Sunshine

VI

“WHY is she here?!” Marie pulled Carlos to the hallway. She wanted to scream at him but the walls are not thick enough for that. She resorted to gritting her teeth and almost tearing Carlos’ shirt from pulling. “Why did you bring her here? Are you serious? You finally went mad? Captain definitely told us to stay put!”

“I’m going crazy here too! Why do I have to suspect her? I—” Carlos pulled his own hair. His lips almost bled from biting it. As well as Marie Carlos is also frustrated over his own self and the situation he just made. “Everyone’s been saying she might be the culprit, right? Then let’s prove it right here right now that she’s not! We should stop this here! She’s already here, so let’s end this. Let’s—”

Juan pulled Carlos with him all the way to the restroom. Good thing there’s no one at the moment. “Seriously. Why did you guys broke up? Is that has something to do with how you’re acting right now? Did you do something to her? Why do you look so guilty?”

Juan’s grip on Carlos’ collar tightened, his jaw squared. Carlos met his glaring eyes though he doesn’t know where that flickering anger came from. Carlos also had this vague idea that his anger wasn’t actually directed to him. Though he isn’t sure why he is convinced.

“Stop that. This is not the right time for that.” Marie followed them and tried to pull them apart but that only happened when they saw Captain Rivera by the restroom door. Juan loosened his grip on Carlos’ collar, and that made Carlos free enough to approach Captain Rivera.

“Just tell her everything, Captain! That she’s a suspect for a serial murder case! Why are you being hesitant over this? Are you hiding something?”

“Carlos.” Marie scolded.

“What? I just told him everything you said.”

“Ignacio!” Rivera massaged his forehead, closing his eyes. “That’s it. You’re out of the team.”

Rivera took few deep breaths before he looked at Dela Vega standing quietly on his position from earlier. “Someone mobbed her, right? Just try to make a story about that.”

“I heard you were at the police station? What happened? You didn’t make any mistakes right?”

Olivia is taking off her heels but struggled with the strap. Alex stood from sitting on the sofa and helped her. Her left knee is pressed lightly on the tiled floor while her fingers worked on the stubborn lock. “I was mobbed earlier while closing the store. That’s what they called me in about. Apparently there’s a thief on the loose that targets stores owned by females. You shouldn’t close the store alone.”

The heels are already on the floor. Olivia went straight to the sofa and lied on it. Alex put the shoes nicely on the shoe rack after dusting it with her hands.

“Are you sure that’s all? It’s not about that?”

“Yes, I’m sure. We made sure that’s untraceable to us, after all.”

“Well. You’ve been doing your job well.” Olivia turned on the TV. It was late at night and the network must have assumed that the kids are asleep already. It aired an R-18 film. “Just wait. I have something for you to do anytime soon.”

Alex smiled and sat next to Olivia. She slowly crawled her hands to her girl’s breast while eyes are on the TV set. The scene’s are getting hotter too. “Can we do it tonight? I missed you.”

Olivia moaned while closing her eyes. Alex’s hands moved faster, massaging the meaty muscle tightening under her soft hands. “Let’s do it at the shower. I’m really hot.”

“ALEX was mobbed.” Olivia talked in a flat tone, sitting straight on the sofa. She’s neither crossing her legs nor slouching at the sofa like she always do. She did not came to play today. “You made me do the deliveries yesterday. Did you order that? I told you not to lay your hands on Alex.”

“What are you saying? My hearing’s gone pretty bad but I still know how to listen. You know what that means, right?”

“That you’re still listening to me well? But why is that not the case recently?”

A knock interrupted their conversation. It was then followed by a small voice from a woman muffled behind the door. “Excuse me, Mayor. These papers needs to be signed by today.”

Olivia took a side glance on the closed door, particularly on the doorknob. The Kahilom Mayor shouted. “I told you to not disturb us!”

His secretary left after apologizing.

“I see you are taking care of your lesbian lover well. You’re doing a great job. Since we will be needing her to save us later on. But you should know your priorities, right? You know who you should put first, right?”

Olivia took something from her handbag and put it on the old man’s table. It’s a key to their usual hotel room. An invitation they made for themselves.

“I know that well, of course.”

“I’M sorry. About earlier.” Juan Valencia sat next to Carlos. Watching Carlos from the back, Juan can’t help but feel sorry about shouting at him earlier. It’s not that he doesn’t know where his best friend is coming from. He knows Carlos is scared. He s feeling deja vu. The fear he lived before while seeing his father stand in the court accused of murder he did not do and dying on prison helplessly has been creeping on him again. Juan can only imagine that fear and pain.

“No, I was the one at fault. I even yelled at everyone. I must be going crazy.”

Carlos rested both his hands at the stairs they are sitting and stared up at the bluish sky. The sun’s not scorching today and the clouds don’t have hints of rain too. The weather’s perfect. “Everyone’s right. I can’t be part of this investigation.”

“Hey. What will we do without you?”

“What are you saying?” Carlos turned to him. “Lieutenant Aguinaldo has PhD in Psychology at Harvard. She almost went to FBI. Executive Master Sergeant Dela Vega is from NICA. You saw how good he is with computers, right? And Captain Rivera? He’s a SWAT agent. He lead many police raids! Drug syndicates are scared of him. You know how many he brought down.”

After praising his teammates, Carlos gave his best friend a smile. “Do your best to help them in any way. I bet you’ll be tired from now on. Since you have to do all the leg work.”

“Thanks for the compliments. But are you really quitting? What will you do then?”

“Marie.” they watch her sat next to them. Carlos replied. “I’ll request for a transfer or whatever. Or maybe I’ll go up to the mountains. You know our country is still in threats of terrorism.”

“What? It’s war zone there! You’re crazy.”

“You’re right.”

Marie frowned. “You won’t survive a war, moron. You can’t even stand up against your ex.”

“Then what should I do? I can’t keep my cool. Maybe I’ll just go up and die.”

“What a joke.” Marie exhaled loudly. “Fine! We will prove Alex’s innocence.”

Both gentlemen turned to her with eyes wide. It’s either they can’t believe what was said or if those words really came from Marie Aguinaldo’s mouth; actually it’s both. “You keep on insisting she’s innocent. There must be a reason why you do. And I trust you. After all you’re the one who connected the murder cases.”

Carlos remained confused. Marie smiled. “You are a policeman and we hold the same badge. I just thought I could trust that.”