Vindicta

“MAMA, I don’t want to go to school,” Maya told her mother, sobbing. Maya was a 6th grade student in a public school in their town.

“And why is that, sweetie?” her mother asked calmly. Her mother was always calm, soft-spoken, and gentle with her. To Maya, no one was more loving and nurturing than her mother.

“They are always bullying me. Look, there is paint on my skirt again. They put paint on my chair!” she exclaimed then burst out crying.

Her classmates thought she was weak; that was why they were always bullying her. “Why didn’t you fight back?” her mother asked.

“My teacher would get mad at me.”

“I know, but you have to be brave. If you are not doing anything wrong, learn to fight back.”

Honestly, she was a little hurt by what her mother was saying. Instead of going to her school and complaining about her bully classmates, she always just told her to stand up for herself and learn to fight back.

“Mama…” that was all she could say before she started crying again.

“Sweetie, in this world, weaklings are not allowed. If you don’t fight back, they will take advantage of you. No one will watch your back all the time; that's why you need to be strong for yourself.”

Maya just nodded her head and sighed. Her mother told her to go to her room and rest, so she did. After changing her clothes, she went to their vast backyard.

She was wondering why their house was so far from their neighbors. They were located in a deserted part of their town. Their house was surrounded by lots of tall trees. She was always scared during the night because she heard a lot of noises coming from animals that she was not familiar with. Maya got used to it. She just didn't want to go out during the night, even if her parents were asking her to do something outside.

Maya had no friends, so she was always playing alone. No one ever dared to go to her place, maybe because it was too far from the other houses. She had never brought a classmate to their house because she wasn’t close to anyone. Maybe they were afraid to befriend her in case they got bullied too.

She could not understand what the bullies got out of bullying her. She didn’t know why some people found happiness in other people’s suffering. Maya got her kite and played with it in their backyard.

She was accustomed to playing by herself. Sometimes, she became envious when she watched her classmates play happily together, but she was trying not to be hurt anymore. Most of the time, she prayed that her classmates didn't pay attention to her because every time they did, she only got in trouble.

There was only one kid who had ever played with her. She had been just five years old when it happened. The little boy had been lost and had stumbled upon their place. Kal, that had been the little boy’s name. Maya could still remember the color of the sky when she first met Kal. It was like orange and blue were fighting to take over the sky. Kal was the first kid to play hide and seek with her.

But they did not play for too long because he had to go home. His mother would scold him if he stayed out any later. Kal promised her that he would come again, but that didn’t happen. Maybe he had already forgotten about her. She wouldn't blame him, for that was seven years ago.

But Maya would never forget Kal. She could even remember Kal’s dream; he wanted to become the mayor of their town. She could not even imagine having a dream like that because during that time, all she wanted to do was play. How could a five-year-old boy have such big dreams already?

Maya stopped playing with her kite when she saw some men walk into her house. All of a sudden, fear filled her heart, but she tried to fight the fear. She put a lot of effort into running toward the house only to be taken aback when she heard a gunshot.

Her knees were trembling as she walked towards the window, and she was stunned when she saw her parents lying on the floor. There was blood all around them. They were both unconscious. Maya was not sure if she should run far away or yell and fly into a rage?

But before she could do anything, someone covered her mouth. She tried to fight, but she was very weak.

“Don’t be afraid,” whispered the person covering her mouth. “I am not your enemy.”

It was a woman’s voice; Maya was sure of it. She became calm, then started crying. The emotions that had been bottled inside her broke free.

“I will bring you with me, but don’t make a noise,” the woman whispered again.

Maya nodded. The woman uncovered her mouth and carried her. She ran, carrying her as if she were weightless. The woman put her down after making sure that no one was behind them.

They rode in a black car that had been parked nearby. “Where are we going?” Maya asked.

She could not see the woman’s face. She was wearing a black hooded jacket and a black mask; she was also wearing oversized shades.

