Chapter 52

“WHY are you here?” Fred asked him as soon as Euclid walked inside their IT room at the NBI office. “It’s too early to be here already.”

“Don’t pretend that you didn’t hear what happened a while ago,” Euclid said in an irAnneted tone. “She shunned me again.”

“She didn’t,” Fred corrected. “You walked out when you didn’t like what you saw.”

“Bullshit,” he muttered and raked his fingers through his hair. “I don’t understand her… I don’t know what’s on her mind.”

Fred made a ‘tss’ sound. “As far as I can remember, you told us that you knew her so well. That you’ve known Maria for a long time because she was your childhood friend—or, should I say lover?”

Euclid scowled at his partner. He sat on the swivel chair in front of a computer monitor, replaying the footage of their last club raid. “I didn’t come here to be lectured by a man that doesn’t even have a stable relationship.”

They heard David snort behind Fred. When Euclid looked at him, he saw that he was busy reviewing the footage in Maria’s house. David is under Fred’s department. They’re the ones reviewing the digital information that Kristoff, on the research team, gave them.

“I’m not lecturing you, dude,” Fred said with a sly grin on his face. “And, why would I do that? We’re in the middle of investigating the notorious drug dealer.”

Euclid can sense the sarcasm in Fred’s voice. He was about to speak again, but he changed his mind. Fred is right, they’re in the middle of solving an investigation. He shouldn’t be acting like this. But he can’t help it, Maria has a significant effect on him that he can’t control his emotions around her. He sighed frustratingly, all he wanted was to get her trust again. If that happened, he knew that all of these will be easy to solve. He just needs her to cooperate.

“Euclid we understand your situation.” Fred tapped his shoulder. “But, you should always keep in mind that we have to focus on our mission. I know, it’s hard for you to concentrate if you’re around Maria. You’re losing focus if she’d done something that’s not in your favor.”

“It’s not that I’m losing focus,” he grunted. “She’s just…” he cupped his face. “I shouldn’t be like this.”

“The woman knew how to manipulate you,” David commented. “She knew what you wanted, and she’s using it to get you away from her plans.”

Euclid drew his brows together. They’re using their profiling skills again to him. “And, you think I’m letting myself be manipulated by him?” he smirked.

David and Fred looked at each other, then laughed. “Dude, your face says it all,” Fred said and shook his head. “You look shit.”

David cleared his throat. “That’s why we decided that Agent Fred will take over your assigned position for now.”

Euclid looked at David with a knotted forehead. He raised from his seat and put his hands on his pocket. “I won’t allow you to get near her,” he said to Fred. “Not now that I’m suspecting that Sara could be…” he trailed off. Sara thinks now that he’s the bad guy.

“Agent Euclid, I think you have to reconsider our suggestion,” David said, not taking his eyes off the screen. “According to your actions, I don’t think it will help Maria spill the information to us,” he said and showed them the screen of his computer. “Based on Maria’s movements and reactions, it’s clear that she wanted you away from her.”

Euclid looked closely at the screen. He saw Maria currently talking with Connor in the kitchen while Sara was busy playing with her toy. Connor was saying something to Maria, but she remained silent, then her expression became alert. She glanced slightly at the direction of the window—where Euclid was currently standing and peeking at them. A few moments later, Maria kissed Connor, followed by Euclid’s intrusion into the house.

Fred laughed as the replayed video ended. “Maria doesn’t want you around, Euclid. It came from you that we have to let her play her games, right? So, let her be. I promised I’ll keep an eye to that doctor.”

The lines in her forehead deepened as he watched the footage continue. He can see Maria now preparing the food that Connor bought for them. He clenched his jaw. “Do we need that doctor?”

“We don’t need him,” Fred said.

“But, Maria needs him,” David answered. “She’s asking him for a job in his sister’s restaurant.”

“What for?” Euclid asked in a knotted forehead.

David shrugged his shoulders. “She said that it’s for the medication of her daughter, but I doubt it.”

“According to Wendy, Maria has earned enough savings to support her daughter’s medications for the whole year,” Fred said. “So, it contradicts her actions now. Aside from the fact that she’s under our watch—and she’s aware of that—for a captured carrier of a notorious group, she’s far from looking worried and bothered for her safety.”

Euclid stared at the screen. “What’s her plan?”

“It’s for us to find out,” Fred said and tapped his shoulders again. “For now, I’ll be the agent in charge to look out for her.”

Euclid was still thinking about Fred’s suggestion when the door suddenly opened. Agent Timo, disguised as a street dweller, entered the room with a strong smell of tobacco. He nodded and salute them.

“What’s up?” Fred asked. “Did you get what we need?”

Agent Timo took out from his pocket a small android phone. “I traded it with a higher unit and asked her to add a hundred bucks,” he said and placed the phone on top of the desk. “I’ve already transferred all her outgoing and incoming call history to that phone before she removed her sim card.”

Euclid took the phone and looked at it closely. “So, Wendy fell for it.”

“Swapping of gadgets is common in their area,” Agent Timo said with a shrugged. “According to my sources, Wendy got that phone from a swapper too.”

Euclid nodded his head. “Then, let’s see what Maria has here,” he said and gave the phone to David. “Is there a way that we can get the copy of their conversation on that phone?”

David plugged a micro-USB cable on the phone’s charging port. “If it was recorded, we can retrieve it in this phone even it’s already deleted, but if it’s just a normal phone call, we can’t. Unless we’ll confront their network and ask them to give us the recorded frequency of the last night’s call.”

“Then, let’s do that,” Euclid said and leaned on his seat. “I can’t wait to know who’s Maria talking with before I came—”

“And, gave yourself to her,” Fred finished his words.

“Shut up,” Euclid snarled at Fred who just laughed at him.

David and Timo started to work on Wendy’s call registry history. With just a few clicks, a series of what looked like an IP address appeared on the computer monitor.

“We’re looking for an outgoing call at exactly 10:46 PM,” Fred said and hit the paused button.

Euclid stared at Maria’s image on the screen. She was holding the phone on her ear while merely looking out the window. This woman is up to something, he thought.

“Got the number,” David said and clicked it open. “But, the IP’s hidden.”

“Fuck,” Fred grunted. “Call the network now. It’s time to get more sources.”

***