A/N: This marks my one week of daily updates! The second wave continues!

LORELEI

I UNDERSTAND why Stein had to use strange symbols sa kanyang text kay Jamie. For those who don't know his alter ego, they would easily dismiss the symbols as nonsense. But for those who know, sigurado kaming coded message 'yon.

Remember the first time we heard about Stein? His classmates said that he likes to message them in Morse code. Hindi na kataka-taka kung gagamit din siya ng code sa kanyang text messages. Unfortunately, I don't have the gift of retentive memory, kaya I can't recall all the symbols in the text. Ang natatandaan ko lang ay ang hugas triangle sa unahan at ang letrang x sa huli.

While I'm curious about the cryptic message, I'm more curious about what Jamie would do about it. The message was sent around the time that we met in the execom office. Ise-share ba niya sa amin kung ano ang message ni Stein? Or would she keep it to herself?

If she's really loyal to us, she would tell. But if she chose not to, that might mean something. Maybe her speech about loyalty was a bunch of empty words. Maybe she really wanted to tell us, but she couldn't find the right time.

"Lori, are you with us?"

I shook my head to shrug off the distracting thoughts. Masyadong crucial ang mission namin ngayong gabi kaya kailangang naka-focus ako. Dapat i-set aside ko muna ang nasilip kong coded message.

"Loki and I will break into the apartment," Alistair explained. "You and Jamie will be on the lookout."

Pasado ala-sais na ng gabi kami nakarating sa isang apartment sa Barangay Balibago. According to Hershey's findings, dito niya na-trace ang IP address ng gumamit sa account ni Augustus at ng nag-send ng threat email kay Rosetta. He couldn't trace the exact address, but that wasn't a problem.

Thanks to Maggie asking around, meron kaming file ng most likely suspect namin. All we had to do was to compare notes. The IP address of the man named Tiberius Roman, which was obviously an alias, was traced in Barangay Balibago. Sir Ephraim Quirino, a former English instructor in Clark High and the former adviser of Clarion, also happened to live in Barangay Balibago. It wasn't that difficult to put two plus two together.

Therefore, Sir Ephraim is Augustus' switch, the caretaker of his coveted box.

Nasa loob pa rin kami ng kotse ni Alistair. Dahil wala kaming masyadong oras para magplano, we had to improvise. Nagpalit kami ng damit para walang makapansin ng kahit anong hint na taga-Clark High kami. Sir Ephraim was an instructor in our school. He'd certainly be aware of our uniform. Baka kapag nakita niya kami, agad na siyang kukutuban. We also don't know if Augustus had informed him about us. Maybe he's on his guard.

Since we got here, we haven't noticed any movement in the unit where Sir Ephraim was staying. Nakasara pa rin ang pinto, naka-lock ang mga bintana, nakapatay ang ilaw. It's getting dark already.

"According to what Maggie gathered, Sir Ephraim is having physical therapy sessions at a private rehab center from five to seven in the evening every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday," I recalled from the files that I read. That was based on the statement of one of the faculty members who happened to see him there. "Today is Thursday. The lack of movement in his apartment means na malamang nandoon na siya sa rehab center."

"Which is the perfect opportunity for us," Loki said. "While the cat is away, the mouse will play. But that isn't an accurate analogy in our case. We are not the rats, he is. We are the cats hunting him."

"We only have..." Napatingin si Jamie sa clock display ng kanyang phone. Naalala ko na naman ang nakita kong message ni Stein sa notifications niya. "...forty-eight minutes before his session is over. We surely have additional time dahil paniguradong mabagal ang traffic from the center going to here."

"The wind is in our favor," Loki nodded, looking at the scene outside the car window. "We have to act quickly. Who knows? He might decide to go home because of an upset stomach."

"Pero alam ba natin talaga kung ano ang hinahanap natin?" tanong ko. "We only know that we're looking for Augustus' box. We have no idea how it looked like. Posible kasing hindi siya literal na box. "The search might take some time because of that."

"We will confiscate any electronic device that we might find inside," Loki answered. "Phone, tablet, laptop, external hard drive, flash drive. Anything that can store a bulk of files. That's the only way we can be certain that the switch won't have access to the device again."

