"How about this, we ask for the CCTV footage of the area during that time. Maybe we'll find the culprit," Bart offered as I shook my head for the hundredth time. It has been a week since the incident, and we still have no leads other than the two suspects I have in my head.

"I told you there were no security cameras nearby. The closest was around the corner, which was what, twenty meters from my car? Plus, it was facing the other side of the street. Come on; this is futile." I took my tie off and placed it neatly folded beside the monitor on my desk. It looked misplaced, and even though it was a nice tie, it was a ghastly addition to the desk. So I stuffed it in my bag instead.

"So you walk to work now?"

"Yeah. Bummer. I really hate carrying an umbrella. But then I'd rather lug that around than ending up drenched in the rain."

It was the tail end of the rainy season, and the weather was rather unpredictable lately – bright and sunshiny in the morning, then you get a downpour in the late afternoon.

"I can lend you my bike if you like? But then I think walking looks more professional than riding around in a mountain bike," he chuckled.

"I can go for that Mark Ross game. Think I could get a Rachel Zane and a few more chicks?" I wiggled my eyebrows, and he laughed. I had stopped joking about the capacity to take women home a long time ago. The joke felt all sorts of tasteless and dishonest on my tongue then, and it still felt the same just now.

"You already have the entire IT department drooling over you, narcissistic prick," he laughed. A knock on the door interrupted us, and Noelle walked in moments later.

"Mr. Ace, I just got a mail with your condo address as the sender," frowning as she handed me the small white courier envelope. "Hello, Bart," she greeted him.

"Hi," he smiled as his eyes lingered a second longer on her ass. He turned his attention back at me. "Well? Open it. Let's see what you sent yourself."

"Maybe later. I'd like to see what I sent myself by myself." I dropped the envelope into the drawer. My heart was racing as fear overtook half my senses. I balled my hands into fists to stop them from shaking. The fact that whoever sent it knew my home address frightened me the most. It could only be another warning, and it was something I did not want Bart to see.

"You're no fun. I'd better get back to work then. Break time's over," he stood up and left.

My home address was not top-secret, but I did not give it away to anyone. Aside from my family and my El Valle friends, only Noelle, Bart, Jacob, and Brigs knew where I lived. I doubt any of the few women I brought home even remember my unit number, aside from the fact that I haven't brought anyone home shortly after Justin's birth. That's probably a little more than two years already since the rascal just turned three last August.

I kept myself busy the rest of the day to keep myself from opening the envelope while in the office. Otherwise, I might end up running home before five again. By five-thirty, I took the envelope and tucked it deep in my bag before heading out.

The office was a few blocks from my building, but halfway through my walk, it started to rain. Smirking at Mother Nature, I raised my automatic umbrella over my head like he-man and smugly deployed it.

Give it your best shot, mother! I challenged her but ended up regretting it ten minutes later.

My leather shoes were sopping wet, and so were my socks. As I bent forward to them off, I noticed the front zipper of my bag was open, and the contents were also wet. I must have forgotten to close it when I took out my umbrella. Luckily, it was a pocket for pens, receipts, and coins.

And my tie! Dammit, I lost my tie. It must have fallen out of my bag when I haphazardly extracted the umbrella. Fuck it!

It was a simple peacock green silk tie adorned with paisley prints. I bought it when my family and I traveled to London a few years back. I got it as my personal souvenir for the trip. It was from a luxury British brand, and it was one of my favorites. One time, Jacob took notice of it. I told him it was from England and showed him the tag. He told me it was pricey for a tie. But it was my souvenir, and I liked it. Never saw one like it in the Philippines anyway, so to hell with paying a couple of hundred pounds for a tie. Plus, it was silk.

That's what you get for getting smug with Mother Nature.

Then, I remember the envelope. I half-wished that I dropped that instead so I wouldn't have to see the next threat or warning. Opening the main compartment, I dug deep behind my laptop and found it. I sat on the sofa and stared at it for a while, contemplating whether it was worth another week of sleepless nights. I palpated the contents, gently folding the envelope along its length, and I was convinced that there was another playing card inside it, aside from maybe a letter. This was probably from the same guy or girl who trashed my car.

I dropped the contents onto the table, already regretting my choice the moment I saw the card. There were five photos of Jacob and me, stolen shots of that time when my tires were slashed, when he was glaring at me outside the Englishman, and the others when we were walking from his gym, laughing.

"So? What's the fuss all about?" I wondered as I studied them.

The last photo I picked up was more curious. It was taken right outside my condo that same night we came from his gym. We were standing close to each other, and he was staring at me with a tender gaze and a soft smile. My heart thumped, pouring forth warmth in my chest, which bloomed into a stupid grin on my face, even though my head was busy analyzing what it could mean or why we were being followed.

In the midst of the fear and unrest in my mind, the fucking insects in my stomach fluttered happily seeing that one picture, and I had to admit, the way he looked at me set my cheeks aflame. If only he were the opposite gender, then I would not even have any second thoughts diving right into this madness I was feeling.

I picked up the picture and noticed the playing card that was face down. When I flipped it over, it showed a ten of Spades. The ten of Spades that Katya used to fan me the last time I watched Jacob fight. I was sure of it because it had those blue markings at the back.

"What in the actual hell? How did this get back here?"

I stared at it blankly. I was expecting another Jack, but apparently, the sender thought it would be nice to confuse and frighten me more if they sent me the first card I did not take seriously. It was just a stupid card in a warehouse, but they were hell-bent on making me remember.

"Do they want to give me a complete poker hand? I seriously hope they weren't planning on giving me a whole deck!" I ran a hand over my face, rattled. I didn't have time for these games. My anxious self can only take so much. I would probably be dead before they even get to the tenth card.

The rain continued to pour as I stared at the table in front of me where all the pictures and the playing card lay. The person sending these was probably adept at card games or was a gambler.

Why?

I have no idea. Just a hunch. It just was not believable that a cartomancer would be sending these, so the cards were probably part of a hand and had no other meaning.

But that was just probably me overthinking.

Despite this thought, I ventured Google into what the Jack and ten of Spades meant and what omen they afforded. I clicked on the first two links that showed up, and nothing was good about either card, and both offered a lot of interpretations. All of which were not good, to say the least.

Jack of Spades – a youth from a foreign country; a youth in uniform, soldier or cadet; skillful, clever, intellectual, math whiz, knows how to take charge; a spying, emotionally immature, erratic youth, cunning and devious. Will take advantage of you and is a sign that you will face adversity from a ruthless person.

"Okay. Jake was a youth from a foreign country, an intellectual, and a math whiz. Was he emotionally immature? Between the two of us, I think that would be me."

"A soldier or a cadet. Cunning and devious. Is Brigs a ruthless person? Maybe the navy has made him one. He definitely did not show any remorse when I kicked him out for being an idiot," I mused.

Ten of Spades – Sadness mixed with disappointment and tears. It's poisonous like jealousy.

The easiest one to take was that the combination of a Jake and a ten of Spade was that there was a stalker.

"Jack. A jack of spades, not Jake. God, what is wrong with me? Stupid cartomancy! Now I'm even more confused!" I dropped the pictures and the card back in the envelope and placed them in the safe where the USB and the jack of spades were.

The thumb drive and I stared at each other. It was taunting me, teasing me to view the rest of the files.

"Not tonight," I pointed a finger at the drive. "Whatever you have to tell me, it'll have to wait another day."

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