SAN JOSE

"just a minute officer.." sad the woman running towards where he stood, conversing with the officer who was officially assigned to the case, they were both comparing notes.

There's something i just recalled" she said.

"some men visited the house early this evening"

Flint raised his brows quizzically.

"men?" he asked, opening his trusty notepad.

" there were two who came with a car and others who arrived before they did, but only the last two who came went in"

"anything else ma'am?" asked Flint.

" yes and there were crashes and loud noises like a quarrel"

"hmmm" Flint muttered and nodded his head as he wrote.

"here's my card" said Flint, handing his card to the woman.

"just incase you remember anything else.. thank you"

The woman took the card and nodded.

Flint watched her as she walked away, then he returned to his conversation.

*14 HOURS EARLIER*

"sit Irene and tell me what really happened" asked Shaun who had called her back after the episode with Griffith.

She was still shaking, nursing the wounds from the blows Griffith had inflicted on her, but she had bandages on her cheek which was swollen shut. She looked absolutely pitiful. Shaun wanted to know the facts because they didn't get a chance to know the actual facts of the events thanks to Griffith's anger. Now he had the task of settling her, making her calm enough to talk.

As they sat, his patience was begining to run thin. He calmly lit a cigarette and folded his gloved hands, while he watched her gather the mess of herself.

"Are you alright now?" he asked after some time.

She nodded her head and took a swig of the bourbon in front of her.

"the chief made the call boss"

"then big boss asked me to go pick up the package. When i got there i found two women. Red haired, they looked alike though distantly. Might be cousins or something of the sort" she said, then she paused and took another swig and set her glass down. She felt it travel down her throat and settle in her belly before she continued.

"we only shook hands boss.... nothing more before the chief convinced them it was alright to leave the children at the station. They hugged, said goodbyes and left. I left to take the call from big boss and by the time i returned, they were gone. Miguel saw them as they walked out but he didn't know who they were boss. He didn't have a description of what they looked like. When he found out they were the package, he gave chase boss. He swore there were no kids he'd ever seen run as fast. He lost them boss hat's when i called."

"So that's it?" asked Shaun.

"That's what happened boss....i swear"

"Alright" he said, then stood up and gestured for the waiter to bring the bill, which he paid, dropping a generous tip.

"wait boss....." she said, pulling out a box.

"I found this in one of their bags" she said handing it over to him. He took it from her and placed it under his left arm, his face showed no reaction. He tapped her shoulders and turned to walk out of the bar, with Irene looking at his retreating figure.

Once outside, he soaked in the evening air. He got into his limo and said to his driver "Griffith's" the man nodded and zoomed off.

******

"she's not at fault Griffith ...it' those incompetent fools in uniform. They let them walk away undetected."

"this was in one of the bags the children abandoned" Shaun said, handing over an intricately patterned box.

Griffith took the box and turned it over in his hands

"it could be what we're looking for" said Shaun hopefully.

"have you looked at the contents"

"nope" said Shaun

"Griffith fetched a pair of lock openers and items for cracking a lock.

In few minutes, they had it open. It was empty.

Griffith flung the box.

" useless" he muttered

"and there's something else...two women brought them in."

Glint raised his brows.

"Red heads. Irene said they looked like cousins of some sort. The children could have found their way back to them"

as Shaun spoke, Griffith already had his phone out and was punching in a number.

As the call was picked, he went straight to the point.

"the women who brought them in... forward their address." he said into the reciever then he dropped the call.

"let's go on a little trip" he said, already grabbing his jacket as he spoke.

His driver was already waiting for him on the driveway by the time he was out his front door.

En route, he got a notification on his phone. He handed the phone to his driver who gave it a glance and handed the phone over to his boss.

Griffith wasn't a handsome man, by feminine standards, but his height helped him with a little popularity among the feminine folk.

His hair was already balding prematurely in the middle, that he covered with a hat most of the time. He had plans of getting a hair transplant, at least that's what he kept on saying, but untill now, no one knew what was keeping him from already having it. It sure as hell wasn't money because he already had a lot of that.

Shaun was a different matter entirely.

Goodness the man was breathtakingly handsome... well he did appear so outwardly, but he had a dark side to his personality, just like the other members of the Martel family, and he loved to enjoy some of the finest things in life, including women.

That particular thing he never ran short of. The men used to share a joke about him having the highest possibility of meeting his end in a pussy or being set up by a woman.

A joke he simply replied with a saying of his own." something must kill a man...in my case, it could be pussy" he would say, causing laughter amongst his friends.

Though by far the most compassionate among the men of the Martel family, his anger was not something a person would want to witness unlike Griffith who easily lost control of his emotions and turns violent pretty fast.

The men busied themselves with their own private thoughts as the limo zoomed through the streets.

In no distant time, they were at the airport. They boarded a plane at a terminal, and were soon en route. They landed two hours later at another private terminal in San Jose.

Another driver was already waiting for them at the airport. Griffith and Shaun didn't utter a word to the man, but he knew exactly where they were heading to. It was a short drive.

When they arrived, there were already men stationed discreetly across the area and around the property. They looked around the neighborhood before walking directly to the door they were looking for and knocked.

"who is it" came a voice from within, then footsteps, and the door opened.

"Good day madam may we come in?" asked Shaun.

"we're from the king's cross station said Griffith flashing a badge.

" if it's about the children, we just told the officer who came by yesterday...we dropped them off at king's cross and came right home"

said the woman who opened the door.

"that's the problem ma'am the children are missing..."

the woman's eyes widened.

"what? how?" she asked.

"may we come in so we can talk more...give you the details" said Shaun, putting on his best Hollywood smile.

The red haired stepped aside for them to come in.

They walked through the door slowly, and when they were in, looked around the apartment.

It was moderate enough for comfortable living though spotted with sparse furnishings. There were photographs on the wall, childhood photos, graduation pictures..

"please have a seat"

"what can we call you miss?"

"Catherine....call me Catherine" came her answer

"alright miss Catherine..." Shaun started, then they had footsteps coming down the stairs.

"what's going on Cat" said a woman coming down the stairs.

"that's Sammie...you can call her Sam"

Catherine said to the men them she turned to Sammie.

"those children are missing"

Sammie was stunned.

"you're kidding right?"

"how is that even possible. Missing from a fucking police station?" she could not believe her ears.

"unfortunately that's how it is" said Shaun, putting on a grim expression.

"but how is it possible...that place is crawling with police officers and three children just up and walked out of there in broad daylight?" asked Sammie puzzled.

"what are your names officers?" Catherine asked suddenly.

"I'm Jones, he's Jeremiah" said Shaun, still flashing his Hollywood smile.

"alright officers, thank you for stopping by but we cannot help you as I said earlier, we dropped them off at the station and social child care came to take them ..or so we thought, until now" said Sammie.

"I believe you still have some help to offer us....if you could just answer few questions" said Griffith bringing out a tiny pocket book, as if to take notes.

"what questions? officers we have already made our statements...you can check with your superiors"

"one of you also came by yesterday asking the same set of questions" Sammie chipped in.