CHAPTER 8: Help

— LIA —

“SHE already moved to another place,” Jhoan answered the man on the door. Her fingers started on slowly hitting the side of the door, signaling that she is nervous.

“Do you have any idea where she is currently living?” the man asked her while he was trying to see a better look of what is inside the house. However, Jhoan is a huge woman. The man can’t see us on the floor.

Jhoan shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m just new here,” she answered.

The man looked at Jhoan for a few seconds before nodding, but I can see that he is not convinced on Jhoan’s response at all.

“If you have any information about this woman, contact me,” the man said while handing a small card to my friend.

“I will,” Jhoan responded as she grabbed the card from the man’s hand.

Slowly, the man turned his back. But before that, his eyes drifted for some seconds on the inside of the house. He walked away and Jhoan hurriedly closed the door.

Instead of walking towards us, Jhoan walked to the window and pushed the curtain a little to the side. I am sure that she is watching the man go. I can see her looking to the left and to the right.

After some moments, I heard the sound of a car driving away from the house. Jhoan hurriedly ran towards us and shook everyone sleeping on the floor.

“Gising, guys! Dali!” (Wake up, guys! Hurry!) she exclaimed while shaking everyone and slightly tapping our bodies.

“Ano ba ‘yan? Natutulog pa ‘yung tao, oh,” (What? I’m still sleeping.) Althea groaned while slapping Jhoan’s hands away from her.

“Dali! May naghanap kay Lia kanina!” (Hurry up! Someone looked for Lia earlier!) Jhoan shouted, making everyone stood up from sleeping.

“Ano?” (What?)

“Anyare?” (What happened?)

“Sinabi mo bang nandito?” (Did you tell them she’s here?)

“Pinaalis mo na ba?” (Did you send them away?)

Jhoan was bombarded with several questions. All of them are asking and are looking for answers. Some of them started shaking Jhoan’s body so that they will answer. Their voices mixed with the sound they’re making, making it unpleasant to hear.

“Stop! One question only, okay?!” Jhoan shouted, annoyance evident on her voice.

Jhoan stood up and sighed. “A man, he looks like a foreigner. He showed me Lia’ photo and asked me if she is living here.” she started explaining. My friends moved closer to Jhoan and looked at her intently.

“Of course, I didn’t tell him the truth!” she exclaimed. “Sinabi ko na lumipat siya ng bahay.” (I told him that she move to another place.)

“He even gave me his contact information,” she added as she showed us the card the man gave her. My friends started to be chaotic again while grabbing the card.

They read the information of the man. I also take a look on the card.

Cloud Oquendo. That’s his name. Below his name is his contact nunber.

My friend grabbed their phones and started typing something. Knowing them, I’m sure that they are going to search the name of the man to find out more about him.

“He's from Spain,” Jerome said while reading something on his phone. “It says on the international news that he was one of the donors for a certain foundation for orphans.”

“Yah, nakita ko rin,” (I also read it here.) Celsi added. “He donated almost 20 million Euros on that foundation.”

20 million Euros? That’s... a lot of money. I thought that he is just a driver for Kelleon, but it turns out that he is living on the same circle like him.

“Yaman!” (Rich!) Althea exclaimed. “May sinabi pa ba sayo?” (Did he tell you more?)

Jhona shook her head. “Wala na.” (Nothing.)

“He just handed that and walked away. But he was looking inside the house, maybe he’s curious that there are people sleeping on the floor,” she added while extending her neck to look at the window.

Althea turned her head to me. “Does that man look familiar to you?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. He’s the taxi driver who kidnapped me.”

All of them gasped because of my answer. Their eyes widened together with their mouth and were stunned for a few seconds.

Celsi was the one who came back to her senses first. “Buti hindi ka niya nakita.” (It's good that he didn’t see you.)

“Lia was under the blanket when he arrived. Thank goodness,” Althea said and followed it with a sigh of relief.

Jerome stood up, making us turn our attention to him. “We have to leave. Now!” he exclaimed while signaling as to stand up, too. “He found out where Lia is living. I’m sure he will come here again!”

We hurriedly stood up. Jerome and Jhona went to the second floor, while Celsi went to the kitchen. Althea and I were left in the living room and we cleaned the remaining mess.

“You don’t look nervous or something,” Althea commented while sweeping the floor. I turned my head to her and I saw her looking at me. “Aren’t you afraid that he might abduct you again?”

I sighed. “I’m afraid, so afraid. I know I shouldn't be feeling this because I didn’t do anything bad to them, but I can’t help it,” I told her.

“My insides are crumbling. Everywhere I am, I have this feeling that someone is watching every movement I do. I feel like if I do just one wrong move, someone will get and punish me. I hate this feeling. I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I added.

“You can tell us what you're feeling. Don’t pent those inside of you. We’re your friends. We have been each other’s emotional support for a long time,” she said while carressing my back.

I understand what she is saying. Althea wants me to show my real emotion, and not to force myself to look tough in front of them.

“I want to, but I can’t,” I answered her. “Look, they’re panicking more than me. If I show them that I am also afraid and panicking, I’m sure that there will be chaos.”

Althea nodded. “I understand. They’re kind of over reacting someonetimes.”

We both chuckled at her statement. We both know that it’s true. Our friends are one of the most over reacting people we know.

