The backpack was dead weight in Elke's hand. She only had to walk across the street and ring the bell on the electronic gate. But after stepping out of her car and seeing the house that could be considered an estate, Elke couldn't will her legs to move.

The mansion was identical to the surrounding modern houses. The whole street was home to luxury plots of land with countless rooms, large swimming pools and gated driveways. Elke knew about the expensive neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Amsterdam. But she was a creature of habit and tended to stick to her own suburbs and places she wouldn't seem out of place in. But in front of the house in her jeans and t-shirt with her orange backpack, Elke couldn't have stuck out anymore in the well-lit street.

With a long driveway and a monstorous garage, the cars that would identify who resided on the presmises were hidden. The porch lights lit up the beige brick and French-style windows. The gate sat in-between high walls and a beaded eye of a doorbell camera surveyed the street. Alanis had already warned Elke that there would be a camera, so with a quick glance over her shoulder, Elke made her way across the street with shaky steps.

She felt the burn of Joost's stare on her back. He sat behind the wheel, the drive from their building being the first time he had been in the Swift's driver seat. With the balaclava over his face and in a suit, Joost blended in to the dark. He had made sure to park Elke's car just out of a streetlight's beam, shielding him and Donnie, who laid out of sight in the backseat, from being seen.

Anyone who stepped through the electronic gate would only see a figure. If they were to get too close, Donnie laid waiting to spring upwards. But everyone was hoping for the best case scenario, where Elke would walk away unharmed.

'How's the lense feeling?' Alanis' voice filled Elke's ear. She was approaching the doorbell camera with slow steps and blinked at the technology's mention.

'It stings,' she said through the corner of her mouth.

'Try not to rub at it. If it slips behind your eyelid, we won't be able to see anything.'

'And don't stare at anyone for too long. They might see the active lights around your pupil.'

Great, Elke thought to herself. I'll gladly avoid all forms of eye-contact. Thanks, Stuntje.

She had been reassured by Alanis that almost everyone was gathered in the backroom of the workshop. While the girl was sat in front of the live feed from Elke's point of view, Apson, Stuntje, Daan, Tantu and Enzo varied in their positions behind her. Apson took his usual place behind Alanis' chair while Stuntje sat with the others, the laptop in front of him broadcasting the feed onto Alanis' screens.

'What is she saying?' Joost asked, peering over to the backseat. Donnie's horizontal position made the light from the moon cast over his face.

'Nothing. It's just small talk.'

'But I want to know.'

'Hey, if you're going to bitch at me the whole night, I'm just going to stand out in the street. I'm the one with the earpiece. You just drive when you need to, Albino boy.'

Joost huffed, the action unsatisfying with the fabric covering his mouth. He had been against not having an earpiece or being unable to see exactly what Elke saw. Everything he wanted to say would have to go through Donnie, who was the last person he wanted translating. But Joost was supposed to be treating the situation like their deals.

He was the driver. It was his responsibility to make the quick getaway. Everyone else had their roles, Joost had to rememeber that even if Elke's was in the most dangerous one of all.

Stopping in front of the doorbell camera, Elke took a deep breathe and pressed the button. There was no whimsical chime that would have echoed throughout the house. Instead, there was the mechanical rumble of the gate's system coming to life.

Elke stepped back with the backpack's strap cutting into her palm. She watched the gate stop short, leaving a gap big enough for a single person. But before she could step forward, someone else stepped through.

Unsmiling and brooding, a man blocked the formed entrance. He towered over Elke and crossed his arms over his chest. Muscles bulged with tattoos, a Nazi swastika being one that Elke's heart pounded at being in plain sight. She looked up, remembered Stuntje's advice, looked away, and remembered that she was standing in the street without having said a word.

'Um... i-is Nathan here?'

The man said nothing. He deadpanned at her question like he hadn't heard her. Elke shifted her weight from foot to foot and exchanged the backpack between her hands. The act made his icy eyes divert downwards.

Back in the car, Joost couldn't satisfy his urge to figit. The cigarette he and Donnie had shared before had digested at lightning speed.

'Does Elke know German?' Donnie asked casually from the backseat.

'No.'

'How good's her English?'

'Why?'

'No reason...'

It was torture. Joost was about to reach behind him and pry the earpiece out of Donnie's ear and stick it into his own. But just as it all got too much, the man retreated back behind the gate and was replaced with a familiar face.

Elke envied the person she was thirty seconds ago. Standing in front of the unspeaking man was uncomfortable and she wasn't sure if he even understood her. Alanis tried to voice some German into her ear but Elke didn't trust herself to try and repeat it. Instead, Elke stood in the street, her awkward 'um's and stutters causing her cheeks to turn pink.

But it was nothing compared to the fear she felt when Nathan replaced the man.

'Elke,' he greeted, even dawning the friendly smile that she once thought was genuine. 'It's nice to see you, but I can't say I expected you to be at my doorstep.'

She didn't know what to say. Nathan was so casual as he stood in front of her. He talked as if he hadn't ordered the murder of her ex-boyfriend, put a tracking sim in her bag and had been the root cause of her weeks of anxiety and stress.

