| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“Too much coffee isn’t good for you, you know,” A guy’s voice said from behind her.
Joey turns around to see Jacky walking into the break room. Her face lightens up. “Jack!”
Jacky smiles. “Who else?”
“Where have you been all this time?”
“Around.”
“Duh.”
“Impatient, aren’t we?”
“It’s not the time to joke. We need to hurry. I got Kenneth to make a deal with the court officials. We can keep Jason Zhao until midnight. We only have five hours left.”
“He’s a hard nut to crack?”
Joey nods.
“I can’t believe Madame Meng couldn’t threaten him.”
She wrinkles her face. “Very funny. It’s easy to threaten him, but hard to get him to talk.”
“Did his brother double back this afternoon?”
Joey shakes her head.
“That’s good then. Let’s go eat for a bit before we come back. You seriously need to get out of here. You don’t look too good. You’ve been at it for two days and a night.”
“I can’t take a break. We only have five more hours.”
“It doesn’t matter. If you’re still staying here, you can’t think of any other way anyway. Let’s get out.”
Jacky grabs the coffee cup out of Joey’s hand and pulls her left arm, dragging her out of the break room.
“Jack! It’s not funny! Come on!”
“I’m not joking. You’re always stubborn. Come on. Time for real food!”
“Kenneth already went out to order some food. He’ll be back soon.”
“So? Let him wait. That will be your midnight snack.”
As they’re exchanging these words, Jacky’s still pulling Joey towards the door of the front room. As Jacky’s opening the door with his left hand, he sees Kenneth walking towards the room, carrying some boxes.
“Oh great!” Jacky let out.
Jacky pulls Joey past Kenneth anyway.
Kenneth turns around towards the hallway and yells after them. “Hey! Where are you taking her? We only have five hours.”
“I’m getting her some real food,” Jacky answered without turning his head back. “If something big comes up, just call us.”
With that, Jacky increases his speed while Joey tries to keep up. Why does he has to have such a strong grip?
“Let go already!” Joey protested.
“I’m not crazy,” Jacky said finally.
“Jack! Come on! Stop aggravating Kenneth.”
“What do you mean? He’s the one aggravating me. He should know how to take care of you better. If not, how in the world am I going to hand you over to him?”
Hearing that, Joey yanks her hand away real hard.
Jacky stops. They’re in front of the station now.
“What?! You’re crazy.” Joey turns back towards the front door.
Jacky blocks her way.
“Come on! I’m telling you. This isn’t the time. The clock’s ticking.”
“That’s why you have to take it easy. Can’t you see that you’re shutting yourself out? Can’t you smell this fresh air? It could clear your head. Come on.”
A wind blows by at that time. Just then, Joey realizes that Jacky’s right. Although she’s mad at him, but she feels that a cloud has somehow lifted up from her head.
“All right,” She said at last. “Where are we going, genius?”
Jacky smiles. “That’s the spirit. How about one of those street stalls? It’s really good. We can eat and enjoy the night air too.”
Joey looks at her watch.
“Don’t worry. I know there’s one near here. Come on.”
Jacky heads for his car as Joey follows closely, side-by-side with him.
*****
“So that pretty much sums up what I did the whole day,” Jacky finished. “Running back and forth like crazy. Frankie’s pretty much clean for now. But we can’t be sure. Just hope that he doesn’t pull any smart moves.”
“You had someone tagged him?” Joey asked.
“Of course. You think I’m crazy not to take caution?”
Joey smiles. “I could believe that though.”
“Come on. Have some faith in me, will you?”
“How could she when you’re acting so jumpy all the time?” Wallace jumped in before Joey answer.
Jacky turns to him. “So now you’re on her side too?”
Wallace shrugs. “Maybe.”
“I shouldn’t have invited you to dinner then.”
“Stop talking nonsense,” Joey said. “Eat fast. We have to get back soon. We’d been here an hour now. Four more hours, you know.”
“You should learn to relax. I mean with what Old Victor told me earlier, we can find something to hit Jason’s nerve.”
“He’s a very patient man. It’s hard to rattle him. Brad already did that.”
“Brad doesn’t know where to hit.”
“Maybe he isn’t as offensive as you,” Wallace said.
Jacky turns to Wallace again. “Excuse me?”
“We all know how you aggravate Ken half of the time. Let’s face it.”
“Come on. The reason why I have to push him so hard is to see if he’s a patient man. If he can’t endure his future brother-in-law’s attitude, he’s not fit for my sister.”
“What?”
Jacky turns to look at Joey real quick before giving Wallace his attention again. Wallace sees that and understands what Jacky meant. Wallace smiles. Jacky takes a sip out of his drink.
“That’s not funny,” Joey said, seeing the guys’ exchange.
“Come on,” Jacky said. “I have to test him for you, you know.”
“Who says I like him? We’re just partners.”
Jacky turns to her. “Who do you like then?”
Joey scoops some more rice into her mouth with her chopsticks.
Jacky turns back to Wallace. “As I was saying, he has to pass the test first.”
“I think you’re setting the standard too high. Ken’s a decent guy. He knows how to take it easy until you showed up.”
“So it’s my fault?” He points his chopsticks at his own face. “Why?”
“I don’t know. But from what I see, you make him nervous. Envious even.”
“Wow! You’re observant. What else?”
“What else do you want to know?”
“I want to know if he has some considerate fiber in him.”
