I let the call go on again and we talk.
"Thank you for holding," I say kindly. "I had to talk to someone. What were you saying, miss?"
"I say this to you right now, end your investigation," she says. "I promise, you will be rewarded greatly. Miss Aguinaldo, what is it that you truly want?"
"Excuse me?" I say incredulously.
Whoever this woman is, I need to know. I have to know. She managed to orchestrate the murder of an innocent man. Who knows? Anyone can be a victim. Those she bribed and threatened them into submission never spoke a word against her again. Not only she bribed the journalists, but she also bribed the elite, the police, and others of some sort. Maybe she did not bribe them. Maybe she is truly that influential amongst the people. Whoever this woman is, she is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
I look at Mateo and I see him a few meters away from me as he calls someone who can trace the ongoing call. An ongoing call is much easier to trace than an ended call. I need to keep this conversation going. I already know that I shan't be convinced to search for the truth. In these times that the truth is the lie and a lie is a truth, we need to make reality show when nobody else would. The truth is the most powerful weapon we have.
"What is it that you want?" she says crossly. "Tell me. You can ask everything from me. All you have to do is say end your investigations and let everything go scot-free."
"I cannot be bought by a bribe," I say flatly.
"Oh, please," she says carelessly. "Everyone can be bought. It worked for everyone else. Why not you? Do you need money? Influence? Power? You know, I can make you into a successful journalist to the point that you will become a news anchor."
Her words seem gibberish to me. It was as if I no longer care about getting on top of the world. That was my goal since the days that I had to work my butt off to raise my standard of living. At the back of my mind then, I wanted to be like the elite like Eloisa and Emma. That is why I somewhat bear prejudice against them and I speak bitterly about their easy lives. Things have changed as it seems. I became a journalist. Yes, I have my degree, but the truth and the lie mattered not to me. I want to do something that I enjoy (that is investigating) while rising up in the world. Now, from ambition, I do my job out of passion and I shall not be convinced with her words. No matter what she says, I am deaf to her words.
"A true journalist would search for the truth," I say levelly. "I cannot be bought, Madame. I have my values straight. I am not someone you can bribe like the people you bribed and intimidated with your mafia."
Mateo is taking a long time. Our call cannot keep going with continuous "no's" for an answer. Soon, this call will end with a threat to our lives and I expect that. She is running out of patience. Come on! What is taking so long?
"Miss Aguinaldo, I know what you want," she says cunningly. "Your dear friend, Emma, is dying in a hospital. Perhaps you would like to give her an easy death and find the man in a snap."
I am aghast. Suddenly, several thoughts flooded my mind. I am lost for words.
"How. . . how do you know?" I stammer.
Four things I love in the world: my job, my family, my God, and my friends. Yes, I am ambitious and greedy for money since I grew up in poverty. Yes, I left my family for I want to live a fine life while I support them. Yes, my God condemns me for being avaricious in my ambition. Still, my friends are here and we supported each other. I was there when Eloisa just lost her priestly nature and became a drug addict. I was there when Emma went through all several marriage arrangements that we sought to break since she claims, "she deserves much better". They were there when I had nothing and they gave me what I needed every time. They gave much more than what I need. I deserve to pay the kind-heart back. A chance to see her beloved would be the final gift and final favor I can show her.
Still, I do not lay my time on finding him, but my sleep is troubled with the thought of a man that Emma loved despite being ordinary like me. I want her to die in peace that is why I want to find the man for her. Still, I cannot do anything. I am tempted by her suggestion. I try to feel in my mouth if saying 'yes' would be the best option. I shake my head at the thought. I know that it is nothing more but a means to let go of my newly found principles.
"It does not matter," she says. "You know, I can give you more than that since that information is too easy to give. You are a self-made woman, I get that, so here's my advice to you. Stay away and burn the evidence you have."
It was as if a winter breeze blew and I feel the strength to make a fire. I make my stand against her and I am suddenly strong to say no.
