Staying Low

An accident, a man on his deathbed, an act of betrayal by a trusted partner, what more could possibly go wrong? There was no clue of the lawyer, no information from Rita, nor any evidence. They are well covered, is all I could say.

After that episode, I was bedridden for a whole day, under strict observation for any symptoms that might say otherwise. Luckily, there was nothing of such sort, and so I was discharged the next day.

Kaira was driving us back. I was seated beside her, with a plaster on my right hand. It was going to stay for a month like that, which implied that I cannot continue my investigation.

I looked at Kaira. She seemed a tad stressed out, she had developed dark circles, mild red eyes. It was as though she had an ailment that was killing her. I knew that it was all because of me, my stupidity and carelessness. I could have died, that was for sure, the bullets could have hit me, and killed me on the spot. I was fortunate that it did not happen.

The car slowed down as we hit the red signal. The silence grew more intense.

"It's quite cold today, right?" I said to break this awkward silence. But there was no response, that made me feel like a knucklehead, like the one I am. The signal turned to green, and we were set in motion among other vehicles.

"You're taking things too far." She uttered finally, while taking a sharp turn from the signal. "You come home every day completely drained out, you don't speak much, or eat properly. What is bothering you so much?"

I stared in the far distance from the windshield, spaced out into what she just said. I never realized that I was so concerned with my work that I forgot about myself and her. That was so cruel of me to do that.

"Now you won't even speak." She spoke.

"No, I... I am sorry." I stammered. "I'll tell you everything."

She turned the vehicle into the gate of our house and parked it in the garage. We alighted, got into our house, and sat face-to-face on the dining table. She then gestured to speak.

"For investigating in my case, I teamed up with two others, Avani, and Rita. The person you saw that day at the hospital, whom you called Lata was a detective in disguise. She is a private investigator, or so I thought." I took a pause.

"So is she a private investigator?" She asked.

"Probably." I replied, then continued. "The Doctor Khan I was looking for does not exist."

She leaned forward, paying close attention to what I said.

"Doctor Khan was found dead near the monastery. He was, in fact, an actor hired to act as a doctor."

"What?" She was staggered. "Hired? By whom?"

"Avani." I revealed. She froze for a moment. "Avani hired Doctor Khan. It would not be wrong to call her doctor Khan."

"Avani is the culprit? She was the one behind all this?"

I clenched my fist, regretting to ever let her stay with me despite my suspicion. She sat silently, comprehending everything I revealed. She understood my situation.

"Don't worry Rey." She said as she placed her hand on my clenched fist. "It's okay. Why do you worry over the mistake you made? Calm down and think of a solution."

"I'm trying." I said as I loosened my fist. "But I regret all my mistakes. I knowingly walked into her trap, like walking on a broken glass to meet an end that ensures your demise."

"Calm down, Rey." She spoke. "I can understand. Blaming yourself will do no good. Focus on your objective, which was to find the culprit of Mary, which you did. You are actually very near to cracking this case."

I felt a little relief after listening to her. It felt like my problems are not so big as I thought it was, like someone just helped me lift a heavy load from my shoulders. But I was not yet convinced that I was closer to crack this case.

"Thank you. But I don't think I'm close to cracking this case." I spoke.

"Come on Rey." She said, assuming that I was still blaming myself.

"Not pessimistically. I mean that I must speak to a few people, especially John."

"Who?"

"He's Mary's youngest sibling. He knows something that they don't want me to know, and God knows what happened of Rita. She was always around Avani, maybe she is probably involved."

"Speaking of Rita, I have not seen her anywhere in the hospital. I'm not sure if is fired because new staff were hired recently."

"Nothing can be done about that, I guess." I replied. "Now the problem is how do I continue with these injuries. I guess I can manage it somehow."

"No, you won't." She asserted. "I'll not allow you, at least not until I know that you're safe."

"But the investigation..."

"I don't care." She interrupted. "You'll not leave this house without my permission, and if you leave without telling me, you'll be in big trouble, understand."

I nodded, like a kindergarten student told to, or not to, do something. I was worried about my investigation. On the contrary, I was happy that someone cares about me so much. It made me feel like I was not alone, that there was someone behind me, to support me in need of it. All this tension and stress of investigation seemed secondary.

"Rey." She called. "I want to tell you something." I gestured her to go ahead. "About that driver. He is dead."

There was a moment of silence, a sorrowful one. I had expected this to happen. His death marked the third death in this investigation, and the thoughts of further deaths was what I was fearful of. I was at a place where anybody could be next; me, Kaira, the advocate, or John. It was like picking a name from a hat.

Unexpectedly, someone knocked at the door. We both were alerted by it. She told me that she would answer it. I heard the door open, and a man's voice was audible. For a moment I was paralyzed by the thought that it could be those who tried to shoot me. But I was relieved when she came back.

"There is a person at the door who wants to see you." She spoke.

I was not expecting anybody. I walked limping on my left foot with a stick in my right hand, using it as a third leg. From a distance, I saw a man standing at the door, dressed in a blue jean, a yellow hoodie, and a cap covered with the hood, like a hip-hop artist. He had his hands in his kangaroo pockets, looking straight at me.

