XXVIII
1887 Words
Helen had a cup of hot coffee in her hands but she never felt the burn of it on her skin. She was numb at what she just learned. It seemed the dark hands of The Seekers stretched way beyond Washington and it touched her unfortunate friend Nadia. Helen was still looking blankly at something on the coffee table so she never noticed Nadia’s mother when she sat across her. They stayed like that for a long time – her cradling the steaming hot coffee and Nadia’s mother sipping her lukewarm tea little by little. When Helen regained herself, she put her coffee down on the table and asked Nadia’s mother.
“What did the police say, Tita?”
“They told me it was murder.”
“Did they catch the man already? Is he already in jail now?”
“No, not yet. According to them, he managed to escape.”
“But they knew him already, right?”
Nadia’s mother had a sullen look on her face as she stared at the few remaining tea inside her own cup.
“What’s wrong, Tita?”
“The police already know who her killer was. But Nadia knew him better than any police in the force. She had known the man for half of her life, so to say.”
“The murderer? Nadia knew her own murderer?”
She nodded bitterly.
“And?”
“His name is Miguel Romero.”
“Miguel? Her own Miguel?”
Nadia’s mother bit her lip. She was trying hard to hold back another round of incoming tears.
“We thought we knew him. I guess we are always wrong about one thing in our lives.”
She looked at Helen with such intensity and conviction after her last words. Only then did Helen realize the hatred and vengeance raging silently inside her. Her eyes spoke of the magnitude of her loss but it also screamed justice for her only girl. Helen was still having trouble in organizing her own thoughts.
“So it was her husband Miguel and not some unknown stranger”, Helen voiced out her thought.
“What was that, dear?”
She realized she was thinking out loud.
“Oh, it’s nothing, Tita.”
“Does it matter if somebody else did this to my baby?”, Nadia’s mother said pointedly.
“I’m sorry, Tita. It’s not what I meant to say.”
Helen’s thoughts started to tangle in all directions, ending up into a total mess. Was it possible that Nadia’s tragedy was just a random coincidence only? That it was not connected to the chest and the brotherhood chasing after her? If so was the case, then she must be safe after all. She did not want to sound cruel. Sure, she was devastated by Nadia’s demise, and all the tears she had shed for her were a true friend’s tears. But she also loved her own life. She always believed that she could be more than she was during that moment. She was still occupied with those thoughts when they both heard heavy knocks on the door. Helen’s look on her face was asking if Nadia’s mother was expecting anybody else today.
“These men always had their impeccable timing. And some of their good manners come along with it.”
She stood up and went to the windows. She parted the curtains a little and undeniable dismay showed up on her face after knowing who it was. Still, she fixed her expression before she opened the door. A man in soiled police uniform was standing at the doorstep when the door opened and he looked extremely haggard to her.
“Morning, Mrs. Perez”, he greeted simply.
“Good morning Sergeant Gonzalo.”
“How are you feeling, ma’am?”
“I’m good, but I certainly felt better.”
“I see you have a visitor right there. Can I come inside, ma’am? I just wanna ask her some questions regarding your daughter’s . . .”
He stopped when she saw her face.
“Regarding your daughter.”
“Why? Is she a suspect or something for you?”, she asked exasperatingly.
Alex scratched his head.
“No ma’am. They’re just basic inquiry about their relationship to each other. We might get something that may shed some light to the investigation.”
Mrs. Perez stepped aside and let Alex in. Helen just began drinking her own coffee when Alex offered his hand to her. Nadia’s mother just stood at a distance, listening to the ‘inquiry’.
“I am Sergeant Alex Gonzalo from the MPD and I’m in charge of Mrs. Nadia Romero’s . . .”
“Perez. Miss Nadia Perez. My daughter never married a murderer”, she cut him off.
Alex swallowed and he tried to speak as humbly as he could.
“I understand you are angry, ma’am. But I am just stating the fact. The victim was married to him and the papers tell it too. I am just doing my job ma’am.”
“Isn’t finding Miguel one of your jobs too? Where is he now?”