“Who are you? Who were those men, the ones who shot my parents?” she asked while crying even though the woman was not responding to her.

“Please, answer me,” she pleaded.

“I don’t know,” the woman answered. “Someday, you will find the answers to your questions. But right now, I only ask one thing of you: trust me.”

“But I don’t even know you!”

“Roma.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I'm Roma. Are you satisfied now?”

“How do you know my parents?”

Roma did not respond.

“Are we going to the police?”

“I am.”

“I will come with you!”

“We can't let the killers know about you.”

“But—”

“Just listen to me!” Roma screamed.

Maya was taken aback and just cried.

Roma brought her to a quiet and secluded place. It was like a ghost town. There was no sign of anyone living there. Roma parked the car in front of an old gate. She thought that the gate might have originally been blue, but it looked black now because it was old. Some parts of it were even rusty. Roma opened the gate for them to come inside.

Junkyard. That was the first thing that came to Maya’s mind when she saw what was behind that rusty old gate. They passed through the junkyard, and she saw another gate. Everything looked different after passing the second gate. She saw a clean yard that looked simple but vast.

“You should stay here while I think about what to do with you. Don’t worry about your parents' case; I’ll handle it. The killers cannot know that Myra and Enrico have a child.”

“How do you know my parents?”

“They helped me once, and I am just returning the favor by taking care of you.”

Maya waited for Roma to take off her shades and hood, but it never happened. “What will I do now? My parents…”

Maya trembled when she remembered the gruesome sight of her parents lying on the floor. She was confused. What had her parents done to those men for them to want to kill them?

“What did my parents do to them?”

“They didn’t do anything wrong. For now, I will leave you here. I'll come back if I learn any news. This house has everything you need. There’s food too. Don't go outside, do you understand?”

“You're leaving me here alone?” she asked, scared. All of a sudden, she wanted to hold Roma’s arms and never release her. “Please don’t leave me here alone.”

“You need to be brave. What's your name again?”

“Maya.”

“Be brave, Maya. I'll be back.”

“But…”

Roma gave her the key to the house and left. She did not take the car. Roma locked the gate then climbed it like she was an expert, jumping over both gates without effort. Maya’s jaw dropped watching Roma leave like that. Who was Roma? And what would she do now?

***

Maya could not eat or function for a week. She had nightmares every night about her parents' death. Roma had not come back, and Maya was afraid that Roma would never show her face again.

Maya sighed, her eyes focused on the canned sardines in front of her. She was planning to eat them for dinner. The kitchen was stocked full of canned goods. She was not complaining though. Canned food was better than nothing. But what would she do when she ran out? Roma had to show up. But how could Maya contact her?

She was close to going crazy living in that house alone for a week. One more day, and she’d go mad.

“Why don’t you open it?”

Maya almost jumped upon hearing the voice. She was sure that was Roma’s. “How did you get in?” Maya asked. She hadn't heard the door open or close.

“When I went back to your old house, it was burned to the ground—with your parents inside. No evidence. No witnesses. The house was not even in your parents' names. The only thing left was their ashes. The investigation will go nowhere because everyone is keeping their mouth shut.”

“But you and I both saw what happened!”

“But I didn’t know them. I can’t even remember what they looked like. And you, they can never know that you are alive. They should never learn of your existence. You have to change your name. I found a place for you to live under a new identity. I also found a new school for you.”

“I don’t want to go to school,” Maya stubbornly replied.

Roma was taken aback. Maya still did not know what Roma looked like. She had been covered when she rescued Maya, and even now, she was wearing a headscarf. Roma was still a mystery to her.

“What do you want to do instead?”

“I want to avenge my parents' death.”

“You are too young to think about that.”

“I don’t mean now. I will get stronger, and when I am sure I can handle it, I will look for my parents' killer.” Tears ran down Maya’s face. She was so tired of being weak. And just like her mother always told her, she needed to learn how to fight back. That's what she would do.

