Hiding Secrets

Chapter 18

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hindi niya tinugon si Azariah.

“Ho! Nilalanggam na po ako rito mga sismars!” It’s Vaughn again.

“I’m not a criminal, but I think I’ll be one today.” Walang halong pagbabanta ngunit ma-awtoridad na aniya ni Azariah sa kaibigan.

Agad napabalikwas ng bangon si Vaughn at pinuntahan ang kaibigan nitong mukhang walang pakialam sa mundo at nakaheadset lang habang nakapikit ang mga mata.

“Elveister mah friend! Mukhang masarap ang bunga ng mangga ngayon, ayaw mong sumama? Gusto ko kasing magpakagat sa mga langgam ngayon ‘e.”

Walang kibo lang si Elveister kay Vaughn at hindi pa ‘rin ito pinapansin. Lumapit pa ito sa isang kaibigan at ito naman ang inaya.

“Rodleigh mah friend! maganda ang sikat ng araw ngayon, perfect for strolling. Gusto mong sumama? Magpagulong-gulong na pala ang gusto ‘kong gawin kasama ang mga kalabaw.”

“Okay, that’s fifty thousand per step, ten thousand per talk, and every sweat that will drip on my hot body will be one hundred thousand. Deal?” Tatayo na sana ito nang pigilan ito ni Vaughn.

“Wag na! Ako nalang, mangungutong kapa sa’kin. Ang yaman-yaman mo, pero pagsama lang may kasama pang bayad, mas grabe ka ‘pa sa bangko. Huwag kana sanang balikan ng ex mo.” Sumimangot itong lumabas ng villa at pumitas ng mangga sa kalapit na puno.

“Crazy asshole.” Cheyenne murmured.

Senyora Murquia measured them one by one. Habang siya ay naaliw na pinanood ang mga magka-kaibigan.

Si Vaughn ay nasa labas pa rin habang pumipitas ng bunga at kada kuha nito ay lumalaki ang ngisi. Napalingon pa ito sa kaniya at gusto siyang ayain pero umiling siya.

Si Rhyle naman ay seryosong nagtitipa sa cellphone nito. Natigil lang ang pagmamasid niya nang biglang tumunog ang cellphone ni Azariah.

“I’ll just answer this.” Pagpapa-alam sa kaniya ni Azariah nang nag-ring ang cellphone nito. Seryosong-seryoso ang mukha nito habang nakikipag-usap at minsan pa’y napapakunot ang noo.

Sinulyapan siya nito at ibinalik ang atensyon sa katawag. She saw his jaw clenched and frowned his eyebrows. Mukhang hindi nito nagustuhan ang sinabi ng nasa kabilang linya.

His lips formed into a thin line when he came back.

“Mr. Klein wants to meet you personally with your parents. You need to be ready, Sapphire.” Nakita niyang may tinawagan ulit ito habang siya nama’y hindi ma-rehistro ang sinabi nito.

Naalarma siya bigla at nagdadalawang isip kung tatawagan ba si Maite o hindi. Think, Sapphire. She can’t just be dependent to Maite from time to time. And she didn’t enter the organization just to step back. She entered there for a reason.

If she will have to meet the person that Maite arrange her too, then this is possibly her chance to know more about this person. On what kind of person he works for and to hopefully traced the incidents that took place years ago.

Ito na ang pagkakataon niya para-

“This will happen tomorrow.”

“What are your plans now, Azariah?” Elveister asked.

“Prepare. ‘Plan Serve’ is on the move.”

“Plan Serve? Anong ibig n’yong sabihin?” takang tanong niya sa mga ito.

“In our organization, we coordinate our plans with different key words. Each plan that we will be executing have different motives. It doesn’t just coordinate with just a plan, but also with different flows that interconnect the base up to the core, Ms. Montecillo.” Vaughn explained.

Despite of the trainings she did to enter as an agent, there are things that were new to her. Their team has different methods of coming up with a plan. At yun ay ang pagkilala kung sino ang mga anino at alas sa grupo.

“Each team are like Earth’s layer. To know the target from the crust, brainstorming from the mantle, the person’s skills from the outer core and the execution from the inner core.” Rhyle added.

Napatango-tango siya sa sinabi ng mga ito. It slowly sinks in her mind the way that they formulate each move from the very start. Hindi padalos-dalos. Walang palya.

She is different from how they think about it first. Sila ang tipong magpla-plano muna bago aatake while she’s the opposite. She’s the type of person who attacked first then plan.

“What’s ‘Plan Serve’?”

“Waiters. Just like the waiters, we will serve them. If the waiters will serve food or will assists the customer, what do you think we will be serving to Mr. Klein?” Azariah explained then looked at them all.

“To serve them with a finger or one finger on foot? O baka naman yung mata nila?” kibit-balikat na sagot ni Rhyle.

Napasinghap siya sa sinabi nito at sabay-sabay na napalingon ang lahat rito. Awkward lang itong ngumiti at nagpeace sign.

