Disclaimer: Frozen = Disney's

"We have to call the police."

Anna barely registered Elsa's statement, barely felt the sudden gust of wintry air around her. She just stared at her phone. The words Elsa Kjarensen for Olaf Sommersonn stared right back at her. A chill ran down her spine, one that had nothing to do with Elsa.

There was a number to call as well. Not the same as the text's originator, which looked like some sort of messaging service number. Shaking herself out her shocked haze, she scrolled through her contacts and punched the Call button.

Pickuppickuppickup, she pleaded silently.

"What are you doing, Anna?" Agdar demanded, reaching for her phone.

She shoved his hand away and skipped back a few steps. Finally the ringing stopped and a gruff "Hello?" came over the line.

"Mrs. Sommerson, it's Anna," she said, trying to keep her voice even.

"Anna? All you all right? Where are you? What's going on? The National Police have been here asking about you - "

"Mrs. Sommersonn, please!" Anna almost shouted into the phone. "Is Olaf there? Is he all right?"

"Yes, he's here, he's fine, he's on the couch playing video games and complaining about you not being here. Why? What's going on, Anna?"

Anna's knees wobbled with relief. Olaf was okay, at least for the moment. But she had to make sure he stayed that way. She hated to scare his mother, but she didn't see any other way. "I can't explain right now, but I think he might be in danger. Someone might try to snatch him."

She winced at Mrs. Sommersonn's cry of alarm, but pressed on. "If you can, take him away somewhere. Anywhere. If you can't leave, call the police. Keep him in the house and stay with him."

"Anna, why?! Why would someone want to hurt Olaf?!"

Anna could hear the panic in the other woman's voice. "It's because of me," she said, feeling a sting of guilt. "Those men that came to my apartment, they're hunting me and trying to use Olaf as bait to draw me out." Anna took a deep breath as another idea occurred to her. "But I swear, I'll make sure he's protected until I take care of the problem."

"How?!" Olaf's mother was wailing now, and Anna could hear Olaf in the background, wanting to know what was going on. Her chest felt like a giant hand was pressing down on it.

"Make arrangements to leave. But don't go anywhere until you hear from me again. I need to make a phone call. I'll get back to you as quick as I can, I promise."

Anna hung up before she could hear any more pleas, any more of Olaf's questions. She called Eugene back, explained the situation as vaguely as she could, and then told him what she needed. He didn't protest, just asked her where and when.

"My apartment house. As soon as you can get someone there," she said. "Oh, and Eugene, tell them to stay out of sight. Mrs. Sommersonn's freaked out enough already. She doesn't need to see Hook Hand or Attila hanging around. It will scare the shit out of her."

"…yeah, yeah, I promise, I'll call you as soon as I can. Thanks, Eugene."

She hung up and turned to see Elsa and Agdar staring at her.

"Anna, we have to call the police," Elsa said. "Tell them what we know about this."

"No," Anna said. "We can't afford to get involved with the police, and even if we could, all we have is a text message that doesn't mean anything to anyone except us."

"But - "

"Look, Elsa, the NPs are already tracking us. They've been at Olaf's and they showed up at Eugene's shop. If we call the cops, show them this, they're going to have a lot more questions than we have answers for. It will also have the NPs breathing down our necks in no time, and I don't trust them. They have a leak somewhere."

"She's right, Elsa," Agdar put in.

The temperature took a sharp dip. "I am not going to let that sweet boy get hurt because they want me!" Elsa snapped, glaring at both of them.

"I'm not going to let either one of you get hurt!" Anna retorted. "I'm handling it, Elsa. Eugene's buddies will keep an eye on Olaf. They're better than the cops anyway."

"Give me that phone," Elsa ordered, her voice flat and cold. She held out her hand.

"Why?"

"That message had a phone number. I'm going to call it and see what they want."

"I'm sure calling is exactly what they want us to do," Anna said.

"So they can trace the call and snatch you right here?" Agdar pushed his hands through his hair, then grabbed Elsa by the shoulders. "You can't, Elsa, you're too important."

Elsa pinned him with an icy glare. "So for my first act as heir to the Crocus Throne, I should exchange the life of one of my citizens for my own? A child's life, at that?"

Anna just watched, wide eyes pinging back and forth between the two as they stared each other down. She and Agdar were both shivering now, and she could see their breath misting in the air. Agdar broke first, dropping his hands from Elsa's shoulders and looking away.

