The two dissembled the X-Bow. All of its parts were kept in a leather box, which had a handle at one end to give it a suitcase-type look. Then, Zack locked the box, opened the chain of his bag and kept the box in. He hung the bag and stood up, saying, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“Mission accomplished!” Adam gleefully said.
“No, Ads. It won’t complete till the end of the competition. It was just the first part.”
“Ah, but the second part’s gonna be easier.”
“No, Ads. The police know about us, and they’d definitely try to catch us.”
“They won’t, ‘cause in their ideology, we did nothing.”
“Maybe they won’t, but we can’t say anything for now.”
“Hmm, the police has searched for every corner of the house,” Mr. Scott said, scratching his chin. “I just can’t get it, how did they disappear in the thin air?”
“Sir,” Mr. Johnson told him. “Maybe they are hiding in our house, waiting for the right time to jump in and kill us.”
“I can’t be sure that they are here, but I can’t be sure that they aren’t here either.” He was now confused what to do. Both the options appear thin. But then, after a minute of thinking, he announced, “Sir, we are gonna provide you some tight security. Whenever you sleep, eat, do work, do anything, one of my comrades will be with you to take your care.”
“Sir, I already have security to some extent.”
“But we’ll provide you more specialized ones. They are gonna be more helpful. Plus, it’s our job. If you die, it’ll be our mistake; that we knew about the situation even then we did nothing.”
“But sir, I don’t—”
“Sir, you have helped save millions of people worldwide and stood strong against the terrorism. You are a great figure, and it’d a shame to the whole humanity if you die so early.”
“Sir, but I don’t—”
“We’re not gonna listen anything, sir. I’m extremely sorry.” Scott turned and started walking towards the door. While walking, he took out his radio and started shouting, “Hey! Deploy the Security Forces!” Then, while keeping his radio back, he opened the door and shouted, “Keep searching for ten to twenty more minutes!” Then, he banged closed the door and continued walking towards the entrance.
Zack opened the door of the roof back again and the two started descending the stairway. The man, who just took the last bite of his food, stood up with the plate in his hands, and started walking towards the kitchen which was in his front and adjacent to the entrance door. After he kept his plate in the sink, he heard the footsteps of the investigating duo walking down the stairway. He went outside the house and saw the two coming down. “So, what did you find?” He asked.
“Sir, we’re having a query regarding a particular thing,” Zack told him. “We’ll be coming back here after some weeks, probably at the same time. We’ve noted everything on the roof, and the rest is the work of the Interior Security Team, which will be deployed after some weeks immediately after we finish our investigation.”
“Um, so what are you gonna do next?”
“We’re going back to base,” Zack replied and went outside the house towards the garden.
“What the hell is going on?” He thought.
The two went out of the house's garden and turned left— opposite to the house of Mr. Johnson— and walked towards their car. Suddenly, Scott came out of Mr. Johnson’s house, and turned left towards his car. When he turned left, he saw the two walking so fast, and it raised the suspicion of the policeman. “Hey, you two!” Scott called them.
The two turned back and saw Scott walking their way. “Hello, Mr. Scott,” Zack shook his hands, and so do Adam. “What took you here?”
“Well, I was just working on a case. In a nearby house, two assholes entered and caused chaos in the whole house.”
“Oh, whose house?” Zack tried to control the situation.
“Oh, Mr. Johnson’s house. It’s the second one in this lane.”
Zack nodded for a few seconds and then asked, “By the way, you said that the two entered the house and caused chaos. But, what kind of chaos did you mean?”
“Um, even I don’t know why they came there,” Scott dejectedly replied. “But, Mrs. Johnson saw one of the two and they immediately called up the police. I suppose that they were either trying to rob something, or trying to kill the two. Either of the two, we’ve provided them security. But, why are you two here?”
“We were just roaming here and there today, that’s it.”
“Ah,” Scott nodded with a warm smile and added, “Okay, I have some important work at the office so I needa go.”
“Sure,” Zack replied as Scott started running towards his car.
He sat in the car and turned on the engine. As the engine revved, Scott thought, “The two were wearing formal coat-suits, and that too for just roaming here and there?” He rubbed his chin and continued, “Something’s wrong with them. First, Harry’s case, and now this. Maybe these two are criminals. I needa start my investigation as soon as possible.”
March 15th, 2014 (8:28 am)
Zack opened the door of his home and entered inside his house, with his bag still hanging behind his back. Entering the house, he shut the door and thought, “First, I needa find a good place to hide it.” He went past the sofa set and entered the bedroom. He turned on the lights by banging the switchboard. Then, he threw his bag on the bed and lay on the bed beside the bag himself. “But where?” He thought while looking at the ceiling of the room. “Under the bed? No, it’d be too lame. Maybe in the kitchen? No. I needa hide it somewhere that the police won't even suspect. Someone's house, maybe. Hmm…” He went into his deep train of thoughts.
Scott arrived back at the police center and advanced hurriedly towards his room. He banged open the door and shouted, “Hey, Lionel!”
