Hide and Seek

While Noah went to call Anthony, Laila headed back into the room and she decided to tell Maria and Steve what she knew so far as she didn't know how long it would be until Noah would find out more about Harold. As soon as she walked into the room, Maria asked, "Did you go to call Noah?" Laila confirmed by nodding after which Steve decided to ask the logical follow-up question. "Oh, what did he say? Did he tell you anything about that bastard Harold?"

Laila took a seat and replied, "Well...Yes and No. Yesterday I called him after we went back home to see if he was still doing okay since I last talked to him. I figured that I could use that opportunity to ask him about Harold as well and to find out if his plan had succeeded. But when I did, he told me that Harold had been caught by the police before he was able to carry out his plan. He had arrived at Olivia's house on schedule, counting down the minutes when Harold was supposed to arrive and getting everything ready for that moment. However, they had been there for just ten minutes when they apparently got a call from the shadow's boss."

Steve, who had never heard the nickname Laila and Maria had come up with for the bodyguard's partner, interrupted Laila at this point with a questioning, "'The shadow'? Who is that supposed to be?" Laila and Maria chuckled. That name had become so familiar to them, that they didn't think they needed to explain it when telling a story. But Steve had been taken away to the hospital before he had been able to meet her. So, it shouldn't have been surprising that the name didn't ring a bell for him.

Laila explained, "The shadow is the name we gave to the female bodyguard that rescued Maria and I from some brute that had come to get us. Since she wears all black and moves like the wind, we decided to call her the shadow. That name seemed fitting and was a better alternative than what we had, which was nothing because she wouldn't give us a name." As she shrugged her shoulders, Laila added, "Apparently that is company policy for the secret services." After hearing the explanation, Steve immediately got the picture as he had been in a similar situation with the male counterpart of the duo sent by the secret services, who refused to give them a name or a face until they got blown away by the explosion. And even then, the one to see him had been Noah as he had been out cold before he could get a chance to look at the man.

With look that revealed how he felt about that policy, Steve said, "Yeah, I remember that policy all too well. We had a funny guy playing a weird type of hide and seek telling us the same thing." Maria and Laila chuckled at Steve's description of the other bodyguards actions before Laila continued her retelling of Noah's words.

"Well enough about the mysterious identities of the bodyguards, they saved us from real harm and that is what matters." As soon as he heard these words, Steve mumbled "Well, that is easy for you to say. Your not the one lying in a hospital bed after needing emergency surgery. I think I got harmed plenty enough.", in response. This caused Laila to stop in the middle of her words once more as she let out a small laugh, while Maria let out a full chuckle behind a closed fist.

After this third interruption, Laila was finally able to get out some more of Noah's words about the situation on his side regarding the capture of Harold. She cleared her throat and said, "Right, uhm well as for their boss, he told Noah and the shadow that Harold had been taken into custody after being recognized. This triggered an alarm over at their head quarters since they have access to the international and national database. His file stated that he had been reported to the local authorities by someone at a gas station near the border where he had stopped for whatever reason."

Both Maria and Steve were dumbfounded and stared at Laila with their mouths slightly opened. Maria asked, "Why on earth would a fugitive on the run stop at a gas station in the middle of his escape out of the country? That must be the stupidest thing I have heard all day." Steve too couldn't make sense out of the situation. "What was he thinking to be doing such a stupid thing?"

Laila again shrugged her shoulders before she said, "I don't know either. Noah couldn't tell me much more at that point since he wouldn't be able to find out more himself until the next morning. That is when he would be visiting the police station where Harold was being held. So, I called again just now to see if he had any news from the station but so far nothing. He did however get a call from Anthony while we were talking. So, perhaps there will be some news from his side."