The Winter Clock

CHAPTER 13 - TURN RIGHT

It was dawn when Ryther and Reina left Mrs. Everleigh’s house. They slept for only an hour because of the uneasiness they felt or maybe, because of too much alertness. Reina yawns more than five times now. Seeing it, Ryther clicked something and the upper part of his car opened.

“Tie your hair and enjoy the fresh air. You will miss it when we reach Sydney.” He said. Reina nodded and tied her long, curly blonde hair.

“Let’s stop by a convenience store and buy some coffee,” Reina said and yawned again, making Ryther yawn as well.

“Stop yawning, will you? You’re making me sleepy.” He mumbled between his second yawn.

“Sorry.”

After some more minutes, finally, they saw a convenience store, and Reina quickly went inside to buy some coffee and snacks. Ryther felt something weird. He looked at his rearview mirror and saw a car. It was a normal one at first glance. But Ryther and Reina will not be top agents for nothing.

“You saw it?” Reina said as soon as she entered the car. Ryther nodded.

“Put on your seatbelt. I’ll step on the gas.” He said and clicked the button to close the opened upper part of his car. After securing Reina’s seatbelt, Ryther stepped on the gas. The coffee almost spilled, but luckily, Reina held it firmly.

Reina looked back and saw that the car was indeed following them. She hissed.

“Turn right.” She said, and without any question, Ryther quickly turned right. He looked at his rearview mirror, and the car was still following.

“Again, turn right,” Reina said again, and Ryther nodded, turning the wheels right. “He’s still following. Turn right.” Reina said with a calm tone. Ryther stepped on the gas, but his eyes widened as he quickly braked his car upon seeing a huge hole on the highway covered with yellow tapes.

“That was close.” He blurted out, panting, and quickly drove back and shifted on the other side of the road. The car who was following them stepped on his gas but quickly stopped when he saw the hole. “Bye, bye, bastard!” Ryther shouted cheerfully and turned right, then stepped on his gas. They are back to the main highway.

Seeing that everything was clear, Ryther decreased the speed, and only then did Reina have a chance to drink her coffee.

“I think my sleepiness flew away with your 200 kilometers per hour speed a while ago,” She commented and took a big bite from her burger. She then opened the other one and cut it to pieces with her knife.

“Hey, hey, did you use that to stab people? Why use it for my burger? Your gross.” Ryther said, sticking out his tongue in disgust.

“This is new, and it’s more sanitized than your mouth, so shut up and just eat.” Reina retorted and pushed the piece of burger inside Ryther’s mouth.

“Why did you say ‘turn right’?” Ryther asked after chumming his burger. Reina looked at him in disbelief.

“You don’t know? If you turn right four times, you will come back to where you came from. It’s like forming a box or circle. That will help us know if that car was indeed following us. And that gave us a way to quickly escape by going back to the highway.”

Ryther analyzed her words, and his lips shaped an ‘O’ before he nodded his head. “Good trick. I’ll use that from now on.”

***

“Hey, wake up. We’re here now.” Ryther said softly, gently shaking Reina’s shoulders. It was past two in the afternoon when Ryther and Reina reached their Headquarters. “Mr. A asked for our presence, so fix your hair and wipe your saliva.”

Reina’s eyes widened, and she quickly checked her face o the rearview mirror. Ryther burst into laughter. “Kidding.” Hearing his words, Reina slapped his shoulders a couple of times as Ryther continued laughing. “Ugly.” He said again and quickly walked out of his car before Reina could punch him in the face.

“Are you sure it was Carter?” Mr. A asked as soon as Reina and Ryther entered his office.

“We are not sure, but who else would follow us like that?” Reina said as she sat on the black leather sofa. Ryther sat beside her and massaged his neck.

“If it is really Carter, then why is he following the two of you? He must be hiding knowing that shoot-to-kill was ordered throughout the whole country just to catch him.” Mr. A said, putting his fingers on his chin.

Ryther tilted his head quizzically. “That’s the question.”

“Argh, why didn’t I think of shooting him dead a while ago?” Reina said, ruffling her hair in distress.

“Painless death is a good thing. So why would you give that to him?” Ryther retorted. “He must suffer the consequences he needs to face.” He added, and Mr. A nodded in agreement. He then took the black box beside him and put it in front.

“Come here, you two.” He said and opened the box. Reina and Ryther walked towards him, and Mr. A shifted the box, revealing two silver pistols. “It was delivered yesterday, but you were not here. Take it.” He said and fixed his glasses. Reina’s eyes widened upon seeing her code name beautifully engraved in the barrel. She looked at Ryther, and it was the same. “It’s my late Christmas gift for both of you. It took the maker so long make because it was customized.” Mr. A opened the second layer of the box, revealing two metal pens with silver rose with thorn engraved as well. It was the same pen they gave to Mrs. Everleigh and Lily.

“T-Thank you, Mr. A!” Reina exclaimed happily and opened the pen. Even the hidden knife has their code names. Her eyes then caught the silver rose with thorns. “Is this us?” She asked and traced it with her index finger. Mr. A nodded.

“Since you’re partners, I decided to give you that. That’s expensive, so make sure to take care of it, understood?”

“Yes!” The two said in chorus. “I’ll really treasure this. Thank you, Mr. A,” Ryther said with a wide smile.

~ Sometimes, being tricky is a must. ~