I'm Rachel, Diana's sister. A few months earlier, I was packing for my visit to Diana for Christmas. It was a peaceful morning in my neighborhood and I was all packed for my big trip to Los Angeles from a dainty town in London.
After looking at my duffel bag and double checking my hand luggage for all the travel essentials, I decided that there was nothing left to do. I figured I had enough time for a carefree stroll in the park before heading to the airport.
As I was locking my door, I noticed that my neighbor's door was left open, which was quite unusual because she never leaves it open. Then, I saw a strange man casually walking into the house. It seemed strange to me because this neighbor never has guests over at her place. Curiosity got the best of me and before I knew it, I was standing in the doorway of Mrs.Nellis' house.
When I entered the house, there was an eery silence. All the curtains and drapes were blocking the summer sunshine and the furniture was put in a haphazard manner and water was dripping incessantly somewhere. I called out to Mrs.Nellis but there was no reply. I shouted once more in the top of my voice. The man whom I saw entering the house earlier, came downstairs.
'What are you shouting for, young lady? You do know that there's no one here now, don't you? Mrs.Nellis has gone to her son's place.', said the man.
'Well, I do not know that and neither do I know you.', I replied.
'I'm her housekeeper. You can go now. There's nothing else to see here.', he said, rubbing the brass door handles clean.
I went outside, took a deep breath and went inside my home to grab my bags. I was about to leave to the airport when I saw a woman and her young son, staring at me. Judging by the way they looked, I thought they wanted to talk to me so I walked towards them. As I approached them with a hesitant greeting, they scurried right past me.
It all struck me as weirdly out-of-place incidents but I never really linked them together. Awkwardly, I saw them again at the airport when I was getting some breakfast from the food court. They didn't even have any luggage.
'What are they doing? Following me?', I thought to myself after paying the bill.
I went to a bookstore outlet inside the airport to browse some books for my sister but I saw them there too. For whatever reason, they made me surprisingly uncomfortable. I didn't know the reason why I was bothered by a mom and a son. Perhaps, they didn't do it intentionally.
Finally, I heard the boarding announcement of my flight. I let out a long sigh. I quickly chose a detective-spy novel for Diana and paid the bill. Collecting my luggage, I proceeded to the gate where there was already a long line building up. Luckily, I got into the line before it became too long. I got the boarding pass ready to present along with other important documents.
To add to my discomfort, a certain someone was invading my personal space and pushing me from behind the line. I turned and to my dismay, it was the same duo again. Strange people, I thought. Even then, it didn't seem anything more than a weird coincidence. I shook my head and waited. After a quick checking of my boarding documents, I boarded the 11-hour flight.
I watched a lot of movies on the in-flight entertainment and overall, the flight was great. The food was palatable and there were no children disrupting the peace. By the time, I woke up from a deep sleep, I'd momentarily forgotten about the odd duo that followed me wherever I went. I reached Los Angeles at night and met Diana at the arrival terminal. We had a tight hug and Diana immediately sensed the fear in my embrace. She whispered in my ear, 'What's going on? Why are you scared?'.
She was a detective so there was no way that I could escape from telling her my humorous fear. I told her about the "mother and son" as we ate dinner. She gasped and looked around as if to look for intruders. "I'm sure it's just a silly fear born out of my overactive imagination.", I ended my monologue but her face turned grim.
'Bend and wait under the table. I'll go get my gun', she whispered and scampered into her room. It was too complicated for me to even comprehend at the moment but then I heard some rustling through the kitchen window.
We sat down on the floor carpet for one hour straight, not a single move. After some more random minutes of uncomfortable silence, Diana stood up and told me to follow her into her room. Both of us sat on the bed. Usually, the bed was the only place that was a safe haven for me but this time, it was haunting.
Diana began to talk after shutting the door.
"Rach, you're only seventeen and I'm twenty-one. I know this day has been rough for you but listen carefully. I've been working on a case of the murder of a family man. I think you can understand what this is about."
'Do you mean to say that these two are the lead suspects in the case and this woman is finding a way to get under your skin?', I asked, choosing the words to be spoken carefully.
'Exactly! Although, this is her only plan to get us killed. Her name is Jenna Ambrose and the boy is Arnett. They want to kill me to get access to the case files. You'll ask why she chose you. It's because she doesn't want you poking around the case and following in my footsteps.'
'She wants to put an end to this. She'll definitely find us and kill us. What can we do? ', I asked desperately, tears streaming down my face.
"All I can do is to call the department and ask them to protect us and the keep the case file safely under surveillance until Jenna along with Arnett gets arrested."
"Do that right now! Please. I'm scared."
She took her mobile and I could hear her narrating how I came today as expected, and about Jenna Ambrose. Soon, I could hear the siren. I took my luggage and Diana only took her overnight bag with a service gun.
"There goes my holiday trip which I planned to spend near a Christmas tree, presents, and a decent church", I thought to myself.
I don't know how I didn't crack under the pressure but to this day, my sister is my hero. Jenna might've got my sister but she was wrong to underestimate me. Arnett and her are never going to know when I finally get them. After all, I'm an undercover CIA agent now.
~ RACHEL
my memorable trip