"Is it even possible to trace a cell phone call?" he asked Anna.

Anna sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It's possible, if you have the right equipment. The carriers have to be able to be able to do it so dispatchers can locate emergency callers. If the phone has a built-in GPS, they can use that, but it's not real-time. It's always a few minutes behind. If the phone doesn't have a GPS, they'll try to triangulate between cell towers using time difference of arrival – shit, they might be trying to snatch Olaf right now and I sound like a fucking geek at a science fair!"

"But it's not an exact location, right?" Elsa asked.

"No, it's not exact, at least I don't think so." Anna took a deep breath and scowled. "But who knows? Every day, some nerd invents a new something that strips away a little bit more of your privacy. I should know, half my job is to invade people's privacy."

"You should call them, Anna." Elsa stepped closer and reached for the phone. "Or I will."

Anna held the phone away from her. "What the fuck am I supposed to say, Elsa? They want to trade you for him." She dropped her head. "I can't…I can't make that choice." Why can't you see that?

Cool fingers slid under her chin, lifting it and forcing her to look into those crystal-blue eyes.

"Call them, Anna," Elsa said firmly. "Nothing is going to happen to Olaf."

"You can't guarantee that," Anna whispered.

"I can guarantee that I will do everything in my power to make sure he's not harmed."

"Including walking right into their hands?" Agdar countered.

Elsa turned to glare at him. "Yes, if it comes to that. I'm not letting an innocent child get hurt because of me."

Anna buried her face in her hands. I'm supposed to be so good at improvising, but I can't even think straight.

"Elsa, you can't - " Agdar protested.

Elsa cut him off. "This discussion is over. Make the call."

It was unquestionably a command, given in a tone that brooked no dissent.

Anna met Elsa's eyes. Elsa just stared back, expressionless. Anna shivered, then took a deep breath and punched in the number. The phone rang only once before someone picked up. She put the phone on speaker so that Agdar and Elsa could hear as well.

"Ms. Aarndahl?" Anna didn't recognize the voice. She thought it might be male, but wasn't sure. It had a strange, mechanical quality to it, like it was being altered somehow. It sounded…inhuman, and the little hairs on the back her neck stood on end.

Voice distorter, maybe?

"This is Anna Aarndahl."

"How nice of you to call, Ms. Aarndahl. Are you prepared to deal?"

"Just so you know, I just checked on Olaf Sommersonn. He's fine and the cops are on their way, so any ideas you have about snatching him - "

An eerie chuckle. "We have no need to kidnap him, Ms. Aarndahl."

"Then why am I talking to you?" Asshole.

The eerie chuckle came again, and the next words chilled Anna to her bones. "We don't need to abduct him. We can eliminate him anytime we want. Today, tomorrow, next week, next month. While he's at the park, going to his robotics club, even when he's sleeping. His apartment is on the first floor, and his bed is right by the window. Simple, really. And it's not just Olaf. You need to think about your cousin's health as well. You know, expecting her first child and all. It would be terrible if anything were to happen - "

It was all Anna could do not to hurl the phone against the wall. "You sick fuck!"

"Being vulgar won't help them." The voice tsked and then continued with an infuriating calm. "Where is Elsa Kjarensen, Ms. Aarndahl? We just want her. Give her up and all your problems are solved."

Anna trembled with rage. "And I'm just supposed to trust you?"

"You don't really have a choice, do you?"

Anna's mind pinballed, trying to figure a way out of the nightmare. She couldn't hand Elsa over to the people who wanted her dead. There was a chance they might be bluffing, but could she bet Olaf's life on that?

No. Not after what went down at the cabin. These people have shown they're all too willing to kill.

Elsa's hand slid in to cover the phone's voice pickup. "Tell them I got away from you," she whispered.

Anna swallowed hard and nodded. "I don't even have Elsa. She ditched me a couple of days ago."

"Well, then, I see we have nothing left to talk about. You can explain everything to Mrs. Sommersonn when she's burying her son. Good-bye, Ms. Aarndahl."

"Wait!" Anna cried.

"Yes?"

Anna looked at Elsa and bit her lip. "If I can get Elsa, what do you suggest?"

"A meeting."

"She's not going to come willingly."

"I missed the part where that's my problem. Just get her there. We'll be waiting."

"And you're just going to let me walk?"

"Yes," the voice replied simply. "You can drop her off and walk away. You don't interest us."

"Where?"

