Hostage

7

It had been a hour since the command center was put up.

An hour and forty minutes since those hostage takers went inside a bank full of innocent civilians and decided that today was a great way to play cops and robbers.

Nadine was contemplating on just bolting for the door. Taking matters into her own hands. But before she could even come up with a plan, her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing.

"Yes, tito?"

"Asan ka ba? Hindi kita mahanap..." Philip said.

So she stands up and cranes her neck, looking around for him. Once she does, she waves and drops the call as she walks towards him. He pulls her into a hug. They were familiar, like the hugs she used to get when she would scrape her knee as a kid from playing.

"Ano na daw ang gagawin nila?" he asked.

"Wala pa nga e. Kanina pa sila nakatungganga diyan, just waiting for the phone to ring."

"They're just doing their job. Dinaanan lang kita dito to see how you were doing. Paalis narin ako.."

"Bakit po? Saan kayo papunta?" she asked, walking towards the command center with him now.

"Malcolm called, he found out about James and wanted me to come to the house to keep him company. He isn't sure what is happening, but he's got a bad feeling about this.."

Nadine nodded. Who could blame him? Or anyone else for that matter. The situation was confusing and sketchy. If they were after the money, shouldn't it be a grab and go situation? Why hold people hostage?

"I'm pretty sure that the people here are doing their best. Hindi naman siguro nila hahayaan na may mapapahamak.."

"You should know, the chief negotiator here is a friend of yours..." Nadine said.

"Ha?"

"Eric. He's the chief of the whole hostage taking. Kilala ka niya tito, sabi niya magkaibigan daw kayo sa Police Academy.."

Nadine's tito had a confused face on, she could tell that he was trying to remember and figure out who this Eric was during his college years. Then like a lightbulb being switched on, his face changed. "Oh! Oo nga, naaalala ko na siya. Magaling rin yun. Pero hindi kami masyadong magkalapit, kasi magkaiba kami ng barkada..."

"Actually nandito siya... You can say hi, bago ka umalis.."

So they go ahead into the command center and they find him, talking to one of the officers with a folder. He looks up and sees Nadine and her uncle approaching, then dismisses the person he was talking to.

"Philip Lustre... It's been long." He says.

"Yes. It has. Since the academy. Mataas na rin pala rank mo."

"Oo. I can see someone's following your footsteps... Your niece here hasn't left her client, siya pa nga naginform samin. You should be proud."

"I am. Manang-mana siya sa tatay niya..."

Eric chuckled, his tone slightly off to Nadine. Or maybe it was just her. Maybe she was just biased. "Wag naman. We all know what happened to him. Maybe sayo nagmana, ikaw nagpalaki eh..."

Philip laughed along, but then afterwards he bids goodbye to both Nadine and Eric.

"So soon? San ba lakad mo?"

"Kay Malcolm Reid lang. Medyo nagaalala, sasamahan ko lang..."

To this, Eric nods and says goodbye then goes back to working on the situation. Nadine was watching her uncle leave when the phone starts to ring. It was the bank calling.