In the Dragon's Tail

Chapter 5 - Rua de Felicidade

There's only three months left until the end of the year, and so the breeze runs cold, especially in the morning - colder if you're in a place surrounded by the ocean on both ends. I decided to dress for the climate: a black turtleneck sweater topped with a chocolate leather jacket, blue cargo pants and olive mountain boots, then hailed a cab to the AIA Tower. I went up straight to Jules' office, where I found the three of them discussing some paperwork.

"Do you have some heat I can pack?" I asked

Arquiza and Jules looked at each. "Yes, Major," said Jules, "but why would you need to?"

"Who knows."

Jules pressed a small button underneath his armrest and three compartments opened from the right side of his desk. He took out the contents of each one and placed them all on his desk. "Choose what you need."

My choices are: a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380, a Taurus 856, and a Beretta APX A1 Carry. The Bodyguard was too small and weak so I focused more on the Taurus and Beretta. I thought the .38 Special to be more practical, but the 9mm has more stopping power, and grooved for attaching a silencer. I took the Beretta and checked it, then practiced a quick draw from the holster.

"Looks like you're very adept at using it, huh?" asked Jules.

"Somewhat. I'm just used to a semi-automatic, like my personal side-arm. A Baby Rock 3.10 1911 with a threaded barrel so I could mount a modular suppressor." I put the gun in my waistband and took out the silencer. "Thanks. I'll return it properly. You just can't be sure who you'll meet outside."

"No problem. I don't even go out without protection." He opened the left breast of his suit jacket and revealed a slim gun under his armpit. "Walther PPS, inside a spring-loaded military-grade holster. Haven't used it, thank God."

"And I hope you'll never have to," I said. "Sarge. Are you okay?"

"I've been ready since yesterday," said Arquiza. "Let's go to the garage."

Arquiza and I then took the elevator down to the basement parking lot. There, Arquiza took me to an unassuming corner where his car was parked.

"Nice. This brand new?"

"It is. Pajero Final Edition. Bought it here, and it's such a headache thinking of how to bring it home. I don't want to sell it."

Arquiza got into the driver's seat and I climbed into the passenger's seat behind him. We exited back to the center where we were yesterday, and headed straight into another busier district. The roads this time were narrower, two-way streets, but the sidewalks were still full of people walking. Arquiza only drove for a few minutes, a straight stretch, but there was still so much to entertain my eyes. He then turned left onto a narrow street, barely an alley wide, and signaled to me that we were now on Rua de Felicidade.

I looked out the window and wondered. If the part of the center that we passed by minutes ago was very noisy and crowded, this one's just as quiet and empty. It's like a long entrance leading to a temple. The entire street is lined in rows of clay tiles, and the houses all throughout are all white with red colored doors and windows. Both sides are decorated with colorful lanterns and at the top there are various signs written in Cantonese. I read a few of them and noticed that most of them are advertisements about fortune telling, various medicines, and a few that say they are spas that provide various massages. I'm not stupid enough not to know what it is.

"This is the red-light district, isn't it, Nel?"

"Yes. The government said it's being reformed and it's just antique shops, fortune tellers, eateries, but there are still a few brothels in here if you really look for them."

"I'll try to find some and let you know." He laughed. I took out my mobile and asked him. "Sarge? Have you paired?"

He looked at his own phone. From his screen I can see the map of our current location and a pulsating red dot showing where I am.

"That's it. Wait from afar so no one will suspect. Don't worry about the range because it's network enabled, anywhere as long as there's coverage, you'll know where I am. Our protocols are simple. Do you remember?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"When I text you an asterisk, extraction. Two asterisks, immediate extraction. Pound, status update. Have you memorized the others?"

"Yes. I wrote it on my palm just to be sure"

"Good. I'm going out."

"Take care, and good luck."

I got out of the Pajero and walked along Rua de Felicidade. As I walked, I noticed that this place was not completely closed at this time of the day, but was quietly occupied by a few people who were going about their own business. Some call me for tea and mooncakes, and some call me to offer beads. I also came across a bunch of other people walking, when a few moments later someone stood next to me to accompany me as I walked.

"Good morning, honey," she said to me with a smile. "Great day for a walk, yes?"

"Couldn't agree more."

She changed the tone of her voice as if she was seducing me, clinging to my left arm with her soft hands. "Then after walking we can spend time until afternoon? Low price only, you won't regret."

