Matty watched as his dad ran his hand through his hair nervously, "We aren't even sure if they have them. God, why did they leave the house? I never should have let him go over there. It was stupid to think they wouldn't really care about him. That he would be too high profile because he's famous. Why did I let him talk me into agreeing to it?"

Matty thought about it. Famous? Oh my gosh it had to be Jamie. They took Jamie. Jamie was smart though. He knew martial arts too. He had some agency training. Not as much as the rest of them. But Jamie did do favors once in a while for Aunt Francine.

"Well, my guess is they will keep them alive for now. They probably started the brainwashing process already. We should have at least 72 hours before the effects are irreversible."

They were brainwashing Jamie. Jaime was 30 years old. He looked thirty. He didn't look like a kid. How could they mistake Jaime for him? Unless they didn't actually care which one of the four of them,they grabbed.

His mother spoke, "What if they figure out they have the wrong boy? They might just kill them both."

Both? Wait, was it not just Jamie?

His dad sighed, "I don't know. Here's hoping that Joey figures out its safer if he pretends to be Matty. Why Jamie decided to take Joey out for ice cream? He knew it wasn't safe."

His mother spoke, "Lee, we should have brought Joe, Carrie & Joey to our basement too."

Lee sighed, "Well we can't worry about that now. Now we have to figure out where they took Jamie & Joey. I called Magda. She's wants us to meet us at a diner near her apartment. She has some information, but she won't share it over the phone. Look Amanda, I'll just go myself. You stay here with Matty."

His mother spoke, "No, I'm going with you. I'll go talk to Matty now. I'll make up an excuse for us not sleeping down there. We'll tell him everything in the morning. Your right there's no need to upset him tonight. Then we'll go meet Magda."

Matty was kind of angry. His parents were going to lie to him. Joey got taken too. Matty had to help. He knew his parents were not going to let him do anything.

He needed to go back to his holding cell. Let his parents think he didn't know anything. Lying to his mother was always difficult though. She could read his mind. He had an idea. He went back to his cell. He went and grabbed his book and laid down on his bed.

He closed his eyes and pretended he was asleep. He heard the door open and his mother came in. God, he hoped she wouldn't figure out he was faking being asleep. She took the book off his chest. Then she took the blanket that was at his feet and pulled it over him. Then she kissed his forehead and said, "Sleep well, sweet boy."

She didn't leave for a minute she was doing something. He heard a rustling . His mother put something on the table next to the bed. Then he heard the door open and close.

He waited a second in case she was looking through the window and opened an eye. He was alone. Matty sat up. He needed to do something. His parents didn't know he knew Karbala had Joey & Jamie. Matty needed to do something. Anything. Everyone was distracted. His parents went to see someone named Magda.

He looked at the side table. His mother had put a note on there. It said, "Your father and I had to investigate a lead. We will be back in the morning. If you need anything see George the security guard in the new section of the holding cells. He will help you. See you in the morning sweet boy. - Mom."

A plan formed in Matty's brain. God, he couldn't believe what he was going to do. But it just might work. Lazlo was an idiot. Matty knew that. His parents would never agree to let him do this. But he couldn't let Jamie & Joey die in his place.

He needed to sneak into the newer cells which were on the other side of the floor. Matty snuck to the other side and saw the night guard. He was an older heavyset black man. He was watching what sounded like an old sitcom on television. He seemed engrossed in it. Matty just needed to get by him. He needed to get into Lazlo's cell. He needed a distraction. Matty walked up to him.

Matty smiled, "Hello sir, are you George?"

The guard looked up, "Hello, your Scarecrow's kid. Right? The one staying in the old holding cell."

Matty nodded. "Yes, sir. My name is Matty. My parents are upstairs. Something's going on. Umm they said if I needed anything that I should go to you. I was wondering if I could have something to eat."

Matty wasn't sure how much time it would buy him. The guard nodded. "Yeah, nice to meet you Matty. Your mother is a great lady. There's not much down here except the food we feed the prisoners. Tonight, it was something that I think resembles meatloaf. Not sure you would want that."

That was perfect. Matty nodded. "Yes, sir. That would be great. My parents have been so busy they forgot to feed me."

Hopefully this guy did not know his mother that well. That she would never let any of her children go unfed. Hopefully George would never tell his mother that he said that. Although with what he was planning for tonight. Telling someone that his mother forgot to feed him was going to be the least of his problems.

The guard nodded, "Yeah son. It will probably take a few minutes. I'll have to heat them want to follow me to the galley."

Matty looked at the screens of the cells that were monitoring the prisoners. But then he looked at the tv. "Can I stay here and watch your television? I like Hogan's Heroes too."

The guard smiled, "Yeah, they are having a marathon tonight. I'll heat one up for myself too. We can eat together if you want. Nobody ever comes down here at night. It will be nice to have the company."