The voice rattled off an address. Anna knew the area: several blocks of abandoned and underutilized warehouses in in the Wharf District, not too far from Eugene's shop. Isolated, except for some occasional vagrants.

She looked at Agdar and Elsa. Agdar had a thoughtful expression, and when she raised her eyebrows, he nodded.

"Ask for some time," he whispered.

"I'll need a few days," Anna said into the phone.

"Tomorrow night. Midnight," the voice said.

"That's not enough time!" Anna protested. "I have to find Elsa, then I have to convince her to come with me. And there are cops everywhere!"

"Then I suggest you get started."

Anna's fist clenched around the phone. "You listen to me, asshole. If you hurt Olaf, touch even one hair on his head, I swear I will find you and I will make you pay for it!"

The chuckle managed to sound amused despite the mechanical distortion. "Oh, Anna, consider yourself lucky that we don't see you as a threat. Do yourself a favor: when you walk away, don't look back." The line went dead.

Anna just stared at the phone, stunned. "Hans…" she whispered.

"Westergard? You think that was him?" Agdar asked.

Anna nodded. "It has to be. Even with that voice distorter, I could hear him. Could practically feel the douchebag-ery coming through the phone. He's so fucking smug. He would know about Olaf, how close we are, and about Rapunzel."

"Wait, wait, who are you talking about?" Elsa asked.

"Hans Westergard," Agdar answered.

Elsa frowned. "As in Westergard Export Brokers?" At Agdar's nod, she asked, "What does he have to do with all this?"

Anna wanted to facepalm. With all the revelations around Elsa's heritage, Agdar hadn't even been able to tell Elsa who was hunting her and why. Before she could say anything, though, Agdar took Elsa's arm and steered her to the couch. Once she was seated, he filled her in on everything – how Eckbert Weselton and Hans Westergard had discovered his bribery scheme, how they had blackmailed him into cooperating with them, how they planned to use Agdar's compromised councilors to control the Nasjonsting.

"And the worst part," Agdar concluded, "is that I believe their ultimate goal is to decide who sits on the Crocus Throne. If they can produce a minimally suitable candidate, even one with a falsified background, they can use their leverage in the Nasjonsting to put that person on the throne."

Elsa, to her credit, kept her face impassive, but the room grew noticeably colder. "Do you think they know that I'm – I'm the heir?" She almost choked on the last word.

Agdar tapped his chin in thought as he paced. "I doubt it. I think they were originally planning to use you as leverage against me, to make sure I did what they wanted. But when you went to the National Police, you became a direct threat. Once the corruption investigation started, those councilors would be under NP surveillance, and much harder to lean on. And if any of them were arrested, they wouldn't be available to do Weselton's bidding. They tried to kill you to stop the investigation."

"But how does Hans Westergard know you, Anna?" Elsa asked.

Anna and Agdar exchanged glances. Anna tucked her hair behind her ear and said, "Um…he's my ex."

Elsa's mouth dropped open and she bolted to her feet, ice crackling under them.

"Elsa - " Anna began.

"Your ex-boyfriend is trying to kill me? When were you planning on sharing that with me?"

Anna shivered at the cold fury in Elsa's voice. Worse, though, was the hurt and mistrust she could hear under the fury, and her heart sank. "Elsa, please, let me exp - "

She broke off as Elsa brushed by her on her way to the bar, where she filled a tumbler with scotch and took a healthy swallow. Unlike Anna, Elsa didn't seem to have any problem getting getting the whiskey down. She looked at her glass thoughtfully, then extended one finger and gave it a little tap. Anna's eyes widened when a faint blue-white glow pulsed from Elsa's finger, and a light layer of frost spread over the glass.

Whoa…

Elsa looked up to see Anna staring, and raised the glass in a sardonic salute. "Like you said, a handy skill." She took another sip of her drink, then said, "I'm going to call Kristoff Bjorgman. He can put Olaf and Anna's cousin in protective custody."

"Elsa, for all we know, he's the leak!" Anna protested.

"So what else do you suggest?" Elsa asked hotly. "Even if I agree to meet with Westergard, you can't go. He'll never let you walk away, Anna. You're the loosest of loose ends!"

Anna clenched her fists. "I'm not going to just hand you over!"

"I have a better idea," Agdar interjected.

"Oh? What's that?"

Agdar retrieved his backpack, pulling a briefcase out of it. He set the briefcase on the coffee table and opened it, then dug into a false panel. "This briefcase has a hidden mic and video recorder. Weselton and Westergard gave it to me to record my councilors for future blackmail, but I turned it on them."

