She was woken up by the constant beep of a machine near her head. She opened and closed her eyes rhythmically trying to adjust to the bright lighting in the room then inhaled a generous amount of air. She should have known that doing that would not settle well with her after being sea sick for- *how long had it been?* She had no recollection of anything that had happened in the past few hours and the omnipresent smell of antiseptic and disinfectant in that room wasn't helping her case. She felt a wave of nausea rise up from the pit of her stomach up her throat like a volcano only that when she leaned over to let it out,it didn't erupt. Instead,a pain shot through her making her see a thousand tiny stars dance in her eyes.
"Here," a voice said as a medium sized bin settled on the floor before her eyes. "Although I doubt anything will come out after not eating for the past nineteen hours."
*What did she just say? Nineteen hours?* She looked up and met curious eyes observing her keenly and blinked. Where had she seen them? She sat up abruptly recalling what had happened to her. She hadn't been dreaming, everything she had thought was just in her head had happened. She remembered seeing the ship approaching the harbor, hiding in the container that had been holding her father's drugs,the police raiding the ship and this woman- the woman had found her and must have brought her here after she had collapsed.
"Where am I?" she asked but the moment she realized how rhetorical the question was, she quickly added,"What day is it?"
The woman frowned before answering,"Monday, twenty ninth of September. Did you want me to add the year too?" she added sarcastically. Samiya slowly got out of bed then started looking around for her clothes only that they weren't in the room.
"Where are my clothes? I need to get out of here,"she said not even looking at the woman seated comfortably on a couch near a window. Sure the woman had identified herself as the police but how true was that statement? She had learnt to be wary of everyone she encountered and just because she had identified as the police, how could she know that she wasn't working with her father from this end of the world, helping in trafficking drugs from India to America. That thought stuck longer than the others making her stop what she was doing and stood still. America. The name rang again in her head. Her heart pounded louder and harder. How? Why? What now?
The how was a little bit explainable,the why not as much and the what now was as complicated as trying to run away from her father's hounds.
His business hadn't bloomed that immaculately just because he had power back in her country. It was also because he had associates all over the world, people also in power who made sure they gave him every pass he needed to operate freely in their regions. But especially America. And where did that begin if not in the local authorities? She looked up in shock and was sure her heart missed a few beats especially when the woman looked at her with suspicion then stood up. She made the calculations of getting to the door and out of the room in her head but her feet felt wobbly and she wasn't sure they would get her out on time. The woman took another step towards her. She stepped backwards, trying to widen the gap between them, only to fall against the wall. A soft whimper escaped her but when she was about to scream,the woman stopped, her face going soft.
"Hey,calm down. I just want to talk,"she said gently. "Sit back down please or you are going to collapse again."
"I don't know anything."
"Not even how you ended up in a box, travelling across the ocean eating nothing but jello and chips?" she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms against the chest. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?"she shot back now gaining some courage.
"Detective Jessie O'Brien with Portland police,"she replied and reached into her pocket to get her badge. That was when she saw the gun on her hip and gulped. The sight of it alone was awakening a deathly-harrowing feeling inside her. "I'm here about the drugs that were supposed to be in that container you crawled out of."
"What drugs?"
"The drugs that were dusted off your clothes and bag. Does that ring a bell?"
Not wanting to keep denying her association with the drugs and knowing that there was no way she could escape this, Samiya gathered all the courage she had remaining and faced the woman in contempt.
"Well you and my shitty father can go scrap them out of the fishes in the ocean. I'm sure right now they are frolicking through the waters high as kites. I destroyed them,"she finished firmly.
She hadn't realized the intensity of her answer until several minutes passed in silence between them,the woman staring hard at her without showing any sign of talking. Only shock and questioning showed in her face. That gave her a moment to think. If the woman was part of her father's business,why was she still standing there doing nothing? Not shooting her,not throwing daggers after the revelation. In fact, she seemed calm?
Maybe she shouldn't have let herself get that into her head because what came out of the woman's mouth next froze her in place.
"You do realize that you just confessed to tampering with evidence," the voice was calm but firm,her gaze narrowed. "And not only that-"
"Please!" she replied quickly and rushed forward stopping one step away from her. She didn't have to be told what was about to happen to her now. Now every chance of innocence she'd had been washed away by her anger. The anger she should have left behind when she escaped her father. But how could she, when he had taken away a part of her life so mercilessly? A few tear drops fell out of her eyes involuntarily. "Please,he can't know that I'm here. He will kill me the moment he finds me. Just let me go, please,"she begged. She didn't even have an idea of where she would begin once she stepped out of that door. What she knew was that going to prison wasn't an option she could play with.
"Who are you talking about?"
"My father,if you arrest me he will know and that will be the end of me,"she tried, giving it a long shot and hoping that this woman was as kind as her eyes seemed to be. The fact that she hadn't arrested her already gave her a push to go on. Maybe luck would shine on her path once again. "I was running away from him after he shot at me, that's how I found myself in that ship. It was the only option I had back then. The drugs-"
The door flew open suddenly and the unexpected interruption confused her for a minute forgetting everything she was about to say. Two men, joined them. One with an overgrown goatee beard and by appearance more superior than the taller one who headed straight towards her, producing handcuffs from his back. She pulled back in shock, looking at the guy and the woman she had been talking to, questioning even though she kind of had the answers. It was the shorter-more superior guy that spoke.
"You are under arrest on the grounds of illegal drug trafficking and entry into the United States of America illegally."
She stood there tongue tied,not even registering anything that was said to her except for the sound of the cuffs clicking as the guy locked her arms together. The worst she had been fearing was now happening and there was no way to escape this. So,her running had been for nothing? She questioned inwardly.
With one look of desperation, she took another glance at the woman who seemed underpowered in that moment and before she could be taken away managed to utter another 'help me please' in a tiny voice as another stream of tears escaped her eyes.
★★★
Jessie looked up in alert the moment the woman uttered the last words before she was led away. Why did they sound so familiar? Where had she heard the exact same words and same voice?
Sure she had been talking to the woman for the last couple of minutes and yeah,that voice was the same one but these particular words pointed to something more, something deeper than just what was going on.
"O'Brien!" She looked up abruptly, snapping out of her thoughts. The captain was standing in the hallway holding the door for her. "Anything you want to tell me?"
"No sir," she replied and walked outside walking ahead of him.
HEY GUYS, I'M SO SORRY I HAVEN'T BEEN UPDATING THE BOOK HERE AND DIDN'T COMMUNICATE ALL THROUGH THAT PERIOD.
PLEASE CHECK IT OUT ON ALPHANOVEL WHERE I WILL BE UPDATING IT TILL THE LAST CHAPTER.
I'M SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCES CAUSED.