“There’s someone following us.” Rachel pulled on Justin’s sleeve with her trembling arms.
He held onto her hand and assured, “Don’t worry. I’m here.” His voice was quiet and it calmed her down.
They walked toward the crowd acting like they did not notice the person behind them.
“There’s more than one,” she softly reminded him.
He had noticed that more eyes were on them through the mirror beside him. They were following and getting closer to them.
Still, Justin held his cool. He was sure that the Porters did not dare to catch them in public spaces. Since they were in Enistan, it was their safe harbor and they would not want to garner unwanted attention.
With the amount of people in the airport, those following them could not get too close to them. As a result, they went to different elevators in the airport and went in all directions to shake the majority of them off their tails.
Finally, they found a smoking lounge and ducked in quickly. Justin backed Rachel up against the wall and covered her using his body. The followers passed by without seeing them and they both let out a breath of relief.
“Let’s stay here till we have to go for the security check.” Rachel took a good look around. There were not many people here as only the whiff of tobacco filled the room.
Justin nodded.
Hence, they waited until the announcement for their flight could be heard. They left the smoking lounge and rushed to the security checkpoint and managed to get on the plane at the very last second of its closing.
The airplane took off flying through the skies of Enistan Airport, leaving a white trail of clouds toward Riverdale.
Looking at the clouds outside, Rachel finally felt relieved; her anxious heart had finally settled down.
“Were you scared?” Justin asked with worry.
She shook her head. “I’m okay.”
The only thing that scared her was his hand.
She looked down and her gaze fell on his bandaged hand. His fingers used to be slender and clean, but now they had a defect. It was hard for her to look at it.
He knew what she was thinking though. Using the bandaged hand, he took hold of her hands. “I think it’s perfect now.”
Rachel was perplexed.
He explained, “As long as it doesn’t affect the quality of life, it’s fine. You don’t need to take it to heart. Do you remember the scar on my face?”
She nodded. How could she forget?
He continued, “Twenty years ago during the forest fire, even though we split apart, my face was scarred. However, I refused to accept any treatment for it.”
The scar was meant to commemorate her.
He did not know if Katie was alive. That scar was the only thing connecting him and Katie. So, he had to keep it as a reminder to avenge her.
Rachel did not say anything, but her heart ached for him.
When Gloria first arrived at Riverdale six years ago, she told Rachel about the scar’s history. At first, Rachel did not know that she was Katie. She even envied that little girl who died and was touched by Justin’s friendship with Katie.
“What about now? I’m still alive and well, but you’ve lost a finger.”
Looking at the situation now, his amputated finger could no longer be reattached.
He held her tightly, “Sometimes, things may get lost, but I’ve found something much more important.”
Rachel was stunned. The man in front of her had always stuck to his belief; never once had he changed.
That day when he fainted in the forest on Idyll Mountain from excessive loss of blood, it was the first time she felt such unbearable fear. It was like her heart had been dug out and her blood was drained little by little. She had never felt such despair.
“Let’s stay a little longer in Riverdale this time.”
She whispered while looking at his face, “We should stay with Charlotte more.”
Justin nodded in agreement.
They were now clear about many things with each other through the hardships they encountered this time. They knew very well it was difficult to overcome the hurdles and stay together. However, if their hearts were together and they knew the other was safe and healthy, life could not be more fulfilling. As such, they were contended with that.
The trip from Enistan to Riverdale was about three hours. After taking a nap, the plane landed.
Once they got off the plane, they switched on their phones and numerous messages bombarded them.
Rachel contacted Janice first. “We’ve just landed at the airport. We’ll come to look for you in a bit. There’s something important we need to discuss.”
Janice realized the severity of the issue. “Okay, I’ll be waiting for you at the Investigation Bureau.”
She knew Rachel would not contact her using her private phone if the situation was not grave.
Assessing the current situation, it was obvious their agent had been exposed. Not only that, their safety was at risk too.
But how did Justin get involved?
Janice frowned on the other side of the phone. With no time to spare, she arranged for people to investigate the situation at Enistan.
On the other hand, Rachel and Justin walked out of the airport.
Buzz. It was Rachel’s phone.
“It’s Julian.” She gave Justin a look.
He frowned. “Such a coincidence?”
They just landed and Julian had picked this time to call.
Since they were in Riverdale, they did not think much of it.
Rachel answered the phone in front of Justin. “Hello?”
“Are you back in Riverdale?”
Julian’s familiar voice came from the phone.
She furrowed her eyebrows and asked, “What do you want?” She had wanted to settle the account with him regarding what happened with Jolly and Leroy.
“Rae, you’re the one person I don’t want to hurt the most.”
“What are you saying?”
“If you leave the man next to you now, it’s not too late.”
At the end of his words, Rachel saw several men dressed in black coming toward them in all directions.
“Julian! You—”
They were in Riverdale, so the couple did not expect that they would be in danger. Ironically, they were safe in Enistan, but got schemed by people they trusted back at their territory once they got off the plane.
Moments later, a black van was speeding on the airport highway.
Rachel and Justin had been held captive in the backseat. There was a burly man on each of their sides. The men had a needle in their hands, ready to give them an injection.
“What are you guys doing?” Rachel started to struggle.
“Miss Hudson.” One of the burly men pinned her down by the shoulder. “Even though Mr. Peters had orders not to hurt you, you better comply. Or else, you’re just making it harder for yourself.”
“We just want to know what’s in that injection.” Justin looked coldly at the burly man. “Surely, it wouldn’t go against your rules to just tell us that, right?”
The man nodded. “It’s just something to make you sleep, in case you try something funny on the road. Mr. Peters said that you’re smart people. We won’t be able to outsmart you both. So, we had to resort to this.”
It was true that it hurt the most when the people you trusted backstabbed you. Justin shot Rachel a reassuring look, signaling for her to cooperate.
Since they were Julian’s men, Justin was sure that they would not hurt Rachel regardless. Therefore, he became slightly at ease.
As the injection went into their veins, they both soon fell into a deep slumber.