"But what if he brought it with him?" tanong ni Alistair. "If he's cautious and he's aware that people might go after him, hindi niya basta-basta iiwan 'yon sa apartment niya."

"That is certainly possible," Loki agreed. "But if he decided to bring the box with him, there's a chance that he might get robbed. Remember, he has leg injury. He can't defend himself properly. He can't chase after the thief. It's safer to keep the box in his unit."

"You have a point there." Al nodded.

"Should Plan A fail us, then let's proceed with Plan B," Loki added. "If he's bringing the box with him, all we have to do is wait for him to return, then we'll steal it from him. Problem solved."

Easier said than done. Given the handicap on Sir Ephraim, there wouldn't be much of a struggle sa pagkuha ng box mula sa kanya. But he might have something up his sleeves.

"If we aren't detectives, we might do well as thieves," Loki quipped. "We've been stealing items from these people of suspicious characters."

I chuckled at the thought. We also sneaked into the Clarion's office last week to retrieve the black notebook. But Augustus outsmarted us on that one.

"So are we gonna chat here all night?" Loki asked impatiently as he put on the wireless earphone in his right ear. "Let's start the mission."

Alistair, Jamie and I also wore our wireless earphones. One of us started a voice call and everyone joined in. Nagsuot ng itim na cap sina Alistair at Loki bago lumabas ng sasakyan. Loki was against wearing the cap, but we had to add a layer of disguise (sort of) para hindi agad makilala ang mukha nila sakaling may makakita sa kanila.

So kaming dalawa lang ni Jamie ang naiwan sa loob ng kotse. Our spot was perfect dahil nasa tapat ng gate ang sasakyan. I focused my attention on the west while Jamie focused hers on the east. Walang ibang mapapasukan o malalabasan kaya kung babalik na si Sir Ephraim, we'd immediately spot him.

"Approaching the apartment," Alistair said over the call. We could see the two entering the gates effortlessly. They had to look not so suspicious. They had to look normal so as not to raise any alarm.

"The lack of security in this place is making our job easy," I heard Loki say.

Pasalamat si Loki dahil hindi na niya kailangang mag-ala akyat-bahay. I bet Alistair could climb on the wall and jump into the compound. Maybe Loki couldn't.

"Gusto ko ring ma-experience na manloob ng bahay ng may-bahay," Jamie muttered, shooting sideward glances at me. "It must be so fun!"

Fun? She had no idea kung gaano nakakakaba ang mission. Last week, malalamig na pawis at malalakas na kabog ng dibdib ko ang naranasan ko habang nila-lockpick ang pinto ng Clarion. Dumagdag ang kaba noong makapasok na kami sa loob at mapuntahan ang desk ni Augustus. It may look and sound fun at first, but in reality, it isn't.

"We're on the way to his unit on the second floor," report ni Alistair. "So far, no threats detected. How about on your end?"

"Nothing suspicious as well," I answered.

"Wala ring kahina-hinala sa akin," Jamie responded.

As long as hindi umuwi nang maaga si Sir Ephraim at walang makapansin na suspicious ang ginagawa nina Loki at Alistair, we're still good. The mission might go on without a hitch.

Nakatuon ang atensyon ko sa windshield, tinitingnan kung may matatanaw akong lalaking may tungkod o sasakyan na hihinto sa harap ng apartment. Then I felt something on my arm.

"Lori..." Jamie whispered. Kinakalabit na niya pala ako.

Lumingon ako sa kanya, giving her a questioning look. Maybe she's getting bored kasi naghihintay lang kami sa labas, but we had to focus on our mission. Mahirap na, baka may makasulot sa amin.

She then pointed her forefinger at the mute button on her phone. My eyes narrowed into slits and she only gave me a nod. Bakit kailangang i-mute?

Dahil wala pa naman kaming napapansin na kakaiba sa labas ng apartment, I muted my mic. Ano bang gusto niyang sabihin na ayaw niyang marinig ng dalawang kasama namin?

"Can I trust you?" Jamie asked.

