GUESS WHO'S BACK!

Seriously, though I'm really sorry...

I guess I should explain why I left in the first place. It wasn't anything dramatic or anything. I just got writer's block and then life got in the way and every time I'd think of this fic I'd feel guilty.

I was actually about to delete this fic but at the last minute I decided to read some of the reviews I got.

Thank god I did that!

The reviews ended up being really positive and prompted me to go back and read this story and I got really into it again. I remembered how excited I was about this story and how much I wanted to tell it.

So, that's why I sat down a few nights ago and started typing up this new chapter. It's pretty long, easily the longest chapter to date so I hope that at least begins to make up for the over year long wait.

I'll be up front and say that I don't know how much longer it'll be before the next update but I expect it to be soon. I already know exactly what's going to happen for the next several chapters. Don't expect consistency though. That's never been my strong suit.

Anyway, you guys didn't come for this sappy, inspiration stuff. You came here to read. So, I'm going to let you do that now.


3. Standoff

Saul had been sitting in the car for six hours.

He was on a stake out, parked on the side of the road closest to the tower where Cadel's phone had last pinged. In the time that he'd been sitting in the car, the sky had grown dark and Saul Greanius had grown very very tired.

The detective glanced at his watch. 12:49 a.m. It was getting late. It was a long drive home, and he knew that he'd better get home to get some rest soon, otherwise he wouldn't be any help to Cadel tomorrow.

Saul was just picking up his walkie-talkie to inform his colleagues of his decision when a flurry of movement caught his eye. A little way down the road a white van had slowed to a standstill.

Well, that's strange, Saul thought as he observed the car. This isn't exactly the type of road you'd want to stop at. The road Saul was parked beside was dark due to the heavy number of trees in the area, but he could still see the headlights of the car shining thin beams of light into the brush.

Saul studied the car closely. It was a rather shabby looking van with mysterious brown stains all over. The windows were tinted very dark, and it looked to have quite a large trunk.

Large enough to hold a child in?

Something in Saul's gut told him that this was worth investigating. Gun in hand, he leapt out of his car and took cover behind a bush.

He was going to listen in on this strange new visitor.

"No, no, I don't know anything!" Saul was met with voices immediately after stepping outside. This first one sounded scared and panicked. As if they were being held at gunpoint.

"Oh please." Began a cultured English accent. "Don't bother lying to me. I can always tell when someone is lying to me. Now tell me where he is. NOW."

Saul sucked in a startled breath. No, it couldn't be! It couldn't! But hadn't he heard it? That voice, smooth, cruel, and crisp. As clear to his ears now as they had been in the Australian countryside when the bearer of that voice had pointed a silver gun to his head.

Well, luckily for Saul he had a gun of his own now and he took it with him as he emerged from the bushes and crept onto the road and around the car.

The sight that met him there was so strange, it could have been from a dream.

Facing the detective was the man who had spoken with fear. He was a large man with fat arms and hands and brown hair all tied up. He stood, both hands raised, trembling in fear.

The other man was borderline unrecognizable to Saul. For one, he had his back turned to him. He was also heavily disguised. It started with a brown fedora and trench coat, but it went even further. His hair, while still swept back had now been died a reddish-brown color and he wore green contact lenses. But there still was no mistaking that body language.

Or that accent.

Or that silver gun he was pointing at his opponent.

"But I don't know where he is!" The fat man stammered. He looked close to tears. "I promise."

"You promise?" the other man said with a scoff. "You should know I'm not a believer in promises, Doug, if that's even your real name." The gun clicked and Saul started. "You will tell me everything you know about that boy or-"

"FREEZE!" Saul shouted, pointing his gun at the stranger. At almost the same time the stranger whipped around and pointed his gun at Saul. Upon looking at his face, Saul gasped.

There was no doubt about it. Even though his face had a little more wrinkles than before there was no mistaking those sunken cheeks or beaky nose.

"Prosper English!?"

