08th March 2032
01:21
Hotel Green Pacific, Sendai
Sohel got in his room. The whole time, he was tumbling. He took off his coat and the shoulder holster and threw them on his bed. He then sat down on the bed, next to the hotel intercom, and asked for a coffee and an icepack. The receiver on the other side of the intercom sounded surprised but said that he'd send his coffee soon.
He put down the intercom, took out his phone, and called Annabelle.
"Yeah, Ann. Come to my room."
Ann responded in a Husky voice, "Why are you calling me in your room in the middle of the night? Sorry, I'm not that type of woman."
Normally Sohel would've taken the joke lightly, but he wasn't in that mood. So he just said, "If you have time to throw around jokes, you better have some results for me."
Ann replied, this time in an excited tone, "You bet, I do. I'm coming; wait."
Sohel cut the call and threw the phone in the bed. He then got up and went to the washroom to put some water in his eyes. He stood in front of the sink and, after splashing his face three times, looked in the mirror. The white areas of his eyes were red, and the surrounding area was swollen. He clicked his tongue. The injuries he suffered on the Suchitra island surely didn't help.
At that moment, he heard a knock on his door. He got out of the bathroom, hid his holster under the pillow, and opened the door.
Annabelle was standing outside with a tablet in her hand. As Sohel opened the door, the eternal smile in her face disappeared. She quickly got in as she frantically asked, "What happened to your eyes?"
Sohel just replied, "Get in."
Annabelle entered the room, and just as he was about to close the door, he heard the elevator door opening. He looked only to find a bellboy coming out with a tray in hand. He understood that boy was delivering his room service. He took the tray from the bellboy's hand from outside his room and went inside. He locked the door, put the tray on the tea table, and sat down in front of it on the couch.
Sohel took the coffee and said, "Sit. Tell me. What did you find?"
Annabelle replied, "That's for later. More importantly, are you okay?"
"It's nothing. You give your report."
Annabelle sighed and started talking. "I looked through all of their backgrounds. And found three people acting suspicious."
Annabelle went to give the tablet to Sohel but stopped in the middle and took it back. She started to speak about her findings.
"First Guy is Akuto Masashi. He was one of the trainers working in Project Spectre, currently working as a middle school teacher in a small village in the Kanto region."
Sohel asked, "What did you find suspicious about him?"
"Yes, it's that he has been constantly trying to contact the local police for the past month, asking for protection."
"Cut the name off. It's pretty normal to ask for protection when you find your previous work buddies getting murdered one by one. Who next?"
"Yes. Next is another man named Shimizu Kurokawa. He used to be one of the spokespersons for the project Spectre. He owns a courier business now. As for what's weird, it is that he has been sending some sort of drug to a pharmaceutical company in the Philippines. I contacted the customs, but they couldn't give a clear explanation about the drugs either.
As for the third one..."
"No need. We got our suspect. We hit his office the first thing next morning. His life might be in danger."
Annabelle nodded. She got up to leave as she said, "Okay then. I'm going to go back to sleep."
Sohel put down the coffee cup and picked up the icepack as he said, "Close the door behind you."
Annabelle went to the door, and just as she was about to leave, she heard a small grunt from Sohel. As she looked back, she saw Sohel was trying to put an ice pack on his swollen stomach. The part where he had gotten kicked had turned blue. Annabelle sighed a little and went back to Sohel. She extended her hand towards Sohel as if she was asking for something.
Sohel looked at Annabelle, and after an awkward moment of silence that went on for an uncomfortably long time, Annabelle said, "Give me the ice pack."
Sohel slowly gave her the ice pack, and Annabelle sat next to him. She slowly started to pat the injured place with the ice pack. She said, "You know, Naomi isn't the only one you can rely on. I know there's a thing between you two, and there's no way I'm trying to break it, but just remember, she isn't your only partner."
Sohel was leaning on the couch, but he quickly sat up at Annabelle's remarks. He said with a surprised look, "Huh? What's going on here? Me and Naomi? What gave you that idea?"
Annabelle seemed to be surprised at Sohel's reaction too and said, "Wait what? You two aren't dating?"
"Of course not. Why would you think that?"
"Oh. I mean, who wouldn't? You two always seem to be on the same page with the minimum amount of talking; she's the only one you expose your weak side to, and Naomi obviously has feelings for you. She even spent her vacation at your house."
"Wait, wait, wait. All of this is news to me. She spent the vacation in my house cause she's got no one waiting for her at her house. She has feelings for me? No way that's true."
"She does. Well, at least it looks like that to me."
"Then that's all your misconception."
Annabelle mutters, "Well, I'm not so sure about that."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. Come on, lay back. I can't put the ice pack on you if you're sitting up."