"No," I say flatly. "Bribe whoever you want. Threaten those who would not, but I say this to you. I will not be threatened or bribed. I am a true journalist in heart and in soul. The truth is my life."
"Poor shame," she says crossly. "You play the saint-like your friend. Does holiness run in the family? You are strong. It seems you inherited your father's attitude on standing by his morals."
My father? How does she know my father? My father has been long dead. He died five years ago. I had to carry the burden of supporting my family when my sisters had to depend on me and my mother to support them.
"Speak not about it," I say coldly. "My father is long dead."
"Oh, truly, I speak true," she presses on. "I tried bribing and threatening him, but he would not yield."
"Stop!" I exclaim in pain. "My father is dead! Do not try to bring back the pain!"
She captured my attention. My father has only been away for five years. He is barely cold in the ground for me. I can still feel the pain for the father that gave me everything even though he has nothing. I look at Mateo, and I see that it is done. He gave a short nod as he writes some details down on his notepad. I should end this call now, but I want to know more. I want to know if she spoke with my father before he died.
"No, Rosanna," she says. "He is not dead. Don't be foolish. You are a greater fool than your great friend."
"No, you. . . lie!" I exclaim.
I cannot help but get a grasp that she is indeed saying something much worse. No, it can't be. She's only playing me for a fool. I cannot be affected. She is lying. Denial runs through my head with what I heard and truly, I pray that she is only bluffing. He bribed or threatened her way. What should be on her way to lie and bluff her way to me?
"If you are thinking about your father lying six feet beneath the ground, then you are a fool not to know the truth," she says bluntly. "Deaths will come to those who would not yield. Remember that, Miss Aguinaldo. I assure you, this one is no lie. I do not bluff."
This is too much for me. Now, she claims that I have another father besides the one I buried five years ago. I had my good memories of my father and I do not want this woman meddling with it. She is lying. She is trying to trick me into yielding to her in the pretense that a man, who is supposed to be my real father, will die if I do not. I do not care. Kill the man for all I care! Her lies and threats won't soften me into submission.
"You cannot trick me, Madame!" I say stoutly. "No, I am no fool. If you think you can trick me into giving into your demands through this way, well, it is not enough. Nothing will ever be enough. Good day, Madame."
And with no more words to say, I dropped the call and held my phone firmly as I think things through. Suddenly, a thought came to me. What if she speaks true? What if it is no idle threat? What if this is no bluff but blackmail? I am utterly confused, but now that Mateo has traced the call, I can finally confront this woman and tell it straight to her face that she is going down as soon as we know who she is and prove that she is the mastermind of all the crimes she tried to hide.
"It took you a long time to drop the call," he says. "Rose, you should not have done so."
"I know," I say admittedly. "I should not have listened to a stranger."
"No, I meant, you should not have prolonged the call," he says. "What if her intention was to trace where you are just like we did for her? Anyway, why do you want to trace that woman?"
"That woman is the mastermind," I say shortly. "She is the root of all these problems."
"And you believe that?" he asks incredulously.
"Yes," I say. "She is willing to lie, bluff, bribe, and threaten to get what she wants. I don't know her reasons for killing the heir, but I do know that she wants something. I know it."
"And, you traced that call so that you could confront her?" he asks. "Is that it?"
"Yes," I say.
"Rose, this is a trap!" he exclaims. "She wants you to find her for yourself and then she will kill you."
"She has every reason to kill me," I say. "I have a story against her. I have a great connection with the elite even though I am nothing more than a self-made journalist. Most of all, I am a friend to the betrothed of the man stabbed to death. They would not kill you, of course. Though you are disgraced, you are still a Macedo – son of the CEO of a media company, grandson of a military general, and shall I go on? "
"Rose, this is the plan we conceived – we find the mastermind, find proof, publish the story, then, the police will do the rest," he says calmly. "You do not find the woman, face her, and get yourself killed."
"I want to face her," I say simply. "I want to see who she is. She knows who I am. I must certainly know her too."
"It will be your death," he says. "Come on, I traced the call at a bar 250 meters away from here."