This is how I picture Sean Green...
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'Ok Vic, now that the wheels are back on the Blackbourne team, how did you come by the photo of that letter Owen and North left for Sang,' Luke circled back to the issue he was most interested in as he was damn sure those were Sang's hands in the photo. The whole team turned their attention to a slyly grinning Victor,
'I wondered how long it'd take you to get back to that, Luke...' Victor walked over to his desk with purpose as he spoke,
'You all know I received information from Iris Makinen and that I'd been following her 'trails' online. Last night I was obsessing over the photo Uncle sent us of Sang, our children and the Tomas when she responded to me directly through a secure instant messaging connection,' Victor smirked at the gaping mouth expression on Luke's and several of his other team members' faces,
'Are you saying you chatted online with Iris?' Owen asked Victor to clarify. Victor grinned widely at his teammate,
'Actually, I didn't just 'chat' with Iris.... I also got to communicate directly with Sang,' the room exploded on that little piece of news,
'Are you sure, Victor?'
'What the fuck, Vic! Why are we just hearing about this now?!'
'Vic! How could you keep something like that from us?'
'Holding out on the team, eh, Morgan?'
'Fuck me! Can I see the conversation?'
'You actually spoke with Pookie?!'
'No way, man! You sly fucker!'
'You let me see that conversation right now, dammit!'
Victor chuckled as he dramatically swung the monitor toward the group for the third time in 24 hours to show the conversation thread, the icon red indicating the person was not presently online:
Are you there?
I'm here, Iris.
I see you followed my bread crumbs... I know someone who is looking for you... Someone you left behind for an ephemeral other...
I'm glad little bird is looking for me, but I did not leave her for anyone. She is my world. Always will be.
We still have the letter, asshole! (Edited)
What letter? I wrote no letter when we left.
Received JPEG
I swear on Vivaldi's 'Winter', Princess that I did not write or even know of that letter until this moment.
We see.
We want to continue this conversation but we have to go for now. We will be available tomorrow at this same time to continue....
Bye, Vic. Better luck next time coding a tracer program, söta prins.
I'll be here, Princess, Ōjo (Unseen)
All eight Blackbournes looked at Victor in wonder,
'Holy shit, you actually found her...' Gabe whistled in amazement. Victor shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck,
'I wouldn't say that, Gabe. It's more like Iris found me. She's scary good at what she does...' Victor trailed off and three of his brothers cocked their heads at the tone of his voice. Owen, Sean and Kota gave each other a significant look,
'What does 'Edited' by the line saying they have the letter mean?' Nathan asked curiously. Victor laughed,
'That's was my first clue I was speaking with Sang herself. I took a screen shot of the original wording of the sentence before she edited it. See...' Victor pulled up his screen shot of the conversation before Sang edited her first emotional response:
Are you there?
I'm here, Iris.
I see you followed my bread crumbs... I know someone who is looking for you... Someone you left behind for an ephemeral other...
I'm glad little bird is looking for me, but I did not leave her for anyone. She is my world. Always will be.
I still have the letter, asshole!
'My second clue was the fact the sender knew the Blackbourne specific protocol to send JPEG files. That pretty much cinched it for me that it was Sang. Plus the fact that she had a letter only Sang would have. I had one final clue in the last sentence. Two goodbyes. 'Goodbye, Vic' from Sang and 'Better luck next time coding a tracer program, söta prins' So it's pretty clear it was both Sang and Iris on the other side of the screen,' Owen and Sean shared a long look,
'You took a bit of a risk using her name, Vic...' Victor gave Owen a direct look,
'No offence, Owen but it was a calculated risk. Her profile picture is of an iris flower so anyone reading the message might've figured her name out by the picture or else assumed I was just calling her the name as a pet name based on the photo. Besides, I was in a bit of a shit or bust situation. We needed to know for sure who we were speaking with and if they were actually with Sang. I was careful not to use surnames, nor did I name Sang specifically... It was a calculated risk I thought worth taking,' Owen lifted his hands in an 'I surrender' gesture,
'I can't argue against your logic. It's sound,' Victor gave Owen and Sean a small smile. Victor was very comfortable justifying his decision as he had a secure line, had behaved according to protocol and had given out no additional information for an unfriendly observer.