Wait, what? Why was she asking that question in the middle of our mission? I'm always open to the discussion of trust and doubts, but not now!

"Jamie, you know the answer," I replied, looking sideways at my view from the windshield. "If you wanna talk about trust, okay lang sa 'kin, pero huwag muna sa ngayon—"

"Stein texted me this afternoon," Jamie cut my words short. Hininaan niya ang kanyang boses kahit naka-mute din ang mic niya. Pasulyap-sulyap din siya sa akin. "I don't know kung dapat ko bang i-share 'to sa inyo, but I felt like betraying you if I don't tell you."

I swallowed a lump in my throat. Hindi ko in-expect na bubuksan niya ang topic doon sa nasilip kong coded message. Does this mean na talagang loyal siya sa amin? She could have pretended na wala siyang na-receive na text mula kay Stein, kahit na alam ko.

"Gusto kong hingin ang advice mo dahil medyo conflicted ako," she went on, sighing. Tunog namomroblema talaga siya. "I don't really know what to do."

"Go on."

"We found the unit," Alistair said. "Loki's preparing to pick the lock."

"This is the first time that Stein asked me to make a move," Jamie shared, looking at me in the eye. "Ang laging utos niya kasi sa 'kin ay mag-report lang sa kanya. He never asked me to do anything else."

"What move?" I repeated.

"Destroy the box," Jamie answered. Bahagyang nanlaki ang mga mata ko sa kanya. The box was obviously referring to Augustus' box, the one thing that his organization and our squad were looking for. "'Di ko gets noong una kung bakit niya ako inutusan na sirain ang box, but maybe this is his Plan B."

"Paano mo nasabi?"

"Let's assume na hanggang ngayon, hinahanap pa rin nila kung sino ang switch at nasaan ang box," sagot ni Jamie. "Just in case na maunahan natin sila, he probably wants me to destroy the storage device or something para wala tayong magamit."

Now that makes sense. Once we get hold of the Augustus' box, it's already game over for him and his organization, assuming that the contents were so damaging. There's one secret in there that he couldn't afford to be exposed. And that one secret has more worth than the rest of the contents. Pwede niyang gamitin ang mga laman nito para mang-extort, but he's willing to burn everything just to bury that secret.

"Maybe this is his test for me," Jamie went on. "Maybe he wants to know kung talaga bang mapagkakatiwalaan niya pa ako. Baka kasi nagsususpetya na siya na tuluyan n'yo na akong na-convert."

Huminga ako nang malalim. She seemed to be in a critical situation. Kailangang maging maingat ako sa sasabihin ko sa kanya.

"Anything suspicious out there?" Alistair asked.

Glancing at the windshield, I turned on my mic and responded, "Still none."

"Wala ring kakaiba mula sa vantage point ko," sagot ni Jamie.

Muli naming pinatay ang aming mic para ipagpatuloy ang pag-uusap namin.

"Stein must be so desperate na pinagalaw ka na niya," I said. Jamie was like a piece on the chessboard na naka-standby lang at nakamasid sa galaw ng ibang piyesa. Now she's being asked to make a move. Hindi ko lang alam kung ano'ng chesspiece itong si Jamie.

That really makes me more curious what's inside the box that Stein doesn't want to be revealed. Maybe we would find out later, kapag nakuha na nina Loki at Alistair ang device. I expect that we would be so surprised.

"Look, once we get hold of the Augustus' box, it's a checkmate for Stein," I explained to her. "We will have everything that we need against him. You won't need to work for him anymore."

Sandali siyang natulala sa akin bago nagliwanag ang kanyang mukha at ngumiti. "You're right, Lori! I can finally cut the string the he attached to me! Hindi ko na kailangang magpanggap na kakampi niya."

"Kaya let's hope na maging successful ang mission natin," sabi ko sa kanya bago ko ibinalik ang aking tingin sa windshield. Noong una'y nakangiti ako habang makamasid. But something hit me. Not literally. Unti-unting nabura ang kurba sa aking mga labi.

Once we get hold of Augustus' box, we would know the secrets of M's organization. We would also see the files that the late editor had on Luthor. Loki, who would surely scrutinize every content therein, would find out his brother's affiliation with the dark side. Try to imagine how that might affect him.

