Two hours.
The twins still hadn’t returned.
Sarah paced, glancing at the clock.
They were never this late.
She considered closing the shop to look for them.
“Where did they go this time?”
The last time she checked on them at the playground, they were gone.
She’d searched for an hour before finding them in a nearby shop, sharing a cold drink.
Alec twisted the cap open and let Abby drink first.
“I was thirsty, Mom.
I asked Alec for a drink.”
Abby’s answer had come too quickly.
Sarah noticed, but she’d let it go anyway.
Since then, she kept reminding them not to go too far from the playground.
They promised to be careful.
But something felt wrong today.
Just as Sarah was about to close the shop, Alec and Abby finally arrived.
Sarah took in their appearance and gasped, seeing the sloppy gauze on Alec’s arm and dried blood on his shirt while Abby was holding a pharmacy bag.
“Alec, what happened?”
Her stomach knotted.
She crossed the shop in quick strides and reached for his arm.
The gauze was loose and stained, wrapped the way a child would.
Dried blood darkened his sleeve.
Alec didn’t flinch, but he wouldn’t look at her either.
Alec pressed his lips together and glanced at his sister.
Their mother couldn’t know what they’d done.
She would blame herself.
He looked away.
“I’m sorry, Mom.
I fell.
Abby and I didn’t mean to worry you.
We just lost track of time.”
This was the story he and Abby decided to stick to.
Since they weren’t planning to visit the market plaza, that rich man should eventually give up looking for them.
Sarah led her son to take a seat before she unwound the gauze from his arm.
It wasn’t serious, and it was obvious they had tried to treat it themselves.
“Be careful when you play outside.
You have no idea how worried I was when you two didn’t return in time,” she murmured as she cleaned the wound again.
“Sorry, Mom,” Alec muttered.
He couldn’t tell their mother that he got hurt because they were selling at the market plaza, and that someone was asking about her special stitch.
When Sarah was done rewinding his gauze, she turned her attention to Abby.
“Are you hurt anywhere too?” she asked.
Abby shook her head.
“I’m okay, Mom, but I’m starving.”
Sarah smiled and stood, first aid kit in hand.
They were growing so fast.
“Go wash your hands.
I’ll have your meals ready.”
The twins slid out of their seats and went to the washroom.
Sarah could hear them whispering to each other about what they would do in the afternoon.
Her earlier nervousness gave way to relief.
She didn’t want to stop her children from playing outside, but part of her worried that people who shouldn’t see them might.
They deserved to live as normal children, not pawns for a mafia family.
The twins returned clean and eager.
Their faces lit up at the food on the table.
Cheeseburgers—their favorite.
They hadn’t had them in months.
“Mom is the best!” Abby said.
Alec grinned.
“If I’d known we were having cheeseburgers, we would’ve come home earlier!”
They devoured their meals.
Sarah watched, content, as they cleaned their plates.
The tips were worth it for their smiles.
After the morning they’d had and the food in their bellies, the twins fell asleep curled next to each other.
Sarah tucked them in and closed the windows.
She stayed by the bed a little longer.
Even in his sleep, Alec kept a protective arm over on Abby.
He was six and shouldn’t have to guard anyone.
Sarah smoothed his hair back and made herself breathe.
***
Across the city, Calvin lowered his head and waited for Adrian’s reaction.
He had failed to track the children and lost them along the way.
“So you’re telling me, two children outwitted you.”
Adrian’s voice was quiet and even.
Calvin didn’t dare lift his head.
He rarely failed.
Those kids had played him well.
They must have known they were being followed.
He had followed them for several blocks before they vanished.
One moment they were pushing through the crowd, the next they were gone.
He’d doubled back and checked every alley.
Nothing.
They were children.
About six years old, and they’d slipped past him like ghosts.
Calvin had been trained by the best.
He’d tracked men three times their size through worse situations.
But these two—they moved like they’d been taught.
Like someone had prepared them exactly for this.
“Apologies, Boss.
I didn’t expect them to disappear out of sight.
We’ve checked the cameras around the area, but none of them managed to spot the children.”
Adrian tapped his fingers on the desk before him.
His eyes fixed on Calvin, who had just broken into a cold sweat.
“They must have known where the cameras were installed.
Why were they so cautious about being seen?” Adrian mused.
Calvin had no answer.
Those children indeed were suspicious.
They didn’t even show fear before Adrian Moretti.
Instead, they were cautious and guarded, refusing to answer.
“Do we know anything else about them and their mother?” Adrian asked.
“They arrived from Bellavere three months ago.
Their mother’s name was registered on the passenger list as Emelia Larson.
Her children were named Alexander and Abigail Larson.
We’re still looking for where they are staying at the moment.”
“Emelia?”
How many more coincidences would it take before he could have the answers he needed?
Emelia, not Emilia.
Close enough to be a mistake but different enough to be intentional.
Adrian’s jaw hardened.
For seven years, he had believed her dead.
He had stood at her grave when sleep wouldn’t come to him.
And now her name was written on a passenger list, one letter off from the one he knew.
Calvin dared to raise his head.
The shadows in Adrian’s face made Calvin’s skin crawl.
His boss looked like someone preparing to hunt.
“Give us a little more time, Boss.
We’ll find them.”
“Find them, especially their mother.
I want to see with my own eyes if she’s the person I think she is.”
Calvin nodded once.
He didn’t ask who Adrian meant.
He didn’t have to.
The look on his boss’s face said enough.