510 Unresponsive

After Damien and Katherine had their lunch at the Jade Oriental restaurant, they headed out of Harbor City—towards the safe house where Chris and Gus were staying.

The location was an hour's ride from the city, in a vast land by the forest. They made sure no one was following them on the route before they turned towards an old gate that opened as soon as it detected their presence. Damien drove down the path that led to a medium-sized mansion.

They alighted the vehicle and entered the place as a few guards greeted them. The house was pretty much empty and outdated. It had fundamental pieces of furniture like a couch and dining table, and a few foldable beds on the side. 

Chris and Gus were in the dining room, looking over some sort of map on the table. Noticing the presence of Damien and Katherine entering the room, they looked up and nodded at them.

"What's this?" she said.

"It's a map we've outlined in some places," Chris answered. "We're trying to see if we missed something."

Gus and Katherine exchanged looks, but only nodded at each other as their greeting. Damien walked over to Gus and handed him a small flat leather bag. "Your new IDs."

"That was fast…" Gus commented as he received the bag and checked the contents inside. 

He stared at the passport in his hands and scanned the other contents, seeing the same name and his picture on them. "Ryan Andrews. Hmmm…" 

"You'll get used to it," said Damien.

Katherine sat on the couch near the table and crossed her legs, her blush midi dress slightly hiking up her legs but not revealing anything inappropriate. "Where do you want to go? We'll arrange transportation and accommodation for you just like we promised."

Gus darted his gaze to each pair of eyes staring at him—first to Katherine, next to Damien, and then to Chris before he answered, "I… haven't decided yet."

"Aren't you in a hurry to leave? I mean... you're already free to go wherever you want without Shadow tailing you." She pointed at his new IDs with an open palm.

Clutching the passport and driver's license bearing his new name, Gus swallowed. He did. He was actually looking forward to it right after they escaped the senator's house. But now that they were asking him, he couldn't answer. 'Where do I go now?' he thought.

Chris stared at Gus, waiting for his response. He had asked him a similar question last night when he arrived, but the other couldn't answer. "Think about it carefully… You will most likely spend the rest of your life there."

While he was lost in his thoughts, a beep sounded from the laptop on the table, and in the next second, Styles came on the screen—it was a video call. Katherine walked over to the table and saw that Styles was holding a bowl of stir-fried dish on top of rice and was stuffing his mouth with it. "Hey, team!" He waved as he scanned the people in front of the laptop. "Wow… this feels like I'm Zordon of Power Rangers, and you're my rangers. How cool is that?"

They shook their heads at the same time that Damien told Styles, "You finish eating your food first."

"Yes, Your Majesty," answered Styles with a salute before continuing to chow down his food. Damien's brows furrowed. Zero and Styles had probably been spending too much time chatting.

Katherine diverted her attention to the map and saw that they marked Senator Jones's house. She turned to face Gus and asked, "Tell us everything that transpired last night. Don't leave any details."

And so, Gus told them what happened from the moment he got in the house until they left. Styles was listening through the earphones, but hearing it directly from Gus's perspective was different.

"Wait, so she knew that Parker sent you, and she even mentioned Shadow?" Katherine clarified.

Nodding, Gus added, "She looked as if she was sure too. She was confused at first, but then later, she had somehow realized and concluded that it made sense that Parker sent someone to kill her."

Chris balled his hand into a fist and tapped the table as he contemplated. "So it could be just what I thought. Jones is one of them. But why would Parker want to kill her?"

"She mentioned something about Parker being afraid of something... And… if he's going to do the same to the rest of the company… Does Parker own a company we don't know about? I thought he was a 'private investor'. I don't think I've seen him or heard of him having one…" Gus looked at Chris, waiting for what he had to say.

"As far as I know, he doesn't. So I'm not sure which company this is. Styles, could you check that?" Chris asked. Almost immediately, Styles got to work and set aside his food, then Chris continued, "It's safe to say that Jones is also behind Shadow. What we need to know is who the other members are. Has she left her house yet?"

"No report from the surveillance team," Damien answered. "They will notify us as soon as there are movements, but so far, it's been quiet since last night. She had also called in sick, so she's just been at home all this time."

"Was I too hard on her last night?" Gus wondered.

"Ummm… Guys…" Styles's cold tone came back, interrupting their conversation. "I've just received a notification from the surveillance team. Ambulance and media arrived at the senator's house. Oh sh—a live news!" He tapped his keyboard quickly, and a screen opened on the laptop, broadcasting a live report from a news channel.

A female reporter started her spiel as she stood in front of Senator Jones's house. And at the bottom of the reporter's screen was a banner that said: "Senator Jones brought to the hospital after her daughter found her unresponsive."