Beyond Duties

Chapter 25

A/N

Aaaaand here is the next one...!

*****

Jordan's POV

I may have just overreacted when I saw that letter. There's no way it could be true. Why would he say that all first-born sons were the traitors? That's bullshit! Who's he anyway? How was he even connected to our families? Did he base on facts? Was it just his own deduction? I think I'm losing my mind... I can't think straight... This is Frank's fault. He was the first to feed me negativities... I can imagine him raising his hands in surrender while insisting that he wasn't mistaken.

For the nth time today, I glanced at Vee and sighed again. Just like me, she couldn't acknowledge the idea which the latest clue has given us. If we were to believe it, the list of first-borns in our families would definitely include her brother, Viktor. Even the simple thought of it made her feel like she was betraying him. Knowing that her older brother was one of the first people to lead us to starting the mission of finding the truth about the car accident, she could not bring herself to move on and accept the latest revelation. She insisted on going back to Tanaka Ueno's house to clarify some information and ask more questions, but we found out that Minako, the granddaughter we spoke to, was rushed to the nearby hospital  a few days after our visit. It seemed that there were other foreigners who came to see her and she reportedly got mauled. According to the nosy neighbor who said she saw what happened, it seemed that the foreigners were asking Minako for a certain puzzle box which had some kind of treasure. I knew at once that the foreigners could be the same ones who attacked us back in Ireland, looking for clues just like what Vee and I were doing. Of course, I felt sorry for Minako getting caught up in the mess, but I was also thankful that she  insisted on having us take her grandfather's letter for safe keeping. Had it been left at her house, I'm sure those people would've found it. Now we need to make sure that Minako didn't actually tell them what was in the letter.

Vee and I went to the hospital but was told that Minako's family decided to take her home and hire a private nurse instead. When we reached her house, though, the caretaker mentioned that the family had gone to a far place to avoid getting followed around by the wrong people. Even he doesn't know where the place is.

"Should we go back home and rethink our options?" Vee asked me, obviously trying to see if there was a way we could find another meaning to the letter we have found. I am sure she would love to hear a different interpretation of the clue for us to move on. I privately agreed. For once, I wished I was wrong with my deduction, but all signs point to a big no. How could I be wrong when the letter did not even hold riddles or puzzles to unravel and find out its meaning? It was a plain, one-liner handwritten letter in English alphabet.

My heart skipped a beat. Wasn't it too plain, though? Wasn't it too easy to understand? Wasn't a clue supposed to have some uncommon words or things which translates to something common? What if that one-liner clue means something else? I'd like to believe that. I'm too exhausted to still think of anything at all. Or maybe all this development which didn't give us proper rest has led to my poor deductions and I might be missing something else. Or maybe, all the ruckus that forced me into abstinence just fried my brain. 

"Are you alright?" I almost jumped when I heard Vee's soft voice in my right ear. I realized she was already sitting next to me, feeling my forehead with her soft hand. She looked worried, her gorgeous green eyes trying to bore into mine and look for answers.

"You seemed flustered," she told me. "I've been asking what sandwich you'd like and you just kept staring blankly..." I swallowed hard as I watched her, trying not to focus too much on her luscious lips. I had successfully evaded the urge to kiss her everytime I saw her lips but I'm not sure I could still resist with her this close. It took a lot of military-grade restraint to make myself slowly inch away from her.

"W-we need to see Frank in person." I told her after clearing my throat. "I hope we could get more information and a different deduction based on what we found in Nagasaki..."

*****

When Jordan and Vee learned where Frank was, they hurried to follow him and be able to discuss the latest development of the mission. Frank has sent them an email saying that he was on his way to the Philippines to see if the small detail he observed on the puzzle box meant anything. He has taken the initiative to investigate, when he found out from some media people he knew that the Gallagher Industries and Rustik-Yates Hotels were being targeted for defamation by some ill-wishing competitors. It was said that the breaking news would come out anytime and the heirs were not aware nor prepared yet for what to do. He mentioned that the two should head back home the soonest in order to prepare for statements and prevent negative impact on their businesses, while he works on the mission on their behalf.

Jordan asked Vee if she wanted to head back home as Frank suggested, but like him, she wanted to immediately meet Frank. She instead decided to send messages to her best friends, Guy and Lenka, to try and discover what the brewing news on the Gallaghers and Yates were about.

"What do you think he found interesting on the puzzle box?" Vee asked.

"I'm sure it's important," Jordan replied. He started looking at the image of the puzzle box which he sent Frank and wondered what made him too curious. He didn't find anything which looked like a clue other than the tallow tree branch drawing. What did Frank see? He thought, heaving a deep sigh.

While Jordan was in deep thought, Vee has been trying to get him to look at her phone. She was browsing some websites to fight boredom while waiting to board when she stumbled upon a blog which was discussing her relationship with Jordan. She was pictured with him during one of their meetings and another shot was Jordan with Aya. 

          "It may seem that the two are dating, but the Gallagher heir obviously wants more than a 'sisterly love.'"

"What do you think?" Vee asked Jordan after reading the closing paragraph of the blog. "Maybe it's got something to do with you and this...this Aya woman." She tried not to sound hostile, but her eyebrows betrayed her. She could feel her eyes slanting dangerously as her eyebrows raised. She waited for Jordan's response but he seemed lost in thought and she had to tap his phone several times to get his attention. She pouted when he blinked as he realized that she was still next to him, but after briefly glancing at her, his eyes travelled back to his phone and he gasped.

"Venera, this must be what Frank had seen!" Jordan excitedly whispered. "Look at the branch of the tallow tree... It's got wavy lines... When your fingers accidentally tapped on the picture, you zoomed in, and revealed this," - he showed Vee the zoomed image - "it seems to be an ancient script..."

He quickly tried to research on the script image and found out that it was an ancient Philippine script called alibata. He wanted to read about it further but the announcement was made for them to start boarding the plane.

*****
A/N

Alright!
Time to let me know what you think...
I'll be waiting!

Lovelots,
liquidfiredragon