The car stopped at a complete halt near the parking lot and Marco Senior open the door and examine the surroundings. Oliver Luna and Janet Liang hastily open the car door and walk towards the building and enter. The elevator moved its way to the 7th floor where Benjamin Gustilo resides. They used their skills and knowledge to penetrate the apartment and gather information as much as possible. They used modern listening devices to know what transpired between Marco Junior and his grandfather.Janet Liang is the one in charge of recording the conversation and Oliver Luna is for searching documents that they needed to fasten the secret of Project Crabnomers.While the conversation between Marco Junior and Ben Gustilo was still in progress, Oliver Luna got hold of the leather bag full of papers inside. He hurriedly got hold and approach Janet Liang to wrap up the recording. They hurriedly left the apartment and go straight to the car where Marco Senior is waiting for them.“How’s the opera
”Kael. Isla. Now. Alone." When the clear voice spoke in his ear, adrenaline flowed through Benjamin Gustilos' body. The quiet words caused a chill in his heart and a lump in his throat. Kael is the ‘code word’ of his PA, used in an open line when security is a concern. It only works in an extreme emergency - for emergencies. It means he needs to act and act now; take the call seriously, because something bad is going on. In the three years his PA has been working with him, Jiyo has never used it. Benjamin's lips parted as he thought of the phone call and its four words. Kael. Isla. Now. Alone. It is quite obvious that something bad is happening on Palaui Island. Something very bad if Jiyo used the special code word. Throughout the day with his Director of Finance in sorting out which tax haven would best house his company’s revenue, Benjamin Gustilo was tired, and burned. Now here’s Jiyo’s call, which doubled the pressure on him. Leading a global conglomerate whose turnover has
"There was an accident." "Is everything okay?" Jiyo shook his head. "They're dead," he said softly. "All of them? Certainly not all of them?" Jiyo nodded, taking the coffee from the Strict Man's hand before he threw it away. “As far as I can tell. Given the circumstances, it's pretty hard to be sure. " “Jesus. What happened?" “As usual, the boatman arrived at five o'clock, to pick up the crew and take them ashore. When he came here, no one was waiting. Anyway, he hung out for ten minutes or so, then called the security from the intercom down to the pier." Jiyo paused, frowning in concern."Would you like to sit down, Mr. Gustilo? " Benjamin nodded in annoyance. "Just keep it up." "So, after no response on the intercom, I was stuck here to look around." Jiyo waited for his boss to finish his coffee again before continuing, hoping that the man would sit down before he fell down. "And?" “Right. So I didn’t see anyone at the table and couldn’t get an answer to his buzzing. It wa
When Jiyo Kael and Benjamin Gustilo got back to the boat, the boatman was sitting on a pile of old sacks, snoring holding his hand to his chest, his loose top loosening with every gust of wind. Jiyo Kael jumped up and assisted Benjamin in firing the gun. Their loud entry woke the boatman from his slumber and he suddenly woke up. "Ahhh—" he muttered, shaken before struggling to his feet. "Oh, you’d come back," he whispered. "I thought you'd stay there all bloody night." Jiyo Kael and Mr. Gustilo smiled at each other. Then finding a place to sit among the crates and lobster pots scattered on the deck, they made themselves as comfortable as they could. The boat headed for mainland Cagayan, its noisy engine emitting thicker black smoke. Jiyo Kael hopes it will make it all the way to the beach. The sea was fiercer now, the boat was rolling in the waves, and he didn’t like the prospect of being stuck in it while waiting for the coastguard to rescue them. "You didn't even tell me how it a
After booking at a local hotel, Jiyo Kael spent the rest of the night calling several contacts he knew in mainland Cagayan, and Manila, arranging for a small group of builders to be sent to island soon in the next few days. Jiyo Kael finally fell asleep around two in the morning, tired but satisfied that he had made a good start. He found sleep deprivation and woke up in the morning with dark eyes and thick headaches. Looking at the miniatures lined up in the bedside cabinet, he saw why that was. He had not drunk for several years and the alcohol had gone straight to his head. Brushing his teeth, he decided that now was not a good time to go back to old habits. After a hot shower and breakfast, he spent the rest of the day renting a suitable room near the port of Cagayan, that he could use as an office, buying some office furniture from a local store second hand, and met his builders outside the province. For the next six weeks, Jiyo Kael was barely on the island, only returning to
Marco Fernando Senior POV Marco Senior sat on his study table, near the living room, thinking about another facet of the project of Benjamin Gustilo that has been created illegally in one of the small islands. Analyzing very carefully the job of Benjamin Gustilo in Shanghai, it came to the core understanding of the spy world, that this project before was a premise in creating new creatures for other projects in the future. Benjamin Gustilo was recruited by his brother in Shanghai to carry underground jobs and to collect information as much as possible, and to report to his brother secretly. It has been the aim of former Governor Benjamin Gustilo to amass wealth and power when he was in the government service. Now, as what he aimed for, and the death of his lone daughter Danielle Gustilo gave him to decide to stay at Shanghai. Carrying secret jobs to fulfill gave him wealth and power overtime, and enticing his grandson, Marco Junior to stay and study at Shanghai University of Politic
“Hello, state your name please?”“Hello I am Mrs. Fernando from the Philippines. Who is this? Where is my husband, Mr. Marco Fernando?”“Why you call this number and how you got it, from whom?”“Please I want to talk to my husband. This is the emergency number my husband gave it to me, in case I will call him for emergency purpose. And, this is the first time I used it.”“Mrs. Fernando, this Oliver Luna, son of Mike Luna and Lina Luna. Do you know my mother?”“Yes she’s working with me, in Makati City, here in the Philippines. So, you are Oliver Luna. Yes I knew you, Lina told me that you’re with Marco in Shanghai. Where is my husband now and why you are the one answering this phone?”“Mrs. Fernando, actually, it’s confidential and your husband is taking an operation at the other place. Can I get your message to him?”“Oliver, kindly tells him that I will call again tomorrow. Tell him to take good care always because I loved him. And, my concern is about our children. Thank you Oliver
Marco Fernando Junior POV “Hershey Chocolate, how are you?”“Nice to hear your voice, Marco! I’m happy that you called! Yes, it’s very exciting and at the same time, grueling time to prepare what I need for my schooling in NYU. You remember I told you about my scholarship? You will pursue your Law study in NYU too?”“Good to hear about your plan will push through. But, for me, a lot of negative things going on here and I think, my plan is being stalled for the meantime. My father disappeared last week, and I have to stay to help find him.”“What? What do you mean disappeared?”“He was taken forcefully from his apartment by some men and I called my grandfather Ben about it. He did not elaborate to me why and he said to forget the incident. But, his Personal Assistant Jiyo Kael told differently. I was confused Chocolate.”“Marco, I’m with you and if you want I could travel to Shanghai, just for you?”“No baby, don’t’ ever do that. Please bear with me. I have to stay for a month to deci