“WHO’S going to interrogate the club’s owner?” the Chief Inspector asked David, one of Euclid’s undercover team.
“Agent Euclid is assigned to do the interrogation, Sir,” he replied and looked at the police station’s entrance for Euclid’s traces. “And, we’re waiting for the drug test results.”
“Then where is he?” the Chief asked, looking around the station. “Your Deputy Detective called me and asked to check the detainees—”
“Why do they have to ask you such favor, sir?” Euclid asked he entered the back door while Fred brought Maria to one of the interrogation rooms. “They should ask me about it since it’s under my team.”
“Agent Euclid, it’s part of the protocol to inform the chief about the status of your mission,” Miranda butt in, stressing the word protocol. “After all, your case is within our area. The department is accountable for any wrong actions that your detainees will do.”
“Miranda is right,” Chief Alvarez agreed. “And, how long does it take your laboratory to release the drug tests? Waiting for hours is time-consuming!” he complained. “Look at those detainees, they’re crowding my stations.”
“My team is doing their best to keep everything in order,” Euclid said calmly even though he knew that Miranda is just baffling about the protocol. “If all of them tested negative in the drug test, we’ll let them bail themselves out.”
“And, what if all of them tested positive? Where are you going to put all of them?” The Chief slammed his hand on the table. “You should have informed me first about this mission—”
“Sir, they have informed you,” Miranda cut off. “Remember the files that I left in your office about a month ago? Those were operation orders from Cebu Bureau of Special Ops.”
Chief Alvarez’s brows furrowed. “I haven’t read those cases—”
“Sir, you signed the forms,” Miranda said, nailing the bravado out of the Chief.
Euclid smirked. “I received the signed operation orders three days after I sent it.”
Chief Alvarez scowled at Miranda then glared at him. “I went here this early because I received a call that one of your detainees escaped last night.”
Miranda nudged him with her elbow as she took the logbook on the table. She glanced at him before she opened the log. “Who told you that rumor, sir? Everyone is here—”
“Except Magdalene!” one of the prisoners shouted. “She’s missing for hours.”
“Shut your filthy mouth, tramp!” Miranda shouted at the woman. “Anything that comes out from your mouth can use against you.”
“They freed that bitch!” the other shouted. “They freed her—”
“I will transfer you to the administrative segregation if you don’t shut your mouth,” Miranda threatened the tramp. “And, I will hold you here for being a threat to the environment.”
“What the fuck?!” the woman shouted angrily. “You favored that bitch Magdalene!”
“Where’s that Magdalene?” Chief Alvarez asked. “I want to see her—”
“She’s in one of the interrogation rooms, sir,” Euclid said. “Fred is with her, asking some questions about…” he stepped closer and lowered his voice. “About the Black Triad.”
The expression of the Chief Inspector hardened. “She’s involved with the Black Triad?”
“The sources said that she’s one of the item carriers,” Euclid said. “We have to keep her out of the other detainees to protect her privacy.”
The Chief nodded. “Is she going to talk?”
“We got all that we need to make her talk, sir,” Euclid said. “That’s why we’re securing her. Those rats inside the prison are shitting on her.”
“Bring me to her,” the Chief said. “I want to see her.”
Euclid clenched his jaw. Whoever tipped the Chief about their escape a while ago must be from the other officers here. But, he was sure that no one was in the parking lot at the back when they left. There must be somebody messing with him.
Euclid brought the Chief to the interrogation room where Fred and Maria were in. He pressed the audio to speak and informed Fred that the Chief was with him and they can see them in the two-way mirror. Fred raised a thumbs up, saying that he can on the audio from them—and that everything was under his control inside the room.
“Why she’s covered?” Chief Alvarez asked. But, before Euclid could answer, he hit the speak button and called out to Maria. “Hey, whore! Remove that cover around your head.”
Euclid clenched his fist. There are rumors that the chief inspector in the Manila department is interested in prostitution cases. Senior Inspector Miranda, who they preferred calling the deputy, once told him that the Chief got his position in some under-the-table process. One thing that Miranda hated about the Chief is he wanted to be called Chief of Police, where she also got her satirical position as Deputy Chief.
Maria raised her head, but she didn’t uncover her face. “Is that how you treat the person that could give you all the information that you need?”
Fred glanced at them in the mirror. The shock was evident in his face, and so the Chief. Euclid suppressed a smile and stared at Maria behind the glass that separates them. She’s indeed different now. She knew how to take advantage of her value as a witness and a whistleblower.
“I’m the Chief of Police, show some respect!” The Chief shouted at the lapel. “What do you think of yourself? You’re just a lowly prostitute—”
“In our department, we don’t insult our valuable witness, sir,” Euclid hit the microphone off. “We prefer to work on it in our way. And, it means no violence and verbal abuse.”
The Chief glared at him. “Your senior agent is right about you, Agent Mercado. You are so full of yourself, like your father. Keep in your mind that you just became the Special Agent because your father got killed in the mission—and not by your hard work, fool.”
Euclid glared back at the Chief. “And, the rumors are true that the chief here got piled complaints about abuse of authority—”
“Watch your mouth, Agent Euclid—”
“Chief, would you mind if I ask you to speak again?” Maria’s voice aired inside the room.
The Chief smashed the talk button. “Shut up—”
“I’m right,” Maria cut off and showed her sharp eyes to them. “I knew that voice.”
***