Undercover Bride (ON HOLD)

CHAPTER FOUR

"Hudson, status report?" I asked him while I'm inside my car, driving myself to the Washington Dulles Airport. We're already on our way to Maldives to set a trap for Lee. I studied his profile and searched about him in different online sites but the results won't add up. It seems like he already manipulated what will be covered by the media because the profile that Damira handed us says otherwise. I crumpled my eyes once again and side-eyed my car clock and it's still early. I hate this kind of missions, seriously. 5:00am is not a good time to wake up.

"Seriously, Skylar? Can't you just be calm for a sec?" He asked sarcastically. "I am still sorting everything out."

"We don't want to waste even just few seconds of our life, Hudson," I answered. Sa ganitong linya ng buhay, importante ang oras. We're dealing with a professional and notorious devil here at hindi ko ugaling magsayang ng oras lalo pa kung alam kong hindi biro ang makakaharap namin. Lee's a congressman kaya paniguradong marami rin itong kasama sa mga tauhan niya or else, he's a piece of junk for going to Maldives alone.

"Time of plan execution, 7:00pm. It's a beach party so get ready to flaunt your skin. It's going to be a long, cold evening," he said. "Since we're leaving Washington Dulles at 6:00am, that would be 4:00pm in Maldives. Estimated time of flight, twenty-one hours and thirty-five minutes."

I groaned. "Damn. That's a long ass trip!"

"I know," Hudson agreed. "But we don't have any choice but to do this, Skylar."

"Since we're leaving at 6:00am, we'll arrive at the Maldives airport at 3:35am tomorrow. In that case, we can still rest and prepare ourselves since the party won't be taking place until 7:00 in the evening," he said. "You can go check the inside perimeter while I'll deal with the outside."

"Sounds good," I said then drifted to my right.

"Be careful, Skylar," Hudson warned but I just hissed.

"You're not a pro-racer or something, lady."

"Just mind your own business, Hudson. You won't like my attitude at this time of the day," I warned him. Fortunately, he clicked the off button of his in-ear just so I could not hear him.

I am taking glances at Lee's profile and I couldn't help but wonder kung bakit binitawan ni Priscilla ang misyon na 'to. In fact, this is just a piece of cake for her dahil mas magaling siyang gumamit ng baril kesa sa akin kaya wala akong makitang rason kung bakit. Kung mayroon man, siguro'y hindi na lang din dahil sa kakayahan na mayroon siya.

When we arrived at the Washington Dulles, it's the same scenario. They couldn't detect our weapons and it's much easier to go inside the airport since we're going to a country which does not require any visa at all.

Magkalayo kami ng inupuan ni Hudson dahil parte ng misyon namin na magkunwaring hindi kami magkakilala. We're just giving each other glances and with th enumber of years na nakatabaho namin ang isa't isa ay hindi na naging mahirap para sa amin na basahin iyon.

Natigil ang pagsesenyasan namin nang biglang tumunog ang burner phone na nakalagay sa bulsa ko. I glanced at Hudson as I silently gave him a signal, two taps on my pocket side, which means that I have to answer an important call. Mabilis na rin akong kumilos nang makuha niya ang isinenyas ko. When I already made sure na walang ibang tao sa banyong naroon ay sinagot ko na ang tawag ni Damira. I connected the burner phone to my smartwatch and in an instant, a hologram appeared right in front of me. Agad naman na nangunot ang noo ko nang makitang puro iyon litrato ng mga taong nakahandusay. Sa unang mga litrato ay wala pang gaanong karumal-dumal na pinapakita but the next set of photos were terrifying. Dead bodies na pare-parehong dilat ang mata habang may kung anong puting mabulang likido ang lumalabas sa mga bibig nila.

"What the hell is this, Damira?" I asked as gentle as I could and she requested an access to my in-ear, na agad ko namang inaccept. Kahit pa sanay na akong makakita ng mga ganitong litrato ay hindi ko inasahan ang pagbibigay nito sa akin sa ganitong sitwasyon. For pete's sake, hindi pa ako nakakapagbreakfast.

"Photos taken from one of the morgues in Maldives," she said. "It was on their archived files, hidden, but you know how we work in El Carter." I nodded. "The Hub gathered these photos, with a purpose of not terrifying you or whatsoever but to inform you that an aconite poisoning incident is currently taking place. Mind the foods that will be served to you and Hudson. Also, act like an eagle when you're watching Lee's moves. We can't risk him being one of the victims of whoever is doing these tremendous act of killing people."

"Whoever was behind this surely knew a lot about plants and their uses," I whispered. "Aconite's nearly undetectable via autopsies."

"You're right," Damira replied.

"Thanks, Damira," I said as I ended the call. Tinignan ko pang muli ang mga litratong pinadala niya. Kung may ganitong pangyayari na sa Maldives, bakit tila tahimik naman masyado ang bansang 'yon sa issue na 'to? I haven't seen, not even a single news, talk about these incidents at kung sino man ang gumagawa nito, I am sure as hell na may kapit din iyon sa mga nasa itaas. Dahil kung wala, I am sure this will blow up but it didn't. Media manipulation at its finest, huh?

I sent the same collection of photos to Hudson, including the brief article attached to it. Nang makita kong nabuksan niya na ang files ay binura ko na iyon sa data na nakalagay sa relo ko at saka bumalik sa pwesto ko nang parang wala lang. Nang mapatingin ako sa gawi ni Hudson ay tila masusuka na rin ito sa kaniyang nakikita. Napangisi naman ako. Kung hindi magiging masarap ang breakfast ko, gano'n ka rin. We're all in this together, tama ba?