Ch.36Pursuit! (3)

#036

Without any issues, and without anything happening, Dexter took Himena back to her apartment and went to work as usual the next day.

‘Should I have made a move?’

When he saw Himena so drunk that he couldn’t tell if the alcohol was her or she was the alcohol, such thoughts had completely disappeared.

Arriving at the conference room for the daily task distribution, Dexter sat down first. Someone patted his shoulder and took the seat next to him.

“You’re as rare as stars in the sky? We work in the same Block 2, but why do I never see your face?”

The person sitting next to him was Dan, who had arrived around the same time as Dexter.

“The inmate I’m in charge of, you know. I’m busy trying to pay as much attention as possible.”

At Dexter’s words, Dan slapped his knee as if suddenly remembering.

“Ah. You’re handling Blueberg, right. That must be tough.”

Dan was well aware of Jesse’s personality.

Having worked in Block 2 for quite some time, Dan generally maintained smooth and uneventful relationships with most inmates.

He wasn’t extremely close with them, but at least he didn’t make enemies.

However, since he hadn’t seen Jesse since he left the infirmary, Dan was thinking of Jesse’s previous personality.

“I bet some guards have even been bitten by him?”

“Wow, really?”

“That’s why he was sent to solitary once. Though I heard it wasn’t that severe of a bite.”

“He sounds like a terrifying guy.”

“Exactly. I think one of his nicknames was ‘Hungry Piranha.'”

Dan shuddered as he recalled the former Jesse who had been nothing but ferocious in every way.

“Ugh, it’s horrifying just thinking about it.”

“Was it that bad?”

“Extremely. If he had caused one more incident, he would have been sent straight to Block 4.”

“Who makes that decision?”

“Who else? Raymond.”

Inmate management was supposed to be the warden Byron’s job, but since Byron didn’t properly perform his duties, the senior guard Raymond made those decisions instead.

“That was a close call.”

“Yeah. Someone like Blueberg probably would have been a corpse within a week in there.”

“Huh.”

It seemed like Block 4 of the medium-security facility was some kind of den of horrors, with only gruesome stories coming from there.

“Come to think of it, we never get assigned to Block 4?”

“Block 4 has dedicated guards. I hear if you apply for Block 4 duty, you get higher weekly pay and better benefits, but still, it’s not somewhere you want to go.”

“Is it that bad?”

Instead of answering Dexter’s question directly, Dan spoke evasively.

“Ask a Block 4 guard during lunch break. It’s worse than whatever you’re imagining.”

“Hmm. Alright.”

Dexter, who had been thinking he should try to get into Block 4 somehow, straightened up in his seat as Raymond arrived carrying a folder.

“Good morning, everyone. There are no special announcements today, but please work diligently on your assigned tasks.”

The unremarkable daily task assignment proceeded, and Dexter was once again supervising the medium-security interior cleaning.

“And Guard Hughes, Guard Lawrence, please stay behind for a moment.”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

As soon as Dexter and Gomer were called, Dexter instinctively knew it was related to the OSA.

Ever since Himena had told Gomer that an investigation was needed, Gomer had spent most of his working hours trembling.

Of course, since he normally spoke with a stutter anyway, it wasn’t particularly noticeable.

‘Here it comes.’

Raymond, who had asked them to wait, left without saying anything more, and instead, a man in a black suit entered the conference room.

Though Dexter had never seen him before, he could immediately tell who he was given the situation.

‘He might as well be wearing a sign saying “I’m an OSA agent.”‘

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Agent Freeman from the FBI.”

He was an agent with such a common appearance that you could find someone who looked like him just by standing on the Strip for a minute.

Agent Freeman didn’t bother with greetings or small talk and got straight to the point.

“I heard that Guard Lawrence experienced something quite unusual a few days ago. Could I hear about it in detail?”

Agent Freeman took out a notepad and a pen-shaped recorder.

It was a means to record Guard Lawrence’s testimony.

“W-w-well, you see…”

Though Gomer stuttered, he explained the situation well, saying he couldn’t remember much about the moment when the two women sexually assaulted him.

“You don’t remember?”

“N-no. I d-don’t remember w-well. It was s-such a strange experience…”

“I see…”

Dexter thought it was fortunate, as there was nothing to be gained from three men discussing a sexual assault.

Agent Freeman asked Gomer a few more questions, but most of his answers were predictable—either that he couldn’t remember or that nothing like that had happened.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Guard Lawrence, you may leave now.”

“Th-thank you. I’ll be g-going then…”

With the investigation ending sooner than expected, Gomer, seemingly anxious, hurriedly left the conference room.

“If only he moved that fast normally.”

Dexter turned his head to watch Gomer leave, then looked back at Agent Freeman in front of him.

“Mr. Hughes, I’m sure you know where I’m from.”

Agent Freeman, who had shown a friendly smile earlier, now wore a cold expression once only Dexter remained in the conference room.

“Why are you giving me that look?”

Despite Dexter’s question, the agent maintained his cold expression, which meant Dexter wouldn’t respond kindly either.

“I hear you’ve been getting close with Agent Himena recently.”

“What does that have to do with you making a face like you’ve eaten shit?”

At Dexter’s blunt response, Agent Freeman seemed uncomfortable, a crease forming between his brows.

“It’s a civilian and an OSA agent relationship. I’m concerned about confidentiality, so I’d like you to keep some distance from Agent Himena.”

