Chapter 1: Someone's Watching
One sunny day in May, the Beilschmidt family was at the park; they were having a great time, eating, laughing, and playing together. The family consisted of Claus Beilschmidt; his wife, Elise; Claus' twelve-year-old son, Ludwig; and his five-year-old stepson, Gilbert.
Gilbert—who was holding a brown teddy bear under one arm—finished his CapriSun, then looked over at a big, yellow slide, where a bunch of other kids his age and a little older were playing. He pointed to it and looked at his parents. "Mommy, Daddy, can I go on the slide?"
"Sure," said Elise. "As long as your brother goes with you."
Claus turned to Ludwig, who was busy texting someone, probably his friends, Feliciano Vargas and Kiku Honda, or his current girlfriend, Krysia Lukasiewicz. "Lui, could you take Gilbo to the playground?"
Ludwig's jaw dropped, and he whined. "But Dad, I'm talking to Feli and Kiku."
Claus sighed in frustration at his eldest son. "Ludwig Peter Beilschmidt, put the phone away and take your little brother to the—"
"Alright, alright," Ludwig replied hastily, holding his hands up in surrender. Then he texted Feliciano and Kiku. 'g2g. dad wants me to take squirt to the playground. ttyl.' Ludwig put the phone away, then rolled his eyes and looked at Gilbert, who was smiling at him. "Come on, Squirt. Let's go."
"Yay! Thanks, Big Brother!" Gilbert exclaimed happily as he ran towards the playground, ahead of Ludwig.
"Be careful, you two," Elise called out as she and Claus watched their sons go to the slide.
"West, watch me!" said Gilbert. He climbed up the slide and slid back down, landing right on his butt. "Oof." Then he brushed the dirt off his denim short overalls and kept on climbing up and sliding down while still holding his teddy bear (named Prussia) as his big brother watched him carefully.
As Ludwig watched Gilbert go up and down the slide multiple times, he couldn't help but smile. Yes, he thought babysitting Gilbert was annoying—particularly when he was talking to his friends and girlfriend—but he still loved the boy to death. After all, Gilbert was his one and only little brother.
"Whoa!" Gilbert said as he tripped and fell off the slide. He accidentally dropped Prussia on the ground when he tripped.
"Hey, careful, Gilbo," Ludwig said when he caught Gilbert in mid-fall. "You could've gotten hurt."
"Okay, bro," Gilbert said as he got back on the slide. "Lui, can I have Prussia?" He pointed to the bear.
"Here," said Ludwig. He picked Prussia up and handed the bear to his little brother.
"Thanks!" said Gilbert.
Unknown to anyone at the park, a man was sitting a little ways away from the playground, watching the children with great concentration. The man took out a cell phone and called someone.
"Sasha here," a voice on the other end said. The voice had a slight accent, signifying that the owner was from somewhere in Eastern Europe. "What is it, Brother Dmitri?"
"Brother Sasha, I think I might've found the package," Dmitri replied. His eyes were focused on Ludwig, who was still watching Gilbert like a hawk. "Um, he's about ten to twelve…thirteen at the most. The kid's wearing a black T-shirt and jeans, and he's got blond hair and blue eyes. Is that him?"
"No," said Sasha. "The other kid. The one we've been following for the past four months! You're looking for a small child, remember, idiot?"
Dmitri scanned the crowd of children again. Now he was focusing on Gilbert, who was now pushing Prussia down the slide and joining the stuffed animal, laughing as he did so. "I see a little boy, about three to five, maybe six. Platinum blond hair, red-violet eyes, wearing blue short overalls and a white T-shirt. He's also carrying a teddy bear. That's the one, right?"
"Yes!" said Sasha. get out there and grab the brat. Then bring him here, and we'll take care of him. You know what I mean."
"Got it," said Dmitri. He hung up and continued watching the Beilschmidt brothers, deciding to wait until Ludwig took his eyes off Gilbert to grab the boy.