Chapter 214: Most idle

The call ended and Valarie stared ahead in confusion. Her mind was blank and she looked dazed. Ryder and Preston watched her staring at them, but her concentration was somewhere else and she was in deep thought. 

"Val, what's the matter?" Ryder asked. He and Preston had been observing her since the time she had picked up the call and had heard her speak politely on the phone. They did not know who she was speaking to. But it was clear from her tone that he was a very important person.

"Who was that on the phone?" Preston asked next when she did not answer Ryder's question.

"It was the President." She answered this time rendering the two men speechless.

"What did he want? Is it something serious? Why did he call you?" Ryder started firing his questions without any break.

Valarie blinked twice, thrice seeing him panic. Why was he getting agitated? Everything was alright, right?

She then realized that not only Ryder even Preston was looking at her with panic. Then it struck her. It was her behavior that had made the two men worry. She had gone blank after getting a call from the President that they had freaked out, thinking the worst possible outcome. She chuckled softly seeing their expressions and this in turn increased their uneasiness. 'Did she go mad after getting the President's call? What did he say that made her this way in an instant?'

Valarie had no idea that her behavior was making them think all weird possibilities. She had only been perplexed on getting a call from the President of the country. Never had she expected that she would see such a day. So, her mind had stopped working.

"Val, speak something. You are scaring us." Ryder said again.

"Calm down guys. It's not that serious of a matter." Valarie replied after controlling her laughter.

"Then?" Ryder asked, his eyes narrowing her in confusion.

"The President wants to meet us tomorrow. He has something to discuss with us personally. So, we have to be at the Princep House at 9."

"That's it?" Preston questioned in shock.

"Yeah."

"Val, you scared us." Preston gave her his all-time famous glare, but she just shrugged. It was not her mistake that they had misunderstood.

"I am not at fault. How would you react when you get a call from the President?"

"Yeah. That would freak me out too." Ryder added and then Preston directed his glare at him. "Is something the matter?"

"I have no idea. He did not say anything about it."

"Did he ask only you to come?"

"No. He asked you two to accompany me tomorrow."

"Oh." Preston and Ryder said at once. 

"Yeah. But he said something weird."

"What?" Ryder and Preston asked again at once.

"He told me not to talk about this to Chief."

"Why would he do that?" Preston mused.

"I have no idea. He strictly told me to keep it among us." 

"We will only get to know when we meet him tomorrow," Ryder stated.

Before anybody else could reply, Frederick Clarke's voice sounded in their ears. "What are my favorite people doing here in the middle of the day?"

"Shit," Preston cursed softly on hearing the man's annoying voice. He had started loathing him since the day Frederick had transferred their case to another department. He was not angry about losing the case. But he did not like it that everything had been done in their absence and nobody had informed them about it. This was highly unethical and unprofessional of them.

Hearing the man's obnoxious question, he wanted to give him a befitting reply. 'We are planning how to murder you in the most horrific way.' He thought to himself and just the thought of it made him smile. Though he would never do it, there was nothing wrong in imagining it. He envisaged poisoning him and the man rolling on the floor before dying. 'But that would be too easy of a death for him. How about shooting him with a gun? No.' He shook his head. 'That would become too messy to deal with.' 

"Preston?" Ryder called him to get his attention.

"Yes?" He asked, startled. He had been so busy in his thoughts that he did hear anything that had been spoken since the arrival of his Chief.

"Where are you lost, my dear young man?" Frederick commented in amusement.

Preston just gave him a smile, his eyes held mockery for the old, fickle-minded man. 'Oof. Go live your life. I lost interest and now I'm in no mood to kill you.'

"Preston?" Ryder called him again.

"Yes." Preston came out his thoughts and saw his two friends staring at him in surprise.

"Are you okay?" Valarie looked at him in concern.

"I am fine. Why do you ask?"

"You spaced out the entire time Chief was here. So, we were worried."

"Where did Chief go?" Preston saw the place where Frederick had been standing before he fell into a reverie, only to find it empty.

"He left a few minutes ago. What happened to you?" Ryder asked him. "Are you sick?"

"No. I am fine. I was just thinking about something. Anyway, what did he say?"

"Nothing. He just wanted us to sort the files in the record room. It seems it is messed up and he wants us to arrange them in chronological order." Valarie said in defeat.

"Why does he want us to do the task? There are other people who are free." Preston wailed.

"Apparently, he feels that we three are the most idle here with no cases on hand."

"Dammit. That old goose is getting on my nerves."

"Mine too." Ryder agreed at once. 

"When does he want us to start the work?" Preston held his cup and took a sip.

"As soon as possible. It seems the other departments are complaining that they are finding it difficult to locate the reference files in the mess. So, Chief asked us to finish the job at the earliest."

"What the heck man."

"Yeah, Finish your coffee and let's leave. Otherwise, that man will come running behind us, though I doubt if he can chase us with that huge belly of his." Ryder mocked and Valarie chuckled.

Preston closed his eyes for two seconds and sat thinking, 'I should have continued planning that old man's death. Why did I even spare him?'