Luthor could argue his case to Loki about trying to protect him, but the latter might see it as trying to find a way out of the mess dahil palubog na ang barko ni Stein.

Natawa tuloy ako sa isip ko. Wala akong pinagkaiba kay Stein. There's a secret in the box that I wouldn't want to be known. I didn't care that much about my own.

Destroying the box before Loki could access it might be a potential solution to the dilemma. And that's a thought I wouldn't want to seriously entertain.

"Uh-oh," Alistair said. "We've been spotted. Abort mission."

Mabilis kong binuksan ang aking mic at agad na napatingin sa apartment. "W-What happened?"

"Wala naman kaming napansin na ibang pumasok sa apartment compound," dagdag ni Jamie. "Sino'ng nakakita sa inyo?"

"Ano'ng ginagawa n'yo riyan?" may narinig akong matandang boses.

"Hey, what's going on?" tanong ko.

"A middle-aged man approached us," Loki whispered. "Doesn't look like the switch. He sounds like the landlord. Luckily I managed to hide my lockpicking tools before he could see them."

"Hinahanap po kasi namin si Sir Ephraim," sagot ni Alistair sa kausap niya. "We heard from his co-teachers na dito siya nanunuluyan. We have something to ask him."

"Ephraim? Last week pa siya nag-move out dito. Wala nang taong nakatira sa unit na 'yan."

What? Nagkatinginan kami ni Jamie, parehong nakakunot ang aming noo.

"Alam n'yo ho ba kung saan siya lumipat?" sunod na tanong ni Alistair.

"Hindi niya nasabi sa akin exactly kung saan, pero basta dito rin sa barangay. Hindi na raw kasi niya afford ang rent. Malaki raw nagastos niya sa hospital bill niya. Alam n'yo namang naaksidente siya, 'di ba?"

No one was more disappointed than Loki when he and Alistair returned to the car. Our mission was a total failure because we went to the wrong address.

"Maybe we should have asked kung doon pa ba nakatira si Sir Ephraim bago tayo nag-start?" tanong ni Jamie na nakaupo sa backseat. I glanced at her through the rearview mirror. She looked like she wanted to comfort Loki who's also seated at the back. But she probably realized na mali ang timing niya.

"Asking his neighbors about him might tip the switch off that some teenagers are looking for him," Loki sighed. "We needed to act discreetly so he won't see us coming."

"What about the private rehab center?" tanong ni Alistair bago i-start ang engine ng sasakyan. "Pwede natin siyang abangan doon."

"Gaano katagal ang biyahe papuntang City of San Fernando?" tanong ko. I haven't been to that city kasi.

"Almost an hour," estima ni Jamie. "Rush hour na niyan kaya siguradong traffic. Baka meron pang aksidente sa daan."

"So in other words, we have no chance of stealing the device today," Loki muttered. Hindi pa rin mabura ang pagkadismaya niya.

I clicked my tongue. Ang akala ko talaga, makukuha na namin ngayon. The game should have been over by now, if we only have the box in our hands.

Nagpatuloy sa pagmamaneho si Alistair kahit wala pa kaming idea kung saan kami susunod na pupunta. "What to do now? Should we call it a day and hope that nothing happens tomorrow?"

"We can check every apartment in this barangay and ask if they have a tenant named Refrain Aquino," Loki replied. That was impossible. I doubt the landlords and landladies would volunteer the information to a bunch of teenagers. And it's getting darker by the minute. Mas maganda sana kung sa umaga namin gagawin 'yon.

Also we don't have much time. We only have fourteen hours left before the revelation tomorrow. Hindi na kami aabot.

"We have his email, don't we?" Loki asked, leaning forward. "Maybe we should offer him one million pesos in exchange for the box."

"You think kakagat siya roon?" tanong ni Jamie.

"You heard the landlord earlier, didn't you?" Loki reclined to the back seat. "The switch moved out of the apartment because he can no longer afford the rent. He met an accident and had to pay the hospital bills. He has to undergo physical therapy regularly. He resigned from his job at Clark High. If we offer him money, he might give us what we want."

