"How is that possible?" Milton was frantic.
"I don't know," Jack muttered over the phone. "But I intend to find out."
"Did you get ahold of Kim?"
Jack spared a glance at Jerry, who gave him a horrified look.
"We came to her basement, but they're gone," Jack shared, staring at the papers scattered around them. A laptop was smoking on a desk as Jerry dug around on his hands and knees. "And the place is trashed."
After hearing Rudy's info the pair had sprinted to Kim's house to find the back door unlocked and the basement a total maelstrom. Kim had left her phone behind, and there was no sign of either Ella or her.
"We couldn't tell Rudy about Ella's story," Jack reported. "Since she might be a traitor."
Milton huffed. "Enough, we need to find Kim! Where should we meet up?"
Eddie was seething. He glared at the woman in front of him.
"What do you have to gain by this?" He demanded. "Honestly? You've had me betray my own friends and don't show any guilt! Don't you have any shame?!"
The pair of them were in a small coffee shop that buzzed with conversation. Eddie's cold tea sat on the table, while the person opposite sipped on an espresso. Her features were hidden in the shadows.
She laughed coldly. "Dear Mr. Jones, neither of us are saints. There's no need to act self-righteous to my face."
Eddie's fists clenched.
"You should be more polite, considering your position." She reprimanded.
"I didn't come to talk," Eddie growled.
"Of course not! You're searching for your lady love," the older female mocked. "How romantic!"
Eddie had a few weapons, but he didn't dare to use them. Who knew how many of these casual, chatting people were innocents and how many were the woman's backup.
"Here's the deal," she cleared her throat. "You want to find Juliana. So do we."
"I'm not going to work with you," he snapped.
The woman leaned forward, exposing her face.
"Oh no, you don't have to do anything." Miss Mohindra smiled, but there was zero warmth in her eyes. "You see, you're going to be our bait."
Milton, Jerry, and Jack were freaking out. They had run all over town but Kim was nowhere to be found.
They were currently in the park, catching their breath.
"Guys!" Milton called. "I just got a message from that weird app!"
The three boys crowded around the video to see Kim tied to a pole, struggling to free herself. She was gagged, but definitely alive.
"Kim," Jack let out a breathless whisper.
Ella's face popped into the frame, a hood wrapped tightly around her head.
"You guys are really stupid, you know that?" she chuckled. "I mean…seriously. Secret societies and puzzles? Conspiracies are so much fun!"
Kim glared lasers at the other girl.
"Poor Kim," Ella mockingly sympathized. She moved to tuck a strand of hair behind the captive's ear. Kim tried to head butt her in return.
Ella hurriedly retreated. "I was just trying to be nice!" She turned to face the camera, her face solemn.
"Here's my puzzle for you. Get your buddy Eddie and bring him to me by seven, or Kim doesn't make the cut."
The video deleted itself immediately.
Utterly speechless, Jack punched a nearby tree.
"Uh…Jack? What did the tree do to you?" Jerry cut in nervously. "Trees are nice. Photosynthesis and all that."
Milton went into damage control mode. "Jack, we can fix this. We'll find Eddie and rescue Kim—"
"You don't get it!" Jack exploded.
The two took a step away from their friend. They'd never seen him lose his temper like this. He'd always been the levelheaded leader, but now…
"Ella is playing with us like dolls, and all we do is get captured or hurt!" Jack cried out. "To save Kim, we betray Eddie. How can that be fixed?!"
Jerry muttered something in Spanish that sounded suspiciously unflattering.
"Guys!"
All three swung around to see Ella running towards them.
"What the—?" Jerry blinked.
"It must have been prerecorded!" Milton exclaimed. "Now she's here to make sure we do our job!"
Ella jogged up, ignoring the looks on their faces.
"Kim got abducted," she announced without preamble. "But somehow it seems you guys have already found out."
Jack snorted. "Duh. You did it."
"What?"
"You kidnapped her!"
Ella was stunned. "Wha—I…no!"
"Don't bother lying, we saw the whole video!" Jerry challenged. "We know you're here just to make sure we don't screw up!"
She shook her head violently.