Jacky sees Wallace’s confused look, so he elaborates. “He doesn’t know how to take good care of Jo. Can you believe ordering those ‘cold’ boxed foods for her? Why doesn’t he just take her out somewhere to eat? Sure, they got a deadline. But what use is it if she’s half starved?”
Wallace sees that it’s one of those rare times that Jacky’s temper rises a bit. Actually, he never notices Jacky ever raising his voice like that. Wallace suddenly realizes that Jacky and Joey must have a very strong brotherly bond. It makes him wonder suddenly what Benny would be like.
They eat in silence for a few seconds before Joey speaks up.
“I’m done,” She announced, putting her rice bowl down. “Let’s go.”
“How about dessert?” Jacky asked.
“You can order it and eat on the way. I’ll drive.”
“Wow! You’re not taking any chances, huh?”
“No. I thought of a way already.”
“Okay. I’ll pay.” Jacky gets up and heads towards the owner.
Wallace looks after Jacky and makes sure that Jacky’s out of earshot before addressing Joey. “He really cares about you.”
Joey nods. “I know. But he shouldn’t rattle Kenneth too much.”
Wallace smiles. “He can’t help it.”
“He doesn’t have to react so strongly. I mean Kenneth’s not himself lately either. He probably feels pressured because we’re all working on the cases and he feels the need to prove himself too much.”
“Everything is hectic lately. Can’t blame him either.”
“I know. That’s why Jack shouldn’t have pressured him more.”
“Either way, I think he’s jealous. I shouldn’t say it. But he’s been competing with Jacky too much. I think Jacky’s right. He does like you, but he isn’t handling it the right way. Or maybe he’s too caught up in the whole competition that he forgets the most important thing.”
“What’s it with you and Jacky?”
“Jacky might like to joke a lot. But he’s a cop after all. He knows. I guess you know too. But you don’t want to admit it.”
“I…”
Wallace smiles. “You’re unsure.”
“You’re annoying. Stop hanging around with Jacky too much. It’s not healthy.”
Although Joey sounds mad, but she smiles so Wallace knows she’s kidding.
Jacky comes back at that moment with a box in his hand. “Are we all ready here?”
Both Joey and Wallace stand up.
Jacky looks from one to another. “Been talking about me?”
“No!” Joey and Wallace said at the same time.
“I know that look.”
Although he says that, but he begins to walk back towards the street area where he parked his car earlier. Joey and Wallace walk along with him, each on one of his sides.
Jacky turns to Joey. “So, what have you got going, Miss Meng?”
Joey smiles. “You’ll see.”
Jacky turns his attention front again. “Secrets, huh?”
“If it doesn’t work, I don’t want to tell you yet.”
“Okay then.”
They walk a bit further in silence. Then Jacky’s cell phone rings. Jacky retrieves it from his pants pocket right away and answers. But before he could say the usual greeting, a voice booms into his ear.
“Calm down, will you? I can’t hear a thing you’re saying.” He pauses. “Brad, calm down! You’re blasting my ears away.”
Joey and Wallace turn their attention to Jacky, keeping quiet.
“It all happened to fast. We…we…”
“What?”
Jacky stops dead in his track two seconds later. The other two stop also.
“I’ll be back right away! Don’t panic!” Jacky snaps his phone shuts in one quick motion and runs for the car.
Joey and Wallace run after him.
“What’s wrong?” Joey asked.
“Jason Zhao escaped!” Jacky answered, still keeping his pace.
“What?!” Joey exclaimed in disbelief.
“I thought there were securities,” Wallace said.
“No!” Jacky said. “What I meant was some people busted him out!”
“What?!” Joey exclaimed out again.
After a few moments of being shocked, they continue to Jacky’s car. Everyone stops in front of it.
Jacky gets inside after he deactivates the alarm. Joey runs to the other side to get in. Wallace knows that he can’t sit around at home to wait for the news so he hops into the back. Jacky doesn’t bother to tell Wallace how dangerous it’s going to be. He knows that Wallace can take care of himself. He pulls out quickly as soon as he sees it’s safe to.
“How could it happen?” Joey asked, turning to Jacky. “Kenneth was there!”
“He did a very lousy job then,” Jacky said.
“Jack!”
“What?”
“Stop picking on him!”
“I’m not picking on him. I think he needs to keep it up a notch. He’s the lieutenant after all.”
“Maybe there were a lot of people? After all, it’s only the local station. It’s not that hard to break in.”
“How do you know that?”
“I told him, okay?”
“What? You would tell someone that your station is easy to break in?”
“I didn’t tell everyone. I just said that after all it’s just a local station.”
“Still…Kenny should have been more careful.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t had left in the first place.”
“Don’t blame yourself. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.”
“Why are you guys playing the ‘guilt trip’ game now?” Wallace asked, interfering. “We have to get back and see what happened.”
“You’re right.”
About 15 minutes later, they arrive at the station.
Jacky and Joey rush into the station, practically flying down the hallway after they enter the front entrance. Wallace has to run to keep up with them.
“What kind of police station doesn’t have guards in front?” Jacky rattled out as soon as he walks through the door. “We breeze right through here in less than five seconds.”
Brad runs towards them. “That’s not funny! We tried our best, okay? We were outnumbered. And…”
Joey pushes Jacky aside, her attention on Brad. “What exactly happened? Where is Kenneth?”
“He left awhile after you and Jacky left. He isn’t back yet.”
“Where did he say he was going?”
“Ummm…..”
George walks towards them at that time. “I think he said North Star Café.”
