Thick as Thieves

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CAITLIN

"Anong ibig mong sabihin na wala s'ya don?" This is not happening. Why did I let Bea get involved? Now she's in trouble because of me.

"Exactly what I said. Pumunta kami sa station pero wala s'ya don. Nag antay kami, pero wala."

I stare at Zolo in shock. "Well, tinanong mo ba yung detective na kumuha sa kanya? Did you give him his name?"

"Caitlin, ang bilis ng mga pangyayari, hindi ko na nakuha yung pangalan ng kumuha sa kanya. No one did. I was busy holding Deanna back so she didn't commit murder in our HR Office."

Shame washes over me. This is all my fault. "I'm so sorry, this is all my--"

Deanna steps forward, pulling me to her chest. I wrap my arms around her, the comfort of my sister helping ease my worry. "Do not even go there. Hindi mo to kasalanan. That bastard had us all fooled."

"But I should have said something. And now Bea is in jail and the company? Will he try and sue us?"

Deanna pulls me away so she can see my eyes. "Bea will be fine. The company will be fine. Subukan n'ya lang magfile ng kaso."

I pull back and my worried eyes find Zolo. "Asan kaya s'ya? Nag aalala ako. What if they hurt her? Bakit naman s'ya sasama sa lalaking 'yon?" The panic in my voice is clear. The suited man just walked into the company, quickly flashed a badge, and Bea went with him, no questions. I ran after Bea, but everything was happening so fast and Zolo grabbed me, telling me to stay clear.

How could I stay clear? This was all my fault!

Zolo had Reg bring me back to my office so they could deal with Chris. They wanted him out and fast. Zolo made sure he didn't take any company files and that he left in one piece. Deanna seemed to only see red and wanted to rip his arms off. Thankfully at least my brother was thinking about the company. They didn't want Christ to get a chance to speak to me, so I was told to stay in my office and not leave.

By the time Chris was escorted out, I was running to my car to head to the police station. That's when Zolo stopped me and told me to go home. Zolo confessed that Bea took the lead to keep the company out of a lawsuit, so he owed it to Bea to bail her out and clear her name. He didn't want me near a police station and said Bea wouldn't want that either, so he told me to wait for them at home. That was until my siblings showed up without her.

"I have no idea what's going on, but I'm sure Bea will fill us in when she--"

Just then the door opens behind us, and Bea strolls in. I waste no time in breaking away from my brother and running to her. I throw myself into her arms, and she catches me with ease.

"Easy there, killer." She hugs me to her, pressing her mouth to my ear and whispers, "Careful, Cait. All eyes are on us. Unless you want your brothers to murder me before we try number seven on your list, you better chill." She pulls away nonchalantly, and I drop to my feet. Our eyes meet in a quick understanding and I slowly nod.

"What happened? Zolo went to bail you out and they said you were never booked?"

It takes Bea a moment to answer. She looks over my shoulder toward my brothers, then eyes back at me.

"Wala. Misunderstanding lang."

What? "Misunderstanding? Anong nangyari? So bakit ka hinuli? At sino yon?"

Bea shrugs her shoulders and walks further into my house breaking eye contact. "Gaya nga ng sabi ko, misunderstanding lang. They had nothing to book me on so they let me go."