His Dangerous Nemesis

Catch

The humid air inside the transport truck was thick with the scent of unwashed bodies and fear. Jean huddled in the corner, her knees pulled to her chest, mimicking the terrified posture of the dozen other girls squeezed in beside her. She had swapped her tactical uniform for a torn, oversized t-shirt and dirtied her face with grease, blending perfectly into the "merchandise."

" I thought they said weaponry agenda!" Jean thought, trying to see through the sack covering her face.

" This looks so much like human trafficking " She whispered, her nails clutching into her nervously.

Even though she planned it, undercover activities were one of the most dangerous jobs as a detective. She sighed and stretched her back.

The truck groaned to a halt. A heavy metallic clang echoed as the back doors were thrown open, blinding them with floodlights.

"Move! Everyone out! Into the Open House!" A guard barked, striking the side of the truck with a baton.

Jean stumbled out with the others, keeping her head low but her eyes sharp. They were herded into a massive, hollowed-out warehouse, the 'Open House', where the cartel sorted their human trafficking victims before shipment.

As they were lined up against the cold concrete wall, the click-clack of high heels echoed through the space.

Mandy, the highest-positioned female in the Western cartel under Cosignelli's empire, stepped into the light.

Her lashes swept over eyes that flickered with cold command, and her blood-red lips curled into a sneer. She looked around, her sharp eyes scanning the line of trembling girls.

Jean held her breath, trying to make herself invisible, but luck wasn't on her side. Her chest heaved up suddenly, and a dry, cackling cough tore out from her throat. The silence in the room was disrupted.

Mandy stopped.

Her gaze landed squarely on Jean. " Did you just cough?" She questioned as if she didn't notice who coughed.

"s**t!!!" Jean cursed, her mind racing with different decisions to make.

Mandy's lip curled into a sneer. " I asked you a question!!!"

Still silence, no attempt to reply to her.

"Whoa!! You are brave," Mandy spat, pointing a manicured finger at Jean. "Stupid little b***h! I don't like her!"

"She's just fresh stock, Mandy, and it's so obviously normal to cough," a guard grunted, bored.

"I said I don't like her," Mandy hissed, stepping closer, her perfume clashing with the warehouse's stench. She reached out, grabbed Jean’s chin roughly, and forced her head up.

Jean forced tears into her eyes, playing the part, even though no one saw her pretence since their face were still covered. but

"There is something off about this bitch."

Before Jean could react, a piercing screech filled the air.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The guard near the door looked down at his scanner. "Boss, the frequency just spiked. We have a transmission."

The room froze. The guard walked down the line, waving the wand. When he passed the girl next to Jean, it was silent.

He moved the wand over Jean.

SCREEEEECH.

The device went haywire.

Jean’s heart slammed against her ribs. Cover blown.

Mandy didn’t look surprised. She looked delighted. A wicked grin spread across her face as she backed away.

"Get off me!" Jean yelled, dropping the act. She threw an elbow into the nearest guard's throat, but three more swarmed her instantly. A heavy fist connected with the back of her head, sending her vision swimming into darkness.

"Carry her," Aria ordered, her voice the last thing Jean heard.

"And take her to the interrogation room. I want to play before Sin gets here."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

The stench of dried blood filled the damp cell, the walls stained with residue of torn skins, blood, and sweat.

In the centre of the room, a sweaty man was bound to a chair, his wrists and ankles held with rusty chains.

The man's breath hitched, the sound of footsteps vibrating through the floorboards and rattling made him beg for mercy, his bones twitched uncontrollably against the chains. His breath got stuck constantly in his throat as fear threatened to consume him. His lips quiver against the plaster, parched like a desert.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and a tall, oppressive figure walked in, his lips clamped around a stick of cigarettes.

The guys standing beside the captive gave a respectful bow as he slowly approached the captive. On seeing this, the captive yells uncontrollably, which turned to squeaks as his mouth was already closed with plasters.

With a smirk on the corner of his lips, he removed the cigarette from his lips and took a slow drag on it.

He gestured for one of his guys to peel off the plaster, which one of them did immediately.

" Are you ready to say the truth?" Sin's oppressive and frosty voice resonates.

" I'm not keeping anything, I've been saying the truth since I've been interrogated," the captive answered with a weak and shaking voice.

A smack landed across his face, and spit and blood spurted out of his mouth instantly.

" You know I don't give second chances, it's either you speak now or take it to your grave alongside your entire generation!" SIN said, his face squeezing in disgust as he snatched a gun from one of his guys.

Fear gripped the captive immediately he heard his family, he knew it wasn't just a mere threat. As long as it came out of Sin's mouth, he knew what was to come. " I have no choice but to talk and die. It's better than going down with my whole family, " He murmured, fear of causing his family's death to fill him.

