THE TRUTH IS OUT "We can't continue to stay here!" Caleb announced as he burst into the living room. Camila who was saying something to her husband looked at him askance. "What is the matter?" He swallowed hard, not knowing how to put it. After he abruptly ended the call to Doctor Fernandez, he turned around to relay what he just heard to Carlos but noticed he was no longer outside trimming the flowers, his sense of fright went overboard. "I can't exactly explain except that I suspect the police might be unto us any moment," he answered, reaching for his jacket which he left on the couch for Pedro to rest his head. "But did you call the doctor?" Carlos asked looking at him in confusion, wondering why he was suddenly acting strange. "Yes, I did." "And?" "And some-someone else answered her phone," he stuttered. "Who?" interjected Pedro. The noise of Caleb barging into the room had woken him from his siesta. "What did the person say?" he adjusted to give him space. "Nothing au
AN UNEXPECTED TURNAROUND "What are you looking at that is making you white in the face?" Carlos asked observing him. "Nothing, Mr Enrique." Then Caleb turned to Pedro, "I need to speak with you outside.""There will be no whispers around here. If there's something wrong or amiss, we all should be aware of it." Carlos spoke defiantly."I'm sorry, Mr Enrique, but this is a bit personal.""More personal than letting you into our private lives?" Camila replied curtly."Fine," Caleb said in defeat, "the doctor has found someone who claims to know this place. She said he is bringing her over.""Who?!" the old couple asked simultaneously."Someone who used to work with Fabian," he dropped the bombshell on them."My Fabian?" Camila asked getting up. "My boy? You know someone who knows where he is?" she said with optimism in her voice. "Not exactly, Mrs Enrique. I'm not promising anything yet. The person might in fact have lost touch with him by now, but I do know they used to work togethe
BECOMING AN INITIATE The man turned to give a disapproving look at the house, then bent down to speak with someone inside the car.When he straightened up again, he put his hand into his waistcoat as if to pull out a gun. He was dressed like El-Zaki when he visited Farmville. The only difference was his facial symmetry. He was a bearded man with muscular chin. He wore dark sunglasses to cover his eyes. As he moved, his tall and slender frame gave him a larger-than-life demeanour. Carlos crept up behind Caleb and peeked at the visitor. He didn't look familiar to him. "Follow me into the house through the backdoor. Let's get the guns and be ready." Caleb did as he said, his heart jumping in his chest. They barely made it to the living room when they heard a loud banging on the front door. Pedro who had fallen asleep on the couch opened his eyes, then held his head in his hand."Please tell them to stop. My head feels like the inside of a drum." The knock came again more persisten
A POUND OF FLESH Caleb had reacted in a moment of blind fright. His fidgeting index finger pressed on the trigger - just as swiftly as Carlos had taught him to do: "If someone aimed a gun at you, shoot first without waiting to be killed." It was precise and accurate; directly on the forehead. Brutus was dead even before his body crumbled to the wooden floor. There was a moment of complete silence in the living room. Carlos who had taken position behind the sofa where Pedro had slept on, slowly uncurled to his feet with his mouth hanging open in disbelief. He kept staring at the hideous slender figure of Brutus as it sprawled across the doorway. The dark sunglasses he wore now hung suspended on one side of his ear. His gun had swept under the centre table when it fell off his hand. Then he darted his eyes to gaze at Caleb. "You have outdone yourself for a first-timer." Caleb swallowed nervously. He looked at the revolver in his hand and began strolling to stand by the window look
REUNITED He overpowered Caleb pummeling him with blows in the face, nose, and neck. Caleb gasped and coughed. Then Austin finally got hold of the gun and pointed it at Caleb with a sinister look in his eyes. "When you get to hell, say hi to the devil for me." Several gunshots exploded and Adriana shrieked in endless agonizing cries. *** Carlos had tiptoed into the bedroom when Caleb stole out of the house to check on Pedro and Camila. He needed Pedro to handle the dead man's gun in case the need arises while he goes out to back up Caleb. But Pedro was already coming out. They bumped into each other in the corridor. "Why are you out here? I thought I told you to remain in the room," he admonished him. "I am not an invalid, Mr Enrique. And I won't cower inside a cupboard when I can use a gun with my hands," he said and made to grab his gun from him. The old man handed him the other gun. "Take this one instead, it's a more sophisticated machine." Pedro took the gun and made a qu
ON THE RUN "Seems we are in bigger trouble than we even know," Caleb murmured as Doctor Fernandez helped lower him to the sofa. "We have to flee from this place." "Flee?" echoed Camila. "Flee and go where? You seem to be forgetting something...""What?" "That my husband and I are quite old and can't keep up with running from one place to another like fugitives." Pedro spoke next, "What we should rather be concerned about at this moment is how to get rid of the two dead bodies." Adriana was listening to their exchanges without saying anything. The gory sight of Austin's bloodied body crumpling on Caleb's own beside the Jeep kept haunting her subconscious. Pedro turned to her. "You're a doctor, what's your advice on disposing of these corpses?" he asked eyeing her. "You said I'm a doctor, right? Thank God! My advice would have been necessary if I were a mortician." Adriana returned with a sarcastic dint in her voice. It was obvious she didn't like the guy and most certainly didn'
WE GO DOWN FIGHTING As they drove through the forest road, they heard the approaching siren of a police car. "Holy crap!" Caleb cursed. "W-what do we do now?" Adriana stammered, tightening her grip on the steering. "We can't do anything other than prepare ourselves to fight back," Carlos said calmly. "Are you for real? I've never handled a gun in my life," cried Doctor Fernandez. "There is always a first time," Pedro snickered. ***Andrés had taken a small team of police officers to escort him to Woodward Valley. One of them was Detective Alonso and the other was the Sergeant. "If what you say about the suspects heading to Woodward Valley is true," the Sergeant commented as they got to the T-junction that split the road into two axes, "then I can bet my license they likely followed the forest road instead of the highway." "But that's a much longer route," argued the detective. "Yeah, right. It's almost three times the trip if you followed the highway. And the criminals know
BOOMERANG Everywhere fell silent. The humid air became stiff. The chiming sound of the police siren had completely ceased alongside the revving engine of the ill-fated black Jeep. Only the faint chirping noise of birds singing and flapping their wings from a distance filtered into Caleb's ears. He groaned and opened his eyes. There was pitch darkness everywhere. As he tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness, suddenly, a big flashlight from outside was pointed at him; its illumination sparkled against the windscreen. Caleb squinted his eyes and attempted to shield them from the blinding light using his right hand. But he found he could not move it. "Oh, shit! My hand..." he grunted. Something was pressing hard against his hand. It felt moist and warm but solid. He struggled to free himself all to no avail. Then he paused and tried to recollect where he was. A pang of nagging headache hit him with the effort. Caleb lay still seeing as any movement he made only brought him pain. B