Before the Eclipse 4
1599 Words
"Yes. I found him!" Gaston yells in glee and enthusiasm. He got up from his seat, raised his fists over his head, and looked up to the ceiling.
The leaders looked at him with wonder and cringed. They brought their eyebrows together as they looked at him behind his desk. They suspect that he is bringing a piece of good news from his computer.
"I mean...they got him," Gaston said when he realized he overreacted in front of the co-leaders. He looks at them awkwardly and he sits down.
"Who's found?" Seth asked.
"Sir, the NBI Fringe Division has given us good news on the whereabouts of Gabriel Ramirez," he said.
"Did they find one of the terrorists on our list?" Japeth stands up and walks toward Gaston's desk. "I have forced the captives to give me some names, so I hope it worked." When he arrived, he immediately looks at the screen of Gaston's monitor.
Gordon, Seth, and Cielo got up from their seats and they walked away from their desks to approach Gaston's desk. When they got over there, they focused their eyes on the monitor. What they are looking at is an image sent via email from the sss account of the Fringe Division of the NBI - a secret division of the National Bureau of Investigations that was recently formed by the present-day president. It is a photograph taken from a camera installed in a hotel. It is a photograph of a hallway carpeted with red and a series of doors on both of its sides. In that hallway, there is the Mexican suspect, Gabriel Ramirez, walking along and coming toward the camera. There were men walking on his sides. They appeared to be his closest men.
"Well, well...There you are," Gaston muttered. He smirked at the picture.
"Yup. That is him," Japeth commented.
"Who are those two guys with him?" Cielo asked while trying to recognize them.
"You don't know?" Seth looked at him. He looks very surprised when he heard him asking. "Those guys are well-known politicians!" he, informs.
"Sorry. I have no idea," Cielo replied. "Maybe because my mind is still in Poland and not here."
"The guy on his left is Arturo Madrigal, the City Mayor of Manila, and that guy on the right is the City Mayor of Baguio himself, Jeff Marcelo," Gordon explained.
"Seriously?" Gaston looked at the Polish leader. "You have stayed here for four years and you witnessed the election. How come you don't know him? Mayor Marcelo is famous here in Baguio," he complains.
"The question is... 'why the heck is he with that son of a b***h?'" Seth rubbed his chin.
"The NBI has been suspicious of Jeff Marcello ever since he won the election. He is one of their list of suspects responsible for recruiting a lot of members for the NPA terrorists," Gaston explained. "And then, we found the name of Raymund Ching, who is mentioned by our terrorist captives, who happens to be Jeff's secretary in crime."
"Okay. How are we going to fight against a politician?" Gordon asked.
"By visiting his friend, of course - Raymund Ching," Seth answered. "Let's squeeze him out. Get every information he knows about the mayor. Make him talk about all the mayor's dirty secrets."
"Don't worry, he is not moving around. Sir Sagat sent me the address of his auto shop," Gaston said while typing on his keyboard. Then, the monitor reveals a window containing the poster and name of the business.
"'Ching Go Auto Shop'," Gordon read. "Wait. I know where that is. It is somewhere on the roadside by the edge of Tomay.
"Okay. Japeth and Cielo. If you may. You are in charge of interrogating him," Seth ordered.
Japeth nodded.
"Yes, Boss!" Cielo immediately replied.
"Gordon, give them the coordinates," he instructed Gordon.
"Got it!" Gordon replied, then he turned to return to his desk.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
Grace entered the classroom. It was still an hour away before another of their classes started. She found that her classmates that had arrived before her were sitting together in circles. She saw two boys holding and strumming the guitars. The rest were singing.
"Uy Grace!" the gay classmate called.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked.
"Come here," he said. "We are in need of a singer. Come join us. Let's jam."
"Yeah! It is our last day of school this year before our Christmas vacation, so let's not waste it," Joshua agrees.
And so, she got a chair and carried it toward the circle. They made space for her chair to occupy. After she finished setting it up, she sat down.
"What song are we gonna sing?" she asked.
"Weak! Weak!" one among the boys suggested.
