Is this destiny?

~ Eastern Europe, the base of the Lebedev family ~

June 6

6:52 PM

Sarah woke with a start. She realized that she is in a forest, sleeping on top of Kitty. Atlas and Vega are part of the nap-pile as well while Bella and Luna are watching over them.

"Awake?" Jeff's voice sounded from a few steps away.

"What's the time?" Sarah asked while rubbing her eyes which are too strained due to lack of sleep, so she does not wear Eve-lens. She noticed that the sun moved, but she is too disoriented to realize that she slept for more than ten hours.

"It's dinner time. We were worried that we can't find you and none of the animals responded to our calls. Now I can see why."

"How did you find me?"

"Oni located you with GPS tracking."

Sarah wanted to ask why Jeff came to get her instead of some of her kids, but then she saw further down Zack and Ade and Allen and several others. Based on the mobile stretcher in Ron's hand, they assumed that she passed out or is hurt.

Sarah rubbed her forehead before accepting Jeff's hand to get up.

"Sorry for worrying you. I didn't do it on purpose. It seems that my fatigue won, and I crashed."

"I need to warn you… my parents are here. And Jarred." Jeff told Sarah while they walked to the villa.

"What? How?"

Jeff shrugged. "Ask your parents."

"Jarred came without his wife?"

Jeff hummed in confirmation. "She is in Los Angeles with Mike and Emma."

Jeff led Sarah to the villa of Elder Milena for dinner and when they arrived, Stella and Elanor were busy with grandkids while Jarred, Oscar, and Edward watched from the side. Sophia, Felix, and JoAnna were in the adjacent room, and based on the lack of enthusiasm, Sarah guessed that JoAnna managed to keep the result of the pregnancy test from earlier that day as a secret.

"We heard that you suspect that the Voronin family is behind Aiden's disappearance.", Oscar told Sarah when they sat at the dining table. "I know that you are looking into them from the outside. I have a few contacts there and I requested that they ask around."

"I thought that you want Aiden to join Voronins.", Sarah said bluntly.

The connection between Voronins and Whites was like an invisible veil that always lingered above them. Everyone knew about it, but no one called it out. Sarah's words had an effect of removing the invisibility feature and they couldn't ignore it anymore.

"True...", Oscar said. "But I would not force him into anything. That was the opportunity he had, and it would be up to him if he wants to take it."

"It's funny that you talk about options, yet you surrounded us with people to watch our every step.", Jeff said angrily.

"Some of them were there for your protection.", Oscar responded. "Not everyone is a bad guy."

Jeff narrowed his eyes at Oscar. "Depends on the point of view."

"I had no choice, Jeff.", Oscar said. "Since Master of the Voronin family died, they were looking for Aiden and everyone related to him was in danger. I didn't have people with connections and skills to ensure your safety."

"There is always a choice, father.", Jeff grumbled. "And it would be a good start if you told us what the hell is going on."

"Let's not argue!" Elanor interrupted. "We are all here to help find Aiden. I know that Sophia is the current strategist and I offer my help."

"The people from my network are at your disposal.", Oscar said.

"Mine as well.", Jarred added.

"Thank you. We will think about it.", Sarah responded stiffly.

"You don't trust us.", Elanor spoke to Sarah with displeasure obvious in her voice.

Sarah didn't deny it. She looked at Oscar. "Let us know if your contacts in the Voronin family find anything. However, we believe that this was done by a rogue group. Maybe they belong to Voronins, but they got him without notifying proper channels."

After dinner, Sarah met with JoAnna and Sophia.

"Elanor, Oscar, and Jarred could be useful.", Sophia advised Sarah.

"They could.", Sarah confirmed. "But Aiden and Jeff don't trust them and if they had anything to do with this, they could be here to see where we are and to give a signal for Aiden to be moved if we get too close."

Sophia bobbed her head, indicating how that is a possibility. "So… where are we in terms of collaborating with them?"

Sarah shrugged. "They said that they want to help. Let them use their resources and if they find anything, we will investigate it. However, when we find a clue, that is only for us to know."

Sophia agreed to let the older generation do their own independent investigation.

"We are taking care of people and resources here, so you can focus on fixing Eve." Sophia assured Sarah before asking: "What is your progress?"

"I've got GPS tracking and notifications to work. I can see on the map all Eve-enabled devices. If Aiden gets close to a modern electrical infrastructure without a signal jammer next to him, we will know about it. It should not take more than ten seconds for his ring to charge enough so that the GPS tracking can pick up his location. I made progress with drones. They can patrol a given area and charge independently and I sent instructions to Aaron and Noah how to set them up so that they minimize notifications when a friendly unit comes into the range. Felix, Nico, and Beck are setting up security infrastructure to the main villa which we are currently using as the base, and they are also adding drones for patrolling. I am working on getting facial recognition online…"

After ending with her updates, Sarah went back to her room.

"Why are you quiet?" Sophia asked JoAnna.

JoAnna wanted to tell Sophia that Sarah is pregnant, but the words were stuck into her throat. Sarah warned her not to do things behind her back, and told her that she meddles a lot, and it's the truth. So far, it was fun, and no harm was done, but now… Aiden is missing and JoAnna can't prevent herself from wondering if that would be avoided if she didn't hide from Sarah that he went to the port. If Sarah went with him, she would use drones even if she needs to operate them manually because Sarah relies on Eve and Felix's gadgets… and that would help them spot the ambush before Aiden released Hero. Or maybe Sarah would prevent Aiden from going. In either case, Aiden would not be missing and JoAnna is blaming herself.

"Anna?"

Sophia's question pulled JoAnna out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"I asked, why are you quiet?"

JoAnna exhaled. "I am tired and worried."

Sophia patted JoAnna's hand. "I have a feeling that we are getting close. Try to be optimistic in front of Sarah, she is hit the hardest by this and she needs our support."

"I feel useless."

"It is hard to feel useful when we are working on this for a week and we are still without a clue where Aiden is. But we need to stay strong. For Sarah."

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