Unexpected Flare

"The death of Police General Arman Ortiz was brought to justice after the suspect was caught in the entrapment operation of the National Police in his hiding place in Bataan. It could be recalled that the victim died on the spot in a van ambushed two decades ago, riding along with his wife and daughter, who were the only survivors of the crime. It was… ”

Zeke grimaced and glanced at his boss, Ninong Jack, who nonchalantly turned off the television. Jack Campos was his mother's younger brother and his superior at the agency where he was working.

"Congratulations, Zeke, on your excellent work. It took us a lot of time and perseverance to review this case. It has been two decades since the crime happened and I'm glad that justice has been served with your help and efforts. I'm sure my friend will be able to rest in peace and his family will be able to live at ease without worrying about living in danger anymore.” His Ninong Jack proudly said while tapping his shoulder.

"I just did what must be done,” he replied. Accomplishing cold cases was not new to him, so he just shrugged at his praise.

"Don't be too humble son," his Ninong Jack told him while giving him an envelope. "You should take a vacation first. You had been focussing on this case for years”.

"What is this envelope for, Ninong? You already gave me my bonus”. He asked while opening the envelope and narrowed his eyes when he saw what it was. “Nothing would change even if I leave the condo and take this vacation, I would just get bored ”.

"That's your ticket. And tell your complaints to your mother, who has been pestering me to give you a vacation. I think she is waiting for you to introduce a woman to her. She must be excited to have a grandchild.” Ninong Jack laughed while showing his cellphone to him.

He frowned and read the message.

"Tell your godson to take a vacation here and visit me. If he doesn't come home, I will go there with a woman and I will push him to marry any woman I can pick up for him.” He shrugged and stood up to leave when someone carelessly opened the office door, revealing a tall man wearing a cap, with a broad grin on his lips.

"Hello Dad!" Ninong Jack’s son, Dustin, yelled while entering the room.

"Wow my dear cousin!” Dustin turned to him. “Congratulations! You may want to have a drink. I will call the gang for…” Dustin stopped speaking when he noticed the ticket he was holding. "Oh, maybe next time." A mischievous grin appeared on his lips, followed by his laughter. “Enjoy your vacation! It looked like it would be a hell of a vacation for you. If I were you, I would take a woman home with me so that my mother would not tease me about marriage anymore. ”Dustin teased him.

Zeke frowned at what Dustin said. Five months ago, his mother suddenly visited him in his condo and asked for a grandchild. Her reasoning was that his age was nearing beyond the calendar, but he knew that she was just jealous of her friends ​​in the village who already had grandchildren.

To make the situation worse, his cousins ​​were also there drinking, and his patience was tested because of their annoyance. Among his cousins, he was the only one who had never had a girlfriend and he’s twenty-eight already. He was the eldest among his cousins, given that his mother was also the eldest of her siblings. She was the only woman, followed by Jack, and the twins, Uncle Jake and Uncle Jay. His Ninong Jack and his father, Xeke, were best friends.

They built the “Secretos Escondedos”, a secret agency that provides intelligence support to the government and other non-government organizations, such as espionage services, covert and clandestine operations, that aim to gather information relevant and helpful to resolve cold cases. That's also the reason why Dustin was there; he’s working the same job as him. It was said that as the sons of the founder of the organization, they would be the one to manage it in the future. For now, they were handling cases to get familiarized with its management.

One of those cases was a newly resolved case handled by his team. The case of Police General Arman Ortiz who was shot in the vehicle he was in while taking his only daughter to school. He died on the spot and his wife, Felisse Borja Ortiz, a famous novelist, was critical and, miraculously, only minor injuries were sustained by his seven-year-old daughter. The resolution of the case took a while because there was not enough evidence as to who killed and committed the crime.

Mrs. Cortiz could not name an enemy, leaving only the position of her husband as the suspected cause of the crime, but there was not palpable enough evidence to pinpoint who the instigator was. So his group conducted surveillance on the possible suspects based on the previous investigations and then obtained evidence from the recordings that they placed in the places where the suspects stayed.

There was an entrapment operation held with the help of the National Police and the suspect was arrested. The suspect later admitted that he killed the Lieutenant General out of jealousy. The reason was the suspect was obsessed with the victim's wife, who was his classmate in college. It was then realized that the suspect had a psychological problem, so he was brought to a mental health facility instead of being jailed.

Yet he could not fathom that simply liking someone would lead to that. If the suspect of such a crime stayed in a mental health facility, it would seem unfair to the family of the bereaved.

According to the report, the victim's daughter was traumatized. Although it had almost been two decades since then, he knew that it was not that easy to forget what had happened, especially to a child. He was sure that it was still a nightmare for the child then, that he had not seen until now.

He focused on the investigation and gathering of data related to the crime, so that he did not even see the appearance of the bereaved family. Though, to compute, he assumed that the child was at the same age as his or younger. The only person who spoke to the victim's family was his, Ninong Jack, who also happened to be a close friend of the victim.

He was disturbed in his own thoughts when Dustin held his hand to look at his ticket. A mischievous smile appeared on his lips as he looked at it. "You are already leaving tomorrow? It seems like Aunt Au is already bored waiting for a grandchild, huh. You should ask her if she doesn't want a grandchild from me.” Dustin insanely laughed at the same time he was stoned by his father's book.

"That’s why no woman is taking you seriously! You are a womanizer!" His Ninong Jack raised his voice at his son.

"I'm leaving Ninong, just give my regards to Ninang '' he said goodbye to the two and left them arguing. He didn't want to get caught up in the fight. To whom else would the fruit inherit his nonsense? His Ninong Jack used to be a womanizer until he met his Ninang anyway.

"Sighing, he rode the elevator to leave, but even before he got out of the building, his cellphone rang. "Son, there is a beautiful woman who has just moved in front of our house. Hurry up and court her, bystanders might hit on her before you!" He frowned as he read his mother’s text, rode into his car and drove away.

His head was already aching, thinking that he would be with his mother on his vacation. He did not have a choice anyway. I will just always stay at my cousin's place nearby. Nodding to his own thoughts, he promised himself that he would not allow his mother to pester him into marrying someone he did not even know - not that he was not planning to have a family in the future.

Well, a man can hope.