EVANGELISTA'S POV
I was pulled into a room. I had no idea what time it was, but it must have been very early in the morning. A woman woke me up by roughly pulling on my hair, and I could not help but wince in pain. I was taken to a room and I sat on a chair.
"We're giving you two some time to talk. Where are the goods? Where is the baby? Zuri is giving you one last chance, and then you die. Lucas la Martina and Anisha, please talk about this and give us the answers today!" Troy said, and he walked away.
Alone in the room with Lucas, I looked at him and said, "what are the goods which they keep asking you about?"
"It's girls who we were taking out to sell as sex workers. Six of them; they were heavily drugged and did not know anything. And dugs. The world's most expensive drugs" Lucas stated calmly.
"Oh no! Girls? Drugs!! You do drugs!" I asked in shock.
"Greatest regret of my life!", Lucas said.
"So where are the drugs? And the girls? Just give them the drugs!"
"I would if I could," he said. "There is a mole in our team."
"Your team? You have teams?" I asked again.
"Yes. When I started this, I was a university student. I desperately wanted money, and I started this drugs business. I kept promising myself that I would stop, but the more money I got, the more money I needed. So I stayed in the business. And then I was promoted. I was given my own cargo. That's a term that we use, when you can carry out a whole drug deal by yourself. Normally we work in teams, without even knowing each other. Every person just carries out their part without talking to or consulting the other." The man stopped and sighed. I could sense regret in him.
He went on, "my own cargo would mean something like this, for example, I got to export drugs that could bring millions of dollars for The Capo. I used a garbage truck to transport boxes. I used my trucks from Double L Waste Management Company. That company, if I must tell you, is just a face. It's the legal business covering for the underground businesses that we were involved in."
"Really? I always thought Double L was a respectable company."
Lucas smiled and continued to tell me, "it is the legitimate company. Every successful mafia needs something legitimate to explain their source of money."
"Mafia? Did you just say mafia? Are you one of them?" I failed to hide my shock.
"I'm not as good at it as my seniors," he laughed. "I got my capital for Double L using very dirty money. Like I have already told you, Double L is just a front. I have so much money I don't even know my bank balance. But you think it all comes from Double L? No. All those trucks which you see written Double L Waste Management have carried all sorts of things. They have carried stuff that you can never even begin to imagine. We ran numerous underground businesses, and I regret it all now. I have done a lot. I have done unspeakable things. There is no dark thing you can imagine that I haven't done. I regret it all."
"Does your wife know?" I asked him.
"My wife is dead, all because of me. Someone from this camp killed her. She never knew anything about my dark world. …today I'll be working late…I need to go and check on trucks….I have a meeting….those are all the excuses I always gave her for staying out late and for all my trips around and outside Lakeworld. She trusted me. Larissa trusted me with her life", he looked down and a single tear ran down his face. He seemed to be in deep pain as he spoke about his deceased wife.
"I'm sorry", I said to him. I could feel my own eyes stinging, as if tears could stream down as well, for I really felt sorry for the man who was crying in front of me.
"What happened to you? Why are you now kidnapped here?" I needed to know more about Lucas.
He lifted his teary eyes, stared at me for a long time and then said, "when I got my own cargo, somewhere along the way, it got lost, or stolen. All of it. We're talking millions of dollars. I was supposed to deliver the goods to a man in Yellowleaf, and both of us were to get them across the borders, but that truck disappeared. It was involved in an accident, and we found it about fifteen minutes later; and it was empty! The girls were set free, only to be discovered some days later. Good for me, they did not remember a thing, for they were seriously drugged. And my driver was shot dead. Someone betrayed me"
"Who betrayed you? Do you have any suspects?" I asked.
"I have no idea." He slowly shook his head. "Some people who I never saw eye to eye with are dead. But the truth is, we made many enemies along the way. There were times when I was ruthless to the core. I did all the evil things you can think of, and along the way I must have stepped on many people's toes."
I had too many questions, and I wanted to ask them all. I was not even sure where to begin; "So you used to get millions of dollars? What other evil things did you do?" I asked.
"There's a lot that is done. A lot that we do, besides drugs."
"What else? Human trafficking?"
"That and more. We've sold human body parts at the underground market. We've sold young girls to rich old men from all parts of the world. We've done everything dirty."
The man looked at me and a tear rolled down his face. "I failed to protect my wife," he cried. "now my son is out there somewhere, and I am not able to take care of him"
I did not know what to say. I remained silent, then with a sorrowful voice I told him, "I lost my boyfriend too".
"What happened?" he asked me. I told him every detail.
"I'm sorry about that.", he said after listening to my story.
"If you're truly sorry, then please tell them that I am not Anisha. So that they may let me go!"
"I'm sorry but I cannot do that. It will expose my son. They need to keep believing that you are Anisha."
"You're very selfish", I cried.
"I am a dying man. Today they will kill me…"
"Don't say that!! They may spare your life…"
Lucas laughed. "I've been in this game long enough to know when it's time to die. I have been in this dark business for years. Today is my dying day, and I am ready. There is no other way. I just pray that wherever Anisha is, she doesn't give up on Liam. I pray she takes care of him, until maybe someone will adopt him. If I could have it my own way, then Anisha would be the one to adopt Liam."
"Don't say that. you are not dying…" I could not help but cry.
"OK listen. Enough of these sad stories. Let me give you advise. When I am gone, continue to act as Anisha. Tell them that the child died and you buried him somewhere; and then beg for your life to be spared. You can even flirt with one of the men. Pretend to like him; do anything to get out of this place. Once you leave this place, leave Lakeworld as fast as you can. Don't even think of calling the police. These guys are well connected, and no policeman will listen to your story. But please, my death wish is, please make them believe that Liam is dead. Once they believe that, no-one will look for him, and he will get a chance to live his life."
I remained silent. He looked at me and smiled. His idea sounded easy to narrate, but difficult to execute. Did I even have the guts to continue acting as Anisha, and to lie that Liam died and I buried him? No. I knew that my acting skills were not that good.
"You're young, you don't deserve this. If you get a chance to leave this place, don't spoil your life. Look at me. I made millions of dollars, but now I leave all of them in some secret basement. My son's life will never be the same. He does have Anisha, but there is no way Anisha can give my son the life that I would have given him. She might even send him to an orphanage…" he began to cry again.
"I thought your child was a girl" I said.
"It's a boy. Liam. My first and only son," when he said that he cried even more.
"Maybe one of your relatives will take him in," I tried to comfort him.
He shook his head and said "no. I haven't spoken to my parents in almost two decades. Ever since I started this…business, I cut ties with my parents. As for my wife, she was an only child. Her parents are in a home, both of them are very old. The only person I can count on, when it comes to Liam, is Anisha. She is my sole hope.", tears rolled down his face.
"Anisha will take care of him. She loves him a lot. The short time that I saw her, she acted like the child was her own. She showed so much care for the child. She loves him," I assured him.
He smiled and said "I knew it. I knew Anisha would never let me down. She started working for us when we were expecting Liam. My wife must have been three or four months pregnant. Anisha had a connection with Liam even before he was born, greeting him, talking to him and singing for him while he was still in the tummy."
Looking at the ceiling, he acted like he was talking to someone as he said, "I'm sorry Larissa. I loved you, but I failed you. I'm sorry Liam, I love you, but I have let you down. Anisha, you are my only hope."