Chloe called Jones once more as she got into the car. The woman was curt and blunt over the phone. Usually, this wouldn't have been anything out of the ordinary, but Chloe had become accustomed to Jones's subtle changes in moods. The woman was pissed off and trying to remain civil. The girl spent the journey trying to make sense of what just happened. Had they run into the man responsible for the kidnappings? He must be rich. Yassen's services came at a steep price. He was the best, after all. She knew he had been telling the truth. MI6 was keeping things from them both. Chloe had known that from the beginning. The question was what were they hiding? Something that would put her in danger, or something that would hurt her?

The pair rode the lift to Blunt's office in strained silence. He was waiting for them in his chair at the head of the table. Jones, standing over him, stopped talking when they entered.

"Sit," she said.

"Tell us what happened," Blunt ordered.

Chloe explained the events of the past few hours. She told them about how Yassen was under the employ of the kidnapper, how the woman seemed willing (up until the end) and how Yassen had decided not to kill them. She kept the mysterious Tideway to herself for now.

"Did you get a profile on him?" Jones was taking notes.

"No. We couldn't see him. He was definitely a man. From his voice, I'd say he was forty to fifty years old. He had a posh accent. Private school type of guy I think."

"And what about the other man that was there with Christie?"

Chloe described Mike Chapman and showed the picture of his number plate.

"We'll send that through to analysis immediately. If this Mr Chapman exists, we'll find him."

"Are you going to explain to me why you took so long to show up? We could have used the help"

"Your description wasn't exactly clear, Hartford," Blunt said, "the area you described included several possible addresses. Even our drones can't cover that much ground in such a short amount of time."

Really? Because I could have sworn it was because you didn't believe me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Jones lay her pen on the table.

"Sure, "Chloe sat back in her chair and folded her arms, "so what's the plan now? We're going after him, right?"

"We are. You're not," Blunt said, "Wolf's team will spearhead this operation. You are not needed."

"Not needed?" Alex was incredulous, "we're the ones who found the guy!"

"I thought you didn't want any part of our organisation," Jones reminded him, "I thought you'd be glad to hand over responsibility."

"I…" Alex didn't know what to say.

"Chloe, you will leave this problem for us. You are still underage. I don't care how soon you'll be eighteen, you're not an adult yet. Even when you do reach legal adulthood, you won't be sent on another mission until we feel you're ready."

"How am I not ready? Have you forgotten Point Blanc?"

"We have not forgotten. How many times must we tell you that was a special case? Both of your efforts were extraordinary, but you were only a means to an end. Most of our agents are in their late twenties at least. We never had any intention of utilising you before your time."

"Then why train me in the first place, if you weren't going to use me? I've been thinking a lot, you know. And what I can't understand is why you'd take a girl who'd just lost her parents and train her to kill. Why not put me in a foster home or boarding school? Don't pretend this isn't exactly what you've raised me for."

"That's not true, Hartford," Blunt said, "we did what we thought was best."

"Then do 'what's best' now and tell Alex what happened to his parents What really happened."

"We don't know."

"Bullshit," Alex's voice cut through their arguing. He had been silent as far, but upon hearing his parents being discussed, his blood had begun to boil, "I know that Yassen knew my father, that he trained him to be an assassin."

"Where did you hear that? From Gregorovitch?" Blunt asked, "the man is a cold-blooded killer. He stands of a mountain of bodies and you believe him over us?"

Next to him, Jones flinched.

"I don't believe you," Alex spat

Tears stung Chloe's eyes. It was exactly as Yassen had said. They were lying to her. And they would continue to lie to her as long as she let them.

"I've had enough," she said, "it's like Alex said before Point Blanc. A bunch of spies were always going to be liars."

She picked herself up and headed to the exit.

"If you walk out that door, don't bother coming back," Chloe had known Blunt for ten years. She thought he cared about her, even a little. But the man spoke as if talking to a stranger, "MI6 doesn't tolerate those who betray them."

"Alan!" Jones exclaimed but his eyes never left her.

"Fine by me," Chloe said, "I quit."

