A/N: Chapter rewritten.

Disclaimer from previous chapters will be applied here.

Chapter 3

The One That Got Away

Saturday - August 15, 2013
0159 hours

Suddenly at the dead of night, a sound of broken glass woke me up. Apparently, it woke up Thea too. I stuck my head out of my room with my PS90. Thea came out with her SIG pistol in her hands.

"You heard that?" I asked her.

"I sure did. It came from the kitchen," she squeaked. I gave her a confused look anr questioned about her 9mm-caliber pistol.

"What's with the SIG?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Many disadvantages that I could say right now, but it's not the time. Hold on," I went back in to get something. "Use this rifle."

"A Bushmaster ACR Civilian model, thanks." She kept her SIG on her waist and we pulled our gun's cocking levers which chambered a round and went downstairs to investigate. We found out that one of my $250 drinking glasses broke and there was signs of struggle everywhere. Pots and pans were on the floor, cooking equipment was out of place, and found the intruders escape route. The window. We went out through the front door just in time to see that he or she had already started to drive away on the courtyard.

"Hey, Stop!" I shouted. But the driver took off while the tires kicked up some dust, so we sprayed rounds to his/her car. Unfortunately, we ran out of ammunition and none of the shots popped a single tire.

"Cheeses!" Thea shouted in frustration. She pulled out her iPhone out of her pocket and called Geronimo on speed dial.

"Hello, Geronimo? Someone just broke into the house. I need a BOLO on a blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-400. A broken rear windshield and it's covered in bulletholes..."

While she was busy talking to Geronimo, I examined one of my first line of security; the spike strips. I crouched down and took a stare at it with nightvision, seeing no spikes deployed.

"Okay. Bye," Thea hung up, then approached me. "The team's on their way here to investigate. Can you provide anything to help us?" I didn't respond to her, making her wonder what I was investigating. "Watcha looking at Danny?" she asked.

"I don't understand. Why didn't the spike strips deploy?" I said.

"Maybe someone bypassed your security coding and disabled them?"

"There's a possibility, but my firewalls are real thick. Not even the toughest supercomputers in the world combined could penetrate or find another way to get past my security coding."

She posed with her arms akimbo and took a moment to think. Then she looked around, trying to find something. "Have you got any cameras around here?"

"Plenty. That reminds me, why didn't J-Son alarm me when there was an intruder in the house?"

"Just what I was about to ask..." Thea suggested.

We went back inside, the house dark and cold without a single light. Strange thing is, the lights will always go on automatically if there's a person in the area.

"J-Son!" I shouted. No response after one second. Then him and all the lights and immediately went back online. That was really strange; I never turn him off. Never. "That sounded like the backup generator just kicked in."

"That was the backup generator, sir. I'm sorry that I have to inform you that there was an intruder in the house"

"Yeah, and he got away," Thea squeaked.

"Why were you offline? I never turned you off," I said.

"That's what I was about to ask you sir. I was looking after the house until suddenly I blacked out," J-Son explained.

"What? Did someone used a jammer on you?"

"Apparently so, sir."

"So you don't have the footage from the security cameras?"

"I'm sorry sir, the cameras were also disabled with the rest of the security system, so I don't have them."

"Damn it!" I grunted, looking away.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Thea.

"It's up to you guys to find out now," I turned to her.

45 minutes later, another Dodge Charger drove up into the gates of the property. It was silver, with a hint of metallic. After it's lights and engine were turned off, the driver and the passengers stepped out, which was the whole Stilton family. They were wearing Interpol forensic's jackets, and had pistols carried in their holsters just in case.

"Geronimo Stilton! I'm a big fan of your books!" I started. "It's great to finally meet you in person! Call me Danny," I greeted as he and his team went to the back to get their forensic kits.

He walked up to me after grabbing the kit. "Special Agent Geronimo Stilton. It's great to finally meet you too." Formally, we shook hands like gentlemen.

"So, how's the BOLO?" said Thea who came from behind me, getting her sweater from inside.