At Freeman’s words, the smile on Dexter’s face twisted slightly at the corners.

“Who are you to order someone about who they can and can’t be friends with?”

“It’s a request.”

‘A request, huh.’

As his lips twisted even more without him realizing it, Dexter touched the corner of his mouth and said:

“It sounds more like an order to me. From what I hear, despite Agent Himena and I providing a truckload of information, the agents who were supposed to arrest the suspects in cooperation with the police failed.”

“That was our fault for not properly preparing surveillance equipment…”

“There’s an old Chinese saying about using your gums when you have no teeth. For the most secretive department in America, with technology no one else on Earth can match, is that really an excuse?”

Leaning back in his chair, Dexter continued:

“I personally investigated and provided information that OSA agents didn’t have. Because there was a victim in our prison too, I even planted a tracker to help you find where that bastard was.”

“That’s…”

“Setting everything else aside, after Himena and I spoon-fed you all this information without any compensation, shouldn’t you keep that bullshit about ‘keeping distance’ to yourself and sew your mouth shut?”

Agent Freeman was about to say something more but couldn’t when he saw Dexter’s expression, now devoid of any humor.

After his outburst, Dexter closed his eyes, took a deep breath to calm himself, and said:

“I know it sounds stupid to say this, but I’m showing a lot of restraint here. If you follow me to my workplace just to say that kind of crap, I can’t respond nicely. Keep it reasonable.”

“…I apologize.”

Seeing Agent Freeman suddenly become polite, Dexter scratched the back of his head and sighed deeply.

It was clear that Freeman had just been following orders and realized that Dexter wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

Knowing that it was pointless to argue with a subordinate who was just delivering a message from his superiors, Dexter decided to stop pressing the issue.

Instead, Dexter made a proposal to Agent Freeman.

“You didn’t catch the two women, right?”

“…That’s correct.”

“Instead of this, why don’t you provide some support to Agent Himena and me?”

“Pardon? What kind of support…?”

“Lift the disciplinary action against Agent Himena, provide better equipment, and increase her authority. That’s what I’m saying.”

Agent Freeman began to hesitate at Dexter’s proposal.

“Th-that’s beyond my authority…”

“Do you think I’m asking you personally? I’m asking you to relay this to your superior. And it seems like you keep telling Agent Himena to be patient and do nothing. With her personality, do you really think she’ll just sit still?”

“W-well…”

Dexter had expected some argument, but seeing Agent Freeman immediately agree without even a second of hesitation, he was a bit stunned.

‘Just what kind of temper has Himena shown for this guy to understand so quickly?’

Whether she was only docile in front of him or was actually restraining her temper, Dexter finished what he had started saying.

“Try to put in a good word. Honestly, you know how hard it is to control Agent Himena.”

“I can’t give you a definite answer at my level, but I’ll do my best to convey your message.”

“Good. That’s much better.”

As a smile returned to Dexter’s face, Agent Freeman also seemed to relax and smiled slightly.

“Anyway, I hope you make a good choice. I’d rather not have things escalate to the point where Agent Himena’s family gets involved, as that would be a headache for me too.”

“…Understood.”

Seeing Freeman’s face stiffen at the mention of Himena’s family, Dexter complained inwardly.

‘Just how impressive is her family for him to react like that?’

Dexter couldn’t understand.

* * *

-What on earth did you do?

During lunch, as Dexter was eating a sandwich, he received a text message from Himena.

>What do you mean?

-They said my disciplinary action is over. And they want me to investigate with you? What did you do?

It seemed Agent Freeman had conveyed the message well, as Himena’s disciplinary action had ended early.

Of course, Dexter had no intention of explaining the real reason and replied casually.

>Yeah, I did something.

-No, seriously, what did you do?????? Anyway, thank you. I’ll contact you again after work.

“Who’s that?”

Dan, still with his unappetizing green juice in front of him, asked Dexter, who replied briefly.

“A pretty woman.”

“Ooh. A blind date?”

Dexter chuckled and shook his head.

“No. A side job after work.”

“Side job? You do that too?”

“Something simple. I’ve been doing it for a while, but they seem to need me these days.”

It wasn’t a lie.

“Is it lucrative? My son is eating so much these days that I can’t keep up with the food expenses. It’s breaking my back.”

“You’d be better off negotiating your weekly pay with the senior guard. The side job I do requires experience, so it’s a bit of a hassle.”

“Ah, I see. Too bad.”

It wasn’t entirely untrue, since to meet an OSA agent, you’d need to be involved in space-related work at the very least.

“I wish I could make more money.”

“Come on, I envy you more, senior.”

“Why?”

“When you go home, you have a wife who takes care of you and a son who welcomes you.”

“Yeah right. As soon as I get home, he asks where the pizza is.”

“That’s still something. When I go home, only my sofa welcomes me.”

“You should get married soon too.”

Dexter objected to Dan’s nonchalant comment.

“Senior, didn’t you tell me last time to never get married?”

“Yeah. It’s best not to, but there are good points too.”

“What are they?”

“Marriage is like that.”

‘Somehow all married men say similar things.’

Despite the contradictory statements, Dexter felt he understood somehow.

“Still. Get married a bit later. Okay?”

“I’m already quite late.”

“Still, stay single for one more year.”

Dan said with sincerity.