The doorbell rang and Mr. Steiner quickly got up to open the door.
"Hi Max!" The blue eyed man smiled at him.
"Come inside, quick." The old man gestured him to follow him inside. They both took a seat opposite to each other on the couch."You look unusually happy today." Mr. Steiner asked this before complaining about the hundred things that were concerning him at that moment.
"Oh, do I? Must be because I am. Max, I know where he is. I know everything that needs to be known to break into his records. He's distracted enough right now and it's our only chance. I've all the reasons in the world to be happy." He smiled at the old man who didn't look even slightly happy at the news."Whatever you want to do, I don't care anymore. I don't care about justice. I don't care about your revenge. I only want Jason to be safe and he's not safe. His friend got kidnapped, you think I don't know what's happening?" He took a deep breath and continued, "Listen, I supported you every time but it's getting too much now. Jason is too stressed. He doesn't listen to me and I can't even explain to him about all of this anymore."
"It's just a matter of few days. This Friday, everything will end for real. We'll win this time and we won't lose anyone." He was so sure that Mr. Steiner couldn't help but believe him.
"But listen, you've to do something about it. Do something. Stop these kids. Lock them up. I don't care. Just do something. I don't want them in danger." He rubbed his temples and left his seat to get a glass of water for him and the guest.
"I'm telling you, Max. You don't need to worry about them. The girl will be safe. I'll help them all. Just don't tell Jason anything yet or he might ruin —" He was cut off by, guess who, our very own Jason who was standing at the door.
"What will I ruin?" He asked, casually and stepped forward to get a better look at their faces.
His grandpa looked slightly shocked but still well composed. The man, now standing, next to him looked pleasantly surprised, like he had expected this to happen. He looked really familiar and then it hit him.It was him. Abby's employer. The man in the picture of his parents that Elise had returned him just two days ago.
Without any further delay, the blue eyed man put his glass on the table and left. Jason tried to stop him but he just said goodbye and left.
There was no use of running after him so he turned back to his grandpa who was now locking his room's door. He didn't even try to stop him. His grandpa was stubborn and he knew it.
It was the same man. His grandpa has been involved in this all the time. If that man knew about the murder attempts, then surely his grandpa did too. This incident had made everything much more complicated.
He didn't know what to do. He was tired of everything, of all this thinking, of all this confusion. So he used his best strategy to deal with fear and anxiety, he went to sleep.
**********
"Alex, it's a serious emergency. Come over at my place." Jason texted this to Alex and sent a similar text to Michael.
In about 15 minutes, they both were at his place. Alex stiffened when he saw Michael enter the room but Michael didn't care about his presence. It was obvious that he had more important things on his mind.
"Alex, I think you don't know about it but we saw Elise getting kidnapped right in front of our eyes last night." Jason said and stayed silent for the next few moments, waiting for Alex to absorb this information.
He didn't react. He just stayed silent and looked at Michael who was staring at the windowsill. Images of the file he saw in his father's office flashed in his mind but he chose to remain silent."You guys better forget about your petty fights for now since we've to talk about something really important." Jason broke the silence. Michael turned towards him, then towards Alex. He nodded at him and turned his attention again to Jason.
"It's a long story. I've been hiding stuff from you both." He said cautiously expecting a punch from one of them but they didn't react. Things really had changed.

YOU ARE READING
Kith and Kin ✔️
Mystery / ThrillerAlexander, the happy guy with the perfect life. Michael, the struggling stubborn orphan. Jason, the player with the fake smile. Three friends unaware of their dark intertwined pasts. An impossible story of love and hate. Combine love, heartbreak, an...