They stopped by Kyra's room at the Barracks before they left. Alex had often invited her along with their trips, but Kyra preferred to plug away at her computer. That was fine with Chloe. It was nice to have someone she could relax with. The three of them had spent many nights in the little room chatting and falling asleep listening to Kyra tap at the keyboard. She was always working on something. Despite their growing friendship, however, Kyra was getting desperate. Her mother and father had been 'missing' since Point Blanc. It was another lie MI6 had been telling, but this one Chloe understood. In all likelihood, they were dead. When she had escaped into the snow, Grief must have given the order.

"You're leaving?" the girl's large eyes widened to saucers.

Kyra had turned her room into a haven of tech. Four monitors lined her desk, hooked up to a powerful PC. There were wires everywhere, making it very easy to trip and break something. She had replaced the curtains with blackouts. She only opened them when she had company.

"I can't trust them anymore," Chloe admitted.

Alex nodded in agreement, "what have they ever done to earn it, anyway?"

"I know what you mean," Kyra said. Her skin was pale, making the grey under her eyes even more obvious, "I think they know my parents are dead."

"Kyra…"

"It's the truth. You know it too. If they were alive they would have got in contact."

"But why would they keep it from you?" Alex asked.

"The same reason they keep the truth from you. To keep you around. If they told me they were gone, I'd leave. Then they wouldn't have someone helping out the tech division. Which is upsettingly bad, by the way."

"They've got you working for them?"

"Yes and no. They're not paying me, but then again, I'm not paying for this room. At first, I thought it was the least I could do, but now…"

"Now you feel like you're being used," Alex finished. The girl nodded.

"What are you going to do?" Chloe asked.

"I can't do anything until I find out what happened to them. I have to stay here."

"I understand," Chloe and Alex hugged their friend, "I'll call you. This isn't goodbye forever."

"Take care of yourselves. And don't do anything too stupid."

Alex's house felt very empty that night. Jack had left for California to see her family and they were all by themselves. Chloe had integrated herself into the space more and more every week. It began with her leaving the odd sweater or shampoo bottle, but eventually, it felt as if she lived there more than the Barracks. Most of her clothes were already in his room. The bag she had packed from the Barracks was fairly small. She hadn't spent the night in her own bed for a long time. Sleeping next to Alex was much more appealing. As she set the luggage down, she suddenly felt very tired. And something else too- afraid. She had thrown away her safety net. Blunt had all but disowned her. There was no going back now.

"You hungry?" Alex threw his phone on the sofa, "I've got fajitas."

She chopped the peppers and onions as he fried the meat. A slow song was playing through the speakers. The artist was singing her heart out about love and regret. Chloe hummed along as Alex cooked. It was moments like these she loved the best. No obligations, nowhere to be, no one to report to. They could just be themselves and relax.

He helped her roll up the tortilla. When she did it, it always fell out. They put the T.V on in the background as they ate at the table, laughing as the juice dripped from the wrap despite Alex's best efforts.

"I wonder how Jack's doing," Chloe said after finishing her mouthful.

"I called her earlier. She's with her family now at their home."

"That's good. It feels weird that she's not here though."

"I know what you mean. But it's good for us," he gave an exaggerated wink.

"That it is," she agreed and laughed, "do you think about anything else?"

"Nope. Don't pretend you don't either."

"You've got me there."

With the plates cleared away, they had the rest of the night to themselves. Chloe slid her arms around his waist as he put away the last dish. She pressed her lips against his neck.

"That time already?" he smiled, "there's just no satisfying you, is there?"

Chloe took a shower as Alex dozed off on his bed. As he lay in his boxers, drool rolling down the side of his chin, the girl kissed his bare shoulder.

"Wakey wakey. Want to shower?"

"In a bit," he said and pulled her close, "you smell nice."

"I know. It's bergamot, do you like it?"

Alex hummed his approval and pulled her under the covers, legs and arms tangling together.

"Do you think Blunt meant what he said?" he asked. His voice was muffled against her neck.

"About me betraying him? Probably. That man isn't used to not getting what he wants. It must have stung."

"He deserved it," Alex asserted, "I think we did the right thing. But why didn't you tell them about the Tideway?"

"Because now I know something they don't. I'm one step ahead."

Alex leant back and watched her with a thoughtful gaze.

"Does that mean what I think it does?"

"I'm not leaving this alone, Alex," Chloe said, "I may no longer be a part of MI6, but no way am I leaving them to handle it. I can't just sit and do nothing while people are getting snatched off the streets."

