07:35 P.M.
Cruz Mall Parking Lot.
July 20th, the year 2018. Friday.
"Lieutenant Marcus. I got something confidential to say something to you," Jacob began. Marcus felt the shiver the first time he sat down. They put the air conditioner at its lowest level. And Marcus sighed as he waited for Jacob to spill out everything.
"What is it, Lieutenant Jacob? We need to focus on the murder case of Margo Monteverde. The one that happened right now, the abduction of Katrina Fajardo," Marcus explained. He had no time for nonsensical things. Jacob shook his head relentlessly.
"It's not about that, Lieutenant Marcus. I am here to say something about the murder case of Margo Monteverde. Why was it transferred to my team without your permission," Jacob elaborated. Marcus raised his eyebrows.
He cracked his mouth. He remembered the time when he had to choose between transferring the case and his teammates.
"What about that?" Marcus mumbled and felt his heartbeat getting louder than usual.
"You need to know the secret behind that," Jacob trailed off.
"Another dirty secret from the chief of the police?" Marcus mumbled. He didn't have to surprise himself with it. He rubbed his knees. Marco remembered the results he hid when Xian saw him in his office. It contained the fingerprints of the bracelet founded on Margo Monteverde's crime scene.
He scoffed, realizing he saw another one at the lot earlier.
"Mr. Rosario received a threat from someone," Jacob confessed. Marcus averted his gaze from his knees towards Jacob with widened eyes. So that's why he transferred the case to Jacob?
"Threatened? Threatened by someone? Who was it?" Marcus asked those questions without pause. Jacob shook his head. He looked at him.
"Lieutenant Marcus, I know nothing about that. But I found out when Mr. Rosario talked with the head of national security. It was the morning when he called me to his office and transferred the case rapidly. I can't help but eavesdrop about it. I listened by the door when I came outside," Jacob explained everything. It made Marcus's mouth hang.
"He said to the head of national security to check all the databases with someone named Lordelle. And I don't even know what that means. Mr. Rosario said that he was being threatened," Jacob elaborated.
They heard a lot of commotion going outside of the van. Marcus looked over at the lot, and he saw Mina was talking with the rest of their group.
"Lordelle? Who was it?" Marcus asked while observing Mina holding his forehead and looking up at the sky. Matthew was now knuckling his fists behind Abbey and Carmela was now looking down at her feet. Zoey patted Mina's back, and he felt that the tears in his eyes were now emerging again.
"I don't know. One thing is for sure, it is Margo Monteverde's murder case. And also, the abduction of Katrina," Jacob said, looking straight at the front window of the van. They both got that momentary silence. Marcus tapped his shoulder for about a minute.
"Let's talk after everything dwindles down," Marcus sighed. He climbed out of the van. Marcus slid the door closed. His best friends turned at him in an instant. He swallowed as he took one step towards his best friends.
Zoey immediately ran up to him and wrapped her arms around Marcus. He felt the tears trickling down his cheeks again as he leaned his head over Zoey's shoulders.
Zoey soothed his back and murmured, "It's okay. It's okay, it's not your fault, huh? It's not your fault, okay?"
Marcus sobbed right through his shoulders as the flashes still blind the lot. Mina held his forehead and exhaled an extensive amount of air as he looked the other way. Zoey unclasped both of her arms over Marcus, held him by his face, and mumbled, "We need to be strong, okay? We need to find her."
Marcus sniffed as hard. He stared at the forensic team, holding a tray with the evidence on it. Sergeant Kim, another member of her team, came up to him. She delivered, "The ebony bracelet had an ivory line markings in it."
Marcus looked at her with red and puffy eyes and asked, "What's the ivory line-markings you were saying now?"
Sergeant Kim responded, "Letter X etched through it. Similar to the inscribed figure on Margo Monteverde's wrist."
They all both look stunned as Sergeant Kim said those words to Marcus. He looked at Zoey and the rest of the group as they all fumed.
"There must be something going on here," Zoey mumbled. Marcus looked down at his feet. He recalled how Xian confronted Katrina about that unknown message.
He observed the whole parking lot, assuming that someone was watching them right now. If it's recorded close to them, that means it was someone whom they knew or had an acquaintance with.
"We need to barricade the scanners so that know one will sabotage it. They now granted this case upon you, Lieutenant Dela Rosa. We need to focus on both the abduction case and Margo's murder," Sergeant Kim explained.
Carmela licked her bottom lip. She regretted everything she said to Katrina. The call she always neglected when she saw Katrina's name on the caller ID.
"It was all my fault," Carmela murmured to herself as Abbey shifted her eyes towards her. She shook her head.
"It wasn't you, Carmela. Please, don't say that," Abbey mumbled to her. Carmela felt the angry tears streaming down. She sobbed uncontrollably.
Marcus dismissed Sergeant Kim. He needed to have a word with his best friends. He turned around as Matthew glared at him. Marcus gazed at him as Matthew spoke up.
"Tell us what the hell is happening around here, Marcus?! Isn't that you are the one who was holding Margo's case?!" Matthew barked. Everyone looked at them. They find it out. He's not the one holding Margo's case before Katrina's abduction.
"Is the case transferred to another division somehow?! Why couldn't you say something?!" Matthew burst out to him and Marcus put his hands over his waist. He also glared at Matthew. But he wasn't expecting that Matthew would grab his collar straight away.
"Matthew, please. Calm down," Mina whispered to him while Matthew gripped his collar. Marcus widened his eyes and touched Matthew's arms. He took a step backwards.
"What, have you been lying to us about what was the progress of Margo's murder case?! Say it now!" Matthew shrieked. Marcus sighed, nodding slowly. Matthew let go of his collar suddenly. Marcus exhaled an enormous amount of air.
Matthew brushed his right hand over his hair out of annoyance. He hissed, "Do you know what it felt like to scare yourself? If you are anxious about something that didn't exist? I felt that every day, Marcus! I felt that someone was watching us nearby, trying everything to get us killed!"
Carmela raised her left arm, blabbering, "Matthew, please. It's not this time to say anything right now. Katrina is missing. We need to find her, not to argue about something irrelevant right now."
"Irrelevant? Do you think this is insignificant to you, Carmela? Oh. I forgot, you loathed Katrina. You are happy because she's gone now," Matthew raged. Carmela furrowed her eyebrows. She shook her head, too.
"Margo is dead. Now, Katrina's abducted! What will happen next?! They will kill all of us?!" Matthew yelled over and inhaled a sizable amount of oxygen he could intake. Matthew felt his eyes getting hotter at the last minute as he licked his bottom lip.
"Katrina's birthday is tomorrow. We should all remember that, right?" Matthew mumbled to himself as he drooped down his head again.
"And now, you even lied to us, Marcus, about the case of Margo. Should I say another one? The one where we saw a person the day we played over Sunflower Villa's basketball court. He was also wearing it. You said that we should keep it a secret?" Matthew muttered furiously as Marcus looked up from the ground. They both stared at each other's eyes as Marcus swallowed.