"Benjamin already requested one from the police while on the way here. Haven't got the results yet, though."

"And the court order?" asked the sister again.

"I already informed the local police about that. Danny, I'd like you to meet my team before we go collecting evidence. I'm sure you're very familiar with them after reading my books." Thea then directed her brother to his first scene to be investigated.

And speaking of familiar, one of the 'characters' of G's books had been one of my best friend since 2011. Geronimo's nephew himself.

"Benjamin!" I called, raising my arms.

"Danny! It so good to see each other again," he said as we did our signature handshake. He was a lot taller than the last time I met him. He's a few months younger than me.

"How's it been after two years?"

"It's been good. And I got promoted to Junior Special Agent!"

"Whoa! Now you're Junior Special Agent Benjamin Stilton. How'd you manage to get promoted?

"Stopping an international serial killer with a defensive shot on the head."

"So the shooting training I gave you really paid off?"

"It really did. I better join Uncle Geronimo. Catch up with you later!"

Last but not least, Pandora and Trap. Pandora carried two forensic kits. They looked heavy. Anyway, those two were still discussing about what happened to The Technologists.

"What do you think happened to them?" Pandora said.

"I don't know. Rumors say that they already arrived in Malaysia," Trap replied.

"I hope not..." she denied.

I was standing in front of them cross armed. "Let me guess, Pandora Woz and Trap Stilton, am I right?"

"How'd you guess our names?" Trap asked.

"I'm a big fan of your cousin's books, so I know you very well. I'll have to say otherwise for Pandora, though."

Pandora smiled warmly. "I portray the somewhat annoying Bugsy Wugzy in Geronimo's books. My name's Pandora Woz. Benjamin's bestie and the team's forensic scientist."

"He told me all about you. You need help with those?" I asked.

"Sure..." I carried one of the bags and invited them inside.

The kitchen, where I cook from my mom's recipes is trashed. Completely. Geronimo had Pandora and Trap processing the scene while Thea, Benjamin and himself investigated the courtyard.

"Whoa... What happened in here?" said Trap upon entry of the messy kitchen.

"To be honest, I have no idea," I replied.

I spent my time drinking milk at the kitchen entrance after that. Outside, Geronimo, Thea and Benjamin got lots of clues. Tire tracks, shoe prints and shell casings from our guns are some of the things they found. The casings were collected to match them with the bullets that hit the suspect's car (if Benjamin can find it on the local police department's database).

"Hmm... This is weird. Hey Geronimo! Come look at this," called Thea.

"What is it Thea?" Geronimo said.

"When Danny and I went out to chase the suspect there was only one car. But here, there's two different tire tracks. One with a tread and one without a tread," she explained.

"You think that's weird? Come check this out!" Benjamin shouted from the kitchen window.

"What did you find Benjamin?" Thea asked.

"I've got two sets of shoe prints, one with a pattern, one without a pattern," he stated.

"Hmm... Pandora! What have you and Trap found?" Geronimo asked through the window.

"I overheard your conversation and we got a couple of blood drops," she replied.

"So from the tracks and shoe pattern, doesn't this mean that we have to look for two people?" I interrupted.

"But why travel in a separate car? Can't they just share a ride?" Thea stated.

"Maybe they hate working with each other," I theorized.

"That explains the kitchen," Geronimo said.

"Maybe they were working for someone else... The Technologists maybe?" Pandora suggested.

"Actually, that's not a bad theory," Benjamin said.

"Thank you," Pandora said.

"Pandora, you said you found blood drops?" I asked.

"I did, why?" she asked.

"Have you checked the knives?"

All of them looked at the knife holder, wishing they hadn't missed that. Geronimo slowly crept up to it and pulled every knife slowly. On one of the knives' blades, had fresh blood.

"A bloody knife," Geronimo said. "Pandora bag this for me, will you?"

"Sure," she took the knife and put in the evidence bag.

