The Empire Series 5: Vanna Lei Shrewd

Chapter 50: Jeopardy

When he stopped laughing, he called the waiter and ordered another set.

They both savored the food, her eating two servings while Clyde once in a while smiles at her, nodding in disbelief.

Clyde seriously stared at her during their dessert.

"Do you love Klein Rich?" he asked straight in her eyes.

She doesn't want to lie again so she nodded with a yes.

"Do you have any idea how much that hurts?" Clyde asked. She could sense pain in his voice. Hindi siya nakapagsalita. What is she supposed to say?

Huminga ito ng malalim ng ilang beses. She remained silent.

"Now that you knew everything. Puwede mo na akong hindi bantayan," mahina niyang hayag.

Clyde stared at her. Her heart ached seeing pain in his eyes. Pakiramdam niya kapag nalaglag ang nagbabadya nitong luha ay maiiyak rin siya. Good thing, he didn't weep.

"Do you want me to help you find him?" he asked instead.

"Hindi na. I don't want to drag you into this." She can't be so insensitive of his feelings. Kung talagang mahal siya nito, mas lalo lang niya itong masasaktan kapag tinulungan pa siyang hanapin si Cloud. 'Tis like rubbing salt on his wound.

"Alam mo naman kung ano ang nararamdaman ko sa 'yo di ba?" Ngumiti ito ng tipid pero hindi nawala ang sakit sa mga mata nito.

She nodded.

"It's the least I could do for you," he mumbled. Napatitig siya sa binata.

"To make sure you are happy before I leave you with him," he told her. His sincerity made her eyes welled-up. Pinunas niya ang luha sa gilid ng mata. Parang hindi siya makapaniwala.

Sa kabila ng kaguluhan at kasinungalingang nakapalibot sa uri ng trabaho niya, ngayon siya naniwala na may mga tao talagang mabubuti pa rin ang loob.

*****

"Gusto ko siyang tulungan pero tumanggi siya. I need to find him and the other agents," paliwanag niya habang paakyat sila ni Clyde sa third floor ng bahay nila. She converted one of the guest rooms in their house as her working area. Walang nakapapasok roon maliban sa kanya.

Napag-usapan na kasi nila ni Clyde na tutulungan siya nitong i-trace ang binata.

Clyde even gasped when he saw her work area. May iba't-ibang klase ng baril na nakasabit sa mga pader. She pushed a pin on the wall revealing her tracking devices and 50 computer monitors. Nakakonekta ang mga iyon sa mga CCTV's sa iba't-ibang lugar sa iba't-ibang bansa. She just need to key in the combination code for the country and city, and presto, the monitors will shift to the live feed of the place.

"I didn't really expect that you are expert on these things," he told her honestly. Nakuwento na kasi nito na noong nangyari ang shooting incident ay inimbestigahan na niya si Klein at nalamang head ito ng IF, isang sikretong organisasyon na pinapatakbo ng mga lider ng iba't-ibang nasyon. A legit force that would work covertly to protect allied countries.

Hindi na raw ito nag-aksayang mag-imbestiga tungkol sa mga kasamahan ni Cloud. Hindi rin naman daw ito nagduda sa kanya kaya hindi nito alam na kasali siya.

Pinasadahan nito ng tingin ang mga pins niya na naka-hilera sa isang clear box sa pader.

"So, ikaw ang nang-hack sa mga CCTV's dati sa bahay ng matanda at sa warehouse ko?" tanong nito. She only nodded.