"Again?" the classmate protested. "We just sang that."
"How about some Christmas song since Christmas is already near," one student suggested.
Everyone agreed.
Oh, holy night... John Dee, one of the guitarists, sang as he strummed his guitar.
"Not that one!" everyone insisted. "That's high."
"What then? " he began singing the first verse of "Sana Ngayong Pasko" by Ariel Rivera.
Pasko na naman ngunit wala ka pa...
They looked at each other. They nodded. They agreed that they could sing it.
"Okay. Continue strumming the guitars," one of them said.
And so, the guitarists began to play their guitars. They altogether sang the chorus.
Sana ngayong pasko,
Ay maalala mo pa rin ako
Hinahanap-hanap pag-ibig mo
At kahit wala ka na
Nangangarap at umaasa pa rin ako
Muling makita ka at makasama ka...
Sa araw ng Pasko
:::::::::::::::::::
"Ching Go Auto Shop" - an auto shop owned by Raymond Ching. The auto shop is located on the roadside of Upper Tomay, Benguet.
The rain is pouring hard. The thunder rumbles across the sky. A few people are around the premises of the establishment.
In the vacant space in front of the establishment, a Ferrari owned by Japeth was parked in the unoccupied space. The Ferrari is now situated in between an old van and a Tamaraw Fx. Cielo went out of the car first. Japeth stopped the engine, and then he went out. They met in front of the car. They looked in the direction of the building and they stared at it. Thankfully, the vacant parking lot is covered by galvanized iron for a roof.
"It looks closed," Cielo told Japeth.
Japeth crossed his arms. He looked around. "There are no customers around," he informed him. "Let's break in somehow."
"On it!" Cielo replied in excitement as he immediately approached the glass door.
Cielo went over to the door. Now, he brings out two pieces of bobby pins from his jacket pocket. He straightens up the pins. He kneeled down to level himself with the door lock. He inserted the two thin lines inside the hole. He fidgets them.
Japeth is standing a meter away from him. He is on the mirror wall. He faces the wall and looks through to see inside the establishment. There are no people inside. The lights are off. There are wheels displayed in the corner. Lubricants and fuels are stored on shelves next to the walls. There are also cabinets that are empty. Maybe it contains helmets, tools, car parts, or some paraphernalia for car fixing. The place is wide and looks grand.
Cielo successfully unlocked the door, he took the bobby pins out. He stands up. He pushed the door to open. Japeth turns in Cielo's direction when he hears the sound of the lock unlocked.
Cielo enters the establishment first, then Japeth follows him after. Cielo pulls out his gun from the holster. He stretches out his hand and points the gun forward. Japeth also took out his gun. Japeth heads to the right where the counter is located. Cielo heads in the opposite direction where he can see an area that seems to be the kitchen. They both slowly and silently walked.
Japeth arrived at the counter. On the desk, there is a computer, a calculator, a scanner, and a cash register. Everything displayed on the desk is normal - there are glass boxes containing screws and knots, somehow there is a box of condoms in the mix and a box with medicines in it.
"All clear!" Japeth said. Then, he turns to face the cash register. He opens it up. There is no cash inside. Instead, he is looking at sachets of white powdered substance. He pulls out one of the sachets from the cash register. He holds it close to his eyes to examine. He squints at it. "Okay," he said when he confirmed that it was a sachet of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu). "You are so under arrest." He is referring to Mr. Ching, the owner of the auto shop.
Cielo went inside the kitchen area. He is looking around. He looks to his left, then to his right, making sure that no one is really hiding underneath the table, under the sink, and in the other corners of the area.
"Cielo, duck!" Japeth suddenly shouts. His voice sounds like he is alarmed and in distress.
Just after Japeth shouts at him from the distance, gunshots are suddenly heard outside. Bullets rain down to the inside as they pass through the glass walls, breaking them in the process. Cielo immediately lies down on the floor facing down. He didn't expect that they were going to be ambushed like that. Japeth hid behind the desk just when he saw men coming into the establishment with guns in their hands.
"Oh damn it!" Cielo exclaimed in distress.
- Writer