"So it has nothing to do with Yassen?"

"It does. He knows secret's MI6 would never let slip. I can't just let that go."

"So you're going to go after him, are you? You're going to crack this serial kidnapper case open by yourself?"

"I'm going to try."

Chloe thought Alex was about to chastise her, but his lips slid into a grin.

"Need a partner?"

The girl couldn't help but smile, "but you wanted nothing to do with this type of thing after Point Blanc. You made that pretty clear a few months ago."

"I wanted nothing to do with MI6," he clarified, "finding out more about my dad and uncle, though, I was going to pursue that no matter what."

"I guess Blunt was right about one thing. It is in your blood," she said.

She slid out of bed and pulled on her clothes. Alex sat up, running a hand through his hair.

"I don't know about that. Isn't it natural to want to know about your family?"

"Not everyone would put themselves in danger to find that knowledge."

"We have to be smart about this," he said, "cautious. Without MI6, we won't have any backup if things go wrong."

"They weren't there for us last time. Even at Point Blanc, they only came through after we nearly died trying to reach them."

"You should have told me you didn't know how to snowboard," Alex chuckled, "although, who knows what would have happened if you could?"

"I tried to tell you, but it was a bit too late at that point," the feeling of dread as she began her descent was a memory that was clear as day. Sometimes, she still felt that her heart was left on top of that snowy mountain, "hopefully there won't be any winter sports this time."

"We should go one day. I could teach you."

"This winter. Let's do it."

"If we're still alive by then."

"Don't joke like that. It's too real. Anyway, our first step is to find this Tideway place. Maybe that's where they have the girls."

"He said 'everyone' is waiting for them. I wonder if that meant the other girls or if this is bigger than just one crazy rich guy?"

Alex opened his laptop and clicked on Google Maps. He entered 'The Tideway, London' into the search bar. There were multiple results. Most were offices. There was a property manager's and a law firm, but what caught Chloe's eye was 'Tideway LTD'- a construction company next to the Thames. Maybe they owned the abandoned lot Christie had been taken from. There had been construction equipment strewn about the place. They checked the website. By all accounts, everything was normal. The company was advertising its architectural modelling and had multiple reviews- mostly positive. Alex scrolled down. There was a picture of their CEO, a woman, but that didn't rule out their involvement.

"Well, this is our only lead for now," she said, "how about we go on a little trip?"

They decided on taking the subway, despite the cruel heat of the crowded passages. It was better than facing the tourist-filled traffic of the bus routes. London in the summer was fit to burst with holiday-goers with sunglasses and sunburnt shoulders. After a twenty-minute journey, the pair walked up the stairs from the underground. Chloe had been hoping for a cool breeze at the top, but the air was stagnant. She set directions on her phone for the Tideway LTD. It was only a few minutes walk, but when they finally reached the building, Chloe's t-shirt was sticking to her sweaty skin. Heat visibly radiated off the grey tarmac.

"This is it," she said, panting and flapping her wet shirt.

It was an unimpressive building, easily blending in with the rest of the grey, brutalist buildings in the area. People came and went from the revolving doors while a receptionist behind a desk was busily answering calls.

"Do we go in? This place looks pretty normal," the boy observed.

"It could be a front. Like the bank is for MI6. They have people working there to make it look more legitimate."

"Let's take a look then. Follow my lead, I have an idea."

Alex fixed his hair and did up the top button of his shirt. He approached the receptionist with a wide grin. She held up one finger and smiled politely as she finished her phone call.

"Yes?"

"Hi there, my friend and I were wondering if you had any work experience opportunities at your company?"

"Certainly. Can I take your names?" the woman looked as though she'd dealt with this a dozen times over. Chloe read her name tag- Julie.

"I'm Joe Facey and this is Hannah Clarke."

The receptionist wrote the fake names down. Chloe repeated it a few times in her head so she wouldn't forget.

"Do you have a CV or a letter of referral?"

"Oh," Alex feigned embarrassment, "I didn't know we had to do that. Is that a problem?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't take you into consideration without at least a CV."

"That's a bummer. Should I email it to you or come back later?"

"Email will be fine," she scribbled down the address, "make sure you put work experience as the subject or it might get lost. We get a lot of emails."