Knowing what Nathan had done, Elke's knees trembled. She didn't know what he had in his pocket or what he could do to her. Joost's warnings clouded her mind and seconds passed without a word being spoken.

'Elke, you have to say something-'

'Joost and I broke up.'

Donnie scoffed aloud in the backseat and Joost glanced over his shoulder in impatience. But Donnie was going to keep the blonde guessing for the time being.

Alanis' push had made Elke panic. The words tumbled out of her mouth and she let the two of them make eye-contact for as natural of a second as she could manage.

In that time, she saw Nathan's eyebrows shoot upwards. Whether it was her abrupt delivery or the admission, the Belgian stared down at the girl in mild surprise.

'W-We broke up,' Elke repeated, lifting the backpack up into view. 'And I was able to get this from his workshop. I-I remember him saying it was yours and since we're done, I thought I would give it all back.'

'Is that so?'

Elke sensed Nathan's doubt and swallowed. She thought that the backpack would make up for her weak story. For all Nathan knew, Elke was telling the truth and had, in fact, taken her backpack after breaking up with her neighbour. It was plausible that Elke was still naive to the world that Joost and Nathan were involved in and had no idea what she was doing by returning the money.

'Yeah. It just didn't work out between us. I couldn't help but feel like there was something he wasn't telling me. After Roan, I just... didn't want to be lied to anymore,' Elke continued, making sure to look away from the backpack regularly. Whenever Nathan's clear-eyed gaze got too much, she stared over his shoulder and to the pavement below.

Eyeing the backpack, the corner of Nathan's lips curled from their feigned smile. To hear that the only thing that Joost cared about had left him was liberating. Not only this, but Elke was holding up the commodity that he so depserately needed. It was perfect; Elke was betraying Joost without knowing it and Nathan would finally be freed from his German problem.

'I'm sorry to hear that,' Nathan lied through his teeth and resisted taking the backpack from Elke's hold. 'You know, Elke, I always knew we met for a reason.'

Nathan's hand raised to take the backpack and Elke hesitated in retreating her grip. Now was the time for her act to come to life. Alanis had been quiet in her ear but with the backpack nearly in Nathan's posession, it wouldn't be long until she would be calling for Elke to push for information. She had to make it seem natural.

'Hey, um... I wanted to ask...' she started, looking up with the backpack still by her side. 'Are you... in any kind of trouble?'

'Trouble?' he repeated, feigning ignorance.

'Is this something you need help with?' Elke then rushed to add 'I know Roan got hooked on drugs and I like to think that he could have been helped. So, I just want to be sure that... you're okay. If this money is for something, I'm sure the police can help you?'

Nathan let out a scoff. She had no idea. He almost admired how innocent and naive Elke was to what was going on around her. In his perspective, the girl was smart enough to leave Joost, but not observant to the point of knowing why he had been lying to her. That was her downfall and Elke would continue to be used until she had a harsh, painful, possibly lethal wake-up call.

'No one can help me, Elke. I'm in some shit that you don't understand.'

'I can try to understand?'

It was working. The plastered smile had slipped off Nathan's face to reveal the hard look underneath. Elke hadn't intended to steer the act this way. In her confidence's absense, she found herself trying to find the limited sympathy she had for the man in front of her. She couldn't think of another way to get Nathan to slip up. Using Roan's death felt wrong and her heart was still pounding against her chest, but Elke saw Nathan's head inch to the right to peer back towards the house.

'Keep going, Elke,' Alanis encouraged in her ear.

From the car, Joost was watching the conversation closely. They were yet to be noticed in the shadows and he was shocked to see Nathan pause in taking the backpack. His gloved hands had gone numb on the steering wheel and his neck was growing stiff from remaining so still. He watched every rise of Nathan's arm and every shift of his footing for a sign of hostility.

'He's actually considering it,' Donnie said in disbelief. 'She's incredible. Acid's breaking.'

But Nathan froze. From where Joost sat, he couldn't see who, but someone had stopped behind the gate. They mumbled to the Belgian while Elke stood waiting. She was dying to ask Alanis or Donnie what to do, as the backpack was still in her hand and Nathan was distracted by the man now talking to him in German.

Joost heard movement in the backseat before Donnie appeared next to him. The earpiece was on full display as Joost looked to his friend, but the brunette stared out the windshield.

'What is it?' Joost asked, looking between him and the sight by the gate. 'What's going on?'

'Fuck.'

Ripping out the earpiece, Donnie threw open the door and stepped out the car. Joost watched in horror as Nathan retreated back behind the gate with Elke willingly following. While Donnie ran up the street, Joost grabbed the earpiece that he had left on the passenger's seat. He rolled up his mask and shoved it into his ear.

'What happened?! Why is Elke going in there?!' he cried.

'Someone asked to see her. I don't know, Joost! S-She just walked in,' Alanis replied, the panic evident in her voice. In the background, Joost heard the others talking and gathering around her chair. How Joost wished he had access to the live feed that they could all see back at the workshop.

Joost was helpless. Donnie was heading for the gate before it rolled close and he watched him slip through just in time. He was now relying on someone who had never put someone else's life before his.