I went unto the door, glanced at either side before uttering anything.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Listen, I don't have time, but I just wanted to tell you that John is safe." He spoke. "He wanted to meet you, so he sent me."

He said and immediately proceeded to depart.

"When can I meet him?" I asked before he exited.

"You'll know soon." He replied and left.

I stood still at that spot, contemplating this scenario. Firstly, is this even true, or another set-up? Secondly, he should be under Rita's care, so why is he acting on his own. He was supposed to be discrete, so why is he so active under some agent? Lastly, I was at ease that I need not dig into john to fish him out, provided these questions are answered affirmatively. But all I could do right now is wait, and nothing more. I had to stay low because of my vulnerable condition.

We sat at the couch with a popcorn, watching a movie. The lights were turned off so to create a theatrical ambience. We shared the popcorn. I wanted to have a change of mind for some time, at least until I heal.

Things seemed to be calm for a while. The neighborhood was quiet, so quiet that you can hear footsteps if you maintain silence. But we were deep into watching that movie, so our senses were not active.

It was about twelve. The credits started rolling on the screen. Kaira went to the kitchen to sort out the mess and clean up before bed. Suddenly, there was another knock on the door. It was a more violent one. I was at high alert because this was certainly meant to finish me.

Kaira walked towards the door to answer it. I kept my arm to obstruct her from doing it.

"What is it?" She said.

"Keep it low." I whispered.

She understood what I meant and that got her tensed up.

"What do we do now?" She whispered. I took a moment to contemplate.

"Check from the kitchen window if there is a car parked on the road anywhere."

She slowly walked to the kitchen to verify. I was staring at the door, assuming how many were there. The lights were off, except the zero-bulb in the kitchen, so they might not suspect anybody to be awake. Kaira came back, creeping back.

"There is a black sedan." She whispered.

My eyes were wide open. That confirmed my suspicion. They were here to kill me.

"That's not good." I spoke. "Call the police now."

She went into the room, making sure to not make any noise. Suddenly, I heard the noise of a key sliding into the door-lock. Then there was the sound of fiddling with it, like a newbie attempting to break-in. I sprang from the sofa and rushed inside. There was a cupboard large enough to fit me. I opened the doors and stuffed myself inside among clothes. At this point, more than myself, Kaira was the one I was concern of.

The sound of the door creaking open was heard audibly. I could feel my heart beating faster and copiously sweating. The congested setting of the cupboard inside added to the rigor, making it harder to breath. I slightly opened the door slightly, just so I could breathe and look outside. I carefully listened to the sound. There was the sound of faint footsteps that was emanating from the hallway. They were searching each part of the house. There were three. No. There were two of them. That was what I reckoned from the sounds. What about Kaira?

I presumed she would be contacting the police, unknown to her there was a break-in, and they were equipped with weapons. I was hoping they would not be firearms.

They were approaching closer to me. But it seemed as though they split up to search the house. I saw a person entering. It was dark, so I was at an advantage. In his hand, he held a pistol. This was bad because the other would have had one.

"No one's here" he said softly to his partner.

"Same here." Replied the other.

"Are we done here then?" The first one asked in normal voice.

"I guess." He said while scanning. "There is one more room we did not check there."

I was tensed because they were speaking of Kaira's room. I could not just hide and let it all happen. The only hope was that she was in possession of the gun because that room had a gun. But that was too risky. I had to do something.

Slowly and carefully, I opened the doors and crept towards the kitchen via the hallway. They had their back turned on me, so I crept easily. The kitchen was illuminated dimly by a zero-bulb, and that made it difficult to see things appropriately. I looked around, something that might help me. Time was ticking, few more seconds, and they would be in her room. My anxiety was raising, heart beating faster and made me restless, until I found something.

There was a cup at the sink, washed and placed upright. Immediately, I pushed it to the ground, shattering it into several pieces. The noise echoed loudly, alerting everyone. I heard the footsteps coming towards me, so I quickly hid under the sink. But while doing so, I hit my injured hand on the wall, and grunted softly.

They stepped inside the kitchen, Both of them. They had their flashlight of their phones on. It would be a matter of seconds before they found me. I had a crowbar readily held in my hand, ready to apprehend.

But I was not confident because of my plastered hand. Suddenly, the police serene was heard. They were staggered by it. The lights of the kitchen turned on, illuminating it with bright light.

"Put your hand in the air."

They follower suit.

"Drop your weapon."

They dropped it.

I came out of from under the sink, like a bunny coming out of its hole. I saw Kaira holding the gun, pointed sharply at them.

The police took them off. They assured our safety, gave us a charge sheet to sign, and departed with those burglars.

Back inside, we were recovering from that deathly incident.

"I don't think we'll be safe here anymore." I said.

She nodded; her hands were quivering from holding that gun.

"I think it would be best if we go out of town." I suggested.

"Where shall we go?" She asked.

"Anywhere safe." I spoke. "I know of a few places we'll be safe."

"Okay." She agreed.

At 3:00 AM, we left out discreetly. We would be out of town for a whole two weeks, out of contact and vision of everybody we know.

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TO BE CONTINUED...