Opaque

43 | Good News, Bad News

"Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age." - Colin Powell

Chapter Forty-Three

"Angie."

I sighed, my hands still pulsating with the side effects of the flashbacks.

They hadn't paid me a visit for the past few days. I didn't know how long I could hold them back.

Noticing the lack of humor in her voice, I asked, "What's wrong Beta?"

Silence intercut with faint static was the prominent noise I heard through the phone for approximately thirty seconds before Agent Beta was back on the line, speaking.

"I have both good news and bad news."

I ran my hands through my hair. I'd heard and seen one too many bad news.

It was going to take a lot of sleepless nights and lots of training sessions with Dex to get rid of Mia's scared face out of my mind.

"I'd love to hear some good news."

She hesitated. "Is anything wrong, Angie?"

I looked behind me even though I had left the Dojo behind me five minutes ago. I was now good seven blocks away, but yet it felt like I never really left. My heart was still stuck in the same exact spot, a few feet away from Axel's body, but my mind knew I had to leave.

The only thing that reassured me was the fact that the ambulance was on its way. Mia may not have had a bullet wound in her skull, but I knew she was bleeding just as badly. Heck, I never knew Axel and here I was, completely distraught by his last words and his untimely death.

I exhaled, my breaths shaky as if they were my last.

"Everything's fine. What's the good news?"

The silence that followed momentarily worried me for a second. My heart banged against my chest as an irrational fear set in. Could Agent Beta see right through my lies?

If she could, she didn't let it show. Instead, she let the silence simmer for a while before continuing speaking as if nothing was ever wrong.

"Well, you'll be happy to know that Julio finally spoke the truth."

I pressed the phone closer to my ear as I hugged my stomach with my available arm. I was glad that I had chosen dark clothing to wear. The blood stains weren't all that visible, especially since the sun was close to setting, but I could feel them covering my body.

"He did?"

"Yeah...I didn't expect him to spill so soon, but apparently the lie detector test freaked him out."

"Well, that's good."

If this news had been given to me earlier, before Axel, I may have been slightly relieved and happy, but now, I felt nothing but a dull ache in my head and a gaping wound in my heart.

"None of us blamed you to begin with since we all knew you didn't kill Scarface, but now that Julio has spoken the truth, you have nothing to worry about."

Staying close to the shops, I walked as quickly as possible as I could to the nearest train station. I wanted to get to my apartment as soon as possible. I felt claustrophobic in my clothes.

"I know, but I wasn't really worried about him anyways. Truth is not something that can be hidden forever. Eventually, the veil lifts."

"Yeah, that's true."

Although I didn't really want to ask, even though I had enough of unpleasant news, I knew that eventually I had to find out. Especially since it seemed to relate to me.