| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
“What’s wrong?” Mandy asked.
Jessica snaps out of her thoughts. “Nothing.”
“Come on, sis.”
“Well…I…uh…forget it. Maybe I’m just thinking too much.”
“It’s just us girls here. What’s on your mind?”
Jessica sits straight up since she has been lying back on the seat. “I’m just bothered by Ray’s actions since last night.”
“Which part? Too much happened last night.”
“The part where he received that call and was acting strange since.”
“He’s always strange. Don’t worry too much.”
Mandy turns back to face front again. Jessica shrugs her shoulders and lies back on the seat again, resting her head on the headrest. Mandy taps her fingers on the handrest, wondering if she should tell Jessica about what she learnt from Charmaine and the others last night. But that would mean that Jessica has to hide it from Ray or tell him, right? She lets out a sigh again before turning back to Jessica.
“So…uh…if Ray’s up to something, what do you think it might be?” Mandy asked.
Jessica pulls herself straight up and addresses Mandy again. “I’m not sure. He’s full of magic tricks, you know.”
Jessica lets out a nervous laugh while Mandy nods, considering the possibilities.
“Maybe you two are worrying for nothing,” Charmaine said, speaking up for the first time since after they gotten out of traffic. “Don’t worry. He’s a grown man. He can take care of himself.”
Jessica looks over to Charmaine. “You think?”
Charmaine smiles. “Or maybe he’s preparing a Christmas gift for you and he doesn’t want to spoil the surprise, so he has to come up with a lie to dodge from telling you what he’s actually doing. And of course he feels guilty even if the lie is just for the sake of that surprise.”
“It’s possible since it’s getting closer and closer to Christmas.”
Jessica lies back again while Mandy turns around and resumes her tapping routine. She stops tapping a few minutes later since Charmaine told her that she was “tapping”, which she didn’t realize she was doing it so constant during that trip. They remain silent the rest of the drive back to Constant Comfort.
*****
Ray walks into Constant Comfort’s lobby briskly, looking at his watch again as he punches the “Up” button between the elevators. He’s far from being back “half an hour.” It’s more in the “or so” zone. He hopes that he doesn’t look too suspicious in front of Jessica – or anyone, especially Kevin or Tim. He dashes into the elevator on the right as soon as it snaps open and punches in Level 7. He has no idea that the girls are even later than him.
*****
Yoyo sets the manila envelope carefully into the bottom drawer before retrieving her white lab coat and stethoscope from the wall, walking back out into the hallway to the awaiting patients in the rooms that stretch ahead. As she’s making her usual round, she wonders what has been going on in Ray’s life these past months. Although she had joked that he hasn’t changed at all, but he had. He seemed more – restrained? Reserved? She couldn’t find the right word to describe his behavior at the moment. She decides to analyze it further later and focuses her attention on the patients instead.
*****
“Phew!” Mandy called out in relief. “Finally we’re home.”
“Welcome to the holidays,” Jessica joked.
“You’re right,” Charmaine chimed in.
The girls make their way into the lobby and towards the elevators. As soon as the girls exit the elevator, they could hear the guys’ voices all the way down the hall. They slow their pace since they don’t want to crash into the guys if they’re coming towards this direction at the moment. But they couldn’t see the guys anywhere when they make their way down the hall. It appears that the guys are turning their TV a bit too loud again. All three guys – Kevin, Ray, and Gallen – are all in Kevin and Ray’s apartment. They – not only turned the TV on loud, but are also leaving their doors half ajar again. The girls only have to push the door in a little more to enter. They’re laughing about something. Possibly whatever it is about is on TV or it could be anything else not related to the show on TV at all. Mandy – unlike her usual self, speaks up first.
“A little help?”
Kevin hops off the sofa and runs to Mandy’s side. “Sure.”
Kevin takes the grocery bag from Mandy’s hand and walks towards the kitchen with it. Gallen and Ray don’t bother to get up to help the girls. They’re still busy laughing about something. What’s going on here? Mandy shrugs her shoulders and follows Kevin into the kitchen with Charmaine and Jessica behind her. Kevin helps the girls sort out the groceries’ contents before resuming his place at the sofa. Charmaine and Mandy take their groceries back to their apartment while Jessica puts the guys’ stuffs away.
“What the world is going on here?” Mandy pondered as they’re making their way across the hallway.
Charmaine shrugs her shoulders. “No clue. I wish I know.”
“You think that our peace time is up?”
