"Hey—"

Before I even finish my sentence, Minho interrupts, "What the fuck! How do you manage to appear everywhere, just like your boyfriend?"

It took that—purely those words—and I already snap. "How do you manage to mess up every single time?! I get you're trying to help but why the hell did you just leave us hanging and went to figure shit out on your own? Let us help, for God's sake—"

Slightly taken aback, Minho stares at me. "We weren't making pace, man. And I know you want to help, but what Jorge, Brenda, and I are about to do, isn't exactly what you and Newt approve of."

"How would you know?" I can't stop myself. The words are streaming out of my mouth once again. "How would you know how far I'd go to save them?"

"Look—" Minho sighs. "I have nothing to defend myself with but for now I'd just like to continue with what we were doing. By the way, you say I shouldn't run off, yet I don't see Newt or Eli with you."

I tilt my head to the side. "They are asking Daphne about every single place Austin could be, or was ever connected to. Funny enough, we already think we know where they are."

No violence needed to figure out Austin used to work in a factory, which is no longer in use.

Minho gapes at me for a while. "Where?"

"Thought you were too busy with your own ideas," I snap.

Once again, I can't help it. I'm pissed at him for running off and handling things in his own way without even discussing it with us. I'm currently pissed at everything— I've been pissed at everything since the moment they disappeared.

Wait, no. I was sad at first. Then I started getting angry. Angry I let it happen, angry Janson casually paid such an untrustworthy guy to serve dri—

Janson.

Janson. Paid. A. Guy. To. Serve. Drinks.

Maybe that man is good for one thing. Maybe Austin spilled something to him. Some kind of clue I can catch up with before we go to that factory.

It's a four hour drive from the camp, so if it's not where they are, it really sucks.

"So go on, continue," I tell them. "I've gotta do something else—"

"Wait, Lyndon." Minho takes a step closer. "I didn't mean to make it sound like you guys aren't helping or anything. But I just can't sit still after seeing those pictures."

"I understand," I say fast.

To be honest, I've been so busy overthinking and zoning out, that I haven't put myself in Minho's place and what this feels like for him. He handles things differently than me—everyone handles things differently—and I'll have to live with the way he does it, not get freaking angry for that.

Relief floods into his face. "Okay. Thank you. Just let me know if you need anything."

"You, too."

"Wait—" Before I can leave this place in the Homestead, I get interrupted again. This time by a girl, with shortly cut hair and sharp eyes. I have no idea who she is. Minho mentioned her name is Brenda, though.

"Where did you think you can find them?" She asks.

"A factory Austin used to work in."

"I know that one," she says. At my confused face, she adds, "I'm Thomas's cousin."

"Ah, right. Ehm, nice to meet you. Nice circumstances for sure..." I stumble a bit over my own words. "You have any other hints?"

"Yes," she says triumphantly. "I was just about to share this, but you suddenly entered."

Minho's head snaps toward her. "What?"

He's getting more impatient by the time. We all are, but, once again, we react differently. Minho gets high-tempered as hell.

"I'm staying with you because I currently have no one else to stay at. Today, I saw your Dad while you stayed here with Jorge. Then you picked me up and we drove back here."

"Your point?"

"Hiram made me listen to something before I left. Something important. Something that could fix all of—"

"Yeah, just share what it is instead of this mysterious shit," Jorge cuts her off.

Sighing, Brenda takes her phone from her pocket and presses a few buttons. Something starts to play.

"Hiram, hi. This is Lelia. Lelia Blake. Please don't interrupt— I have a minute. Thomas and I are held hostage by both my dealer and Thomas's dad. We're in some kind of factory surrounded by fields. The dealer has blonde hair. One of his houses is taken over by cops."

My eyes wide so fast that they nearly pop out of their cases, then they start to water. Just listening to her voice makes me cry— though the worst thing is, is the way she's half-sobbing, and she sounds so desperate.

"Uhm— uhm... Thomas and I got drugged at the ball and then got taken away right outside. We're okay for now, but we don't always get food and water. They're playing mind games. Eh— the factory is big and has multiple rooms. The walls are gray, I saw them. There's some woods in the distance. We're tied to brown chairs with ropes. Austin has an old Samsung— I don't know what kind. I'm sorry.. eh, eh—"

There's a short pause in which she takes fast, very audible breaths.

"We'll do our bests to keep up. Hopefully I'll see you soon. If not, I'm sorry for stealing your money and tell Minho I really love him and Lyndon and Dad and you and Jen and Newt and even Am—"

Then her voice is gone. Cut off, just like that. And I'm staring at the phone as if I'm waiting for more to come, but it's over. We got so much yet so little. So little about what they're doing to them— no, that's not the most important thing right now. Focus on the location.

"Surrounded by fields and woods. A big, gray factory," Brenda repeats. "That could very much be the one they're in."

"How did she manage to call Minho's father?" Jorge asks. "No way those guys are letting them out of their sight."

Brenda rubs her forehead for a second. "Yeah. I know that. But I have clearer memories of Austin, because I am older than Thomas. I met up with Thomas and his parents pretty much in the past. My parents and I had no idea what was going on at home, so we didn't have any suspicions. I recall him playing a game of dilemma's with us. Sophie's Choice. The dilemmas were either to choose between two very good things or two very bad things.

"Of course, in the past, it was innocent things like 'would you want to stink like fish' or 'would you rather eat your least favorite food for the rest of your life?'. When Lelia mentioned 'mind games', I immediately thought of this."

"But calling us is something good. So Thomas would get the other good thing?"

"Maybe... but the point of the game is that no outcome is preferable over the other. And calling Hiram was also good for Thomas, so if he also got something else good, he kind of got both things, get what I mean?"

"So you're saying he got something bad," I state, speaking slowly.

"Yes," she confirms. "Exactly what I think."

"And I think we need to go to that factory right now," Minho interferes.

With a deep exhale, I shake my head. "I agree, but come on, do we think they're staying at that factory after Lelia spilled it to us?"

"And if they are," Jorge says, "do we think they're not freaking armed? These are some serious men we're talking about. One who's ready to shoot his own son, and another one who's ready to stalk one for months."

"True," Minho admits in a mutter.

"We should tell the police," I say. "We can keep figuring things out like this on our own, but we have to tell them everything as well."

They silently agree with some nods.