ENDS

This was Santiago’s second day of following them and he feels now is the best time to bring in their daughter back to her parents but he wanted to stay a bit longer to know when they would be leaving the shop.

The noon sunlight was a bit harsh to his skin and it prickled at his hair follicles but he bore it in good fate because inside the café was always cool so the discomfort was only temporary.

Yesterday he wasn’t sure if it was disguise or adjustment to suit the plan but he never understood why Hunter served at the restaurant. It confused him.

Hunter might not recognize who he was, after all he was recruited a year or two after Hunter had left… he wasn’t so sure.

But he definitely knew who Hunter was, there wasn’t a person on the team who didn’t.

One of Soldo’s favorite recruits that backstabbed him. That’s what they were all told that suited his description.

They were all warned not to be like Hunter, unfortunately Hunter became the motivation for those who wanted to leave.

He doubts Hunter is aware of how many people he’s inspired with his actions that depict a better life outside the camp.

Sometimes he wished that Soldo would let the matter go and allow the young man to have some rest, but he knew more than enough to also be certain that Soldo was going to have his pound of flesh whether they all wished it or not.

Santiago finally arrived at the café and pushed the doors opened.

He hated the way that chiming of the bell drew attention to him.

Wasn’t the bell aware that he just wanted to spy and leave?

The deed had been done anyway, he just had to get to the counter with every eye on him, get his coffee and leave.

“Good morning, what can I help you with” the teenage girl who he always met behind the counter said with a smile.

“extra creamy with sugar.” He requested and dropped his money on the table before turning back to have his seat.

He wasn’t really the social type, at least people who knew him knew he wasn’t.

A lot of other people got offended by his behavior sometimes.

Take Tai for instance, she could pass off for someone who hates him as a customer.

But he didn’t know that and even if he did, I’m not sure he cared.

All he needed was his coffee anyway and not opinions.

He took his seat and waited for his target audience to arrive the restaurant, it took him a while before they showed up but the moment they did he felt relief that he was finally going to be able to finalize anything that had a correlation to he and Soldo and be gone for good.

For a better good.

Hunter showed up some minutes before Iris did and like yesterday put on an apron just the way he did yesterday that surprised Santiago slightly, but what could he do about it without blowing his cover.

He had already finished his cup of coffee and wanted to waste away a little more time so he waited till it was Hunter behind the counter and went to make another order.

“Do you have any croissants left?” he asked an already frowning Hunter.

He could guess why he was in a bad mood though; Iris was with her new friend again.

And he wasn’t sure if he was frowning out of jealousy or a gut feeling that something was off with the new guy.

Because he felt his bad energy and he knew whoever that guy was would definitely be bad news but he had no idea how to tell them so he just minded his business.

“Yes, we do, what table?”

“I’ll come pick it up by the counter, it’s to go.” Santiago replied and finally got to ask the number one question on his mind. “What time do you guys close? For the day… I was thinking of bringing someone here for a date” the lie slipped out so easily he was a bit proud of himself.

“Ten pm.” Said Hunter as he went to pull out the croissants that were placed in the microwave not too long ago.

Immediately Hunter was gone he pulled out a paper and scribbled something across as fast as he could, pushed it in between some dong notes then waited for his order and the waiter to return.

That didn’t take quite long because within a matter of seconds Hunter was back with his croissant in a plastic bag and handed it over to him.

“Keep the change.” Santiago said when he paid and turned around within a second.

With brisk steps he was out the door and made Hunter confirm the fact Tai had called him weird to be true.

Hunter was about to put the money into the cash register when he found the note in it.

‘reservation for table 14 by 9:50pm’

“if we aren’t closed already” He muttered in response to his letter.

“Take care of yourself okay?” Jeanie said to Louisa with her hands cupping her little face.

They were outside the hotel room saying their final goodbyes to each other in the windy night.

The baby girl nodded affirmatively and had a bright smile on her face.

All Jeanie could think of was ‘such a strong girl’.

The rate which she bounced back was so fast and her health also picked up positively. Though not totally strong

But they were proud of her… so proud.

Colby walked up to her and gave her a fist bump, “goodbye tiger.” For some reason this made her a bit sad.

Colby had been her playmate in these past few days, hi saying goodbye didn’t sound like a good thing to her.

“will you come back?” she asked with a little tear in her eyes.

Colby had to look to Jeanie and so did Santiago, its like they all had the question in mind but she only had the answer.

“I don’t know” she said

Jeanie wanted to start a new life, as soon as Louisa was going back to her parents, she knew this was the best time to get away

And she was doing so with Colby, the two of them felt alike in so many ways.

He was also a kid, leaving him on the streets to fend for himself would land him in the wrong hands like she did.

She didn’t want him ending up like she did, so she took him under her wing.

“who’s gonna call me tiger?” Louisa asked when she realized the meaning of Jeanie’s reply.

“I will.” Colby comforted and crouched down to get her into an embrace.

He knew he was going to miss her… a lot, but he didn’t really have much choices.

“You guys should take care of yourselves.” Santiago said as he picked up the little girl from the floor indicating he was ready to leave.

“You too” replied Jeanie.

The both of them began heading in opposite directions before they both waved down taxies to get them to their locations.

It was a little later than 9:50pm, a few minutes later. He only hoped the table was still available or the store was still open.

Louisa sat quietly and played a bit with her fingertips; they had told her that shell be meeting her parents today.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

He wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t believe him or she was anxious.

He found it hard to read her emotions sometimes.

“Are you happy?” he asked her during the ride.

“uhunn” she said with a bright smile and he couldn’t resist the urge to smile back.

He was going to miss her that’s for sure.

The cab came to a stop in front of the café and the moment they had been waiting for finally came through.

Santiago paid off the driver who immediately sped off and he took Louisa by the hand.

Slowly they walked into the restaurant and as usual the bell chimed, this time around he was happy it did because none of the waiters were by the counter.

Luckily for them the table was empty, he took her to have a seat and whispered to her “Let me go get your daddy.”

Then he walked out of the restaurant and stood across the road slightly near the bushes to disguise himself in case Hunter ran out looking for him, and also to be sure she was safe till her father came out.

Watching from the big windows, it sems sounds of the doorbell when he walked in and walked out brought Hunter out from the back and the expression on his face when he looked to table fourteen was priceless.

He didn’t have enough time to pride himself for making this happen when someone walked up behind him and covered his mouth whilst pointing a gun to his head.

“Don’t tell me you thought you could get away” the voice said and he immediately recognized it was Soldo.

He had known he had little time before he was caught, he only hoped Jeanie and Colby were able to escape successfully.

While muttering his last prayers in his heart, the last he heard was the pulling of a trigger before all went black.