Joey turns to look at Jacky and Wallace. They exchange a “What in the world is he doing there when there’s a crisis going on here?” Then Joey turns back to Brad and George.
“How is everything going?” Joey asked. “I mean what have you guys done after it happened? Was anyone injured?”
“About seven officers were hurt. We sent them to the hospital with some other officers.”
“Conference room in fifteen minutes. Lock every door in this building. And call Kenneth again.”
“Yes, Madame!” Brad and George exclaimed out.
Joey walks towards her room to get some files.
At that time, Jacky turns to Wallace. “I think you should wait out here.”
Wallace nods, knowing the situation.
Jacky heads towards the conference room after telling Wallace there’s some water in the break room. Joey comes out a minute later and joins Jacky in the conference room. Wallace takes a sit at the corner table and waits for them. The night has become more eerie than before. Wallace wonders where in the world Kenneth is.
*****
Kenneth walks down the hallway to the hotel. He’s sure she’s in this hotel. Why didn’t she tell him she was coming? He takes a deep breath before knocking on the door. He hears rustling sounds inside before someone manages to grab the doorknob from inside.
A girl appears at the door. She seems shocked to see him there. “How did you know I’m here?”
“Aunt June told me.”
“You have to leave now!”
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t be here! I have an interview in a bit. They can’t see you here.”
“What do you mean? Are you doing something illegal that I should know about?”
Her expression turns into panic. “No!”
“Then why can’t I come in?”
“You can come back later. Just not now.”
Just then, they hear voices coming down from the hallway. Both turn to look in that direction. A shocked look appears on Kenneth’s face. It can’t be, can it?
*****
“Where in the world is Jacky?” Ray demanded. “We need him here now.”
“He probably got delayed,” Kevin said. “He’s a busy guy, you know.”
“I bet he’s at the hospital, visiting Jan again.”
“He’s not. I heard he’s with Wallace.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Gal…Tim told me.”
“Galton? Who’s Galton?”
“I meant Tim.”
Ray scratches his head, puzzled. “Okay then. If he’s not home in ten minutes, I’m leaving.”
“What’s your hurry anyway?”
“Come on. We got a murderer running loose. This is serious. We have to talk to him. We can’t just call Joey up and say, ‘Hi Detective Meng, could you please fill us in?’”
Kevin chuckles at Ray’s expression as he pretends to call in.
“At times like this, you shouldn’t be laughing.”
“Stop being so tense. I’m sure they got it under control.”
“I still stand by my belief.”
“Which is?”
“If cops can be trusted, then pigs can fly.”
Kevin taps his chin. “Then why are we standing in front of Jacky’s apartment to wait for him to tell us some information. Hmmm…I wonder.”
Ray gives Kevin an annoyed look, which is rare. Kevin and Ray seem to have switch personalities.
They stand and wait for a few more minutes before Ray gives up and heads back upstairs. Kevin follows closely as Ray’s taking the stairs instead of the elevator up. As they’re coming closer towards their apartment, they see the girls standing there, waiting for them.
“Sis, what brought you here?” Ray asked.
“Where did you guys go?” Mandy asked back.
“Young Master Cho decides to go downstairs and investigate the matter,” Kevin answered before Ray could defend himself. “But apparently Detective Chu isn’t home yet.”
Ray turns to Kevin, bewildered. “You’re scary, you know that? Stop talking like Jacky. Even if you want to be a cop, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can’t let my future brother-in-law go risk his life and leave my sister behind all alone.”
“Ray!” Mandy called out.
Kevin just shrugs.
Charmaine speaks up for the first time. “Let’s not argue. How about going into our apartment and talk? It’s not safe out in the hallway.”
Kevin nods. “Good idea.”
The four go into the girls’ apartment to talk and wait for further news of Jacky. Fifteen minutes later, Alice comes home and joins them since she doesn’t want to be alone when Wallace’s not home. They wait in silence, not knowing what else to say. Waiting seems to be their latest unwanted hobby.
*****
Wallace waits for about an hour and a half before he sees the conference room door opens. Jacky’s the first to walk out. It’s not surprising since Wallace knows that Jacky hates to be shut in a place for too long. What he’s more surprised with is Joey’s right behind him since Joey’s not the impatience kind.
Jacky approaches Wallace’s table. He sits down, yawning. “You want to drive back?”
Wallace takes a quick glance at Joey and everyone piling out of the conference room behind her. “Okay.”
“Stop at that food place again. You need your car.”
Wallace stands up at that time since Jacky’s already walking towards the door. He doesn’t want to press Jacky for information right now since things seem so hectic.
Jacky gives Wallace his keys while he’s walking along the street.
“So, did they reach Ken yet?”
“I don’t know. But he’s going to be in deep trouble when he gets back. Even Jo seems to be mad at him.”
“You think something happened to him?”
“Can’t be. I mean he’s not involved. Unless he stumbled upon something major. Want to check out North Star Café then?”
They’re in front of Jacky’s car now. As they get in, they both notice a shadow behind them. Jacky turns around real quick to find Kenneth staring at him.
“What?” Jacky asked.
“Where is Joey?” Kenneth asked back.
“Inside! Where else? Where in the world have you been? We thought you got captured or something.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’ve been looking for you all night.”
“It’s only 10.”
Jacky looks annoyed.
“Some people busted Jason Zhao out,” Wallace jumped in before it gets too hectic between them. “We’ve been trying to call you forever. They just had a meeting for more than an hour now, trying to sort out this matter.”