"Sounds enticing, but thanks anyway."

"Sure, baby? I can do it all. If you have another friend I can take care of you both at same time, small charge only."

"I'm pretty sure I'd rather not, though. Have a good day."

I continued walking until I reached the house that Arquiza said was Stephanie's residence. It was closed and empty, same as the two houses on both of its sides. I stood by the house in front of it and lit a cigarette, and as I finished a stick, my eyes wandered to check on anyone who may be also waiting in the house.

Now, the next thing I need to think about is how to get in. I peeked at the door key and poked it with my lock-pick, but it was useless because it was double locked from the back and I needed the master key itself. To the left of the house, I noticed a small opening in the corner that I thought was a motorcycle garage, but turned out to be a narrow alley. I counted how many houses were between it and Stephanie's house. Six. I threw the cigarette butt into the gutter and walked to the alley. The lot it led to was even more spacious than I thought, and beyond it I could see that led to the road where cars could pass. I turned right and counted six houses to find Stephanie's house, and when I found it, I found out that it also had a back door, also locked. I tried to look out the window but I couldn't see anything because of the thick curtains, but I looked up and saw that of the three windows on the second floor, the one on the far right was not completely closed down. A gap was deliberately left in this window to get in and out without anyone noticing. I looked around. Apart from a large garbage bin opposite behind me, I don't see any way to climb it. However I noticed that between the walls of the house next to it there was also a narrow space, big enough for one person, and it ran all the way up to the roof. I became desperate. I took off my shoes and socks, and tied them around my neck using the shoelaces. I entered this small opening and climbed the wall with my hands and feet pushing hard on both sides, alternately; left, right, left, right. Eventually I'm already too high up that if I let go I'll probably go home with nothing but a crippled leg and a shattered hip. Sweat dripped down my face, bringing wet heat into my nose and saltiness into my mouth. I looked to my left. Stephanie's window is about the same level as I am. Slowly, I hugged her wall with both my arms and looked for something to hold on to, and my left hand's fingers just landed on her window frame. I gripped on it tightly. In a quick movement, I removed my feet from both sides of the wall and tried to reach my left foot towards the window, which I did, while my right foot was clinging to the wall. I kicked the window up two or three times - when I realized that half of my body fit, I flung my whole body to enter the window, and at last I entered the house.

I rubbed my hands to my cargo pants because of the numbness in my fingers, and after putting on my shoes, I took the gun out of the holster and attached the silencer.

The second floor of Stephanie's residence turned out to be an attic. Several boxes were stacked against the wall, and in the corner of the room was a large closet which only contained casual clothes upon opening. Even the boxes were full of nothing but clothes. I decided to go down, but before anything else, I shut the window down, leaving only a small gap like how I had reached it earlier, and then went straight down the stairs.

The first thing I did when I went down was to look around. I was shocked because it was not what I thought it would look like. Everything is clean: the floor, the table, the sink, even the plates are stacked neatly inside a plastic dish drainer. I went to the living room and looked at the sofa; clean, dust free, throw pillows in order. I can't see anything that shows Stephanie being forcibly taken from this place. At the bottom of the stairs I saw that there was a small bookshelf on which some framed pictures were displayed: a picture of a happy woman on a dock, wrapped in thick clothes. In an old photo, there are three children sitting on a long wooden bench, and behind them is a woman in peasant clothes, dirty, but with a beautiful smile at the camera. Behind them was a vast rice field that was presumably where the woman worked with her three children.

In the second picture is a woman sitting in a garden. She looked pure, innocent, especially in her white blouse and long yellow skirt. Beside him, a slender man, fair and with long hair combed to the back, was holding her by the arm and caressing her hand. Stephanie and Hunter. I was even more intrigued by how deep their relationship was for them to disappear together.

I was digging inside for about ten or fifteen minutes when I heard a bang from above. Someone came in. I quickly hid under the stairs and waited for anyone to come down. After a while, two feet began to descend the stairs, slowly, carefully and silently, but I could clearly see each step from underneath. Finally I saw the full shape of a figure in a white hoodie, who began to walk slowly into the living room.

At the same time that the figure walked past, I came out of hiding and slowly followed. My Beretta remained pointed, and after a few moments I pressed the muzzle point blank to the back.