A small man entered the room. He was wearing his usual uniform. His hairs were brown in color and so were his eyes. He had a comparatively short face and a short height. His age was nearly twenty-five and looked like a new-comer. “Yes sir?”
“See, I wanna start the Harry Disappearance Case. Bring me the files quickly.”
“Yes sir,” He replied and began searching for the files in the room. In the meantime, Scott sat on his seat which was in front of three more chairs with a work desk in between consisting of a desktop computer, country’s flag, and other essential stuff. Louis took up a file and kept it at the table in front of Scott. “Sir, here it is.” Scott madly snatched the file and turned its pages. He was looking for a certain thing— a paragraph, photo or something. After a few seconds, his search stopped as he found what he was looking for; the photo of Adam and Zack was just in front of him.
“Here it is,” He smiled dominantly. “Y’are gonna go long for this shit, Zack and Adam.”
Meanwhile, Zack was still in his bed, and just got a way to keep it safe. “Olivia’s house is definitely gonna do it! We don’t meet her in person outside the HQ and if I will just hide it in her house without even telling her, she’ll also be safe from the lie-detector!” Zack was smiling at such a ‘perfect’ plan of his. “It’s gonna be perfect and play the game for me!” He thought.
“I know y’are up to something, Zack, but Imma catch ya no matter what!” Scott thought.
“I know y’are up to something, Scott, but this time, my plan’s just perfect!” Zack thought on the other end.
March 15th, 2014 (9:01 pm)
The bell rang and Olivia got up from her bed. “Who’s it now?” She said in a dull manner. “Can’t anyone let me sleep peacefully on a holiday?”
Nevertheless, she got up from the bed and walked outside her room. She took on her slippers and scratched her head. With her long hair scattered everywhere in her head and her face full of sleepiness, she twisted the door knot and pulled the door. “Hello,” Zack waved his hand.
“What do you want?” She asked in the same dull manner.
“Whoa, straight to the point, huh?” She didn’t give any expressions, but Zack was smiling. She just nodded a little as Zack added, “Well, I just came to meet you.” Zack told her.
“Why?” Olivia asked. “What’s so important that you wanna meet now?”
“Um, nothing. I just wanted to meet, and…” He embarrassingly replied.
“See, lemme sleep for some time, okay?”
“It’s already nine, Olly. How much more are you gonna sleep?”
“What? What time is it?” Olivia questioningly asked.
“Nine o’clock in the morning, Olly.”
“Oh, I-I, um, didn’t know the time or…” She was embarrassed and her red cheeks were a proof.
“Oh, just go brush and bath. It’d be good for you,” Zack suggested as Olivia slammed the door on his face and went inside.
But, Zack opened the door as she turned backwards towards him. “Aren’t ya gonna lock the door?”
She glared at him for a few seconds with her mouth a kinda open. It was like she tried to say something but turned down the decision. But, she replied, “That’s none of your business.”
“It is, Olly! If there’s a theft in your house then it’d be my fault ‘cuz I didn’t tell you even when I knew.”
She again glared at him, with her arms crossed this time. “See, y’are being too sticky now.”
Zack didn’t reply, he just came out of the house and thought, “She’s not in a good mood to meet now. Maybe I needa wait.”
“Come on in, Zack,” She shouted from behind. “Don’t stand there like a tragic king or something.” He smiled, turned back and ran inside the house.
“I wonder what Zack will be doing by now,” Adam thought while glaring at his fan. He was lying on top of his bed and getting bored. “Olivia, Miley, Lucy, me, Zack and… Harry. We all were so good together.” He was thinking about those days before the ‘First Kidnap Incidence, 2014’ as SAI’s files say it. “But, everything changed following the First Kidnap. Miley’s no more, Harry’s gone, Mr. Johnson is always worried about all of us, and we can’t even do anything.” He sat up on the bed and added, “I just hope for some miracle to happen and we all are together back again.”
“Oh, why are you doing all the troubles, Olly?” He asked when she got up from the sofa to make tea.
“You’re my first guest here. So, it’s my duty to at least give you tea.”
“But I don’t wanna drink tea. I’ve already had one in the morning.”
“Don’t worry, Zacky. I make good tea,” She turned her head back to reply and smile as she continued walking to the kitchen.
She was not in the drawing room anymore, and Zack saw it as a perfect opportunity to hide his portrait. “Let’s get to work!” He whispered enthusiastically and stood up from the sofa. He duck-walked towards her bedroom, which was beside the dining hall and just in front of the entrance, and walked inside silently. Zack saw the bed, and stood up straight and walked towards it. The bed was at the right corner of the room, and it was closely connected to the walls on the two adjacent sides. Zack opened the chains of his bag, took out the portrait and seeped it in the small cavity at the corner. The portrait was unable to be seen because it was the end of the bed and no one would try noticing if something is inside. “It’s perfect,” Zack whispered while dusting dirt off his hands as a gesture of ‘work completed’.
