ARCANUS: WHO IS WHO?

MARGO'S POV I was standing at the front of the large window in Mateo's office, rubbing my big belly, waiting for news about his whereabouts. He had gone out since the early hours and was not yet back. It was already 11:35 pm. As I stood there, my heart raced, I felt something was wrong but prayed deep down that I was wrong. Gerrit walked into the office. *Clearing his throat* He said: "Ma'am I am so sorry, my squad, they didn't make it on time..... the boss..... he's gone." As soon as the words came out, my heart stopped for a brief moment. "What?" I said as I lost balance on my footing Gerrit rushing to hold me steady. "How? What happened?" "There was an accident. The boss car got crushed by a truck. The body... was completely damaged, and he didn't survive." Gerrit added more details. "His body is at the crematorium." "Let's go." I said. shakily. When we got there, Mateo's body was already set to be cremated, but the agency was waiting for his family before they could proceed, his body was completely damaged. His face was unrecognisable. I told myself this wasn't my Mateo, I looked at his hand, and the special ring he never took off was gone. Where was it? I said a thought crept into my mind, could it be the body wasn't Mateo's? Suddenly, the director of the crematorium came in and said "Ma'am this belongs to the victim." He handed me the missing ring, which was now in a tiny ziplock, shattering ever possible hope of him being alive in my mind. "Thank you." I said as I reached out my hand to take the ring. *Sniffles* "You can start the procedure now." I said. "Gerrit, I need you to send out word that Mateo is no longer, and organise a small funeral for me." I requested. "Okay, Ma'am." "And one more thing, I need you to get me a ticket." "Yes, ma." THE FUNERAL The funeral procession had started, and I was there all helpless. I didn't want to let go, but I had to. It was a small funeral, just some friends and distant family members, Mateo was an only child, and his parents had died early on. My parents... they were no more aswell. I was there all by myself, fighting back tears as much as I could. The only person I fully relied on was gone, I touched my belly bump and told myself: "At least I have this little darlings." I was six months gone and heavily pregnant with twins. This was our second time. having kids, we were so happy the first time we found out we were having another baby. Our first daughter was kidn*pped two weeks after birth, and I was devasted. We searched for her for two good years, and we had nothing. Until yesterday when, he mysteriously had a text message that said: 'Come alone to the old down town road close to Lily lux, if you want to know where she is.' Then he sent a picture of her handkerchief. I wanted to go with him, but he refused, insisting I stayed back to rest. I agreed to it. Since the GPS on his car was connected to my phone, I could track him. It had been more than 15 hours since he left, and his location showed he was downtown. 2 hours later, his location changed, I felt something was off. I quickly took a coat and was about to go find him. As I turned the door knob of my bedroom, I remembered what he had said before leaving, so I hesitated. He suspected that it might have been a trap, which was why he insisted I stayed back. He said if he spends more than the time he calculated, I should send people to look for him, I should not come in person because I might be the next target. And that if report comes back negative I should leave the country. I was going to follow his instructions to the latter. After the funeral, May the head maid said to me: "Madam, your luggage is ready, and I found this under the old cabinet." "What's that?" "The Master told me to look there before leaving yesterday and said I should hand whatever I found there to you." She replied. "Thank you." I said. I was already on flight when I took out the letter May gave me. It was a brief letter that said: "When you get there, go to the board and show them the ring, and wear it."