Hiding From Someone.

David sat Elena on the sofa and quickly poured her a glass of water so that she could calm down. The girl took a few sips and stared at the floor.

"My mother," Elena gathered all her strength so she could speak, "My mother was a very strong clairvoyant and medium. I remember that wherever we went to, different people always came to her. They were well dressed and left a lot of money for her predictions."

"I didn't really understand who they were. But now it seems to me that it could be politicians or businessmen. Every two weeks we moved from place to place. First, within the same country, and then we were moving to the country nearby. Most likely, my mother used the connections received from her visitors, because I do not remember that we were going through customs or some kind of control."

"I'm not sure exactly because I was young, but it seems to me that even in America we arrived illegally or with fake passports. I remember that our last residence in Europe was in Poland. We lived with one grandmother. She had a very beautiful garden and she also made delicious strawberry rolls. I even remember the address. Warsaw-"

"Warsaw, Zakopiańska street, 24." David finished Elena's sentence.

"How do you know?!" The girl was amazed by his awareness.

"You bet he knows," Daniel grinned. Now everything has become much clearer. "Yes, Elena, your mother really tried to double back. It took my brother a few years to find your location, as it was constantly changing. So imagine his feeling when he reached the final point and found out that the girl who lived there died many years ago."

Daniel looked sympathetically at his younger brother, "He fell into such a deep depression for a whole year, that we were already afraid that we would lose him."

"Hey, when will you learn to watch your speech, eh?" David cast a vicious look at his older brother, and then looked at the frightened Elena. "Do not pay attention to his words, everything is fine. The main thing is that you are alive and well."

"Sorry," the girl felt guilty. She understood that it was not her fault, that she remembered nothing all these years. But the feeling that her unawareness brought so much pain to her beloved one, pierced her heart like needles.

The young man put his arm around her shoulders and leaned her against him, "You have nothing to apologize for. If your mother did this, then she had a reason for it."

Elena thought for a moment, a strange sensation began to emerge in her memory, "I now remembered that there was one incident when her behavior seemed very strange to me. We almost never went outside in the afternoon because she had visitors, but once she woke me up and quickly began to pack our things. We were in that place only a couple of days, probably, but when we went outside, it was a day, and there were a lot of people around. I think our apartment was in the center of a popular city because there were a lot of tourists."

"We started walking through the crowd, at first we walked slowly, then we quickened our pace. And then my mother stopped abruptly and froze in place. I don't know what she saw, but I never saw her so scared. She grabbed me in her arms and we ran in the opposite direction. People shouted at us that we were pushing them, but mom didn't pay attention, and then we got on the first taxi and left."

"I think that all this time, she was hiding from someone. Or she was hiding me from someone, to be exact."

There was silence in the office, everyone plunged into thoughts when they heard Elena's words. Jun left the study room and returned five minutes later with a little thing in his hands.

"Here. This is for you. If you hadn't told about your mom, I wouldn't even remember. It was always with me, so I thought it was from my second mother," the young man handed the pendant to Elena.

The girl took the pendant in her hands, and the feeling of warmth began to grow in her chest, "Thank you for keeping it." This medallion was now the only thing left from her mother. She began to look at such a familiar and so long forgotten thing, studying every dash of its unusual drawing.

The pendant was rather large, round in shape with unusual carving on the edges, similar to small wheels.

"Hmm," the girl ran her finger over the wheel, and it spun back. Elena began to turn the wheel until it clicked and stopped.

"What is it?" She asked Jun since he spent a lot of time with this thing.

"Oh, you noticed them too! I think this may be a hidden mechanism, but no matter how I twist them, I didn't succeed." Jun shone like a little child who has just revealed the secret of one of his treasures.

'He has not changed at all,' Elena thought to herself with a smile.

"What about your father? Do you remember him?" Daniel asked.

"Hmm, no, I don't remember at all and I don't know him. Mom never mentioned him to me. It may sound strange, but I never had the desire to ask or learn about him. Especially now. I already have the best dad in the world, I don't need another," answered Elena.

Chen patted the girl on the head, "Do not worry, no matter what was and what will be, you are my own daughter."

