Chapter 33: Family Matters

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"Relationships are like glass sometimes it's best to leave them broken than to hurt yourself trying to put them back together."

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That evening, the surveillance team posted themselves on the cliff overlooking the house. Carlo discreetly silenced the dog by giving them sufficient foods, enough to accomplish his purpose in entering the ground in order to install a monitoring device, one on the kitchen window, the other one on the bedroom window up in the second floor and the last one was tapped through a telephone cable wire. When everything was set, he cleared all traces of his presence and went back to the cliff where Mr. Aragon and a fellow agent who was summoned earlier, were waiting to spend the rest of the evening in the woods.

Early in the morning, the agent was moved from his not too comfortable slumber when suddenly he heard voices coming from the monitoring apparatus. He woke up the two men, gave them headsets and listened to the conversation going on.

What's for breakfast, Inang.

"That's Crispin, the man I met last night." Mr. Aragon uttered confidently as he recognized the man's voice while listening over the apparatus.

They heard a woman's voice mumble something. For quite sometime, the conversation between the two inside the house went on. They talked about the kids, about the plantation and other insignificant matter that had no bearing to the case they were trying to solve.

Feeling bored over the flow of conversation that they were monitoring, Carlo faced Mr. Aragon and asked him, "Fred, are you sure Denise is in that house?" He threw him a doubtful questioning look.

"Hold your patience, Carlo. No teenager will wake up this early. Just keep listening. I'm sure we can get some lead by and by." Mr. Aragon retorted.

"Shhh. Listen to this, guys." The agent silenced them when he heard something significant from the device. They heard the woman saying,

I need to see Arturo and convince him to let the girl go, now that she's fully recovered.

Are you sure about that Inang?

She can't stay here forever. She has to go and start her life in the university.

Do you think, he will buy on that idea?

He has no choice, Crispin. It's now time to bury everything.

What about the inheritance?

I don't need their money. I just want to die in peace. The girl does not deserve this. She's also a victim...just like the rest of us.

So you are giving up? After all these years, you are going to give up what truly belongs to you?

No. I won't ever give up on Denise. She is a family and nothing will change that.

Yes, you treat them as a family, but do they treat us as one of them?

Denise does not know anything about these. But I'm sure, if she learns the truth, she will treat us as a family?

Do you really believe that the girl is different from them? They are all the same Inang.

Not Denise, Crispin. She is Linda's daughter. When I first saw her, I know from the start, she's different.

Mr. Aragon hold his breath when Linda's name was mentioned.

Then, why you didn't tell her the truth when she stayed with us the whole summer in the hacienda?

Because I thought, it would be best for her to know nothing about us.  I never thought, I would be needing Arturo's help.  But now, he's back and I don't even know if his plan will gonna work.

They heard the woman started to cry.

All I want is to put this family together before I die and be buried beside your father's grave.

Inang, you know that would be impossible. We have to accept that they treated us like dogs. We don't have a part in the family's meal. We deserve only the crumbs falling from their table.

Not Denise, Crispin. Believe me. Denise is different.

Then, tell her the truth.

The conversation ended. They heard nothing except the sounds of running faucet and once in a while some utensils clashing. After what seemed to be a washing activity, there followed a deepening silence inside the house.

The three men looked at each other, wondering what's going on inside. Did they discover the hidden gadget on the kitchen window?

The agent broke the unusual silence around them and declared,

"We need to confirm whether the girl they were talking is the same girl we are looking for."

"I'm positive. They are referring to Denise Romano, Linda's daughter." Mr. Aragon replied, maintaining his belief regarding the girl's presence in the house.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go now inside before they can discover more of us." Carlo insisted.

Then suddenly, the device sounded again. A sigh of relief came to them when they heard someone talking. But this time, the audio was coming from a kid.

Grandma, can I go inside Ate Denise' room?

No, Karla. You will disturb her. Why you're up so early?

Because I thought, Ate was calling me.

You're dreaming again. Come, help me prepare our breakfast.

Can I bring the food to Ate Denise' room afterwards, grandma?

That's so sweet of you, Karla.

"I think I know what to do." Mr. Aragon displayed his smug smile and said, "You stay here. Keep monitoring. I'll be back soon." Then, he drove away crossing the woods going to the main road with his motorcycle.

"Hey, Fred! Come back. I think, we deserve to know what's in your head." Carlo shouted in protest, but Mr. Aragon was quick to manuever the vehicle across the woods until he was completely out of sight.

Three hours after he's back, bringing with him their breakfast.

"Oh, how sweet of you Fred," mimicking the voice of the old woman as she spoke to Karla a while ago, sending giggles to the agent beside them.

"Enough Carlo. Just wait and you will see."

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