There is a fine line between being ethical and unethical, especially in my world, if we are being honest my definition of ethical is disrupted, one cannot follow a perfectly moral ethic, not when they work against the type of individuals that can be so uncaring of others that will put greed in front of innocent people's lives and feel no remorse by doing so.
I promised myself that I'll do my best to make all these individuals perish, giving them no chance to re-emerge, forcing them to observe their empires leisurely tumble and the people that they damaged obtain justice. I never make empty promises, all of them are going to pay.
My eyes linger on the picture I'm holding in my hands, tracing with my thumb the smiling face portrayed on it, the girl, now woman, I've been searching for three years.
"Adenya Chydi" her name rolls out of my mouth like I'm pronouncing the name of someone I knew for ages. For three years she has been stuck in my mind, yet I never spoke to her.
The sound of the light rain seizes my attention, soon it will turn into a heavy unstoppable torrent and then an angry storm that will become more and more intense as time passes, the rain is now blurring everything in sight making it hard to peek at the details of the road.
"Merda,"[shit] I mutter under my breath and grab the black umbrella in the glove compartment. It's barely enough to shield me from the turbulent weather, but it does not matter, I won't be using it for long anyway.
I glance around, hoping to see her running in my direction. I've been waiting for a couple of hours now, but Jovan knows better than to call me to give me any information through the phone or meet up with me just after he did his job correctly, we cannot afford those types of risks so knowing the procedure I quietly waited and waited, and even if I still haven't seen her I'm hoping she will show up soon, the time will soon be up.
The heavy rain keeps pouring unprovoked as I wait for Adenya. She will need an umbrella if she were to show up now. That's why I'm no longer waiting inside the car.
I look around hoping that my eyes will catch her and finally my hopes get fulfilled, a womanlike figure comes to view, it's her and she's running like she doesn't really have any idea of where to go, a smile decorates her beautiful face and then her eyes meet mine and the joy disappears, her stance becomes tense and pure agitation appears in her ravishing brown eyes.
I doubt it is a good choice to walk in her direction especially with the visible terror portrayed on her face, but if the rain keeps wetting her skin she will get sick, I take determined steps in her direction until she's so close that my umbrella is able to protect her completely from the weather.
"Hi Adenya, I'm Francesco."
She doesn't answer, she just keeps looking at me with her big eyes, the fear still hasn't evanesced but there is something else...curiosity perhaps.
"You will catch a cold if you stay here any longer, please enter" I point at the car and she shakes her head. It's understandable. Her reluctance is understandable, but I cannot let her go, not yet. She is not safe here and I need her help.
I place my hand on her shoulder and she turns her head to stare intensely at it. Her body stiffens under my touch, realizing I have made her just more uncomfortable, I take my hand off of her.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put my hands on you," she gives me one small nod that I almost fail to acknowledge.
Suddenly in search of words, I quietly stare at her. Fucking hell, I'm making things worse. I'm supposed to know how to deal with people.
"Adenya you have every right to feel uncomfortable and to not trust me but I need you to enter this car, if you could listen and put some trust into Jovan words without knowing his real intentions I hope you will do that with me too, this place is far from safe, and soon they are going to understand that you are missing. You don't have a car or any other means of transport. If they start searching for you they will find you somewhere near or worse, you will have to go back there yourself and what will you do then? Do you think running will save you because I highly doubt that, '' the change of her stance and her pensive expression make me understand she is way more willing to listen to me.
"Okay" her lips move to speak a single word that I am more than delighted to hear coming out from her mouth.
We walk in the direction of the car and I open the door, she takes the front seat next to mine as I enter inside the car and toss the umbrella back in the drive compartment.
"Belt on," I tell her while I put on mine and start the car, we have to go the hell out of here.
As we start distancing ourselves from "the hostel" the awkwardness between us becomes almost unbearable. I feel her eyes on me but say nothing.
"Why all this? Why are you helping me?" she asks in a muffled whisper at one point.
"Because I need your help."
"Why would you possibly need my help?" she jeers as if that was the most unthinkable of the ideas.
"Let's just say that I needed you out of there" a frown makes its way through her face, which does nothing to hide her additional annoyance.
"I don't know where you are going to take me," she then says clearly expecting an answer I won't give her, not now at last.
"There is a reason for that."
"And what's that?" A moment of silence follows, and I'm sure she understands that another one of her questions will be left unanswered, but instead of staying quiet, she commences to add more.
"Why are you refusing to give me any explanation? Please answer me '' Her tone is insanely controlled but I feel her uncontrolled breaths and I don't fail to notice her trembling hands, she's losing control of her emotions and behaviours.