“I will let you do that,” she referred to me hiding my emotions. “But remember that when it became too heavy to carry, you always count on us to carry it with you.”

I gave her a sweet smile, and I thought to myself, what will happen to me if my friends aren’t here? Maybe I will go insane.

She right when she said that we have been each other’s emotional support for a long time. Since senior high school, we have been on each other’s back. We cried and brokedown tigether for years, but look at us now. We’re still strong and alive.

We continue on cleaning the living room. After some moments, Jerome went down from the second floor. His hair was wet and he was wearing a different set of clothes. It looks like he took a bath.

“Nakiligo ako, Lia ah?’ (I take a bath on your house, Lia ah?) he said as if he was asking for permission.

Althea snorted. “Naligo muna bago magpaalam.” (He took a bath first before asking for permission.)

I let out a small laugh. “It’s okay. Where’s Jhoan?”

“She took a bath on the other room,” he answered. “Alam mo naman ‘yon. Matagal maligo.” (You know her. She takes a bath for a long time.)

We were busy chatting when Celsi shouted from the kitchen that the breakfast is ready. As if a cue, Jhoan went down from the bathroom.

We ate our breakfast and continue our morning routine. I just took a bath, and wear a oversized shirt paired with a leggings and a rubber shoes. When I came out of the room, I saw them having their finishing touch. I grabbed my sling bag that contains my phone, purse, and other essentials.

“Are you all ready to go?” Celsi asked and we responded with a nod and thumbs up.

I made sure that everything are turned off before locking the house. Like before, I wore a sunglasses. I have to at least hide my whole face from the crowd.

While waiting for a jeepney, Althea asked me. “Dideretso ka ba sa police station, Lia?” (Will you go straight to the police station, Lia?”

I answered her. “Oo, titingnan ko ‘yung progress ng case kahapon.” (Yes, I will check the progress of the case yesterday.)

“Is that the kidnapping case? I heard it in the news. I haven’t read what happened after that, tho,” Jhona said while munching a bag of green peas.

Jerome grabbed some green peas from Jhona’s bag as he speaks. “That’s such a huge issue and a big responsibility on the side of the police. They can’t mess it up.”

We agreed on his statement. A mistake happening once is a mistake, but making it twice is a choice. I’m sure that the police learned on the first case.

A jeepney arrived on the terminal and we ride on it. The whole travel was quiet. I was almost lost in my thoughts when someone poked my side.

“Hmm?” I asked when I realized that it was Althea who did that.

She answered me. “Doon ka nalang muna sa bahay ko after ng work mo. Baka biglang pumunta doon ulit ‘yung lalaki.” (Stay on my house after your work. The man earlier might come to your house again.)

I nodded and leaned on her shoulder. After some minutes, I knocked on the jeepney’s roof as a sign that I have arrived on my destination. I waved my friends goodbye before leaving the jeepney. I take a final look at them inside the jeepney before heading to the police station.

“Morning,” I greeted them. “What happened to the kidnapping case of Alexa Ramirez?” I asked while sitting on my desk and organizing some misplaced files.

“Alejo was arrested. Thanks to the profile you made,” Detective Javier replied to my question.

I looked at her with a confused face. “Huh? How did the profile helped in solving the case?”

“You said that he might be also after the despair of the family. The chief planned to create a fake shooting incident near the meeting area that Alejo said to the family,” she started explaining while waiting for the paper to finish printing.

Darwin continued Detective Javier’s explanation. “We made it look like that Mrs. Ramirez died. I can’t believe that Alejo bit that trap! He goes out of his hiding place while clapping and laughing. He looks amused while watching Mayor Ramirez cried on his wife’s dead body,” he explained, qouting the word ‘dead’ in the air.

“Alexa Ramirez was saved by Team 2 while the Team 1 pinned and arrested Alejo. Everything happened very fast,” Nick added to the story.

I nodded, shocked that the profile I made helped them a lot. I turned my attention to Detective Javier.

“Senior, do we have a new case today?” I asked.

She looked at me, surprised. Maybe because I don’t ask that kind of question to her.

“As of now, none. Why do you ask?” she responded as she walked towards my table. She squinted her eyes a bit, signifying that she is trying to read what's on my mind.

“Then you’re not busy?” I asked her back.

She looked at me for some moments. I can see Darwin's and Nick’s eyes watching us, waiting for what will happen next.

“Why do you ask?” she repeated her question after some moments of silence.

Of course, I wouldn’t back down, unless she answered my question. “I am asking if you're not busy.”

She sighed and a small smile escape her lips. “I’m not busy. Why?”

I smirked at her. “I have a case to consult to you.”

Nick disrupt our conversation. “Wait! Why do you have to consult only to Detective Javier? I’m a Detective, too!”

“She’s our senior and I’m sure that she has the capabilities to solve this case,” I answered him while raising my left eyebrow.

Nick became quiet and just sat down like a good boy.

“No need to sweet-talk me. What are the details?” she asked me.

“Let's go somewhere secluded,” I answered her and stood up.

We both walk outside our office. Before we left, Detective Javier gave reminders to the two men to call her immediately when a new case was given by the chief. Although they want to ask more questions, they weren’t able to do so because we already closed the door.

“What's the case all about?” my senior asked when we reached the rooftop.

I sighed before answering. “It’s about a woman who looks exactly like me.”

Her eyes widened and squinted afterwards.

“Tell me more about it.”