Flee

Chapter 46. Flee

DUMIRETSO sa safe house sina Sinned at Rexton, nandoon din ang iba dahil pag-uusapan ulit ang mga gagawin. Iniwan niya ang mga ito at nag-shower na siya para kahit paano'y mapakalma ang sarili.

Half an hour after, he went to the hospital but he didn't see Rellie at all. Kaagad na tinawagan niya si Arc pero unattended na ang gamit nitong contact number doon.

He cussed as he went back inside the sedan. He dialed Rexton's number but he was not answering the call, too. Kaya si Stone na ang tinawagan niya.

"Where is Rellie?" tanong kaagad niya.

"Huh?"

"Fuck." Mukhang wala pang alam ang huli.

"Why? Did you not see her? I thought you already saved her?" takang-tanong nito.

"Arc's not answering his goddamn phone!"

"Calm down. Nasigaw naman kaagad. Bakit ba naging mainitin na ang ulo mo ngayon? I heard you even tortured the Lestranges. Thought you won't ever kill again?"

He did not answer.

"It was because of her, right?"

Bago pa niya matapos ang tawag ay natatawang pinigilan siya nito.

"Don't end the call yet. Don't you want to know where is your lovely painter?"

Minura niya ito. "I don't have any time to waste, Stone. Kung wala ka nang sasabihin, papatayin ko na 'to."

"Easy. Mainipin naman masyado. Anyway, Arc called me, asking me to keep my mouth shut. Pero dahil mas nauna naman kitang naging kaibigan kaysa sa kaniya, sasabihin ko na lang sa iyo kung nasaan ang sinta mo. Baka mamaya, kung ano na naman ang gawin mo riyan. Bodyguard ka na nga lang diyan, nakuha mo pang—"

He ended the call. He knew that his friend was just tripping him.

Nag-ring ulit ang cellphone pero hindi na niya sinagot. Ilang segundo lang ang nakalipas nang mag-send ito ng picture. If he's not mistaken, it's inside an airplane wherein Arc was there.

As if on cue, Stone called him back. He immediately answered the call.

"I told you, I know where she is." There was no hint of playfulness in his tone now. "They asked me to pull my connections in our airlines, and, yeah, they are now taking a flight to UK. Doon na ipagpapatuloy ni Rellie mo ang pagpapagaling."

He just stared at the steering wheel.

"Are you not going to ask anything?"

Umiling siya na para bang kaharap niya ang kausap. Then, he said, "I'm going back to the safe house."

"Hindi mo susundan?" Bakas ang bahagyang pagkagulat dito.

"May misyon pa."

"Kaya nga ako nagpunta rito para i-pull out ka na sa misyon. Ako na ang tatrabaho kasama sila." Stone sounded as if Sinned should be grateful.

Minura niya ito. "Alam kong pupunta at pupunta ka pa rin naman, huwag mo na akong idahilan pa."

"Pero seryoso, hindi mo susundan? Bakit mo pa ako tinawagan?"

He badly wanted to follow Rellie. But he respected Arc's decision. He had a hunch that he wanted his sister recover without worrying about anything else. For now, Sinned was not welcome beside Rellie.

Halata namang pinoprotektahan ni Arc ang kapatid dahil kung sakaling may makasunod sa kaniya at malamang may namamagitan sa kanila ng babae ay madadamay ito. That's why it's fine for him to stay longer in El Salvador first just to make sure that his identity was safe and no one from de L'Orage would be able to follow him. Mas mainam na ang sigurado.

"I'm still giving you the address, so in case you change your mind," pukaw ni Stone sa atensiyon niya.

"Don't send it." Dahil baka kapag nalaman niya ay ora mismong susunod siya sa magkapatid.

"Bakit?"

"Sapat nang malaman kong buhay siya at ligtas na. Kampante akong hindi siya pababayaan ng kuya niya," dire-diretsong litanya niya.

"Pucha, labas sa ilong ang sinabi mo, ah? Sigurado ka na ba? Ikaw rin, baka gumising iyon na hindi ka na pala kilala."

Nangunot ang noo niya. "Did she have amnesia?"

"What did I say?" takang-tanong ni Stone. "Ah, ang sabi ko, 'baka'," agap nito.

"But she's not critical already, right?"

"I don't know. Baka kaya itinakas dito ay dahil malala na. Mahirap pa naman dito at wanted siya. Baka imbis na gumaling, mamatay na lang—"

"Putangina mo, Gaston, manahimik ka." Hindi man nagtaas ng boses ay nababakas ang iritasyon sa boses niya.

Humalakhak ito na parang nagtagumpay ito sa pang-aasar sa kaniya. "Pero tama ka, saka mo na puntahan, kapag magaling-galing na." Pagkuwa'y nagmura ito. "I almost did not recognize her, man. She even looked lifeless."

He clenched his jaw and he was told that that was the reason why they managed to flee. Ibang identity ang ginamit ni Rellie.

"Anyway, she's with her friend. If you remember Happiness from the Casa Manarang misison, that's that friend I am talking about."

"She lives in London?" Wala na siyang balita sa isa sa mga naging intel nila noon.

"No. She just went there when she knew what happened to her friend."

"How did she know? Don't tell me, you still have a thing with her?"

Isang mababang tawa lang ang isinagot ni Stone. "We were never together."

"But you did fuck her."

Sa tingin niya ay ngumisi ang nasa kabilang linya. Tama nga siya. Hindi lang basta-basta ipinasok ni Stone ang babae sa agency, mukhang iba rin ang ginamit nitong pamamaraan para mapaamo si Hapi.

"We're not in a relationship. You know that I only recruited her, but after that one job, she quitted and decided to fake her death and lived abroad." Apparently, the woman knew about her family's dirty jobs and could not take it anymore, so when Stone purposely became closer to her, she immediately agreed to be their spy. That's that one and only job she took, the Casa Manarang's case. Stone added, "Romano backed her up to have a job in their vineyard in Italy."

"Alam ba ni Rellie?"

Stone said no. "Rellie only have this impression that the two of them fell apart just as what happened to her old friends. She doesn't even have any idea about Happiness' death since she lived abroad for a long time. But I think she'll know now. After all, she kind of have any idea about Phoenix already."

"'Kay."

He did not want to make the conversation longer. Gusto niyang magpahinga muna saglit. Tutal ay maayos ang lagay ni Rellie at iyon naman ang pinaka-importante.