Charmaine stops in front of their apartment to retrieve her keys from her handbag. “What do you mean?”
“It’s like this place is jinxed. We get peace for a while and then things start to happen again.”
“Don’t be silly.”
Mandy follows Charmaine inside and helps her put things away.
“Following by what you’re saying, we might as well call one of those feng shui people here to look at the place,” Charmaine continued.
Mandy hands Charmaine the last of the groceries. “Maybe.”
Charmaine lets out a chuckle. “Be optimistic. Nothing will happen. I mean maybe it’s just a coincidence that things are happening again. I mean it’s around the holidays. Crazy things always happen during this time of the year.”
“Does these stuffs happen to everyone?”
Charmaine closes the fridge after putting in the milk carton. “I guess not.”
The girls make their way to the front again to join the others in the guys’ apartment. Charmaine still maintains her smile, but seeing Mandy so worried and pale, she stops in her tracks.
“It’s going to be all right,” Charmaine said, placing a hand on Mandy’s left shoulder. “We’ll stick this through.”
Mandy nods as she reaches for the doorknob.
*****
Wallace just steps out of his car when he remembers something. He gets back into his car and locks the doors. Then he retrieves his phone from the little storage box beneath his radio and dials Jacky’s number.
“Jacky?” Wallace blurted out.
“Nice greeting,” Jacky shot back.
“I have something to ask you.”
“You sound so serious. What’s going on?”
“Why are you telling Gallen to tail Ken?”
“He told you?”
“I volunteered the rest of the group to help him last night when he lost track of Ken all of a sudden.”
“Great. He blew his identity?”
“No.”
“Good then.”
“Knock off the cool mood and tell me what’s going on.”
Jacky senses something through Wallace’s voice. “What’s going on?”
Wallace regains himself. “Sorry. It’s just that Gallen found out something that made me remember about my past.”
“What happened?” His tone serious again.
“He didn’t call you yet?”
“No. Just go ahead and tell me. He won’t kill you for giving me the info first. It’s not a competition, Wallace.”
It’s one of those rare times that Jacky calls him “Wallace” and not “Mr. Huo” when attempting to joke. Wallace feels deep appreciation for Jacky’s considerate nature.
“Ken was looking for his sister,” Wallace continued. “Gallen thinks it might be family problems that caused him to behave in such strange ways these past six months.”
“Whoa! He hides it too well then. I never knew he has a sister. In fact, I didn’t bother to check his background as much as I thought I should when collaborating with him and Jo. Maybe because I thought Jo trusts him, so I did too.”
Wallace remains silent for a minute, wondering if Kenneth’s past is similar to his. He scolds at himself for the sudden sensitiveness and paranoid nature. Is he trying to think up of an excuse to clear Kenneth from possible mysterious behavior aside from family problems or trying to find a companion that could sympathize with his past?
“What’s wrong?” Jacky asked. “Am I losing you? Or is your battery dying?”
Wallace snaps back to reality. “No. Uh…I was just thinking what else Ken might be up to besides from his family problems.”
“Don’t think too much. Go have some fun with Miss Wang. You’re meeting her today, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?” His voice containing apparent shock.
“Common sense. It’s Saturday and probably a sunny day at your place although it’s kind of cold.”
Wallace smiles at his own silliness. “I think I need to sharpen up a bit – like what Ray said to Kevin yesterday.”
“What happened to Kevin?”
“I’ll tell you more next time ‘cause we’re helping Ray in clearing up some matters regarding Kevin’s past in exchange to Ray helping us with stuffs.”
“Sounds like every one of us have a dark past. We might as well get together and form some sort of club building on that theme.”
Wallace bursts into laughter. “Might as well.”
“All right, I can’t talk long anymore. I need to get back to the paperwork. Talk to you next time.”
“All right.”
“And Wallace…”
“What?”
“Take it easy, all right? It’s all right. We’re all in this together – you, Gallen, and I. Don’t beat yourself up too much.”
“Thanks.”
Jacky smiles – though Wallace could not see it. “No problem.”
They hang up after that.
Wallace suddenly remembers that Jacky also has a dark past like him and half of the other people at Constant Comfort too. How could they all end up together at one place like that? Fate? Wallace shrugs away these negative thoughts and gets out of his car again after putting his cell phone back into its original spot. Cyndi’s waiting for him inside. He can’t afford to appear all gloomy in front of her like that. Not on a nice day like today – just like Jacky described minutes earlier. The warm lights shine down on him as he turns the corner to Cyndi’s apartment, making him feel a lot better than before.
