The Empire Series 5: Vanna Lei Shrewd

Chapter 30: AT RISK

Vanna Lei was soaked on her own thoughts as she waited for Clyde. Sinabi nitong lalabas lang sandali para bumili ng pagkain pero mag-iisang oras na ay wala pa rin ito. Ni hindi na niya naisip na puwede naman itong magpa-deliver sa suite kaysa lumabas.

For a moment, her emotions shut when she felt something strange. Even in her misery, her instinct as an agent is working.

Dahan-dahan siyang tumayo at binunot ang baril. Her forehead creased when all the CCTV monitors were off. May monitors kasi sa pinakang taas na bahagi ng pader sa palibot ng suite. Tumaas pa ang balahibo niya sa batok. Bakit ngayon niya lang napansin?

Setting aside all the drama, she inhaled deeply as she calmed herself. Mabilis niyang binuksan ang pintuan ng suite at iniumang ang baril sa hallway. However, the place is deserted. Wala ring kahit na anong ingay. She slowly walked towards the fire exit. Naiiling siyang naglakad pabalik nang wala namang makitang tao.

She was walking back to her suite when she noticed a small stain on the cream wall. Naningkit ang mga mata niya nang malapitan ito. It's a droplet of fresh blood.

Ibig sabihin tama lahat ng naramdaman niyang presensiya ng tao kanina.

She went to the elevator and saw that it stopped on the basement. Malakas ang kutob niyang may nangyayari.

Bumalik siya sa suite. She turned on her security gadgets and checked the footages of the entire building. Nagtagis ang bagang niya nang makitang pati ang personal monitoring system niya ay na-hack. Hindi ito dapat basta-basta naha-hack ng sino man.

What puzzles her is that from the moment Clyde stepped out of the pentsuite, all footages stopped and were shutdown. Agad niyang tinawagan ang binata pero hindi na ma-contact ang number nito.

She paced back and forth. Nawala pa ang lahat ng kadramahan niya kanina.

Nang hindi makatiis ay nag-drive siya papunta sa residensya ng mga Lee pero wala nang katao-tao roon. Nagpunta pa siya sa isa pang bahay ng mga ito pero wala ring tao.

Bumalik siya sa suite at doon na nagpalipas ng gabi baka sakaling bumalik ang binata pero wala ni anino ni Clyde ang nagpakita.

What happened to him? Was he attacked in her own territory? The thought left her wondering.

*****

Wala siyang ginawa sa sumunod na tatlong araw kundi mag-imbestiga sa loob ng hotel building nila kung may nakakita kay Clyde pero wala siyang nalaman ni isang impormasyon.

Naalala tuloy niya ang sinabi ni Cloud noon. Clyde has entries in South Korea but there were no traces that he stayed there.

Gustong-gusto niyang pumunta ng agency para magtanong kay Cloud pero naalala niya lagi ang sinabi ng global head nila na huwag na huwag na siyang magpapakita sa anak nito.

She sighed as she remembered him.

She must admit she missed him.

She missed his presence.

She inhaled deeply as she stared at nothingness. Nasa loob na siya nang sasakyan at di makapag-isip nang susunod na gagawin.

She swallowed hard after a moment. She slowly input some commands on her phone. Ilang araw na niyang iniiwasang gawin ang bagay na ito.

Her heart sank when she saw the result. She no longer had marriage entries in the countries she was trying to hack.

Dapat maging masaya siya. This is what she wanted. But why does she feel otherwise?

Ang gulo.

Was it because at some point she looked forward to that one year with Cloud?

She held a deep breath. She thought she was falling for Clyde. Why does thinking of Cloud hurts more than Clyde disappearing?