09:57 P.M.
Xian Santos's Residence.
July 20th, the year 2018. Friday.
Marcus turned to Xian with the unlocked cuffs. Xian gladly let both of his hands in the air for Marcus to place it on its own accord. They heard the loud click of the cuffs as it surrounded Xian's wrists. He let it fall over his abdomen as Carmela stared at his eyes.
Xian beamed at her, reassuring that everything will be alright.
"I am arresting you, Mr. Xian Santos. Suspicion of being an accomplice to Katrina Fajardo's abduction case. You do not have the right to say anything. It may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on the court." Marcus fixed the cuffs while saying it as they all stared at Xian's wrists.
"Anything you say may be evidence against you," Marcus finished. He glared at Xian's eyes. Sammy looked down at her feet, as they now arrested her son for something that he could not do.
Xian sighed, and Marcus put his hands over his hips. He looked at Carmela, Matthew, Mina, and Abbey, who were watching him with bafflement. Aunt Sammy was still staring down at her feet and didn't even bother to utter a word.
Marcus shifted his eyes towards his girlfriend. Zoey sulked her shoulders down as she smiled sadly. He turned again to Xian and nodded towards the outside of their house.
"Don't worry, Xian, I will be the one who will interrogate you. But... I can't guarantee that you will not be going to jail. The bracelet has your fingerprints," Marcus explained. Xian looked at him with that emotionless eye. Xian swallowed. He knew that everything that was going on here had to be leading towards the real culprit. He clenched his jaw, determined to cooperate with this case.
Carmela opened her mouth, saying, "You don't need to apologize, Aunt Sammy. We should not all be blaming ourselves for what was happening right now. The situations we are now facing were no one's fault."
Carmela gripped her hand tightly. Aunt Sammy's tears brimmed in her eyes and she looked at her side.
"You can go. You need to investigate everything. If you need my cooperation with the case, I would be glad to oblige," Aunt Sammy mumbled. Carmela removed her grip from her hand and turned her heel around hurriedly. Aunt Sammy breathed anxiously. She heard the cars outside of the house starting one by one and driving outside of their street.
Xian sat uncomfortably in the passenger seat of Marcus's car. He grunted and felt the numbness again over his right leg. He exhaled as he bit his lip, and Marcus glanced at him with concern.
"Are you okay? Do we need to stop over at the hospital first to check your leg?" Marcus asked as Xian shook his head repetitively.
"No, no, no. I can tolerate this. Don't worry. We need to carry on the case no matter what," Xian mumbled as he bit his lip again as the cast got tighter and tighter.
"Are you sure that you don't need any medical help right now? I can send you to our clinic before we interrogate you, okay?" Marcus said as Xian didn't have time to argue because he called someone on the station. Marcus's car zoomed through the highway. Before they even knew it, they were outside of the station in a blink of an eye.
"If the results said that it has your name, we can't do anything rather than put you in a holding cell. We can release you by the time we have the real culprit handcuffed. You were the one with that result. You are our number one suspect, Xian," Marcus elaborated. Xian exhaled first and nodded. He understood everything. He needed to oblige with the police rules since they were crucial happenings right now.
"Will he be there for some time?" Aunt Sammy asked. It made Marcus turn to her abruptly. Xian looked over at her mother and muttered to mom as Marcus sighed.
"Yeah, Aunt Sammy. We needed to do that as the police, don't worry, we will check him every minute. I will do that on behalf of you," Marcus said. Aunt Sammy stared at him for a full minute and nodded as he motioned for Xian to follow him into his car.
Aunt Sammy glanced at Carmela. She held her shoulder as she was about to follow Marcus, Xian, and Zoey out of the door.
"Can I... can I ask you a favor?" Aunt Sammy asked. Carmela stopped when Abbey, Matthew, and Mina walked past her as they went outside of the house in peace. Carmela nodded hastily. She glared at her best friends outside of the door.
"I need to go back to the opera house tonight. Can you look out for Xian for today?" Aunt Sammy's worried face made Carmela exhale. She can't even bother to disagree with what she was saying. Carmela nodded and minded that she needed to text her aunt again about Hannah.
"Thank you so much, Carmela. I owe you an apology." Aunt Sammy grabbed a hold of her right hand and she smiled at her earnestly.
Marcus snickered as he saw different paparazzi all over the place. They were waiting for someone to come out later at night and he leaned back in his seat as he looked over at Xian.
"What can we do? We need to get past that even if it means that my career would fall out." Xian's eyes were now gloomier than usual. He knew that everything that he had been attaining now backfire. Xian exhaled, closing his eyes tightly.
"Let's go," Marcus decided first to climb out of his car. The paparazzi's surprised to see the Lieutenant. He walked to the other side of the car and opened it. He guided Xian out as he limped.
As soon as Xian's face emerged from the hood of the car, the chatter started. The flashes of the camera became blinding, as usual. The night became disrupted as the reporters crammed on their way as Marcus tried to shove them all away. His teammates were waiting on the other side of the door and they opened the glass doors suddenly.
The police officers and the detectives all scrambled out of the station in time. Marcus guided the limping Xian inside. Reporters were all simultaneously asking questions of Marcus and Xian. They didn't even bother to answer one question until they reached the glass doors.
The officers halted hand by hand over the doors. Marcus and Xian stopped a few inches inside while looking at the reporters.
"For sure, my face will be all over the internet and television now," Xian muttered. Marcus put his hands over his hips as he nodded towards a police officer who saluted him six paces away from him.
"So where do I have to stay?" Xian asked. Marcus's cell phone pinged some text. He quickly saw that his best friends couldn't get in because of the reporters. Marcus answered his girlfriend back. Lieutenant Lirio and Sergeant Kim went inside, panting.
"Take Mr. Santos over the holding cell on the Major Crimes division floor. I will investigate him later and call the doctor in the clinic. His leg needed some checkup," Marcus commanded. Lieutenant Lirio and Sergeant Kim both nodded. They guided the limping Xian towards the elevators.
Marcus went over to the Formal Bureau of Investigation's office since he was the head. He took the right hallway towards the office. He nodded repetitively to the police officers who were saluting him. Marcus didn't notice someone who bumped into him.
"I'm sorry," Marcus apologized as he saw a hem of the black hoodie's jacket where he bowed his head down. He stared up as it walked away fast. They draped the hood of his jacket over his head that made Marcus knuckled his fists right away. He stove up fast and punch him right by his back, using his right elbow, which made him fall on the floor.
Marcus hastily retrieved another set of handcuffs from his pockets. He gripped the man's right wrist over his back. He screeched out in pain. The hood of his jacket wore off, and Marcus got astonished with what he saw.