She's My Sleeping Pill

City C wasn’t really that far and given it was Sunday, it was less traffic compared to working days. He arrived City C within three hours and thankfully, the residential place where her family lives was very easy to locate. Based on the location and the size of the house, he could tell that the woman was earning a good amount of money.

He pressed the doorbell to their home and a little kid about 5-6 years old opened the door and looked at him. “Lala, Lala, there’s a handsome man outside.” The young girl called while keeping her eyes on him, as if she was observing him like a prey. Tristan smiled faintly at her and the little girl closed the door.

Not long after, an older lady came out and the little girl was hiding behind her. “Hello. How can I help you?”

“Good afternoon, ma’am. Is this where Denise lives?” Tristan asked using first name basis to establish closeness.

“She’s currently out of the country for work. And who might you be?”

“I’m Tris. I am Simon Summer’s friend. They were classmates back in college. I am not sure if she ever mentioned him.”

.....

“Summer? I think she mentioned him to us. What is it that you need from her?”

“Simon is currently working on a formula and he needed her help since she was his best partner back in college. He lost contact of her and thought she might still be living here.”

“Oh. I see. Unfortunately, she left the city...the country in fact, and worked somewhere else. I think it’s in P country. I just don’t know which place in particular.” Tristan nodded his head and appeared disappointed but he still smiled at the older lady and the child. “I have her number but we never called her voluntarily because it’s expensive. I am not sure if it could help.”

“That’s wonderful ma’am. I’ll give it to Simon.”

The older lady was very careful and she didn’t dare open the gate to a stranger. She typed the number on Tristan’s phone and he bid farewell after getting it. ‘That child...I wonder if Simon knows.’ Tristan thought but he shoved this information at the back of his mind because his priority was to find Denise.

When he checked his network information earlier, he wasn’t able to find anything related to her work. In fact, there was no information of her leaving the country either. The result of this initial investigation shows that she’s still in the country. It only meant one thing, Denise left under a fake identity or someone took her out of the country illegally.

The first thing that Tristan did when he arrived back in his apartment, he ran a location test using the phone number. It was indeed from P country and the last time it was active was three months ago. He located the IP address and found the source from an isolated island.

This place was thousands of miles away from the mainland and it was said that the island was inhabited by a tribe who doesn’t welcome any visitors. If you step foot on this land, they will kill you and feed you to the sharks.

“How can this be possible?” Tristan muttered nervously. He’s a man who’s got great IQ and computer skills but he’s never good in physical exercises and combat. “How am I going to find her from this scary island? Is there something wrong with my program today. I may have done some mistakes. She can’t be in this place.” For the second time, ever since he worked for Stefan, he received another assignment that he involves stamina and fighting skills. “I’ll have to leave this to Chris again?”

In the end, Tristan called Stefan and informed him of what happened. It was the first time he doubted himself and to prove if he was wrong or right, Shein helped him verify the information but they still ended having the same result.

“I have a different conclusion to this.” Shein told Tristan over the phone. “I am not sure if you thought of this possibility but this can happen.”

“Just say it. Why are you giving a lengthy speech to me?”

“Be thankful that I’m helping you. Hmp!”

“Fine. So, what is it that you have in mind?”

“There’s a good possibility that the investigation is right. That woman must be in this island. The reason why they’re alive in that place and could even make a call is probably the extinction of the tribe.”

“They can’t be that horrible, right?”

“Haven’t you seen the world enough? People can be very cruel to achieve what they want in life. Since this place became an island that normal people avoid, it’s a best place for you to make illegal things. No one will come to check on the place because people are afraid of the tribe. So, they killed the whole tribe or perhaps instill fear on them, showing who’s better and powerful in order to use that land.”

“I still can’t believe it.”

“Duh. Believe it or not, it’s up to you. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong to your investigation. How could you doubt yourself? I didn’t even doubt myself even once.”

“That’s overconfident dude.”

“Whatever. I’m hanging up now.” Shein ended the call and Tristan mulled over the idea that Shein presented. Tristan also thought of this possibility but he just didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt that they’re good and kind. Looks like he was fooling himself once again.

Shein informed Travis and Jillyanna about this matter knowing that these two people cared so much about Cayenne and Stefan. “If it’s really a poison, I think Stefan won’t be the target this time. It should be the people around him and the person who can affect him the most is Cayenne. Security should be tightened around her.” Jillyanna commented while carrying her son. “I’ll go upstairs to change the baby’s diapaer, you take care of this matter and talk to Stefan.”

“Hn. Call me if you need help.” Travis reminded his wife before going to his study room. Stefan might not be related to him by blood but they’ve been through so many ups and downs in life and yet, they still stick to each other. They tried to help as much as they could.

“Dad.” Jade came to the study room with JIllyanna’s phone in hand. “Mommy said that Uncle Eli is going to P country and that Uncle Tristan should make use of this chance. Here’s the message.”