Page 14 of Leo

“Can’t you find out the information you need?” she asked.

“Normally, yes. But for some reason, their information is giving us a bit of a challenge.”

“Well, that’s not suspicious at all, is it?” frowned Leo.

“Wait, what do you mean?” asked Tillie.

“I mean, I can’t find anything on any of the three people. I’ve left a message for the agency that sent you to Botswana, but I’m not getting any replies right now.”

“It’s the weekend. They don’t work the weekends. They have an emergency line, but it’s only if something happens while in country,” said Tillie.

“Yeah, I tried calling that line, and they told me to call during normal business hours,” said AJ. “Listen, Tillie, we’ve been watching all the chat rooms, listening to what people are talking about, and we’re not finding anything. If you know anything about these three, please tell us.”

“I don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I swear to you, I don’t know anything about them. It was just like I told all of you. They showed up less than a month ago as part of the new team. They did act like they knew one another, at least the two women did, but I just figured that was because they’d flown into the country together. The others that had been working with me were sent home, and I was supposed to stay and get the new team settled.”

“Why you?” frowned Hiro.

“I’m not sure. Maybe because I’ve been doing it for so long. Honestly, I didn’t think about it,” said Tillie.

“Do they know anything about you? Where you live? What your family does?” asked AJ.

“No. I swear, I’ve never told anyone anything like that. Never. I wouldn’t do that to all of you. In fact,” she frowned, “I didn’t use my real last name.”

“That’s right,” said Cam, nodding.

“I had the legal team make me a fake passport. I was there as Matilda Vonn. Mom’s maiden name. I didn’t even use Mattie. I just told them that Tillie was a nickname for Matilda.”

“Okay,” nodded AJ. “Let us have some time to look into this a bit more, but make sure you tell us if anyone contacts you.”

“I definitely will. This really has me freaked out now. Should I attempt to contact them? Maybe leave a message or something?”

“We’ve used the numbers that you gave us but haven’t received anything as a reply,” said Hiro.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t reply either if I didn’t know who you were and what number you were calling from. Especially with one person, now two, allegedly kidnapped,” said Tillie. “Let me call them from the phone that the agency gives us. They would know that number.”

“Okay,” nodded AJ. “On speaker.”

Tillie nodded as she tried the number for Jewel first. It went straight to voicemail. She then tried the number for Gemma and got the same thing.

“Last one. Brad,” she said, hitting the name on her phone. The phone rang several times, then there was silence. She looked at the others, and they all frowned. “Brad? Can you hear me?”

“Tillie?” whispered the man.

“Brad, are you alright?” she asked.

“Someone is after me. I’m running,” he said, suddenly breathless. “I’m trying to hide.”

“Where are you, Brad? My friends can help you,” she said.

“No. No one can help me. Not now. I should have told you,” he whispered in a breathy voice once again.

“Told me what, Brad?”

“They knew who I was. I shouldn’t have told them.”

“Who are you?” she asked softly.

“No. No, I have to run. I have to go!” The phone went dead, and AJ grabbed it, trying to dial the number once again. The phone was dead. It wasn’t even going to voicemail.

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