CH 3: Dead End
1114 Words
CHAPTER 3
Samantha's expression remained blank as she eyed the flat surface in front of her, like it didn't bother her that there was a barrier between them. "Jeff Veda," she said like a teacher calling for her student's attention. "Do you really think Hector won't find them? That I can't reach them?" She emphasized.
There was now a scraping sound from inside.
Jeff slowly slid down against the door until he was sitting on the floor behind it. He covered his face with one shaking hand. There was no point running anymore. Not when Hector Aguerrie had already sent his best person.
"Please…" His voice cracked. "Give me until tomorrow. Let me… let me call my family one last time." He swallowed hard. "Then I'll give you the evidence I have. Everything. Just let me be for one night."
Samantha blinked slowly. Her head tilted down. As if she could see Jeff through the door, on the floor, on the other side.
A few seconds of silence passed. She breathed slowly.
"Then goodnight."
She turned around and walked away from the house without another word. The two men followed silently behind her.
The van was parked farther down the street, hidden beneath the shadow of an old building. Her other men immediately straightened when they saw her approaching.
"Relax the security around the house," Samantha ordered before opening the van door. "If there's movement, wake me."
"Yes, Miss."
She climbed inside the back of the van and sat down first before pulling out her phone.
"Find Jeff Veda's family," she instructed the person on the other line. "Fast."
After the call ended, Samantha leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. It was a few hours' drive from Chudford that made her body stiff and tense. And her mind was working overtime.
Samantha clearly understood what Jeff was doing. He was buying time. Not for himself, but for the family he knew that he couldn't be with again. Not after what he'd done. She wondered if it was worth it, but that wasn't hers to worry.
-----
A few hours later, someone knocked lightly on the van.
"Miss."
Samantha slowly opened her eyes. Her body still felt heavy from the short sleep. One of her men stood outside the slightly opened door.
"Jeff went out."
She rubbed her forehead once and glanced at her wristwatch. Five in the morning. The sun still hadn't fully risen outside.
"Follow him secretly," she muttered groggily.
The man nodded immediately and stepped away, closing the door.
Samantha sat up slowly and opened her phone to check for updates. Nothing useful yet. She leaned her head back against the seat and waited.
Almost an hour passed before her phone finally rang.
"He went to the port," one of the men reported from the other line. "He's about to leave for San Cielo."
Samantha blinked at the screen for a second before releasing a quiet sigh.
If that is where he chose to die, then fine.
"Have one of you follow him there," she instructed calmly.
"Yes, Miss."
The call ended.
Samantha immediately dialed another number.
It was answered after a few rings. "Miss?" George's voice was already up and alert.
"Meet me in San Cielo tomorrow. Pack some clothes for me. Bring Dran with you."
George went silent for a second before replying, "Understood, Miss."
Jeff had taken a ferry. He would arrive there the next day.
Samantha lowered her phone and stared quietly outside the van window for a while. Then she called another group of people and started making preparations ahead.
After everything was arranged, she finally stepped out of the van.
Since she was already in El Fuego, she decided to visit somewhere first after having breakfast.
-----
Around noon, Samantha was inside a room. The whole space was dimly lit, as she only used the overhead lamp hanging on top of the corkboard against the wall.
She was facing it right before her.
Pictures. Notes. Pins. Red yarn crossing from one point to another like veins stretched across the wall.
Samantha stood there silently.
Her eyes slowly moved through every picture and every connection she had made over the years. Then her gaze settled on the last line of red yarn.
A dead end.
It had been a dead end for almost a year now.
Her jaw tightened faintly as she lifted a hand and touched one of the photos, grazing a finger on the face.
Did I go wrong or something?
She swallowed hard, finding it harder to breathe. Then she shifted her eyes to the others. "Or what did I miss?"
There was no response. Of course there won't be. Because they were only in photos now.
After a while, she retreated and when the back of her leg hit something, she dropped herself onto the couch as if every exhaustion inside her body had finally caught up all at once.
She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, fingers pressing hard against her temples while her head stayed bowed down.
She was racking her brain again. Harder than she could.
For another lead. Another connection. Anything. How to keep the investigation moving. How to start again.
But her mind only throbbed heavier from lack of sleep and frustration.
She slowly pulled herself back against the couch.
At some point, sleep quietly took over.
-----
Samantha was awakened by the alarm on her phone.
Her eyes opened slowly before she immediately turned it off. For a few seconds, she just sat there on the couch, staring blankly ahead while trying to shake off the heaviness in her body.
Then she stood up and draped the couch with a white cloth and the board. She restrained herself not to look. The next time she would, it would be to pick up the thread again.
She left the room, got on her motorcycle, and headed straight for the airport.
Along the main road, where she was entering the city from the suburbs, Samantha overtook another car and drove through a shallow pool of dirty rainwater near the roadside.
Water splashed violently.
A woman's angry voice suddenly echoed behind her.
"Hey!"
Samantha slowed down with a faint sigh and stopped a little farther ahead at the side of the road.
She reached inside her pocket while the woman angrily stomped her way toward the motorcycle.
"Didn't you even see us? Or even that water?" She exclaimed.
"Eliana…" The man came up to the angry girl in a soft tone. "Slow down. She couldn't have meant it."
Samantha didn't bother turning around. But those words made her eyes shift to the side mirror.
- Writer
