ALEXANDRA returned to her apartment at ten at night with Tom riding in Indah and her husband's car. The officer warned her to contact 999 only at times that were truly an emergency.
Indah could not fathom the police who did not quite believe her. Her husband could only agree with what was said by his wife.
"Tonight you just sleep in my apartment," persuaded Indah. "You are in trouble. I'm afraid something will happen to you," she clearly already regarded Alyx as her family, since knowing they came from the same country.
"No," Alyx smiled awkwardly, of course she did not want to trouble them. "And I think he won't come tonight."
Indah's brow raised. "How do you know? He might be waiting in your room."
"He himself said it," murmured Alyx. "Who knows what he wants from me. I must know that." So she said and returned to her residence place.
And of course, she could not sleep soundly at all tonight. How could she possibly fall asleep when she knew that criminal could go in and out of her apartment easily.
But, what made her a bit calmer was she knew that those people had no intention to kill her. Perhaps it wasn't time yet. Because just as she thought, they must have followed her for a long time, and there was no sign they would harm her. And regarding that shot yesterday, perhaps it was just a bluff. It was just that, what she couldn't fathom was how on earth that bullet could disappear from that place. Alyx tried to be calm. She would find out everything tomorrow.
"Have you ever heard of a bullet that disappears after being shot?" asked Alyx to one of the weapon collectors she often met.
Robert Stewart, the man aged thirty years older than Alyx smiled upon hearing his photography friend's question. Since three years ago he had known Alyx. Even though aged quite far from her, he regarded that girl as a conversation partner who was quite pleasant to chat with.
Rob still remembered when facing Alyx at the hospital. Especially upon knowing that the young doctor's name was Alexandra. Since that time, they often chatted and invited this child to his house.
"You didn't sleep last night?" Ron shifted the topic, feeling Alyx's question was not something that should be made into a conversation opener.
"Ah?" Alyx was surprised by Rob's question. Rob must have noticed the dark circles around her eyes. "Well, there is a little problem," she murmured then.
"So it has a connection with that bullet you asked about?" Rob concluded.
Alyx nodded slightly. Her shoulder-length hair swayed along.
Rob's eyes instantly enlarged. "I have searched for that weapon for a quite long time, previously I heard from someone, and finally just found it a few months ago."
"You have a weapon like that?" Alyx's brow met, she clearly didn't expect it.
"The size of a revolver, right?" Rob stood up. Walked toward a cupboard. Took out a key from his pants pocket. It seemed he always brought that key wherever he went.
"I got it from an acquaintance of mine…" Rob lowered his voice volume, "from the black market. He didn't know how to use it. And as an ordinary person, he thought there was no need to own this. Or perhaps he was tempted by the money I offered him." He was already sitting back in front of his desk.
"He handed over this weapon and a box that he didn't know how to open. Who knows from where he got this, so that even the code to open that box was not understood by him? Perhaps he took it without permission." Rob answered his own question and smiled. He then took that box and entered three numbers in three columns.
A click sound was heard. That box opened. Rob showed the contents of that box, several bullets that were only the size of a pen tip. He took one piece and loaded it into the bullet hole.
"But beforehand, you must know that this house of mine has a signal jammer, I will not use this outside the house." Rob's eyes enlarged reminding. He then directed the weapon toward the wall in front of him. Beside the door there was a wall that was often made into his shooting target.
There was no sound of a gunshot, but Alyx knew that Rob had shot. She saw him pull the trigger.
"Now look!" Exclaimed Rob, clearly excited.
Alyx approached that wall and searched for the bullet mark. It was still embedded in that white-colored wall. She pulled it. When it was in her hand, that bullet became dust. She saw Rob who put on a smile.
Alyx actually wanted to inform him that this object might be slightly different from what was seen previously. But she knew that the manufacturer of this weapon must be the same.
"Great, isn't it? You won't find one like this," Rob's nose wrinkled.
"What happened?" asked Alyx after sitting back beside Rob.
"After being shot, that bullet disappears. And do you know who made it?"
Alyx did not say anything, but clearly once again she was curious about that. Rob took back the box containing bullets. Re-entered the three numbers that made that box open. He observed it. "505?"
Seeing Alyx who didn't understand, Rob took the small-sized weapon, only sized slightly larger than his palm. Took a magnifying glass. And pointed to three letters on the side of the pistol body which became visible larger with the help of the loupe.
"SOS."
*
Alexandra was currently enjoying her lunch at that time with Mr. and Mrs. Stewart. She indeed was already used to eating there, after finishing debating something regarding the photography world, for example, or another matter including the health of both of them. They even already regarded Alyx as their own daughter—considering Rob only had a son who was currently on duty out of town.
"Do you know regarding SOS?" asked Alyx to Rob.
"Not much," answered Rob casually, different from Melissa's face who appeared surprised by Alyx's question. He smiled and said to his wife, "we are not currently talking about that. Only regarding the weapon I got."
Rob's words made Melissa calmer. "They made that for personal interest, it seems—considering this weapon is not found anywhere else."
Alyx nodded. After lunch, she hadn't left the house which was full of weapons yet. Rob's pleasure with weapons had existed since long ago—especially since he used to be a sniper among the army—so that when finding a weapon that was unique to him, he would try to own that.
"I didn't know that this was an SOS production, initially, but after checking it I knew that it was indeed an SOS production," Rob recalled one of the confusing incidents in his life, "and I then tried to enter that code, finally it opened."
"From where did you know regarding that code?"
"Emergency call," answered Rob shortly.
"What?" asked Alyx when Rob stopped. "Tell me, Rob. I won't question you regarding SOS, if I didn't know anything regarding them," she emphasized her sentence. "In your opinion how could I know regarding that weapon? That's because I encountered a strange event."
"What do you mean?" Rob moved his body forward.
"That bullet almost disappeared in my head, fortunately those people indeed didn't want to kill me perhaps," told Alyx slightly casually.
"What actually happened, Alyx? You are not currently having a problem with them right?"
"I don't understand at all, Rob," Alyx's shoulder movement was visible. "They are the ones who made me be in trouble by coming to my house and disappearing just like that."
"In that case this is truly serious," Rob's eyes trembled.
"After I thought about it all night, I feel there is nothing I need to worry about," Alyx tried to calm. "They came to my place not to destroy, but rather to talk about something very important. But, only their way is just too complicated."
"Don't take this lightly. Have you reported it to the police?" Rob's brows met, clear worry on his face.
"No one will believe. Rob, if you don't want to tell what you know regarding SOS, I am going home right now." Alyx was silent for a few moments. "There is no Liss here," she said when seeing Rob was already preparing by changing his sitting position, "just in case you are afraid of reminding of something that is painful for her."
Rob looked at Alyx with a somber gaze. "You would never expect this happened to us, Alyx."
*