Lloyd considered this for a moment, then he nodded. “Okay. But let’s be smart about this. We need a distraction.”

He looked up and down the street, looking for inspiration. His gaze fell onto a young boy on his bicycle, who distributed papers as he went.

One corner of Lloyd’s mouth kicked up in a smirk. “And I think I have already found us one.” He stuck the tips of his hands into his mouth and whistled loudly.

”Hey, Nelson!”, he shouted, waving his hands in the air.

The boy must have heard his name because he stopped at the sidewalk and shielded his eyes against the sun to find out who had called him from the other side of the street.

Helen was surprised to see him wave back and then he quickly wove through the pedestrians on the sidewalk to press the button at the next crossing.

“Nelson, it’s good to see you again,” Lloyd greeted the boy when he approached.

The boy beamed at the Green Ninja. “Lloyd! It’s great to see you, too!” They fist-bumped. “Who’s your friend?”, the boy asked, smiling at Helen. Lloyd introduced them.

“Nelson, we need your help.” He lowered his voice. “On a ninja mission. Are you up for it?”

Nelson grinned, his face bright with enthusiasm. “Are you kidding? Of course I am! What’s the mission?”

Lloyd explained his plan. The boy was so excited that he bobbed on his toes.

“Count me in,” Nelson said, when Lloyd had finished.

“Excellent.” Lloyd rubbed his palms.

“Let me just lock up my bike real quick.” Nelson pushed his bicycle behind some trash cans and put a sturdy chain around the frame, locking it to a heavy dumpster.

“Okay, all set. Let’s do this!” He cracked his hands and lowered his voice conspiratorially. “I’m going in.” Lloyd smiled, hoping that the boy would not enjoy this little stunt too much.

“Alright, stay focused on the mission,” Lloyd warned. “Keep him distracted as long as you can.”

“Will do, Lloyd,” Nelson confirmed, then marched straight for the door. Holding his stomach with one hand, he toppled over as if in pain and hammered against the glass door of the practice with the other.

The practice was already closed for the afternoon, but Helen knew that her grandfather would be busy in the lab and was sure he would hear the commotion Nelson caused.

The entire neighbourhood would probably hear it. Hiding around the corner of the building, Lloyd and Helen waited until the door opened.

“What is the meaning of this ruckus?”, Fong Pendragon demanded.

“Oh, doctor, please help me!”, Nelson whined. “My tummy hurts! Aaaah…”

Lloyd grinned. Nelson was an excellent actor.

Dr. Pendragon decided to usher him in, before the boy alarmed the neighbours.

“Come on,” Lloyd whispered. “This is our chance.”

Helen nodded and they hurried towards the entrance. Like Lloyd had hoped, the doctor had left the door unlocked.

Lloyd stuck his head through the door and checked the entrance hall. It was completely deserted.

From down the hall, he heard muffled moans and voices. Their plan had worked; the good doctor had led Nelson to one of the treatment rooms to examine him. They had to move fast.

Lloyd gestured at Helen to come in. She slipped through the door and raced to the counter to check the computer. It was on standby mode.

She pressed a button on the keyboard and the monitor flickered to life. A small window popped up, asking for a username and password.

“Alright, here we go,” she murmured, typing in the words as fast as she could.

Access denied.

Holy mess.

Had her grandfather really changed the password? He had used the same word for as long as she could remember. Panicked, she glanced over at Lloyd, who had positioned himself near the corridor to listen.

He rotated his wrist to signal she should hurry. Not helpful, she thought, gnashing her teeth.

“Okay, Helen, focus,” she reprimanded herself. “You can do this.”

She took a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves. Maybe she had mistyped?

Ignoring the nagging voice in her head that urged her to hurry, she repeated the password, typing more slowly this time.

The window disappeared and made way for the desktop screen.

Helen released the breath she had been holding. Finally! She found Mrs. Hong’s file and opened her personal data. Helen took a pencil from the desk and jotted down Mrs. Hong’s private address on a piece of paper, then quickly closed the file and sent the computer back into standby mode.

Happy that she had succeeded to complete this mission, she waved the paper in Lloyd’s direction and mouthed,

“Got it!”. Lloyd nodded his head in the direction of the door.

“Get out!”, he mouthed back. Helen did not need to be told twice and ran towards the exit as fast as her legs would carry her.

Just as Lloyd was about to follow her out, the door to the nearest treatment room opened and Dr. Pendragon came out, almost bumping into him.

The doctor froze, as if thunderstruck, and glared daggers at Lloyd. Nelson, who had emerged behind Dr. Pendragon, quickly excused himself, mumbling a half-hearted thanks on his way out.

“What are you doing here, ninja?” Pendragon growled, his eyes dark as thunderclouds.

A feeling of dread settled like lead in Lloyd’s stomach, but he tried not to show it.

“Doctor Pendragon,” he addressed the older man politely, “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

His mind raced, trying to make up a proper excuse that would explain his presence.

He would not have needed to worry however, because the doctor lifted his cane and rudely poked it into Lloyd’s chest.

“I am not interested in talking to you, ninja,” he said, spitting out the last word with disdain.

Lloyd swallowed, but stood his ground.

“Have I offended you in any way?” Lloyd asked sharply.

Pendragon ignored him “Where is my granddaughter?”, he demanded. “I know she came to see you, so don’t try to deny it! Where are you hiding her?”

“Excuse me?”, Lloyd was beginning to get angry. “We are not hiding anyone. Besides, your granddaughter is old enough to make her own decisions in life.”

Pendragon’s face turned an alarming shade of crimson. “Get out of my house!”, he exploded. “And don’t show your face here, ever again!”