22.Alin
Alin
I descend to the first floor, scanning it cautiously. Finding no one around, I approach Luca’s office door. It’s shut, voices audible from inside. I cautiously grip the door handle, hoping it isn’t locked from within. My heart skips a beat when I hear the click of it opening.
Carefully, I enter the room. Luca, along with his two brothers and four unfamiliar men, turn their heads toward me.
“Alin, what are you doing here?” Luca asks, his face not showing any sign of being pleased with my intrusion.
“I have a bad feeling about today. I just wanted to see you,” I half-lie, managing to send a worried glance his way to avoid suspicion. This performance deserves an Oscar, but Luca’s expression remains unchanged.
“Alin, this isn’t the time. When I get back, we can see each other as much as you want,” he states dryly, and everyone quickly returns to their tasks.
I push aside the slight feeling of disappointment that arose in my chest at his words and move a bit closer to the table. I manage to catch a glance at the map. Beyond a few small new markers added for their men, there have been no changes to the plan.
It’s going to happen today at the New York-New Jersey’ s port. I confirm it to myself, turn, and leave the office. Now, it is just a matter of executing the escape plan from the guards.
I go down to Cora and Mariano’s apartment and stay with Cora in her room until everyone leaves the building.
As Cora predicted, the regular security remains inside and around the building. Inside the apartment are Graham and two men I saw entering and leaving Luca’s office earlier that day.
Cora and I exchange a look, understanding it’s time to act. We descend to the first floor where Graham and the two guards are stationed.
Before they can notice us, I whisper quickly to Cora, “Now,” in a plea. She nods and starts to bend over, sitting on the floor, faking severe stomach pains.
“Cora, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I ask in a fake, worried scream, hoping it sounds believable enough.
I quickly bend down to her, and Graham reaches us within seconds.
He asks her questions, immediately trying to diagnose the problem. It seems Cora was right; he indeed has medical training for emergencies. Cora continues to moan in pain, even louder when Graham tries to touch her stomach area.
I’m not a doctor, but the act seems convincing enough to buy me some time to escape.
“Do something already!” I yell at the two men staring at Cora from behind Graham, looking lost.
One of them turned to me, seemingly trying to say something, but Graham silenced him by ordering him to call the family doctor.
“Oh, come on! By the time he gets here, something could happen to her!” I shout in a fake disbelief, and Graham immediately turns to me, an ominous look on his face. “Alin, nothing will happen to her! He will get here in time,” he says.
“Alin, my painkillers, the pills I always take, where are they?” Cora asks, continuing her act to help me push them out. I want to hug her and give her a prize for her performance. Brilliant!
“I don’t know, I’ll go down and buy some for you,” I reply immediately, trying to sound more panicked, fully getting into character.
I quickly head toward the door, and just as we anticipated, one of the men stops me in an instant.
“I can’t let you go out; that’s the order,” he says, standing in front of the door like a bouncer at a club.
“You’d better let me go get Cora her painkillers, or you’ll be the one explaining to Mariano why his wife is suffering because you prevented her from getting help,” I threaten, hoping I pressed the right buttons.
He looks confused, and Cora continues to occupy Graham behind me.
I keep pushing, “Come on, she needs her pills. You can come with me to protect me,” I suggest as a compromise.
He sighs and nods, moving away from the door, and we quickly leave the apartment. First victory.
On the way out, other soldiers try to stop me, but the one following behind me assures them to let us pass.
We quickly get to the parking lot, and he drives to a nearby pharmacy.
“I’ll go in quickly and come right out,” I promise as I unbuckle my seatbelt.
“That’s not happening. You’re my responsibility, I’m going in with you,” he replies, unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car, waiting for me to follow.
I sigh; this man is making my plan more challenging than I thought.
We enter the pharmacy, and I head toward the pharmacist’s counter, trying to create a bit of distance between me and Luca’s soldier, whose name I can’t even remember. Was it Tomaso?
I ask the pharmacist for painkillers, dropping the only name I know to sound credible and not require a prescription from a doctor, and glance at the soldier to ensure he’s not too close.
The moment he shifts his attention to his phone, I immediately ask for a pain relief pill for myself as well, mentioning loudly enough that I have a bad urinary tract infection.
