CHAPTER 9: Followed

— LIA —

MY SENIOR listened carefully to every word that I said. I told her the same I told to my friends. I made sure not to skip anything, even the tiniest details that I'm not sure will help us in this case. I also told her about Chynna

“The information I know about her is that she’s named Dennise. She’s on the same age range as mine."

After I finished talking, Detective Javier closed her eyes... like she was trying to remember something. I think that my case is not that important compared to the other cases that our team is handling. However, I can’t waste anytime regarding this. Now that Kelleon and his men are here in the Philippines, and the fact that Cloud was able to find my found, I can’t just sit here and do nothing. I need to convince them about the truth I’m saying and save myself.

“Three months ago, I went to Valencia with the other detectives in other departments. The main reason was to meet the current Superintendent of their branch but we also solved a few cases back then,” she started talking.

Valencia is a part of Spain. The only thing that makes sense now is that she was in the same country were I was kidnapped. However, the other parts were unclear and those made me confuse.

“There was a certain case I handled there. Someone stole a huge amount of money and some jewelries in a Viscount’s mansion,” she said and after a moment of silence, she looked at me.

“I was able to retrieve only one CCTV camera from a moving truck that passed the Viscount’s house at the time of the crime. And...,” she stopped talking as if she doesn't want to tell me what happened next.

She let out a heavy sighed. I was almost getting impatient while waiting for her to speak again.

“I saw you...in the CCTV footage. Walking out of the Viscount’s mansion while having black bags in your hand at the time of the crime. You were with another two people."

My breathing stopped for a moment. I can’t even process what she was saying even if her words echoed a lot of times in my head.

“Me? Why—,” my stuttering words were cut short when my senior spoke again.

“At first, I thought it was really you,” she said. “The woman in the CCTV footage is like a carbon copy of yours.”

I can’t speak that all I can do is to shook my head at her statement. It's not me! I’m sure that it’s not me!

“But...” she trailed off. A small ray of hope seep through my system. I was hoping that she will say that the woman in the CCTV footage is not me, and that she believes in what I told her!

“I called Nick. I asked him where you are that time,” she continue. “Nick said that you’re with our chief, making the profile of the suspect in the San Carlos Murder Case.”

I felt relieved on what she said. Finally, there are some people who can vouch for me. There are people who can defend me if ever something bad happens, but I hope something bad won’t happen.

“I investigated about the woman, but I can’t find anything about her. Everythings leads to you. I can’t ask for help to other police in Spain because I’m afraid that they might mistook you as her. And now, I’m sure I made that right decision,” she said with a small smile.

I gave her a small smile as well. “What happened to the case? How about the footage?” I asked her.

“I dropped the case and gave it to another spanish police. Those two people were already caught by the police, but not you. I had to edit the evidence so that you will be removed from that video. I hid the original CCTV footage. Only you and I know about it,” she answered.

I felt another sense of relief. In my whole life working under her, there is no time that Detective Javier broke my trust. I can easily say something confidential to her without being worried that another person will know it.

Whenever we are handling a very serious case, all of the leads and evidences I gathered will be given to Detective Javier. Never in our career that a certain evidence was exposed. She hid everything very well as if they are our greatest secret.

“I want to help you, Lia. Sooner or later, someone might find out about you looking the same as that Dennise and we don’t know what might happen to you. It is essential for us to find several and strong evidences that can prove that you and Dennise are not the same person,” she explained.

“What can I do? I can’t find anymore information about her,” I asked my senior.

“You're a criminal profiller, then make a profile about her. If you can find her full name, it will be much better,” she started explaining our plan. “Once you have find out her full name and you’re done with her profile, give me a copy and I’ll pull some strings. I’ll ask help to my acquaintances in Spain.”

I smiled at her. “Thank you so much, senior!” I can’t hide the gratitude that I’m feeling right now. At first, I thought that I already bumped to a dead-end when all of my investigations led to me and not to Dennise.

But now, hearing that my senior will help me in the best way she can gives me more confidence that we can solve this case together.

“Save your thanks when we already solved this,” she chuckled, but it was cut short when her phone rang.

