But that didn't mean I couldn't at least try to help her.
“I know,” I heaved. “She'll work any other case, Boss... just not cases like these.”
Just not rape and trafficking cases.
I could feel anxiety swimming through my body, as Rafael's eyes bored into mine, burning me with an intense gaze.
There was so much tension in the air, that you could cut it with a knife.
“Fine,” he muttered finally. “I'll talk to her.”
I couldn't believe he'd actually given her the benefit of the doubt, and actually heard me out.
He was usually strict as fuck, and dead-set on getting what he wanted.
I couldn't thank him enough.
“Thanks Boss,” I said gratefully, knowing how much this would help Lily.
He gave me a brief nod, before departing from the room, to go after Lily and find where she went off to.
7
lily
I stood inside the middle of an empty room, staring out of the window, drawing out a deep breath as I regathered my composure, wiping away my tears and doing my best to get my head back into the game, and snap out of my bad memories.
Those girls needed me to save them...
I couldn't be a coward, and allow them to suffer.
Who knew when the serial killer would find its next victim?
But it just brought back so much emotional and physical pain, knowing what they were going through...
I didn't know if I was strong enough to put myself through this case.
I shook my head exhaustedly.
It had been a long time since anything had happened to me.
It was historical...
And I needed to move on.
But working a rape case would just make me relive my own bad memories.
8
lily
Suddenly, I heard a trail of footsteps behind me, which caused me to snap out of my thoughts.
I turned around, to see Rafael approaching me, with a stern look on his face.
He had thick black eyebrows, black hair, a scruffy beard, narrow green eyes, and he was always suited and booted.
“Zayn tells me not to put you onto this case,” he said, folding his arms.
I stared back at him with an uneasy expression etched all over me, doing my best to figure out the right words to say, now that I'd calmed down and regathered my composure.
“Sir, I-”
“It's alright Lily, I'm not looking for an explanation,” Rafael shrugged, cutting me off my sentence before I had the chance to finish it.
I blew out a small sigh.
“Look, Lily...” Rafael heaved. “I don't know what you've been through in the past. And to be honest, it's not my business.”
He trailed off his sentence.
“But you're a remarkable lady with so much potential.”
I drew out a breath.
“You're one of the best agents on my team, and I know you dedicate a lot to the job.”
“Thanks, Boss,” I replied gratefully, not expecting him to be so understanding.
“I'm not gonna try convincing you to take on this serial murder case. It's obvious that your heart isn't in it, and when I put my agents on something, I need them to put one-hundred percent into it.”
I stared back at him, wondering where he was going with this.
“I'll assign you onto a drug trafficking case, try doing what you can to nail the Sicilian mafia.”
I could feel my heart hammer against my chest with relief.
“Thanks for understanding, Boss,” I mumbled gratefully. “I really appreciate it.”
Rafael shrugged his shoulders.
“But if you ever change your mind, I'll be more than happy to put you back onto the task with Zayn. Sometimes the best way to fight our demons... is to face them, Lily. I hope you know that.”
I realized the truth in his words.
“Okay,” I replied flatly, needing time alone to think, because my thoughts were scrambling themselves together in my head, and getting the better of me.
“I'll leave you to do your paperwork,” Rafael shrugged, and departed from the room, giving me the privacy that I needed.
9
lily
I made my way through my paperwork for the day, doing my best to put my case notes together, and reach conclusions based on the findings and the photographs that had been presented to me in my file.
But my thoughts never once stopped hounding me, the entire time I'd been working.