"No…no, that's impossible!" she stuttered. "I was with Kim when she was being taken!"
"Obviously! You were one of the assailants!" Milton accused.
Ella turned bright red.
"I am not a traitor," she emphasized. "I don't know what you saw, exactly, but it's not true! You have to believe me!"
"Why?" Milton sneered.
"Revealing myself, then waltzing right towards you as if nothing happened?!" Ella snarled. "Give me some credit, I'm not that stupid!"
"It could all be part of your sick game," Jack coldly refused to listen. "We really trusted you, you know that?"
She was struggling not to lose her temper.
"It's…it's not true!" Ella almost cried from frustration. "I'm innocent!" "Innocent?!" Jack spat. "Don't make me laugh, you've done it before!"
Ella paused in confusion. "Wait…what do you mean?"
"Rudy saw you the day our dojo got paint-balled!" Jack yelled. "You threatened him!"
Pure rage distorted her features. "I'm being framed, morons!"
"I guess you don't have an evil twin," Jerry mumbled, eying her skeptically.
"I've lived by myself as long as I can remember," Ella's voice had an edge. "I don't have anyone else I never did!"
Milton scoffed. "So where'd your name come from?"
"I don't know I just knew it was my name!" Ella roared. She abruptly stopped and took a deep breath, moderating her tone.
"Guys, please, I don't know how they got my face, I don't get how Rudy saw me that night." Ella spoke steadily. "I never even went near the dojo, I was outside spying on you!"
There was a moment of silence.
"Okay kind of a weird excuse," Ella admitted. "But still, think about it! I wouldn't pretend to be on your side if I wanted to mess with you. You're all way too gullible anyway." "Hey!" Jack protested.
"Nah man she's got us there," Jerry reaffirmed.
Ella rubbed her temples. "My point is that it's a really idiotic move, thus not something I'd ever do."
"You said yourself the Cryptographers don't make mistakes," Jack remarked hostilely.
"Like I do?!" She shoved him.
"It's not like you're perfect!" Jack pushed her back, equally riled.
Milton leaped in between them.
"Okay, okay, let's say you're telling the truth," he spoke hastily. "What do we do?"
His intervention was successful, and the two hesitated.
"It's simple," Jerry told them. "We find Eddie."
"Or I find you," Eddie appeared from the shadows.
"DUDE!" Jerry enveloped him in a bear hug. "Where have you been?!"
Eddie laughed awkwardly. "Around."
Milton also embraced his pal. "Eddie we've been worried sick!"
"Yeah well, you need me to save Kim," he gave Jack a bro handshake while extricating himself from the friend sandwich.
"How did you know that?" Ella was skeptical.
He shrugged. "You were talking about it."
Ella refused to let it go that easily. "Okay, but seriously, where were you? The more you avoid the question the more suspicious you sound."
Jack groaned. "Ella, it's still Eddie. He's our friend."
"Your friend just dropped out of the sky when we needed him," she retorted. "The timing is too perfect. Why should we even trust him?"
"Because you have no choice." Eddie pronounced ominously.
A frosty atmosphere descended on them.
"Eddie…are you okay?" Milton was almost afraid to ask.
They'd never heard him sound so joyless. Now when they looked at him, really looked at him—a darkness cloaked his face, making him seem older, angrier, and dangerous.
"Obviously not he sounds like he's dead meat, a zombie, a total—" Jerry got elbowed by Ella and realized what he said. "Oh really Jerry?! Really?!"
Ella crossed her arms. "You see?"
"He doesn't need to tell us everything!" Jack defended.
She threw her hands in the air.
"Imbecile! He's probably gone over to the enemy by now!" Ella raged. "He's going to get us all killed, or worst, caught!"
"And how do we know that you aren't the traitor?" Jerry cut her off.
Her face swelled, turning purple.
"I think she's going to explode!" Jerry whisper-shouted.
The boys recoiled as her mouth began to open and—
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Ella screamed in exasperation. She clutched her head for a few moments before yelling.
"That's it! I'm out!"
She stomped away, but wheeled at the last moment. "Feel free to ignore my advice and walk into a trap," Ella's gaze was bitter. "I'm planning to survive."