"Mum why are you sleeping in the Living room?"
I quickly sat up, and rubbed my eyes. Glancing at the wall clock, I groaned, and wondered why the time was so slow. The time was 7:30pm.
The twins sat down opposite me. I looked at them and shrugged.
"Look, you both have a lot to say to me and I know but honestly, I'm tied down. I still have a lot to do. Okay, I promise, if everything goes well, I'm taking us on a vacation for a week. Anywhere you both want, we'd go there. No work, no school, no distraction. Please"
"We're going to the carnival tonight" Alex said. I stilled.
"Oh jeez please babies I beg you. You can't go"
"I don't understand you. We've been going since we were 13 and you've never had any objections, so why now?" Andrew asked with a scowl.
"Something's going to happen tonight. It's terrible. Some people are going to die, and I'm going to try and stop it"
Alex's face turned grim immediately. She sat on the ground in frustration. "What is all this mum? What exactly is all this? Then why wasn't the carnival cancelled?"
"We wanted to follow protocol, Alexandra. We have a plan. So you both should trust me and stay at home for tonight. Please" I added gently.
"Alright" The both of them replied in unison.
"I want to ask you mum. Is dad truly dead?" Alex asked gently. I looked away.
"Was he a terrorist?" Andrew asked. I wondered where these children were getting these information from.
"Alright kids. I know I owe you both a lot of explanation, but let it be later, not now. I have a lot on my plate right now and I need to focus"
To my utter shock, Alex stomped outside, slamming the door loudly. Andrew looked at me in disgust and walked out too, with his sister. I stood up, but then sat down back. My children were gradually pulling away from me and I couldn't stop them because I was not ready.
I ignored them because I knew they'd be fine, and I sincerely hoped so. Like I initially told them, I had a lot on my plate. I have a new observation; The leader of the Russian mafia, whom I've identified as Dimitri Ivanov, doesn't just want any child. He wants Anna Caldwell's son specifically and I wondered why.
Well, I guess the answer to that depends on the outcome of tonight's mission.
It was 10 minutes to 8, and the twins hadn't come back. They could be anything, but they're not disobedient, and I was sure that they won't go for the carnival. I wrote a note, telling them to be careful and telling them that I loved them deeply.
Fully dressed in my favourite black overalls, I got on my bike, put on my helmet and rode to the carnival venue.
When I got there, people had started gathering already and we're buying iced cream and sweet and drinks and all. I hid out of plain sight, because I didn't want my team mates to find out I was there. They could either suspend me or place me on house arrest for this.
I found a spot, from where I could use my sniper rifle without anyone seeing me. I tracked down Anna Caldwell's location and it showed that she was just walking in. I smiled inwardly. I used my binoculars to scan around, but no one was forthcoming yet, not even my team mates.
I plugged my ear plugs in my ears and kept on listening to music, and at exactly 10:30pm, a black truck pulled in. It was obvious that those were the Russians because they spoke in Russian language and I was familiar with the language.
The party had started in full, and I was yet to see any of my team mates. Did they have a change of plan?
Suddenly there was a commotion at the entrance and I sighed when I saw my teammates. They weren't alone; Department of Homeland Security was with them and I wondered why.
I suddenly sighted someone standing beside Anna Caldwell, talking to her. She was smiling up at the man, while holding her son in his hand. Unfortunately I was very far from them and so I couldn't hear what they were saying. I decided to come down from where I was and get to her. Time for plan B. I checked my pocket for the tracker and was excited to see that it was still there.
When I came down and made my way over to where Anna was, she wasn't there again, but her son was with a young lady, who looked very familiar. I kept racking my brain because I was sure I knew this woman, and she was very close to me, in a way, but I couldn't remember how and the dark environment wasn't even making everything easy.
"Hi" I said, with a smile to the lady. The boy was putting on a wristwatch, so I quickly slipped it on the wristwatch. "I'm Laura"
"Hello. I'm not looking to make any friends and definitely not with you, so if you'll please excuse me. I wonder what you're even doing here. Weren't you just discharged from the hospital?" She said and began walking away with the boy.