"Now all we have to do is take all the clues back to the lab and analyze 'em," said Trap.

"You want us to help you clean up the kitchen or anything?" offered Geronimo.

"Nah, it's fine. I can do that in the morning. I just want..." yawn "to go back to bed," I said.

"So do I," Thea said from the outside.

"Okay then, we'll leave you two to rest. Thea, if anything happens, call me," ordered Geronimo.

"Roger that," she replied.

We were off to bed again. I walked past the TV to turn it off until...

CNN and it gave us bad news.

"This is just in, we received news that a car bombing incident has happened in the center of the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Happened at 1.34 a.m. local time, a car parked near the American suddenly exploded. 3 people were seriously injured. According to the Malaysian Minister of Defense, this was surely an act of terrorism as Interpol already informed them that the terrorist group, 'The Tecnologists' terrorism activities are..." I stopped listening to the 90 inch smart TV when Thea walked through the doorway.

"Danny, what's wrong?" she asked.

"This is bad... This is really bad... They're already here," I said.

"The Technologists?" she replied.

"Yes. J-Son, enable the bulletproof windows and walls, now!" I ordered.

"I'll go get Geronimo," she said and went out the door. Good thing the team never left. They were still packing up. "G, hold up!"

"Thea?" he started as Thea ran towards him.

"Geronimo, we've got some bad news. The Technologists are already in the country," Thea stated.

"What?!" exclaimed Geronimo.

"When we were on our way to bed, CNN reported of a bombing of a car at Kuala Lumpur," she said. "I need you to get a court order so that Danny can carry full auto weapons in public."

"I'll see what what I can do. In addition to that, I'll double up on security by assigning guards armed with M4s at the front gate," he added.

"Good idea," Thea nodded. "Good night."

"Good night Thea," replied Geronimo.

0500 hours

After sleeping well for three whole hours, I woke up from a dream where the leader of The Technologists pointing a gun to my head while I was pinned down. I woke up when the moment he pulled the trigger in shock and... eww, sweat. I tried to go back to sleep but whatever I tried I couldn't. I tossed and turned on my bed for 10 minutes. So I decided to go downstairs and went to the kitchen for another shot of milk.

"Couldn't sleep, sir?" J-son queried.

"Nope," I answered while pouring milk into a glass.

"Should I suggest you to continue working on your special melee weapon sir? Since it's your wake-up time," he asked again.

"I suppose you're right," I said as I gulped down the milk to the last drop.

"Should I tell Special Agent Stilton about this?" he asked again.

"No, not yet, but I'll tell her soon," I said. "When she wakes up, tell her that I'll be in the armory and tell her not to disturb me because I'll be 'in the zone'. I'll be staying up all morning..." I said.

"Don't forget to take your morning shower first," J-son reminded.

"...after I take my morning shower," I said. "Thanks for reminding me J-Son!"

"You're welcome sir," said J-Son.

And so, after that fresh, cold glass of milk, I went to the elevator to go underground and continued working my special melee weapon all morning.

0835 hours - About 3 hours later

"Danny! Danny? Where could he be?" shouted Thea. "J-Son, have you seen Danny anywhere? I need to clean my SIG pistol and forgot to bring along the cleaning kit. I was going to ask him if he has one."

"He is in the armory..." said Jason.

"Great! Just where I needed to go," she said as she walked straight to the elevator.

"...Agent Stilton, wait! He doesn't want to be disturbed at the moment," J-Son warned.

"Why?" Thea asked.

"Because he said he is 'in the zone', I will inform him that you wanted to see him," he said.

"Okay then, how long has he been in there?" she asked.

"Since 5 in the morning," he answered.

"Really? That long?" she wondered.

"He wakes up at 5 am every morning, Agent Stilton," he stated.

"Ooo...kay, so I'll be in the kitchen making breakfast for both of us," she said.

The kitchen was a mess after last night. So she decided to clean it all up. Actually, we planned that we both would clean up the kitchen together. But since I was busy and not aware that she was already awake, she did it herself. I really wanted to help, well - you get the idea.