“What do you do for a living?” Maya asked Roma after she had calmed down. “How can you jump so high? Why can’t you show me your face?”

Maya heard Roma sigh before she sat down in front of her. “I don’t know if there's really a word for what I do. Secret agent is probably the closest. Do you know what that is?”

Maya shook her head. She didn't know what Roma was talking about.

“My services are illegal, against the law. I'm hired by those at the top to clean up their trash. It's not an ordinary job. Do you get me?”

“A little.”

Roma nodded. “My life is far from normal. If you don’t want to be like me, go to school. Just like you, I don’t have a family. I don’t have friends because emotions are prohibited in this line of work. Is that what you want?”

That got Maya thinking. Yes, that was what she wanted. She felt like Roma was a strong and brave woman. She wanted to be like her because only then could she avenge her parents' death.

“I want to be like you,” she replied.

***

“I'm Allison. Roma sent me. Are you sure you don’t want to go to a normal school?”

Allison was a very pretty woman in her mid-twenties. Fair-skinned, her hair was straight and long, and she possessed a very gentle face. Maya answered Allison’s question with a nod.

“I will be your teacher. If you want to be like Roma, you need to be smart. You can’t survive in this job if you are stupid.” Allison had an angelic face, but her words were harsh.

Allison just kept on preaching even though Maya was not responding. Allison threw the books she had been carrying onto the coffee table, then she sat down on the floor. “We will begin now. I will also teach you martial arts, but of course, not today.”

Maya nodded then sat down beside Allison. Maya thought that Allison seemed like a real teacher with the way she was acting. The only thing that she did not understand was how Allison knew Roma.

“Are you just like Roma?”

“Don't ask me questions that are not related to your lessons,” Allison replied then stood up. “Fill out that questionnaire.”

Allison went outside to smoke. Maya sighed. She had a lot of questions, but neither Allison nor Roma wanted to answer them. Roma said that all she had to do was obey her.

A few years later, the routine was still the same. Allison showed up every day to teach her academically. Roma and Allison took turns teaching her martial arts too. For three years, she didn't leave that house and saw no one except those two women.

“Do you not use guns?” Maya asked Roma. It had been three years, and Maya had still never seen Roma's face. Maya had gotten used to it. She stopped questioning why. She knew she would not get an answer from Roma.

“I don’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t kill people. That's another thing I want to teach you, to do this job without killing people.”

“When will I start getting jobs?”

“When I am sure you can finish them. Right now, you’re still not ready.” That was that, and they continued practicing martial arts. Roma didn’t seem to get tired while Maya was already exhausted; she just wanted to lay on the floor. Despite that, Maya was happy. She was happy that Roma and Allison were giving her their time and attention even though they were not related by blood.

She didn’t even know her extended family. She had grown up in her old house with only her parents. They never told her anything about the rest of her family, and no one had ever visited them in that old house.

Even though Maya was not walking the normal path, she felt okay. She preferred this path to being bullied at school. She also loved the feeling that she was stronger now and no one could oppress her. She would fight back, just like she had promised her mother.

After her martial arts training, she joined Allison for computer lessons. Allison told her that she would need to know a lot about digital things as an agent. “You can’t be an agent if you don’t have basic hacking skills,” Allison said. “By the time you are ready to replace me and Roma, the world will be even more modern than today. That is why you need to learn about computers.

Maya nodded and got ready to listen. She only had two teachers, but she felt like she had learned way more than a regular student. Her teachers were no-nonsense; they only taught her what she needed to know.

Maya was eighteen when Roma entrusted her with her first assignment as an agent. The job was easy. She had to steal a file from a local businessman's house. She didn't know who she was working for or what the client would do with that file, but that was not really any of her concern.

All she had to do was finish the job. There was no room for whats and whys. She was not dealing with the clients; that was Roma’s job. If she thought about it, her boss was really Roma. And Roma had only one rule: Do not kill anyone.

