Anya looked at the yacht as the speedboat moved, slowly picking up speed. She wasn't sure what was there in the coming days, she felt sad looking at Alvin parting this way.
"Unexpected farewell couldn't be any sweeter." A teasing voice sounded behind her.
Anya frowned hearing the familiar voice. She was preparing for the worst-case but what is happening here? She turned around and saw the man who was leaning against the door frame of the control room.
He was a man in his mid-thirties but looked like in his twenties. His dark brown hair was cleanly groomed to a side parting yet his wispy hair gave the charm to his attractive face. Unlike Alvin's devilish looks, this man had soft curves making him more approachable. Only a few people know how sinister he could be, Anya was one of them.
Although Anya felt her blood boil in her veins, her feet came closer, her hands straightened at the side of her legs. She pushed her weight on her toes by standing on her toes for a second. It was an informal salute. While the military or the cops use their hands, their salute was very minimal to show respect to the higher officer.
"Chief," Her voice was distant with a hint of annoyance in it. Anya Owen with Alvin was contrasting to the woman who was standing in front of Jason. Her face had lost all the expression, her lips in a thin line and her gaze plain. It would be hell difficult to find out if she was sad, angry, or in pain. This was the strong self she built herself into.
The military men and women kept their weapons down and witnessed the 180-degree change in Anya Owen. Didn't they just witness her unwillingness to leave the yacht? She looked like a little lady being taken away. They thought she was sad. Now, she looked like a strong woman, hard to break.
Jason looked at the Anya Owen he knew and shook his head in resignation. He sat down and teased again, "Did Major Seth disturb your sweet moment?" Major Seth had asked them to part without letting them hug longer. Well, it was his instruction.
Major Seth: "..."
One side of Anya's lips curled slightly. Jason, who noticed her expression, turned to the yacht. As he thought, Alvin was running inside before he vanished behind the wall.
"You were secretly signaling him." He deduced in bewilderment. This woman's brain should be kept in the museum. In times of panic, she works smarter instead of panicking.
The soldiers: "..."
Why didn't they notice she was signaling to the man?
—-------
In the Queen Yacht,
When Anya hugged him, Alvin thought she was afraid of what was happening. He was about to hold her and assure her when he felt her finger move and write on his back. [Check study.]
His hands were still in the air when Major's voice cut through the silence and Anya broke the hug. He kept holding her hand even when she stepped into the speedboat. Both had a lot to say but stared at each other saying nothing. He had to let go of her hand when the speedboat started moving.
He didn't move from his place. He watched her until her eyes were on him. The harder he tried to read her, she became an unsolved mystery. He quickly went to the study room of the master suite. As he expected there was paper and pen on it.
He picked the paper and saw beautiful handwriting that he could recognize even in his sleep. Many people in the college had assumed it was his handwriting.
[Alvin. This isn't something that could be solved by hiring a lawyer. I will try to handle the situation and reach out to you. So don't worry, go home and rest.
If you receive no message before the next sunrise, please bring me out.]
It was a very simple letter for him. He could feel her helplessness when pleading with him in the end. He couldn't understand how she could say not to worry and go home when he doesn't know what will happen, where they were taking her to.
He called out, "Rob, follow the speedboat."
The man who was at the door of the master suite heard the command clearly. "Copied that." He said loudly and ran upstairs to inform the captain.
Alvin was keeping the paperback when he noticed an ink on the back of the paper. Flipping it, [A hungry man is an angry man.
Don't forget to eat. I cooked for you.]
Alvin: "..."
He couldn't believe she still had the mood to write that. Yet, unwilling to waste what she made for him, he ate a little, looking at the chair opposite to him.
He felt like he lost something. Was he missing her already? It was just five minutes. He refused to accept it.
—In the Speedboat—
Jason taunted her, "You are… Heartless." She trusted Alvin to get her out of such a situation as Jason and his team could be tied down by the rules and regulations.
"Thank you, Chief."
"That wasn't a compliment." He growled at her for not completely trusting in him.
He couldn't believe she was trying to infuriate him. 'Well done, Alvin Matthews, you have changed my indifferent teammate.' In the past, she would just blankly stare at him, completely ignoring his petty words that aren't related to the work.
Major Seth and others who watched the situation were speechless. By position-wise, Major Seth has to respect Jason who was at senior level despite they were from different working fields. They couldn't believe this lady was so fearless. Anyway, they knew she was a special officer who had higher powers and positions.
