Intertwining Path

Coincidental Meeting

Shopping District Ricardo Pov.

Ric checks the map on his phone twice over while looking at the street sign standing right in front of him. Hmm, that's strange according to the map the guitar shop he's looking for should be just right around the corner of this building yet he can't find it anywhere.

Did he get the address wrong? He goes to the search file to type in the name of the shop again only to find that nope he didn't get it wrong. The address points exactly where he is except that shop is nowhere to be found.

Ric ponders a while about what to do but before he can go making any kind of decision he feels a sudden chill over his shoulders. His instincts and reflexes instantly react to the sudden alarm raised by his body and the next thing he notices he's already sent the person who tried to grab him by the shoulders onto the ground underneath him.

"Owww! What the hell dude!?" The man somewhere around in his 20s shouts at him from the ground he just slammed him down on

With that Ric's mind finally returned to reality from the empty space it had occupied in itself from panic a few minutes ago. When he looks down on the ground to face the angry man, he silently groans. Shit, he's done it again. Damn it Sarah will give him an earful again if she finds out he has used an FBI defense maneuver on an innocent civilian again and probably kill Richie whiles she's at it since he's the one who hardwired him that way. (At the time there was a real danger that the organization would target him again since he was one of the few living witnesses alive to their operation so, with the permission of his adoptive mother, Richie taught him self-defense as a precaution measure.)

Well, what's done is done there's no use crying over spilled milk. He'll deal with getting scolded later first things first he needs to check whether this man is hurt or not. Hopefully, he hasn't broken this man's ribs like the last person he used that technique on. To be honest, he thought he was going to get arrested for that one especially considering that the victim he just sent the hospital to with 3 broken ribs was a middle-aged woman who looked like she couldn't even harm a fly. So imagine his surprise when he didn't.

As expected, the police were called on him again for the umpteenth time by the ambulance staff members whom he called a couple of minutes earlier but what he did not expect for is the policemen and women to stride right past him and place a handcuff on the seemingly poor innocent woman. He couldn't understand what was happening until the police came in and explained everything to him at the station where he was there for questioning. It turned out the woman he threw onto the ground was a known serial slasher who had been roaming on the streets for the last two months. The police had a hard time catching her due to her inconspicuous appearance which made it pretty easy for her to blend in with the crowd.

That's why they've been warning people to avoid the area while having some of the police officers patrolling it for quite some time. Ric who had just come home from his European Tour had no idea about the recent events so he just casually walked through the streets having no idea or clue than yeah...

The police officer told him he was very lucky to react at the timing he did or else there would have been a large chance he would have had his neck slashed by the woman and bled out to death by then.

Ric honestly didn't know whether he should feel lucky that he didn't have to be arrested this time or be horrified at the fact that he was again this close to the doors of death. He might have probably felt more horrified than lucky if it weren't for the things he went through. Honestly, the thought of death doesn't really scare Ric all that much. The fact that he managed to live this long was more than a miracle itself considering his past. If Sarah hadn't come in at that timing he would have been dead a long time ago.