I pay for the two boxes of pills that the pharmacist puts in a small plastic bag and muster up my resolve—it’s now or never.
“I’m sorry, this UTI is unbearable. Can I please use your staff restroom?” I ask quickly. The pharmacist agrees with a smile and opens the passage behind the counter.
I turn to the soldier behind me, “Wait here, I’m just going to the restroom,” I say and follow the pharmacist into the back room without waiting for the soldier’s approval.
I breathe a sigh of relief as the door closes behind us, breaking the soldier’s line of sight with me.
The pharmacist points toward an old wooden door with a handwritten A4 sheet taped to it that says “Restroom.”
I nod at him in understanding, thank him, and head toward it. The sound of the door opening again behind me assures me the pharmacist has returned to the counter.
I quickly open the restroom door to find a tiny stall in front of me.
A broken and dirty toilet stands with a mop bucket beside it.
The strong smell of feces hits my nose, and I pinch it shut, struggling not to vomit up the dinner I had at Cora’s.
I have to get out of here quickly before Luca’s man realizes something’s wrong, I remind myself, looking up.
Just as I thought, there’s a rectangular window that pushes outward.
Cora underestimated my improvisational skills.
The window is small, but there’s just enough room for me to squeeze through.
Carefully, I climb onto the toilet, repeating “Luca, Luca, Luca” to keep myself focused and not second-guess my decision.
The stench isn’t making my self-motivation any easier.
I push the window open with all my strength, and it slowly gives way, but a plastic handle at the top stops it from opening fully. I take a deep breath, hit it hard, and the handle breaks. The window swings open wide. I’ve just done them a huge favor; hopefully, they’ll thank me later.
I glance back to ensure no one is coming in, then carefully climb through the window, relieved that it’s a ground-floor store, though the jump is still high. The storage room door creaks open in the distance, and I leap in panic.
A curse slips out as I scrape my knee on the pavement, but I quickly recover, stand up, look around, and spot two taxis behind the pharmacy. I run fast, praying Luca’s man doesn’t spot me through the glass doors, and then I dive into the first taxi.
I urge the driver to start going and give him the address. My heart pounds as I stare out the window, confirming to myself that I did it—I escaped. The soldier hasn’t even realized I’m gone yet.
I take a deep breath and recall the map and their planned locations, checking my phone for map coordinates based on the image they used and looking up pictures of the place to familiarize myself with it.
“Ma’am, we’ve arrived,” the driver announces after about an hour. I check the time—11 PM. They should be here by now.
I pay the driver, get out, and scan the area cautiously. I mustn’t be seen. The darkness and quiet give me chills.
I breathe in deeply, the scent of the sea filling my lungs, and the wind wrapping around my body calms me. The sea is very close. I move forward and see ships docked and a fenced-off area with many containers.
I reopen the photos on my phone, trying to orient myself when suddenly, I hear voices approaching. I run and hide behind some street bins to my left. The voices get closer, speaking in Russian.
“As soon as the shipment arrives, don’t take your eyes off the girl, got it?! She’s worth a lot of money!” a familiar voice threatens.
“Yes, boss,” another man responds immediately.
I recognize their voices—one of them is definitely Stas. I shrink into myself, feeling like they can hear my heart pounding.
If Stas is here, Luca must be here too , I strain to listen.
“Vladimir, you and Evgeny will go in first with the shipment. Get the girl out before anyone else. Fuck it up and, and you’re dead,” Stas commands menacingly as they move toward the fence.
I peek out carefully, moving a bit forward from my hiding spot behind the trash cans, just enough to see what’s happening.
I spot more of Stas’s men cutting through the chains locking the fence toward the containers.
I freeze in place. If I move any closer, I’ll likely be caught before I can find Luca. I can’t jeopardize their mission.
I wait in my spot for ten minutes when suddenly, I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket.
I quickly pull it out and silence it. Graham is calling.
Great. The search party is probably already after me.
I hope they haven’t alerted Luca yet, so he doesn’t lose his focus.
I reject the call, and a message pops up immediately.
Get back to the apartment now! You’re not just risking yourself; you’re risking Luca too. He’ll go crazy if he knows you’re out there while he’s in the field. What do you think will happen to him?
11:18 PM