The Chosen

46: Perpetrator

Seven's point of View.

"Sorry!"

I almost lost grip on my paper bag when someone bumped my back. I turned around to see Xyken who quickly held my elbow to stop me from falling on to the hard floor because of our impact.

"Good heavens! You startled me!" I uttered in surprise when I was able to fix myself.

Napakamot s'ya ng batok at humihingi ng depensa ang kan'yang mga tingin.

"Pasens'ya na. May iniisip lang ako kaya hindi kita napansin," paliwanag n'ya.

"Ayos lang. Nagulat naman ako sa'yo," sagot ko. I peeked on the door he just walked out near us before turning to him. "Galing ka kay Commander?"

Tumango s'ya. "Oo. Para sa kan'ya ba 'yan?" he asked, pertaining to the paperbag I'm holding.

"Yeah."

"Naks." He smiled teasingly that I only laughed at. "I should get going, Sev. Enjoy the snacks."

I watched him walked away absent-mindedly along the empty hallway. Same corridor where I saw Uncle Joseph disappear from my sight while he was chased by Felizimo. I got really occupied that I failed to notice Xyken's presence at my back even before he could bump into me.

Pero I am still doubting if that's really Uncle Joseph. I might miss him so bad that I start imagining him. At isa pa, the man's name was Johnson, not Joseph. Sign na talaga 'to para bisitahin ko s'ya by the weekened.

I shook my head. Lakas ng tama.

I knocked three times on Yzair's office door before I heard his voice, telling me to come in.

"Hi," he said as I enter his office.

"You seem busy. What's up?"

I placed the paperbag on the coffee table in the middle of his office. Nakita ko mula sa gilid ng mga mata ko ang pagtayo n'ya sa kan'yang upuan at niluwagan ang kan'yang neck tie. I then heard him sigh before walking towards the couch and settled himself.

"Xyken submitted a report. I need to polish it before giving it to the Council so that they could decide of what to do," he explained in his visibly tired voice. Dumukwang s'ya ng kunti para silipin ang mga pagkaing inilabas ko mula sa paperbag. "Ah, I'm starving."

Natawa ako nang mahina. "Kumain ka na. Mukhang pagod na pagod ka, ah."

He frowned. "My workloads don't get lesser and lesser. Ganoon pa rin."

We started digging the food in hanggang sa maubos. We talked about some random things while it's his break. Napagdesisyonan n'yang ipagpaliban muna ang ipinasang kaso ni Xyken dahil gusto n'yang magpower nap.

"Would you mind if I take a look at the report?" I asked after a short silence.

"I won't. Feel free around."

Bumangon s'ya mula sa pagkakahiga sa hita ko and told me to get the files on his table first. And so I did. Nang makuha ko iyon ay bumalik ako sa puwesto ko at bumalik naman s'ya sa pagkakahiga.

My forehead creased upon reading the bold written title on the first page. Pikesville Robbery was imprinted in highlights in the topmost part of the paper.

Robbery of weapons occured during the third week of June in Pikesville, says the first sentence my eyes has landed on. Biglang bumalik sa alaala ko ang naging unang misyon ko bilang isa sa mga Chiefs na, unfortunately, ay hindi naging successful. I thought this case is already solved?

I continued scanning the pages until my hand stopped on the page where the suspects are listed. Bold letters of possible suspect names are written in a clear fonts. With my heart thumping loud and my chest is about to heave up and down upon the sudden anticipation, I grazed my eyes on the names slowly. Baka nandito ang pangalan ni Papa. I saw him during our mission. Hindi ako p'wedeng magkamali doon.