*****
Kevin, Ray, and Gallen finally stopped laughing long enough to explain to the girls what was really going on. The girls actually read more into this whole thing than there is to it. It was actually some show on TV that they were laughing about. It has been about an hour or more since the girls got back from their grocery trip. Charmaine left earlier to do some research on her latest project while Jessica and Mandy have been staying around to watch TV with the guys.
Jessica gets up from her spot next to Ray on the sofa as the commercial comes on again. “I’m going home.”
“Packing?”
Jessica nods.
“I promised to help you, didn’t I?”
Jessica scans the room with her eyes before answering. “It’s all right. Stay here and have fun with everyone.”
“No way! I’m getting bored of these people.”
“Thanks a lot!” Mandy exclaimed.
Ray turns to face Mandy. “No hard feelings, sis. But we’ve been hanging around too much as a group. I need to look after my girl. You know – your future sister-in-law.”
Jessica slaps Ray on the shoulder. “Stop joking around.”
Ray turns back to Jessica. “What? You don’t want to?”
Jessica makes her way to the door. “I’m not talking to you anymore.”
“Fine. I’m not talking to you either.” As he’s saying that, he follows her out.
“What are we going to do now?” Kevin asked the others.
“I don’t know,” Mandy said. “I feel like going back to sleep some more.”
Kevin smiles. “Sounds like a good idea. Let’s do it.”
Mandy gets up from her seat at that time. “In your dreams!”
After that, she walks out of the guys’ apartment in one huff.
“I didn’t mean it in that way!” Kevin yelled after her.
Mandy is already gone.
“You really did it this time,” Gallen said.
Kevin shrugs his shoulders. “Had to. Are we back to our plan now?”
“I’m not sure how we’re going to do it.”
“Come on. I’ll stalk her for the next three hours while you take over later.”
“Don’t blow your cover.”
“Have some faith in me, will you?”
“Anyway, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I’m going to look around to see what else I can find out about Kenneth’s background. Maybe I’ll call Jacky up to let him know what’s going on too.”
“Okay. Good luck then. I’m on my way.”
As they were talking, they’ve been leaving Kevin and Ray’s apartment and walking down the hall. The elevator finally arrives as they finish their talk. Kevin gets in and presses for the 5th level.
*****
Gallen walks back down the hall where he just came from. He retrieves his cell phone from his pocket as he walks. He dials Jacky’s number and waits for Jacky to pick up.
“Hello?” Jacky said casually.
“It’s…” He looks around him before speaking. “…Tim.”
“What’s going on? Found something interesting? Like what in the world is Kenny’s sister doing at Constant Comfort?”
“Wallace told you?”
“Yea. He called me for an explanation though. I guess it’s rational since he’s pretty close with Kenny before. I mean regarding how Kenny helped him during Vincent and Alyssa’s kidnapping and all.”
Gallen nods although Jacky couldn’t see it. “Oh yeah, I already have Kevin tail the girl. We’ll have some answers soon. I don’t believe it’s just simple with family problems.”
“You have no idea.”
“What made you say that?”
“Kenny didn’t become a lieutenant by sitting around and being careless. It’s possible that it’s about family that he was quite careless during the previous case.”
Gallen locks his door after getting in. “Want to bet?”
Jacky lets out a chuckle. “You sound like Ray. Okay, non-believer, what are the stakes?”
“It’s open ended. When I think of something, I’ll tell you.”
“You sound so clichés. Stop hanging around Ray too much. It’s not healthy for you.”
“Like I can.”
Jacky nods. “True.”
“Jacky!” Someone on Jacky’s side called out. “Hurry up!”
“Hey,” Jacky said to Gallen. “I gotta run. See you later. I’ll call you back tonight when I’m off work.”
“You got a promotion to be yelled at by people?”
“It’s a long story. I rather be out there fighting than doing this boring work. Promotion is just a nice word for saying ‘You’ll be stuck in this boring office for the rest of your life’ or until they find a replacement for you.”
“Why don’t you tell them to demote you then?”
“I might as well try.”
“Jacky!” That same person that was yelling at him before yelled out again.
“Coming!” Jacky yelled back at the person before directing his attention to Gallen again. “You heard him.”
“Okay then.”
Jacky hangs up before Gallen could say “Bye.”
Gallen grabs a soda from his fridge before heading to his room.
