บท 153: You Should have told me

25 January, LY Studio, City K

Sitting quietly in her office deep in thought, Lexi did not hear her staff knocking on her office door.

She only became aware of it when her door was opened and a staff member said loudly "Miss Lexi, a John Nang is here to see you."

John did not even allow Lexi the opportunity to respond before speaking from right behind the staff member, "Lexi…"

Lexi looked up, and observed John moving around the staff member and shutting the door behind him. John then continued "Lexi you wanted to talk?"

"You, you, you …"

"Stop stuttering Lexi."

Spotting the pieces of screwed up paper on her desk, Lexi picked them up and threw them at John, saying "You let him manipulate me."

John knew exactly where this conversation was going to go. He took a deep breath and said "Lexi, I knew nothing about what you and Matthew had done previously. How can I have let him manipulate you if I knew nothing."

"You could have lied and got me out of the situation."

"Lexi," John responded in an exasperated tone.

"Do not Lexi me, John Nang. You should be protecting me. I am one of your best friend's little sister, who by the way you swore when you were, if I recall right, fifteen to protect against anyone who hurt her in any way. Plus, I am the mother of your favourite godson. That should mean that you do everything to protect me, even if it means you have to lie."

"Lexi, do you hear yourself. You just asked me, a senior police officer, to lie to the military who I have to deal with at times about the whole situation."

"So! As I said, you promised when you were fifteen to protect me. Plus, remember that I am one of your friend's little sister so protecting me should be the most important thing, rather than protecting a friendship that snapped when you were eighteen due to your attitude."

Shaking his head, John moved and sat down in a chair across the desk from Lexi. Looking directly at Lexi, he said "You need to be serious Lexi. Wishes and wants will not help you presently, as you have a reality to face. And being realistic even if I wanted to risk my job to lie, lying will not change a thing."

"But you should have told me about Matthew returning."

"No Lexi, that is something I could not do. Yes, my job let me know information, but that information was something I could not reveal to anyone. I only found out he was back by chance, otherwise I would not have known until after he officially started his job, which would have been after the gathering. If you want to have a go at anyone for not telling you about Matthew's return you need to have a go a Phillip."

"Phillip would not hurt me; he would have told me," came a quiet reply from Lexi

"Lexi I am going to be truthful with you. Phillip knew Matthew's return before I did. Unlike me, he could have said something to anyone about his return as he did not have the same restrictions I did. He chose not to…"

"But he would not do that."

"Lexi, that morning in uniform and being driven to and from there in a military vehicle he visited Phillip at JL International, and apparently used identification to show he was Phillip's brother to the security personal at JL International to get easy access to Phillip. He told no one, or if he told anyone I suspect he only said something to Chester. Lexi, you need to stop worrying about the past. You cannot change what happened, you need to deal with the realities of your past decisions. All I can do is be here to support you."

Lexi was stunned that Phillip knew Matthew was back and failed to say anything. He knew that she did not want to see him and failed to say anything. "You are kidding me?" she asked.

"No, Phillip admitted to me when you were kidnapped that he knew that Matthew had returned. But Mathew's adjunct told me of his movements throughout the day, including his going to JL International so I knew that there was not a lie. As Phillip explained to me, given the party was designed to be a quiet celebration with family and friends for his and Chester's engagement, he wanted not only his brother there but more importantly you, there. He knew Matthew would not have an issue with you being present but was worried that if he said anything you would have refused to attend. He commented after explaining his reasons that it would not have been a celebration if you were not there."

"Mmmm…"

"Lexi, my view is that you cannot have a go at Phillip. Leaving aside his cancer coming back, he was right to want you there. None of us could have predicted what happened. Due to my connections to Matthew and you, the military have allowed me to have access to their intelligence to see what conclusions I could draw."

"What?"

"They asked me to have a look, like an outside expert." John knew this now was where he had to lie to Lexi, but also get through to her the truth of the situation. "I am not an expert in the area, but the conclusions are solid. You were the target, not Matthew. The decision on his deployment was not made until just before Christmas, and no one knew about it outside an exceedingly small group until he arrived. You were known to be here, and people could easily track you.

"I have seen a few medical reports that show that some of the women rescued were so badly abused that they will remain in hospital for months for treatment. You were lucky as Matthew recognised that there was danger and acted to protect you to the best of his ability. Yes, you may not like the outcome, but think of the alternative."

Lexi, hearing what John had to say, sat there stunned. Was he right? Was she the target, not Matthew? Why? Did, Matthew protect her? What would have been the outcome for her had he not done that? Would she have been rescued as quick as she was?

"John, are you sure?"

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