“What?!” Kenneth asked, shocked. “How did…”
“If you were there, you would already know,” Jacky said.
“What is your problem?”
“You…”
“Guys!” Wallace interfered once again. “It won’t help to argue. Ken, go in to see Joey. I’m taking Jacky home.”
“All right then,” Kenneth said, giving Jacky a look before heading towards the building entrance.
Jacky’s face turns passive at that moment, turning back towards his car and getting in. Wallace gets in on the driver side and drives away from there before anything else happens.
*****
Cyndi ponders what’s going on. She has been trying to call Wallace since she got off work. He’s no where to be found. She thought they would go together and visit Jan at the hospital, but she hasn’t even seen his shadow since she left work or got any calls from him. Worries take over her as she begins to imagine what could possibly happen to him. Considering the things going on around him lately, she feels unrest. She tries to dial his number again. She’s surprised and relieved at the same time since Wallace picks up immediately.
“Wallace? What happened?”
“I’m driving home now. Sorry I didn’t call you earlier. I had to do something for Jacky and a lot of things happened after that. It was too much to take in. I didn’t check my phone until now.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad that you’re all right.”
Wallace smiles. “It’s going to be all right. Don’t worry too much.”
“I was watching the news earlier and saw that…”
“I know. I was with Jacky when it happened. He had to rush back to the police station to discuss it with Joey. We took the same car while going, so I had to double back later when they’re done to get my car.”
“Oh. What’s going to happen?”
“I don’t know. Jacky didn’t tell me much. You know, police business.”
“I understand. Okay, I should let you drive home and rest. Take care.”
She’s about to hang up, but he calls her name.
“Yea?”
“After all this is sort out – I mean the whole thing with Vincent and Alyssa, let’s go out and celebrate together. Or we can even go out some place on our own.”
Cyndi smiles. “That’ll be great. We should go together as a group. It’ll be fun.”
“All right then. Try to get some sleep, okay? Remember to lock your doors.”
“I know. I already did. See you tomorrow.”
“Yes. And maybe this time I can sneak over so we can take a coffee break together. I was trying to sneak over today and Old Victor….I mean the big man caught me.”
Cyndi laughs at the name Wallace calls his boss.
“It’s not my fault! Jacky calls him that. That reminds me. I have to remember not to call him that in front of Vincent or the others or I’m dead meat.”
Cyndi laughs again.
“Okay, I’ll let you get some sleep.”
“Okay, bye.”
This time, they hang up for real.
Wallace feels bad not telling Cyndi all of it. At least, not what Jacky told him. But he feels the need to protect Cyndi from all these headache matters right now. He takes his earpiece out of his left ear and places it aside while still keeping an eye on Jacky’s car in front. Wallace’s mind wonders a bit. How come Jacky’s behaving in such a strange way since yesterday? He’s less self-contained and less patient than Wallace had seen him. What’s going on here? Wallace knows that Jacky doesn’t blame Kenneth. It’s like Jacky’s blaming himself more, but wanting to take it out on someone because he’s irritated. Wallace remembers what Jacky said yesterday. Jacky had said, “I wish…”, then he paused. Is it because he misses Benny and feels frustrated that he’s going no where with the cases? Suddenly, Wallace feels the need to be supportive towards Jacky. Maybe because their minds think alike on some level.
Wallace exhales, clearing his heads of those thoughts and goes back to concentrate on driving. He rolls down the window a bit to let fresh air in. As he follows Jacky’s lead, turning right into their street, he spots a familiar car zooming past in the opposite direction. Can that be? No…no…it must be his illusion from fatigue.
*****
Jacky parks into a spot nearby since it’s pretty crowded around the area right now. He sees a spot not far away from his that’s suitable for Wallace, so he gets out without having to worry Wallace will have trouble with that. He turns towards Wallace and signals that he’ll go up first. He takes out his cell phone while he’s walking towards the elevators. He dials and begins to tap on the phone’s back while it’s playing Cory’s latest favorite song. He wonders when Cory will change the tune. Finally someone picks up.
“Cory, how is it going?” Jacky asked.
“We’re fine,” Cory replied.
“Cory!”
“Frankie didn’t double back or anything. It has been fine. Gallen went out for a break. It’s my turn to guard Annie now.”
“Annie ate yet?”
“Yea. We made sure to buy two portions only so people think it’s for Gallen and me.”
“Good. Did…uh….”
“Yea, Jan had something to eat already. The hospital made sure of that.”
Jacky clears throat. “That’s good then.”
“What happened? You sound beat.”
“I am beat.”
“What is it?”
“You guys haven’t heard?”
“No.”
“Tune into the news later. I’m too tired to fill you in.”
“Okay then. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Jacky nods. “Yea.”
“Wait!”
Jacky yawns. “Yea?”
“You want to talk to Jan?”
“No, it’s okay. Let her sleep.”
“Okay then. I’ll just check on her once in awhile.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Jacky hangs up before Cory goes on and on again.
Wallace catches up to him while he’s waiting for the elevators. “Checked in on Jan?”
“Yea.”
It’s another way of saying everything’s going well with Jacky’s plan also since Jacky already told Wallace about his plans when they left the police station.
They stay silent while riding the elevator up.
When the floor almost reaches the fifth level, Jacky turns to Wallace. “Probably the others are waiting for me up there, demanding an explanation. Just explain to them what I told you earlier. I’ll clarify everything further tomorrow if they still have questions.”
