ICE FERREIRA (Wild Men Series)

S1: 05

YUMI

I need to find Ice... at nasa harap ko ngayon ang lalaking tanging pag-asa ko para mahanap ang isa. Yes, I know na si Sir Rex lang ang pwedeng makatulong sa akin lalo na at siya na ang may sabi na associate ng grupo niya ang mga taga-FSO. 

"Incognito..." bulong ko sa pangalan ng organisasyon namin. 

Hindi ko alam if may idea si Sir Rex sa grupo namin lalo na at hindi naman kami considered na Mafia organization. We are just working for mafias, syndicates, mobsters, terrorists, or even the government as long as they give a reasonable price to offer Helio. We are assassins and sometimes... mercenaries. 

"Incognito, indeed." Sir Rex boringly tapped his left hand's fingers on his desk while leaning on his swivel chair. "What about that group?"

"I was raised by that group and—"

"Trained. Punished. Tortured. What else?"

"I hate their rules. That's it!"

"And they are looking for you," he said while observing my reaction. "You supposed to know that."

"But you hid me..." Kinapalan ko na ang mukha ko na sabihin iyon. Alam ko naman na itinago niya ako at pinrotektahan. Ang kailangan ko na lang malaman ay kung bakit. "You hid me from them for an unknown reason. Care to tell me why?"

"Because I know you are my asset. I was looking for you, actually. Looking for the well-known Agent Hugo of Incognito."

"Why?"

"Why'd you save Ice Ferreira first?"

Fuck! Aabutin kami ng one hundred years pero mukhang walang mauunang magsabi ng sariling rason.

"Those who bombed Dr. Liza Pratts' house that night. They are Italians. Are they your men?" tanong ko. Ayoko siyang pagdudahan dahil sa dalawang taon ay ligtas ako sa poder niya pero... what if siya ang may utos ipapatay ang pamilya ni Ice? "Are they?" ulit ko sa tanong dahil nakakunot lang ang noo niyang nakatingin sa akin. 

Unti-unti siyang natawa na parang nakakatawa ang tanong. But his laugh is different. I can sensed that for I always tricked my emotions to be nonchalant most of the time. Ang tawa niya ay may galit. 

I stared at him. Siraulo yata itong boss ko... Gwapo pero siraulo. I glanced at Mirabella's portrait. What if the reason he was looking for me, as he'd say, was because of Mirabella's death? Baka naman ako ang pinagbintangan pala na nagpasabog ng eroplanong sinakyang ng iniirog niya? Baka ikinonekta niya ang pagsabog ng eroplano na sinasakyan ni Mirabella sa pagbomba ng bahay ni Liza.

"Are they your men?" ulit ko pa rin sa tanong na hindi niya pa sinasagot.

"If they were my men ay siguradong ligtas si Liza at ang pamilya ni Ice. If they were my men ay baka patay ka na."

Okay... so hindi niya tao ang mga iyon. "Then why did you save me?"

"Dahil wala kang maalala at kailangan kong malaman ang kaugnayan mo sa mga nagpapatay kay Liza. Pero nang kalaunan ay nalaman ko na hindi ka pala kasama sa nagplano ng pagsabog. You were also their pawn."

"Pawn? Ako?" nagtatakang tanong ko.

"They intended for you to die that night, Mayumi. Incognito wanted to eliminate you after you killed Libby and her husband."

Nanlaki ang mga mata ko. Biglang nanikip ang dibdib ko. Thinking how loyal I was with Incognito made me sad. Ang mga walanghiya!

"Those Italians..." sabi ko na inihinto ko rin dahil naguluhan na akong lalo.