Xavier and Josiah only heard her uttering “yes” and “okay,” in a foreign language.
Although they did not know the content of the discussion during that phone call, both of them noticed her facial expression had turned more solemn than before.
Xavier was worried about her. “What’s the matter? Did something happen?”
Winnie gazed at him and slightly furrowed her brows.
Although they promised to trust and not lie to one another, she had yet to be able to confide in him entirely.
She scratched her forehead and said, “It’s nothing. I’m just feeling a little anxious because we are about to cross the border.”
“Don’t worry.” Xavier lifted his hand to rearrange Winnie’s stray hair strands and smiled faintly at her. “Even if the sky collapses, the taller people will be there to hold it up, and you will always have my support no matter what.”
“Don’t forget about me!” Josiah made a gesture of comparing their heights and chirped at Winnie, “See? I’m taller than you too.”
She glanced at them and nodded. “Let’s go.”
Soon, they entered a small village in northern Manchernius.
Winnie followed the coordinates provided to her by Lucas and arrived at a local inn.
As that village was near the border of Chanaea, most locals there were fluent in Chanaea. Hence, communication was not an issue there.
Winnie talked to the inn’s owner and confirmed the booking of the room Lucas had placed in advance. Josiah saw that only one room was reserved, so he secured the room next to Winnie’s.
Subsequently, the party moved to the second floor.
They chatted while walking upstairs.
Xavier asked Winnie in an undertone, “Where is the person your friend helped you to find? When will we meet up with them?”
She looked down at her wristwatch. “Soon. They should be here looking for me in approximately half an hour.”
“Half an hour, you say? That’s perfect. I shall go in and take a shower first.” Josiah tugged at the front of his shirt and could not help but grumble, “This place is too hot. I really cannot stand the temperature here. You two can take a stroll here. I want to go back to the room first.”
With that, he jogged ahead.
A few moments later, Winnie and Xavier heard the sound of Josiah unlocking the door.
However, in lesser than three seconds after he pushed the door open and entered the room, Josiah was seen to be gradually stepping back out with his hands raised.
Winnie and Xavier exchanged glances and knitted their brows instantaneously.
The few mercenaries who were dressed like locals beside them swiftly placed their hands around the back of their waists. All of them seemed ready to spring into action at any moment.
Winnie also immediately retrieved a small silver handgun from her boot shaft and hid it in her pocket.
Sensing her intention to move forward, Xavier grabbed her arm at once and pulled her to one side. “You should stay back for now. Let them check out what’s going on first.”
Winnie frowned. “But Josiah is there. I’m a woman, so I’ll appear more approachable. I will check out the circumstances first, and if things turn south, we’ll let the mercenaries handle the situation. We should minimize being caught up in a conflict with others at a place like this.”
She spoke adamantly, and with that, she pushed Xavier’s hand aside and strode forward.
Upon arriving at the doorway, she saw someone pointing a gun at Josiah’s head while the latter was so nervous he did not dare to make a sound.
However, after seeing the gunman’s face, she swiftly let out a sigh of relief.
Winnie had seen a picture of that man before. He was the team leader of the mercenaries Lucas had helped her find.
“Hello, I suppose you are Mason, and I believe you should be familiar with my face.”
“Yes. I’ve seen a photo of you. You’re my boss, Ms. Garland.” said the man, Mason, while sizing up Winnie.
“That’s right.” Winnie understood how a smile could go a long way, so she pointed at Josiah while flashing a grin. “This is a friend of mine who is accompanying me this time. He booked the room next to mine, so please put away your gun.”
That man named Mason Manfield immediately lowered his weapon. Seemingly to explain, he said, “I received news that you’ll be coming alone, and when I arrive, this room next to yours was still unoccupied.”
“That’s right. That was the previous arrangement, but I changed my mind and brought along a few more companions prior to my departure. Where is the rest of your team? Should I book another room for you all?”
Mason had a decisive manner of speech. “That’s not needed. I’ve already received the deposit. My team’s current mission is to safeguard and assist you. You don’t have to bother yourself with anything else except to transfer the remaining payment to us after the job is done,” he said while keeping his gun.
At the same time, he also summoned his other teammate inside the room over.
“You can memorize our faces for the time being. My other teammates are staying upstairs. We’ll get acquainted when we depart later.”
Winnie smiled politely. “You’re a straightforward person, Mr. Mason. Tentatively, we should meet up half an hour later, but since we’re already here, let’s have a discussion.”
Mason was an efficient and taciturn man. He nodded and uttered curtly, “Follow me, Ms. Garland.”
“Okay,” Winnie answered before turning around to call Xavier over.
Right after she entered the room, she saw removed a black handbag from underneath the bed.
He placed the bag on the table and said to Winnie, “Mr. Marsh told me to give this to you. Please take a look.”
“Okay,” she responded and proceeded to pull open the zip.
Inside the bag were two custom-made phones, a few guns, and a sufficient amount of magazines. All the items available were as Lucas had described.
She nodded and said, “Cool, everything is here. I’ll discuss the plan with you later.”
“All right. I’ve saved my contact details in the two phones, and my men will be protecting you in secret.”
He left with his teammate after saying that.
Josiah hastily shut the door after they left.
Winnie took out the phones from inside the bag. “These phones come with two systems, one is basic and the other with encrypted mode. The encrypted mode allows us to use the device without being easily detected by ordinary people. However, my friend only prepared two devices. One of the phones is for standby purposes, but there are three of us.”
“You guys can use the phone. I don’t need it. I’ll use my own phone.” Josiah fathomed Winnie’s concern, so he quickly expressed his stance.
“Okay.” After all, that wasn’t the time for them to be indecisive, so Winnie handed the other device to Xavier at once and taught him the method and password to access the encrypted interface of the phone.
She began distributing the guns after both of them inserted their SIM cards into the phones.
Xavier and Josiah fell silent when they saw how skilled Winnie was in assembling, aiming, and pulling the trigger of the guns.
Noticing their unusual behavior, she could not help but turn her head around to glance at them.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Silly Bride novel (Winnie and Xavier)