January 24, 2021: Schlimmbesserung

"Miss Rosenfeldt, Mr O' Connor requested a couple of our men to be your personal bodyguards. However, we can't pursue the matter if you decline our services. Will it be fine for you to have guards following you around?" Carlos Orlow queried Syn. 

Syn didn't need to contemplate the offer since she had no intentions of turning it down.

'My stubbornness should stop now. If I get kidnapped or drop dead somewhere, it will cause a lot more trouble.' The lady thought, her gaze hardening as she made a resolution. 

"Yes, I'm willing to let them guard me. I will be leaving myself in your comrades' care, Mr Orlow." She said as she bowed her head.

The officer gave her a nod in return. He then turned his gaze towards Mina who was seated at the front end of the table.

"Ms Lohnmeyer, I'm going to tell you some updates regarding the investigation of the harassment perpetrated by Mr Larry Herse. We have gathered several accounts from his previous acquaintances that he made contact with Mr Erik Frank and Mr Roland Molein, the two suspects for the invasion." Carlos explained, holding out his hand to Landon to ask for something. 

Travis knew exactly what his companion wanted, so he gave the folder containing the documents detailing Syn's case.

Meanwhile, the lady had a sudden urge to look at her phone. She always put her phone into silent mode because she rarely checked messages whenever she's preoccupied, but somehow, the urge came to her out of the blue. 

Syn unobtrusively brought out her phone that was inside the left pocket of her jacket. She went and turned it on, keeping it under the table all the while.

The first message that she saw was from an unknown number. She held her breath, somewhat expectant of the identity of the sender. Before opening the message, she first memorized the number, proceeding to open the 'Contacts' application to inspect her call log.

When the lady ascertained that it was really Konrad who sent her the message, an invigorating sensation washed over her tensed nerves. Syn tapped on the 'Messages' and viewed the man's text.

[[[ Hello, Miss Rosenfeldt. I forgot to remind you that you shouldn't inform Mr O' Connor that we met. Please keep it our little secret. However, do enlighten him on the matter with your harasser as it needs to be resolved as soon as possible. ]]]

[[[ Also, make sure that you won't endanger yourself yet again. You should accept the graciousness of other people. I will see you in a week, so be prepared to pay me back. Have a good day. ]]]

[[[ By the way, I might not be able to reply if you send me a message. I'm quite a busy man. I will be seeing you soon. ]]]

Syn read the three panels of text messages repeatedly, verifying that she didn't miss a single word. She gripped the device tightly, glad of receiving messages from Konrad.

"Syn, why were you even outside?"

Once she heard her name, the lady jerked her head upward to take a glance at who called her.

Her eyes landed on Mina, who was staring at her as if question marks were floating above her forehead.

"Yes? Pardon?"

"I was questioning you why you were outside, Miss inattentive, so answer now," Mina stated, nearly slapping her face with her hand.

"Ah, right, uhm, I went out to get the medicines that I left in my apartment. Also, I was planning to go to my part-time job at my uncle's cafe."

"Medicines?"

"Well, those medicines cannot be bought over the counter, and I left the prescriptions in my room. Baumhauer Medical is farther than my apartment, so I opted to visit there."

Mina's gaze on Syn immediately narrowed, seemingly scolding the younger one. The woman just sighed, deep enough for the other people in the office to feel her frustration.

"Seriously? You could have simply requested for someone else to pick it up. Syn, dear, I want to squeeze out your obstinacy this instant."

"I-I'm sorry," Syn uttered her apologies, afraid that Mina might follow with her urges.

"From now on, you won't be able to go out without my permission or the guards' company. I will ask Mr O' Connor to notify me about all of your escape attempts, and that will be done vice-versa. If you violate this rule, I will put you on house arrest."

"But-"

"No buts, young lady. You will either heed my policy or I'll freaking call your mother and tell her everything that you've been doing so far." Mina announced with a domineering tone.

She was understandably upset of the fact that Syn dared to walk into the fire herself. Be that as it may, Mina didn't covet to pressure the young lady. She was only being overprotective at that moment. 

Syn promptly shut her mouth, threatened by Mina's statement. The last thing that she wanted to happen was her mother uncovering the life that she's presently living in the city.

Concurrently, the police investigators simply listened in on the conversation between the two women until Landon Travis' phone, which was in his clutch, rang.

"Please excuse me. I need to take this call."

Landon stood up and made his way outside of the office. He walked a few steps away from the door prior to tapping on the answer icon.

"Good afternoon, Chief. Any news?"

[[[ "Landon boy, the bodies of Frank and Molein were stolen from the morgue. We've already dispatched several teams to search for them. I have briefed Mr O' Connor concerning the incident. Your duty is to protect Miss Rosenfeldt at all costs. The larcenists might be after her next. I ordered Team B to be your backup. You're still in the agency, correct?" ]]]

"Yes, chief. Tell them to come straight here."

[[[ "Alright, Mr O' Connor advised us to report this to Ms Lohnmeyer. Do that in my stead." ]]]

"Roger." Mr Travis dropped the call in a rush as he dashed his way back to the office.

Upon his entrance, the people inside looked at his disoriented figure, curious why he abruptly became panicky as opposed to his calm mien earlier. The man then approached his companion, whispering the details in the latter's ear.

Once he heard the news, Carlos didn't display any change of emotion in his countenance and just articulated the report for Mina.

"Miss Lohnmeyer, there are criminals on the run."