*****
Cyndi places the book she’s scanning through on the bookshelf again. “Could you tell me what’s bothering you?”
Wallace looks towards her. “Why? You sensed something?”
“Come on. Stop playing cool. It’s obvious that you can’t tune in.”
Cyndi grabs his hand and lead him out of the bookstore. She doesn’t stop at where his car is parked. She continues down the sidewalk and further down the street. She finally turns a corner, leading them out in the open where there’s a coffee shop near the sea area. It seems that wherever they go, it has some coffee shop or restaurant outside like this. Cyndi hauls him to one of the railing area far from the crowd.
“Okay,” She said. “Tell me now.”
Wallace couldn’t help but laugh. He never realizes that when she’s serious, she could look quite freaky.
“Very funny. Do I have to resort to violence?”
Wallace lets go of her hand and leans on the rail. “Well, it depends if you can take me down after one tiny punch or you’re going to cry out in pain.”
Cyndi leans on the rail also. “Come on. Don’t you trust me? It’s not like I’m going to pass the message around on satellite.”
Wallace utters another chuckle and grabs Cyndi’s right hand with his left.
Cyndi still stares at him intently. “Well?”
Wallace looks out at the water ahead. “I don’t know how to start.”
“Start from the beginning.”
Wallace smiles. “Very funny, Miss.”
Cyndi smiles also and stands up straight again. “Are you stalling for time, Mr. Huo?”
“All right.” His serious expression comes on at that time. “I think I’m getting ahead of myself, but what’s happening to Kenneth might be somewhat the same as what happened to me. Remember what I told you couple months back about how my dad died and my mom left with Alice when I was in high school?”
Cyndi nods.
Wallace licks his lips before continuing. “After hearing from Tim last night about Kenneth having a little sister and probably he might be going through family problems, it reminds me of my problems. Like I said, I might be leaping ahead. But it’s like something from the past looking back at me.”
Cyndi squeezes his hand tighter. “Don’t worry too much. I mean it could be something normal, like his sister running away from home because of a little misunderstanding. And probably he’s convincing her to come back. Maybe it didn’t turn out as well because he probably didn’t use the right words, so she’s just hiding from him.”
Wallace looks over to her. “Are you just trying to make me feel better or did you thought up of that little speech beforehand?”
Cyndi shrugs her shoulders, smiling. “I don’t know. What did it sound like?”
Wallace stands up straight again. “It sounds like, Miss Wang…” He laces his right hand through her left. “You and I are going to get out of here before it rains.”
They’re actually running now. Although Wallace said “before it rains” but it’s actually starting to rain. Who knows that a sunny day turns out to be cloudy and now to rainy? As they’re running back to the car, Wallace tries his best to shield Cyndi from getting wet. Although they’re drenched from the rain when they made it safely to the car, but Wallace feels all warm inside. He knows that he could share anything with Cyndi and she can just make him feel ten times better again. Wallace signals for Cyndi to get in first while he runs back to the trunk to get some towels for them. He rummages around sometime before finding it. He gets into the car before handing her a towel. Cyndi takes the towel from him and starts to dry her hair as Wallace reaches for the heater knob.
*****
Yoyo’s shift finally ends after a long day. She is walking back to her office to drop off the last of the files before heading home when a nurse stops her.
“What’s going on?” Yoyo asked upon seeing the nurse’s worried expression.
“I just received a call that my brother is being transported by the ER vehicle right now,” The nurse said. “I want to go to the ER entrance to see him when they bring him in, but I’m still on duty.”
Yoyo looks at her watch. “Aren’t you off in half an hour?”
The nurse nods.
“I’ll cover for you.”
The nurse displays a shocked expression on her face – as if not believing what she just heard. “But Dr. Mung, you’re…”
“It’s all right. I was once a nurse. Are you afraid that I would forget the duties?”
“No! Of course not. It’s just that…”
Yoyo puts a reassuring hand on the nurse’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m going to go with you to front desk so they wouldn’t give you a hard time about it, okay?”
The nurse’s face turns into relief at that time. “Thanks, Dr. Mung.”
Yoyo smiles. “You’re welcome.”
*****
“Thanks for helping, Ray,” Jessica said.
“You sound so distant,” Ray said. “It makes me wonder if you decided to find another boyfriend or something.”
Jessica smiles. “What kind of joke is that?”
He has his serious expression on. “No joke. Was just thinking, that’s all. It’s possible.”
“Stop…”
Ray smiles again. “I’m going first, okay?”
