Trapped in a matter of seconds. Flora fell into an unexpected but pleasant trap.

The criminal she had cared so much about turned into an insignificant addition to the environment, forgotten. He won the best chance to escape from the claws of the protector, still, he didn't move an inch.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" The owner of the shop screamed a second time.

Flora was aware of it, how could she ignore the beautiful young woman that seemed to be about to jump at her? She acknowledged the presence of the newcomer, although she couldn't react to it, because for her it was like seeing a ghost.

A second glance was necessary for the blonde to confirm the identity of the one talking to her, no doubt she was the girl from the cafe. Flora lost herself in her enticing brown eyes and thought that her dark skin looked even more beautiful under the sunlight that came through the open door.

"I'm sorry?" Answered Flora, not knowing how to ask for forgiveness.

"That's all you have to say? No other explanation?" The desperation in the young woman's voice was more and more evident.

"Ok, I'll explain everything." Flora raised her hands in surrender and sent a charming smile to the other. "I guess you heard about the Protectors? I'm one of them and I found this little guy attacking a woman, when I tried to stop him he ran and that's how we ended up here."

"Didn't you hear about the police? You know, the people you call when someone is committing a crime. Maybe you could have asked for their help instead of destroying my shop."

To her right, the blonde saw how the teenager tried to crawl away from her, she kicked him in the stomach before carrying on with the conversation.

"They're really busy, too many crazy people with superpowers to take care of, but don't worry, I'm sending this one to the police. Now that we're all safe I guess it's my time to go." She grabbed the boy by his shirt and lifted him from the floor. "Nice place you have here, I love the vibe, plants are my thing so it makes it even better."

"You won't be going anywhere unless you pay for the mess you made. Should I call the police to take him away and while they're here we can talk about the remodel you did to my store?"

Sometimes the person one is with can change a situation, it's not the same to be in the office with a funny coworker than with one that's always complaining. In Flora's particular case it was the young woman who made a difference without even noticing. Her expression filled with frustration didn't put any pressure on the member of the Protectors, on the contrary, she found it cute. So, instead of using her connection with the police to solve the problem, she decided to turn the circumstances in her favor.

"I'll pay for the damages. Why don't you make a list with all the expenses and I promise I'll pay everything as fast as I can."

The shop owner looked around and sighed, the tired scowl on her face deepening. She walked over to a pot on the floor, picked it up, and returned it to its original shelf.

"You expect me to believe you when I don't know you, for all I know you could trick me, and then my hard work would go to waste," she answered.

"I'm Flora Agramonti," the journalist presented herself as if it were the solution to her predicament. "We can exchange phone numbers, if I don't pay you back you have my permission to bombard me with calls."

"Alright, but if you start sending me messages like a creep I'll charge you double," she extended her cell phone so Flora could add her contact.

"Fair enough," accepted the blonde before taking the phone. "Will you tell me your name? Or should I call you flower girl?"

"Aífe. Every time you call me any weird nickname I'll add a dollar to your debt." The tone of her voice told Flora that she meant it. "I'll send you the list. Now go out of my shop, and don't show up again, at least it's to bring me my money."

"Copy that." She gave her a salute and pushed the boy toward the front door. "Nos vemos, petal."

"That's already two extra dollars!" Flora heard Aife yell at her as she left the store.

A satisfied smile spread across the young journalist's face as she walked down the street. She ignored the grunts coming from the teenager she had handcuffed with some thornless vines and allowed her thoughts to wander to the memories of the encounter she just had.

Sometimes Flora preferred to perceive events as a sign of destiny, and for her to cross paths with the young woman who captivated her in the coffee shop was one of those signs. She had not made a good first impression, Aífe's reaction reached him to understand that it would not be easy to win her affection, luckily for her she didn't know how to give up.

A plan of action began to form although it was interrupted by Clio's voice.

"Fucking finally!"

"No es para tanto, It just took me like fifteen minutes," Flora defended herself.

"More like thirty minutes," said the redhead. "At least you caught him. Let's take them to the police, I'm tired of seeing their faces."

"Hold on a sec." The blonde raised one hand to silence her friend while with the other she took her cell phone out of her pants pocket.

"What now?"

"I have a message." Flora took some seconds to read it. "It's Lorcan, something happened to Agatha, he says it's urgent."

"Go, I'll take care of them."

"You sure?"

"I won't tell you to go if I wasn't sure, but I'm taking the car."

"He's not far away, he's at Benny's, I don't need the car," explained Flora. "Let me know when you finish."

"Start running at once."

It wasn't long before she reached the alley, the gravity of the situation served as gasoline for his steps. Even though she didn't know the details, if Lorcan had asked for help it must be serious. The young man avoided being a nuisance to others at all costs, always doing more than his body and mind could bear. It was no surprise that Stefan was his role model.

Still, when Flora saw Lorcan in the alley, standing tall, talking calmly to Demir, and showing no weakness on his face, she couldn't help but wonder if that was his way of keeping himself going, his way of keeping himself from collapsing.

A boy she had never seen approached her.

"You must be Flora, I'm Miles," he introduced himself.

The name sounded familiar to the young woman, she was sure she had heard it somewhere. She studied the stranger once more, paying attention to detail. It was then that she noticed how similar he was to Lorcan, same brown hair, same freckles, very similar smiles, the only difference was his green eyes.

"You're the younger brother," said the blonde, trying to confirm her theory.

"The one and only."

"Why are you here? No offense, but this is the first time I see you with Lorcan."

"I was with him yesterday when she disappeared,
"explained Miles."He brought me back to see if I remember anything, not that I saw anything different from him, he made it to the alley before me and at that moment Agatha was gone."

"Yesterday? This happened yesterday and he is calling me just now?"

Miles shrugged in response, he seemed as lost as Flora despite having been with his brother when tragedy struck.

"I didn't tell you yesterday because I was checking the security cameras with Demir," Lorcan answered. He and his friend approached the other two. "We couldn't find anything, the cameras in the streets near the alley had been blocked at the time of the kidnapping."

"So you're asking for my help now because you're at a dead end," said the blonde.

"You have more connections than me, and at this point, anything can be helpful. I'm also going to ask my father for help, although I don't like to bring him into our affairs."

"He's a cop," added Miles.

For the first time, Flora heard the desperation in the young man's voice. She took his hands in hers and gave them a squeeze.

"We'll find her, ok? Do you have any suspects?"

"We know who took her, there's only a possibility," answered Demir, hatred slipping through his voice. "Ellis."

"Tell me everything you know," ordered the blonde. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow for me to ask my colleagues, I can start in the afternoon. I reckon that you will remember that tomorrow at noon is Stefan's farewell."