Wallace nods.
Jacky steps out of the elevator as it opens, heading for his apartment. He had never felt so tired in a long time. He opens his apartment door with his key, slipping in quickly. He locks the door and makes a round of inspection around the apartment before crashing onto the sofa in the living room.
*****
Wallace steps out of the elevator, not feeling up to having Ray attack him with questions, decides to quit while he’s ahead. He wonders if Ray’s standing in the hallway waiting for anyone to come back and explain the whole situation to him. He stops at the corner before turning left to call Vincent and Alyssa. They had been relocated already after what happened the day after that attack for safety. Wallace hears the phone rings a few times before it enters Voicemail. He leaves a message for Vincent since he realizes that it’s already late. They must have gone to sleep.
He shoves his cell phone back into his pants pocket and takes in a deep breath before turning left to go face the others. To his surprise, no one hears him walk past their apartments. What’s going on here? He half expected Ray to jump out of his apartment and starts to fire questions at him. Wallace unlocks his apartment and gets in. He’s too tired to bother with anything. The “big man” sure knows how to torture him on his first day back.
He turns the light in the kitchen on and looks towards Alice’s room. He wonders if Alice had eaten yet. He walks towards her room and grabs the doorknob, turning it slowly. He’s alarmed when he sees no one in the room. He looks at his watch and notices it’s 11:30 already. Where could Alice be? He shuts the door to her room and races past the kitchen towards the front door. He unlocks the door again and steps out into the hallway, not forgetting to lock the door again as he leaves. He steps towards Ray’s apartment to see if they’re there. He knocks several times, but hears no answer. He goes back to his side and knocks Charmaine’s door this time. He hears some rustling inside before someone comes to the door. Mandy’s face appears at the door a second later.
“Is Alice with you?” He asked.
“Yes,” Mandy answered.
Wallace sighs out in relief.
“You okay? You look exhausted.”
Wallace nods.
“You want me to wake Alice up?”
Wallace shakes his head. “No. Let her sleep. And…”
Mandy waits patiently for Wallace to continue.
He couldn’t help but let out a smile despite the situation. “Don’t wake your brother up either. I need to get some rest.”
Mandy nods. “I know.”
With that, Wallace says goodnight and walks back to his apartment as Mandy shuts the door.
*****
“Whoa!” Ray exclaimed. “That is crazy. What do we do now?”
“Just be careful. I mean he’s not targeting us anyway. At least, not you guys.”
“Still…”
“Stop trying to make yourself as one of the significant persons that they must eliminate to get to something,” Mandy said.
Ray looks over at Mandy. “Sis, that’s not funny.”
“Hey, you’re exaggerating things.”
“Do you know that we helped Jacky throughout the case too? Maybe those people could’ve mistaken us to be…you know.”
Mandy stares at him. “What?”
“Cops.”
The others laugh. Kevin almost spits out his coffee. Charmaine manages to restrain her laughter in time. But the rest couldn’t help it.
“Seriously, you got a very wide imagination,” Alice said. “No one would believe you’re a cop. So don’t worry.”
“Well, my dad’s rich anyway,” Ray said in an as a matter of fact tone. “What if they’re targeting me when they find out they could kidnap me for money?”
“Good idea. Why don’t you broadcast that on TV?”
Ray looks at her, annoyed. Alice just smiles and goes back to eating her dessert.
Wallace looks at his watch. “Anyway, I have to head to work before the big man gives me trouble again.”
“Good luck, ge. Hope you don’t run into him right away.”
Wallace gets up and pays at the front counter.
They’ve been up since 7 and decide to head out to the nearest shop for breakfast instead of having it at home and feeling paranoid. The morning fresh air does help everyone relax for a bit. They had chosen a spot outside so Wallace could fill them in with everything. Jacky didn’t join them since he’s still tired from the whole day yesterday. He decides to catch a few more hours of sleep before going to the hospital.
As Wallace walks away, they go back to eating.
“So…what do we do today?” Kevin asked.
Ray shrugs. “I don’t know. No jobs lately. It’s like somehow ’cause they know we live in your aunt’s apartment building that they decided not to hire us.”
Kevin sighs. “If we keep going like this, we might as well retire early.”
“Where is Jessica?” Charmaine asked. “Out doing some article again?”
“Yea,” Ray mumbled. “She’s the luckiest one. Always having something to do. Having two jobs is really convenient.”
“Maybe this could be a break for you guys,” Mandy reassured him. “You can go enjoy or stay home for a while. Someone will call soon.”
“I guess I’m bored, might as well go home and visit old Daddy.”
“Ray!”
“What? I’m visiting him.”
“You sound like it’s your worst punishment or something.”
“Maybe.”
Mandy decides not to push him into madness about it today since she’s feeling worn out also. She finishes her breakfast and sits back, looking at the view in front of them.
“Oh!”
Mandy sits straight up again, facing Ray. “What?!”
“I haven’t visit Mom in ages. I’ll go visit her instead.”
Mandy looks at him.
“I’ll visit her first then go visit Dad.” He flashes on a smile. “Want to come?”
Mandy looks confused. “What?”
“I mean come with me to visit Dad later, not going back to Mom’s place with me.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“See? You sound unenthusiastic too, not just me.”
“I’m just tired.”
“So you can come up with such excuse and I can’t?”
Mandy sighs. “Ray.”
Ray realizes how tired Mandy looks so he drops it for once. “Are you all right?”
