Ch.60New Beginning! (4)

#060

Despite the late hour, the motel’s pillar sign was still brightly lit.

When Agent Jake opened the back door, Dexter cradled Judy with her face resting on his shoulder.

“Heave-ho.”

He looked like a father carrying his sleeping daughter.

Jake had seen people supporting others with an arm around the shoulder, but seeing Dexter carrying an adult woman this way, he whispered:

“You two definitely don’t look like just colleagues.”

“Is that so?”

As Dexter, still holding Judy, tried to grab her duffel bag from the back seat, Agent Jake stepped forward, took the bag, and headed into the motel.

Just like when Dexter first arrived at the motel, the front desk clerk showed them to a room, handed Dexter the key card, and returned to his post.

“This place hasn’t changed.”

“It’s an OSA-designated accommodation. The Air Force base is nearby, making it easy to respond to any situation.”

Dexter nodded at Agent Jake’s explanation and carefully laid Judy down on the bed.

“Mmm… no, don’t…”

“Don’t what, I wonder.”

After listening to Judy’s sleep-talking and tucking her in, Dexter was about to carefully leave the room.

“…Mr. Hughes?”

Judy, lying in bed, slowly opened her eyes and looked at Dexter.

“You should sleep more.”

“I’d like to, but my head hurts a little… that’s why I woke up…”

Judy was whining like a child, unlike her usual self.

Weak to such behavior, Dexter pulled a chair closer to the bed, sat down, and said:

“Are you still anxious?”

“Yes, a little…”

Dexter simply looked at Judy with a gentle smile and said:

“Would you like me to stay here?”

“…Maybe.”

“Then I will.”

Dexter nodded at Judy and approached the two agents standing by the door.

“How do you plan to investigate Ms. Goswell’s house?”

“It’s impossible right now, but we’ll probably start around 4 AM. The field investigation team is elsewhere at the moment.”

“Who will be stationed at the motel?”

“Agent Mona here was going to wait in the next room, but it seems you want to stay with your colleague. What would you prefer?”

Dexter stroked his chin, thinking for a moment, then took out his phone and said:

“I’ll call headquarters if anything happens. After all, I’m… well, you know.”

Both Agent Jake and Agent Mona smirked at Dexter’s sly comment.

Apparently, the news about Dexter becoming an honorary agent had spread throughout the department.

“Understood. Please call us if anything happens, and we’ll return tomorrow morning. Thank you for your hard work today.”

“Not at all. You two are the ones who worked hard. I appreciate your help.”

As the two agents left the room, Judy, who had been covering her face with the blanket, peeked out with just her eyes visible, watching Dexter.

“What were you talking about for so long…?”

“That female officer who was here earlier said she would protect Ms. Goswell, but I told her to get some rest since she must be busy with work.”

“Oh, I see…”

As Dexter sat back in the chair and fiddled with his phone, Judy spoke up.

“Mr. Hughes.”

“Yes.”

“Why are you so nice to me?”

Dexter scratched his chin, pondering Judy’s question, then answered promptly.

“Well… I’m not sure myself. I guess I help because I can. Isn’t that reason enough?”

“You help because you can…?”

“Yes. It’s really not a big deal.”

For Dexter, he helped because he had the physical capability and because helping her caused him no particular inconvenience.

“From the daily exercise help to today, when you suddenly responded to my text and even called a police officer you know to help me…”

Judy spoke with an embarrassed voice, but Dexter truly thought nothing of it.

“Are you embarrassed about receiving help?”

“No, it’s not that… I just have no way to repay you.”

Hearing this, Dexter nodded and said:

“I can understand why you might feel that way.”

Tapping his fingers on the headboard, Dexter made a suggestion to Judy.

“How about this?”

“What is it?”

“Let’s speak more casually with each other.”

Surprised by Dexter’s unexpected suggestion, Judy was taken aback.

“Is speaking casually enough…?”

“I haven’t been in New Mexico long, so I don’t have many friends. I thought it would be nice to have at least one person I can speak comfortably with.”

“…Is that really enough for you?”

“Yes.”

Dexter truly didn’t want anything more than that.

‘It would be nice to have a friend to joke around with, that’s all.’

“Let’s use first names instead of last names. Drop all the formalities. At work, well, that’s up to you. What do you think?”

Judy agreed to Dexter’s casual proposal with a nod.

“Okay then… Hughes, I mean, Dexter…?”

“That’s much better.”

Dexter gave a thumbs up and said:

“Let’s keep it casual from now on.”

As Dexter grinned, Judy also smiled softly.

Watching Dexter’s actions and words, Judy gradually realized something without even knowing it.

It was because she could always experience “firsts” whenever she was with Dexter.

When she started exercising with Dexter, she discovered her physical limits in ways she hadn’t even experienced at the correctional officer training camp, and she could also see that her stamina was gradually improving.

