11 - Trey II

16:36, 16 September 2016

SHIT! Her dad would skin me alive.

As scared as I am, I take out my phone and dial.

"S...S...i...r..."

"Trey, are you with Cris now?"

"S...s...ir...." I stammer still. "She's.... Uhm... She..."

"What?"

"She's.." I take a deep breath, using the last of my courage, "She's on her way to L.... LA, sir."

"WHAAATTTT?????" I have to take the phone away from my ear. I can already imagine his face with smoke coming out from everywhere. "TREY. GET YOUR ASS HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Even if I'm terrified to face him, I get in the first flight back home.

___

I am welcomed by Mr. Samson's men as soon as I arrive at the airport. They take me straight to where the engagement is being held. I quickly get out of the car and run inside. I already hear some shouting from the inside and I would bet everything I have that Mr. Samson is there.

The hall is already empty except for Mr. Samson and his men and the Tuans.

Mark is standing in the middle of it all, blocking his dad from getting to Mr. Samson.

"I won't let you near my daughter ever again, Mark," Mr. Samson is shouting at the boy. "You break my baby's heart just for this piece of shit you call money? You want all the gold in the world, huh?" This time he looks at Mark's dad. "I hope you drown in your own money, Tuan."

It's the first time I hear Cris' dad talk like this. And it's scaring the shit out of me.

"Mark. You told me you'd take care of her. That you'd never hurt her no matter what. What's this? I swear to all the gods, if something happens to my little girl, I'm gonna skin you alive, Mark."

"Don't you dare threaten my son, Samson." Mr. Tuan shouts, wanting to get close to Cris' dad but is stopped by his wife. "You don't even know half of the story."

"Story? What story? That you're being played again here? That Briggs is manipulating everything? That story?" He huffs. "How stupid can you get? You don't even know who you're marrying your son into. Aymes is someone you don't want to associate with, Tuan. But..." he shakes his head and smirks. "What do I know, right? That's your life. Just don't you fuckin' get near my daughter. If I see just a shadow of you near her, I'm gonna show you what hell really looks like."

SHIT!

Damn it. Where's Cris? I go near the man behind Mr. Samson. "Where's she?"

"I don't know. We didn't see her earlier. Only her friend ... the guy." He says, whispering.

FUCK! Jackson. Jackson saw it. She must've, too. But, where the heck is she?

I'm about to run out and look for her. But, a hand grabs my arm. "Trey!"

"Let go, Mark." I grit my teeth, controlling myself not to punch him right now.

"Is Cris with you?"

I chuckle sarcastically, shaking my head, stopping myself from throwing a feat like Mr. Samson. "What do you care? You left her, right? Why would you ask now?" I eye him from head to foot. "ASSHOLE!" I fling his hand away and run out.

I just hope Cris or Jackson hasn't gone that far yet.

I take out my phone and try to call her, no answer. I try calling our other friends, hoping she'd be there. But, they haven't seen her. They were actually surprised that she's here. After hours of searching, Mr. Samson calls everybody in their house.

Me, plus six other men are in his home office, sitting around the coffee table.

"She's still here. I know she is." He's saying, tears in his eyes. "I got some people at the airport checking flights. Trey," he looks at me. "I want you to drop out of this."

"What?" I can't stop my voice from getting louder. "Why?"

"You know why." He almost yells. "You think I'd trust her with you after what happened?"

"But...."

"No, Trey. Just...." he shakes his head and sighs.

A man barges in the room, letting us all look towards the door. "Sir, she's cashed out her bank accounts."

"Shit. What the fuck are you doing? Why is she still not here then?" He shouts. "You track her activities but you can't track her? She's not a professional criminal for crying out loud. She's just my little girl and you can't even find her?"

"I...."

"Shut up, Trey," he points at me.

I purse my lips, trembling at his voice. There's a moment of silence until his phone rings.

"Hello!" He shouts, his voice echoing around the room. "What????"

I immediately get up, preparing to take orders.

"Sit down, Trey," he shouts at me again. Then he looks at his other men, "Send some people to Korea. NOW!"

