When the swimming competition came to an end, I quickly ran towards Massey and hugged her. "You are so great! You came in second!" I said with joy.
Massey smiled happily as she giggled. "Alright, Mum will go somewhere. Where are your friends?" I asked.
"Over there," Massey pointed at a group of little girls talking to their parents.
"Let me first talk to your teacher," I said as I walked towards Massey's swim teacher.
"Hello, I want to briefly go somewhere. I will be back soon. Can I leave my daughter in your care?" I asked.
"No problem, we haven't even celebrated. The winners have to take home prizes; it's okay to leave Massey here," the teacher elaborated.
"Okay, I am Massey's mother. Please watch over her for me; I will be back shortly," I said.
"No problem, it's our responsibility as teachers to keep an eye on our students," she replied.
I sighed in relief as I left. I would quickly find out the contents of the drives, make a copy, and store these drives in the necklace again. This was someone's lifelong work; I had to handle it with care.
I stealthily left school and asked around for an internet café. I was pointed to a very high-standard one, I guess because of the clothes I was wearing.
However, I wanted everything to be done secretly; that's why I left my phone in Massey's bag. That man had told me that it had a tracker in it, and I couldn't risk it.
I went to a nearby shop, removed my clothes, put on everyday clothes, and headed to a hidden internet café.
"What can I do for you, beautiful?" a man with multiple hair colors said as he attentively looked at me.
"Well, can you retrieve the images or pictures on memory cards?" I asked.
"Of course, that's so simple. Let's see these memory cards first," the man extended his hands as he requested. I hesitated; this place was so open, with some people looking in our direction. I didn't want the information to be leaked.
The man seemed to sense my worry. "So secretive? Okay, follow me," he said as he walked towards another room. I followed behind him.
There were two thin men with glasses in there, heads bowed as they typed away on their computers.
"Hm? Who is this beauty? I would remember if I met someone like her," one man at the laptop said as he noticed our presence.
"This is our special client; confidential information retrieval," the man who brought me in said.
"Oh, look at my mouth! I am Dot; he is Sign," the man said as he pointed at himself, then at the other man whose head hadn't left the computer.
"I am Cable," the guy who brought me in said. I was suddenly confused by their names. "We don't use our names for security reasons," Cable added.
"Sign? Quickly install your firewall; we have to retrieve some important information," Cable said.
"One moment, let me finish this code," Sign said before loudly pressing a button on the computer and turning to us.
"Damn, you weren't lying, Dot; I am blinded by beauty," Sign said. I was amused by them.
"Stop playing around; quickly work on her," Cable said.
Sign then asked for the memory cards, and I handed them to him. He first pressed some keys that I couldn't understand on the computer, then put the memory cards in some drive—I don't know—before inserting it into the computer. He gave the other card to Dot, who did the same.
"Let's see... what could be hidden here?" Dot curiously said.
On Sign's computer, a video had already opened. I saw Tanti! She was following Zire stealthily while filming with her phone. Suddenly, I saw Zire meet up with some man who threw what seemed to be a drugged girl. Zire then proceeded to open the car boot and throw the girl in.
"Shit, this is serious," the sign said as he increased the volume.
"The other one died," the man talking to Zire in the video said.
"How long will this go on? I am losing money!" Zire shouted.
As the video progressed, Tanti might have been shocked by the events as her phone fell to the ground. The man talking to Zire immediately ran towards her direction before pulling her by her hand and bringing her to Zire.
"Sir, it's your wife," the man in the video said.
"Shit! Tanti! You have always been nosy. We have a great time together; why do you have to spoil it?" Zire, in the video, furiously shouted.
"What should we do, sir?" the man asked.
"Check her phone first. Let's hope nothing was spread out," Zire commanded.
The man then forcefully took Tanti's phone and pressed somewhere, possibly deleting the video.
"Zire, what is this? What are you going to do with that girl?" Tanti, in the video, asked.
"Tanti! I really liked you; you also know that. I am sorry," Zire said in the video before grabbing Tanti's head and banging it hard against the nearby concrete wall, causing her to immediately go limp. He then proceeded to check her vitals before he threw her in the car.
"Let's go; we shall handle her case just like any other," Zire said before the cars drove away. The footage came to an end.
"Shit! Shit! This is bad!" Sign said. I discovered that tears had run down my face; I quickly wiped them away. I knew it! It wasn't an accident; Tanti, my childhood friend, was simply murdered!
"Provide a copy to me; send it on this phone," I said. I had bought a new, cheap smartphone since the other one was being tracked. I would use this one instead.
"Damn, ma'am, the money will increase a bit. This isn't a simple video; we are all in this together now," Cable said.
"No problem," I said. I had money that I had saved over the years in case of anything.
"Guys!" Dot suddenly called in a frightened voice.
I headed towards his direction; what I saw made a chill run down my body. A body of a man was put in a drum as a man in a mask poured some chemicals into it. I saw smoke—vapour—rise from the drum as the man's body sunk deeper.
"How did you handle that girl, Sophie? She works in your house?" the man in the video asked a man who was outside the camera's lens. However, no answer was heard from that man as the video came to an end.
My heart immediately dropped. Wasn't that Henry? Sophie was working at Henry's house!
"We have to close this café down, effective immediately!" I heard Cable say.
"Please make a copy; I will have to bring justice to my friend!" I said.
Dot and Sign made copies and returned the cards back to me. I placed them back in the necklace.
"We shall leave Muni now. As for you, ma'am, I will give you a piece of advice: if you know the people in this video, just leave this place. You can't bring such people to justice," Cable said as he quickly left.
I thanked them and gave them a grateful sum of money before I left. I then changed back into my former clothes and headed back to Massey's school; however, my whole body was shivering in fright at what I had witnessed.
This group of people were murderers; they were capable of doing anything. Suddenly, Henry's brutal actions made sense. This was what he basically did; I guess it was simply normal to him!
When I arrived at school, I saw an ambulance entering the premises and parents whispering. I therefore asked one parent what the problem was.
"A child in the swimming team just had an allergic reaction. Her parent is also a careless one, leaving her alone at such an event!" the parent exclaimed.
My heart stopped as I quickly ran towards the swimming arena. I hoped that it wasn't Massey; I prayed that it wasn't my daughter!