Matty felt bad. He would make it up to George for what he was about to do. Then George said. "if there are any problems. Just hit that red button. I'll go heat up the food. Be back in fifteen minutes .

Matty looked at the monitors and saw the one that had Lazlo's cell. He saw Lazlo's holding cell number on the monitor.

George left and Matty went to Lazlo's cell. Lazlo was laying on his bed, but he was awake staring at the ceiling. Matty opened the window on the door of the cell.

"Hi Lazlo." Matty said.

Lazlo looked at him. "You. You are the boy from yesterday. You are not the ex-husband's son. Are you? Let me guess an undercover agent that just looks young posing as one of the children."

Matty nodded no. "No Lazlo. It's me, Unlucky number thirteen."

Matty showed him his wrist through the window and moved his hair off his ear.

Lazlo stared at him, "It is you. You have changed. You are not as small and weak as you once were. That was clever pretending to be the ex-husband's son. You always were too smart for your own good. The current pictures we have of you must not be the right boy. I thought you were supposed to be deaf."

Matty nodded, "I am or I was. I had surgery. It restored some of my hearing. Look I don't really have time to chit chat. The guard will be back in a couple of minutes. Birol has my brother and my cousin. They think my cousin is me. It backfired. Tell me where Birol is so that I can trade myself for them."

Lazlo laughed, "Why would I be that stupid? Your parents are watching. This is a trick."

Matty spoke, "After that interrogation yesterday do you think my parents would let me anywhere near you? You know me, Lazlo. You know it's just like me to do something this dumb."

Lazlo stared at him, "You are still just a boy. You think you can take on Birol by yourself?"

Matty looked at Lazlo, "No of course not. I want to trade myself over to him to save my brother and cousin. It will buy my parents more time to find them. Otherwise they will probably kill my cousin. Its only a matter of time until they realize he's not me. The faster they actually have me. My cousin is expendable like you said. I am guessing they will keep my brother alive. I don't know though. I just know I will buy them more time if I turn myself over to Birol. My father will find me."

Lazlo laughed again, "You really are unlucky number 13 aren't you? Nobody else would be that stupid and brave at the same time. Alright I will tell you. Go to the Pier. Birol most likely has them in Warehouse 4305. It is one of the warehouses next to the one that exploded. You really are something else. I should have known it was you. You always had that defiant look in your eyes. I hope next time I see you that we will be on the same side."

Matty nodded, "We won't be. No matter what Birol does to me. Pretty sure we will never see each other again, Lazlo. I think they are going to dump you in a deep dark hole somewhere and lose the key."

Lazlo nodded, "Yes well it would not be the first time I escaped from one of those. You and I are not that different believe it or not. Until next time, Unlucky number thirteen."

Matty nodded, "We are nothing alike. Goodbye, Lazlo."

Matty shut the window and went back to the monitors. It had only been ten minutes. He hoped George hadn't come back early. He hadn't. Matty went back to the chair and pretended to be engrossed in the show. George came back with the food. He handed a tray to Matty. Matty grabbed the tray and watched tv with George while they ate.

George went on and on about his pet parrot Patrick and the new metal detector he had picked out from the company catalog because he had been with the agency ten years. Matty could tell George did not spend a lot of time with people.

When Matty finished eating. Matty fake yawned. Then Matty said, "Thanks for the food, George. I better go back to bed. I'll probably be here for a couple more nights. If you're working tomorrow night. You can bring in Patrick the parrot's baby album. I'd love to see the pictures"

George lit up. "Oh, that would be great. I'll get us some better frozen dinners. I think the classic tv marathon tomorrow night is Get Smart."

Matty went back to the holding cell. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. He could just stay. He could call his Aunt Francine right now or Phillip. No, not Phillip. There home phone was bugged. There was Uncle Billy but no his mother said he was in Italy.

He knew Leatherneck's number. He could call Leatherneck. Except who knew if Lazlo was telling him the truth? There was a chance he was lying. Francine and Phillip would never let him leave. They would probably move him to one of the holding cells on the other side that didn't have a secret passageway.

Matty needed to go check it out the warehouse first. Make sure he wasn't lying. It really was only a matter of time before they figured out Joey was not Matty. Then they would probably kill Joey for sure. Matty would not be able to live with himself if that happened. Matty was going to write a note to his parents. Let them know exactly where he was in case it all went wrong.

He needed a pen and some paper. There was a guard desk in this wing too. They didn't use these cells anymore, but the desk might still have office supplies in it. He went to the desk and found a pen. He grabbed it. He went back to the room and wrote underneath the note that his mom had left him. "Mom & Dad Warehouse 4305. I'm sorry. I can't let anything happen to Jamie or Joey because of me. I love you both. – Matty"

If somehow, he got out of this. Matty was pretty sure his father really wasn't going to let him leave the basement again until he was thirty. He was going to be in so much trouble. But there was no way he was going to let Jamie and Joey die for him if he could do anything about it.

