The Search

Aiden unintentionally woke up rather early in the morning. It was barely 4am but he didn't feel tired enough to fall back to sleep. Sighing, he decided to go for an early run. He had been neglecting his exercise lately because he wanted to make sure he was at the house when Derek was too.

After getting changed and putting on his running shoes, Aiden quietly went downstairs. However, he wasn't expecting to run into Derek at the front door. Derek looked equally surprised to see Aiden up so early.

"Why are you up so early?" Both of them asked the other simultaneously. After a second of silence, they both chuckled softly,

"You first," Derek said.

"I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so I'm going for a run. You?"

"Apparently there's a situation at the company so I have to head in early."

"It's nothing too bad, right?" Aiden had a worried look that somehow made Derek feel warm and happy.

"I don't think so. It should just be something minor that they didn't know how to handle. Probably won't even take ten minutes to fix."

"Well, that'd be good." Derek opened the door and motioned for Aiden to go first.

"After you."

"Thanks." The door was shut behind them and Aiden walked with Derek to his car. Derek sat in the backseat and rolled down the window before closing the car door.

"Enjoy your run but be careful." Aiden smiled.

"I will. Don't work too hard and don't forget to eat your lunch."

"Mhm." Aiden waved as Derek's car drove away. Once it was out of sight, Aiden started running. At the same time, in the car, Derek's driver grinned.

"Honestly, that conversation sounded like one between a husband and wife."

"Unless you want your salary deducted, keep your opinions to yourself." Contrary to his harsh words, Derek's ears turned pink.

"Ha ha! Yes, sir!"

By 5am, Aiden had returned to the house and gone back to his room to take a shower. When he was finished, he wrapped a towel around his waist and went over to his closet to decide what to wear. Since he was planning on looking for the vanished fake employee, he couldn't wear anything eye-catching. In the end, he chose a dark gray t-shirt over a skin tight black long sleeved shirt and a simple pair of black stretchy jeans. He also took a black baseball hat, that he rarely had use for, to hide his white hair.

Following that, he packed a small cross body bag with a few things he might need. Of course his phone was one thing, but he also packed some cash, a flashlight, a swiss army knife, a pair of black gloves, and a lock-picking set. He had no idea what he'd encounter after all.

Before going down for breakfast, Aiden arranged for a taxi to arrive an hour and a half later. It would be too suspicious to have Milo drive him there and he couldn't risk Milo contacting Derek if he noticed something strange either. Aiden didn't want him to worry especially when he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to track the guy down.

Around 6:30 am, he went to eat breakfast. He greeted Mrs. Hudson like usual and ate his food before leaving the house. The taxi he'd arranged for was already waiting for him so he hurried over, not wanting Mrs. Hudson to notice. Once inside the car, he gave the driver an address a couple blocks from the target location and they arrived in no time at all. He paid the fare and casually started walking through the neighborhood.

The area of the city he was in was rundown and shabby. The small amount of grass here and there was dried out and overgrown. There were cracks in the asphalt and potholes all over the streets. Trash blown around by the wind was piled up and caught along the chain link fences and some of the surrounding buildings looked like they'd been abandoned for years.Occasionally, broken glass would crunch beneath Aiden's shoes as he walked along what was left of the sidewalk.

A short time later, Aiden felt like he was close to the area he intended to search so he pulled out his phone to check the GPS. He confirmed that he was indeed in the correct spot so he started looking around for places that person might show up. Further down the road there was a small liquor store and a mechanic shop across the street. A few blocks away was an old motel with an empty pool and a junkyard nearby.

The place Aiden chose to go however, was a diner with only one car parked near it. The diner's location would make it easy to see the motel from the window and since that was likely where the man was hiding, it was perfect.

Aiden walked into the diner and a middle aged waitress, who was pouring a cup of coffee for the only other person there, called out to him from across the room.

"Go ahead and sit anywhere ya like, hun! I'll be over real soon."

"Okay." He walked over to a window seat with a clear view of the motel. There was already a menu on the table so he quickly glanced through it. Then, the waitress came over to take his order.

"What'll be hun?"

"I'll have a fruit parfait and a glass of iced tea, please."

"Coming right up." Then, she walked away towards the kitchen. Aiden casually glanced out of the window every now and then as if he were looking at the scenery. Soon, the waitress came back and placed his order down in front of him.

"Enjoy, hun!"

"Thank you." She nodded and went back over to the other customer.

For the next half hour, Aiden slowly enjoyed his parfait while watching the motel. He had just finished his food and asked for the bill when a person matching the one he was looking for walked out of one of the motel rooms. So, Aiden paid the waitress and left the diner.

The man in question started walking towards the mechanic shop and Aiden followed. He stayed at a distance he thought wouldn't be noticed. Every once in a while, Aiden would check the map on his phone so he knew what was nearby. Instead of stopping at the mechanic, the man walked right past it and continued down the street.

A little while later, Aiden had the feeling that the man knew he was being followed. He wasn't going anywhere in particular and just wandering around. Aiden decided he should try to get closer before the other made a run for it. Unfortunately, it was like the man could read minds and just after Aiden had made his decision, the man sprinted down a nearby alleyway.

"Shit!" Aiden took off after him. He didn't know when he'd be able to track him down again so he couldn't lose him. The alleyways were more complicated than they looked and they were filled with boxes, dumpsters, and the occasional fence. Aiden had to jump and dodge different things while he was running and it didn't seem like his prey was going to slow down anytime soon. Thankfully, luck was on Aiden's side.

Just as he rounded another corner, Aiden saw the man climbing over a chain link fence. It delayed him enough for Aiden to run over, grab the back of the man's jacket and pull him down from the fence. He tried to scramble away but Aiden pinned him against the ground and tried to catch his breath. "...Damn it!...Hah…Why'd you have to run like that? Whew! I'm just looking for a simple conversation. That's all."

"Yeah, right," the man responded sarcastically. "Do people normally go so far for a simple conversation?"

"Well, now, I wouldn't have had to if you stayed put like a good little boy but you made a run for it. All you have to do is answer a few harmless questions and then you're good to go. Okay?"

"F*ck off!" Aiden sighed.

"Why do you people always choose the hard way? Look, I'm trying to be nice here. You know I'm not the only person looking for you, right? I will tell you though, I'm probably your second best option. But if you don't help me I may just have to hand you over to people who would be considered the worst."

"...Second best? Then, who's the best?" Aiden chuckled at the question.

"The drugged guy you shoved into a hotel room. Believe it or not, even with that cold intimidation thing he's got going on, at least he wouldn't stoop to violence. At least I don't think he would. Maybe I'm wrong. Me on the other hand," Aiden moved his face level to the man's so they were eye to eye and grinned. "I'm not that nice. I promise not to kill you though, which is more than I can say for the other's looking for you." Aiden paused for a moment, giving the man time to choose. Finally, he did.

"...What do you want to know?"