The boy he imagined Laura's son to be was not what he was seeing. Anthony might be around seventeen, but he had the stature and body of a man in his late twenties. Coupled with his deep voice and choice of words, anyone could misjudge him for a mature man.
Although he tried to kill him earlier, Alec felt admiration for Anthony. To be honest, he had thought Laura's son would be a fat, whimpy traumatized kid hiding behind his mother's skirt, not that he could blame him though.
It was just a year ago, and Anthony had sobered up and become an independent boy ready to face any adversity. This was not something anyone his age could do, not even him.
Even without his mother's help, Alec was certain Anthony would protect himself. I think Iike him, Alec thought.
"Are you deaf? Do you want to bleed before you speak?" Anthony hollered angrily as his shadow hovered over Alec, who was causally sitting on the sofa without any sign of fear. This action further infuriated Anthony, as he wished he could stab him to the couch.
realizing"Call, me Alex, Alex... Newman". Alec was absolutely terrible at making up names. Anthony stared at Alec in the eyes and lowered his bow. "How did you meet my mom?"
"At a restaurant", Alec replied.
"Explain further", Anthony probed.
"I was at a restaurant, when I saw your mom in distress, so I had to help her".
"How do I know you are not one of them, and you just want to gain her trust to get the key?"
"If I wanted the key, which I do not, I would have taken your unconscious mother to a secluded place and threatened the key carrier, which is you by the way, to hand over the key, and if you don't, I'll kill your mom". Alec could not help but felt satisfied speaking with Anthony. he loved going to and forth with this conversation.
When Anthony heard his mom was unconscious, he probed further at the cause of her unconsciousness. "She was cornered, so she passed out", Alec replied. Anthony expression conflicted on hearing it.
At this point, he was not too sure if he could believe this guy sitting in front of him. As much as he hated to think about it, it was thanks to him that his mom was with him. On the other hand, he could still be one of them.
"Why are you doing this?" Anthony asked Alec, looking at him directly in the eye. Apart from the key he possessed, there was no other reason Alec would want to risk his life for his he and his mother that he could think of.
But Alec knew that the only way he could complete this mission was to protect this family. If it was in a different circumstances, he wouldn't even spare a glance at them, because his valued his life more than anything.
"I'm one of the beneficiaries of your father, so I swore to protect him and his family if needed, so here I am". This was the only excuse he could bring up. Anthony appeared convinced and relaxed a little. "I'll thank you for saving my mom, but I'm not going to apologize for trying to kill you with my arrow. I am only protecting my mom, that's all.
"In behalf of my mother and I, I temporarily allow you to be our puppy before all these blows up, but know that if I detect any sign of rebellion, I will not hesitate to take your life, is that clear?" Anthony said with murderous glint in his eyes.
Alec simply nodded and smiled. What is wrong with this stupid guy? Anthony thought infuriated. He stood up and left the sitting room, unable to stand Alec further.
Alec used the time alone to repack himself. He took out his gun and recalibrated it a little. He took the lucky chain and looked at it for a moment, before pocketing it back.
Seeing all his items complete, he thought about how to complete the mission. According to the game, he had to ensure both the carrier of the key and the chest. But the chest carrier was in the hands of Laura husband's former partners.
Keeping Laura and her son was relatively easy, but taking out the chest carrier was going to be difficult. For starters, he had to get the location of the place he was currently held hostage, then he'll perform an extraction with or without their notice. This was the hardest part.
For what he knew, these people were very smart. They weren't like the mafia he fought with in his previous game. This were people that could hack into security cameras and communication gadgets to get what they want, without the victim noticing. It was probably the reason Laura and her son moved here, where technology didn't reach.
Laura came out with a nightgown to grab a drink before she slept. She almost had a heart attack when she saw someone in her sitting room, but realizing it was Alec, she relaxed. "Why are you still up at this time? You have to sleep", Laura said with a low voice.
"I'll sleep, but after I create the plan to find the person possessing this chest", Alec said as he wrote something on a piece of paper he found on the couch next to him.
"How did you know about the chest holder?" Laura asked alarmed. Alec knew he had said what he wasn't supposed to say, but since he had spilled the beans out, he had to explain himself.
"Uhm... I know about this because your ex-husband told me about it. We are very close friends though", Alec forged a lie at the spot. "You seemed very close to him though", Laura said with wonder. She knew this guy wasn't as simple as some random beneficiary, but there was nothing she could do.
She nagged him to sleep, before heading to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, before heading back to her room.