"You know, I was thinking here... Can we check something?" Daniel addressed, "Elena, can you recall the situation when you and your mother tried to get away from someone? Namely, the moment when your mother was frightened?"

Elena looked at David in dismay, as if awaiting his approval. The young man smiled and squeezed her hand in his hot palm.

"Well, let's try," the girl replied.

The elder Anderson sat closer and covered her eyes with his hand, "What do you see?"

"We are walking down the street, there are a lot of people around in different clothes and different looks. Mom is holding my hand. She stopped now, she is looking forward."

"Good. Elena, what is your mom's facial expression?"

"She's scared of something. I want to see what she was scared of, but I'm scared too," the girl's voice was even and calm.

Daniel sighed, "Phew, okay. And now we come to the most interesting part. I will try to use her peripheral vision. Even if she didn't see what her mother was afraid of, you can try to restore the image," he added in a whisper, explaining his goal to the audience.

"Just be careful," David shot a warning glance at his brother.

Daniel whined. 'God, brother, you're taking the girl under your wing too much. I am afraid it will sometime backfire.'

He turned away from the younger brother's gaze and focused his attention on the girl.

"Elena, when I count to three, you will slowly turn your head in the direction where your mother is looking. Got it?"

"Yes."

One, two, three. Elena turned her head, and Daniel mentally followed her gaze. The girl was looking up to the people passing by them. People were passing by, and Daniel did not notice anything unusual. He began to peer into the crowd, and one of the images began to stand out on the general background. He focused his attention on this object.

Other people gradually became invisible, and as a result, there was only one man standing and looking in their direction. Daniel began to raise his gaze. Judging by his looks and shape, an unfamiliar man was 25-30 years old, not more. But to be sure of his assumption, Daniel needed to see his face.

He looked up to the man's chin and was ready to examine his face in detail when suddenly it became dark in Daniel's eyes.

"Hmm," an unfamiliar man grinned wickedly, and a sharp pain pierced the body of the older Anderson.

"Aghh, shit," Daniel clutched at his head, there was still total darkness in his eyes. "Damn you, bastard! For the second time already!"

Elena looked in fright at the man writhing in pain in front of her.

"What? What is there?" David did not know who better to ask and immediately turned to both.

"I — I don't know, I didn't see anything." Elena didn't understand what was going on. Since the last thing she saw was her mom's profile.

"She won't remember anything, I entered her subconscious to manage her memory myself, as I need to," Daniel replied. His vision began to return to him gradually, "But I can tell you one thing. The man from whom Elena's mother was hiding and the man Jun saw was the same person. And as far as I can tell by his appearance, over the past sixteen years this bastard has not changed a bit."

The words of the elder brother took David by surprise. Not only did he have to finally solve the problem of their connection with Rick, but there is also some unknown person who might be interested in Elena. It was not part of his plans.

"I think you can ask for help from Madame Wang. She is also a strong medium," Mr. Lee said, observing overall thoughtfulness.

"Madam Wang? I hear about her for the first time," Elena was sure that her father never mentioned that name.

"Oh, yes, it's because-," Chen didn't know whether to tell his daughter that this woman had sent him to pick up the girl from the orphanage. He didn't want Elena to think that this decision was made by someone's word, and not by his personal desire. Although it was closer to the truth because at that moment he was just going with the times, trying not to go crazy with the despair that gripped him.

"Madame Wang-" President Lee wanted to explain in more detail what kind of person she was, how the mobile phone on the table caught his attention. He squinted at the name of the caller, and his jaw almost hit the floor. Chen picked up the phone and brought it to his ear, "Hello."

The person on the other end quickly explained the essence of the call and hung up.

"Dad, is everything okay?" Elena noted the slight confusion of her father.

"Yes, all is well. Probably. Hmm-" Chen checked the caller's name again to make sure that it didn't just seem to him. "A representative of Madame Wang just called me. He said that you," the man looked at his daughter, "You and two young men of the same blood must go to her right away."

The Anderson brothers looked at each other. Then all three of them looked at one another.

What's happening?

This thought was in everyone's head.