'Do you know what that language is that Iris used when she signed off, Vic?' Kota had switched the screen back to the full conversation thread, his eyes focused on the message. Vic nodded,
'Yes, I did a language recognition search. It's Swedish. I also had a hunch that Sang spoke the same language when she gave the valedictorian speech at her graduation. She said 'Skål' at the very end of her speech which as it turned out is 'cheers' in Swedish. There's a connection there... I just need to riddle it out...' Silas and Nathan both choked,
'There definitely is a connection, Vic... Bjorne Makinen is Swedish,'
'There is a massive piece of this puzzle we are missing here,' Owen mused out loud,
'Yea, I think so too...' Victor pulled up the picture of Sang with the babies and Tomas,
'Look at the way Sang is smiling at the person holding the camera, who I assume is Iris. She looks at the photographer as if they are her very best friend and confidant... Because of her step mother and Marie, Sang's never been able to bond with other females very well except for maybe Kota's sister, but there's something about her and Iris' relationship that feels... I don't know... sisterly,' the rest of the team scrutinised the photo and agreed, the relationship seemed familial. Kota swapped the screen back to the IM conversation again before asking Victor,
'So what time are Sang and Iris expecting to speak to you again - and by 'you' I mean us?' Victor chuckled,
'Yea, I figured you'd all want to talk to them too. In fact... I've been working on two different codes for tonight. First, I'm determined to write code that can track their location, I doubt I'll manage that by tonight, it'll take some time but time is something we have right now... and second, I want to devise a secure way to 'Skype' them over the internet... that's my priority - I'm desperate to see Sang again with my eyes... and properly 'meet' Iris!' Victor held up his watch and showed his brothers the timer which showed a count down for just under ten hours,
'So roughly quarter past one in the morning here in Estonia... That'd be quarter past six in the evening in South Carolina... Let's hope we can pick up some clues on where they are if you can manage a secure face to face conversation over the internet tonight,' Sean spoke his thoughts out loud,
'There was nothing in the photo that I could see that would narrow down their location... except that wherever they are it's still warm enough around mid December to have the septuplets outside dressed in T-shirts...' Gabe considered,
'Actually that's a good point... can you search for areas in the US where the temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer from the beginning to middle of this month?' Victor hummed a positive sound as he settled into his desk seat, but just as his hand settled on the screen to swivel his monitor back around toward himself, something unexpected happened causing Kota to grab the screen, holding it in place. The icon had changed from red to green. Someone was online. Right now.
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Erica hadn't slept well again last night after speaking with the boys.
She felt a need to do something to redeem herself to Sang and the boys if she was able. She just had to find out more about Sang's whereabouts to help the boys to find Sang and the children.
Suddenly, an idea came to her, she jumped out of the bed and grabbed her mobile off the charger on her dresser, checking the time. Nearly half past nine. Great, it wasn't too early; she pushed Jeanie's contact photo,
'Good morning, Erica!' Jeanie greeted her bestie cheerfully,
'How was your Christmas?' Erica grimaced but kept her voice upbeat,
'Jess and I had a lovely day. We spent it with North and Luke Taylor's uncle. You know what they say a problem shared is a problem halved. How was your Christmas?' Jeanie laughed at Erica knowingly,
'It must've been a tough day for you to resort to platitudes, missus,' Erica laughed ruefully,
'You know me too well! Seriously though, it was as good as it could've been under the circumstances,' Jeanie smiled at the more honest response from Erica,
'I'm glad. We had a busy day with both sides of the family coming for Christmas lunch, James' and my parents. But the kids loved every minute of the spoiling,' Erica chuckled used to Jeanie's stories of her parents and in-laws over indulging her kids,
'Speaking of kids, Jess wanted to know if Sang wrote a return address on the Christmas card she sent you so she can post Sang her email address,'
'Just a sec, I'll see if I still have the envelope in the paper recycling,' Erica held her breath while she could hear Jeanie rummaging around on the other end of the line,
'No, sorry, Erica she didn't write a return address on the envelope,' Erica's shoulders dropped in disappointment as she could hear Jeanie looking over the envelope,
'There's only a post mark from Napa Valley, California. That's all,' Erica's heart leapt. That was something Victor could make good use of!
'No worries, Jeanie. It was just a thought...' Erica continued chatting about what her friend planned to do for the rest of the Christmas break. After a few minutes of general conversation and a promise to meet up this weekend for a night out before saying their goodbyes, Erica disconnected the conversation.
She immediately rang up Uncle,
'Morning, Erica,' Uncle's rough voice came through the phone. Erica jumped right into her news,
'I've got some more news! I just couldn't stop trying to figure out a way to locate Sang and those babies... I wondered if Sang might've written a return address for Jeanie and Nia to reply to the Christmas cards she sent them,' Uncle sucked in a hopeful breath,
'Unfortunately she didn't,' Uncle released his pent up breath in disappointment only to catch it back in at Erica's next sentence,
'But, Jeanie said the post mark was from Napa Valley, California! Do you think Victor could trace them from that?' Uncle's heart rate picked up,
'That was good thinking, Erica! It's more information than they did have and Vic is a wonder on a computer so maybe...' He went in search of his laptop, in a rush to get the new information to the Blackbournes and Victor, feeling more hopeful than he had since before the boys had left South Carolina.