‘It’s really fascinating.’

Like today, seeing Dexter help her by even calling the police, she realized he was the first man she’d met who treated her with pure kindness without expecting anything in return.

For Judy, who was sometimes misunderstood because of her youthful appearance or occasionally attracted unsavory men, Dexter seemed remarkable.

Dexter and Judy chatted excitedly until late into the night, and when the physically weaker Judy fell asleep first, Dexter leaned back in his chair and watched her sleeping peacefully.

‘She’s like a child sometimes, and like a mother other times… She’s really hard to figure out.’

Dexter watched her for a while, then crossed his arms and closed his eyes for a short nap.

* * *

When Dexter opened his eyes, he saw the still-dark room and Judy sleeping soundly, hugging the blanket.

Stretching his stiff neck, he went outside the room to go downstairs and ask the front desk clerk if there was anything light to eat. But an unexpected person was waiting for him.

“…Mr. Dexter!”

Himena, with dark circles under her eyes, was sitting at the front desk.

“What brings you here?”

“What brings me here?!”

Puzzled by Himena’s accusatory tone, Dexter looked confused.

But rather than waiting for his reaction, Himena stepped forward and began sniffing around Dexter’s body.

“What are you doing?”

“…I heard you were in a room with a woman?”

“A woman? Oh, Judy.”

“Judy?! So it is a woman, right? Right?”

Seeing the fire in Himena’s eyes, Dexter laughed it off as absurd.

“Come on. She’s a work colleague. And of course, nothing happened. She’s the colleague I was training back then.”

“Really nothing happened?”

“Nothing happened. She was already anxious enough—you think I’d do something inappropriate on top of that?”

Himena squinted at Dexter’s response, glaring at him.

“Really?”

“Really, I’m telling you. You’re surprisingly persistent.”

Dexter glared back at Himena, then checked his wristwatch and said:

“But what brings you here? It’s… 4 AM now.”

“I came to tell you that we’re about to investigate your colleague’s house. It should be finished by this afternoon at the latest.”

As Himena blinked slowly, Dexter bent down to meet her eyes and said:

“Didn’t you work late yesterday too? Have you gotten any sleep?”

Avoiding Dexter’s gaze, Himena replied:

“…I slept a little in the duty room.”

“I was worried I might have overreacted, and I was concerned about you.”

“No, there have been a lot of strange things happening lately. The chief’s incident and all… It’s natural for you to worry…”

Seeing Himena looking at him with concerned eyes and a drooping posture, Dexter patted her head.

“…What are you doing?”

“Patting your head.”

“Could you please stop?”

Himena glared at Dexter again, then gently pushed his hand away from her head and roughly fixed her hair.

“Women don’t like having their heads patted.”

“I know. Someone else told me that too.”

“Someone else? Do you go around patting other women’s heads?”

Now Himena’s brow was deeply furrowed.

Realizing he’d just given her more ammunition when she seemed to have calmed down, Dexter frantically considered changing the subject but decided to try a different approach.

“But why should you be angry about it?”

“What?”

“Why should you be angry if I pat other women’s heads? That’s what I’m asking.”

As Dexter asked with genuine curiosity in his voice, Himena was momentarily struck speechless.

Dexter had spoken without much thought, but after saying it, he felt his point was valid.

‘We’re not dating, so why should I be interrogated?’

But Himena took Dexter’s statement completely differently.

“So what you’re saying is that you treat all women the same way you treat me.”

Himena responded in an emotionless, cold voice that seemed to be sucked into darkness.

“You’re just being your usual playful self, approaching everyone without reservation, and I misunderstood. Is that right?”

It wasn’t a deep voice drained of energy from exhaustion, but a deep voice as sharp as a knife and as cold as the bitter winter.

Along with her voice, though it might have been Dexter’s hallucination, a blizzard seemed to be raging around Himena.

Sensing that Himena’s state was a little—no, very—unusual, Dexter gulped.

‘Uh-oh, I better choose my words carefully here.’

After a brief moment of consideration, Dexter grabbed Himena’s shoulders with both hands and said:

“What? No, that’s not it. I’m only casual with people I care about. Very important people. You know that, right? Have you ever seen me joking around with Agent Jake? No, you haven’t.”

With those words, the blizzard swirling around Himena began to subside.

“…So I’m not misunderstanding?”

As Himena’s cold anger subsided, Dexter passionately explained:

“Of course not. I only act that way with people I truly care about.”

“People you care about…”

As if nothing had happened, Himena grinned at Dexter and gave him a light push.

“Oh my, it’s troublesome if you think of me that way.”

“Ha. Ha. That’s how important you are to me.”

Seeing that Himena had returned to her usual bright and energetic self, Dexter clenched his fist where she couldn’t see and thought:

‘When I’m with Himena, I should avoid talking about other women as much as possible.’

Otherwise, he might end up dead, either socially or literally.