Project LOKI ③

Chapter 44: Dead Man's Switch VIII (The D-Day)

A/N: The eighth day of your daily dose of an update!

LORELEI

LET'S TURN back the hands of time, two hours before the expose.

"Do you think na mako-convince mo ang switch?" tanong ni Alistair. "Na abandonahin ang pangako niya kay Augustus?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "It's a gamble. Pwedeng gumana. Pwedeng hindi. It all depends on that person. Kung tama kasi ang hinala natin na nangangailangan siya ng financial resources, he would seriously consider the idea."

Today is Friday, the day of the expose. Nag-usap kaming dalawa sa labas ng classroom, nakasandal sa railings kung saan tanaw namin ang campus square. This is the calm before the storm. Maaliwalas ang kalangitan na parang walang bagyo na paparating.

Last night, our mission to sneak into Sir Ephraim Quirino's apartment was a failure. We didn't know na lumipat na pala siya. The info that Maggie gave us was from the personnel file when the former teacher was still working in Clark High. He visited the campus when he delivered a eulogy for Augustus' memorial, but I doubt he'd openly share to anyone na umalis na siya sa tinutuluyan niya dahil hindi na niya afford ang rent.

My plan relied on the fact that he'd choose money over Augustus' last will. Kapag mas matindi ang pangangailangan niya, mas mataas ang tsansa na i-delay niya ang pag-expose sa mga sikretong nasa iniwang box ni Augustus. That's right. What we can do at this very moment was to delay him. But as long as the box is in his possession, he's still dangerous. He could leak any of the secrets any time he wanted. Kung in-entertain niya ang idea na gamitin ang mga hawak niya para kumita, maybe he'd choose to leak the secrets once his victims refuse to pay.

"Tell me, Lorelei," tawag sa akin ni Alistair. "Nakasisigurado ka ba na walang hawak si Augustus laban sa iyo? I can say for myself that I'm clean. I haven't done anything that might be worthy of being used against me."

Huminga ako nang malalim at itinuon sa campus square ang aking tingin. "Remember when Augustus and I had a talk? Na palihim niyang ni-record ang mga sinabi ko?"

"So there's a recording, huh?" Alistair nodded, narrowing his eyes into slits. "You think that's one of the secrets he kept in the box?"

I gazed at him and gave him a nod. Nang naikwento ko sa kanya ang "Race to the Truth" challenge ni Augustus, I only told him a version of the truth. I didn't tell him everything dahil may mga bagay na hindi pa niya dapat malaman. "Babalik at babalik pa rin tayo sa notebook. Ang buong akala ko, tapos na ang isyu na 'to."

It's like a ghost that kept on haunting me.

"At the very least, Loki will find out na you lied to him about the notebook's contents," Alistair said, sighing. "Well, that's not exactly right. Kahit ikaw lang ang ni-record ni Augustus, I will also be involved dahil kasama mo ako nang makita natin ang laman ng notebook. It's a burden that we share. Kung talagang kasama ang audio clip sa box, then..."