"Ah, Saul Greanius." Prosper said smirking. "Nice to see you once again."

"What are you doing here!?" Saul shouted. "You drowned in the Pacific Ocean! You're supposed to be dead!"

"Oh, Mr. Greanius. Did you really think a little bit of water would be enough to do me in?" Prosper's smile widened as he exposed all his canine teeth. "Give me a little credit, detective."

"What are you doing here?" Saul asked. "Where is Cadel?"

"That's a good question." Prosper said his expression darkening. "Where is Cadel, Mr. Greanius? Were you seriously expecting me to know when he was under your care?"

"You're one to talk." Saul spat. "Aren't you the one who locked him in a baggage compartment and held a gun up to his head on three separate occasions?" He knew his emotions were getting the better of him, but he didn't care. "Why are you interested in Cadel's whereabouts, anyway? We've already established that he's not your son."

"As if I would tell you that." Prosper said. The two of them were circling each other like sharks now. Guns at the ready, black and hateful words dripping from their tongues. "Honestly, Greanius you're even dumber than I remember!"

"Um, excuse me guys…" A timid voice said from the darkness. Both men slowly turned their heads to look at the fat man who Prosper had been intimidating earlier. He still had his hands up. "I know you guys are kind of in the middle of something now, but it looks like you're busy so may I-"

"Of course, you can't go, you imbecile!" Prosper interrupted. "You still haven't told me where the boy is!"

"How is it that I'm constantly surrounded by idiots?" Prosper mumbled, rolling his eyes. "If only I had two guns instead of just the one."

Two guns! Saul was appalled but didn't voice this. Instead, he asked Prosper, "How are you so sure that it was this man who took Cadel? What evidence do you have?"

"Ugh! Why must you always think you're entitled to my information, Detective Greanius?"

"Probably because you've always kept tabs on me and my family. Even though we had nothing to do with you."

For a moment silence reigned on that dark road surrounded by tall trees. Saul and Prosper were at a stale mate, both their guns pointed at each other while Doug stood by, too afraid to move.

All the while, Saul was thinking hard.

This was obviously not the ideal situation. Nor one he could have prepared for. Everyone had believed Prosper English to be dead. How could anyone have expected him to show up? But now he was here. Another obstacle for Saul if he wanted to find his son.

But if Prosper English was here, he had to have a reason, right? What did Prosper want? Well, he wanted Cadel. That much was obvious. But what for? Did Prosper really care about his safety or did he just want Cadel for whatever nefarious thing he was planning next? Saul really doubted the former.

Still, he seemed to be working hard at finding Cadel. Would having someone like Prosper on the hunt for Cadel hurt or help his son?

Maybe there was a chance he could work out a deal.

"Okay, Prosper." Saul said, finally breaking the silence. "Here's the deal. You can't shoot me, and I can't shoot you. We've reached a stalemate."

"Yes, we have." Prosper agreed slowly, narrowing his eyes. How suspicious he was growing already.

"But we're both here for the same reason. We're both trying to find Cadel. And we both know that standing around here, in a Mexican standoff will do nothing to help him."

"Well, you don't have to tell me that." Prosper scoffed. "What exactly are you plotting, Saul Greanius?"

"I'm just saying… we both have the same goal here…"

"Are you suggesting that we work together Saul Greanius?" Prosper asked, incredibly quick on the uptake. He laughed so hard that he actually threw his head back.

"I know, I know." Saul sighed. "It's not ideal. But you're a smart man, Prosper." Saul decided that Prosper would need some buttering up if he were to accept his idea. "I'll need someone like you to help me. And besides, we both have useful information. If we pulled our resources, we'd have a much better chance of finding Cadel."

"Oh please. I'd have a much better chance of finding Cadel on my own. Someone like you would only hold me back."

"So, you don't want to hear about what I've found out at all?"

"Absolutely not. Anything you can find I can find just as easily."

