Chapter 1
The cold wind from the sea swept over the gloomy night, the moonlight shadowed by the playful clouds. An eerie, calamitous silence blanketed the port as if it is almost an indication of what goes on in the nights at the very place, where the dark nights only gets darker.
A grey mini truck with covers on the back came in swerving from the corner of the stacked containers. The bright headlights from the truck lit up the area, its light bouncing off of the varied coloured shipping containers filling up the port. As the vehicle slowed down, a man came into view, preparing his P92 for any unforeseen occurrence. Another man appeared from behind one of the containers, with his right hand on the Glock19 behind his back, while the left hand waving the semi-truck to stop.
Once the vehicle came to a halt, the driver jumped out and approached both the men. His hands in a surrendering manner, as both of them, pointed their guns at the person they have never seen before.
"Who are you? Where is Arvind?" one man asked.
"He got a stomach bug, food poisoning, maybe. He asked me to deliver the package. Just… put the guns down, okay? It's making me nervous. I am just the delivery boy."
One of the men nodded to the other to check the uninvited guest of any weapons. "How does Arvind know you?" he asked still not taking his gun away, while his partner checked the driver.
"Look, I am his cousin. I am just delivering your package. Check the back of the truck." When the person checking him didn't find any weapon on the driver, he nodded to his partner and tilted his head to follow him and check the package.
Shining the torches on the back of the truck they counted the girls laying there, drugged and sickly from not getting enough food, or vitamins for that matter. The bright blinding light from the torches made the conscious few girls, moan and hide their face with their bound hands to stop the hurting.
"Is it the amount you asked for?" The driver questions from a bit far away "You asked for ten girls, all of them are there right?" One of the men nodded his head, while the other one tugged the girls out of the vehicle one by one, lining them up to stand in a queue.
After all the girls were on their feet, the men took them to one of the containers, closed to the sea, while the driver sat behind the wheels, contemplating what he has done was the right thing to do.
When both of the men didn't hear the rumble of the vehicle, they turned around to give him a questioning glare. Without thinking twice about anything, he zoomed off the place before getting into any kind of trouble.
"Come on now, I don't have all night. Get into the container and wait in there without making any sound" One of them ordered the girls to move towards a container, while they dragged their feet with all the energy they are left with. Once they reached the yellow, empty container, the other person opened the door, motioning them to go in and sit there.
Neither of the ten girls was lucid enough to question what they were doing. By the way, they swayed while they walked, it was evident that they were drugged with something heavy enough, if not a concoction of something multiple.
They were ordered to move, they moved.
They were ordered to sit down, they sat down.
By the time the last girl reached the door of the container, she had somehow managed to open her eyes to look around and form some coherent thoughts, she figured what was going on. Maybe it was the fresh air that helped her gather her thoughts. But, oh she knows, whatever happens after this was not a good thing.
They were being sold off. Maybe to some other countries, who knows?
Therefore, she did the only thing she could think of. She tugged at the rope around her wrist and it came off.
"I have tied a loose knot here" she remembered someone telling her, holding her wrist. "Run as soon as you can." The fading voice added before pushing her to a … truck, maybe?
She didn't question twice the opportunity that has presented itself in front of her right now. She gave another soft tug at the ropes and it came undone. She looked at the sea, just a few feet away from where she stood at the moment. She looked at both the men, one was talking with someone on the phone, while the other was throwing some food and water bottles to the girls who were already inside the container.
Just run.
And so she did. She took off with all the fight she had left inside of her and jumped in the cold water. A huge splash disturbed the disturbing night's silence.
"What?" The man talking on the phone looked at the rippled water and started yelling at the other one. "What the fuck, Rajat? One girl is gone. What the hell were you doing?"
The other one came running up and started firing his gun at the water, where the last evidence of her escape remained.
Fuck fuck fuck.
The two men frantically looked around, after locking the container door, making sure she had not surfaced anywhere in the water body. By the time they come around to where other girls are locked in, a container ship is docking in the port, ready to take the container on it. Three people come down from it and conversed with the two men, who in great detail delivered the news how one girl has escaped. The newly arrived trio didn't seem happy with the news and with some verbal altercation and promise to deliver one more girl the next time, the devils in the dark made the deal, shaking hands and pats on the back of each other. While the girls inside the container waited for the worst of days to come, unbeknownst to themselves.
Purvi loved mornings. It was quiet, fresh air all around and she could meet her favourite dogs while she is out jogging. As much as she loved working out in the gym with her instructor, she would not miss a day going running. Even when she was investigating cases undercover, in a different place, she would sneak in a 30-minutes run, as much as she could.
Another thing she loved about morning was her perfect cup of coffee from this little cafe at the end of the park where she usually ran. The matcha coffee that Purvi had been recently introduced to by the owner of the cafe was what fueled her day. She would often carry her tumbler of matcha coffee to the bureau, instead of ordering in the canteen.
"Good morning," the owner brightly greeted Purvi, to which she responded with a bright smile of her own. As she gave her card to pay for the beverage, her bureau phone rang, disturbing the peace of the quiet morning inside the small cafe. Excusing herself, while the barista prepared her daily drink, she received the call from her senior, Abhijeet "Good morning, Sir. Is everything okay?"
She took her filled tumbler from the barista as well as her credit card back. As she took a sip from the warm liquid, she heard her senior greeting her back, "Yeah, everything is okay. I would need you in the bureau as soon as possible, though", he added.
"A new case?" she questioned, reaching her car and opening it, she placed her tumbler in the cup holder and place her phone on the phone holder mounted in the car.
"Yes and no. The incident took place three months ago, but we got just called in, because of new evidence. I have already asked everyone to be here. Can you be in, in say an hour?" questioned Abhijeet, the sleep in his voice evident.
"I will be there in an hour, don't worry. Breakfast?" She manoeuvred her car smoothly, and in a couple of minutes, her house came into view.
She got out of her vehicle and locked it, "I have already asked the bureau canteen to prepare it. You don't have to worry about it. Drive safe though, kiddo" Abhijeet warned before cutting the call.
Purvi shook her head and chuckled as she opened her door to get inside her house and get ready, after a shower.
A/N: Hello, I don't know if anyone remembers me. Guess who finally got some time to start a new short story here. If you are an old reader, hi how are you? If you are a new reader, hi, thank you for reading my story. Let's see if I have lost my charm of writing crime thrillers or even a tiny bit of it is still there.
For personal reasons, I would be writing this story in English. As opposed to Hinglish in my previous story.