“Don’t you want to hang around for a bit more? Like have a drink?”
“It’s all right. I need to get back. I have something to do.”
Jessica is about to inquire further, but she remembers what Charmaine said earlier so she just nods. Ray smiles and gives her a hug before heading for the door. Jessica ponders why he doesn’t give her the usual goodbye kiss, but decides to let it drop too. He’s tired, she thought. Don’t be so paranoid. She follows him to the door and walks him out to his car.
*****
Yoyo finally makes it back to her office around the same time the sun’s beginning to set. An extra half an hour of staying behind ended up in yet about another hour or so. She’s glad that she could finally leave. She makes sure everything’s put away before turning to leave. She almost forgot about the manila envelope, but turns around to retrieve it on time. She walks out of her office for the last time of the day and heads for the elevators. Several co-workers wave to her. She waves and smiles back at them. She could see the sun setting as she steps out of the building. She stops in front of the entrance to admire it for several minutes before moving towards the parking lot to find her car. While she’s walking around the parking lot, she couldn’t help but think back about the guy that Ray told her to investigate. Why does he look so familiar? She thought she seen him before, but couldn’t pinpoint when or where. She pushes the thought out of her mind again as she enters her car. I’ll think about it later, she thought. She pulls out of the parking spot and drives out of the lot without another thought regarding the matter.
*****
As Ray steps into the lobby of Constant Comfort, he mutters to himself. Wallace comes back about the same time and spots him.
“You’ve gone insane already?” Wallace teased upon seeing Ray’s state. “We’re not even getting started on our next mission yet.”
“Very funny, man,” Ray snapped.
“Why are you mumbling to yourself then?”
“No. Strange weather today. It was kind of cloudy this morning and then it’s sunny and nice. After that it rains and then it goes back to being sunny again before the sun sets.”
“So?”
“Just thought it’s weird, that’s all.” He suddenly notices something. “You got wet or something?”
“Yea. Cyn and I got caught in the rain while walking around.”
“I thought you drove today.”
“I did. But we stopped at this one place and walk around a bit.”
“Oooohhhh….did anything happen during the rain?”
Wallace gives Ray a look. “I’m not like you.” He increases his pace to the elevators after saying that.
“Hey!” Ray yelled after him. “What does that supposed to mean?”
“It means whatever it means,” Wallace said when Ray catches up to him again.
“Aww…come on, man.”
Wallace has on his serious expression again. “So…how are we going to accomplish the mission?”
Ray looks puzzled. “What mission?”
Wallace turns sideways to look at him. “The mission you told us last night.”
“I have to find out about this one person first. I’ll tell you the plan tomorrow.”
“Who?”
Ray looks around to make sure no one else is within hearing distance before turning back to Wallace, whispering, “Tim.”
“What is going on?” His expression still calm as he waits for Ray’s answer.
“Okay, I’ll tell you since you’re not going to rattle it out like the others.”
“What’s going on?”
“I think Tim has something to hide from us. I’m trying to check his background before I drive myself crazy assuming stuffs.”
Correction – he’s not hiding it from us, only from you, Wallace thought to himself. Then he turns to Ray again. “You think he’s around here to stir up some troubles? Come on. You got to be kidding, right? I mean if he were here to stir up some troubles, he wouldn’t have helped us so much during all those crazy incidents six months ago.”
“No. I didn’t say he’s here to cause troubles. I’m just suspicious of him.” Ray stops since the elevator on the right opens and two people come out from it. He waits until he and Wallace enter the elevator and are the only two there before he speaks up again. “Anyway, as I was saying, I’m just curious. I just need to get it off my minds.” Then he remembers something. “You know something about him, don’t you?”
Wallace looks distracted since he’s thinking about something. Ray has to repeat the question before he could answer.
“What made you say that?” Wallace asked.
“Actually, I lied about a minute ago about saying that I could trust you in this.”
Wallace turns to face Ray.
“Not saying that you can’t be trusted, but I just want to say that so you would feel guilty and tell me what you know.”
Wallace couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re doing a poor job of it. Why would you tell me your tactic now?”
“Because I know what being deceived is like. So I hope that none of you are deceiving me.”
“Deceive is such a strong word.”
“How about hiding?”
“Sounds more proper for the situation."
Ray’s smile brightens. “So you do know! That’s why you can even place the right word for the situation.”
