Syeda was at the hospital again, just leaving after seeing Frank, who was going to be discharged later that day. She pressed a button on her earpiece to call Halima to pick her up from school, when she got a notification for a voice message she had received. She frowned.

"Play." She ordered.

A rasping, technologically distorted voice spoke.

"The photo, the bracelet, the text, the felines... The fourth clue will come to you soon. Keep an eye out for something teal coloured. Apart from your eyes, of course.

Syeda gritted her teeth in anger. The hell?

The clues. She'd forgotten all about them in the last day or so.

The first one was the photo of her father; it meant they knew who he was, and who she was.

The second was the bracelet. It came from a Malaysian Island, but she could deduce no more.

The third was the next: "He is with me." It meant they really did have her father.

The fourth was the cats. There were ninety of them in total, and one of them had an address. But when Syeda had actually located it, it was just an empty building on a busy, normal street. She'd even visited it, snooped around, but nothing. Just the smell of dust and untouched surfaces.

She had no idea what this clue meant, and it pissed her off no end.

But the fourth clue would come to her soon?

Syeda's eyebrows shot downwards.

'Heck, I'll be ready.' She decided.

Suddenly, she spotted a familiar face passing by.

'Where did she come fro--'

"Auntie Misbah?" She asked disbelievingly. What was her Qur'an teacher's daughter doing here?

"Hey, I'm not that old, kiddo!" Misbah laughed, fluttering her fingers in greeting. She was wearing a navy blue hijab, a floor-length army style duster jacket with golden metallic buttons on the shoulder lapels, a knee-length tunic, converse tracksuit bottoms, and some chunky platform boots. Syeda had always noticed that she dressed like she was off on some adventure, but had decided not to ask nosy questions.

Just then, Jack (who Syeda had been expecting), walked in.

"Yo Syeda, I'll go see Frank and then we can ta-"

He suddenly spotted Misbah and froze. Misbah's eyes sharpened knowingly as she caught sight of the windswept ruffian.

Silence reigned. After a long, deadly pause, Jack seemed to find his voice. "What the hell are you doing here?" He gasped, eyes like that of a chased wild animal.

"Calm down Jack, it's alright. I'm on your si-"

He shook his head frantically. Syed had never seen him this agitated.

"No. F***ing no! Get away from me!"

Jack raced off, Misbah in hot pursuit.

'The hell?' Syeda thought, before tailing them both.

"Jack, I won't tell your father anything!" Misbah yelled as the trio left through the hospital's exit and into the dark October night.

"You work for the man, of course you f***ing will!" Jack shouted back, eyes squeezed nearly shut, and as Syeda nearly caught up, she could see he was getting emotional. His eyes were suspiciously shining, wet.

But his eyes were also slits, cheeks red, teeth shut tight with anger.

'How did my dad find me?' Jack's mind frantically flitted through every scenario possible that could have exposed him.

Who was he kidding? He could never outrun his father. Man had the heads of the nation's surveillance eating from his bloodstained hand. There wasn't a man his father had blacklisted whose head hadn't rolled.

Sometimes, he suspected his father had done away with Alexis too, and lied to him all this time, in some half-a**ed attempt to be nice. Maybe saving that particular slice of news for his eighteenth birthday.

"Jack, Haziq is on your side!"

Jack nearly stumbled, but with renewed vigour resumed running faster than before, past the street lights in the dark, past house after house after house, the sound of the steps behind him still hot on his heels. He wasn't losing them.

Uncle Haziq was on his side?

Duh. Of course he was. Always had been. He'd quit active duty for a more quiet, mundane job where he didn't have to meet any people or better still, get rid of them. In some ways, he was a lot like Jack himself. The life of a mercenary, though suited to his skills and easy for him to excel at, wasn't something that appealed to him morally.

But Misbah was second in command only to his father. She could get capital punishment if she kept secret a piece of knowledge the General himself didn't know. Like where Jack was.

So why was she lying right now?

---

Misbah suddenly stopped, not out of breath, with a sudden decisive glint in her eyes.

"Syeda." She ordered to the girl just catching up to her.

Misbah turned to look at the other girl. "He won't listen to me. Not now." The older woman said, lips pressed into a thin line.