I wondered how Anna could've been so stupid or probably the lady was Anna's friend and the little boy was safe. And I wondered how that woman knew me so well.
But I decided to discreetly follow them. I bumped into someone.
"Watch where you're..." I looked up as I came face-to-face with Tasha.
"Of course I knew you'd come" She smiled and dragged me with her. "Come we need you" I smiled and followed her. We walked to the back of the building where the rest of my team mates were. Then my phone beeped and I looked up.
"The little boy is here" I said to them.
"Did you put a tracker on him?" Charles asked.
"Yes I did. I used a non-electronic one, because I've had experience with the Russians and they'll always search for metal gadgets around their captives"
"The one we placed on him has been deactivated already which means they've got him already" Nathan said, and handed me a comm device. I smiled up at him gratefully. Pat's voice rang through it
"The truck's on the move guys!!! I think these people just made our work easier for us, by taking the fight away from the party"
My teammates got in their SUV immediately, while I got in my bike to make it faster. I kept on following the tracking device I placed in the boys wristwatch and I was glad to find out that they didn't go far. They stopped in an abandoned warehouse, few metres away from the party. The place was completely dark, which was unusual
"Guys these people just distracted us" I said to my team mates.
"I think she's right. They tried to lead us away so they can complete their mission" Charles said.
"Alright" i said, looking at my phone. "The boy is back there, at the carnival. I'll go back to find him and y'all focus on getting these criminals and....."
I was interrupted by the sound of an explosion and sounds of gunshot from the carnival.
My teammates and I swung into action immediately.
Tash and I went back to the carnival, while the rest remained at the warehouse.
I was able to locate the boy with the lady. She was running away with him. I knocked her down and carried the boy on my shoulders.
"There's another bomb!!" Tash yelled as the screamings and gunshots continued. It was at that point that I became happy that the Department of Homeland security were actually with us. Everyone was running Helter skelter and trying to scamper around for safety, which was difficult considering that the place was extremely filled up, in addition to the roadblocks that had been placed outside.
"Can you try defusing it?" I asked.
"I've defused a bomb only twice in my life, so I guess I can do it again" Tash panted and bent down. She put on the torch light in her gun and spent over 20 minutes trying to cut wires and all.
"Aren't you done yet?"
"It's easier for you to ask because you're not the one bending just few inches away from an explosive that's set to go down in 3 - 2 - 1 seconds...." She stood up and smiled.
"Well-done dear"
The most important thing now was that the little boy was safe. My team mates, together with the DHS and NYPD, succeeded in capturing about 57 men. 4 of our agents went down though. Yet, Anna Caldwell was no where to be found.
We went back to HQ at 4am and placed the boy in witness protection. During interrogation, it was realized that the leader of the Russian mafia, Dimitri Ivanov, had an affair with Anna Caldwell, years before she married her husband. He got her pregnant and abandoned her. Matthew decided to take up the responsibility. Medical test results diagnosed that Dimitri had low sperm count and was impotent, and that was when he remembered Anna. He wanted her back, but she wasn't interested. He then paid her husband, Matthew handsomely well to divorce her and hand over the little boy, and the rest was history.
Anna was later found at an abandoned factory, with her arms and legs bound together and she was even at the point of death.
A lot of people died though, from the carnival party. Most of them were affected by the bomb explosion and their families were well compensated.
After everything was well sorted out, I decided to go back to my children. The door was locked from outside, which meant that they were not in the house. I tried calling Andrew but his phone was switched off. My heart did a double beat. I called Mason and his number was switched off, which got me panicking. Mason's number has never been switched off.
I drove over to his house immediately. And was relieved to hear my kids' voices from inside. I knocked gently and pushed it opened and the living room was filled up to the brim my many people, most of whom were his relatives, in a mourning mood. Mason stood in one corner and was CRYING??!!!
I went to him immediately.
"What's wrong?" I asked. He looked up at me. His eyes were so heavy and red.
"She's gone" He stated.
"Who's gone?" I asked.
"Allison!" He replied. "She was present at the Carnival explosion last night" He added, and walked away, to his bedroom.
I stood rooted to my spot.
The memories came rushing back.
The very familiar woman holding that little boy