I stopped building my weapon about half an hour later to have breakfast with Thea. I stepped out of the elevator, looking tired in my morning outfit. Then I looked at the dining table. Looks like she filled it with my mother's recipes.

I sniffed a few times and detected a delicious smell. "Mmm... Something smells good," I said. "Thea did you cook all this?"

"Yes, yes I did," said Thea proudly, taking a sip from a cup of coffee.

"Wow, they smell like how my mom used to make," I stated.

"I found your mom's recipe book on the counter, so I thought I'd cook something for you," she said.

"Thanks Thea," I said with a smile.

"Wow! you cleaned the kitchen too? I thought we were going to do that together," I said as I grabbed the milk carton from the fridge.

"Since you were busy, I figured that we couldn't finish in time if I waited for you, so I thought I'd clean it up by myself," said Thea.

"Thea, you didn't have to do all this," I said as I sat down at the table.

"Of course I did," said Thea.

"I guess, you really are a true friend," I agreed.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes, yes you are," I said as I sat down. "Let's see what your French toast and scrambled eggs taste like," I scooped up a spoonful of eggs into my mouth...

It was the most satisfying sensation my taste buds ever felt. It was buttery, and had a bit of cheese in it.

"Mmm... Just like how mom used to make them. I like how you put cheese in it, it's really great."

"I'm glad you like it," she said.

I laid down the spoon and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "I haven't had breakfast with another person like this in years, it feels so different now," I said.

"In a good way or a strange way?" she asked.

"A good way. All this time, it's just been me and J-Son in this house," I stated.

"No friends?" asked Thea.

"Before you came, my neighbor across the street, Firas goes to my house every once in a while, there's also Benjamin when we're video chatting on Facebook secretly from you guys, J-Son and the AI cars, that's it, no one else," I listed. "Oh, there's also Professor Graham Phillips, the man who created the chip."

"What about family?" The moment she asked that my heart broke.

"Professor Philips is all I have closest to a father now. My family perished in a car explosion," I said sorrowfully.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." she said.

"It's okay," I stammered. "I moved on like they did, I started a new life, and now here I am," I said. Suddenly, Thea's iPhone rang. The caller ID read: Geronimo Stilton with his face wearing black shades. He looks good in them.

"Hi Geronimo," said Thea.

"Thea, I need you to get here, we've got the BOLO results," he informed.

"We'll be right there," said Thea. "C'mon Danny, Geronimo needs us at HQ."

"I'm gonna get changed," I said as I grabbed my plate and put it in the dishwasher.

Before going to the garage, I got dressed in my usual style, wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt on the inside and a button shirt on the outside, which I left unbuttoned.

So I went to the garage, and started Thea's Charger. Just in time, Thea showed up from the elevator looking ready as usual.

"Do you have your gun with you?" asked Thea.

"I've got my H&K USP45 with 3 extra mags," I answered as I showed her the weapon.

"Good, let's roll," she said.

Interpol Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

The traffic was slow at the highways, but we managed to arrive on time. At HQ, finding a parking space was a breeze because the parking lot was almost empty. Thea found a space next to Geronimo's car. We got out and went in the building and headed straight to the elevator.

At the bullpen, everyone was asleep at their desks except Geronimo, who held a cup of coffee in his hand and looked fresh and active.

"Hi Geronimo, you're up and early," I greeted.

"I know I'm not a morning mouse, but considering my responsibility, I decided to do so," he said.

"So, the BOLO?" asked Thea. "And which team's bullpen is this?"

"It's a bullpen designated for guest agents, my dear sister. Setting up shop at an occupied bullpen is certainly unmannered," he responded. "Anyway, the police found footage of the blue FQ-400 on a security camera at a gas station. They sent the footage to us and with the help of Benjamin's photo enhancing software, we were able to see the license plates and track the car down. It was registered to a-" he was cut off by Benjamin who was awaken from his slumber.

