Babel Novel
Code X
“Mr. Fuego was brought back to the capital for immediate operation, Mrs. Fuego. He’s inside the operating room for twelve hours now.”
Jenica closed her eyes. Renato, Alex’s assistant, called and told her earlier that her husband told him her identity as Doctor Acinea. Well, she couldn’t do anything about it. In any case, Renato was tongue-tied.
“Call me after the operation,” she said.
“Alright, Mrs. Fuego.”
“Wait. Does his family know?”Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
Renato was silent for a few seconds before he answered, “Mr. Fuego wants to keep a low profile now, so he asked me to keep it a secret.”
Jenica understood what he meant and sighed. “That’s good then,” she said before saying goodbye and hanging up.
She drove the car towards the cliff where the traces of her son’s abductors ended. Jenica stood on the edge of the cliff and looked at the sea that glistened under the rays of the sun. The salty sea breeze blew past her and she closed her eyes.
“Sham, it might take long before I’ll find you. I’m sorry, my son.” Tears fell from her eyes. “Rest assured, I’ll make those who hurt you pay someday.”
After some time, she drove the car back to the capital.
Because the poisonous needle incident is connected to the mansion of Jobert and Yvette Antonete, she intends to start the work on Gia Antonete’s third cousin. Jenica is sure that Jobert and Jared are connected, but she is not sure what role Yvette Antonete’s family plays. The last time she checked, the Antonetes bought the factory where an ingredient of the poisonous needle was made and Jobert and Yvette’s family even had a cold war because the latter did not agree to close the factory.
Such a complicated relationship. She sighed. Good thing that the bride who was killed at her own wedding reception during Doctor Acinea’s welcome party is a compatriot of Yvette. She remembered seeing Jared’s men attending the wedding reception and she knew her next target would be the bride’s family.
She put on the earpiece. “Give me a complete details on Desmana clan in Laguna. And their relationship with Jared. Also, bring me a chopper. I’ll fly back to capital right now.”
“Roger that,” said her assistant.
The car sped up and headed for an empty lot where the chopper delivered by the HQ’s men landed. She gave the car key to one of the HQ staff before jumping up the chopper. It drove her to the capital in three hours.
Her assistant called after the chopper landed. Jenica put on the earpiece as she walked the distance between her and the waiting car. “Agent J, Desmana clan is one of the prominent families in Laguna. The murdered bride is the eldest daughter of the Patriarch and her groom is the young master of La Trinidad clan, a prestigious clan in Cavite. The murdered bride is the childhood sweetheart of the groom and they’re betrothed before they’re born because both of their mothers were best of friends.”
“And who posted a head warrant for the bride at the black market?” she asked then got into the car and quickly drove out of Manila.
“Surprisingly, it’s not from the two clans but from Antonete in Laguna.”
The car stopped at the red light and Jenica frowned. “Antonete placed a head warrant on Desmana Patriarch’s eldest daughter? Are you certain of this information?”
“Yes. It’s confirmed by our spies sent in the black market.” The assistant added, “Seven years ago, Miss Yvette Antonete were involved in a sex scandal in a well-known motel in Taguig. Yvette Antonete was sleeping with the groom of the murdered bride. After that incident, the relationship between Desmana and Antonete grew apart until the Desmana announced the marriage between the two families, the Desmana and the La Trinidad. It’s when Yvette placed a head warrant on the bride.”
Jenica gaze deepened as she started the car when the traffic light turned green. So that explains why the man who was tasked to post that head warrant had poison needles as his weapon.
That guy was sent by Yvette Antonete. The poison needles were surely came from Jobert’s mansion but she was not sure if that man was really Yvette’s staff or the woman just borrowed a staff from Jobert and she’s oblivious to the poisonous needle’s existence.
“Is that guy in the black market one of Yvette’s men?” she asked. “Or did she hire that man for that job?”
“According to the intelligence, Yvette did hire that man from Governor Jobert in South.”
Jenica grinned as a glint flashed across her eyes.
The factory is not the only reason why Jobert doesn’t want to let go of Yvette and why Yvette can’t reject Jobert.
It’s because of the fact that Yvette Antonete killed someone and Jobert knows about it. Yvette won’t let Jobert run amok knowing her secrets. The Desmana will also go after Yvette if they find out that she is the one who killed the bride.
On the other hand, Jobert needs the factory owned by the Antonetes to carry out the secret tool making of poison needles.
The two were using each other and there’s a possibility that they were not aware of each other’s secret.
Yvette may not know that Jobert is only using her for the factory, and Jobert may not know that Yvette has a secret relationship with the young master of La Trinidad in Cavite.
She closed her eyes. “Did the young master of La Trinidad and Yvette secretly see each other after the scandal?”
“Yes, Agent J. They were secretly seeing each other but the bride didn’t know it. Six months ago, Jobert promised Yvette to kill the bride on her wedding day in exchange for Yvette being his secret girlfriend.”
Her car entered the municipality of Laguna, the town of Desmana and Yvette Antonete’s family.
She raised her eyebrows. “So Jobert didn’t know why Yvette hated the bride?”
“That must be the case, Agent J.”
“I see. Keep an eye on Yvette’s movement,” she ordered.
Jenica booked a room at a nearby hotel. As usual, she checked first if there was a hidden camera or if there was a wire tapped inside before taking out the laptop and typing.
“What’s the status of Desmana Group of Companies?” she asked the assistant while logging into a secret website.
“Recently, Desmana Group experienced a huge data breach that made them lose almost a billion. It seems like they’re having trouble with their data security. A group of hackers are attacking them and Desmana Group is looking for highly skilled individuals to work for them in the field of network security,” said the assistant.
The edge of Jenica’s lips curved. “Perfect,” she said then finally entered the secret website.
….
Desmana Group’s Presidential Office.
Suddenly his cell phone lit up. Bryce frowned then picked it up. “What’s the problem?”
“Sir! Our staff has contacted Code X.”
He sat up straight and his eyes widened. “You said Code X?”
“Yes, Sir!”
Bryce cursed and immediately opened the laptop. He quickly login to the secret website. He was a VIP member of such a website so he immediately received an announcement from the website’s admin that he was none other than Code X — the mysterious hacker that the big companies were trying to find but all failed.
It was just a fortunate encounter that he had access to the website that Code X himself made in exchange for the ten billion. The good thing though, he has the privilege of talking to the legendary Code X via voice message.
“Hello, Code X. I’m Bryce Desmana from Desmana Group of Companies. Please forgive me for disturbing your peace but I really need your help. I hope I will have the opportunity to talk with you in person regarding this matter.”
A few minutes later, Code X replied.