Alex sighed loudly. The man was already looking worn-out and such toxic conversation could really send a man to a hospital for two weeks.
“Yes it is, ma’am and I can assure you that we are doing more than our best to catch that criminal. Now, if I may proceed with my inquiry, Mrs. Perez?”
She pouted her lips but she said no more.
“As I was saying, I just want to ask some questions. Is that alright with you, Miss . . .?”
“Sandoval. Helen Sandoval.”
“How long have you known Mrs. Romero?”
Mrs. Perez winced when she heard it but she kept her silence.
“A long time ago. She was a childhood friend and we went to same schools during elementary and high school days. We just had our separate ways when I went to the U.S. for my college studies. But we often talk through e-mails.”
Alex wrote something on his small notebook.
“When was the last time she wrote you an e-mail?”
Helen bit her tongue. She was trying to weigh if the man before him needed to know about their last conversation. Then she remembered something from the back of her head.
Choose who you share that secret with.
“I think it was two weeks ago, Sergeant. Yeah, definitely two weeks ago.”
“And what was it all about?”
“Well, we talked about everything that was happening to her and to me. She said she was planning to go find a job and work again. She never mentioned it, but I knew that something was bothering her that time.”
“She didn’t mention anything to you?”
“No. Not a thing.”
“How did you know she was in some kind of trouble?”
“I just had a hunch.”
“You just had a ‘hunch’?”
“Yes. You get that once you knew someone for almost all your life. You get a feeling about anything that’s bothering them. And I can tell that very moment she was troubled.”
Alex kept on writing notes. There were several times when he asked a question without looking at her. Instead, he just kept on writing. Helen wondered if he was doing his own thesis.
“Did you know that her husband did this to her?”
“I just did. Her mother told me everything about it.”
“Did you know Mr. Miguel Romero?”
“I only met him once and that was during their civil wedding. I was Nadia’s bridesmaid. She introduced him to me, I said hello and that was it. I almost forgot! I heard he is also a police sergeant like you.”
“Yeah, he was. He was my partner for a long time. By any chance, did he ever try to contact you this past week?”
“Contact me? No, why would he?”
“To try to ask for help. He’s a wanted man right now and that makes his circle of movement a lot smaller.”
“I barely knew him, Sergeant.”
“Desperate times . . .”
“Desperate measures”, Helen finished it for him.
Nadia’s mother went to the kitchen and came back with fresh cups of coffee for the two of them and a cup of tea for herself. Alex thanked her as he took his coffee but Helen declined hers.
“How did you know it was him, Sergeant?”
“Who, Romero?”
“Yeah. Did you get his fingerprints on the murder weapon?”
“We got that but we got the best evidence an investigator could ever wish in every crime scene.”
“And what’s that?”
“The victim’s blood on his own hands. I saw it myself because I was the first responder when the emergency call arrived. I caught him still holding the knife in his own hand. As far as investigation suggests, they had some kind of argument and things got heated real bad between them. Also, Miguel told me days before that the victim moved out of their house without telling him where she went. But the suspect was a resourceful man. Within a day, he found her rented apartment which, I believed, is a property of yours. That is enough motives for the crime.”
She listened as much as she could, but she was already feeling sleepy. Since her rushed escape from her apartment in Seattle up to now, she has not slept a little.
“You look like you just arrived. Have you taken a rest already?”
“How can you say that, Sergeant?”
Alex chortled.
“Jet-lagged is written all over your face. Well, I guess that’s all. Thank you for your time and cooperation, Miss Sandoval. And thank you once again for the wonderful coffee, Ma’am. Be assured that the police are doing their very best just to give Miss Nadia Perez the justice she deserved. And please, let us know if the suspect at-large tries to contact and ask for your help. I bid the two of you goodbye.”
He shook her hands once again and walked toward the door. When he was halfway out of it, he turned back and asked something to Helen that shook her entire body and confirmed her earlier fears.
“By the way, Miss Sandoval, this is just a long shot in the dark, but did Nadia give you anything unusual before she was gone?”
Helen said a fearful no.
- Writer