"Fernando Martinez, originally an illegal immigrant who got into the United States by outrunning the country's border patrol's speedboat," he explained, "but admits that he was born somewhere in Upstate New York. He was given a green card and now an American citizen, and bought a place here in Malaysia last year. He had money troubles back when he was still living at America, but finally managed to pay all his debts by winning $5 million in a lottery. Also back in America, he got arrested for driving while intoxicated for several times and assault and battery," Benjamin explained.

"As I was saying, his car is bought and registered in this country with Malaysian plates and we found his current home address but when the police went to his house to make an arrest, he nor the car wasn't there."

"What about the blood sample from the knife?" I asked.

"Pandora should have them by now, she's at the lab," said Geronimo. "Benjamin, do you mind getting results for me?"

"Not at all," Benjamin replied.

"I'm tailing your six," I insisted. Together, we scampered our way to the elevator.

Underground, the lab wasn't that far. It was next to the interrogation room. The lab Pandora was using was the one for guests to use only. The door was left wide open, so I entered and saw that she was sleeping on her swivel chair while wearing a zip-up sweater backwards as a blanket. I also heard the computer beeping from the fingerprint and blood sample results. I gave a knock on the door to wake her up.

"Rise and shine, Pandora," Benjamin said.

She slowly raised her head up and yawned. "Good morning Benjamin, Danny," she replied, stretching. "What time is it?"

"A quarter past nine, you and the team missed half the morning," I said. Then I looked at the computer screen. "That was fast."

"What was fast?" asked Pandora.

"The results, it usually takes 16 hours for results to show up on a computer like this, but it's only been six or more hours," I said.

"Since Interpol is an international agency, we use a computer that's fast as 20 supercomputers to get the results faster," Benjamin explained.

"It's a good piece of tech, I must say," I said.

"So the blood on the floor and on the knife belonged to Martinez, who tried to kill him?" Benjamin asked.

"The person who tried to kill Martinez did a really good job, he wore gloves and jammed your whole electricity grid to avoid being identified. But I have a hunch," said Pandora.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"His name is Brock Russell, a spy for hire. Born in England in 1974, He's in Interpol's most wanted list for multiple espionage charges in the past five years, but we never managed to get him into custody. When he was a teenager, he worked with car stealing syndicate. When he got arrested, he was sentenced to 6 years of jail. His MO when starting an espionage job is he always drives a stolen car to avoid being tracked down, but he only does that to leave his fingerprints," she explained.

"So let me guess, he doesn't care if he's identified, he just wants to get the job done for the money because he never gets caught," I theorized.

"Exactly, and only after the job's done, he'll leak all information on the terrorist group he works with by informing us through a phone call. He does that just to show that he's good at escaping law enforcement. We couldn't trace his calls because he uses burn phones. He's known by terrorists as 'The Terror-traitor' and 'The Double Agent," she explained as Russell's teenage mugshot and stats appeared on the computer screen.

"And assuming that he is and still working with The Technologists-" I left the sentence for Pandora to finish.

"It'll be harder to get info from him, IF we can get him," she continued.

"We better get this to Geronimo. Believe me, I read his mind and he doesn't want to wake up early for nothing," I said to Benjamin.

"Good idea, I don't want him to get mad again, you won't like him when he gets mad," she stated. I never knew Geronimo had a temper.

So we went back upstairs to explain what Pandora had found to the team. Good thing everyone was awake, they'll miss the info if they did otherwise.

"We still have one complication though, we can't track down Martinez or his car," Benjamin said.

"Maybe I can help," I offered.

"How?" asked Benjamin.

"Because every FQ-400 Evo has a built in GPS, I can track down his car using his GPS coordinates. If we're lucky enough to see that he's using it, maybe we can get his current location," I explained.

"That could work... Why haven't I thought of it before?" said Benjamin excitedly.

