Below The Tide (Charity Series #1)

• Fourty Eight •

Betina Tiara

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"Warning! Warning! The special security system has been reset! Restarting in three... two... one..."

Napabalikwas ako ng upo nang umilaw ang emergency red light ng kwarto at umalingawngaw ang AI warning sa buong paligid ko. Kaagad nabuhay ang takot at kaba sa aking dibdib, tila bumalik sa 'kin ang una kong karanasan dito sa apartment na 'to.

Natataranta kong hinanap ang cellphone ko sa kama at nang makita, mga text messages lang na nakatulugan ko kagabi ang nando'n mula kina Carmille, Gavin at Zen.

Agad akong nagtipa ng mensahe kay Zen kahit na alam kong hindi niya 'yun mababasa sa ganitong oras. Good gracious! It’s 3 am in the morning!

Saktong pagpindot ko ng send button, biglang nawala at huminto ang emergency red light at bumalik sa tahimik ang paligid. Tanging tibok na lang yata ng puso ko ang maririnig.

Napahawak ako sa dibdib ko, "What is that..."

Tumaas ang dalawang balikat ko sa gulat nang biglang tumunog ang phone ko sa gitna ng katahimikan. Dinampot ko 'yun at nakitang si Seven ang tumatawag.

"Sev---"

"Betina! Oh my, I’m so glad you picked up right away!"

"Nagising ako sa emergency system ng kwarto. What’s happening?" kunot-noo kong tanong.

"Something is wrong... something major is wrong. I apologize in advance having to tell you something unpleasant that--- I don’t know where to start," he sounds a bit hesitant and worried.

"Seven, relax. Tell me, what’s happening?"

"Do you remember what Light told you before you start to live in the apartment?"

"That aside from classified informations... there are a lot of sensitive materials that installed so he told me not to touch anything especially the drawers?" patanong na sagot ko.

"Yes. There is a special security system in your apartment--- it’s a security system I installed when Silvanna used to live there. Since the classified information includes the private information of a lot of famous businessmen, politicians and some really famous people, there were groups who tried to go after those documents. I don’t know about others but all I know is that there were a lot of secrets shared because she had private conversations with the guests."

"So... Silvanna asked me..." humina ng kaunti ang boses niya, "To install a security system that can blow up all the stored documents when an intruder gets in."

Nagulantang ako sa rebelasyon ni Seven. Kinu-kumbinsi palang ako ni Light noon nang makaisip na 'ko ng kakaiba sa apartment na 'to dahil na rin sa mga sinabi niya pero hindi ko 'yun pinalaki dahil... sino ba naman ang nasa isip ang magpapalagay ng bomba sa tinitirhan na apartment?

But it seems like Silvanna was not in her mind to asked for this kind of security system.

"Intruder?" I asked, "Noong una akong pumasok dito... tumunog lang ‘yung emergency alarm kagaya no’ng sinabi ko sa ‘yo. So, ibig sabihin, dapat ba sasabog na ito no’n?"

"Nagkaroon ng problema, Betina. I’ve found out that the security system was blocked that time and was returned when you woke up. When the system alarmed my computer, the bomb was disabled--- for sure wala ka narinig na AI warning, ‘di ba?"

Napaisip ako sa sinabi niya, "Wala nga..."

"But now, it was activated."

"But in the first place, Seven, bakit ka pumayag?" bahagya akong nairita sa mga nalaman. Hindi ko maisip na magagawa ni Silvanna gawin 'to para lang sa mga secret documents na 'yun.