“Wrong.” Azariah gestured and eyed them to looked for another answer.

“To serve them with revenge plus a mind blowing plot twist?” Vaughn answered and all of them looked at him. “What? Nagsearch lang ako sa Mailter. Malay ko ‘bang mali?” depensa agad nito sa sarili.

“Wrong.”

“Pff of course to serve their favors. People love to accept something for their own gain.” Cheyenne huffed a breath and answered.

“Exactly,” tinuro nito si Cheyenne. “We will be serving him and gives his requests. And we will start with that through Sapphire. Since Sapphire has something to do with him, siya ang haharap sa kan’ya. We can’t just barge in and beat him, instead, we will do the opposite. If Sapphire will serve him, then what will your roles would be?”

“To be one of the customers…” sagot niya rito. She saw Azariah smirked and nodded.

“Exactly, you will be one of the customers. I will be one of the waiter, one has to be the chef and the rest will be the customers. The venue will be on my brother’s restaurant. And Sapphire,” lumingon siya rito.

“You will do the job to tell him about it.” She nodded.

“Now, for the goal. Elveister?” pukaw ng pansin ni Azariah sa kaibigan na tahimik lang sa gilid.

“To capture him and bribe something that is important to him.”

“At anong importante sa kanya? Cheyenne?”

“Napaka-importanteng impormasyon in exchange for power, position and connections. Just what Montano bribed on him to do such illegal things. But of course, it will not be permanent. It will just be a fleeting moment for Mr. Klein to taste the flavor of pleasure. Napaka-swerte naman siguro niya na makamtan ang mga bagay na parang humihingi lang siya ng asin sa kanto.”

“Right! information in-exchange for a temporary pleasure. At kung makuha na natin yung impormasyon-- boom! the charts will plummet like a volcano erupting filled with acid rain.” pagsasang-ayon ni Vaughn sa sinabi ng kaibigan.

“What if Mr. Klein won’t accept the offer? Paano kung sasabihin niya kaagad kay Mr. Montano ang mga sinabi na’tin sa kaniya?” She doubted.

“That won’t happen, honey. He is in the business world so let’s give him the game that he wants to play. A winner… or loser. It’s the players choice if they will choose to play fair, use strategies or to cheat. With his world currently in, those words that I had said will apply,” umupo ito sa pang-isahang sofa bago nagpatuloy.

“First, we will play fair. Second, it’s between the both parties on what tactic they will execute. This is the time when we can predict if we are close to winning or losing. And third… hindi lang ang panghuli ang gagawin natin. Rhyle?”

“When a player is too close to the finish line, mixed emotions will occur. Adrenaline rush will take place and their only aim is to hit that certain point to have a result. Sa sobrang pagtuon nila ng atensyon rito, sa akin na nila itutuon ‘yun kasi gwapo ako, kidding aside!”

Rhyle and his joker side.

“As I’ve said, because of their divided attention with the players and the game, they will only focus on what would benefit them. That they would actually do is to only target the end. Pero tayo, babalik tayo sa simula para pagdugtungin lahat hanggang sa huli. To form a path which will be our court to see if what could possibly be wrong or right. In this time, we will play fair, used our strategy and the last one, is to cheat. That my friend, will be the key to success.”

Napaawang ang bibig niya habang pinapakinggan ang mga ito. They looks like being in a different dimension but have the same thinking and intellect.

Kung gagawin itong movie ang pinagsasabi nila ngayon ay siya talaga ang unang papalapakpak kahit hindi pa tapos ang pinapanood.

Mga may saltik sa utak ang mga ito kung nasa normal lang na pagkakataon, but in the serious times. Sobra pa sa sobra ang paghanga niya sa klase ng pag-iisip ng mga ito at hindi biro ang mga pagbubusisi na ginagawa nila.

Every research and experience is equivalent to a team’s success.

“At sa pag-aalala mo kung sasabihin niya kay Montano ang mga bagay na iyan, we will knew immediately. As the conversation goes on your table, we will insert a tracking device to his car and to his personal belongings. Pero alam mo ba ang mas nakaka-excite ‘run?” nagpakawala ng ngisi si Cheyenne na parang excited na sa kung ano man ang mangyayari.

“What about it?” kyuryuso niyang tanong rito.

“We will be implanting him with a liquid base micro-chip device in his body. Don’t forget the credit to my friend, Asclepius and the coder one. They are hella an amazing inventor and some sort of a scientist.”

She couldn’t say anything more but amusement.

“Alam mo ba na meron siyang binigay sa akin na isang techs na hindi na niya ginagamit? Dudeee, it’s so cool! Hindi na mapapagod si Manang Jeny kakalinis ng bahay dahil ‘yung robot na ‘yun ang gumagawa ng lahat. It can do multi-tasking.” pagkwe-kwento pa ni Rhyle at may mga hand gestures pa na tila dine-describe nito ang robot.

“Asclepius already got the signal. Is everyone ready for it?”

“Always, Mr. Vitaliano.”

“Good. We will ready to fire then. Fuego.”