Chapter 36

As soon as they were out, Steve grabbed Jane "Who is that man? Who did you leave with my kid?" He shouted, holding her and holding onto her as the world tilted and then corrected itself again.

"What?" Jane said. "What is wrong with you? Your mother is here dead. Doesn't that mean something to you? Think!" She tapped her index finger on her temple.

"How big is he? Is he small?" Steve said calmly and clearly, his voice demanding.

"Tiny." Jane replied frowning.

Steve let her go, but the moment he turned the world tilted again. Danny grabbed him "Buddy, I think you need a doctor. I think you might have a concussion."

"I'm fine. It's just when I move my head." Steve said, blinking fast.

Lou pulled him aside, Danny, Chin and Kono followed. "Steve, what are you thinking?" Lou asked.

"That was a one man hole. There is no way Sofia would go down without a fight, and I've seen her fight. They couldn't have got to her. If that guy that was with her is as small as everyone claims, then she could have overcome him easily. Which means, it had to be someone she trusted." Steve replied.

"Okay, so you think she's safe?" Lou said.

"They want the guy. They want him badly." Steve said glancing at the others. They were also communicating something in secret.

"Look, there are far too many unknowns, but my bet is that Malina had someone else here." Chin said. "Maybe they were here to help us, maybe we were here to help them."

Steve looked up and lost his balance again.

"Okay, that's it, I'm calling it." Danny said holding Steve. "We're going back to the base. You'll get checked out. We'll then make a plan."

"Danny, I'm fine. I feel fine. A bit bruised…" Steve said but as he looked down at his body he felt dizzy again.

"Why won't they just die?" Jane screamed, pacing around, waving her arms about like a mad person. A car stopped, they got in taking Doris's body with them, and drove off.

"We've got them." One of the military personnel who came with the H50 team said and the other two followed him. They went in one of the cars, while H50 team went in the other car back to the base.

It took less than five minutes for the doctor to diagnose Steve "You've sustained an injury to your inner ear. You'll be fine in about a week or so, till then, you'll have to sit still." Doctor said.

"Doc, with all due respect, I feel fine. My ears are fine. These bruises hurt a bit, but my whole head is fine." Steve said feeling proud to have protected his head.

"I know. This doesn't hurt. This is just annoying. It's part of our balancing system. Err… In lamest terms, your very important liquids are all over the place, so every time you move your head, the world is tilting like a seesaw. When you're not moving your head, i.e. disturbing the liquids, you feel completely fine. It's one of the more annoying injuries. But it does have a big effect. You were attacked by someone with great precision." Doctor said.

"He was attacked by a girl." Danny said.

"I could give you a neck brace to help you remember not to move your head. That's pretty much all I can do for now. You'll just have to give it time." The doctor shrugged.

"I think a neck brace would be great." Danny said.

Steve shook his head and almost fell off the examination table. He grabbed his head to try and steady it.

While the doctor went to get a neck brace, Steve thought about his attacker. He wished he caught at least a glimpse of her eyes, but he didn't, not even for a second. Her body was so familiar that he was inclined to think it was Malina, but he knew that's insane. How would she get there? It must have been one of the women who train with Malina. Same hips, legs, the way her back curved… Is it possible for two women to have such similar body shapes?

Steve picked up his phone and tried calling Malina again. This time, when it went straight to voice mail, Steve wasn't thinking she turned it off to avoid journalists. He called Duke and asked him if he can send someone over to his house. Duke informed him that he's had an eye on his house the whole night, nothing happened. Steve wondered if he should ask them to go in, but he realised that there is no sense in that. Malina wasn't home. But she couldn't be in Turkey either. In fact, she couldn't be far from home. 'I'll be fine' her voice echoed in his mind.

"Danny, I'm staying until I find Sofia. I know she's safe, but I need to confirmation." Steve said.

"You know we're not…" Danny was interrupted by Lou bursting into the room.

"Sam just called. Sofia sent her an e-mail. She's just forwarded it to me." Lou said handing his phone to Steve.

The e-mail read:

Dearest Sam,

I am so sorry our fun day turned into this nightmare. I don't have any numbers, only your e-mail address so I need to ask you a favour. Could you please tell your dad to tell my dad that I'm fine? I'm currently flying back home and I want to thank everyone for their help recuing me. I can't tell you how much I love my Hawaiian family. I am so grateful. I promise I will be in touch as soon as I can, and I can't wait to see everyone again.

I am worried about daddy. Uncle Amir says he was injured, but that he's doing better now, that it wasn't too bad. How bad was it? Please tell me the truth, because my mind is running wild. Also, you'll probably see my mum before me, please give her a big hug. Reassure her that I'm fine.

Thank you so much and please send my love to everyone.

Best wishes,

Sofia.

Apart from relief, confusion and a sense of disappointment became apparent. Steve felt betrayed. Malina must have contacted additional support because she didn't trust him. Or perhaps she just wanted to cover all the basis? Why wasn't she picking up her phone? Why didn't she stay in touch with him? Why doesn't he know where she is?

"Maybe we should swing by Bosnia, make sure she's alright?" Lou suggested.

Steve felt torn. On the one hand he wanted to see Sofia, but at least he knew where Sofia was and who she was with. Malina suddenly became a complete mystery. He was sure she's still on the island. What was she doing?

Doctor came in with the neck brace and said that Khalid was missing. Apparently he just vanished into thin air. Some Bosnians are being cursed left, right and centre for letting him go.

"Are you sure they didn't take him with them?" Danny asked.

"They are certain. They had a lift off about 40 minutes ago. Five men and a woman. Five men were on the flight here, the woman is the one they came to collect. A boy-like figure would have been noticed among them." Doctor replied fixing the neck brace on Steve.

"Where did they fly from?" Steve asked.

"Private runway about 30 miles north." Doctor replied. "They made no secret of it. There! That should help." Doctor said looking at his patient.

Danny was visibly amused. It wasn't just the neck brace, but also the fact that Steve wasn't hurt except for that little part of him yet it had such a big effect.

"Doc, is there something I could do to prevent an injury like this in the future?" Steve asked.

"Like exercise your inner ear? No. Not that I know of." Doctor replied. "But, injury like this is not easy to get. Once in a life is already unfortunate enough."

"Oh Doc, if only you knew." Danny smirked. "He knows he's in danger of getting beaten like this again."

Steve would have retaliated, but his phone rang. The screed said: Jerry.

"Guys, we have a bit of a problem here." Jerry said.

"What is?" Steve asked turning on the speaker so that everyone can hear.

"I think I should show you." Jerry said turning the camera to the screen at the workstation at H50 HQ. It played Tom and Jerry cartoon.

"What is that?" Chin asked.

"I'm guessing it's a message to me." Jerry replied. "I can't get into the system. The whole thing is shut down. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like this."

In a way Steve was relieved that the decision between Bosnia and Hawaii was made for him at least for now. They were heading home and he was going to find out what happened.