Chapter 10 — Reef Keeper

Three days after Nguyen sent an official report to the Provincial Conservation Area Management Board, requesting to coordinate with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to conduct an inspection of Kinh Duong Bay resort, he received a response via a brief call from his superiors. Khue was at the marine conservation station when Nguyen answered the phone. She could clearly see his face gradually changing from hope to disappointment with each sentence.

"Yes, I understand." Nguyen said, trying to keep his voice calm even though his displeasure was clearly visible in his eyes. "Thank you for your notice."

He hung up the phone, sighed, turned to look at Khue and Uncle Tam who were waiting for the results. "The Department's inspection team came to the resort yesterday and inspected the wastewater treatment system. The preliminary conclusion is that the system meets standards and no violations were detected."

"How is this possible?" Khue asked, unable to hide his frustration. "We have photos of the pipeline, sediment samples, and people's testimonies about turbid water and dead fish."

"The Department's report states that at the time of inspection, they did not note any unusual discharges, and the on-site wastewater treatment system operated normally in accordance with the approved design." Nguyen said, his voice full of bitterness. "In other words, they came to inspect just when everything was running cleanly. It's not hard to guess who notified the resort in advance of the inspection schedule."

Uncle Tam shook his head, his face full of familiar helplessness that Khue had seen many times since the day she set foot back on the island. "I told you, things are not simple. If the provincial inspection team is bypassed like that, relying on the official route to handle it will still be very difficult."

This news caused the group to fall into a heavy silence. Khue felt anger rising in her heart, not only because justice was denied, but also because of the premonition that the protection ring surrounding Kinh Duong Bay resort was much stronger and more sophisticated than she had ever imagined.

In the afternoon, Khue called to inform Phan Bao Duy, who was staying at a small motel on the island to continue the investigation. After listening, he did not show any surprise.

"Just as I expected." Bao Duy said on the phone. "This type of protection is very common, periodic inspections are always announced in advance, businesses just need to stop discharging a few days before and after the inspection and that's it. We need real-time evidence, catching them personally when they are discharging waste or illegally fishing, but cannot rely on such pre-announced periodic inspections."

"So what to do?" Khue asked.

"I'm contacting several colleagues with investigative experience for advice." Bao Duy replied. "We may need to put surveillance equipment in place, or organize surveillance at night, when the possibility of them operating secretly is highest. But this will be much more dangerous than what we did, I want everyone to consider carefully before proceeding."

That evening, when Khue returned home after a long, frustrating day, she noticed something was wrong as soon as she entered the yard. The door to the diving equipment warehouse, where she stored expensive equipment and some collected samples, had been slightly pried at the lock, although it had not been completely broken. Inside, everything appeared to be intact, but several boxes containing sediment samples had been disturbed, as if someone had rummaged through the speakers and then left because of the interruption.

Khue's heart was pounding. She carefully checked all the devices, luckily nothing was missing, but the feeling of being violated and threatened made her shiver. She shined a flashlight around the corner of the yard, saw a few footprints imprinted on the wet sand near the warehouse wall, large feet, wearing plastic sandals of the type commonly found on beachgoers, leading to the back of the garden and then lost track on the stone floor. She took a photo of those footprints before the sea breeze could erase them. Her hands were shaking so much that she had to retake the photo three times to get a clear photo.

She immediately called Nguyen, her voice still shaking.

Nguyen showed up at her house less than fifteen minutes after the call, bringing Uncle Tam with him. All three re-examined the scene and took photos as evidence, even though they knew the possibility of finding the culprit through the official route was almost zero.

"This is no ordinary theft." Nguyen said, his face tense as he examined the traces of the lock picking. "If it was a thief, they would have taken all the diving equipment, cameras, valuable things. Over here there are only sediment samples and documents disturbed. It seems like someone wants to know what we have collected, or wants to destroy the evidence."

Khue felt a new fear creep into her heart, different from the old fear of the sea that she had carried with her for twelve years. This is fear of a specific, immediate threat that may be lurking right in the very community she is trying to engage with.

"You shouldn't be alone tonight." Nguyen said, his voice filled with worry. "Let me ask Mrs. Bay Xuyen to come stay with you, or you can go to Mrs. Bay's house to stay temporarily for a few days."

"I'm okay." Khue tried to appear calm, even though she was still confused. "But thank you for worrying."

Even so, when she looked back at the old house and the warehouse door that had just been pried open, Khue suddenly realized that she no longer felt like this was an absolutely safe haven like the first days she returned. The house that once contained a peaceful childhood with his father, now carries a new layer of insecurity, as if the line between the peaceful past and the dangerous present is gradually being blurred.

"I don't feel secure." Nguyen said, his eyes determined. "At least tonight, let Uncle Tam assign a brother from the station to guard near your house. We should not be complacent after this."

Uncle Tam nodded in agreement and immediately called to make arrangements. Khue looked at the sincere worry in Nguyen's eyes, felt a warmth mixed with insecurity, realizing that their investigation had now entered a much more dangerous stage than she had ever mentally prepared for.

After Nguyen and Uncle Tam left and arranged for someone to guard them, Khue sat alone in the house, not daring to sleep right away, her mind reeling with a series of thoughts. She remembered Uncle Tam's vague warning from the early days: "This sea is very complicated now, it's not just fishermen who secretly catch fish." Now, those words seem to be coming true more clearly than ever.

That same night, at Uncle Suu's house, another conversation was taking place in an equally tense atmosphere. Nguyen, after leaving Khue's house, stopped by his father's house before returning and recounted the whole incident of the warehouse being broken into.

After Uncle Suu heard, his face turned pale, his hands holding the tea cup suddenly trembled, causing a few drops of water to spill out. "This... this shouldn't go any further, Nguyen."

"What do you mean by that?" Nguyen asked, his vigilance rising strongly at his father's unusual reaction.

"I want to say, you should stop. Let the higher authorities take care of this investigation. You and Ms. Khue should not get involved further." Uncle Suu said, his voice trembling unusually. "I'm afraid... I'm afraid something bad will happen to you two."

"Dad, are you hiding something from me?" Nguyen asked directly, no longer able to maintain patience. "You know what happened to Mr. Dam, right? You know who was behind the mine explosion, behind that waste pipe, right?"

Uncle Suu was silent for a long time, his eyes looked down at the cold tea cup, his face showed a pain and torment that Nguyen had never seen in his father in his thirty years of life. Finally, he just shook his head, his voice choked.

"There are things that I know will make me hate you." Uncle Suu said, then stood up, walked into the inner room, closed the door, leaving Nguyen standing dumbfounded in the middle of the living room with a haunting sentence left unfinished.

Nguyen stood there for a long time, his heart heavy at his father's reaction. He had never seen his father so weak and frightened, even during the fiercest storms that had ever swept across the island. That only further confirmed his hunch: his father was carrying a heavy secret in his heart, a secret directly related to the death of Mr. Pho Van Dam, and perhaps, also related to the dangers that were gradually surrounding Khue and him in the present.

That night, both Khue and Nguyen could not sleep well, each with their own anxiety but with the same premonition: the wall of silence surrounding the secrets of Da Bac Reef was starting to crack, and what was about to be revealed could completely change the lives of all those involved.