I woke up at five in the morning from another nightmare. But this time, it wasn't the usual flashbacks of getting beaten to death by Carlo and the rest of the baseball team when they were fresh out of the shower. It was about guns and cards, and Jacob. That footage really messed up my head. There was no way I could get back to sleep, so I headed out to the beach.

Jaxx joined me at the beach Sunday morning to get his much-needed color. However, he needed to be back in Manila by Monday afternoon to meet with Leon Camacho, the gracious CFG heir who looked the other way.

By the time I decided to finally stop surfing, the sun was beginning to set. Jaxx was a sucker for sunsets, so I decided to let him know if he was interested. He was packing the minimal things he had when I entered the villa.

"What time are you leaving?" I asked, breathless from jogging. I had acquired a golden toasted color from all the time under the sun, and my shoulders were starting to hurt.

"Maybe nine or ten. You coming?" he looked up and stared at my shoulders disapprovingly. "You're going home. Otherwise, you're going to char yourself with the way you're surfing."

"Alright, mother, I'm going with you," I chuckled. "Hey, the sun is setting. You might want to come out for a while."

The sun was already behind the mountains, but it left us a beautiful painting to admire. Bright red oranges and pinks reflected against the Cirrus clouds that blazed across the blue sky that was turning dark with each minute the sun sank deeper.

I stared into the horizon where a lone outrigger boat was returning home, cutting through the choppy waters. A certain peace settled inside me, the kind that I had been chasing for the past months. All I could do was hope it would last the moment I stepped foot in crazy Manila.

We stayed on the beach until the pesky mosquitoes started feasting on us, and the sun was probably already on the other side of the earth. After a late dinner, I checked out and while he headed to the concierge.

I was surprised to see his X5 at the entrance. I had to check the car plates twice to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong. The passenger window rolled down, and Jaxx called me.

"I thought you didn't drive," I smiled and went around to the driver's side, assuming he was going to make me do the driving home. It was just fair. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see the same driver we had on his birthday.

"I didn't. Romy did. You remember him, don't you?"

"Good evening, sir," Romy said politely.

"Hi, good evening, Kuya Romy," I greeted him and settled in the backseat. "Wow, you brought him all the way here?"

"As I said, I wouldn't drive fourteen hours for you," he rolled his eyes, but one corner of his mouth rose.

"Where did you stay?" I asked Romy. He looked at Jaxx before answering. The closest resort to ours was five kilometers away, and even that was a bit pricy. The less expensive, backpacker-budget-friendly resorts were eight kilometers from us. Knowing Jaxx, he wouldn't have sent Romy there.

"Just around," he chuckled, not giving anything away.

"Wow, don't squander your riches on my behalf, man," I laughed lightly.

"It's not squandering if you spend it on people you care about," he said without looking at me. I was flattered but, at the same time, reduced to less than half the person I thought I was. It was supposed to be just a joke, but he took it seriously. Then, I felt even worse for not leaving a message.

"Thanks," I managed to say, but it was almost a whisper I wasn't sure if he heard.

"Speaking of. Jacob was scared shitless when you suddenly appeared in IT and bit their heads off."

"Speaking of?" my eyes narrowed, but he couldn't see it as he was looking straight ahead.

"Said he's never seen Bart so afraid he almost wet himself," he sniggered.

"If he wasn't a delinquent, then there was no need to be scared," I scoffed and stared out the window into nothing but darkness.

"He's trying. There's just some stuff going on right now, he said," Jaxx explained. I wonder if he had any idea at all? Maybe he knew, and he was trying to protect Jacob?

"What stuff? And what's with all his bruises?"

"So you noticed."

"Thought it looked like a hickey, the one on his neck."

"Of course, you only noticed the hickey," he chuckled. I stopped myself from talking.

I have no idea what compelled me to say that. I could have said I noticed his black eye because that was more obvious, and it's the first thing I saw anyway.

Jacob said it wasn't a hickey. He showed me that it wasn't. But the thought that Jaxx acknowledged it was one ticked me off a little. Okay, more than a little. The strange emotion was the same one I always felt when Val flirted with him. It had a name. I think I knew what it was, but I refused to accept it.

"I noticed the other bruises on his face, okay? It's just that that particular one was the most glaring. The others were fading," I said a little defensively.

"Sure. Anyway, it's something related to that stuff. I doubt it's all from the fight club, and he did tell me it wasn't. He just did not elaborate. Asked for a few weeks to fix whatever the shit was," he said, a tinge of worry in his voice.

"Is he gambling in casinos again, Jaxx? Does he owe someone big money? Is a loan shark after him? Because if people find out that we have an employee with money issues, it's not going to look good on us. We can't –"

"Are you suggesting we fire him?" he spun in his seat to face me.

"You didn't let me finish. I was going to say we cannot leave him to his own devices. We should at least help him out for now. But please, if he can't control his addiction, then he has to go."

"You think it's an addiction?"

"I have no idea, man. I have no idea what happened in the States. Was it an addiction then?"

"Nope, I don't think it was. He said they were testing a hypothesis, a theorem. But if it is, then why should we help him? That's outside our responsibility as his employers," he said as he slid back to his previous position.

"Because he is your friend, Jaxx. Stop pretending that you don't care for the guy. You've been covering his ass and helping him out since he arrived. You even let him sleep in your house. An employer does not do that randomly for his employees," I pointed.

"I'd help him because he's my friend, and I care for the guy. Why would you help him?"

"Because you are my friend, and you care for the guy. He seems precious to you."

"Me. Right," he drawled. "Do you care about him?"

"No," I said almost instantly. As much as I wanted to expound on my answer, I refrained because I might say something stupid or implicating and end up digging my own grave.

"Hmm," he smirked and reclined his seat.

The ride was long and quiet save for the music he put on. One hour into the trip, I fell asleep and only woke up when we were in front of my condominium building. Before I closed the door, Jaxx said I could take the day off if I needed more time. I nodded and thanked him. Truth be told, I wasn't planning on going to the office. He just beat me to informing him.

Since Jaxx was taking care of the CFG account, I was left with Carlo, the mayor, Brigs, and Jacob.

There wasn't really much one could do with a dead person. Digging up whatever tiff he had with the admiral and the other man was not on the agenda in this lifetime. Finding out would mean I would just be stuck deeper into this quagmire when all I wanted was to be out of it.

Aside from probably wanting me dead, I still had no clue why Sheryl gave me that USB drive. How could I help Carlo by watching the footage? Did they expect me to testify and tell them about the CCTV footage? I had no connection to Rear Admiral Fuentabella, and even if I did, I wouldn't want anyone to know that I was related to a corrupt scumbag like that.

But how do I start facing Brigs and Jacob?

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