She got fifty percent of the payment for every job well done; Roma got the other half. Roma opened a bank account using an alias. Faking documents was easy for Roma.

Maya climbed the wall of the businessman’s house without getting nervous. There were lots of guards, but no one noticed her. She moved as quiet as a cat. She went into the study and got the file that her client wanted without sweating. She moved in and out of the house without getting caught.

Maya smirked. “That was very easy,” she whispered after jumping out of the yard. She walked away normally, like she had not just done something illegal.

“Can’t you give me something harder than this?” Maya asked Roma when they met back up. Roma would get someone to deliver the document that Maya had just stolen to their client.

“Don’t get too full of yourself, Vindicta. You’re just starting.”

Vindicta. That was her code name. That was the name she had given herself now that she was working with Roma and Allison.

Ten years later…

“Looks like you benefited again from your magic stethoscope,” Allison told Vindicta, smiling.

Vindicta just smirked then sat in front of Allison at the dining table. She used the stethoscope to open a safety deposit box. She needed that tool, which was supposed to be only for doctors, to crack safes. “It's late; why are you just eating now?” she asked Allison.

“If you must know, I am monitoring you,” Allison replied sarcastically.

Allison was her partner. She made sure no CCTVs had captured her during her transactions. Allison was also her human GPS. She was the one teaching her the way out if problems arise.

“Where is the flash drive?” Allison asked her.

She handed her the flash drive she stole from a journalist. That was a job from the mayor of their town. She was working for him for the past few months. He was the only one who was brave enough to show his identification from all of their clients. Roma was the one transacting to the mayor. It was her role in their group.

“What is inside that flash drive?” Vindicta asked Allison.

“I don’t know. You know that we can’t ask, right? Roma wanted you to erase everything on this journalist’s computer. Are you sure that you deleted everything?”

“Of course. I deleted everything, even on his laptop. I also checked his cellphone, I didn’t see anything suspicious. There are no more gadgets in his room.”

“I also checked his phone. You’re right, there is nothing suspicious there,” Allison agreed.

While the poor journalist was sleeping, Allison hacked his phone. That was Allison’s specialty.

“So, I’m done with my mission. I am going to sleep.”

“Yeah, I think it’s better for you to sleep already. You’re making my eyes hurt more than the radiation from my computer. Can’t you change your outfit’s color? Are all your clothes black?”

“You should know the answer, you are the one ordering my clothes online,” Vindicta replied then laughed. Black skinny jeans, a black hooded jacket, and her inner blouse were black too. Her shoes were black, of course. She meant to do that so she can hide easily.

“Don’t you have plans socializing outside this place, Vindicta?” Allison asked seriously before Vindicta completely got out of her sight.

“Aren’t we just the same?” she asked Allison too. Vindicta did not wait for Allison’s answer, she quietly walked out and got to her room.

She laid on her bed but her mind was far from sleeping. She thought about her life for the past ten years. In that long period of time, she has not let anyone in her life. Why would she do that?

There was no good person outside that place. Everyone had motives. Everyone was judgmental. That was the very reason why they have a lot of clients, right? Because no one was trustworthy in this world.

How can she sympathize with anyone? No one has ever shown her sympathy. No, there was one, Roma. Roma was still a mystery to her. She had not seen Roma’s face until that very moment. She didn’t know why she was still being mysterious around her but she was not curious anymore.

With the nature of her job, she had learned not to be curious anymore as long as she was not hurting or killing anyone. Whatever the clients wanted; she would do it if the price was right. It didn’t matter who it was or what was the motive. She was there for the money. It was that simple.

All of her earnings were deposited in a bank, she was barely using it because she didn’t need anything luxurious. She was donating some of her money to charities, not because she cared but because she didn’t have to use that money.

Whatever she saved will be used for her retirement. She won’t forever do that job, of course. She will get old. The time will come when she can no longer jump from walls or run as fast as a horse. Maybe she will just buy a property in the province and live there alone.

