Bullet

Chapter 35

ANNIE

"HE'S sleeping in his quarters." Umikot ang mga mata ko at muling humiga patagilid. "Bakit ka nandito? Go back to your own room, Luke. Wala na rito si Apollo, napabalik ko na siya sa kuwarto niya."

I felt the weight of the other side of the bed. Pagkatapos ay naramdaman ko ang brasong yumakap sa beywang ko. Luke sighed as he put his chin above my shoulder. He, then planted a soft kiss on my arm making me sigh as well.

"Nagpapasaway ang kapatid mo sa kuwarto niya. He's not asleep at all, Annie. He wanted to go out." Na-stress ako bigla sa narinig. I turned around to face Luke. "Gusto niya raw pumunta kay Nadia. Hindi ba talaga natin 'yon palalabasin?"

"If only you were sensitive enough to stop him from doing those reckless things then I would have let him go to his wife. Pero nakita mo naman diba? Nakita mo kung gaano kagalit ang kapatid ko sa traydor na iyon na baka kung wala ako roon ay mapatay niya si Zamora. And you just let him!"

"Annie," He called me softly. "C'mon, hon. Your brother might be sometimes reckless especially when he's mad, but if there's one thing I'm sure about him, it is that he's not stupid, Annie. Lieutenant Colonel Santiago is not stupid, no matter how reckless he can be. He knows what he's doing."

"Pero lasing pa rin." I scoffed and turned away from him.

"Annie---"

"I was scared, actually." Bumuntong-hininga ako. "I was scared when I saw Apollo because he didn't look like Apollo that time. He wasn't my brother. Parang sa mga oras na iyon, nagkapalit ang kaluluwa nila ni Zamora. Because I never knew my brother could threaten anyone like that."

"Not anyone, hon. Zamora almost took everything from us. He even took a toll on Martin. Even Nadia. Kaya naiintindihan ko rin kung bakit sumabog ang kapatid mo. Lalo na nang malaman niyang kasamahan din pala ni Zamora si Liana."

Napalingon ako sa kaniya roon. "Is that really true? Or are we just accusing an innocent woman?"

"It's true." Tumango siya. "I was with him during that time. We caught the girl sneaking inside. Actually, she's not even sneaking. She insisted to be the one to bring the food inside Zamora's room. Iyon pala ay dahil mag-uusap sila."

Tila sinuntok ang puso ko roon. "So...are they talking about a plan?"

"No. Not really. They're talking about their son. Jade. And Zamora sounded so mad that time. And Liana was begging. Kaya naawa rin ako. Unfortunately, we also heard from them about their betrayal. And that Zamora was raging that Liana didn't follow him."

Kumunot ang noo ko. "Hindi naman pala niya sinunod si Zamora. Bakit...bakit niyo pa rin siya huhulihin?"

"Because she still committed a crime, Annie. Please." Parang pagod na si Luke sa kakatanggol ko kay Liana. "She was the one who killed those three soldiers. She helped in tampering with our guns back then. She didn't help Nadia and the kids when they were caught by the Guerilla! She pretended she was hurt but those men knew her!"

Napabuntong-hininga ako sa pagtaas ng boses niya. And he quickly realized it the moment I looked away.

He cupped my cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just don't like it when you sound like you're begging for her life when she didn't show mercy while killing those innocent ones."

"So all along she's still betraying us? I guess so, right? Because Zamora didn't sell her out when he revealed himself." Mahinang sabi ko.

"That was their plan in the first place. Reveal one, so the other one can be swept under our noses. Noong nalaman natin na si Zamora ang traydor, akala natin nahuli na natin lahat. We forgot there could be more than one moles in a mission. And that we forgot about Liana being one."