Together

First day

Maryland
Kent Brown's hideout
4:44 pm


Kent is leading Julia and Daniel through his hiding place. "This section houses the children, who are new. So the first week", explains Kent. "How old are the children?", asks Daniel. "Between 9 and 11 years old." "Don't they cry a lot?", Julia asks. "Depends. How old were yours?" "Between 14 and 16", Julia answers. "That explains why the cops found your hideout: They were teenagers. They all have mobile phones. That's how they were tracked. That doesn't happen with 9 to 11-year-olds. And from crying or being scared, it's not much difference", explains Kent. Kent means Julia and Daniel with a wave of his hand to follow him. They move on to the next part of the building. "This is where the children are housed who, in theory, we can already sell. But we haven't found buyers for the children in this part yet", Kent continues. They are moving on. "And here are the children who already have a buyer." "Are all the children from one department in one room?", Daniel asks. "No. Otherwise, they feel too comfortable. There is a maximum of six children from each department in one room. There are between 10 and 30 children in each department", replies Kent. "Don't the cops notice that so many children disappear in one town?", Julia wants to know. "We don't just kidnap kids from DC, we kidnap kids from Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia", Kent explains. He leads them further through the hiding place. "Here's the kitchen. This is where we prepare food for the kids and food for us. Next to the kitchen is a laundry room. There you can wash yourselves, but you can also get water for the children or to clean the rooms. Brooms and other tools are in the corner", explains Kent. They go outside. Kent points to the building opposite. "There are the offices and other rooms", he says. "When do you pay?", asks Daniel. "At the end of the month. You get 5,000 at the beginning. If you want out, I get a quarter of your money", replies Kent. "And what if only one of us wants to get out?", asks Julia. "Then I'll only get an eighth of the money", replies Kent. Then he continues: "I'll see you tomorrow at eight o'clock. Will you be coming home from here or shall I drive you?" "Is there a bus stop nearby?", asks Daniel. "Yes. Just around the corner. See you tomorrow", says Kent. "See you tomorrow", say Daniel and Julia, too. Then they turn around and leave the property.



Washington DC
Undercover apartment of Ellie and Nick
6:35 pm


Julia unlocks the door and they go inside. They look around. The apartment consists of three rooms: a bedroom with a double bed and a wardrobe, a small bathroom with shower and a kitchen with table and chairs. There is no sofa, no bathtub, no bedside table and no second bed. Julia goes to the fridge and looks inside. "We have to go shopping. We have nothing to eat." Daniel comes to her and looks in the fridge too. "You're right." Julia looks at him slightly angrily. Daniel defends himself: "I thought we had something, but not enough for the both of us. But there's nothing here." "That's what I said. Shall we go shopping or call first?" "Shopping first. Since we can make dinner whenever we want, whether we want to eat before or after the phone call", Daniel answers. Daniel and Julia leave their apartment again. "There's a small shop around the corner. We'll go there", says Julia.

40 minutes later: Julia and Daniel are back in their apartment. Daniel makes sandwiches while Julia makes a phone call. "Hi, it's Ellie. We're in", says Ellie. "Hi, Bishop. That's good. What do you need to do for him?", asks McGee, who is on phone duty right now. "Nothing yet. Why do we only have one bed and no couch?", replies Ellie. Nick comes to her and Ellie puts headphones in her phone and gives one to Nick. McGee answers: "We want it to come across as natural as possible. You are poor and a couple. You have a small apartment, hardly any furniture, and certainly not two beds." "McGee, this is not funny!", Nick says. McGee defends himself: "This was Sloane's idea. She thought it was the most natural way. Kasie agreed to it immediately. And Gibbs and I put it into practice." "And why didn't you put food in the fridge?", Ellie is outraged. "We didn't know what you wanted. So we did not buy anything", McGee replies. "You could have at least bought bread, cheese and sausage", Ellie replies. McGee does not go into it. "Will you call tomorrow?", asks McGee. "Sure. Tomorrow night at the latest. If we learn anything important, we'll call before then", replies Ellie. McGee hangs up. Julia and Daniel sit down at the table and eat sandwiches. "Since we only have one bed, we should set rules", Julia says. Daniel nods with his mouth full. Julia continues talking: "You do not sleep naked. You wear at least one pair of underpants and a T-shirt. Or an undershirt." "Okay. The same goes for you", Daniel agrees. Julia also nods and they continue eating. "What do you think about taking the bus tomorrow at just after 7? Then we'll be there about a quarter of an hour before eight", asks Daniel. "Sounds good. Shall we get up at six then?" "Okay. I'll set the alarm", says Daniel.