But Alina only looked very tired as she shrugged and replied, "I'm sure the viper cartel had closely tracked you and Alex here." She continued as Max nodded, "They must even now be tracking you, but not very closely. Because I don't think they know about . . . . " Alina's voice trailed off as she couldn't bring herself to say Alex's death.
She shook her head and continued, "They would've given some kind of reaction if they did. But they'll soon start to track you closely as the period of your leave comes to an end. And well, they're bound to find it a little weird if they come to know that Alex's sister who used to live in this house has just, well disappeared all of a sudden. And let's face it, we don't want them looking too closely into me either. They're bound to uncover something if they do. So, I thought it over, and the best course of action would be for us to leave here. That way, by the time we come under the radar of the viper cartel, it'll be Alex and Max, vacationing somewhere. From there we can quietly go back, and no one will have any reason to search for me. Because they won't even bother with if Alex and Max left an empty house while they were on leave."
Alina took a huge breath as she finished, waiting for Max's reaction. He raised his eyebrows in appreciation before beginning to clap. A small smile touched Alina's lips as she said, "So yeah. Let's go somewhere, preferably a secluded enough place that we can continue our training."
Max nodded and said, "I'll see if I can think of something. When do you want to leave?" Alina shrugged, "The sooner, the better. I can pack the essentials and leave by tonight if you want."
Max was a little taken aback at how fast Alina was willing to abandon her home. He had really thought she would be more attached to it. "Guess she's a lot like Victor Flame after all." Max thought as he said, "I'll make some calls. Let's decide then."
Alina nodded and got up from the table and had started to pick up the empty dishes when Max, after much internal deliberation, spoke out, "Hey Alina. Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." Alina nodded, not even looking up. "Is the viper cartel the only reason you're so eager to leave?" he asked, a little afraid of the answer himself.
Alina's hands paused for a split second before she resumed picking up the empty dishes and walked into the kitchen, taking them with her. Max sighed as he got up and began to gather his empty plates and bowl too, wondering if he had taken too long a shot.
But at that moment Alina's voice was heard from the doorway. "I see them everywhere." she said.
"What?" Max asked, turning around and wondering what was Alina talking about.
Alina fidgeted with her hands, it was the first time Max had seen her do so, as she spoke, "Mom and Alex. I see them everywhere I look. It had been like this after mom too, but I had already had time to accept it before she died. Her illness had been too prolonged."