Slowly, he parted his lips, his legs shivering beneath him, threatening to give out even though he was tied to a chair. " The drugs were hijacked by Nigel's team, The Crows. They burned our secret warehouse and killed our don......."

Sin's nose flared up in anger, tightening his grip around the short gun with him, he sucked in a sharp breath, " Nigel, That motherfucking piece of s**t!"

" We were outnumbered in a jiffy, and immediately one of us tried to call for help. They shot him down, including the rest of us. I only managed to escape because I played dead. " He sniffed, his entire body damp with sweat.

He could feel Sin's judgmental piercing gaze on him, Sin chuckled with his face contorted with anguish and irritation. He flipped the gun towards one of his guys and threw his cigarette to the floor.

With slow strides, he moved closer to the captive and went low, now resting on his knees with his eyes on the captive. "Bruce!" He whispered.

The captive eye snapped open. His son's government name is Bruce, and absolutely nobody in their line of work knows he even has a son. He moved rashly on the chair, the chain restricting his movement as he begged.

"Please, I'm saying nothing but the truth!" He cried.

A smug smile appeared on Sin's lips as he stood up.

He stretched out his hand, his fingers curling in silent command. One of the men, the one holding the gun, gently placed it into his palm and took a step back.

He c****d the gun, his fingers curling against the trigger as he pulled it. The captive's eye widened in horror as the bullet levelled with his bloodied shoulder, a scream tore from his throat, and then was followed by a groan.

He sat slumped in the metal chair, his body still bound tightly behind him, blood trickling from the hole in his shoulder. His breathing was shallow and slowly blended with the silence in the room.

" Boss!" One of his men called. " The girls from the last drop, the ones trafficking the weapons, they're here. Mandy says your attention is needed urgently. "

Sin's jaw twitched. He lowered the gun, exhaling.

" Tie the pendulum," He ordered and turned to walk away coldly.

Two men obeyed immediately, The chair screeched across the floor as they unshackled the captive and flipped him upside down. He tried resisting, but his neck was hit with a gun, rendering him unconscious. They instantly tied his legs using the rope dangling down from the ceiling hook and pulled it until he hung suspended. Blood dripped down to the floor from his wounds.

*****

Jean staggered as another blow landed across her ribs. Mandy’s rings glinted under the dim lights, her punches cruel and precise, fueled by a hatred that had ignited the moment she’d laid eyes on the girl, or rather, the sack covering her head.

"Stupid b*tch," Mandy hissed, her voice cutting through the air. "Even your silence is irritating."

Jean didn’t cry. Couldn’t. Her breath came in choked gasps, every inch of her skin screaming. The rough cloth over her head clung to her sweat-soaked face, her hands bound, knees nearly buckling from the pain.

“She’s the one,” one of the men said breathlessly, waving a small tracker detector. The alarm had blared moments earlier, spiking tension in the room. “We traced it. The signal still remained strongest on her. It’s her clothes.”

Mandy didn’t wait for further confirmation. The beating intensified. Her slaps and fist hit Jean's wounds.

Then, footsteps. Heavy but slow. The room fell into a still silence as Sin entered.

His eyes scanned the room as he watched quietly, his eyes narrowing as Mandy delivered one more hit, her breath laboured, chest rising and falling with fury.

" Who sent you?" Mandy hollered, her thunderous voice scaring the other girls; they squeaked, some of them biting the plaster covering their mouths as fear crept into their souls.

“Enough,” Sin ordered. He took three steps forward, his men standing on the way hurriedly moved away,

Mandy froze mid-swing, obviously pissed.

“Open her face,” he said.

The men hesitated, and Mandy startled.

" It is not part of the protocol to open their faces, at least not this particular b***h because I will personally pluck out her face ", Mandy fumed, landing another fist on her face.

“I said Enough!" He repeated, "Open her face,”

One of his men stepped forward, and Mandy then scoffed in annoyance as she stepped away, Rough hands pulled the sack away.

Jean’s face emerged, swollen and red, lips split, blood trickling from her temple.

Sin’s expression didn’t shift, but something flickered in his eyes. He recognised her.

Seeing Sin's change in emotions, her face contorted in disgust as she glared at Jean, whose neck was arched, her face down. She turned sharply to him. “She’s the leak.”

Sin gave no reply. His face was still fixed on Jean, who slowly raised her head. Her gaze met his. She jerked back in terror.

" Release the other girls and take her to the infirmary, " He ordered and turned away, leaving them confused in silence.

" This isn't a tracker!" Gary, one of Sin's men, the one who yanked the supposed tracker off the weak Jean.