Matty took the pillows off the bed his parents were going to sleep in and put them under the blanket to make it look like he was under them and turned the light off again. That should buy him time if anyone was sent to check on him."

He went to the panel and knocked Pop Goes the Weasel. It opened. Matty walked through. The hallway was cleaner than last time. His mother must have had it cleaned. The agency also knew about these secret tunnels now. That was part of the reason they didn't use the old cells anymore.

Matty walked into the parking garage. He thought about hot wiring one of the agency cars. But they all had trackers in them now. He was better off just stealing a car off the street. God, was he really considering stealing a car? He was going to be enough trouble with his parents without committing a felony on top of everything.

He knew the metro closed at midnight. There were some 24 hour bus lines. He needed bus 90 or 92. Hopefully one of those was 24 hours. He closed his eyes and pictured the bus schedule. Ok he could take bus 92 to the warehouse district. Then Matty would figure out where Warehouse 4305 was from there.

What was he doing? The last time he had gone to a warehouse he had a panic attack. That had not even been the same type of warehouse. His old school had taken the on a field trip to a recycling center. That was only two years ago.

This warehouse he was going to in the same section where the warehouse that exploded had been. That warehouse had never been re-built. Matty was guessing this was one of the neighboring warehouses.

He got on the bus and rode it. He watched out the window. There were very few people on the bus with him. Matty looked at his watch. It was almost 2AM.

The bus driver had not even questioned him being out so late. Matty got off the bus. He was not in a good section of DC. He saw some hookers standing on a corner. He walked towards the warehouse. It smelled awfull ike dead fish and salt water. He remembered that smell. He went over to a trash can and threw up the meatloaf he had eaten with George.
This was hands down the dumbest thing he had ever done in his life. But if there was even the smallest chance, he could save Jamie and Joey's lives. He was going to risk it. He wasn't sure he would be able to live with himself if anything happened to either one of them on his account.

He saw a familiar parking lot. He walked towards it. This was the parking lot where his dad had stolen a car all those years ago. He walked through the shipping containers. He saw the shipping container he had hidden in all those years ago. A flash of his father killing Gregor flashed through his head. His father wasn't here to save him this time. His father thought he was still at the Agency. He should turn around and go back. But his father would never turn back. His father would go in with guns blazing to save them.

Then Matty realized he probably should have gone to the equipment room and gotten a gun. Or at least some cool gadgets. Then Matty decided it wouldn't matter. He was probably safer going in unarmed. This wasn't a rescue mission. His father would come for them with probably the entire might of the agency behind him.

Matty just needed to buy Joey & Jamie more time.

Matty kept walking. There were more shipping containers. They never re-built the warehouse he was held in. He saw the ruins of the foundation.

An image of the warehouse burning and his father falling to his knees saying No over and over again flashed through his head. God this was not a fun stroll down memory lane. He kept on walking.

He walked through what had to be at least a mile of shipping containers until he got to the neighboring warehouse. Was it 4305? He had no idea. He would walk all night if he had to. It was not like he could ask anyone. He looked at the entrance to the warehouse. There was nobody here. It was dark in there. Then he saw a number near the doorway. It said "Warehouse 4304".

It must be the next one. Unless Lazlo had lied to him. He kept on walking through another group of shipping containers that seemed to go on forever.

He finally got to the next warehouse. There was a young man with a machine gun stationed outside the door. Matty decided that this had to be the right place. But he had no clue what to do now. He didn't have a gun on him. He was not even sure that Jamie and Joey were even in there. This could be some other criminal's warehouse. He closed his eyes again and pictured the pictures his parents had shown him of known Karbala operatives currently in the US. The man with the machine gun wasn't in any of the pictures. He was a young operative. Matty wondered if he was a grown up warehouse kid that never got rescued. He looked Eastern European though so probably not.

Matty sighed. He needed to get into the warehouse. He needed to get machine gun man away from the door. He looked around him. There was a beer bottle. Matty picked it up and threw it. It smashed into a thousand pieces far away from Matty. Machine gun man walked away from the door to look. Matty ran up to the door as fast and quietly as he could and slipped through the entrance to the warehouse..

God the smell of the warehouse. It smelled just like he remembered of mildew, the sea, and diesel. Matty felt like he was going to throw up again. But his brother and Joey needed him. Matty crept along when all of the sudden he stepped on something, and he was lifted up in a net covered in some kind of chemically goo. What the hell?

Notes:

Seriously Matty? Seriously? You are supposed to be a smart kid.

Next Chapter - Matty meets Addi Birol

Fun fact - I based George the security guard off a real security guard from one of my old jobs. The real person's name is not George. But there really is a Patrick the Parrot and a baby album of Patrick the parrot. LOL