Justin did not show up in the mansion the next morning. Wala ring balita tungkol sa kanya matapos maputol ang tawag niya ng gabi. Thus, Apollo and I went underground to see Xander before we went to the university.
We were already outside our office when I noticed the paper pasted below Justin and Xander's names on the wall beside the door. I took the paper revealing my name and Apollo's.
The paper reads: Mrs & Mr Torralba which looked like it was hand-written by a kindergarten.
I heard Apollo chuckled before going inside the office. Malamang siya na naman ang gumawa nito. I made a face and was about to crumple it when I noticed something odd about the way it was written.
Oo, mukha iyong sinulat ng bata, pero parang sinadya iyong gawing ganoon. Kaya sa halip na lakumusin at itapon, itinupi ko iyon ng maayos at ibinulsa bago ako pumasok ng opisina.
Naroon na si Xander na nakasandal sa mesa niya habang pinag-aaralan ang mga idinikit niyang pictures at mga nakasulat sa malaking white board sa dingding.
"Ikaw ba naglagay nung letseng papel sa ibabaw ng pangalan ko at pangalan ni Apollo sa labas?" tanong ko rito.
"Why would I do such stupid thing," he said without pulling his gaze from the data in the board.
So hindi niya napansin ang napansin ko. Malakas ang kutob kong si Justin ang nagdikit nun.
"Bakit, inalis mo?" tanong naman sa akin ni Apollo.
Tumabi ako kay Xander at tinignan rin ang board. "Oo," matipid kong sagot.
Lumapit sa amin si Apollo at inabutan ako ng isang tasang kape. "Asan na?"
"Sinunog ko," sagot ko at hinigop ang mainit na likido. Kuhang-kuha na ni Apollo ang gusto kong timpla ng kape kaya madalas hinahayaan ko nang siya ang gumawa ng akin.
Xander sighed. He massaged his temple with his knuckles. The guy was stressed. Halata sa magulo nitong buhok, wala sa ayos na neck tie at gusot at nakalilis na long sleeves. Isang araw pa lang ang nagdaan. Ano ba ini-expect nya? Ma-solve ang isang black coded na kaso sa loob lang ng bente-kwatro oras?
"Were you up all night?" tanong ko rito.
Tumango ito at nagtungo sa upuan niya. Isinandal nito ang ulo sa sandalan ng upuan pagka-kwan at ipinikit ang mga mata. The legendary Hunter was slowly losing his arrows.
Pumunta ako sa mesa ko, ganundin si Apollo sa sariling niyang mesa malapit sa akin. He gave me a brief meaningful look before busying himself on whatever he was working.
"Have you found out anything already?" Tanong ko muli kay Xander
Nanatili lang siyang nakapikit, pero sumagot siya. "The dead politician was a city councilor planning to run as mayor on the coming election."
"And?" untag ni Apollo.
"And apparently someone wanted him dead."
"Sino sa palagay mo?"
Dumilat siya at tumingin sa akin. "I don't assume, Nyx."
Binuka ko ang bibig ko para sana sumagot pero itinikom ko rin. I just realized my mistake.
"Any possible suspects? That's what she meant." Apollo said saving me from embarrassment.
Xander's eyes seemed to laugh. At nakuha pa niyang ma-amuse sa amin. How annoying.
BINABASA MO ANG
Agent Night (Tagalog | Complete)
ParanormalFour dead students, one dead politician, one dead secret agent. What do they have in common--four punctured wounds in the neck and a strange burnt mark in each dead missing body. With a trusted team member missing, a partner who nearly died because...