They get out of the elevator at that time. It’s one of those rare times that they could make a peaceful trip up without anyone distracting them by going in or out. They’re halfway down the hallway to their apartments before Wallace speaks up again.
“No matter what happens in the future, I just want you to know this,” Wallace began in a serious tone.
“What?” Ray asked anxiously.
“We’re your friends and wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
Ray shivers. “You’re giving me goose bumps. Stop it with the mushy talk.”
Wallace smiles at Ray’s reaction. “If you don’t want to continue, then I won’t. Go find the answer yourself, Detective Cho.”
With that, Wallace disappears into his apartment while Ray’s trying to sink the information into his head.
*****
Wallace makes sure Alice’s not around before dialing Jacky’s number. Wallace knew that the whole nervous scheme from last night would lead to this. Ray’s not dumb. In fact, he always covers his brightness with his goofy nature. What was with the whole Kevin turning pale and Gallen almost jumping to the roof when Ray mentioned “P.I.” last night? Of course he couldn’t blame Kevin since Kevin has his own problems to worry about. But Gallen? Mr. Lo should be more careful with what he’s doing, Wallace thought. He knows Jacky would say something along that line. Jacky doesn’t pick up until it almost go into VoiceMail, which is unlike Jacky. He must be really busy. Cops never get a break, no matter what day.
“What?” Jacky asked, his voice on the edge.
“Danger zone,” Wallace said.
“What?”
“You sound grumpy.”
“You would too if you had to cover for six people.”
“Six?”
“I hate holidays.”
“You’re just saying that ‘cause you have to work overtime.”
“There is no overtime in police work. There’s only an ongoing process.”
Wallace lets out a chuckle. “Nice way of putting it.”
Jacky lightens up a bit. “Anyway, what was that ‘danger zone’ message about?”
“Ray’s getting close. He made Gallen jumped last night. Well, almost.”
Jacky has on the confused expression – though Wallace could not see. “What? Jumped?”
“Ray has been suspicious of Gallen, which I’m aware of. He’s getting close though. With all the goofs we’ve made around him. I’m surprised he didn’t find out already.”
“Because we all covered for Gallen, so it takes Ray awhile to figure it out. But he’s pretty fast on his own.”
“Let him expose Gallen or no?”
“Gallen messed up on his own. Don’t cover his tracks. Let Ray find out.”
“But weren’t you the one who’ve been trying to help him cover it up?”
“Do I look like I’m his maid?”
Wallace laughs inside because he said the same phrase last night, but regarding a different situation.
“You sound cold, what’s going on?”
“I’m kidding! Can’t you tell?” He clears his throat quickly. “But honestly, since Ray trusts you enough to tell you about it, you’re in a hard spot. When he does find out, you’re dead meat. And don’t ask me what to do. You’re on your own for this one. I can’t influence you since it concerns you the most.”
“I’m not asking. I’m just saying that if you talk to Gallen next time, tell him to be careful. That’s why I’m not calling Gallen on my own.”
“Ah…clever move. Not having direct communication means it won’t put you in a hard spot?” He taps his chin, molding the tactic over in his head. “I’ll remember this one to use in the future.”
“Jacky!”
“All right, all right. I’m just kidding.” He starts to tap his pencil on his desk. “Things are getting quite complicated on your side.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious, Detective Chu.”
“Hey! I’m thinking here.” He taps his pencil some more. “Okay, real honest opinion – with Gallen’s situation, I’ll let him know, but don’t think about it anymore. Just let it go whichever direction it will lead to since it’s none of your business and you shouldn’t be getting a headache over it. Let Kevin cover him if he wants to. But Kevin has his own problems too. Speaking of which, watch out for that Ekin Cheng. He’s up to no good. I don’t know why he’s back around your area for. Maybe ‘cause of the unsettled property matter. He might want the building, so he might be trying to mend the situation with him and Kevin. Old Lady Yeung loves Kevin more, so Kevin’s the ticket to his meal. Or maybe you could say dessert since he already has a mansion somewhere else. Not to mention a business.”
“How did you know all of this? I mean you were busy all day long. You couldn’t have researched it that fast.”
“I wasn’t doing anything important. Just need to cover for some lazy people who want it off for the holidays so I’ve been looking at the computer screen for so long, I almost went blind.”
Wallace regrets that he was so irritated with Jacky before while Jacky was hunting around for information to help them. He doesn’t know what to say for almost a full minute.
Jacky is the one who speaks up first to break the silence. “I lost you again?”
“No. I’m at home so the signal is fine.”