Jason breathed slowly to keep his cool as he waved at her to take a seat. He wasn't the type to strictly follow etiquettes due to their work hierarchy. His voice returned to normal and discussed the situation, "P-S-R hasn't entered the country waters yet."
Anya frowned. Weren't they following PSR? How did they enter country borders before PSR?
Jason noticed her faint frowns and understood she had no idea of it. He won't blame her as everything looks the same in the ocean. He continued, "I got the information that a yacht is speeding towards the coast." Since he alerted all the teams to be on standby, they were on their toes in case any suspicious boat tried to attack PSR. Hence he used a military satellite to spot the yacht and found out that it belonged to Alvin.
He again glanced at the yacht which was following them. "Yacht Queen wasn't going to the port. So I had to come up with this plan." At the end of his words, his gaze shifted to the Major who tore the arrest warrant.
Anya just heard the tearing of papers but her mind was filled with Alvin. If she had fled from the seaport, Alvin would have been angry at her. He wouldn't have looked for her and continued with his life. She didn't mind being a bad person in his life.
However, the change in the plan made Alvin very worried about her and her safety. How could she leave him by making him worried? At the same time, she wanted him to live his life without searching for her.
Her fingers curled to hide the tremble of her fingers. Her fear couldn't come true. Her years of effort couldn't just go in vain. "C-chief… I-I need your help." She uneasily asked. She needed to push Alvin away from her and stop him from following her.
Jason was surprised. He expected her to get angry at Alvin for not taking her to port. "Shouldn't you thank me for saving your time?" He scoffed at her for ignoring his efforts. If he hadn't gone there, she would have struggled for many days to get away from Alvin. It still wasn't the right time for her to reveal her identity to Alvin.
Jason seriously wondered why Alvin was adamant about keeping her next to him. It might be for her safety but the men don't usually put their life at stake for just any person.
Uneasiness vanished from her eyes, she blankly looked at Jason. Thanking him? Jason should be happy that she wasn't strangling him for making Alvin worry so much.
Jason, who expected her to speak, was speechless. She was back to her indifferent, mute self. Some people might find it rude, but he knows she just prefers to avoid being social. Blame the society and people who keep judging her. He waved at her to speak about what help she needed.
Anya quickly briefed Jason and he could only nod at the simple request. He tried to point out, "Anya, you…"
"I am hungry." She cut him off.
Jason and the rest: "..."
She went to the control room in search of water avoiding the topic.
Jason sighed as he leaned back. He had thought it was Anya's one-sided love in the past. Looking at the yacht trying to catch up with them, he doubted whether it was truly one-sided.
Anya Owen would kill him with her eyes if he tried to prey into her personal life. So he shook off his thoughts and focused on their situation.
He suddenly straightened his back at the realization. Anya didn't know he was on the speedboat hence she alerted Alvin for help. He went to the control room, "Anya if you didn't guess I wasn't on the speedboat, why did you get on the speedboat?" He was well-versed with her methods. He was thinking if he had missed something in the case.
Even the military team members' ears perked up at the question. According to the rules and laws, they aren't allowed to arrest her due to her special service position for the recent mission. Only the Chief Justice had the power to approve an arrest warrant for her. She could have used her identity to drive them away. When she chose to follow them, they had expected her to discern their plan but she didn't seem to have.
Anya nodded at the captain of the speedboat as a greeting. She calmly sipped water and sat down. She looked at Jason who was trying to dig up more information from her when he could deduce better than her.
"I can't trust Bernard Collins." She plainly stated. She had two reasons.
One, Mr. Wright told her that he went on the PSR cruise vacation because Bernard was suspicious about the free cruise. Then why did Bernard set the date for the press release of the information against Harper Johnson? He could have silently waited for ministers to return.
Two, he might not have joined his hands with Harper however his actions weren't lawful. Although he was a President of the country, he had no right to use her or a civilian without discussing with the authority of officials. If Bernard was pushed to the limits, his aim was sacrificing her. so she needed to collect evidence against him. That is clearly misusing his powers.
That's the reason she was holding back from telling her identity to Alvin. She trusted Alvin but Bernard was his family whereas she was nothing to him. She couldn't expect him to support her if she might threaten Bernard's position and the Collins family's reputation.
Even if he was ready to support her, how could she put him against the people who treated him well as a family?
Could she make him choose between his family and an outsider?