Bente-Quatro 2 - Star Witness (Completed)

1 - 1700H

April 22, 2018, Sunday - 17:00H (5pm po sa mga naka-12 hr clock)

Richard kept staring at the jumping splash of water alongside the boat as it cuts its way against the soft waves of the sea. The crystal clear water starkly emphasize the deep orange hue that the setting sun is painting in the horizon, behind the silhouette of the mountain range of the Northern Bicol region.

This will be another perfect sunset just like the day before, and the day before that.

He looks at his phone and thought of taking a snapshot of the seascape before him that he seems to always take for granted. Take for granted being the operative word.

Sometimes nature scenes like this hits him hard in the gut, reminding him of the beauty he normally ignores in the course of doing his duty.

Another sigh. If only man can freeze life's events when everything seems perfect, when you wish for certain moment never to end.

If only.... if only ....

A/N: Huy ang agang emo niyan!

With another heavy sigh, Richard dismissed the brewing thoughts and turned his attention to the old lady sitting in front of him inside the small motor Banca outrigged with huge bamboo poles serving as katig on both sides.

The boat is pretty safe for their one-hour journey from the island where they came from and into the open seas. Only 30 mins more and they will reach their destination.

Nanang, as he heard her being called back in the island, had been quiet for most part of their trip. Only mono-syllable responses to his equally brief questions. With matching soft 'po' and 'opo' even if it's clear who's older between them.

He's impatient to hear her whole story, the truth and nothing but the truth (so help her God).

But not yet.

He cannot pursue the line of questioning he wants, not when he's the only one present, of course not counting the boatman who's been pretty quiet also. As can only be expected, having sworn to secrecy beforehand in exchange of the hefty fee the boatman received.

The old lady may look frail in her loose dress with a bandana over her white hair. But looks can be deceiving. Frail and old as she might look, she's actually the surprise breakthrough witness the agency had been looking for after they received that anonymous tip a from a 'concerned citizen' a month ago.

Barely a week after he got out of the compressed training camp for the National Bureau of Investigation. Yes, he is now a full-pledged NBI agent. His ninong made sure of that.

After a week-long wild goose chase in the past three weeks, and working with the other covert team of agents formed under the agency's radar, they finally found the 'missing link' that they are looking for.

"Sana po hindi kayo nagsisisi sa pagsama n'yo sa akin."

The lady raised her head from resting on her elbow and gave him that bespectacled gaze for a few seconds before finally responding. She echoed his heavy sigh. "Sana nga iho. Sana nga. Ang totoo niyan, hindi ko alam kung sino ang puwede kong pagkatiwalaan. Pero napapagod na rin akong magtago. Hindi ka makatulog nang mahimbing. Malakas ang kabog ng dibdib na baka pagdilat ng mata ko, 'yun na rin pala ang magiging huling hininga ko."

That's the longest response he got from her ever since he found her, alone in that nipa hut, her packed clothes wrapped in a malong cloth tied into a bundle beside her. Resigned to her fate, but otherwise calm and collected, she went with him.

"Huwag po kayong mag-alala, poprotektahan po namin kayo." The statement sounded foreign to him. That he is saying it to a civilian when he was the one needing protection in the not so distant past makes it ironic.