A Friday.

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Rowan

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I haven't received a response from Mr. Carl, the tracker I reached out to yesterday.

Perhaps I could reach out to Mark to help me locate an excellent tracker…but I don't want the Addams Family involved in this, shish.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

Ha, Jack, he did mention being a tracker once.

No, no, no, that would contradict the purpose of this, and Mom would absolutely be aware of it. He is, after all, the butler, and his job is to keep an eye on me and report to her.

"Darn," I mumbled, worriedly stroking my glabella.

"Grinnnnnnnnn," the desk phone rang.

"Hello," I greeted.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jeremy, it's me, Mr. Carl." A voice introduced.

"Finally." I thought in relief.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Carl, I see you're excellent at what you do, as you already know who I am," I answered with a chuckle.

"You flatter me, sir, the only thing I could find was your name, from your voice you seem to be quite young, I see you're quite a mysterious one." He answered solemnly.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Let's get down to business." I responded, a little agitated in my thoughts.

"Very well, sir, how may I assist you?" He inquired.

"I've heard you're one of the best trackers in the area." I need your assistance in finding someone. "Are you available for the job?" I inquired in a businesslike tone.

"Yes, I can. "What is the target's name and location?" He inquired.

"I can't reveal that information just yet. But first, let's talk about the pricing. "How much do you charge for your services?" I responded.

"My fee is not cheap. I charge based on the difficulty of the task and the time it will take me to finish it. Finding a person can be a difficult undertaking, and I would need to know the intricacies of this task before I can give you a price range." He responded succinctly.

"I'll email you an image of the girl." I need her found within a month. It's a little difficult; all I know about her is that she's a high school student in California. And everything has to be done behind closed doors." I spoke up.

"My baseline price for this job is $10,000. That includes my time, expertise, and any resources I need to use to find the girl in question." He replied firmly.

"Ten grand is steep. Can we negotiate it down to $8,000? I need to be sure that I'm getting a fair deal."

I responded.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot go below $9,000. My reputation is at stake here, and I have to ensure that I'm compensated adequately for my efforts. But I'm willing to give you a free consultation to go through the specifics of any other issue you have." He said patiently.

"I appreciate the gesture, but $9,000 is still excessive." What about $8,500, and we've got a deal?" I continued.

"I'd be willing to meet you halfway at $8,750, but that's my final offer, I have other clients waiting for me, and I can't afford to waste time haggling." He answered.

"Deal. Please provide me your bank account information; I'll pay half up advance and the remainder upon completion of the project." I said.

"Excellent. I'll get started right away. I'll keep you posted on any developments, sir." He responded with avidity.

"Alright, then, I look forward to working well with you, Mr. Carl." I stated unequivocally.

"Same as I do, sir. Have a nice day." He said, before hanging up the phone.

"Splendid." I muttered as I got to work, I can't afford to waste even one minute when it's my sister.

I owe my Grandfather for his guidance and grooming.

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Raven

……….

"Great. Now, before we begin, let's go over the basic rules again. No hitting below the belt, no strikes to the back of the head, and no strikes to the throat or eyes. Are we clear?" The instructor said having paired us in twos.

"Yes sir." we chorused , stepping into our fighting stances.

"All right, let's get started. Remember to concentrate on your footwork, to stay light on your feet, to never let your guard down, to use your jabs and crosses to build up your combos, and to always be prepared to defend." He continued in gusto as we began sparring.

"Ugh, speak of unlucky, why did I get paired with Florian again? We just started and she's already filling her jabs with this much energy?" I thought in irritation as I started reciprocating the energy.

"Nice, now that's what I'm talking about, strengtttthhhh" Florian suddenly said with hysterical laughter as I landed a hit on her.

"Is she taunting me or something?" I thought with a brow raised.

"No, no, no, not at all, I'm just pleased you're trying hard." She muttered, getting me more irritated.

Ophhh, I must have said that out loud.

My brows tightened as a painful jab hit me.