"I need you to tell him later. Just because I work for his dad doesn't mean I agree with the man on everything. I won't tell him where Jack is, but the truth is, if I know, he probably does too."

Syeda's expression changed as realisation of something dawned on her.

Misbah worked under General Erick De Alba? No wonder Jack was terrified.

"He could have used his Nyfe to get away from me, it has a lot of capabilities, like temporary flight, but he didn't want me to know he had it. My sensors detected it, of course." Her eyes were analytical.

Syeda raised her eyebrows.

"Misbah... Since when have you been involved in all this?"

"Since I was twenty one and enlisted." She answered, eyes still looking off into the distance where Jack had disappeared. "It was hard work getting to where I am now, especially with my sort of background."

"Though I know, a little, how Erick must feel. My own brother, Husain, defected to the King's Guard. Haven't seen him since.

Misbah looked wistful for a moment, before she turned to look at Syeda again.

"Know him well?"

"Since we were children."

"Does he trust you?"

"Yeah."

"Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. Best if he doesn't leave his house as much as he can. His dad, eighty percent, knows where he is but is waiting for him to mess up. He likely knows who you are, too." Misbah shrugged. "At least, that's my guess. You never really know with that man. But better safe than sorry."

Syeda made the mistake of blinking.

Misbah was gone.

---

Elyka was about to select an option on her phone, biting her lip in worry.

What would Syeda say? Would she get skinned alive?

But she had had enough. Helping him was against moral she'd ever had. Never to betray a friend.

So what if Chris wouldn't secure her future? She could do it herself. So what if he had her kicked out? She'd find another school who'd accept her. If he made sure she couldn't... She'd sort something out.

But lying, theft, being two-faced... She couldn't do that anymore.

She selected the option and waited.

---

Syeda was having a phone conversation with a reluctant Jack.

"You don't get it, Sarah!" He retorted.

"I need to find my brother even more quickly, now that my dad knows where I am!"

"But do you really need to leave Swindon entirely? you're safe here-"

"What would you know about safety, Sarah?" Jack snapped. "You've had family and family friends tripping over themselves to look after you! I- I've never had that. My dad isolated me from my only fa-"

"You know what your trouble is, Jack?" Syeda responded, her voice an emotionless monotone she reserved for strangers.

"You think it's all about you. Your suffering, your unhappiness, your sh** family, you, you, you. You think everyone else is living the dream."

"Oh yeah? Who's ever treated you like they want to disown you in your life?" Jack scoffed.

Syeda was quiet.

Jack smiled triumphantly.

Sarah's pampered self finally couldn't say anything in reply.

Then she answered.

The words shattered whatever belief he'd ever had in his own guesses and assumptions.

"The woman who gave birth to me." She answered quietly.

Suddenly, her earpiece buzzed.

He heard it too. Still a little stunned, he said what he had to. "Oh is your phone ringing? Umm, maybe you'd better get that, 'miright? Could be important."

Syeda heard the sound of the phone hanging up, and groaned.

Getting the frazzled teen to calm down and understand what she was saying was taking longer than usual, especially since he now had this stubborn certainty that he'd been compromised and that he might as well hand himself in or run for the Alps.

Now her attempts to stop him booking a flight (off to somewhere he was isolated and more vulnerable) were interrupted. All because of this Chua girl.

---

"What is it, brat?" Syeda's annoyed voice came through. More pissed than usual.

'Oh no. Not a good time.' Elyka jittered internally.

But she had to do it, nonetheless. She closed her eyes, scrunched up her face and braced herself for impact.

"I took Jack's phone, Syeda! It was me!"

Syeda was silent for a few, dangerous moments.

Elyka watched her bedroom clock tick.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

It had never been so slow before.

Why now?

After a long, terrifying silence, Syeda's voice finally shattered the ice.

"So you're the reason we needed to get him a replacement."

She was silent again. Then-

Why?" Her lethally low voice questioned.

"Because...." Elyka took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She was quaking in her boots; she looked at her brown and yellow patterned room for comfort, the teddies she had placed around for bravery, to the sun painted on the wall, for strength.

"Because Chris told me to, Syeda."