Saul surveyed Prosper for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and sighing. "Alright then. Well, I have investigating to do, and I can't be wasting my time here in the dark with you-"

"Wait." Prosper suddenly barked. "Maybe we can exchange information. But we can't do it here."

"Why not out here?" Saul asked, suppressing a smile. His plan had worked!

"For god's sake, Mr. Greanius, we're on the open road! A car could pull up at any moment. Besides, we still have to deal with him." Prosper gestured to Doug with his gun, who was still standing there with his hands up.

"But why!?" Doug asked desperately. "I swear I don't know anything!" Doug turned to Saul. "Tell him he's crazy!"

"Don't appeal to him!" Prosper shouted. "He can't help you! Good lord, must I do everything, myself!"

It was at that moment that Prosper rolled up his sleeves and started marching towards the car, a peevish expression on his face.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Saul shouted.

Prosper ignored him. Instead, he pointed his gun back at Doug and said, "Open that trunk! I'm going to see for myself whether you're telling the truth!"

Saul was absolutely appalled. "You can't do that!" He shouted, running over to the back of the car where Prosper and Doug were. "You don't know this man! You can't just go into his car!"

"You were the one who asked for evidence!" Prosper retorted as Doug opened up the truck at gun point. "I'm searching for it! If we're going to be working together, the least you could do Saul Greanius would be to refrain from judging my methods!"

"The trunk is open." Doug announced.

"Good. Greanius, you stay here and watch him." Prosper said pointing to Doug. "I'll be back in a moment."

"But you can't-!" Saul began, but it was already too late. Within seconds Prosper was digging in Doug's trunk, looking for evidence that he was Cadel's kidnapper.

"Dear me." He commented from inside. "It smells like death in here. I swear if you were holding my boy in here after all…" The rest of Prosper's comments were hard to hear as he ventured deeper into the trunk. There was all sorts of junk in there. Old fast-food containers, worn down books, dated technology. Even a few musical instruments were in there.

"Have you found anything yet?" Saul asked, half mockingly.

When Prosper popped his head out from behind an old drum set however, he looked quite serious. "Not yet!" He barked. "And don't take your eye off Doug!"

As Prosper returned to his search Saul and Doug exchanged glances. "I really don't know what he's talking about, I swear!" Doug said. "Don't you believe me?"

Saul sighed. He was already beginning to regret his decision. Maybe working with Prosper wasn't the best idea as he didn't seem to actually have any useful information.

Saul was just about to sneak away when Prosper shouted, "Aha!" He was weaving his way through the forest of trash in the van his fist clenched. "I've found something!" He thrust his hand in front of Saul's face.

In it was a lock of chestnut colored hair.

Saul gasped. Doug blanched. Prosper wore a manic grin.

"I told you Mr. Greanius! I had my suspicions, and I was right! Didn't you get that gut feeling when you saw him?" Prosper asked, shoving the barrel of his gun into Doug's chest. "He even looks like a child predator!"

"Okay, okay!" Doug shouted, his face chalk white. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off Prosper's gun. "I might have taken him, but I have no idea where he is, I promise!"

"Don't you remember what I said about promises?" Prosper growled. His canine teeth were exposed in a snarl.

"Prosper wait!" Saul shouted. "Let's let him explain himself."

Prosper slowly turned to Saul, his eyes narrowed. He seemed to think it over for a moment before turning back to Doug. Finally, he lowered his gun.

"Well, this should be good." He snarled. "Go on. How did you kidnap him?"

"Well, like I said I was the one who took him, but I don't know where he is now. We loaded him into another car-"

"We?" Saul asked. "You had accomplices?"

"How many?" Prosper barked.

"Not that much. Only a handful. I was under their orders!"

"Who were these people?" Saul asked.

"I don't know! I was only a small part of the operation!"

"Where did they take him?" Prosper asked.

"Don't know!"

"Where did you leave him?" Saul asked.

"It was an alleyway. I don't remember the street or anything."

