13

Knowing the truth made me feel stiff all over. My mind suddenly went blank, and I couldn't think properly.

I closed my eyes to focus...

Yes. That night.

That night I was following Chance.

It was him.

No... Rather... a different version of him. A darker and emotionless version of him.

How can this guy... this guy who took me in... the same guy who almost killed me?!

Was it guilt? or was it for other ulterior motives?

But why is he helping me?

It doesn't add up!

I massaged my temples... I can feel a headache coming.

Why does this have to happen? As I opened my eyes... Andrew was already in front of the counter, looking at me worriedly.

"Za~ are you okay? I was calling you, but you didn't pick up." Andrew said.

"Right. Sorry, I was doing something..." I replied. He looked at me puzzled.

"Za~ what are you not telling me?" he asked. He can read me well.

"I... kinda went to a storage unit... with Jason," I replied.

"Who the hell is Jason? And why did you go to a storage unit? Zamira Yamada! Don't tell me you're up to no good!" Andrew almost raised his voice.

"Oh shush! I found a lead, and I followed it. Jason is Alexandra's brother. He helped me acquire the phone..." I replied.

"MARI! THE STORAGE UNIT CAUGHT FIRE! GOOD THING WE WENT EARLY!" Jason came straight to me. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Andrew.

"Are you Jason?" Andrew asked... his voice is serious, like that of an interrogation.

"Yeah. Don't worry about Mari... I won't let anything happen to her. If that's what you want to imply." Jason replied. My eyes widen in shock.

"Sure. I'm Andrew Hayes, Zamira's superior. She works as an analyst in International Intel Organization. Is there anything the both of you are not telling me?" Andrew asked while squaring his shoulders.

"Nothing. Just went there to check out a storage unit under Mari's name. And now it's on fire." Jason answered innocently.

"Interesting. Zamira... can you please explain why you went ahead without telling me?" he looked at me this time, and a flash of frustration and betrayal paints his face.

I felt guilty.

"Sorry, sir. We weren't sure if its a solid lead. He's my informant." I replied. They looked at me like I said something wrong.

"So... did you find anything?" Andrew asked.

"Biohazard chemicals sealed in drums...surgical materials as well," I replied. The footage... should I tell him the footage?

"Oh, by the way. I asked the storage facility manager, and he gave me this..." Jason spoke and handed me a piece of paper.

I looked at the paper... It's a transfer paper. Someone named Cain Langley owned the storage facility before changing it under my name... Who the hell is Cain?

Andrew looked at the paper... his brows furrowed and looked at Jason, then at me.

"Both of you... Station... NOW!" Andrew said. I immediately grabbed Jason and pulled him inside the car before Andrew handcuffs him.

[Chance. I'm called to the station. The staff is already at the café. See you next time. Sorry I have to leave.]

I sent a message to Chance... Somewhere in my mind... There's a part of me hoping that he's not the guy who just attempted to kill me and erase the evidence.

|

|

Jason and I were interrogated for almost an hour. Our stories aligned, and he was let go. I was asked to stay.

Kevin is now sitting across from me. His eyes were stern.

"Out for a run, huh? I thought you trust me?" he asked with a hint of pain in his voice.

"I know it's bad, but I wasn't sure what was in there. I thought it'd be better if I looked first before telling you." I replied.

"And what if it was dangerous?! What if something happened?! Jason is too young to be involved in this, and you went dragging his ass into a place that could have gotten you killed!" Kevin angrily said. He even stood up from his chair. He then moved closer to me and cornered me by putting both hands on the corner of the chair.

"Mari... No... Zamira... how could you trust Jason over me? Is it because I know Chance? Are you afraid that I would be covering him?" Kevin asked, his face full of pain and betrayal.

I sighed and looked him straight in the eye. Being Mari for a short time gave me a chance to be who I was before. But now that Zamira is back in my head... being indifferent clouds over me.

"Sorry. I trusted Jason over you. I was supposed to tell you once we get evidence, but... now the evidence is gone." I replied...

"Ugh," Kevin growled and bowed his head before meeting my gaze once more. "Can you please stop making me worry? I care about you," he whispered and huffed before straightening himself.

I looked at him confused... did he make a mild confession?

Or am I reading it too much again?

I shrugged and looked at the laptop and the map on the pinboard.

I better keep myself busy. I picked up the case files and took a box of pushpins. Kevin was just looking at me, but I focused on what I plan to do... Andrew arrived and looked at both of us. The tension was obvious.

The room was awfully silent, but I guess they're both mad at me for making a bold move of going to the storage unit... with Jason! Of all people!

I was busy mapping out the locations of the victims when Andrew finally spoke.

"Za... Do you know Cain Langley?" He asked cautiously. Right, Cain Langley was the original owner of the storage unit until he changed it to my name.

"Unfortunately, his name doesn't ring a bell. Is there anything in the local database?" I asked and turned to them. Kevin shrugged.

"Cain Langley is...was a resident of the area. He died 7 years ago," Kevin replied and produced an obituary.

"Huh... so right about when the missing people started," I said and pinned the obituary on the pinboard.

"You think it's him?" Andrew asked stood in front of the pinboard to look at what I'm doing.

"Maybe. But there's no evidence to tie Cain... yet... so as of now... I'm the main suspect." I replied so casually that I scared myself a bit.

"Why would you think that?" Kevin asked with furrowed brows.

