NYC, New York
May 17, 2012 1610 hours

    Throughout the past eight years, Hans hadn’t found Elizabeth. Or her son. Elizabeth never remarried, nor had she heard anything of Hans’s whereabouts. She kept her eye on arrested criminals in Denmark, but nothing ever showed up. She just assumed Hans had left Denmark too. She had no worries though. Chances were one in a million that Hans went into hiding in New York City. Or so she thought.

    Now she and her son, Ryan, were walking back to their apartment. Elizabeth had just gotten Ryan from what was his last araw of school. Then all of the sudden she felt as though she was being followed. She turned around suspiciously, and spotted a black van down the road, which accelerated when she saw it. She gripped her son’s hand tighter and began running. “Mom! What’s going on?! Slow down!” Ryan cried. The van was hot on their trail. She couldn’t run fast enough. The van came up susunod to them, the windowless back sliding door opened, and a man reached out and grabbed them both. And everything went black.

    Elizabeth woke up, slowly…and sat up with a start. A man was susunod to her, pointing a riple at her. She looked around the room. There were high ceilings, a big fireplace, and fancy furniture. She was sitting on a black leather couch. The man with the riple took out a talkie and spoke into it. “She’s awake.” He sinabi the words sternly, and put the talkie back in his pocket.

    Moments later, she heard a door open behind her, followed sa pamamagitan ng footsteps that stopped behind her. “Long time, no see Amanda.” She cringed inside. For eight years she hadn’t heard that voice, nor had she been called Amanda. “What do you want Hans?”

    “Tell me Amanda, why did you leave me like that? You never gave me a chance to explain.”

    “I didn’t need an explanation. At first I didn’t know what was going on. The bloodstains on your clothes and your panic haste to get out of the country frightened me. I went to a friends’ house, I was going to come back, then I got the morning paper. The artikulo sinabi that an Alexander Fahlcon was found guilty for murder, but I’m no fool Hans. The bloodstains on your sando were my first suspicion, then you break this Fahlcon out of prison? I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The way you wanted to flee the country told me everything I needed to know. Now where’s my son?” Elizabeth glared at Hans, who walked sa pamamagitan ng her side. He tried to touch her cheek, but she jerked her head back. “You’re smarter than I thought Amanda.”

    “Don’t call me that…”

    “Oh yes. You go sa pamamagitan ng Elizabeth now. But, it is you who will be taking orders from me my dear.”

    “What orders? Where’s Ryan?”

    “Don’t worry Amanda. Our son is in a ligtas place at the moment.”

    “MY son.”

    “Whatever helps you sleep at night. You see, this ‘Alexander Fahlcon’, we haven’t gotten along very well since Denmark. And I am going to get my revenge on him once and for all. And you’re going to help me.”

    “And why would I do that?”

    “You know Amanda, Ryan is a very good boy. Well behaved, good grades. It would be a shame if anything happened to him…”

    Amanda tightened her grip on the couch, trying to refrain from strangling Hans. “You wouldn’t DARE…” She spoke through clenched teeth, rage and fury in her eyes. “Try me.” Hans said, amused with Elizabeth’s anger. “What happened to you Hans? I knew you’d changed, but I didn’t think you’d be so heartless as to threaten your own son.”

    “I do what I have to do to get what I want. Even if it means resorting to drastic measures.” Elizabeth couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but she had to do whatever necessary to keep Hans from doing anything to her son. “What do you want me to do?”

    “Follow me.” Elizabeth followed Hans into a room with a big screen. He picked up a small remote. “I have formulated this plan to the last detail, so listen carefully. I’m giving you all the information you need to know to complete your task.” A picture of a man appeared on the screen. “This is Fahlcon. He goes sa pamamagitan ng ‘Skipper’ now. He is the leader of the following men.” Another man appeared on the screen. “Rico. Demolitions expert.” Now there was a picture of a younger man. “Private, the rooky. He’s the easiest to manipulate. If all else fails, just tug on his puso strings a bit.” Another man appeared. “Kowalski, he’s who you’re going to go after. Skipper is too smart to trick. You’ll use Kowalski to get closer to Skipper. He won’t suspect as east if the relationship between you and him is indirect. When you get the chance, you’ll plunge this through his heart.” He held up a dagger in a sheath. “Hans! You want me to kill him!? Why can’t you do it yourself!?”

    “Because Amanda, I am not able to get close enough. Remember your son…” Elizabeth held back tears, and slowly took the dagger from Hans. “So what am I supposed to do?” She asked the tanong slowly, and firmly, exaggerating the syllables. Another slide appeared on the screen. It was a building. “This is the apartment building these men reside in. I have booked you for the apartment susunod to theirs. It’s your job to take it from there. Understand?”

    “Yes, but, how exactly do I do that?”

    “I have a car waiting for you outside. I have provided you with some useful supplies in your luggage. With it you will find a portfolio of what you will use as your life story.” Elizabeth nodded, and left. She clenched the dagger in her hand, reminding herself that she had to do this to save her son.