"Do you have one million?" tanong ni Alistair na napatingin kay Loki sa rearview mirror. "Let's say na pumayag siya sa offer mo. Meron ba tayong pambayad sa kanya?"

"I can ask money from my parents," Loki spoke confidently, na parang gano'n kadaling humingi ng isang milyon sa mga magulang niya. "I know that the switch must respect the last wishes of Augustus, but what's more important for him right now? Their friendship or money? How will exposing people's secrets benefit him?"

Money? Benefit?

An idea popped into my head. Inilabas ko ang aking phone at nag-log-on sa school portal namin.

"If only we have more time, mata-track down natin siya, tama?" tanong ko habang tina-type ang log-in details ng school email ni Rosetta. "So we need to buy more time."

"What do you have in mind, Lori?" tanong ni Alistair na sandaling napasulyap sa akin.

Ibinalik ko ang kanyang tingin. "Right now, Sir Ephraim must be having financial troubles. Wala siyang trabaho ngayon, kaya wala siyang source of income. I suggest that we give him an idea on what to do."

"And that idea is...?" Naningkit ang mga mata ni Jamie sa akin. "Come on, Lori! Huwag ka nang magpa-suspense!"

I clicked on the email of Tiberius Roman and started typing on the reply box. "We will suggest to him, in a discreet way, that he can extort money from the people whose secrets are in the box. Once makita niya ang business opportunity na ipe-present ng hawak niyang files, he might change his mind about exposing the secrets tomorrow."

"That won't stop the leak, but that can delay it," Alistair nodded. I'm well aware that I'm only delaying the inevitable. But we've got no choice, do we? "That can only work if we assume that he's willing to break the trust of Augustus in him, gaya ng sinabi ni Loki."

"He's in possession of the weaknesses of some people in Clark High," I reminded them. "Luckily for us, we found his weakness. Walang kasiguraduhan na kakagat siya, but what else can we do? At least we try something kaysa hintayin nating magkagulo bukas."

"Brilliant idea, Lorelei!" Loki said, clapping. "Way better than my one million peso proposal."

"Habang inaayos niya ang transactions, we will get the time that we need," nakangiti kong sabi. "We will track him down and we can retrieve the box from him."

***

Whether my plan was a success or a failure, at least, we tried. With the limited time that we got, we had no other available option.

The next morning, at nine o'clock, we waited in bated breath on any news of expose. The forty-eight hours were up. Nothing happened. Augustus' final spell should have been casted by now.

Pero ayaw ko pang magpaka-kampante. Hangga't 'di natatapos ang araw, wala pa ring kasiguraduhan.

By lunch time, the whole campus was still at peace. Everyone was living their normal lives. Nothing happened again. That's around fifty hours already since we received Augustus' email. Pwede na ba kaming magpaka-kampante? Hindi pa rin.

By the end of the afternood period, wala pa ring nangyari.

Either the switch realized how much money he could make from the secrets, or something bad happened to him.

The good news? We averted a major scandal in Clark High. For now. Nakahinga na kami nang maluwag. This would give us more time to hunt where the switch was hiding.

My plan seemed to have worked. Even against me.

Pauwi na kami noon nang biglang nag-ring ang aking phone. I checked who's calling. An unknown number? Bigla akong kinabahan.

Should I answer it? Or should I not?

After seconds of contemplating, I decided to tap the answer key.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Lorelei Rios," a robotic voice called my name. "Do you remember having this conversation?"

"Maybe after all this time, the vice president and his brother have been working together... to take down the organization. Do you know what might happen if M finds out about this? That one of his underlings is secretly working with the detective who's hunting him? The vice president will be in the front page of the Clarion tomorrow."

"Teka, you got it wrong! Loki and the execom do not know anything about it! We had no idea! Tama ka, hindi ko sinabi sa kanila kung ano ang nakasulat sa notebook!"

I took a deep breath as I clutched tightly on my phone. "What do you want?"

"Twenty thousand pesos in exchange for not leaking this clip," the caller said. "By the way, Augustus sends his regards."

q.e.d.

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