My senior excused herself before answering the ringing phone. She was not that far from me so I can still hear what they are talking about. Her side is also facing me.

“Good morning, chief,” Detective Javier greeted the person in the other line.

So the caller is the chief. I’m sure that there is a new case for us to solve. The chief will not call us just to say ‘hi’ or ask about our well-being; he calls because of work.

“Yes, chief,” then there was a moment of silence before my senior spoke again. “We’ll look into that.”

After a while, Detective Javier bid a good bye to the chief before dropping the call. She turned her head to me before speaking.

“The chief wants us to investigate about the body they discovered near the Laguna de Bay. I’ll get the files from the other office,” she said. “For now, go back to our office and tell Nick and Darwin about it while waiting for me.”

I nodded and them we started walking away. We parted ways when we reach the ground floor. I walked towards our office.

When I entered, I saw Nick and Darwin sipping coffee with their feet on the table like they were relaxing. However, they put their feet down to the ground when they saw me.

“What’s up?” Nick asked me.

I continue walking towards my table. “There’s a new case. A dead body was found near Laguna de Bay. Details will be given once Senior is here.”

Hearing that, they fixed themselves and started getting the things that they think are essential in solving the case.

After some minutes, Detective Javier entered. She started explaining the details and giving us files, including the photos of the victim and the crime scene. She gave us orders. As usual, she assigned me in making the profile of the victim and the potential suspect. She told me to add the usual routes of the victim together with the people the victim knew, and other information.

Before they left, she told me that after I gave her the copy of the profile, I must go home and focus on the case about Dennise.

HOURS later, I went to a nearby fast food restaurant. I don’t have the energy to cook my own food so I decided to have a take-out. While waiting for my food to get ready, I suddenly remembered that Detective Javier told me to find out Dennise’s full name.

I thought of Chynna, but I don’t know how I’m going to get Dennise’s full name without getting suspicious.

I closed my eyes to think clearly. However, no matter how much I try to squeeze my brain, no useful idea comes.

When I opened my eyes, I was greeted by the poster of the restaurant in front. It says ‘Flaming Rock Lava Grilled Burger”.

That's right... FLAMES!

I grabbed my phone from my sling bag and texted Chynna’s number.

Me: Hi, Chynn! I came up with this type of game. It's called “FLAMES”. Are you familiar with it?

It's random, but Chynna is a woman who like random things, so I took my shot.

After some moments, which is quite fast by the way, Chynna replied.

Chynna: Oh, yes! I know that. I used to to that when I was a teenager.

Me: Can you teach me how to do it? It’s quite interesting. I saw some girls here do that.

Chynna: Sure! I’ll make a video since it’s difficult to teach it via text or call.

Chynna: Who’s names am I going to use? I need two.

This is it. I smiled when I can already see that my plan is working.

Me: Mine and Alejandro’s.

Chynna sent an “ok” emoji. I waited impatiently for the video she’s going to send.

In the middle of waiting, my order number was called and I walked to get my food. I left the restaurant while checking if Chynna had already sent the video, but there was none.

I walked towards the nearby jeepney terminal. I almost forgot that I will stay on Althea’s house for the mean time. Good thing I remembered it before I could walk to the opposite direction.

While walking, I noticed that there was a police car near me. I didn’t mind it at first, though. It is normal to find a police car in the streets at this hour. It's rush hour and the police are in-charged on making sure that there will be no chaos in the street.

I walked very slowly. When I was in the intersection and waiting for the street light to turn red, I noticed that the police car started moving. After some moments, it stopped... just beside me.

Because of that, I was able to take a closer look of the car. One look from the stickers of it and I already the truth.

This police car is fake.

When the lights turned red, I mixed myself with the crowd crossing the same street. After that, I walked with the group of women walking towards a mall.

I immediately went to an arcade inside and placed myself to the game whete there are a lot of people. I grabbed my phone and was about to text Althea to fetch me when I saw a video message from Chynna.

I don’t even need to play the video. The thumbnail already has their full name.

Dennise Lopez.

Alejandro Mariano Estrada.