"A scream, a shout, a move I don't like, and I will punch a hole to your spine."

The figure froze, standing like a statue. It took a few seconds before it registered what's going on. Both hands were raised, and as I approached, I pulled down the hood and took off the face mask and sunglasses - to my shock and surprise, it was none other than Stephanie.

Her eyes were fixed on me, unblinking, and she hostilely whispered. "Who are you? Did Zhi send you to kill me?"

"Can't be any farther from the truth, love." I removed the magazine from my pistol, and made her sit on one of the chairs by the kitchen counter. "Me, looking for you? Preposterous. I don't even know you. I'm indeed looking for someone, but he sure seems to be, how can I say this? Elusive?" I took Bonilla's picture from the inside pocket of my jacket and showed it to her. "I gathered you know him, and since I'm here, why not push my luck then, hm?"

"Know him?" said Stephanie, and she let out a soft laugh as if to say I am mistaken. "I don't know him. I love him. So much so that I would set out on my own to find out where he is, whether he's breathing easily somewhere, or a rotting carcass feasted on by the fishes."

"Well, what do you know," I said as I opened her fridge, "that makes the two of us. God, we could use something to clear the tension. Do you happen to have refreshments?"

"Bottom shelf behind the box of cereals. Hope you like fruits."

"Ah, found it. Capri Sun Orange! You must be expecting me! Would you like one as well?"

I took two boxes and pierced both with plastic straws. I emptied one immediately before I could even reach the other to her. My gun's unloaded and tucked into my waistband - for now it was just the two of us in her kitchen. I watched her slowly sip the juice. Aside from her initial shock, I couldn't see any trace of fear on her face or her actions. Instead, she glanced at me with doubt, and a veiled threat of resistance in case I showed any ill intentions.

"Stephanie Saw, am I right?"

"Yes. Resident of this house which you've invaded. Who the hell are you?"

"Who I am does not matter a single bit. What matters is the reason why I am sent here. To look for this fellow." I showed her Hunter's picture. "Now, I know that this guy, Hunter Bonilla, has been in an intimate relationship with you, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Given that, I'm sure you are also aware of Hunter's other activities whenever he's here, yes?"

"Yes, but you sure wouldn't squeeze that out of me."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't trust you one bit, damn you. For all I know you could be Zhi's man, or if not Zhi, some other thug's."

"Stephanie, if I am, I would have pulled the trigger on you as soon as you went downstairs. If it helps, what I can tell you is that I'm an agent of the Philippine Government's Secret Service. I'm here because Hunter's disappearance can potentially cause damage to international relations between my country and yours, unless we don't find a conclusion to where Hunter is, whether he's dead, alive, or captured. You're his girlfriend. You're the one he spent most of his time with every time he's here. Anything you have regarding him would be highly appreciated."

She wasn't looking at me as I was explaining. Instead, she was staring blankly at the electrical outlet on her wall. But despite her gaze into nothingness, tears flowed from her sad, puffy eyes, and I knew she understood every word I said. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket, and then looked up at me to speak.

"Alright," she said. "Whatever you ask."

"Great. Now Steph - can I call you Steph?" She nodded. "Right. When's the last time you've been in touch with Hunter?"

"About a month ago. A rather cold visit too, if you'd ask me."

"How come?"

"By the time he went here, he had already been in-and-out of Macau for quite some time. Out of nowhere he came over and spent the night with me. No signs of affection. No words of assurance. Very much unlike him."

"So by that time you already had a hunch that something was off."

"Yes. The next morning I was expecting the two of us to go somewhere, like we usually do. We'd always go shopping, eating outside, even something as simple as taking a stroll. But that morning he went out in a hurry. Didn't even stay for a brew."

"Did he say why? Or where he was going?"

"He only told me that he'd be meeting a business partner, but I know he's lying. Do you have a cigarette?"

"Here. Chesterfields. Maybe too much for your taste."

"Oh I can handle that well, Mister Secret Agent Man." I handed her a pack of cigarettes and she took one with her lips. I also got one for myself, but first I lit her cigarette with my own lighter. She opened the kitchen exhaust to smoke, and while I lit my own stick she continued her story.

"I know that's a lie because I have some limited awareness of his business here. Minor stakes in gambling, couple of fishing boats in the port, some others which he seldom takes care of. But, everything changed after I introduced him to Zhi."