January 24, 2021: Berezina

"Are you sure?" Mina asked, still lacking credence in Syn's courageous appeal in facing the ordeal by herself.

Syn just lowered her hands, laying it on top of Mina's knees. She didn't want the conversation to be stretched out any longer than what they intended since time was of the essence in her current circumstance.

"Mina, this is nothing compared to what I've already been through, and you know that. Put your trust in my desire to help my mother pay that bastard's debt." The young lady said as she finally stood up, leaving Lohnymeyer mulling on her own unease.

She proceeded to make her way towards the door, her steps unwavering. Carlos gave her a nod while opening the door for the lady.

Before she could exit the room, Syn took a glance at Mina one last instance. She saw that the woman still had something to say, but she merely diverted her gaze and didn't utter a word of farewell. She then stepped out of the conference room, quickly closing the door behind her, ahead of sauntering down the corridor to follow Carlos.

Subsequent to several seconds of walking, the young lady arrived at the entrance. Withal, she was taken aback when she saw how many people were waiting for her.

'One, two, five, seven...' Syn counted in her head as she roamed her eyes around the now cramped lobby. 'Thirteen officers? And there are probably more in the mobiles. Isn't that number too many? Did Tristan request for this arrangement?'

However, her pondering was cut short when a police investigator approached her. It was a woman who was a foot taller than Syn. Still and all, it was not the woman's height that intimidated her, but the two 45 Calibre guns, nestled in their holsters, on both sides of her hips.

"Hello, Miss Rosenfeldt. I will be your personal escort throughout this case. My name is Orellia Reiner. It's nice meeting you." Orellia introduced herself as she held her hand out in front of Syn, who readily shook her hand.

"Hi, I'm Syn Rosenfeldt, it's a pleasure to meet you. I hope that I'm not giving you trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about it. This is our job after all." Orellia reassured Syn, hoping to gain her trust. She proceeded to give her a cordial smile and much to her relief, the young lady returned her gesture.

Although she did have confidence in the investigator's abilities, Syn knew that the efforts they had been putting in her case were beyond the standards. That's the reason why she was apologetic, albeit only in her mind.

"Here, please wear this."

When she heard Orellia's voice, she was pulled back to reality from her musings. Syn then saw a black vest hovering afore her eyes. She took it out of the officer's clutch and observed it.

"It's a bulletproof vest. You have to wear it, Miss Rosenfeldt. Do you want me to assist you?"

"No, I can manage by myself. Thank you though," Syn said as she started to put on the vest. Since it was unbuckled prior, she had no difficulty in donning it.

She wanted to remove her coat and jacket first, but she knew that she would struggle to wear the vest while holding the other two articles of clothing. Hence, she went towards the stairs, took off the coat and jacket, and hanged them on the railing. In that way, she was able to put on the vest easily.

Once she'd put on all of her clothes, she noticed that the lobby was now cleared, and the sole individuals who remained were her and Orellia. She stared at her personal guard, who had her back against her, and observed that the officer seemed to be communicating with her colleagues via intercom.

"Is it safe to take her out of the building?" Orellia asked as she moved forward to survey the alfresco of the establishment, nodding once she's done. "Roger that. Send the car by the entrance."

Presently, by virtue of the elevated scale of the events, anxiety took over Syn's consciousness. It dawned on her that one little mistake in her movement could put someone into danger.

'I shouldn't have escaped earlier. It won't be this burdensome I kept the problem to myself. I'm so useless.' The young lady scolded herself.

She was truly regretting her actions, oblivious of the truth that most of the help that she's getting was voluntary. It was simply in her nature to assume the worst out of people's benevolence.

"Let's go, Miss Rosenfeldt. Please lower your head in a way that will hide your face." Orellia said as she went out of the building, opening the backseat door of a white dodge charger acting as the police mobile.

Syn crumpled her fists, pumping herself up for the ensuing debacle. She then nodded to herself prior to egressing the glass doors. She hastened her pace and was able to enter the car in a matter of seconds.

As soon as Orellia took her place beside Syn, the vehicle began its advance.

The trip was not the least bit relaxing, owing to the urgency of the situation. Perhaps, it was also due to the fact that the driver maintained the car's speed to one that was slightly higher than the limit.

Syn tightly joined her hands together as if she was going to pray. Although she didn't worship any deities, the lady coveted to lean on something intangible for the time being.

'Please, whoever's listening to my story, keep my mother, Felix, Renzo, and Seth out of danger. That's the only thing that I wish for.'

If someone could hear her prayers, they would definitely feel the anguish in her voice and the love that she had for her family. It was the kind of love that left no spot for one's self, purposely creating an opportunity to bear the burden all alone.

'Please, please, please, forgive me for not having faith in you, but your generosity knows no bounds, right? Th-'

The young lady was abruptly brought back to her senses when she felt someone tapped her right shoulder - It was Orellia who wanted to check up on Syn. The investigator had a worried look on her countenance when she saw how perturbed the lady was. Hence, she decided to assuage her frets.

"It will be alright, Miss Rosenfeldt. We received the news that the German police was willing to stay with your family until the culprits are caught."

This news earned Syn's full interest as the fear in her heart was alleviated a tad. Nearly breathless, she spoke, "Really? That's-"

She hadn't finished her speech when the car suddenly swerved, forcefully making the side of her body hit the door. It was soon followed by the resounding chaos from outside the car.

"Henry, what is happening?!" Orellia queried in a panic, hoisting her fallen body with both of her arms.

"There are four cars blocking our path ahead! We have to get out of here fast." Henry, the driver, hurriedly stepped on the gas to move their vehicle.

Still and all, ahead of deturning around, the foreboding sound of gunshots landed in Syn's ears accompanied by a stinging pain that assaulted her being.