"Okay then, I need you guys to be quite for a while, this wont take long," I said. I put two fingers on my right temple to focus myself, then I got all the vital stats of Martinez's car to find out what company manufactures his FQ-400's GPS system. Then I searched the car's VIN number on the GPS satellites and got his coordinates.

"I got him!" I shouted.

"Where is he?" asked Trap.

"The country's capital, Kuala Lumpur," I said.

"I need something more specific than that, Danny. Any landmarks?" Geronimo asked.

"Yes, he's on the move to the Petronas Twin Towers," I answered.

"What's he going to do there?" asked Thea.

"I don't know, but we better get there, before he does something bad," I worried.

"Guys, grab your gear. We've got a terrorist to catch," said Geronimo.

"Can I come?" I asked.

"No. You and Thea will stay here, I can't take the risk of you getting killed out there," he said.

"Fine, but I'll be assisting you from here while you guys are on the field," I frowned in disappointment.

So everybody grabbed their guns from their desks' drawers and protective bulletproof vests and scampered to the elevator. Except for Thea who was supposed to protect me and Pandora, who was only the Forensic Specialist.

"Don't worry, Thea and I will keep you company," said Pandora as she put her hand on my left shoulder.

After taking a 20 minute drive to the Twin Towers, I contacted Geronimo on his earpiece for a status report. They had a stakeout outside the building entrance before Martinez was there.

"Geronimo, what's your status?" I asked.

"Still no sign of Martinez anywhere," he reported. "Wait, how are you contacting me?"

"My chip enables communication between devices like walkie talkies, earpieces, etc. I can also accept and make phone calls for free," I said. "Remember, the suspect's car is a blue FQ-400 Mitsubishi Evolution with a broken rear windshield and bulletholes at the back of the car."

"Copy that," he rogered. Then finally Martinez showed up and went to the underground parking lot. "Danny, the car with matching description just went to the underground parking lot."

"Proceed with caution, he can tell the difference between local police vehicles and international agency cars for two reasons. One: Malaysia doesn't have a federal law enforcement agency and two: Dodge Chargers are NEVER found on Malaysian roads before, so he can spot you from a distance," I explained.

"Roger," he said. So he followed him from a distance, about five cars apart. They stopped when Martinez parked next to a black Audi RS6 at the lonely parts of the parking lot, the part where people rarely park their cars at.

"Have you got a visual on him?" I asked.

"Yes, we have. He's parked next to a black Audi RS6," said Geronimo. According to Benjamin, they saw that Martinez was meeting someone.

"Looks like Martinez is meeting someone," said Benjamin.

After a short while, Geronimo decided to make a move. "Let's move." They closed in on them and Geronimo identified himself.

"Fernando Martinez! This is Interpol," Geronimo identified. Immediately, the person who Martinez was meeting pulled a Glock 17 out of his waist, according to Trap.

"He's got a gun!" warned Trap. The gunman started shooting towards them. Luckily, Benjamin and Trap took cover behind pillars while Geronimo took cover behind the car. The trio pulled their SIG pistols from their holsters, thumbed the safety levers and returned fire. Martinez ran away from the shootout and the gunman ran out of ammo. He started his car and quickly drove away.

"You go handle Martinez, Trap and I will take care of the shooter," said Geronimo to Benjamin. Benjamin chased after Martinez and jumped on him. Once Martinez fell, Benjamin knelt on his back, and cuffed him. As for Geronimo and Trap, they fired shots to the gunman's car, hoping to pop a tire. Unfortunately like Thea and I did earlier in the chapter, they both ran out of ammunition and the gunman got away.

"Cheeses!" yelled Geronimo in frustration.

"Geronimo, I need a status report," I said.

"Shots fired, one suspect caught, a second person who is believed to be involved has escaped," he reported.

"Roger, shall I send a car to bring the suspect back to HQ?" I asked.

"That won't be necessary, over and out," he said as he turned off his earpiece. "Fernando Martinez..." said Geronimo as he looked at the smirk on Martinez's face.

A/N: That's chapter 3 for you guys. Hope you like the new edits!