Vindicta closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She forced herself to sleep which she hoped she didn’t do because she had nightmares of her parents’ brutal death. Maybe after she got her revenge for her parent’s death, she can stop being Vindicta, after all, that was the true reason why she was doing all that.

***

“Vindicta?” Kyle asked his cousin, Ramius. Ramius was telling him a story about a black-ops agent named Vindicta who was Mayor Simon Lizardo’s disciple. This Vindicta, according to Ramius, was the Mayor’s, and all the politicians in his party, cleaner. That was why no one could ever uncover their dirty laundry.

“That story seemed like a TV series,” Kyle told his cousin.

“It is up to you if you will believe me or not but you have to be cautious. There were some people looking for this Vindicta because if I’m not mistaken, there were a lot of people from the high society that’s using her expertise. One more thing, you will be competing with one of Lizardo’s allies, it is not impossible that they would do something for you to concede,” Ramius advised.

Kyle will run for the mayoral position in their town, Aldemar. The former mayors of that town were from their clan. Everything changed when Simon Lizardo came into the picture. The people of that town liked Lizardo for reasons he didn’t know. He knew that guy destroyed their family’s reputation even if he never admitted it.

After Lizardo’s first term as a mayor, he let his wife run for the mayoral position and she won too. After his wife’s term, a member of his family ran until Simon can run for the mayoral position again. They kept doing that cycle so no one could get Aldemar from Simon’s hands.. Everyone knew that even if Simon was not the official mayor of that town, he was the one making all the decisions and whoever was in position was just his dummy.

Aldemar has become more modern under Simon’s leadership but despite that, the town has become corrupted too. Aldemar was a usual province before. But now, it was as if there were way more casinos there than in Manila, the capital city of the country. Prostitution has become a problem too.

Simon has become stronger because he was supported by the rich and powerful people in that town. Powerful people were destroying the lives of Aldemar’s people because of the illegal businesses there. That was the reason why Kyle wanted to be the next mayor of Aldemar.

He promised his late grandfather that he would get Aldemar from Simon’s hand but besides that promise, he really wanted to clean the town from the people who were polluting it. He went abroad for a few years but his heart was still at Aldemar.

He was born and raised at Aldemar but studied high school in Manila and he went abroad to study Economics. After graduating from his course, he went back to Aldemar. Because he didn’t have plans to run for the mayoral position during that time, he built his own business in which his parents supported.

He thought of a business that he could get close to people, after that, his name got an impact on the people of Aldemar. He built a big market in Aldemar. That was not a usual wet market that was unhygienic and smelly. When it came to cleanliness, De Dios Market was number one in Aldemar.

He didn’t expect that he would think of expanding his business. Later on, he built De Dios Market’s branches in the neighboring towns. Now, he also has groceries. He bought some properties too for mango and vegetable farming.

He became closer to the people because of his businesses. They were actually the ones pushing him to run in the next election. That was hitting two birds with one stone. He became richer, and now he was closer to reaching his grandfather’s wish without looking like a traditional politician.

“I don’t have anything to be scared of, Ramius,” Kyle told his cousin. “I haven’t done anything wrong so why would I be wary of them? No one can destroy me, even that Vindicta. And honestly, she doesn’t seem real.”

“She’s real. I have proven that,” Ramius said seriously.

“What?”

“I became interested in this Vindicta so I emailed her. There is a website where you can see Vindicta’s e-mail address, a private site. You will pay already upon opening the site. She is really cunning. I tried to transact with her a few months ago.” Ramius took out something from his bag, it was a brown envelope.

Kyle looked at Ramius like he was asking what was inside that envelope. “Pictures of the things that you can see inside Lizardo’s office.”

“What would you do with this?”

“Nothing. I can’t think of anything that she will do for me. And all I just wanted was to prove that Vindicta really exists.”