“Yea. I guess just between work and stuffs going on lately, it’s hard not to be exhausted.”
“True. Don’t worry though! When you come to Dad’s house, he’ll definitely cheer you up! I get along with him really well.” He pauses. “At least, used to.”
“When are you going to visit?” Kevin asked.
“Maybe later this weekend.”
“You talk like you’re going to visit him this afternoon or something.”
“Come on. I’ll probably head to Mom’s place until weekend.”
“Oh.”
“What do you mean ‘Oh’?”
“Just oh.”
“You’re strange.”
The girls smile at that. It’s funny how things seems to be back where they started about two months ago. The guys are arguing like old times. When will things actually be back to normal for real?
*****
Jacky finally wakes up around ten. After a quick shower and change of clothes, he leaves his apartment again. First stop? The hospital, of course. He doesn’t feel like facing Kenneth and Joey right now, especially Kenneth. He’d gone over the line last night and he will have to apologize later. But not now. He needs to see if there’s any progress with Mr. Lam first.
He arrives at the hospital to find Cory hanging around the cafeteria entrance. He approaches him to get the latest updates. Before he could open his mouth to ask though, Cory starts first.
“Guess what?” Cory asked.
“Enlighten me,” Jacky said, feeling like Cory’s being clichéd again.
“Mr. Lam came earlier.”
“Does that mean he doesn’t have work or whatever it is to take care of?”
“He does. But he came to visit first.”
“Is there a break or something? Why are you making it sound so important?”
“Impatient, huh?” Cory sees Jacky’s annoyed expression, so he gets to the point before Jacky gets mad – which he rarely does. “I think that he’s hunting down for Old Larry himself. If we follow him, we might get a lead faster than trying to get into Old Larry’s head ourselves, pondering where he might be.”
“He told Annie?”
“Yea. I mean, of course, she’s still unconscious.” He smiles.
“Old Larry knows that we’re looking for him now. No way he’s going to risk it and make contact with Frankie. He decided to flee first. The suspicion’s already on him.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to tag Frankie and see what comes up, would it?”
Jacky shakes his head. “Guess not.”
“Okay. Let’s go back then. I have to switch with Gallen. He’s been up the whole night.”
“What?! You didn’t tell anyone else to come and guard during the night?”
“What? The less people know about this, the better.”
Jacky starts to walk in the direction of the elevators, ignoring Cory. He couldn’t believe Cory would let Gallen stay up the whole night when Gallen isn’t even on their case. Who died and let Cory make all the decisions? Jacky stops himself in the elevator. Not literally, but his thoughts. Why is he so irritated lately? He lost his calmness just in a week or so. How could this be?
Jacky enters the room to find Annie sitting in the chair across from Gallen, talking about something. Gallen looks beat. Jacky closes the door before talking.
“Hey, man,” Jacky said. “Go home and rest.”
“It’s all right,” Gallen said.
“I’m taking over for you.”
At that time, Cory comes in.
Jacky turns to Cory. “Take Tim home. He’s tired and probably can’t drive in this state.”
Gallen stands up. “It’s all right. I can go on my own.”
“Cory!”
“Umm…yea, man,” Cory stuttered out. “Come on. Let me drive you.”
Gallen sees the tension building so he agrees before something else happens. He wonders why Jacky is so mad. Did something happen? But then again, they would have told him if something did. After Gallen leaves with Cory, Jacky turns back to Annie.
“You all right in this place?” Jacky asked.
Annie nods.
“Sit down.”
“All right.”
Annie has been startled a bit ago by Jacky’s outburst, so she had stand up along with Gallen. Now she sits back down in her spot while Jacky take Gallen’s seat.
“How long do I have to stay here?” Annie asked.
“Maybe until Mr. Lam decides to take action,” Jacky said. “Maybe soon.”
“I don’t want to be like this anymore. It’s like I’m lying to him.”
“Guilt gets people talking. If he thinks it’s his fault that this happened to you, he’ll say a lot more things or take actions that will help us find Larry.”
“Is this necessary?”
“It is. If it wasn’t for that, how would we know that you left out some information regarding Larry?”
Annie looks confused. “What?”
“You didn’t tell us the reason you left the job was because of disagreement with Frankie regarding Larry. That was what Frankie was talking about last night when he was here.”
“I…uh…thought it’s company’s information and it’s confidential, you know.”
“Yes, acceptable since it has to do with your business. But you didn’t have to tell us exactly, you could have hinted to us somewhat so we know where to look instead of running around in circles.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I could say and could not.” Annie looks down on the floor.
Feeling guilty, Jacky decides to drop it. “Actually, I’m sorry. I know that you’re in a difficult spot. I’m just anxious to solve this case. Don’t feel bad. We’ll figure things out, okay?”
Annie looks up to see Jacky smiling, she feels a bit better.
Jacky looks over to the right wall towards Jan’s room next door. “I’ll be back, okay? Lock the door after me. I’ll call you when I’m back. Don’t open until I said so, okay?”
Annie nods. Jacky leaves and makes sure that he hears a click before walking over to Jan’s room at the corner.
Jan smiles as she sees him walk in. Jacky walks towards her bed and takes the seat on the other side near the wall, so he can listen for sounds coming from Annie’s room also.
“You don’t look good,” Jan remarked.
Jacky smiles. “What do you mean?”
“Someone aggravated you?”
Jacky shrugs.
“Come on. You’re smiling, but your eyes aren’t. Something’s up.”
