”

“Look,” Killian said, holding his hands up. “I didn’t come over here to start a fight; I came to tell you I’m sorry for the way I treated you.”

“Are you talking about an hour ago? Or three years ago?” Lee asked, grabbing the food out of the car.

“You’re really not making this easy. You know that right?” Killian asked, moving out of the way. “This isn’t easy for me to do.”

“Oh, I’m sorry apologizing for being a jerk is hard for you,” Lee said, pulling the food out and closing the door behind him. He partly regretted his words, once he said them. “Killian, if you’ve gotten yourself into some kind of trouble with the gang that you can’t get out of, I’m sure my dad and your uncle would be happy to help you get out of it.”

“Look, Winnie, that’s all I came here for,” Killian snapped. “To ask you to forgive me, not get lectured by a kid on how I’m living my life and judging me on my life choices. Now, will you forgive me or not?!”

“Wow! And you asked so nicely,” Lee said. “It almost makes up for how you humiliated me in front of your new ‘friends’, if you even know what that word means.” Before Lee could say any more, they both heard the door to the house open.

Killian quickly ducked out of sight, just as Lee’s dad popped his head out. “What’s taking you so long? There’s not that much food out there, and I don’t care to deal with you getting sick.”

Lee looked down at himself and realized he’d forgotten his coat. “I’m not a little kid, Dad!” he yelled. “I’ll be in, just give me a second!”

“Alright, you’d better, or we’ll start eating without you, Kiddo.” With that he closed the door, and Killian stepped back out of hiding. 

“Afraid of my dad now?”

“I’m guessing he wasn’t too happy to hear about what I’ve been up to,” Killian said. “And FYI, he’s probably treating you like a kid because you still are one.”

Lee snorted. “You’re a great person to give advice.” 

“What is your problem? You’re the one acting like a jerk now.” 

“You’re kidding me, right?” Lee asked. “You were my best friend, Killian. Then you dumped me when you started high school. You weren’t even there when Jimmy and I were taken by…” He almost said Griffen, when he realized no one there in town knew who it was that had taken them. “By that monster. You weren’t even there at his funeral. I know you didn’t really know him, but you could have been there for me.”

“Winnie…”

Lee held up his hand and stopped. “I forgive you, Killian. Just don’t expect us to be best buds again. Now please leave, I’ve got a family dinner I need to get to.” He didn’t even look back to see if Killian was going before he headed inside and carried the food into the kitchen.

Lee’s head was starting to hurt. He couldn’t quite figure one thing out. Why did he care if Lee forgave him or not? All the gangsters Lee knew didn’t care one bit if someone forgave them for what they’d done. Especially after three years. He’d made it quite clear it wasn’t because they were friends. 

The boy sure seemed to be more complicated than he’d been when they were growing up. Then again, so was he.

While he was thinking about this, his dad came up beside him and elbowed him in the side. “Hey, no frowning faces on Christmas Eve,” he said. “You of all people have quite a lot to celebrate this year.”

“Like what?” Lee asked, glancing toward his dad. He didn’t feel in the celebrating mood.

“You’re a Christian now; that’s a big thing,” he said. “You’re still alive, and you have me for a father. So that’s a big thing too.”

Lee laughed. “And such a humble father you are too.”

“Yes, I’m very humble. Come on. Let’s eat so much food we make ourselves sick,” he said, nudging Lee toward the table.

Epilogue 

The day had been long, and Lee was glad when his father actually allowed him to stay home while he went to distract the kids and Aunt Helen and Uncle Frank did whatever it was they did on Christmas Eve. 

He needed the time to think. Not only had it been a long day, but a lot had happened. He’d become a Christian, which he knew was going to change things, but he’d also learned that the UG was still involved in a lot of things.

As if finally remembering it again, Lee played with the thumb drive in his pocket. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something about it was bothering him. Maybe it was just the fact that it was from the UG, or something else, he wasn’t sure.

Why not see what was on it? he wondered, biting his lip. No one else even knew he had it, so it wasn’t as if they could get mad at him for it. And when he did hand it over to OS or one of his handlers, they didn’t need to know about it either.

Shoving the drive back into his pocket, Lee pushed himself off his bed. Grabbing an old computer out of his closet, sat it at his desk and booted it up.

It took longer than he was used to, but this computer was older than most tech he’d used for the last few years. Heck. It was probably older than his dad in computer years, if that was a real thing.

But finally after what felt like a life time, it was loaded up.

As Lee ran his gaze over the drive’s content, the color drained from his face, and a sour feeling entered his stomach. This was not good. It only got worse the more he read.

When he reached the bottom, he yanked the drive out of his computer and jumped to his feet, his head spinning. Lee ran his hand through his hair as he began to pace his room. He needed to get that thing out of there!

“Stupid!” he hissed at himself. He never should have let his curiosity get the better of him. If the saying was right, then he was a cat. He never should have touched the thing. He should have just sent it to Tracker, or even Watcher. Dealing with her would be better than this. 

Knowing the UG, the thumb drive probably had a tracker on it and it would lead them straight to his house. He needed to get it out of here. He had no other choice. Lee took a step toward the door and stopped.

Shoot! His dad wasn’t home. What should he do? He rubbed his face and racked his brain for an answer.

His dad was going to be gone for a while, and Lee didn’t have time to find him and tell him what was going on. He’d be mad at him, but he’d also get over it. This was more important than that. 

It might mess up their holidays, but it wasn’t like Lee had much of a choice.

He thought about leaving a note but scratched the idea. This was too sensitive for something like that. If the UG did show up, he wanted to leave as little trail as he could. 

Grabbing up his coat and backpack, Lee went for the door. “So much for ‘family’ Christmas,” he mumbled, slipping the coat on. 

Biting his lip, he stepped back and grabbed the Bible from his bookshelf. If things went the way he expected, he’d probably have plenty of time to read it on his flight. If the intel on the drive was what he thought it was, they were all going to need a lot of prayer too. 

Slipping on his coat, Lee hurried out of the house, using the back door. He pulled up his hood and vanished into the darkening night.

Note from the Author:

If you’ve enjoyed this book or any others, please do me a favor and review them on Goodreads and/or Amazon. It would be a great help to me, and I’d really appreciate it. 

Thanks for reading, 

P.D. Atkerson