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Iris was meticulous about checking the security protocols for both the physical and electronic security of the Ghost team... as well as checking up on a few pet projects both first thing in the morning and last before bed.
She had been distracted by the events of the evening and had not checked before she'd been distracted.
So her need to correct that error drove her to sneak out of her bed where Brandon, Marc and Kevin were still sleeping hard following the 'consummation of their relationship' - Iris felt a wild urge to giggle at her sister's terminology of the evening's events as well as a tenderness for the three men cuddled up together in her bed.
Iris had just finished checking the physical security for their team had not been breached when she received an unexpected IM:
Are you there?
It was Victor. Iris was unsure if she aught to respond. Sissy was asleep with the rest of their men and Iris had begun to feel a little uncomfortable with communicating with Victor when her sister was not present. It was only recently she'd felt that way. An odd emotion that Iris hadn't wanted to analyse too closely because she was both afraid of what it meant and how it might affect her twin.
Iris?
Ok, she couldn't ignore him either. Two hands came down on her shoulder, making Iris nearly jump out of her skin,
'I felt your worry, sis. What's wrong?' Sang had slipped out of her own bed and stood behind her wearing the pink robe Iris had given her on the birth of the septs,
'Victor has just messaged us,' Iris looked up at her sister. Who was looking down at her knowingly,
'Let's chat with our prince then, sis. Later you can tell me what I already know and stop worrying about it,' Iris cringed, damn twin bond....
Good morning, söta prins. Naughty boy, setting up an online indication program. Lucky for you, we don't mind...
Is little bird with you, too?
We are rarely apart, so yes.
This is earlier than we agreed, Vic. But I am glad you messaged because I didn't get the opportunity to ask for some information you've allegedly already given me. First, did you and the group send me a video message the beginning of November?
Yes we did.
At least that part was truthful then...
You see I was given an edited version to view. Unfortunately for the BoD, both myself and Iris are... proficient at detecting tampering. And I don't like being.... manipulated or 'lied to' in the name of protection...
The video explains, Princess.
Yes, well firstly, you lost the right to call me by that title. Secondly, as I just mentioned, the copy I received was tampered with and finally, I knew from the start why the group did what you did, just not the detail....
And the why doesn't justify the what.
Iris and Sang waited for several minutes before a reply came through. Sang and Iris were sharing the extra wide desk chair, Iris hugging her twin,
'Well done, sissy,'
The group understands your position, little bird. Especially under the circumstances that followed.
'They know about the septs,' Sang felt a dichotomy of emotions. On one hand, she was happy they knew but on the other, she'd wanted to tell them face to face herself.
I see. How are you aware of those circumstances?
We've seen a photograph.
'I would say I told you not to send those Christmas cards out with photos, sissy. But we both know you wanted them to find out. Or at least their families to find out and pass the information along,' Sang fake glared at her sister before kissing her cheek. Sometimes it was very exposing having someone who knew her motives so well...
I see. I would've preferred having that particular discussion face to face but it wasn't possible under the conditions the group left.
We will send you the video in unedited format shortly. Then we'd be grateful if you'd still be available at the agreed time for a 'face to face' discussion.
Sang and Iris looked at one another, surprised for the first time. Victor has managed to impress Iris.
Secure 'face to face'?
We think it's been well established that the group takes the safety of little bird seriously... perhaps too far as well... but yes secure.
There was a ping indicating the video had arrived via the safe route back door.
We will speak then. Good bye, Vic and friends.
Good bye little bird and Iris.
Twenty minutes later the twins left the room, both looking worried and distressed by what the contents of that video had contained,
'The next BoD meeting is the 28th Dec. Axel and I will be crashing that party!' Sang was not happy with Academy board. Not happy at all.
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A stealthy figure approached the Blackbourne residence in Tallinn. The person had waited until the entire team had left for their assignment surveillance.
The shadow left a hand sized box tucked inside the glass screen door and vanished.
Unfortunately for the shadow, even Peter Pan's shadow was once seen and caught by Wendy. And today, they had been seen and caught as well.
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Next chapter a couple more secrets detonate....
Since this was a relatively short chapter, you'll get another tomorrow!
See you then 💋