"Well, I did plan to go to the storage unit at 5pm, but I called Jason to go earlier. I suspected that whoever changed the name has something planned if he figured out that I'm on to him... so yeah... I think he's trying to pin it on me." I replied.

"But if it started seven years ago, then the timeline wouldn't match. Don't you think?" Andrew said and sat down on the couch.

"True. But if it's under my name, Mari's name, it would come convenient to the person... because I can't remember anything. So easier to pin it to me. It's easier to accept that a person from out of town did it rather than a person from town. Don't you think?" I pointed out and looked at them both. Their expressions are unreadable.

"We have to accept that even if I am innocent and I'm a victim too... what if I'm the end game? He might be waiting for something to happen... or whatever it is." I said and went back to analyze the pinboard.

Lost in thought... I looked at the pushpins I stabbed into the map. Each color represents the age group of the people, where they were last seen, and notes about the last possible whereabouts.

Red for old people.

Yellow for runaways and juveniles.

Green for homeless people.

Blue for Alexandra and me.

"Kevin, how long have you been the chief?" I randomly asked. Kevin, who was also lost in thought, looked at me a bit confused.

"Three years ago. Why the sudden question?" he asked. Andrew looked at me, trying to follow my thoughts...

"Hmmm. Do you remember asking around about missing people?" I asked again. Ignoring his question.

"I had a few... but they're mostly juveniles, so their parents thought they just ran away or something, so I dropped it. Looking at the case files now... I did investigate some of them." he finally said. Andrew looked at him with one eyebrow up.

"And you didn't bother telling that?" Andrew asked... condescendingly.

"Well, I didn't really make the connection until you presented it the other day. Do you think I had the time to piece two and two that fast? Sorry for not being smart." Kevin let out his frustration and had a staring stand-off with Andrew.

Wow... these guys really hit each other's ego... I sighed...

"Down, boys. Now's not the time." I said and pointed at the pinboard. Andrew was the first to break contact and looked at the board.

"Fine. What do you have?" Andrew then asked while he turned to face me. Kevin looked at me, then at the board.

"Okay... look at the pins. What do you see?" I asked.

"Uh... their last known location?" Andrew asked. Seriously... this guy...

"Aside from that... anything..." I asked again...

They both looked at the map closer.

"Pattern?" Kevin asked.

"Go on..." I said and looked at them both.

"Nothing... I see nothing. What else?" Kevin asked, irritated.

"This is from the old people... they're mostly from nursing homes," I replied and pointed to the red pushpins. "The juveniles were last seen in rehabilitation centers and support centers." I continued. "Then the homeless people were last seen in shelters. or others are scattered in some alleyway"

"Kevin... have you ever visited these places?" I asked. He nodded.

"Oh, shit..." Andrew cursed under his breath... I guess he finally caught up with my lead.

"What? What did I miss?" Kevin asked...confused.

"The culprit started taking homeless people three years ago, Kev. It was to cover their tracks and..." I stopped and looked him straight in the eye...

"And what?" he asked... his eyes focused on me.

"You might have talked to the guy. The reason he changed his pattern was that you got close to him..." I replied. Andrew looked at me...

"I talked to the guy???" He suddenly sounds so helpless. He grabbed the edge of the table to support his tense body.

"Do you remember any of them?" Andrew asked.

"Maybe a few. I interviewed a lot of people back then... god!" he sighed and pulled some strands of his hair.

He walked out afterward, leaving Andrew and me behind.

"Good work. But why didn't you tell him about the video?" Andrew asked.

"You know why..." I replied. I sent the video to the app but I didn't upload it yet to the laptop. So Andrew knows the video... I'm scared of what Kevin might do if he finds out his friend is behind this.

"It will crush him. Do you want me to take care of it?" Andrew asked.

"I'll handle it. But for now, let's see who this Cain Langley is." I replied. Andrew started searching...

"I should find him... he might do something stupid," I told Andrew, who just nodded.

I went straight to the rooftop. Being with this guy, he becomes so predictable.

He's smoking when I got there... his eyes staring so far you'd drown. He's so lost in thought, he didn't even hear me.

"Hey," I stood next to him. He didn't move nor look at me, but I know I got his attention.

"Is it my fault? Is it because I wasn't able to catch him the first time? Why didn't I see it?" he sighed and lit another cigarette.

My heart felt like it's being stabbed seeing him so...down...

"No, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Don't punish yourself." I said and grabbed the cigarette from his hand and threw it on the trash bin. He looked at me with a dark expression.

"Not my fault? I wish I could believe that. If I had caught him that time... he wouldn't be able to abduct anyone... and the fact that it's organ harvest and not just a mere abduction pains me. My sister..." he trailed off just mentioning his sister and again almost took a cigarette. He's clearly upset...

I grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lit one for myself, and puffed a thick smoke.

"You have to accept that you can't turn back time. You were young, and you didn't know what you were looking for. You followed the evidence and it didn't pan out. So you stopped. Whoever this guy is... he's covering his tracks well... he's been doing this long... Don't beat yourself up. We have something now... use that." I replied while smoking.

"Mari?" he asked his voice full of confusion...

"What?" I asked while puffing a smoke...

"Since when did you start smoking?!" he suddenly asked surprised.

SHOOT I didn't realize I smoked a cigarette...

"Uhm...."

"Did Chance teach you?!" he asked...

"No! I guess I got stressed too! Now c'mon I need your head straight to solve this case!"

I pulled him down the station and met with Andrew.

How could I be so stupid letting my old habit slip?! UGH!!!