With a Pull of a Trigger

Chapter Twenty-One

“Stop,” said Greg, suddenly standing beside Reini’s chair, his hands on her shoulders. “Breathe, Reini. You’re going to have a panic attack if you don’t.”

Reini blinked, and Greg was surprised to note tears of frustration streaming down her cheeks.

Reini sighed. “To be honest, I don’t know what to feel anymore. I feel like I’m being stretched too thin by this job, and I feel like I’m driving myself crazy with everything around me just being the way it normally is.”

Greg rubbed her back comfortingly, his large hand warm against her back. “You are driving yourself crazy.”

Reini expelled out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I know, and I’m sorry. It’s just that I have to know who killed Eena, so we can give her the justice she deserves. I have to understand why Samuel was targeted in the first place, and to understand him, I need to understand Gil.”

“Then take on one project at a time. Understand Gil first. I’ll handle Eena’s killer.”

Reini looked up at Greg, gratitude written clearly across her face. “Thank you so much.”

Greg shook his head. “No problem. I would like to know Eena’s killer too, anyway. It’s really not much of a hassle. Least I could do for a friend.”

Reini smiled, and Greg noted that it wasn’t one that reached her eyes like her usual cheerful smiles.

“It’s all going to be okay.”

Somehow, Reini didn’t think so.

“Do you really believe that?”

 “What?”

“Destiny and all that crap.”

“I do.”

Reini walked across the park with quick and lengthy strides, determined to get to the bench as fast as possible while still being as inconspicuous as possible. Agents were supposed to be chameleons, just another person among a sea of people, and Reini was determined not to be noticed. She was wearing a pair of skintight jeans, a coral pink t-shirt, and a pair of white flip flops, her hair tied in a neat ponytail. Her conversation with Greg a while ago had made her think, and in that park, she was looking to finally have a way to get some answers, particularly answers to her questions about the mystery that was Gil Baxendale. Once she was finally seated on the cold wooden bench, Reini crossed her legs and put on her shades, enjoying the warm sun while waiting for the person she was supposed to meet.

“Don’t you think we all have choices?”

“I do. I believe that there’s an end—that there’s a path—for every decision we make.”

“Does that mean that you believe that Samuel and I’s meeting was destined from the beginning?”

“No. I believe that your meeting was destined from that time when you made one of the most important decisions of your life.”

One of Eena’s problems was that she constantly believed that everything had a destiny, that even lost people had a path carved for them. She had faith in that belief, like it was a matter completely devoid of all fault, like it was completely infallible and foolproof. Truth was that it wasn’t. In fact, it was a belief Reini didn’t share with Eena because she knew better than people. She knew better than to hope for the best or to expect anything, because it seemed like reality always had a way of bringing her down.

“Why are you thinking about this all of a sudden, anyway?”

“Samuel. What he told me made me think.”