“I could never lie to you, huh?”
“Guess not.”
“All right. Three guesses then.”
“Cory?”
Jacky smiles. “You’re good.”
“It’s not hard when the choices are limited, right? Gallen helped you a lot lately, so it can’t be him. Annie – although she held back information, but it’s not her fault. That leaves Cory. He keeps making careless mistakes, especially these days. So…what did he do this time?”
“He took advantage of Gallen too much. How could he let Gallen stayed up the whole night?”
“He did? I thought he was there?”
“No. He told me Gallen was up the whole night.”
“Hmmmm…”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You feeling better? Eat yet?”
“Yea. You?”
“Not really.”
Jan smiles. “No wonder you’re cranky.”
“I’ll go get something. You want anything?”
“Maybe an apple. Call Annie and ask her. Maybe she wants something.”
Jacky’s half-way to the door, but he turns back. “You mean besides from taking advantage of Gallen, Cory’s starving Annie too?”
“No. I mean maybe she wants a snack or something, you know. Or anything. She’s shut in that room. At least, make her comfortable.”
“All right. I’ll be back.”
Jacky comes back in 20 minutes, first delivering some food for Annie and then returning to Jan’s side. They talk a bit more. Jan tries to cheer him up as much as she could. But he seems a lot more stress than he led on. Jan knows that he doesn’t want her worried, so he tries to appear casual. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and asks him.
“What’s wrong? I mean besides from the whole mess with Jason Zhao and all.”
Jacky knows he couldn’t hide it from Jan, no matter how hard he tries. He wishes that he could, so she would be less worried. But he knows he have to tell her or she’ll ponder about the worst later when he’s gone.
“I don’t know it either. I mean…I think I’m falling apart.”
“Because of the cases or Benny?”
Jacky, somewhat shocked, looks at her. How could she guess that he has been thinking about Benny? It’s strange that he has been thinking of Benny since the night Jan got shot. This case doesn’t help either since it’s getting more complicated. But in some essence, it was somewhat similar to Benny’s last case. Is that why he was thinking of Benny? Or because Jan was injured that made him think back to what happened to Benny? He shakes his head and brushes those thoughts aside, knowing nothing like that will happen to Jan.
Jan waits patiently for Jacky to tell her. He seems to have drifted off into his own world. World of thoughts. She notices he shakes his head for some reason, so she places her hand on his.
“You all right?”
Jacky could see Jan’s concerned expression. “Yea. Just some thoughts.”
Jan nods.
They sit in silence for a while until Jacky finally speaks up.
“I don’t know if I should pull out of this case or not.”
“Because you can’t level your head anymore?”
Jacky nods.
“If you pull out now, Cory’s going to take over. And then you’ll be sitting home pondering what’s going on here.”
Jacky smiles. “Good point.”
“But then again, it’s better if you sort your thoughts out first. I wish I can sneak out of here and take you somewhere so you can clear your head and decide what to do with this whole thing.”
Jacky looks at her. “Don’t I wish that too?”
Jan just smiles.
Jacky stands up at that time. “All right. I’m getting back to Annie and keep her company for a while. At least until Cory’s back. Then I’ll hand it over to him, just to punish him. Then I’ll head down to the local station to meet up with Kenny and Jo.”
“Sounds good.”
“Take care, okay?”
Jan nods.
*****
The next few days follow like a real stall. Everyone who isn’t directly involved, work or took off for vacation. The ones involved, couldn’t even get a break. Looks like the search for “several people” is on. Aside from that, Vincent and Alyssa are finally allowed to go home since the doctors found nothing critical to their condition after their minor injuries healed. Wallace and Cyndi help Alyssa pack some of the belongings that they brought for her earlier while Vincent’s mom tend to Vincent.
Jan’s condition is still under monitor and could possibly be discharge the coming week, depending on how fast she recovers. Jacky and Cory aren’t that worried since they know Jan’s strong, plus they still have their hideouts until they can pull some more information out of Frankie – or so they thought. Apparently, Cory gave them false hope. Jacky is right after all that Larry wouldn’t just appear suddenly just to see his nephew. But they could wait. At least, it’s better than nothing. These few passive days has given Jacky time to clear his head a lot better. He manages to separate between his own personal feelings and the matters of the cases again. He’s in better control now and is ready for what’s coming next.
Saturday morning, Ray comes back from his mother’s house. After a few chats here and there, he takes Mandy aside to offer her the visit to their father’s house again. Of course she agrees since they haven’t seen him for a while. They go in Ray’s car and promises to be back later by noon to chat with the gang. The others aren’t coming along because they want to let the Chos be alone together as a family. When they’re at Mr. Cho’s mansion, Ray tenses up a bit. Mandy seems excited. Her father is the only family besides from Ray that she has in this world right now. She isn’t that closed to her relatives. Just recently that she gets to know Jan better, but that’s about it. They sit in the car for a bit before Ray speaks up.
Ray sighs out. “Let’s go then.”
“Okay,” Mandy said.
Mandy waits for Ray to lock the car before walking with him – side-by-side – towards the front door. Ray reaches for the doorbell and taps on it lightly. As he waits for someone to open it, he shifts from one foot to the other, making Mandy nervous along with him.
Cliff opens the door for them.
“Hey!” Ray greeted the man. “I didn’t expect you to open the door.”
“The maid took the day off.”
Ray nods, understanding.
“Young Master, what brought you here?”
“Ummmm….is my….uh….dad in?”