"Thank you so much for your help," Alex beamed, "do you have a bathroom I could use by any chance?"

"Me too," Chloe caught on quickly, "best to go before we get stuck in traffic."

Julie's smile turned slightly sour. She was getting tired of dealing with teenagers. A group had already come in that morning and she still hadn't recovered.

"We only have staff toilets... but I'm sure it'll be fine," she handed them a visitors pass, "please be quick. I'll get in trouble if you disturb anyone."

"No problem. We'll be in and out."

Julie directed them to the lift, "they're on your left on the first floor."

Chloe smiled at her as the doors closed.

"You could be the next big thing in Hollywood," she told him, "you had me convinced."

"Why thank you," he grinned, "now. Where to go…"

They took a look at the floor buttons. There was one through five as well as G for ground. Below that was B.

"The basement," she said, "if I was hiding kidnapped girls in my company, that's where I'd put them."

She pressed the button. The lift began to descend. It only took a few seconds before it shuddered to a halt and a robotic woman said 'basement'. The doors opened onto a warehouse room. The ceilings were at least three metres high and dozens of metal shelving units rose to meet it in rows. There was a forklift abandoned in one of the isles and a lightbulb flickered above them. Chloe took a step forward. The lift closed behind them. She went to one of the shelves. They held nothing but construction equipment, uniforms, face masks, steel-toed boots and tools. At the far end of the floor was a barred metal barrier that separated the warehouse from the Themes. Through it, Chloe could see a docking station for cargo boats- empty for now.

"There's nothing here…" Chloe said, hardly believing it.

It was possible to see down every aisle from where they were standing. It was empty of life and activity.

"There's a room over here," Alex pointed over to a small square room tucked in the corner. There was a large window on the front. Its blinds were shut, "probably a control room for the gate."

Despite no one being around, the pair moved as silently as they could. Chloe tried the doorknob and was surprised when it turned without resistance. Alex had been right, it was a control room. Upon a terminal were dozens of buttons, levers and dials. There was also a monitor attached to the ceiling displaying live video footage of the warehouse.

"Let's check if this feed links to anywhere else in this place," she suggested.

The girl clicked around, unsure of how to navigate the software. Eventually, she came to a list of room names. One by one they looked at them. 'Office One' showed a team giving a presentation to a table of people in suits. 'Hallway One' was empty besides a cart of cleaning supplies. 'Foyer two' showed them that Julie was no longer at the front desk.

"She's probably looking for us," Chloe said, "we don't have much time."

They had exhausted the list of cameras.

"I think this place might be clean," Alex said, biting his lip, "damn."

There was a ding and the prerecorded women announced the lift had arrived again. Chloe and Alex rushed to the window and peered under the blind. Julie was there with a man and a woman in security guard uniforms.

"Time to go," Alex said, "I'll just say we got lost."

"Hang on," Chloe looked at the terminal. There was a set of keys hanging next to the door. One of them had to fit. She snatched them off the hook and looked them over, stopping on a silver key with a blue head. The search party was moving down the aisles, looking underneath boxes, getting closer to the control room by the second.

"What are you doing?" Alex whispered.

"Get ready to run," she said and twisted the key in the slot that said 'Gate'. A red light came on, but the gate stayed put. Chloe scanned the terminal- what had she got wrong? Then she saw the lever next to the keyhole, almost begging to be pulled. As she did, an alarm began blaring. The sound of the hydraulics lifting the gate was extremely loud, compounded by the alarm and flashing lights telling workers to keep clear.

"Who's done that?" the girl heard someone shout.

"Ready?" Alex was grinning.

Chloe nodded and they burst through the door together right past one of the security team. The gate was already plenty far off the ground to fit under. The pair sprinted to the Thames. A hand shot out from behind one of the aisles and Chloe only just managed to duck in time before it grabbed her. She could hear three sets of footsteps trying to catch them, two pairs of boots and one set of heels, but they were too quick. Alex skidded to a halt when they reached the dock. He whipped his head around.

"There!" he pointed to his left.

