Sunshine

XXI

“HOW did you know? Tell us honestly.”

“Do you have an informer we don’t know about? Or we are supposed to suspect you here?”

“Adrian. You’ve done impressive heights for the investigation and for the team. But you’re rather suspicious. You are aware, right? But this is because you haven’t told us whatever.”

“All right, all right. I know it’s my fault all right.”

Adrian sighed on everything his teammates said and on how they are circling him while he’s sitting on an old monoblock chair on this abandoned building they are all inside at the moment. The sight for real made his stomach churn up. “But why are you interrogating me instead of him?”

That made Marie, Adrian and Juan face the almost forgotten existence few feet apart from them sitting at the same chair as Adrian and in the situation not very different from Adrian, except for the handcuffs on its right hand and on the pole. “I’ll answer all questions, I promise! But let’s get this done first. And besides, I still have to protect someone even if I’m about to tell you guys everything.”

“So you actually have an informant. Well of course. How is this all possible then?”

Marie took the lead and went to the direction of the 5th person with them. She spoke to him. “So, Mr. Alejandro Salazar. What is your relationship with the people you met earlier?”

The one called Alejandro shook the handcuffs while eyes are nailed on Marie. “So you brought me here and is currently power tripping on me just to ask that? You had handcuffs you must be from the police. Just what the f**k are you doing?”

“He guessed we are from the police! Well of course we are not trying to hide that because you are eventually coming with us at the police station. But we just want to talk to you beforehand that’s why we are here first. We are very sorry for the trouble, if we must.”

The three gentleman behind Marie are now watching with obvious amusement and excitement in their eyes. They are obviously enjoying whatever they are seeing.

“Now if you let me ask you, who, and what is your relationship with the people you met earlier?”

“I am letting you ask me but I won’t be giving you an answer. That’s different.”

A crooked grin escaped from Marie’s lips. A laugh also escaped from it. “You are quite amusing to talk to. But can you still talk the same though by the time I say this?”

Marie held her hand behind her. A rustling of paper came right after and it landed on Marie’s open palm thanks to Adrian. “After this you will be locked behind bars for the rest of your life for murder. You can choose to be silent, but you are a young man. You don’t actually wish to spend the rest of your youth behind the prison bars, yes? Especially over the lives you didn’t took yourself?”

Marie observed with keen eyes. She smiled. Bingo!

“What are you saying?”

“Answer our questions. That’s what you only need to do.”

WITH all confidence the team believed what they did could extract something but the loyalty of Alejandro Salazar to whoever he is working for still won. Marie who taught saw a change of attitude from Salazar was taken aback when the latter all of a sudden went mute and eyes deprived of life. He was so determined to fight them but he all of a sudden surrendered his life to them and to the prison bars----the quick change left her pondering.

“Now what? You must have expected this.”

Adrian acknowledge Marie’s question with a nod. He sure expected Salazar’s probably shut mouth. But it is still a shame. “We’ll have to try harder, then. We need to pretend that we are actually charging him with murder. Action is needed when words don’t seem enough, right?”

From the abandoned building the Special Task Force Team is now at the police station and Salazar at the interrogation room. The team is currently at the meeting room discussing possible next movements and execution of plans if ever over a cup of instant coffee. The place is filled with different kinds of coffee aromas since each preferred different brands and flavors. And as usual, Carlos had his black.

The meeting went on with Adrian’s summarization, as he put it.

“So to summarize everything that happened today, while staking out Olivia Magbanua, Alex Vicente, and Mayor Costales we met Alejandro Salazar. According to a source…” The mention of the word source alerted his teammates more than the point of the things he just said. Adrian rolled his eyes. “…which I will be telling you about later, whoever the three aforementioned individual that will be meeting at the location will be our lead to the third person we are looking for which is possibly the culprit we are searching for. We are still on the process of finding out about that third person but one thing for sure is...”

Adrian took the felt tip pen from the table and wrote on the evidence board. He especially highlighted what he wrote with an underline below them. “Magbanua, Vicente, and Costales are involved---for sure this time, and they are the basin we only have to dig well to get to the water underneath to quench the thirst of injustices and lost lives.”

“That’s a whole new kind of metaphor.” Marie’s comment made Adrian sigh. He though ignored his own annoyance and let it pass.

“For the mean time let’s do this.”

Adrian added and gulped his coffee and went outside. The rest hurriedly finished theirs to follow him.

“Where are you go---”

Juan halted his own question when Adrian opened the door to the interrogation room and dragged Salazar out and threw him on the empty holding cell without words. Juan’s eyes are wide-open watching the entire scene, while Marie and Carlos tried to hide their own shock.

“I believe we already told you enough. Now call your lawyer. You are for real going to prison.”

Adrian left Salazar those words who just looked at him with blank eyes. They followed Adrian back to the meeting room and purposely slammed the door shut.

“Wow. You must be desperate.”

“Who else isn’t?” Juan raised his hands up in surrender, voicing the words “I’m just saying!”. Adrian didn’t payed attention to it and said, “This can’t go on since I might actually be putting someone here in danger. f**k I’m going crazy.”

Carlos finally let go his attempt to keep quiet for the rest of the night and asked. “Just who the f**k is your informant?”

“My girlfriend.” Adrian pulled his own hair, eyes in desperation. “The mayor’s secretary.”

THE clock ticked 5AM and the sun has also peeked its way from the east. Marie went out and faced the morning sun and stretched with coffee on her hand---she already lost count on how many cups she already had. Since the others are still sleeping, she took her time with the coffee and enjoyed herself bathing the warm rays. After that she walked back inside the police station. The scenery for sure made her face bright, as it succeeded putting a satisfied smile on her face.

“I see you don’t wear heels.”

But the brightness on Marie’s face quickly evaporated. She immediately looked at Salazar still on the holding cell, face stiff and alert. “Or you just can’t wear it since you’re on duty? I bet you have different pairs.”

“What? You…”

Marie was about to approach the holding cell when he noticed a motion from the meeting room. It was Carlos. “Come. Adrian has something to say.”

She swallowed and tried to relax her face then turned to Carlos. “All right. I’ll follow.”

Marie quickly composed herself and followed Carlos inside. She closed the door and sat on her usual chair. Adrian explained her relationship with Mathilda Gomez, the mayor’s secretary and the girl he confessed his informant/girlfriend.

“She’s a friend I found on my first visit here years ago. It was long ago but we still happened to recognized each other when we met again when I was assigned here. She’s a good woman. I liked her even more the second time we met.”

Carlos chuckled at his words. But unlike the usual, Adrian didn’t tried to argue with it. For some reasons his laugh did not made him piss today but rather embarrassed. He too thinks what he’s saying is amusing. He mentally scold himself.

“Look at you confessing your love instead. Yeah, fine. We won’t dig in anymore to that. Anyways Salazar said something, right? What was it, Marie?” Carlos said, transferring the hot seat to Marie.

“W-What?” Marie almost jumped out from her seat. That made the others look at her with crossed eyebrows.

“Are you okay? Why are you so surprised?”

Marie laughed it out. She hoped she didn’t sound awkward. “I must had too much coffee.”

Carlos nodded to it and went back to his initial question. “So, what did Salazar said?”

“I don’t know. He’s talking about heels and why I’m not wearing them.”

“Heels?” Juan repeated. Marie nodded.

“Yeah, heels. Women shoes.”

“A woman? She’s working for a woman?”

Juan’s drawn conclusion made a collective assumption for the team. Marie gulped at the next words.

“The third person. It’s a woman.”