"I won't tell you anything until I know we are both safe"
She rightfully wants answers which I'm going to give her, but she needs to be patient, I can't ruin the plan, not now.
Rain beads gently on the street, the storm is passing and the sound of the precipitation is becoming a relaxing whisper. My eyes are on the road, refusing to lay on the woman next to me.
"This is so stupid, I'm just going to get myself killed," She states in a small voice like is something with no relevance.
"I am not going to kill you" I assure her, I sense her eyes making a hole in my skin. She probably has her doubts.
"I am not going to kill you Adenya," I murmur, her death would matter for so many.
"I know better than to believe a man."
I keep quiet not knowing how to reply to that statement, her words understandable, her bitterness justifiable, men caused her so much pain.
"Do you want to die?" I ask instead, trying to switch the direction our conversation was taking, then realise I'm just making things "darker."
Instants of silence that appear like an eternity fill the car until three simple words but extremely affecting ì escape from her lips."I don't know."
She's disdainful of life and for some weird reasons I avert the need to be the one to help her see how beautiful life can be even if I'm yet to see the wonders of it.
I remove that silly thought from my mind and exhale, I'm not a therapist.
"Do you still have the passport Jovan gave you?" I ask, still looking at the road.
"I won't give it to you," she snarls defensively
"I don't need it, I want you to destroy it when we reach a safe destination"
"You want me to do what?" her voice raises "Why the hell would I do something like that?"
"Because that is a fake copy" she frowns and glides a hand inside her black robe pocket's bringing to view the passport
"What the hell are you saying? why would you even do something like that?"
"Because that would've convinced you to at last try to follow Jovan instructions, we didn't want to deceive you, believe me, but trying to take your real passport from there was not only shallow but impracticable we both know how safely they keep the documents of the girls, if one of the women held captive was to run away how can she possibly go anywhere without her documents let's not talk about a passport that can most likely guarantee her to go back home? them having your passports means that they'll think you are still near they certainly won't search for you outside of the country."
"You are planning to take me out of the country, with some kind of fake documents and it's clear that you need me for whatever reason you have, so what do I have to do?"
Even if her question it's way too risky to answer now I feel a slight sense of delight at her lack of naivetè, she isn't stupid, and that's good.
"You ask too many questions, butterfly."
"Yet you didn't properly answer one" she mutters with a low scoff.
"When we will be in the safe location you will be able to ask me everything you want and I will answer you in the best way"
The drive keeps going in a silent agony until after a couple of hours we finally arrive at a cabin in the middle of nowhere, or more precisely trees. Unlike the vast majority of cabins I've been able to find, it isn't ridiculously small, it has four rooms, two of which are bedrooms, one small bathroom and a kitchen with some sofas that give the impression to be also a small living room because of the small sofas, the whole complex is cosy and warm.
The rain stopped a while ago. I park the car in front of the cabin and glance at Adenya.
"We are here," I tell Adenya, she tentatively exit from the car following me inside the cabin.
"There is your room on the bed there are some clean clothes please go change if you need the bathroom well you can clearly see where it is and when you are done meet me in the kitchen" Although the cabin isn't that small it is still of reduced sizes, you can see every room just by turning your head.
Adenya doesn't give me a verbal answer. She walks in the direction of her room and grabbing her clothes she disappears into the bathroom closing the door behind her.
I direct myself in the kitchen and wash my hands in the sink that I dry with a paper tissue, and wait for Adenya.
After something that feels like ten minutes, she shows up with the black hoodie and grey sweatpants I left on her bed.
"We are safe here. aren't we? now talk." she says going straight to the point.
"What do you want to know, butterfly?"
"Adenya, my name is Adenya," she says, probably annoyed by the nickname.
"I know," I say seriously and she just looks at me like I'm some dumb idiot.
"What do you want from me?" She asks again.
"That's easy, I want you to help me" The changes in her expressions are amusing.
I watch her intensely, as I wait for her to say or ask something else.
"Me? Help you?''
"Adenya does the surname Principe tell you something?" and suddenly the same terrorized eyes she had when she met me appear again.
"Y-yes."
Thinking of it, the question is foolish. Of course she knows who that idiot is, he is the head he's the pitiless monster that coordinates that shit hole, he rarely interacts with the sex traffickings victims but not with Adenya, he has a singular interest in her, we can call it almost obsession but it would be a wrong terminology he values women too little to be charmed or obsessed by them, he needs her for some reasons, but she is also replaceable like all the other girls are but she knows that monster better than anyone else in there knows him and that exactly what I need, someone that knows him but is not willing to help him.
"I am a lawyer Adenya need I want that little bitch in jail and you, you are going to help me with that,"
𝑇𝒉𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝒉𝑒 1𝑘 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠!!