“Okay then. Get ready. Jot this down.”
Wallace increases his pace and manages to find a piece of paper and pen on his desk. “Hold on. I’m going to shut my door first.” He does just that before coming back to his desk. “Go ahead.”
“Cornerstone Corporation.”
Wallace couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Look it up if you don’t believe me. It’s the next town over. Make that two towns from your place. Ekin owns that business. It’s a candy factory or store. I’m not sure which. But you can tell me which when you visit there or tell Ray to look it up.”
“Jacky, girl on line 1,” Someone on Jacky’s side yelled out.
“Give me five,” Jacky yelled back to that person before talking to Wallace again.
“Okay, I’m going to give you the address before these guys bug me again.”
Wallace jots down the address as Jacky rattles it off.
“And if you need help with anything else, call Yoyo. She’s a doctor at the hospital that you were at. Actually, half of us were there last time. I think she just came back from England from her training courses or whatever.”
“Are you sure we can trust her?”
“She’s Ray’s best friend since ages ago. I don’t think anyone of you guys know her or may know her but don’t know their relationship. They have another girl…” He rustles around some paper on his desk. “Nnadia Chan Chung Ling in their group of threesome. She’s coming back soon to Hong Kong. But…if you don’t trust them or think that she might be involved with Ray in exposing Gallen – which I’m not totally sure yet, but if you do feel the need to hide it from them, contact Kenneth and Ricky at Weekly Fiery. If you remember, they’re Jan’s cousins so they won’t sell you out.”
“Kenneth?”
“Sorry. Kai Tai. Kenneth Chan, not Kenneth Ma.”
“Oh. I almost forgot about him.”
“If you guys ever meet, Ricky would probably pick North Star Café so he could stare at his Asuka like what he does every single day.”
“Why are you telling me all of these?”
“So you guys won’t have to catch up on the whole introduction thing and you can still get Kai Tai’s jokes regarding the café.”
“You really were bored, huh?”
“You betcha. I have to stay cope up in this building the whole day, but at least I have plenty of time do my research.”
“You’re spying, not researching. Those are personal information.”
“No, they’re not. I mean only the info regarding people’s whereabouts, I got it off their business location. But regarding Ricky’s affection for Asuka, I got it from Ricky and Kai Tai themselves.”
“They actually told you that?”
“Oh come on. Don’t be naïve! Those stuffs you have to figure out yourself.”
“Jacky!” The same person who was yelling for Jacky before yelled out again.
“Give me another five,” Jacky yelled back one more. Then he focuses on his conversation to Wallace again. “Okay, important stuffs first.” He rustles with papers on his desk again. “I think that’s about it for now. You should have enough info to work on for a week or so. But if you happen to speed up the process, call me back. Or if you run into a dead end, tell me.”
“Okay,” Wallace said.
“All right, I have to go before those guys are threatening to tell the big man again.”
Wallace lets out a chuckle. “Do they dare?”
“They would since they want my spot.”
Before Jacky hangs up, Wallace stops him.
“Jacky…”
“What?”
“Sorry I was being grumpy earlier.”
“It’s all right. You know me. I like to mess around a lot. Forget it. Don’t get mushy on me. I’m curious regarding the stuffs going on your side anyway. Okay, really have to go. Good luck.”
Jacky hangs up before Wallace could say “Bye.”
Wallace looks at the phone before snapping out of his thoughts. He dials Ray’s number since he doesn’t want to get out of his apartment and then go to Ray’s. He has to listen to the same verses of Lionel Richie’s Hello twice before Ray picks up.
“What’s up, man? You decided to confess after all?”
“What?” He decides to continue on before Ray talks more nonsense. “Listen carefully. I’m going to tell you what Jacky found out so you can put this into your grand plan for us too.”
“Go ahead.”
“You got a piece of paper lying around somewhere?”
“Sure. I’m at my desk right now.”
Wallace passes along the information he just got from Jacky regarding Ekin and his whereabouts, plus intentions. He makes sure to leave out the part whether to contact Yoyo for help or Ricky.
“Whoa!” Ray exclaimed out after Wallace finished. “Jacky sure is good. No wonder he’s my idol.”
Wallace wrinkles his face. “Idol?”
“Someone that you look up to.”
“I know what it means. Just surprised that you would say it out loud.”
“You guys know I get along with him better than I do Tim.”
“Why are you comparing the two?”
