ROGER's POV
I felt like time had stopped. These were probably the longest seconds of my life. Along with the beads of my sweat were the falling of my tears. I began to sob.
Motherfucker! I'm going to die! Because this killer—is right behind me.
My mind went blank; my body was trembling. They were going to kill me while I was completely defenseless.
But no! I will fight! She's just a woman and I'm a man. I turned around with all my strength. I swung the jar I was holding repeatedly.
But I wasn't hitting anything. I was striking at something, but it was only air. It was dark—the killer wasn't behind me anymore.
My breathing was incredibly heavy.
Damn it! I thought I was going to die!
"Roger!" Ka Pineng shouted from the car. But it wasn't moving.
It was puzzling. Then I looked around again. It was dark. Where was the killer? My feet automatically moved backward. I even tripped and fell on my butt, but I forced myself to stand up. I was still shaking.
Almost crawling, I ran toward the car I had been pushing. Ka Pineng was inside. He was in the passenger seat.
"You drive!" he shouted.
I wasn't in my right mind. I even forced myself to feel my face to check if I was still alive. Then I quickly got into the car and started it. It was running fine. Why wouldn't it earlier? I faced the rearview mirror again.
I swallowed hard.
In the car behind us!
That killer—was in the back, staring at us while holding a hammer.
I didn't think twice. I floored the car away. I didn't even know where we ended up. I just drove until we were far away.
Meanwhile, Ka Pineng sat beside me in total silence. But he kept glancing at me. My crying just wouldn't stop. I still couldn't believe I was alive. I really thought I was going to die. So this is what it feels like to almost die.
After that, we went straight to the nearest police station. I didn't even know if I understood the questions the police were asking me. My mind was floating, and I was still in a daze. I wasn't myself, but I managed to give a statement.
So many questions were racing through my mind. Why didn't she kill me? Why did she let me live?
A while later, the police responded and headed toward that location. I wanted to go with them, but I felt like I couldn't bear to return to that house. I felt like I was going to lose my mind. Two people died right in front of me. How many ghosts did I see?
I apparently fell asleep in the car. We were still at the police station. Ka Pineng appeared before me. "Roger, are you okay?"
I just knotted. It was already light out. I took my phone. Finally! I had a signal. I contacted Isko immediately, but he still wasn't answering.
"Shit!" I threw my phone. Why did this Isko person just stop communicating? We waited for him for a whole night at the hotel we agreed upon before we set off for the former house of Clarisse, my wife. But he never arrived or showed up. Perhaps if he were with us, we might have killed the killer. Isko knows hand-to-hand combat and knows how to shoot.
I glanced at the backseat of the car. I saw a bottle of red wine there. Beside it was Ka Pineng's coat. "Where did that come from?"
Ka Pineng looked at it too. "I saw that in the storage room earlier while we were still there, so I took it."
I picked it up. "Fonseca 1983. This wine is rare..."
"Vintage Port from Portugal. There are many of those in that house. But most are just empty bottles." Ka Pineng smiled at me.
I frowned. "Why did you take this?"
He gestured toward his coat in the backseat. "Take that."
I picked it up.
"Feel inside the pocket."
I felt inside the inner pocket. I found a bottle. "What is this?"
"Cyanide. One of the fastest-killing and most lethal poisons."
I tapped my forehead. "What do you mean? Are we going to kill ourselves?"
Ka Pineng took a deep breath. "I think, Roger, the killer made Clarisse's old house their base," he looked at me. "I'm forming a plan on how we can defeat them." Then he explained the plan to me.
I was suddenly speechless after he finished explaining his plan. I covered my mouth. "Jesus! Are you serious about that?"
He nodded. I could see in his eyes that he was determined.
I looked down. Could everything he said be true? I still couldn't speak. I hope our plan succeeds. I didn't want to oppose it, but I didn't want to agree either. Lives are at stake there. I turned my attention to something else.
I felt his coat again. I felt a jar. I looked at him. "You got Ara?"
He nodded at me again while smiling.
I almost hugged him. Finally, I'll be able to talk to Ara.