There was a tiny pebbled beach area at the end of the dock. Above that was a ladder leading to the carpark of the adjacent building. They could reach it if they jumped. Chloe pumped her legs to gain enough speed. She watched as Alex cleared the distance, falling into a roll as his feet touched the stones. The girl leapt with all her strength, ignoring a sudden and odd pain on the back of her head. She soared through the air. The water below was not filthy, but a sour smell rose from it like steam and Chloe couldn't see beneath the surface. It wouldn't kill her to fall in, but it would not be pleasant. She staggered as she reached the other side but Alex caught her before she fell backwards. Chloe laughed and looked behind her, feeling the back of her head. The security woman was standing on the dock holding a couple of strands of her hair.

"Ouch," she said.

She had to admit she felt a little bad. They were just doing their jobs. She gave them a wave before climbing the ladder into the car park. At the top, Alex pulled her to her feet.

"All in one piece?"

"Yeah, apart from my hair. That actually hurt."

"A little something to remember us by," he joked, "let's go. They've probably called the police."

The car park was deserted, the tarmac was cracked and home to endless weeds. They took care not to trip as they headed to the exit, which proved to be blocked by an impenetrable wire fence. Secured at both ends to concrete pillars, there was no way through.

"Great, what now?" Chloe sighed.

"Let's look around. Maybe there's another way out. I don't feel like swimming in the Thames today."

The walls of the car park were solid concrete and without gaps. There was also a vent running the length of the ceiling, but it was too small and too flimsy looking to consider crawling through it to be an option.

"Here!" Alex waved her over.

A stairwell behind another metal fence led upstairs. There was no light and the stairs curled around so they couldn't see, but it probably led to the ground floor.

"I think we can get this off," she said.

Chloe pulled against the fence. It wasn't fixed as securely as the one at the entrance. The only thing holding it in place were several plastic zip ties wrapped around the bannisters. As she pulled on it, the bannister creaked. It looked like some of the screws were loose.

"Help me with this," she said, "on three. One, two, three-"

Chloe and Alex each took one side of the fence. With one foot on the wall, the girl pulled with all her strength. The metal groaned in protest, but she felt some give. The screws were coming loose.

"It's nearly there," Alex said through his gritted teeth, "pull!"

Chloe's arms were burning. She sank down as she pulled, using her weight to add more force. When the far end of the bannister came free, Chloe nearly fell as the fence pulled away. There still wasn't enough room to get through. Alex reached through the gap and grabbed the wooden bannister itself. With one hand on the wall next to him, he got a good grip on the wood and yanked once. The bannister came free with a loud clatter of metal and wood on concrete. Chloe was then able to bend the fence around enough to get past. She wiped her forehead. They were both covered in sweat. Ther air-flow through the car park was non-existent.

"I need a bloody shower," she huffed, "let's see what's up here then."

The stairs led to a sparse reception area. It wasn't exactly run down like the car park, but the furniture was tipped over and there were loose papers everywhere. Unlike most abandoned buildings, however, it was free of graffiti, litter and other paraphernalia. The main exit, like all the other ways out, was blocked off and padlocked.

"There has to be a window we can get out of or-"

Chloe cut herself off and went to the front desk. There was a glass sign with light blue letters hanging above it.

"'The Tideway'," Chloe read, "this is it!"

"You're kidding?" he looked at the sign, "what is this place?"

"Looks like a fancy apartment building. I wonder why it didn't come up in the search?"

"No idea. Someone wants to keep this place hidden."

"The perfect place to hide people," she said, "only accessible from the water. And there are already rooms to keep them in."

"This is starting to look like sex trafficking," Alex declared with despair.

"I know. But, my instincts are telling me it's not."

"How come?"

"For one, sex traffickers often look for vulnerable women and girls. Homeless people or runaways are especially vulnerable. But the girls who were taken all have families and partners looking for them. None were run-aways and they all disappeared from busy places"

"You make a good point," he thought, "and know that I think about it, they all had something in common."

"What's that?"

"They all had boyfriends or husbands. I remember that from the papers. Don't you think that's a fairly big coincidence?"

"I think you're right. But the police must have looked at the men. Most instances of kidnapping are perpetrated by someone the victim knew."

"If this guy is as rich as we think he is, maybe he has the police in his pocket. Or, they were smart about how they abducted the girls and left no evidence."

Chloe let all the new ideas rattle around in her brain. Pieces were coming together, but without any idea of his motive, it was impossible to puzzle things together in any coherent way.

"I say we check out the rooms. Maybe there'll be some kind of clue."