“So, did you meet her personally?” Kyle asked while scanning the pictures Ramius handed him.

“Nope. We only communicated through emails and phone calls. She emailed me when she had the photos. She showed me the proof that she was done with the job I asked her to do. After that, she called to tell me where to bring the payment. She was using a voice-changing app, her voice was different every time we’re talking on the phone. After she got the payment, she instructed me to go to another place. You know what did I get?”

“What?”

“Baggage number from a grocery store. That’s where I got those photos,” Ramius told him. Disbelief and amusement were evident on Ramius' face.

“Wow,” Kyle said while laughing. “Cool, huh?”

“You have to believe that these agents are real. Honestly, it has been a few since I had a transaction with Vindicta but I am not telling you only until today. I even asked her for one more job for me but she refused. I tried contacting her again but I can’t reach her. I don’t know why she refused, I offered her a lot of money.”

“What job is that?”

“I want her to spy on your rival. It is better to be safe than sorry.”

“You are overthinking. And you are the one who told me that this Vindicta is Simon’s ally. Stop with your nonsense, Ramius. Even if that Vindicta was real, I don’t need her to win the election.”

***

“Kyle De Dios,” Vindicta was nodding her head while looking at her new subject on one of Allison’s laptop’s screens.

Right after she woke up, she received a call from Roma. Roma gave her mission for the coming month. That mission was worth millions of pesos that was why she accepted it without questions.

“Isn’t he handsome?” Allison asked. She was behind Allison so she cannot see the latter’s facial reaction.

Vindicta just nodded. She was not fond of good-looking guys. Wrong. She was not fond of men, of all forms, at all. She won’t be moved even if she was faced with the most handsome man in the Universe. Love and men were just not for her. Those will just make her life complicated.

“How can I destroy that man?” Vindicta asked, more to herself than to Allison.

Allison tapped a black folder on the table. “Those files got everything you need to know about Mr. Handsome. Honestly, I think you will have a hard time finding holes in this man. His records are clean. His credentials are spotless. Did Roma tell you that you need to work close to this man?”

“Yes. I am actually unsure of this mission.”

“You’ll be a few million richer, how can you be unsure?”

“Disguising is easy but doing that for a long duration of time, I doubt it.”

Allison handed her another folder. “That’s all you will need. The key to your new apartment is there too.”

“What? I need to move?” Vindicta grumbled. Roma didn’t say anything about her moving out.

“Just in case, they run a background check, we won’t have a problem. You can still come here anytime you want.”

Vindicta checked what was inside the folder, there was a resume and all the requirements she needed to land a job in De Dios’ company. “Veronica Ruiz? Can’t you think of something creative?” she asked Allison, laughing. She just felt like Veronica didn’t suit her.

“Your nickname will be Roni. Cool, right?” Allison said with pride. “You have to remember all the information in there. This will be our biggest project this year. We won’t be handling big projects after this according to Roma. I think she is getting tired.”

“We won’t starve to death even if we don’t work for a few years,” she said, not a bit worried.

“And what are we gonna do? I hate being idle for too long.”

“Maybe we can travel around Asia. We can have a lot of things to do with the money we have,” she suggested.

“Fine. Go, study everything in that folder. I have to go to my store, my orders have arrived.”

Allison has a small convenience store in front of Calvento. Calvento was the street where they were located. No one was living there except them, she was not even sure if anyone knew about that place in Aldemar because that place was like a ghost town. Allison opened a store in front of the street because only there were people walking by. No one dared to come inside Calvento.

Allison’s store was an honesty store. She was selling anything that came to her mind. Allison just made that store for her orders online. She didn’t care if anyone steals from her store or if anyone purposely gets the wrong change after buying. The most important thing for Allison was the store’s address for the deliveryman to find her. All her transactions were pre-paid so the delivery man just leaves her orders inside the store as she instructed. Allison was that weird and maybe she was weird as Allison because she was living with her for the past sixteen years.