I knew it. I knew she'd go back there. She doesn't have anywhere else to go. She wouldn't want to come home because she wants to prove to her parents that she'd be fine even after this. I immediately take out my phone and call Juho, the person in charge of Cris and the other trainees of JYPE.

"Can you please give us a call if Cris or Jackson returns." I tell him.

He must've heard the urgency in my voice, he didn't ask any question. "Sure." He says.

"Sir," I go to Mr. Samson's side as soon as I hang up. "Please. Let me go find her."

"No, Trey." He sighs, running his fingers through his hair. "Damn it." He looks at his men again. "And you call yourselves professionals? What am I paying you for? Just to watch her run away like that? Why didn't anybody stop her from boarding?"

"Please. I owe you this." I tell him, pleading. "She's my friend, too. I can't just sit here and wait."

"Fine." He grits his teeth. "I'll go with you."

____

Mr. Samson is a bit awkward at this thing. He's used to being behind the desk and giving orders. It's his first time being on the field like this and I admire him for that. He'd do anything for his daughter. He doesn't even care about the firm anymore. He just left it like that. Maybe he trusts the people in there to just leave like this.

I can't bring an emotional man with me though, so I leave him at the hotel and take with me one of his men to JYPE. Much to our dismay, neither Jackson nor Cris has shown up yet.

We wait outside the dorm for hours. And when Jackson finally arrives alone, all my hopes are lost.

We know she's in Korea. So, we separate ways so we could cover more cities at a shorter period of time.

Mr. Samson is slowly crumbling as days pass by and still no Cristina. I remember how Cris looked when Mark left. I can't help but feel nervous at the thought of her at her worst condition now that she knows, and maybe have witnessed, Mark's engagement.

She might be getting drunk alone in a bar somewhere. It's just scary to think that Lara's dad could still be in Korea. That makes everything more dangerous. I just hope he doesn't get to her before we do.

I get a call from Sherry one night, telling me something's happening in the firm. Somebody's taking advantage of Mr. Samson's absence and files are starting to disappear.

"What files?" I ask her nervously.

"A lot. I don't get the connection though. There's Briggs, Aymes, Santos and others from small business cases. Also Sean's files."

FUCK!

"Sir," I have to tell Mr. Samson. "I think you have to go back."

"No," he says without even thinking, "I won't go back without her."

"But..."

"I said NO! Who's giving orders here anyway, huh?" He shouts. "No. I won't leave until I know she's safe."

"No!" I have to be firm. He can't just let the company go down like that. And I know it's Briggs again. Besides, I can't have him here. He's just too emotional. He's just slowing down the search. "Briggs would get away with everything before we can find her. We don't want Sean out of prison, do we?"

"Trey."

"Sir!"

He finally leaves after I let him talk to Sherry. He must've realized the seriousness of the matter.

The other men stay with me and we continue the search.

"Trey!" One of them calls me one day. I'm resting a bit in our hotel room in Jeju and he's somewhere in Daegu.

"What?"

"That man you were talking about last time, I think I saw him."

"Here?" My eyes get bigger.

"He took the train."

"Where to?"

"Not sure. Going up north."

Shit! I quickly get up and call the others. After a few hours we're at Busan, waiting for an update from him on where they are.

We comb all the places from the south going up north. I'm already doubting if she really is in Korea.

We're already in Gangneung, very near Seoul. The boys and I are in a bar just drinking a bit to ease our tired bodies ... and stressed minds.

"I'll just go to the restroom," I tell them, getting up and taking my phone out. I log in to Skype and send Cris a message. Although she hasn't been online lately, I'm still hoping she'd read my messages and reply soon.

As I stand in line and hopefully waiting for any response, I call Sherry and ask about what's happening.

"Mr. Samson flew to China." She says.

Fuck! "With who?"

"Just his men. And..."

"What?"

"Mark Tuan has been here."

"What did he want?" I ask, pissed.

"He was asking for Mr. Samson and you." She says.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him where you are."

"What? Why .... Ugh...."

"I told him you were looking for Cris since she's missing."