"Nice one, James; I like how you're creating angles and moving around Mary with your footwork." Keep it up. Mary, attempt to manage the distance with your jab and keep James at bay." I heard the instructor say from the corner of the gym.

"Ohhhh, I see, that's what Florian has been doing, so I just need a countermeasure to reach her." I smiled in realization.

"Well done, Eva. Will, remember to keep your guard up and move your head to avoid being struck." The instructor said it again, this time giving me an idea.

"Yeah," I smirked in satisfaction as I finally landed a punch on Florian's face.

"No face punches, Raven, five laps around the school field after class." The instructor said.

"Yes sir," I replied, a little annoyed with myself.

"Nice one, Gordon. Be ready for those kicks, Pika, and utilize your blocks to defend......" As he went away from us, his voice faded.

…a few minutes later…

Okay, time's up. Everyone did an excellent job.

Keep practicing your methods and concentrating on your footwork and defense. Continue your excellent work.

"The class has been dismissed!" To the field, Raven, Courtney, and Jack. "Grey, make sure they do the right thing and learn their lessons," the instructor stated with a subtle expression I couldn't put my hands on.

***..Moments later..***

…..Raven's pov….

I know it's wrong, but I can't stop myself from feeling schadenfreude, even if I'm being punished right now.

The reel of shock and annoyance on her face after that punch is making me happy.

Maybe I need to see a therapist but on the other hand, this is how triumph tastes, and I enjoy it, so no way, goodbye therapy, it's all about happiness, right?

I and two other students were punished and honestly it's not that bad. Jogging and talking about random things, feeling the wind against my skin, not bad at all.

Fortunately, Gordon "the instructor's assistant" is a pleasant individual.

He doesn't care how we do what was required of us, in as much as we do it. I'm curious what kind of books he reads because he's always reading e-books. Perhaps I can get him a hard copy as a present.

"Bhwahaaha," the sound of someone laughing drew me out of my reverie.

"Just a little more and yes." Courtney said as we finished the fourth lap.

"Omg, this is so much fun." Jack said as we started jogging around the field for the fifth time.

"Are you kidding? My legs are killing me already." Courtney whined.

"Just this one lap and this will be over with," I said to comfort her.

"Honestly, this is a bit tiring but I'd rather be here than be stuck in that Maths class." Jack said.

"Is it that bad? it's just revision now, isn't it?" I asked in curiosity.

"Ohhhhh, it's that bad, trust me, he's just making us do a lot of Math exercises, nothing else." Courtney said with a deep frown.

"Yeah, y'all are so lucky in your class, having such nice teachers must be so good." Jack said.

"Haha, we also do math exercises, not just every time." I said with an awkward laugh.

"the class should be over now,

afterall, revision classes are shorter,..." As the alarm went off, Courtney was saying.

"Oh my goodness, it's lunchtime, and we still have this lap to run, awww, this is not fair, mother, I'm going through a lot." Courtney mumbled dejectedly.

"Courtney, missing one lunch is not the end of the world, you know." With a cough, Jack stated.

"We can complete this lap." "If we jog faster, correct?" I pitched in.

"All right, how about the last person to cross the finish line treats us?" Jack abruptly stated.

"A challenge? Sign me up." With a smirk, I said.

"So be it." Courtney stated with bright eyes.

"Okay, on a go count of three." He continued.

"Okay, got it." Courtney nodded.

"One, two, three." Jack shouted.

"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh." Courtney screamed as she ran like her life depended on it.

"But I haven't said go." Jack muttered, scratching his hair.

"Is she okay?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"She has always been this crazy about food." Jack said with a laugh.

"Wow, I've met my match I see." I said looking at the far distance Courtney has covered.

"Huh? Okay, I don't want to do this anymore, I'll treat us, you don't need to run like that." Jack said seriously as we both burst into laughter and continued jogging.

"Okay, if you say so, just know your card will bleed." I joked.

"I don't mind." He muttered in response as we fell into a comfortable silence.