Second Chapter - The Cavalry

If Simon is not glaring daggers at her, I am sure she will squeal in delight.

I look again at our visitors. Lauren and Flor, Renz's sisters, are caught up in traffic, so we need to entertain these four males until the two of them arrive.

And, fine, they are gorgeous men, no kidding. I don't doubt girls actually courting them if they are this handsome.

"So..." The one named Carl trailed off, looking at me, catching everyone's attention. "You are Charlotte, right? The ex-girlfriend he had been with the longest that became his best friend?" Then he smirks in mischief.

"Carl!" Simon and the one who introduced Dan exclaimed.

I just raised one of my brows. "Yes, I am. Now, what?" I asked in a cold tone.

Lance, who seems to be playboy, grins wickedly. "Feisty. I like her."

Francis, or Franz as he requested, rolls his eyes. He looks like he's already done with his own friends. "Let's go into the business already. Before anything else, did these two lovely ladies know of our past?" Then he looks at Simon questioningly.

Simon frowns. "Franz - "

Franz clicked his tongue. "Of course you didn't. I understand Renz not telling them, as he never told anyone anything about it, but you should at least given them an overview or bones of the story." He looks at the two of us. "Long story short, we met when our crazy kidnapper abducted us, the three of us, though Simon just happened to be an accident as he was a witness, or as told to me. And I believed Renz ran away because he was contacted by this psychopath. Whatever was told to him, it made him leave us and meet him, or worse, join him."

"So straight-forward," Kristen unconciously commented then she quickly covered her mouth, ashamed. Franz simply smiled, like he's telling her it's okay, then turned serious again. "I hacked into his phone and accounts, and I saw he was texted by someone unknown for days already. Though there was a text dated a month ago. He was called Clark, his nickname before he was kidnapped and the one he was called when we were still under that man's clutches."

A month ago?! That's why he suddenly visited us!

Kristen looks at him suspiciously, no glimpses of adoration in face, "Hacked? You're a hacker?"

Franz looks at her seriously. "I understand your apprehension of hackers, as it was a hacker's fault as to why you were bullied in high school." Our eyes turned wide, even Simon. "And yes, I purposefully said that to prove my reliability. But you need to know that we were kidnapped for a reason, even Simon who was just accidentally witnessed the abduction of his friend that time. That made us dangerous and skilled, as you are already aware of, Ms. Aguilar." He eyed me knowingly. So, he knew of Renz's hacking skills. "Then again, that's what I only found. I don't know if Renz became careless or he purposefully left it at that as he is a hacker himself. Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact he went back to him and we need to find him. As three of you searches for possible lead, as he requested the three of you off this case, we will follow these leads and track him down."

"Why would he want to go back to him? Is he blackmailed?" I asked. He acts naturally as a leader. No wonder he is a successful CEO.

"Maybe," then his eyes turned darker, "but I doubt it is the case. As you should know, he was diagnosed Stockholm Syndrome after he was rescued. I learned that Simon helped in the recovery process, that started their friendship that time. I called him a psychopath because he is. He is a manipulator, so blackmail might be possible and part of it, but that's not the whole story yet."

"What's his purpose, then? You said you were kidnapped for a reason and hinted that he is the reason why you learned to be a hacker. So, what's the goal?"

He smiles at me, impressed that I noticed it despite him telling us a lot of information. "Your father is a famous federal agent, right?" I nodded. "Then ask him of a kidnapping case that went on for years. It had been a worldwide search as heirs of famous families went missing in thirteen consecutive weeks. Your father is one of the main agent of the case, as I remembered talking to him when we escaped."

I try recalling cases of my Dad. When did he get so busy because of that big case? It was when I was still a kid. Wait... "That kidnapping case that later found to be an illegal human experimentation that CIA ended when it didn't end well the first time?" I asked, surprised. It was a case of kids missing, but they are not just kids. They are young prodigies in their own rights, specifically selected to form an ideal team that the kidnapper intended to bring in the spy world. That case involved three agencies, CIA, FBI, and NSA. After almost a year missing, some of the kids missing were found by my father. They claimed that other kids died as one was left, who sacrificed himself to distract the man as they escaped, together with the daughter of the man.

The daughter was only rescued a year after, then next year they caught the man with that kid and found his underground laboratories.

The case was a breakthrough with Dad's career, but also the one that affected the most to him. They are after all, kids, who are around my age.

He nodded. "Unfortunately, the daughter killed herself years ago. And so that you can be aware of it..." He smiled bitterly. "The last kid rescued was Renz."

Kristen gasps. My eyes just widened.

That explains the recognition Dad had when he met and learned of Renz's full name.

Oh dear lord, why do you need to suffer so much, Renz?

"We will do everything we can to save him," he said in determination, his three friends suddenly sitting in attention. "Even if it means crossing some boundaries or invading his boundaries."

He looks seriously at Simon, then Kristen, then at me. "He once told me he has a journal, as it was suggested to him to have one. We will get his journal by any means, which will start with asking his sisters to let us enter his room and find this journal, if he really has."

I study Franz. What are at stakes for him to reveal secrets as easy as that?

My phone buzzed.

From: Daddy <3

Hey, princess. I got some updates. The higher-ups let me helps in Renz's case, but I cannot escape the murder case. Looks like I will spend my night in work. I will fetch you tomorrow, okay? Just keep your GPS on for me. See you tomorrow.

Dad will help the case, I need to make him aware of whatever we are doing.

Dan started asking questions of us of how is Franz before he went missing. Carl and Lance comments in which made the questions tolerable. Franz just keeps on tapping on his tablet, maybe searching for something or god knows whatever he is doing.

It seems like they were alerted that Renz is missing before Simon called them, or they searched as they travel here, which is a short time but maybe enough if what Franz told us is the truth. After all, I saw how quick Renz worked, especially in hacking.

What happened in that experiment years ago?