4

Granny's Restaurant.

Minutes after walking down from the police station, Jared Nittolo and Asher stopped by Granny's restaurant. Walking into the restaurant, they both sat down to talk after ordering for drinks. An elderly woman brought them what they ordered for before they kicked off their conversation.

"This is the first time I'm drinking after returning back." Asher started as he poured Jared a drink before pouring himself.

"Really? Then I guess I'm getting the honour of drinking with you." Jared raised his glass up to meet with Asher's glass. "Cheers!" He exclaimed as he gulped down the glass. "When did you get back?"

"Yesterday."

"Did you go home?"

"No," he replied as he took a sip. "And I don't intend to," he added.

"Are you saying they don't know you're back?" Jared asked with a look of shock and surprise written all over his face.

"Brother," Asher called looking at him closely. "Aren't you happy that I'm spending my time with you?"

"Look at you. Of course, I am." He replied as he poured himself another drink. "But why did you change your mind? When I was coming back from the states some years ago, I asked you to come back with me but you said you didn't want to return back home. Should I ask why you said that or why you didn't come with me?"

"Brother, we didn't go together in the first place, why would I want to follow you back?"

"Ah! Is that so? See this little rascal. Why did you decide to come back now then?"

"I've figured out there's a lot of things to do at home rather than staying over there wasting my time."

"A lot of things? Like what?"

"Just. . .things I have to do." He replied as he took another sip. "But, brother, I was wondering why you had to leave early. Was it to become a detective?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He replied as he turned back to order for another drink. "Elder woman! Can I have one more bottle please?"

"Alright." The restaurant woman replied as she served them another bottle of drink.

"I had to leave so as to prepare and take the exam." He explained to Asher.

Folding his arms, Asher gave him a concerned look. "Why?"

"What do you mean by why?"

"You were studying Business administration in the states, why did you suddenly change your mind to become a detective? There must have been reason, don't you think?"

"The same reason I became a detective is the same reason you came back." He gave him a straight reply.

"Brother."

"Am I wrong? It's because of her, isn't? I know you still think of her and so do I. One of the reasons you're here is related to her. I'm not sure of what you plan to do but the main reason I became a detective is because of her and I'm going to—"

"Revenge." Asher interrupted.

"What?" He asked unsure of if he heard what he said correctly.

"Revenge." He replied with a straight face. "I came back to revenge."

"Are you crazy? Hey! You rascal! What do you think you're saying? Revenge? For who? Who do you think you want to get revenge for? Annette? My sister? Hey! If there is anyone that has the right to get revenge for her, it should be me! But I'm not thinking about that and here you are telling me you want to get revenge."

"You had the same thought fifteen years ago! You also vowed to get revenge for her!" Asher snapped.

"That was fifteen years ago! Hey! Asher, you rascal! The only thing left to do is to find out what happened then, if there are any culprits behind it, fish them out and send them to jail. So don't think of doing anything."

"Isn't it a bit too late for that? You're asking me to do something impossible. I didn't do anything fifteen years ago and I'm not ready to repeat that same mistake after fifteen years."

"Asher," Jared called calmly. "There's nothing you can do. It's been fifteen years now and doing this won't bring her back."

"And looking for the culprit will bring her back?"

"It's not about it bringing her back or not, it's about revealing the truth of what exactly happened."

"It's not like anyone cares to know what happened! Who would be interested to know what happened to a 12 years old girl who obviously died in a fire accident? The conclusion then was that she died in the fire. The detectives then concluded on that but what wasn't what happened! What difference would you make? You're obviously not going to find out anything about that incident."

"How then do you want to get revenge? It's not like you're any different from me. We both know nothing about what happened."

"It's like you're forgetting that I was there that night."

Sighing, Jared poured himself another drink and gulped it down. "Why can't you just give me a chance for once? I've never won any argument with you back in the states and here we are back home and it's still the same."

"That's because I don't argue when I'm wrong." Asher replied as he took another sip from his cup. "It's funny how we start arguing and how we end it. How is it going? You being a detective."

"It's not as easy as I thought it was." He replied taking down another drink. Ever since I became a detective, I've been trying not to—"

He was interrupted at the tone of his phone. Bringing out the phone from his pocket, he checked the caller and sighed, looking reluctant to answer the call. Asher poured himself another drink as he watched Jared receive his call like he was being forced to. After a few minutes, the line was disconnected and Asher helped him with another drink.

"Who was that?" He asked.

"Just a stubborn girl I know." He replied as he gulped down the drink Asher just poured him.

"Stubborn?"

"Uhn. You'll get to meet her soon. How about Phoebe? Is she fine?"

"Uhn. She told me she'll come today. She should be around already. I'll call her later."

"You should. What do you intend to start doing from tomorrow?"

"Work of course."

"Work? Where?"

"I saw an offer for a job and I applied. Luckily, I was notified to start working immediately."

"Why do you have to work?" He asked surprised and confused.

"Brother, it's to make a living. How can someone that doesn't work survive? Of course I have to work so I can survive."

"But talking about you, do you have to—"

Another phone call interrupted him, but this time when he checked, it was from work.

"Yes, Officer Michelle." He answered quickly and paused. "Alright! Get the team members ready, I'll be there soon." Disconnecting the line, he stood up and took a last drink quickly before patting Asher. "I have to leave now."

"I hope it's not something serious?"

"We've managed to track down someone we've been after for two years now. I'll call you later." He explained quickly before leaving.

"Brother!" He stood up quickly and shouted after him. "Let me go with you!"

"Later!" He replied from afar.

Asher had no other option than to sit with the drinks and watch Jared stop a taxi from a far distance and within few seconds he was out of sight. Bringing out his phone and an old sim card, he inserted the sim card into the phone and dialed a contact he saved as "Phoebe". He didn't even wait for three seconds before the receiver picked up the call.