Chapter 9

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c h a p t e r      n i n e

RAIN'S POV

2019, October
Philippines, 11:52 P.M.

"Spider left for LA at exactly 23:00 for the auction," sambit ni Cliff sa PR02.

"Hmm," I agreed using my PR02 and SR14.

"Location confirmed. There is really an auction and will be held at Crown cruise ship at 1:00," Harry declared. Spider, Spider, Spider. Did he really thought I wouldn't find out?

"Fancy. Any more guests?" tanong ko habang nakatingin sa listahan ng mga dadalo sa auction mula sa screen ng iPad ko.

"Singaporean millionaire Mr. Chen and his wife," sagot ni Harry. No wonder why certain names were listed. That Spider bastard lures the rabbit to the lion's den. I'm quite impressed at how he made it look like a normal auction well in fact there is another business going on. Dirty bastard.

"Damn that guy. Filthy rich," komento ni Cliff. That's right. Chen earned his name in the business industry year 1995. He's one of the multimillionaire in Asia and Forbes' top 5 richest man in the year 2015 and 2016.

"I heard he bought the 1967 Shelby gt500 from Halicki. Should we...?" I can feel the excitement in Harry's voice.

"He didn't. Halicki would never. Although Eleanor's a good catch, I'm good with my Lambo Veneno. Queen got me that," pagyayabang ni Cliff.

I knew where this will lead so I'd better stop them. "Quit it," usal ko. Don't mind them. Tss. They just don't grow up. Cliff's 17, the youngest. Harry is 22. Pin and Hitler's same age as me.

"There's an archive file in one of his right hand. He had made a deal with the Chinese Ambassador about nuclear missiles. I didn't know they can do that. I mean they can but what the f-? Nuclear. Millions are gonna die if one goes off," litanya ni Harry. Pagpasensiyahan niyo na. Tss. Siya ang pinakahuling dumating sa kanila.

"Tss. Caught on act."

"Yeah. Although confirmed, he's still not on the wanted list. The list of his deals were missing. Guess that's what they meant when they said let the bills work for you."

"Hitler's on his way," biglang sambit ni Cliff.

"On your positions," utos ko. I'm inside my car, driving back home. Galing ako sa university para tanggalin ang mga sticker at posters ko. It's nearly midnight.

Pagkarating ko sa bahay, inilipat ko ang on-going operation sa desk ko at lumabas ito sa hologram.

"Where's Spider?"

"9 o'clock." Ilang minuto pa biglang huminto si Hitler.

"Queen, I sensed something," sabi niya.

"Situation?"

"I'm a fifteen meters away from the target. I'm going closer," he suggested.

"No," mabilis kong nabanggit. Narinig kong napatigil silang tatlo.

"Cliff, zoom in on Spider."

"Roger." I turned it to UV rad. Sinuri kong mabuti ang kinaroroonan nila.

"He's got wavelength detector. Do not get any closer," pahayag ko. "Damn!" he cussed over the PR02.

"His watch. Shoes. And on his coat. Stay out of hundred meters from him," paalala ko. "Wait. He's moving," sambit ni Harry.

"He 's headed to the bar counter," usal ni Hitler. Nakatingin lang ako sa hologram na nagmula sa visuals noong tatlo. "Wait. Is that?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Cliff.

"Cleopatra," sagot ko. Cleopatra is one of the assassins of Spider. Hindi na nakakapagtaka na naroon siya. Pero ikinagulat ng mga kasama ko nang bigla silang maghalikan ni Spider.

"What the hell was that?" usal ni Harry. Hindi siguro nila alam na matagal nang hook-ups ang dalawa. Nasa edad bente singko siguro si Spider samantalang kaedad ko si Cleopatra. Nakalaban ko siya noon sa B.A.N.G. Annual Tyranny.

"I can't hear them." Hindi sila makalapit kay Spider dahil may detector siya.

"Lipsync. Hitler-"

"Roger," sagot niya. Napatigil ako kay Spider nang tumingin siya sa relo niya. "Hitler." mahinang bulong ko. Nakita kong lumingon si Spider at ngumiti. F-!

"Hitler get out of there. Cliff, Harry-" hindi pa ako natapos sa sasabihin ko nang biglang nawalan ako ng connection sa kanila. The screens were out. F-!

I can pick up some sound waves...faintly. "Carry on, Night Queen," he said. That's him. Spider. I immediately run a GPS tracker pero wala pang isang segundo ay nawala ang signal. He must've cut it off. Damn it.

Napatigil ako nang may marinig akong mahinang tunog. A rustling sound and I saw a green blink on my tracker count. "Queen," sabi ng pamilyar na boses na pagmamay-ari ni Cliff.

"Cliff, where's Harry?" tanong ko. "We escaped but they took Hitler," dagdag niya. I knew it. I knew it was a trap. Damn that bastard. I should've known. He's a trickster. That Peppermint thing was his code for a trap. I should've known. "Get to the HQ asap," utos ko.












Nang makabalik sila sa headquarters, tinanong ko sila. "Have you located him?"

"As of the moment, no," sagot ni Cliff. I tried to locate him, too. Kung may device lang sana siyang nakabukas. Damn. Ilang minuto pa, "Found it," bigkas ni Cliff.

"30 seconds to crack," ani ko. Binilisan ko ang pagdecode. In 3, 2, 1, Enter! System confirmed. Natigil ako sa pagpindot sa mga holograms.

"Queen..." sambit ng pamilyar na boses. It was Hitler. "There was no auction. The piece is-"

"It's here," pagtutuloy ko sa sasabihin niya. I have figured that out when I saw Cleopatra. The only reason Cleopatra is there was to take down Hitler. Hindi naganap ang auction sa lugar na sinabi nila. It's a set up to lure us there.

Halata ang pagtataka ngayon sa mga isipan nila. "The piece is here." Binalikan ko ang footage kanina sa supposed-to-be auction at tinignan ng mabuti at pagkuwa'y pinindot ang pause. "There is an auction," I told them. The real auction. Nagreplay sa utak ko ang pangyayari na tumingin si Spider sa kaniyang relo. It's the time.

3:00 a.m. Alas tres ng umaga ang totoong auction. Tinignan ko ang tech watch ko at bumungad sa akin ng tumatagingting na ala una.

"I'm sending Joker. Get Hitler out within 2 hours," utos ko. I don't have much time so I grab my things and left as I called Joker on my way.

"You've got a mission. I've already sent the data," pahayag ko. "Fancy," komento niya na may bakas ng tuwa sa kaniyang boses.

I went directly to the place of the auction. It was at a pier, in one of the yachts docked at the right side. Sa hindi inaasahang pagkakataon, may nakita akong bulto ng tao mula sa hindi kalayuan. Sa tikas ng kaniyang pangangatawan, tila pamilyar ito.

Ginamit ko ng glasses ko para i-zoom ang kinaroroonan ng lalaki.

"Venom?"

***
The Night Queen
by jrhabellie

The Night QueenWhere stories live. Discover now