"Oh, come on!" Prosper shouted. "Do you honestly expect us to believe your this clueless!?"

"I swear by what I'm saying! I swear!" Doug shouted. His hands were still raised in surrender. He turned to the detective. "You're Saul, right! Please! I can explain everything just-"

Bang!

Without warning a loud bang erupted, echoing over the dark road. Saul jumped and covered his ears. When he opened his eyes again he fond Doug laying in the road, blood flowing from his chest.

Horrified, Saul wheeled on Prosper. "You shot him!"

"I told him not to ask for help." He said with a shrug. His tone was chillingly conversational, as if he had just watched someone break an egg on the kitchen counter instead of having killed someone in cold blood.

"What if someone heard!?" Saul shouted. "I am not going to jail anytime soon!"

"You're not going to jail." Prosper said as he made his way back to the trunk. "And no one is going to hear us. Not unless you don't stop screaming anyway."

"Well, you do understand that you'll be going to jail, right?" Saul said. "You just murdered somebody in cold blood. "People are going to discover he's missing. They're going to find the body."

"Oh please, Mr. Greanius. I'd be surprised if anyone cared enough about that sorry man to report him missing. As for the body…" Prosper reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a pair of non-latex gloves. "I'll make sure no one ever finds it."

He came with a pair of gloves. Saul thought, swallowing. He was more than prepared to kill.

"Hold this." Prosper said. He had taken off his trench coat and was handing it to Saul Greanius. Now, he was only wearing a dark gray t-shirt.

"What? Why?" Saul asked.

"No use leaving more clues for any law enforcement to find." He said with a playful smirk. "The trench coat is too low. It'd be far too easy for any dirt to get on it."

"Fine." Saul said, rolling his eyes. "This doesn't make me an accomplice in murder, does it?"

At this, Prosper paused. He scrunched his face up in thought before saying, "I don't think so." He dived back into the truck.

"How are you going to bury the body anyway? It's not like you have a shovel or anything to dispose of it with?"

"Actually, I do!" Prosper said from the truck. "Our child stealing friend did have one good quality, Saul. He stored everything but the kitchen sink in hi truck! I just so happened to find a shovel in here, which is what we will use to bury him." In that moment Prosper popped out of the truck, with a metal shovel a large trash bag and a pair of shoes.

"As you can see, they had trash bags too." Prosper said brightly, holding them up.

Saul rolled his eyes again. "Lucky." He mumbled to himself.

"Quit that!" Prosper snapped. "Or your eyes will fall out of your head or something." With that, Prosper picked up Doug's body with an admirable amount of strength for someone of his age. "I'll be back." He said far too pleasantly. Then he wandered off into the woods, leaving Saul alone with the truck and his trench coat.

Saul looked around and prayed that no one would come driving down this road now of all times. He was aware that he looked very suspicious right now. An encounter with another car would be absolutely disastrous.

Fortunately, Prosper was back on the road within a matter of minutes. He had buried Doug's body with a great deal of efficiency.

The kind of efficiency that came with years of experience, no doubt.

"Here's your coat." Saul said handing it to him but Prosper held up his hand.

"Not yet." Prosper said. "I need to do one thing." He then proceeded to take off his shoes and reenter the truck.

"What now?" Saul growled.

"I need new shoes, obviously. I can't go around walking in my old ones now that my footprints are in the dirt."

"Just hurry please." Saul said as his eyes darted up and down the road. He was getting anxious. "The longer we stay here the higher a chance we have of getting caught."

"I know. I know." Prosper sighed as he appeared from the pile of junk once again with a new pair of brown men's shoes. "This is far from my first rodeo."

"Do those fit?" Saul asked.

"They fit well enough Saul Greanius." He said. "Now, which car should we take?"


So yeah, what did you think? Hopefully that was at least partially worth the wait.

I'll try to leave another update soon! Hope you enjoyed and constructive criticism is always welcome!