Whisper

Chapter 29

Mateo managed to find a gas station just before the van ran out. It was just his luck that the glove compartment had a bit of cash so he could get enough gas to make it to uncle's and start his journey towards Genovia City. 

He considered just staying at his uncle's, but he was probably a wanted man at this point. He couldn't factor out the possibility that he could put his uncle, but more importantly his dogs, in danger. Maybe that's why Clarise advised him to just go straight to Genovia City after visiting his uncle. Perhaps she knew he would want to say his goodbyes to him. 

After he paid for the gas and grabbed a few waters from the convenience store, he sat in the driver's seat for a moment, peering into the back of the van and just looking at it. It was like the transport van Clarise and he were put in, except empty, scraped clean of the extra guns and ammo. 

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, wanting to take a nap but also wanting to get to his uncle's as soon as he could. Maybe he could rest there before heading out again. 

Soon the sun went down and he just managed to pull up to his uncle's house, a small house with a small porch. Mateo parked the van, going up the porch and searched through a potted plant, picking up a house key and entering the house. 

After a bit of shuffling around in the dark Mateo just barely managed to dodge a bat that aimed for his head. 

"Rio! It's me!" He threw up his hands in surrender as his uncle quickly turned on a nearby lamp. 

"Mateo? You idiot, I could've killed you!" Rio grumbled, "What are you doing here anyways? I thought you were going to call me." 

Curious but tired dogs wandered from behind, only to perk up when the saw a familiar face. The two running and jumping up to get a certain someone's attention. "Hey there!" Matero's voice got high pitched and childish, "I missed you guys too, yes I did." 

Sighing but relieved, Rio put down his bat, turning on a few lights. Suddenly his landline began to ring. He picked it up, letting his nephew just bond with his dogs. 

"Hello?" 

"Hello Mr. Alaveraz, this is Clarise, Mateo's friend." Her voice was incredibly scratchy, and she coughed after she finished speaking, "Mateo is there, right?" 

A bit weirded-out Rio held out the phone for Mateo to take. How did she even know his landline number? Mateo didn't even know it by memory.

"Hello?" Mateo wasn't expecting her call, and with everything that happened he was a bit paranoid. 

"Mateo, it's Clarise, I need to be quick so listen carefully. I need you to disable the tracking device on the van. They haven't been able to track you after the damage to the base but they can very soon if you don't do exactly what I say." 

"Okay," Mateo rested the phone between his head and shoulder, searching the drawers for scissors and a screwdriver. "What next?" 

Working on the van for only about 10 minutes, Mateo was able to remove the tracking device, and destroy it. He and Clarise quickly saying their goodbyes. 

"Mind telling me what the hell is going on?" Rio watched his nephew suspiciously. "You've been missing for basically a week." 

"Did you contact the authorities?" Mateo was slumped over the couch, his dogs sitting beside him. Duke rested his head on Mateo's lap. 

Shaking his head he sat on the loveseat diagonal from Mateo. "I figured I'd give you another week before I go searching for you, myself." 

Mateo let out a small chuckle, "Well, good thing I came to you first." 

Sighing, Rio leaned onto his knees, "Mateo, I know you can't tell me much about your job but please tell me you aren't in any danger." 

He pondered for a moment, "I'm fine." 

"Okay," Rio huffed, standing up and patting Duke's head before walking away, "And take a damn shower, you stink." 

Laughing, Mateo stood, his dogs getting up as well and following him all the way to the linin closet where he grabbed a clean towel, then to the bathroom where he can finally - after a week of just a single cold water - hand-soap - shower, he can finally take a hot shower and wash himself properly. 

"Oh by the way! Hot water's broken and I'm out of shampoo." Rio's voice quickly smothered all hope. 

"Damn it." Mateo groaned, looking down at his curious dogs, both the pups tilted their heads in confusion. Mateo considered for a hot second to use dog shampoo, but in the end he took the bar of body-soap and went to work. 

At the very least he could change out of his work uniform finally. The ARC base never gave him a change of clothes for whatever reason, perhaps it was to make him more and more uncomfortable. But now he has a clean pair of underwear and an actual bed to sleep on, surrounded by two of his favorite things who quickly snuggled by his side.

He was going to wake up early tomorrow and start driving all the way to Genovia City. His pups were going to be sad again, but he couldn't risk bringing them along. 

He let his mind wander to Clarise, the girl who seemed to know everything. Her 'gift' seemed to exponentially grow over the past few days, and all of the sudden she was talking too. 

Her voice was still hoarse and scratchy, but it was held enough confidence that Mateo believed every word she spoke. 

"Mateo." His ears tickled remembering when she said his name. It was almost funny how touched he was that she said it. 

Laughing he closed his eyes finally, whispering to himself one name. 

"Clarise."