Papa turned on his heel, hardly able to look at us as he walked away from us with tears streaming down his face.My Papa was really going.He was really going...And I could feel the full reality of the situation hit me all at once.I burst into tears, sobbing and convulsing uncontrollably, hardly able to keep myself upright, as my eyes fogged, and my vision became hazy.Mama pulled me close to her, her tears falling into my hair as she hugged me, doing her best to reassure me, even though inside, she was broken.“Everything will be okay, Lily...” Mama whispered.I knew that it wouldn't.That without Papa, things would never be the same.But one thing I also knew...Was that with my mama still by my side, I had nothing to fear.At least I still had my beautiful mama.She would take care of me...Just like Papa promised she would.And I loved her more than anything.18papaHours laterThe truck had set off, ready to transport us all to the work facility.My heart pounded against my ch
“Another gullible bastard that we're going to force into slave labour,” Rhys grinned, with his hands on his hips. “Stupid prick.”He trailed off his sentence, narrowing his eyes.“We'll get a good amount of money for this bastard.”The corners of my mouth curled upwards into a smirk, as I nodded.“You got that right,” I murmured, inhaling the smoke from my cigarette.15papaI stood next to the tent with my beautiful wife, with her short brown hair, her pale skin, her arched eyebrows, her beautiful, rosy cheeks.Holding her hands in mine, kissing her palms softly, squeezing them, doing my best to reassure her, even though tears were streaming down my face.She was sobbing uncontrollably, sobbing to the point that she was shaking.“I'm really going to miss you, my love,” I whispered. “Please don't cry. You know I have to go away, we don't know if we will ever get an opportunity like this again.”I swallowed down a lump in my throat.“The men are offering me work. When I have enough mo
11papaI made my way outside of the tent after kissing Lily goodnight, doing my best to remain strong for the sake of my daughter.Everything I did...I did for her, and for my beautiful wife.I had to keep reminding myself of that whenever I felt down and low.I didn't sleep the whole night, as my heart thumped against my chest, knowing what was going to happen in the morning.The night turned into day, and soon, it was time for me to meet two men today.“What's taking the bastard so long to meet us?” came a gruff, deep voice a few paces away from me.I figured that it was the men I was supposed to meet, because as my eyes darted upwards, I saw Lazarus Landucci standing there.The man who offered me the deal that I was ready to take up.Despite it meaning that I would have to leave my family...“Fuck knows,” Lazarus spat bitterly.I drew out a deep breath, doing my best to regather my composure, and show these men that I meant business.Show these men that I was capable of the work
I was lucky in life.I was a pretty woman, with long, black hair, a nice, curvy figure, plump lips, a pointed nose.I had a gorgeous, caring boyfriend, with dark brown hair, thick brown eyebrows, a beautiful, chiselled, stubbly face, pale brown eyes, a muscular physique, and the most amazing personality to match...I loved him more than anything in the world, and he loved me right back.I had got the career that I'd always dreamt of having.Right now, at this point in time...I was happy.I'd worked hard for everything I had.I'd worked hard to get to this point in my life.To achieve everything I'd achieved.With no hand-outs...Nothing given to me on a silver platter.Just blood, sweat, tears, and dedication.But my life wasn't always like this, and that was the reason for the nightmares I still had to this day.When I was younger, I was a victim of human trafficking.It went on for years and years, the physical pain and emotional damage was unbearable.It took what felt like foreve
But that didn't mean I couldn't at least try to help her.“I know,” I heaved. “She'll work any other case, Boss... just not cases like these.”Just not rape and trafficking cases.I could feel anxiety swimming through my body, as Rafael's eyes bored into mine, burning me with an intense gaze.There was so much tension in the air, that you could cut it with a knife.“Fine,” he muttered finally. “I'll talk to her.”I couldn't believe he'd actually given her the benefit of the doubt, and actually heard me out.He was usually strict as fuck, and dead-set on getting what he wanted.I couldn't thank him enough.“Thanks Boss,” I said gratefully, knowing how much this would help Lily.He gave me a brief nod, before departing from the room, to go after Lily and find where she went off to.7lilyI stood inside the middle of an empty room, staring out of the window, drawing out a deep breath as I regathered my composure, wiping away my tears and doing my best to get my head back into the game,
5lilyWe arrived at our boss's office.“You alright, boss?”“I was wondering when you two would show up,” he remarked, folding his arms, his eyes darting upwards, as he watched us both walk into the room.He put his paperwork to the side, taking steps closer to us.“You're late.”Me and Zayn began scratching our arms awkwardly, knowing that we didn't have an excuse for not being punctual.We were secret agents...We always had to be available whenever it was required of us.“Sorry, we lost track of time,” Zayn apologized quickly, running his hands through his hair stressfully.Boss shrugged his shoulders, not wanting to waste any more time.“It better not happen again,” he muttered briefly, before cutting to the chase. “Anyway, there's been some mass murders in Manhattan lately. I'll need you two to investigate these, and do what you can to find out who was behind them.”“Fuck,” Zayn heaved. “Is there a pattern between them?”“It's fucking brutal,” Rafael admitted exhaustedly, tappin