Soldier of Time

XXVIII: Counterattack (3)

Later in the compound, the Deer and Karen would walk into the living room of the dormitory building and saw Simon and Johan looking over their shoulders as a young woman was doing something on a laptop. Also sitting in the living room was Jolanda, who was using her phone energetically. When she saw her, Karen made a look of discomfort on her face.

Johan was immersed in what the girl was doing on the computer and had not noticed the presence of the Deer. He was observing how they both looked directly at the girl, and she raised her face to see her commanding officer entering the room. She put the computer aside and salute Karen militarily.

“Rest,” Karen said while looking at the young man she did not remember.

“What are you doing here?” He asked the young woman, but before she could answer, Johan walked with energy towards the Deer.

“Damn, son of a b***h!” He said.

And with that, the two young men hugged each other in smiles as Johan continued to separate.

“You are miserable, you spend almost a year without talking to me, and you only look for me to serve as a hound.”

“Sorry, man,” Slevin said with his hand on the back of his neck, “I wouldn’t have called you if it weren’t super important.”

“Hanibal...” The man said while looking at the Deer with a complicated expression, “I’m yet tempted to say no to you.”

“It’s just tracking him. That’s it.”

The young men hugged each other again, and then Johan added, “This girl is fantastic. Simon brought her because if I can’t track down the bastard, she sure could, man.”

The Deer looked at the girl with curiosity and then at Simon, and he said, “Deer, this is Nicol, a super Hacker.”

Slevin smiled at that.

“I didn’t know you had those gifts, Sergeant,” Karen said before lowered her face.

The Deer said, “Karen, this is the tracker, Johan. This is Karen, the head of the operation.”

Karen looked at the boy up and down and approached him. While walking, Johan, who was looking at the Deer, asked, “What? You’re not in charge of the operation?”

“No, not really….”

When the Deer answered, Karen stood in front of the young man and said, “No, he’s not. I’m Royal Guard Karen Selic. I am the officer in charge of the operation...”

Johan looked at the young woman and then at the Deer and said, “What an elegant position. But if you already saw Hanibal, and you surely did, you should know that your position is useless” after that, he walked to the Deer and said, “No wonder you failed. Old Deer, I crawl and go. I don’t want to have anything to do with this, please.”

The Deer smiled and said, “I know what it looks like, but don’t worry. She’s quite capable. But you’re right. You’re only here to track.”

Karen walked towards the young man, he faced him with a very severe face, but the young woman looked directly into her eyes with intensity, she said, “I know it’s difficult for you to face him again, I don’t know him as much as you do, and I’m terrified. Thanks for doing it anyway.”

Simon stared at Karen, and without believing what she heard, he observed the Deer, who was lost at that moment as well.

Johan lost all severity in his gaze and, lowering his head a little. He said, “It’s not that bad, and I’ll just track him down.”

To which Karen placing her hand on the guy’s shoulder, added, “Don’t worry, and thank you, really.”

They all gasped at the way Karen had disarmed Johan’s mistrust, and the Deer stared at her when she winked at him.

At that precise moment, Jolanda jumped up, dropping all her papers.

They all saw her and were surprised by the genuine face of terror on the woman’s face. She slowly approached the Deer and handed him her phone without being able to say a word.

The Deer took it and heard the voice on the other side of the speaker, “Hello Deer! I hope you are not busy...”

The Deer felt his heart rise. He looked at everyone but kept his composure and said, “Hello. We’re actually having a little party. Why don’t you come over?”

“I’d go, my friend, but I’m in mourning. You know the chancellor of Jericho died. What terrible news...”

The Deer felt a wave of strong anger rising towards his head, everyone was looking at him with curiosity, but he was not paying attention to anything other than the voice on the other side of the receiver.

“Deer, are all your friends there? Why you don’t put me on speaker. I would like to greet them.”

The Deer looked at all of them and making a decision. He touched the loud voice button and said, “Everyone listens to you now...”

All those who were in that place paid attention, but a palpable terror seized them when they heard the greeting of his interlocutor.

“Hi guys, how are you? Enjoying life?”

Everyone jumped when they heard that voice, Johan grabbed his right shoulder tightly, and Karen looked at Jolanda with great derision.

“Who are there? No, don’t tell me, let me guess.”

Hanibal was silent when the Deer approached the young woman and pointed to the phone, and then the laptop tried to explain by signs to trace the call.

The girl took the phone, plugged it into her computer, and started typing, as Hanibal said, “We have the Deer, the only one who has defeated me, that of course before I assassinated the Chancellor in his guard, and he could not do anything to prevent it.”

The Deer squeezed his hands but tried to stay calm.

“We have Karen, who is the worst royal guard in the country. You don’t even expect that. You’re a soldier who can’t handle her own mission, and she runs off to hire gangsters to help her, right?”

“Damn bastard!”

The young woman yelled in despair, only for her cell phone to respond with a loud laugh.

“I love you too, Karen. Well, who else is out there? Obviously, Simon, the Deer’s boyfriend. Bone the doe. You should have a little more old personality. They say you can see everything. Can you see the bullet that I’ll put in your skull?”

Simon looked directly at the phone, and a sour smile spread across his face. His hands tightened, and for a few seconds, his breathing stopped.

The Deer looked at Nicol, and she shook her head. The Deer nodded and gestured with her finger for her to keep trying. But Hanibal spoke once more.

“I guess it’s all right? Ha, no, wait. Of course, I miss you, Johan.”

The moment that guy said that, everyone turned to see the boy. He showed a completely authentic look of terror and surprise.

Hanibal continued, “You should not get involved, you i***t. At that time, I let you escape. But this time, I will not fail. But anyway, to all those present mentioned, I wanted to tell you something.”

Karen was looking directly at the Deer, but he seemed to be deep in his thoughts when Hanibal spoke once more.

“You will not be able to stop the war. But since you guys want to try playing my game, I’ll give you something to play. But why only you guys should have fun? That doesn’t seem fair to me.”

Everyone paid close attention to what was happening again.

Hanibal asked casually, “How about we bring the beautiful Julia and the misunderstood Amber to the game?”

Hearing the name of his owner, Johan exploded in uncontrollable anger.

“Damn bastard, if you touch Julia, I will kill you with my bare hands, you miserable!”

The Deer looked at the phone as if trying to believe what he was hearing, and Hanibal continued, “You shouldn’t have come, you i***t. Let’s see if these beauties are up to the challenge. Luckily I see you when I see them. And Deer. Let’s see if you can save them.”

And with those words, the call was hung up. Johan looked at the Deer, his anger was palpable, but the terror behind his eyes could not be hidden.

The Deer stopped time to try to think but instantly let it go. There wasn’t much to think about. The girls had to be saved.

“Simon!!” Slevin yelled as he ran towards the stairs. “Go with Johan, protect Julia!”

And with those words, he disappeared up and down the stairs. Johan and Simon were preparing to leave when the Deer came out with a shiny black briefcase.

Simon looked at the deer emblem on the briefcase, and looking at Johan, they both ran to the door.

Hanibal’s game was starting.