Ray shrugs his shoulders. “Not sure. Maybe ‘cause they appear about the same time here?”
Wallace suddenly remembers. That’s right. They appear at around the same day. So many things happened during the time that Wallace almost forgot about it.
“Hey, why are you quiet?”
“Uh…no. I just remember why, that’s all. Since you said it.”
“Okay, I’ll divide up the tasks tomorrow.”
“All right. I have to go. Alice’s coming home soon.”
Ray lets out a chuckle. “You’re your sister’s slave. Too funny. I used to think that you were too cool, but…”
“Better than you, putting your sister into slavery at your own benefit.”
“Hey!”
“Kidding!”
“Okay, I gotta go too. Kevin just came back.”
“You mean you have to go prepare dinner for him?”
Ray shivers at the thought. “No way! Are you kidding me?” Then he uses his serious tone again. “We can’t let him know, remember?”
“I know. I was just messing around.”
“Okay. Bye.”
*****
Kevin crashes on the sofa as soon as he gets off the phone with Gallen. He can’t believe he volunteered himself for this job. That girl is so clever no wonder her brother has a hard time tracking her down. Kevin almost got busted. Maybe Gallen would fend better since Gallen should be more experience than he. Kevin hears some rustling coming from behind him. He guesses that Ray has been back awhile now. He doesn’t bother to get off the sofa or remove his hand from his face.
“Had fun at Jessica’s?” Kevin asked upon hearing Ray’s footsteps coming closer.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ray asked back.
Ray’s footsteps are walking towards the kitchen instead of the living room.
“Nothing. Just thought you guys had a mushy goodbye or whatever.”
“Please. I’m not like you.”
“You mean you didn’t cry or say you’ll miss her?”
Ray laughs out loud. He pours himself a cup of juice from the fridge before answering Kevin. “Only you would do such things. It’s not like she’s not coming back.”
“True.”
“How did it go?” Ray asked, his tone serious again. “I’m guessing you just helped Tim regarding the Ken thing, right?”
“Yea. That girl is so fast and clever. I almost busted my covers.”
“You were stalking her?”
“Sort of.”
Ray walks to the living room. “What did you find out so far?”
“She’s very fast and clever – like I just said.”
Ray sits down at the chair across from Kevin. “Are you kidding me? You’ve been gone half of the day and only found out that much?”
“She works at a bakery.”
“Which one? Wu Long or Four Seasons?”
“Neither. It’s something called…uh…” He snaps his fingers to try and remember. “Oh yeah, Seahorse Fest.”
Ray almost choked on his juice. “Where do these people get all those names? In the Encyclopedia for the Dummies?”
Kevin slides his arm out of his eyes for a bit. “Why? What happened?”
“I was just talking to Wallace earlier. Just a bunch of business stuffs. And he told me about some emerging companies. It’s just nuts to see all these weird names, that’s all.”
Kevin covers his eyes again. “Lucky Uncle’s business sounds normal enough. So when you take over, it won’t sound so odd.”
“Who says I’m going to take after him?”
Kevin straightens up and faces Ray. “What do you mean?”
“Are you kidding me? Mom will have my head.”
“You mean you haven’t told her yet?”
“Uh…”
“I thought you said you would tell her ‘soon’ and soon was supposed to happen like six months ago. And what about the other day? You said the same thing.”
Ray lets out a nervous laugh. “So I got side-tracked, all right?” He looks around and changes the subject on purpose. “Talking about side-tracked, what else did you find out about Ken’s sister?”
Kevin lies back down on the sofa with his hand over his eyes again. “Her name is Ruby. She just moved here recently.”
“Duh!”
“I’m getting there, okay?”
“So, what’s stopping you?”
You! Kevin shouted out inside. If you don’t shut up, I’m going to strangle you soon! But he refrains himself in time before speaking up again. “She has a boyfriend who’s a cop. That’s what I overheard when I was there, pretending to buy some stuffs. She was talking to some co-workers during her break.”
“Interesting. What happened to the items you pretended to buy? Did you buy ‘em after all?”
“I just dropped them off at Mandy’s.”
Ray jumps up – literally. “What?! You didn’t bother to bring some back for me?”
“You don’t like sweet breads, remember?”
“So?!”
Before Kevin could say anything else, Ray dashes out of their apartment in record time. Kevin sits straight up and ponders if he should go back over there. But decides against it since he’s really tired at the moment, so he lies back down on the sofa to rest again.
© Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Re-posted: Thursday, October 15th, 2009