The honesty store has CCTV in every corner so Allison can see what was happening in there twenty-four-seven. She also knew who was not honest with her customers. If someone stole from her store, Allison was getting revenge in another form. Sometimes she was even used to getting revenge.

Vindicta studied the disguise that she had to do after Allison left. She has to apply for the secretarial position. She needed to work as close to Kyle De Dios as possible. Being her secretary was the closest she could get.

Allison handed her a box when she returned from her store. “Brand new cellphone for a brand-new life,” Allison teased her.

“I don’t need this.”

“Of course, you do. Your number is private, that is only for me and Roma. You will save the numbers of the new people that will come into your life as Veronica in that new phone so that after the mission, we will just throw that away. Make yourself ready, later you should go to your new apartment and buy the things that you need for your disguise. Your mission will start tomorrow.”

***

“Am I hired?” Vindicta asked the HR officer in front of her.

“Yes, Miss Ruiz,” the officer said, smiling. They haven’t talked for five minutes and now she was hired. Her gut feeling told her that it was Roma’s doing. “You will start today. The position you’re applying to was vacant for a week now. Your desk will be on the third floor of this building.” He handed her a paper. “Just give this note to Mr. De Dios.”

Vindicta nodded then stood up. The building has only three floors, not extravagant for a huge company. Maybe it was true that Kyle De Dios was a simple man. Based on the information that Allison gave her, Kyle was loved by the people of Aldemar, especially by the poor. They were even the ones who pushed him to run in the upcoming election.

Vindicta went to the restroom first before meeting Kyle. She had to make sure that she looked normal. She shook her head while looking at herself in front of the mirror.

She was wearing floral blouse and white slacks. She looked decent but a little conservative. She let her hair hang loose, she was not used to it so she was a little irritated but she had no choice. That was needed to hide her earpiece because just in case Allison or Roma was calling her, she can answer quickly. The earpiece has a built-in microphone. A tiny device with extraordinary functions. Allison made that; she was a genius when it came to modern gadgets. She applied a thin layer of make-up and wore round reading glasses with a golden frame. She found the glasses cute so she bought them. It has no grade.

Vindicta took a deep breath. “Your name is Veronica Ruiz,” she told herself while smiling in front of the mirror. Roma ordered her to smile all the time. She has to look friendly. Kyle should trust her quickly for her to her job easily.

She checked the place after going out of the restroom. She checked the locations of the CCTVs. That was always the first thing she did when entering an establishment. “Did you hack the cameras in here?” Vindicta whispered Allison was on the other line. Her earpiece was activated. When the earpiece is activated, they can talk as if they were just calling from a phone. Allison can also track her location when the earpiece was activated.

“I did. I saw you already, wave for me,” she teased her.

Vindicta shook her head, smiling, then went straight to her target. Vindicta knocked on Kyle’s office lightly. She smiled. She can come inside that office without knocking on the door but she was not Vindicta now, she needed to act like a normal human being.

She can even climb tall establishments without a ladder, she perfected that stunt in the past few years. She fell and failed a lot of times. There were times that she almost failed a mission but as time went by, she got the hang of it.

“Come in,” said a baritone voice from the inside.

She can only see Kyle’s side view from where she was standing. He was doing something in front of the computer. Maybe he was reading something very important. While he was busy, Vindicta looked around his office to check the locations of the CCTVs. To her surprise, there was no CCTV in there. Did that mean that there was nothing important hidden in that room? “Good morning, Mr. De Dios. I’m Veronica Ruiz, your new secretary.” She walked towards him to let him see the note the HR officer had given her.

Kyle slowly moved the swivel chair to face her and Vindicta straightened her back because of shock. She was shocked because her heart skipped a beat. “What is this?” she asked herself.

“Hi, Miss Ruiz,” Kyle greeted her with a smile. “Welcome to the company.”

Vindicta smiled a little then nodded. She was still bothered by her reaction towards him.