The Truth Berries

LIV

   Ever since that damn thing was opened and they found that its content was missing, Jess felt like his life instantly turned into a constant futile chase. And he also kept on hearing a voice inside his head telling him how he was losing his expert touch on the only game he had ever known in his life.

       Recalling all the turn of events that happened the night before, Jess could not help himself from shaking his head and cursing at his misfortune. He had successfully entered the woman’s house without any difficulties. Then, as he was making his way inside, the woman herself showed up out of nowhere. He was stunned, not only because their first meeting sent them both to the floor but because his mission seemed to unfold before him with relative ease. The woman only sat staring at him for a long time. All he had to do was grab her and take her someplace where he could question her about the thing that could free his family.

       But it was then that his good fortune turned into a nightmare. He discovered that they were not alone in that house. And of all the people that he could meet that same night, it was the man who originally received that missing chest. The same man whose wife he just killed. He wanted to meet him finally but he got more than what he wished for. The man put up a great fight and it left him coiled on the floor as he took the woman away from him. He tried to scare him away by firing a gun but the man and the woman sped away in his waiting car.

       And then another chase began for him. But this time, he opted to follow the local police chasing after them instead. The team was led by his subject’s former partner in the force and the man was star-struck when he showed him one of his many fake IDs that he had. He guessed that the man never saw a legitimate Federal agent ID before, for he took it as real and he even took his card when he told him the agency might call for some additional local help.

        Their hot pursuit for the two runaways brought them to a mountainous place where they found the getaway car. But it was another temporary dead-end for them. Sergeant Miguel Romero proved himself as one of the cunning detectives of their force. In fact, he could be the only man who had a clever mind out of all of them. He burned the car they used and made sure that no one could trace them easily by getting rid of its plates. No more car to hunt and no way to trace them. Now, they had to start from scratch again.

       Luckily, a guy from Gonzalo’s team got a tip and discovered that they have stolen a new ride for themselves. So he followed them once more to a desolate motel in the middle of nowhere where he and she were thought to be hiding last night. He was all set to ‘clean’ the whole place off of the witnesses once he had those two in captivity. Jess had his gun loaded with another full round just for the occasion but the two got away from their grasp once more. By that time, he swore he could have killed all of them out of their mere incompetence and complete stupidity. Jess then realized that there was nothing that he could expect from a bunch of clowns wearing some official uniform in pretention.

        So now, he was back working on his own again. Jess heard about another stolen car from the motel. This time, he did not wait for the police to lead the way for him. He got to his car and darted ahead of them, hoping his new and better ride could somehow reach and intercept his two targets. After fifteen minutes of driving more than eighty kilometers per hour, Jess saw the car that the motel manager mentioned before parked at the outer side of the road. He felt his blood pumping rapidly all through his body. So he jumped out of his seat and left his door open as he ran towards the car with his pistol raised. He yanked open the doors of the parked car but he saw what it was already abandoned. Jess felt his whole body crumbling as his last hope of seeing his own family got away from him again.

       Now, after twelve hours of driving further without any certain direction or place to go, Jess started to sense all his remaining hope of seeing her wife and son totally fading away. He was left with no trace to follow and no way of finding them, wherever they might be now. With no one to turn to, he felt himself getting lost in foreign lands. And the thought of losing his family for good wrecked the last remnants of his self, which later brought him to silent tears while he was driving aimlessly. Jess considered the only thing that he ever despised – giving up. He parked his nearly-gassed out car and started banging his head on the steering wheel as he tried to think of other ways. But fatigue and extreme lack of sleep clouded his mind and hindered it from functioning the way it always did. There’s no other way but to beg for them, his mind kept telling him.

       So he took out his phone and dialed his employer’s number. The line did not ring for long because it was picked up on the other end quite quickly. He heard Senator Baynes excited voice asking him to report.

       “I found the woman who she sent the chest to but she was taken by the man who initially received it. I’m afraid I lost them, Sir . . . for good.” he admitted defeated.

       Jess did not hear the expected cursing and threatening from him. Instead, Baynes threw a weird question back at him.

       “Where are you now, Jess?”

       “I don’t really know, Sir. I tried to find them again but . . . .”

       “Are you far from your hotel in Manila now?” he asked him rapidly.

       “I’m way out of there now, Sir. Hundreds of kilometers away, actually.”

       “Turn your car around and head back to Manila now. I need you to be back there as soon as possible.”

        “But my mission is – “

        “You’re mission waits for you in Manila! Not in some god-knows-where hell you are right now.”

       “But I’ll lose the chest again this time if I turn back now. And I’m afraid it would be lost forever.”

       “Oh, Jess, my boy. Nothing is ever lost forever. I just got a call from one of the Seekers. It was confirmed that they have hidden it somewhere in Manila. Now get your ass back there and find me that chest. With its content safely inside. Remember that, my boy.”

       “Yes Sir, I will. And my family, Sir?”

       Jess was talking to a dead line already.