Aggressive Predator

The next day, Lucas drove the eerily quiet Grant and Zoey to school. He glanced to his left where Grant is seated and caught his brother stealing glances at Zoey through the rearview mirror. They were half-way to Bay Institute when Lucas could no longer tolerate the silence, so he turned the radio on but it was turned off right away by his brother. Annoyed, he glared at his brother before giving the radio another try, but Grant turned it off, yet again. 

Zoey huffed, irritated by the siblings' skirmish that she took her seatbelt off and turned the radio on herself. The next thing that happened surprised the brothers. Instead of going back to her seat, she pulled the giant's ear, "Don't you dare touch the radio again. Understand?" Grant shrank back to his seat and bobbed his head. He's not in the mood to pick up a fight with the Macaw this morning after the rollercoaster of emotions he endured last night.

...

Bay Institute

Once they reached school, Lucas stayed for a few minutes and waited for Jenny. He parked his car under the shade of an after peak cherry blossom tree — its tranquil pink petals have already fallen, giving way to lively green leaves. He closed his eyes for a second to think about his next course of action. He would be away for a month or two, and there was too much work for him to handle. On top of that, Grandma Co's request pricked his conscience with pins and needles too. 

Not far from his side mirror's view, a moving champagne metallic BMW suddenly stopped behind his pickup truck. Jenny alighted the car, her aura was brilliant like the sun, blinding Lucas in his seat. He smiled at the girl who ran towards his pickup truck and rolled down his window.

"Good morning, handsoooome!" she stood by the window and poked his cheek. He playfully bit her finger, but she didn't feel any pain at all. Instead, she felt her stomach release a million butterflies, making her giggle and blush pink like the cherry blossom flowers that flew in the air.

"I'll pick you up after school."

"Okaaay. I'll see you then," Jenny poked his cheek for the second time; however, Lucas did not bite her finger as she anticipated. He held her wrist and rubbed the back of her hand on his face, smelling the fresh fig scent of her hand cream, wishing to keep her by his side forever. She could sense that something odd must be bothering him again but did not press on. 

"You can borrow my hands if you like, but you need to hurry up and chop it clean because I'm gonna be late for class." Lucas kissed the back of Jenny's hand, and foolishly smiled at her words. On the other side of the window, Jenny tapped the tip of her right foot and fiddled with the hem of her skirt, gleeful to see Lucas's eyes shaped like a crescent moon, and his dashing gummy smile.

"Sunnnnnnnny!" her friends called out to her. She scanned the school grounds, but her search was futile until Grant started blowing air in a trumpet producing a fart 'pffffft' sound. Jenny laughed until she cried and she waved her hand to let her friends know that she spotted their location. 

She kissed Lucas goodbye, and fairy-like waltzed towards Bay Institute. Up on the building's rooftop, Hugo grabbed the trumpet away from the copycat and started playing 'We Are the Champions' by Queen. The Hilltop Friends dropped a white banner with a humongous "Welcome Back, Sunny!" written on it.

Jenny covered her eyes to shield it from the sun's rays and inhaled the fresh spring scent. She tapped her chest with her hands, touched by the ceremonious reception.

"Welcome back, Sunny. Welcome back," Jenny whispered.

...

Olympic Village Harbor

Helicopters whirred and hovered over the Olympic Village Harbor. News crews and government officials were present at the marine salvage of the Capital Ferry.

A jet black Eurocopter EC135 landed on the helipad, stealing the show but was cut short when Lucas stylishly hopped out and removed his aviators; folding and clipping it on his white polo shirt with sleeves that had been rolled-up, matched with khaki shorts and boat shoes which completed his ensemble.

'Who is this dashing man?' Most of them thought, especially the ladies, but Lucas just gave them a small smile, a bit self-conscious of the stares.

Inside the Olympic Village Harbor's office, Senator Travis and Coach Stevenson were having a discussion about Bay Institute's graduation ball when Lucas walked in. He walked towards the two and shook hands with them.

"Why are you here, bro?" Stevenson asked.

"Father asked me to assist him."

Lie. What Lucas said was a lie, but Senator Travis and Coach Stevenson gave him the benefit of the doubt. After all, his father was the incumbent Chief of Naval Operations. 

Each had their own agenda for coming today, and they must kill time until the initial phase of the marine salvage was over. So the trio pretended to study the blueprint on how the ferry would be salvaged, complete with matching furrowed eyebrows as if they were doing something significant or else others will come and strike up a conversation with them which was something they don't want to happen.

A few minutes later, an officer ran inside, panting and dripping with noontime sweat. "Senator, body count is complete. Ferry is free of cadavers. We can cross-check it with the manifest."

Stevenson's heart began to pound in his chest. He saw three names on the list that were still missing. One of them belongs to his beauty.

Lucas stood in a corner and leisurely watched as people go in and out of the office, and when the officer reported an update, he stealthily left the office to check the bodies that were exhumed from the carnage.

The bodies were all slimy, bloated, and grey. Thankfully, none of them was the pirate. Lucas covered his nose with a handkerchief and immediately left the scene.

"Where have you been?" Stevenson asked Lucas the instant he entered the air-conditioned room.

"Nothing,"

"So we have three ladies missing, but we only got two. Maybe the last one was unaccounted for or forgot to sign because of confusion," an officer gave a small rundown on the details.

Stevenson looked at the list and narrowed down to one name that isn't crossed out yet: Chinshih Dong. His finger pointed at her name and Senator Travis noticed it.

Senator Travis repeatedly said the name in his head, trying to remember where he encountered it. He jerked when he finally recalled that cursed name.

Stevenson noticed his edginess and probed his uncle, "Everything okay, Uncle?" Instead of answering his question, Senator Travis frisked his pants for a cigar and excused himself. 

He followed his uncle outside, bothered by the old man's jittering. When Stevenson found Senator Travis, the latter already got his fill of nicotine to soothe his raging nerves. He stomped on the cigar and said, "The missing body. Chinshih Dong. She's the witness against The Foundation."

Lucas stopped in his tracks when he heard Senator Travis whisper the Pirate's name. He was on his way back to his helicopter but unfortunately heard Senator Travis drop the bomb. He glanced at Stevenson, who did not look well at all; his face was flushed and high-strung as if ready to burn the whole place down.

"Hey, Lucas! Going home? Wait for me."

Stevenson ran up to Lucas and did not even bid goodbye to his uncle. And once they got inside, Stevenson let out a half-cry, half-laugh sound to make sport of his ridiculous situation.

"Can you land this thing in my villa, brother?"

"The question should be… can your villa accommodate my ride?"

The two shared a laugh as they flew away and watched the marine salvage below. Lucas itched to ask Stevenson why he scurried away from Senator Travis and hurried to go home; however, it was none of his business, so he silently observed the guy whose legs ceaselessly tremor throughout the flight.

Stevenson's seaside villa was a ten minute detour, and he thought it was his best chance to at least let one person know of his predicament. "Brother, how do you protect a girl who lost her memory?" he paused and looked at Lucas's eyes, trying to figure out if the person could be trusted.

"Chinshih Dong?" Lucas asked, finally putting the puzzle pieces together. Stevenson maniacally laughed, of course, he knew Lucas would figure it out somehow. 

Some might snob him because of his identity, but the guy doesn't mind at all because for him it worked to his advantage - what with his heightened senses akin to an aggressive predator who mimics its prey. 

The atmosphere in the helicopter suddenly changed when they realized they belong to opposite factions. Stevenson checked Lucas's expression, but the guy had two decades of experience in the art of different ways to show a blank face.

"He he, brother. I guess I'm on your side now?"

Edited by Swaning