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.

"If you think we hadn't realised that then you're really dumb. Now tell us what it was." Alex finally said something.

"It all started from Thomas' murder. I've all the proof that they got the wrong guy that night. I was supposed to die that day." He said slowly.
"What!" Alex and Michael spoke in unison.
"Yes and do you guys remember when you dyed my hair? Someone broke into my house the next day and hanged me to this ceiling fan. Making it look like a suicide." He pointed upwards and saw the expressions of his best friends change.

"Elise saved me that day. Or I would have been dead, again. Now this made it quite obvious that someone was really keen on murdering me. I tried keeping Elise out of it but she insisted and that's how she knew everything about what I was on." He got up from the floor and picked up a wooden box from the table.

"Abby wasn't our friend. She was collecting information on Alex and I don't know how you're involved in it but it's true. When you think of it, you realise that she always went out of her way to spend extra time with Alex. Often ran into him at the most unexpected places. Maybe I would've noticed if I wasn't so irrationally infatuated with her." He took a deep sigh and sat on the floor again.

"So we did our research and my absent father didn't seem like a normal person. Elise even got the access to the phone records."

Alex and Michael stayed quiet, having a hard time digesting this information. But it wasn't that hard, it was happening right in front of their eyes, they were just ignoring it.

"Elise thought that I should keep this picture. I guess that girl has some really good gut instincts. This is me and my parents. And this is the man Abby was working for." Jason showed them the picture and Michael almost snatched it from him to get a better look.

"I've seen this guy! You remember when Abby ruined your date? I'm sure this is the same person who bumped into me that day. He called me something really weird." Michael said, still staring at the man in picture.

"Who is this woman? And this kid?" Alex asked, now holding the picture.
"Guys..." Michael lowered his voice.
"What?" They both asked.
"What the actual fuck? This is me." Michael pointed at the little boy in the picture.

"Man, I should've believed her. My father's phone records were all directed to a Ryder and when she saw this picture, she kept on saying that this might be Michael." Jason mumbled to himself.

"Now wait, so it means this guy is your dad and this woman is your mom?" Alex asked, still not believing what he had heard.
"Yes, I remember her. And I guess, it's him, my dad. This is so fucked up." Michael threw the picture away and raised his hands to his forehead.

"Are you sure? Our fathers can't be related, it's impossible." Alex said.
"Lucky for you, Mr. Black isn't involved in any of it." Jason added.
"No, you don't know anything." Alex muttered under his breath.
"What?" Jason asked almost instantly.
"Nothing. You're right. My dad isn't involved but somehow I am. This shit is going to give me insomnia. Do you think we should get someone's help?" Alex asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
"No way!" Michael replied, "Whatever it is, what can we even do about it? Jason is still in danger. We need to find Elise. If my father is involved in all of this, I still don't care. He left me and now you guys are my family. No one is going to help us, we'll have to do something by ourselves."

"One more thing guys, Michael's father was here this morning, talking to my grandpa. It looks like they're friends. Now I don't think my grandpa wants me dead. So maybe we shouldn't think of Mike's father as the murderer here. What do you say?" He asked, directing his question at Alex.
"Yeah, I agree. But who else then? We don't have any enemies. We don't have enough information about your parents to know if their enemies are after you. I doubt that your grandpa or that man is involved in this murder or Elise's kidnapping. But I'm sure they know something about it." He replied and everyone agreed with him.

"Guys, we haven't got any news from the police or even from Elise's parents. I'm scared. I really am. We need to find her." Michael's voice cracked as he spoke of Elise.

"I'll do anything and everything to find Elise, I promise." Alex placed his hand on Michael's shoulder.
"Me too. But I think you guys should eat something now. Wait here, I'll make something for us." Jason walked out of his room leaving Michael and Alex alone.
Their silence was, unexpectedly, comfortable. But their minds were too busy. This was going to be a long night.

**********

A/N
Hello people,
Things are finally starting to make sense or are they getting more confusing?
Btw I added a scene in the previous chapter while writing this one out. It's right in the beginning.
Recommend this book to your friends so we can get some more reviews. Thank you!
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