After that, I reached into my own coat. I took out the photo album I had picked up. We both looked at it. The pictures inside were old, except for a picture of Roli and Laurie. Their child, my nephew, was also there. Unfortunately, Roli's wife and child have yet to be found. They just vanished.
Where could Roli be? I thought he was the killer, but it seems not. Because I saw a woman. Is it possible that woman is the reason for my wife's disappearance and the others?
As we flipped through the photo album, there were even older photos at the back. There was another picture of Clarisse when she was only eighteen years old. And there was also a woman with her whom I didn't recognize. She was always with her and beside her in the pictures. She looked to be about the same age, but thinner. Also, in all the pictures where she was with Clarisse, it was puzzling that the woman was always sitting down.
"It's odd," Ka Pineng said while looking at the pictures we were viewing.
"Why?" I asked.
"Don't you notice? This woman who is always with Clarisse, in all their shots, she is always sitting."
I looked closely. Yes! There wasn't a single shot of her standing up. I wonder why? I put the photo album back in my pocket. "I'll ask around inside since we're already here if they know anything about the Villaverde family. Maybe this is the answer to our long-standing questions."
After a while, I got out of the car. But before I could go, Ka Pineng called me. I looked back at him. He was just looking down. "I left my shoulder bag at your house. Inside it, there's a notebook. That's my diary. Can you please give that to Justine, my daughter?" He cleared his throat. "Her address in Manila is at the back of that notebook."
I just shook my head. "Why are you entrusting this to me?"
"Just because. In case something bad happens to me."
I smiled and approached him. "Nothing is going to happen to us."
His expression changed. "In your opinion Roger, who is the killer?"
He asked me that because I had been so close to that woman. I closed my eyes before speaking. I didn't want to say it. "I think it's—
—Mrs. Ocampo."
His eyes widened. "How can you say that?"
I blinked. "I don't know... I just have a feeling." I couldn't look at him. "If we base it on the body type—" I stopped.
He was just looking at me.
"I don't know! Because she and Clarisse have the same body type!" I clutched my hair.
Why am I even thinking this? The people who are important in my life are the ones I'm doubting.
"Seems like there's something between you and Mrs. Ocampo, huh..." He looked away.
It's a long story that I didn't want to tell. I looked at him deeply. "We'll find out the truth eventually."
He looked at me. "Just make sure you're the one to explain to my daughter." He changed the subject.
I just shrugged and left him.
I entered the police station right in front of our car. There, I asked around about the Villaverdes, Clarisse's family. But no one could answer my questions.
Until a policeman approached me. "Maybe I can help you?" He said I could call him SPO1 Arthur or just Arthur. He was elderly, and he said his mother was one of the caretakers of that house.
"Can you take me to her?"
"I can take you to my house so you can talk to her. However, the chief has already called." He exhaled. "They are at the Villaverdes' former house."
I suddenly got nervous. "Did they find the two bodies?"
"They found three bodies."
My eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Better come with us to see it yourself."
I agreed. There were many of us, and I was with several policemen. I immediately went to Ka Pineng at the car. But he was suddenly gone. Where did he go?
"Mr. Santos, let's go!" Arthur shouted at me.
"Wait! I'm just looking for my companion."
Arthur frowned. "Mr. Santos... you have no companion. You came to our station all by yourself."
"Huh?"
"Let's go!" Arthur pulled me into the vehicle.
During the ride, I was in a daze. Didn't they see that I was with Ka Pineng? Until we reached Clarisse's former house again. There were many police officers and some reporters there. We immediately went to where the bodies were located. There were indeed three, lined up. They were wrapped in corpse bags.
They opened the first bag first. Fin's face appeared before me. "Do you know him?" Arthur asked me.
I couldn't look, but I nodded.
They opened the second—Cary.
Then, they slowly opened the third one.
This was where I recoiled. I burst into tears.
I was paralyzed by this dead body.
Impossible! I shook my head.
Is this real or just another nightmare?
Because just earlier, he was giving me instructions.
I approached it and scrutinized it.
This corpse belonged to—
Ka Pineng...