CHAPTER 8

Alex paid the taxi driver her fare and went down the from the car. She stood silently at the sidewalk for a long while, contemplating on what to do. She cursed inwardly when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw Damon calling.

“What?!” She answered hardly.

“I take it that your interview didn’t go well,” Damon mused sarcastically. “Why didn’t you win him with your charm, Walters? I’ve seen you lure those militants back in Iraq, Russia, and Warsaw, and it didn’t take you that much effort. Did you make Montgomery angry with your attitude?”

“He’s threatened by a mere slip of a woman, that’s what,” she spat back. She looked to her right and frown when she saw a light grey Land Rover, parked in front of the diner. She traveled her eyes towards the dining area and frowned. “I’ll call you back, Damon.”

She abruptly ended the call, stuffing her phone in her blazer pocket and went inside the diner.

Ashley is entertaining an elder gentleman, in a mearly empty diner, at one table when she managed to look up and saw Alex. Her face turned a bit nervous when their eyes met.

“You’re back,” she said with a nervous smile. “How’d the interview go?”

“What the hell is he doing here?!” Alex asked instead.

The elder gentleman turned, and Alex found herself staring coldly at her father, Cameron Gallagher. The moment he saw his older daughter, he immediately stood up and took a step towards her.

“Don’t you even think about it,” Alex threatened coldly. She then looked at her younger sister. “Why is he here?”

Ashley looked at her silently for a while.

“I called him for my therapy,” she finally answered. "I have finally decided to continue."

Alex stared at her sister intently, clenching her fists. “Then, why did you not tell me about it?” She asked patiently. “How much do you need? Do I need to keep on reminding you that I will take care of any expenses that you will be needing for the therapy if you wish to continue?”

“Alex, you’ve been spending all of your money on me,” Ashley pointed out calmly. She looked at Alex with a small smile. “You keep on forgetting yourself because of me. You’ve been sacrificing a lot of things just for me. I don’t want you to do that anymore.”

“I’m doing that because I promise that to mom,” Alex argued. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I also made a promise to mom that I will have to take care of myself. I also promised her that I will let dad in my life because that’s what she wants me to do,” Ashley explained as she wheeled herself in front of her. She reached out and clasped her sister’s hands tightly and looked up at her. “Alex, I’m going to be fine, alright? I know you’ll always be there for me, and I will let you know if I need help. You need to loosen the reigns a bit. I’m twenty-two.”

Alex pulled her hands away and walked away from her, pushing through the double doors, leading to the back of the kitchen. She stood still for a while, breathing slowly to calm herself.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

She looked up and saw her aunt, walking to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Her aunt is gently rubbing her back and whisper some soothing words to her.

"I tried telling Ashley that you're not going to take it well," her aunt comforted softly. "But, I also understand her reason. She does not want to imposed herself too much on you even if I tried telling her that you will definitely not mind because you love her."

“I’ll be fine,” Alex finally said, pulling away and giving her aunt a smile. “You know how I am, and as you said, I love my sister. I’m not going to hold it against her and I know that she wants to make decisions on her own. That man just better be sure that no harm comes to her, or I will make him pay.”

Aunt Vicky smiled up at her gratefully.

“I’ll just go change and I’ll be meeting a friend for lunch,” Alex said softly. She then gave her aunt a sad smile. “And, just to kill your curiosity, I didn’t get the job. I’ll find another one. Don’t worry about it.”

“Why are you still trying to insist on leaving the diner?” Vicky complained lightly. “I’m leaving this to you and Ashley already. Why are you still shirking your responsibility here? Instead of looking for a job, why not take the job here full time? I see the way you run the operations and observed that you look happy.”

“Because, Aunt Vicky,” Alex answered with a smile. “You’re still getting on my nerves.”

“Oh, you!” Her aunt said with mild irritation.

Alex hugged her again before heading up to her room and changed into her usual attire, slim-fit dark denims, plain white top and instead of her usual laced-up boots, she opted to wear some comfortable loafers. She pulled the scrunchie off her hair and run a brush over, letting it fall behind her shoulders. After ten minutes, she grabbed her small sling bag and finally went down.

“Will you be home for dinner?” Her aunt called out, looking up from the batter she’s doing.

“I’ll call if I can’t,” Alex answered with a smile. “Do you need me to buy you anything?”

“Just get home safe, alright?”

Alex nodded at her aunt.

“I will,” she promised as she looked at her phone that is now ringing. She waved at her aunt goodbye and pushed the doors towards the diner while pressing her phone. “Yes. I’m heading out now. I’ll wait for you at the same location. How long will it take you?”

She stopped short when she saw Ashley, talking not only to their father this time, but to no other than Mr. FBI, Zachary. Her eyes narrowed when he looked up and met her gaze.

“I’ll call again,” she muttered. “The FBI’s here.”

“Hey, Mr. Montgomery wants to speak with you,” Ashley commented when she saw Alex a few feet from them. “He says it’s quite important when I told him you might be heading out after changing.”

“I actually am,” Alex answered calmly, looking down at the screen of her phone and typing a message. “Someone’s waiting for me, and I have to go in a few minutes.”

Alex then looked at Zachary pointedly.

“Yes, Mr. FBI?” She asked dryly.

“I need to speak with you,” Zachary said calmly. “Can we talk over there?”

“Two minutes,” she answered. “I need to be somewhere after.”

“It’s going to take more than two minutes,” he insisted.

Alex sat on one chair, crossed her arms and legs, and looked up at him expectantly.

Zachary sat on the chair opposite her and handed her a recorder with a headset. “Can you please check if you can understand what they’re saying?” He asked patiently. “I just need some verification.”

“As far as I understood at your office, Mr. FBI,” she started dryly. “You rejected my application for the translator position just a little over an hour ago. So, kindly take your recorder and your arrogant self out and head back to your office and wait for another applicant.”

“I was in the wrong,” Zach answered apologetically. “I need the translation ASAP.”

“How much?” Alex asked without hesitation.

“Excuse me?” Zach asked.

Alex gave him a mocking smile. “Well, if I take that job, how much is the pay?” She asked intently. “I’m sure that translators don’t come cheap. Way above the minimum pay, right?”

The man had the gal to give her a disgusted look.

“You applied for the money?”

“Whatever else for?” She answered carelessly. “For the love of country? I can assure you that I did more than what is needed from me and from which I am still doing in my own way.”

“Can you or can you not translate what’s in there?” He asked rather hardly.

Alex looked back at him evenly and reached for the recorder, putting on the headset and pushing the play button. She listened at the audio for a while before rewinding them again, to start determining each word being exchange.

“Monday… car… have everything ready for the ten in the morning schedule…” The deep Arabic voice instructed with the background of the crowd on wherever location they are. “The Supreme Leader is expecting us to follow everything in the plan.”

She looked up abruptly at Zach at what she was able to translate before her eyes traveled to the clock above the entrance doors. She then stood up and her eyes traveled to Ashley, who is talking warmly to their father.

“There’s going to be another one today by ten,” she said in a low voice.

“W-What?!” Zach asked sharply, standing up and grabbing hold of her arm. “Where?”

Alex pressed the play button again to listen.

She couldn’t reply on its location. A few seconds later after playing the audio, she and Zach were both thrown off and landed hardly on the floor of the diner, covered in shards of glass and debris as the impact of the explosion right across the street reached them.

The entire vicinity suddenly became a frenzy with people running, screaming, and crying.