A corner of Agdar's mouth quirked up as he showed Anna and Elsa a tiny data card. "On this little card, I have them admitting that they had the NP agent killed, among other incriminating things."

"Are you serious?" Anna's brows shot up, and she felt the first glimmer of hope.

"Trust me, I would never joke about these people."

"So we use this to keep them in check," Elsa said. "They hurt us…

"We destroy them," finished Anna.

"Exactly," Agdar said grimly.

"Do they know that you have this?" Elsa asked. "And do you know how to contact them?"

"By now I'm sure Westergard has figured out what I did." Agdar got up from the couch and walked to the picture window, gazing out at the gathering darkness. "He's quite clever. And ruthless. He has a considerable range of influence. No doubt he's pondering what I might do with the recording."

"Hans is so fucking arrogant, he probably thinks he should be King," Anna snorted. Agdar turned and gave her a strange look. "When are you going to call Hans?"

"Right now," Agdar said. "But I'm not calling him. Westergard may be clever, but Weselton is holding his leash. He's the one to talk to."

"Whoever, as long as we're finally doing something," Anna said. "And then we need to get the hell out of here. Between my phone call and yours, they're going to narrow down our location sooner or later." She reached around and touched her pistol, its weight reassuring at the small of her back. She wondered how much trouble she would get in if she tracked down Hans herself and shot him. Nothing bad, just in the foot or something.

Or even better, I'll just punch him in his perfect teeth.

"Elsa?" Agdar said, raising an eyebrow.

Elsa looked back and forth between the two of them, and then nodded. "Make the call."

Weselton was in his study at home when Erikksen's call came in. His tech people had made sure that such calls wouldn't be traceable to him, should Erikksen be sitting at NP Headquarters.

"Good evening, Agdar," Weselton said.

"We can skip the pleasantries, Weaseltown. I think you know why I'm calling."

"About a very personal video, I believe."

"Perceptive as always, I see."

The sarcasm in Erikksen's voice set Weselton's teeth on edge, but he controlled his voice. "I would appreciate a small demonstration, if you don't mind," he said.

Erikksen played a short but incriminating sample of the audio. Weselton tugged at his collar as he listened. Hans was right; Erikksen had the means to destroy them both. He took a swallow of his cognac, struggling to still his shaking hand as he raised the snifter to his lips.

"Well?" Erikksen demanded.

"So you're ready to deal, are you, Agdar? I would like to open by saying that I have had your painting returned to your house."

"That's a start, but nowhere near enough."

"I thought not. What are your other terms?" Weselton asked, impatience creeping into his voice. He hated the back-and-forth of negotiations like this, especially when he was in the weaker position. It had been years since he'd had to really bargain for anything – his wealth and position had allowed him to simply state his non-negotiable terms.

"First and foremost, stay away from Olaf Sommersonn. Call that off right now, and don't ever go near him. Or any of Anna Aarndahl's family or friends. Clear?"

"Am I correct in assuming that you're with Miss Kjarensen and Miss Aarndahl right now?"

Erikksen ignored that. "Second, the three of us are off-limits as well. If anything even remotely suspicious happens to one of us, that data card will go straight to NP Headquarters."

"Do Kjarensen and Aarndahl know of my involvement?"

"No."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Amusement colored Erikksen's voice. "You don't. However, it would be dangerous for them to know. They just want to survive. A fairly understandable goal for them given these last few days. So you'll just have to take my word for it."

Weselton's hand clenched around his phone, and he fought the urge to slam it down on the receiver. "And what about my long-term plan?" he ground out.

"I missed the part where that's my problem."

"Why did you run?"

"What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

Weselton sniffed. "I would never have allowed myself to be put in your shoes."

"Well, thank God we can't all be like you. So we have an agreement?"

"I don't see that I have much choice," Weselton grumbled.

Erikksen chuckled. "Welcome to the club. Good doing business with you, Weaseltown." He hung up.

Weselton put the phone down and sat there seething. A few minutes later, Gustaf knocked and stuck his head around the door to report that the trace had not been made. Weselton finished his cognac, then called Hans.

"They're definitely together," Hans concluded after Weselton relayed the conversation with Erikksen. "All three birds in the same nest. That will make things much simpler."

"Agreed. This has dragged on long enough. It is time to be finished with it."

A/N: Thanks to vesfarhloc and grrlgeek72 for the beta reading. :)