Without looking back Tam walked through the alley.
In her life she had already faced larger groups of people who intended to kidnap, or even kill her. But never had she been stupid enough to go into a small alley with just enough space to walk through.
She didn't know where the sudden calmness came from but once she accepted that she now was in the situation she had prepared herself for the last two days, she felt a wave of calmness roll over her.
"Hey. Girl. Turn around, would ya?" one of the men said and Tam stopped walking. "Slowly, we don't wanna shoot you for having a gun."
Slowly Tam pulled her hands out of her jacket pockets and turned around. Now facing the three men she recognized one of them as one of the attackers from Rome. He was one of the men she and Aidan had fought against near her home.
Except for him she knew none of them. But she recognized that all of them were dressed in black leather jackets and blue jeans. Standing closer now, Tam could see that they all were armed with at least one gun and a knife, and she expected them to have another weapon somewhere hidden.
"Hey, I know you, don't I?" she asked, aiming to tell her back up about what was going on in the alley. She knew that now she was Rachel and Aidan's eyes and ears. "We met in Rome."
"Tam, I need about thirty seconds! Keep on talking!" Rachel said breathlessly since she was obviously running.
"I'll be there in a sec," Aidan added.
"You better come with us," the man said, not answering to Tam's question.
"Just one minute. Hold on, people. I have a question," Tam chatted, hoping to gain some more seconds for Rachel to reach her, "Is there a particular reason why you all are dressed the same? I mean, if you were at least wearing jeans jackets, I'd say it's giving West Side Story Vibes but... You know, I'm not Puerto Rican. Like, not at all."
The men stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "What?"
"I'm just saying, you could've chosen better outfits. Leather jackets? Come on, this is too basic. Or is it some kind of uniform? Are all of you Division-guys dressed like that? That would be cool again. Although, I'd still say that a leather jacket is a bad choice. You could've done better, honestly."
"Enough of the clothing-talk!" the first man interrupted angrily. "Come here, now!"
"Alright, alright. No need to scream at me like that. I'm not deaf."
She slowly walked towards the men. She thought feverishly about what she could do to gain more time. But just as she reached the men and they turned around to escort her to wherever they wanted to go, Rachel appeared in the alley. And so, Tam used the moment of surprise to attack one of them. She pulled out his gun and knife to disarm him before punching the gun's handle in his face. She felt him trying to pull her hair, but luckily, she backed up quickly and kicked him between the legs. Rachel did similar things to the other two men and when Aidan parked the van in the alley's entrance all of them were unconscious.
"Well done, ladies," Aidan said, getting out of the car. The smile on his face widened as both women looked at him similarly indignant. "Any preferences on who we're taking with us?"
"Not that one, he has incredibly bad breath," Tam pointed to the man who had been talking all the time.
"Let's take this one. He has no open wounds and therefore won't bleed in the van," Rachel said, pointing at the man against whom Tam had already fought in Rome.
"That's probably the best idea. He knows my face, too..." Aidan grumbled and pulled the guy up by his arms.
Just shortly after, the three of them were sitting in the van. It had three seats in the front; therefore, they could sit there without problems. The unconscious man was still laying in the back of the van, as they drove off.
For a couple of minutes, they drove in silence, then Aidan looked at his sister. She was staring outside the window, and she seemed to be sunk in her thoughts.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Hm?" she looked up and blinked twice. It was not what had happened in the alley, it was what was about to happen with the kidnapped man that was worrying her.
"You did a good job, you know," he said, misinterpreting her thoughtful look.
"I know," she mumbled. "What are we planning to do with him, once we asked him out?"
"Depends..." Aidan admitted and looked at the road again.
"Depends on what?"
"How well he cooperates. How much he tells us. How much... techniques I need to use, to get him to talk to us."
"You're going to... torture him?" her eyes were filled with fear and disgust. She couldn't imagine her brother being a psychopathic kidnapper who would torture somebody. And she didn't want to imagine him like that, either.
He wouldn't do that. He may be a traitor but... he's no psychopath, she thought. It was almost enough to convince her of her hopes. But on the other hand, the last ten years had not just changed her.
"I don't intend to do..." he answered, "But I also don't intend to let 'the Division' rip your life apart and probably even kill you."
"Well," Rachel put in, "maybe he'll just talk when you threaten to torture him."
None of the three really believed that this was what was going to happen but neither of them dared to say it out loud.
"Whatever is going to happen in the basement, you will most certainly not be there, Tam," Aidan said, "I don't want you to see... whatever things."
Even though she didn't like that he was again trying to patronize her, she understood that in this case he was right.
She didn't want to see what would happen in the basement, either.