“Yes, sir. He’s in the garden, talking to Mr. Lo.”
“Mr. Lo?”
“Yes. They’re in the back. You two can go ahead and meet them there.”
Cliff moves aside to make room for the siblings. He leads them towards the back and opens the door that leads out to the garden. Then he steps aside to let them through. What they see next catch them by surprise.
“Tim?!” Ray called out. “What in the world are you doing here?”
Luckily, Gallen has his hands behind his back earlier so it’s easy to hide the envelope in his hand. “Uh…I was doing an article on Mr. Cho here. He’s an influential man, after all. I need to turn this in before the Chief Editor goes after me.”
“Oh.”Although Ray isn’t half convinced – for some unknown reason, but he still lets it pass.
Gallen turns to Mr. Cho again. “Thank you so much for your cooperation, sir. I’ll personally bring you a copy of this month’s magazine when the article gets published.”
Mr. Cho steps forward to shake Gallen’s hand. Gallen gathers up his notebook with one hand, holding it against his chest. While Ray and Mandy turn to address Mr. Cho, Gallen quickly tucks the envelope he has been holding in his right hand into his notebook. Glad that no one sees him, he excuses himself and walks around the house towards the front, not going back inside and out the front door. As soon as Gallen leaves, Mandy turns her attention towards his way, watching his footsteps until he disappears around the corner. She wonders what he was hiding behind his back and had quickly hidden in his notebook a minute ago. She had seen it from the corner of her eye while greeting her father. Ray’s back was turn toward Gallen so he didn’t notice. While Mandy’s pondering that over, she hears someone calling her.
“Mandy!”
Mandy snaps out of her thoughts and turns her attention on her brother. “What?”
“Dad asked you a question.”
“Oh. Sorry.” Mandy turns her attention to Mr. Cho.
“I was asking if you’ll be free next weekend? We could go on a trip together. I didn’t know that you two were coming so I didn’t plan anything.”
“That’s fine.” She turns to Ray. “Ray?”
“I already answered. Where were you?”
Mandy lets out a nervous laugh and tries to focus real hard on their conversation as Mr. Cho tell them to sit down at the lawn table so they could do some catch-up.
*****
Jacky walks out of Constant Comfort about the same time Gallen comes in.
“What’s up with you?” Jacky asked, eyeing Gallen cautiously. “Looks like you’re running from someone.”
“Almost had it.”
“What?”
They step to one side of the entrance to talk since they don’t want to block other people’s path.
“Ran into Ray and Mandy at Mr. Cho’s place,” Gallen elaborated.
“Oh,” Jacky said, nodding. “Didn’t know you were going there, so couldn’t warn you. But they planned about going there since Thursday.”
“Oh.” Then he realizes something. “Where are you heading? To the hospital or Joey’s?”
“Jo. I don’t think anything exciting will happen at the hospital soon. But I’m having Annie come out of the coma tonight.”
“Couldn’t wait any longer?”
Jacky nods. “That and it’s not fun to stay in the hospital for that long.”
“Need help?”
“No. Let Cory do some work. He’s not contributing much lately. I’m still mad at him for making you guard the whole night on Wednesday night.”
“Look on the bright side, will you? He trusts me.”
“He trusts you to be nice and let him stay lazy.”
Gallen lets out a chuckle. “Can’t argue with that then.”
“Okay, I’m off. Detective Meng hates people who are late. Her brother doesn’t get any priority either.”
Gallen looks confused. “Brother?”
“Me, course. Who else?”
Gallen finally gets it. “Oh. Good luck then.”
“You too. Don’t get busted.”
They part ways. Jacky drags the feeling of sitting in the station another day. Discussing plans won’t help. They have to find him before they can do anything. Speaking about the whole Jason Zhao get away incident, Jacky still hasn’t apologized to Kenneth about losing his temper that night either. It could wait, he thought.
*****
Night finally arrives and still no progress whatsoever at the station. Jacky excuses himself to go take care of “other things.” He doesn’t tell Joey of what happened – not exactly since she’s worried enough about her case already.
Jacky meets Cory at the front entrance and decides to play it out casually. As soon as they’re out of the elevators, they hear some noises coming from Annie’s room. Before they could rush forward to see what happens, they dodge out of the way to avoid from being run over by a nurse. Finally, they can proceed. As soon as they arrive at the door, they see Annie sitting up in her bed. A female doctor is in there, checking on Annie.
Jacky and Cory storm past the group of nurses gathering around the doorway.
“What’s going on here?” Jacky asked, concerned.
“She just woke up about an hour ago,” The doctor replied.
Jacky, surprised, looks at Annie again. Then he faces the doctor. “How?”
“I guess she’s lucky. From what I heard, I guess talking to her does help. She finally recovered, but we still want to keep her here to monitor her for at least a few more days.”
Jacky nods as the doctor’s saying this. He still stays silent for her to go on further.
“You guys can talk to her for a bit, but she’s still weak so please do not stay too long.”
“Thanks, Doctor.”
He shakes her hand.
After that, the doctor leaves with the nurses following behind and chatting away. Jacky could catch somewhat they’re saying down the hallway. He catches words like “miracles” and someone else saying, “I can’t believe it’s possible.” He looks at Cory, then Annie, and smiles. Those people don’t know at all. But it’s good that they’re going to spread this around. The doctor herself isn’t a bad actress either.
© Sunday, August 12th, 2007
Re-posted: Monday, October 12th, 2009