Realise - Real Lies

Bartered

Check it out here as well: https://jaderoxx30892.wixsite.com/reallies/post/chapter-22-bartered

Jade's POV

You know some people so welcoming and sweet that you gel with them easily. Yes think of them and then throw that out of the window. The complete opposite of that person was Valdifiori. And I thought Ethan was an asshole. Compared to Valdifiori, Ethan could be considered to be an angel. I did not dare uttering a word for the fear that she would slice my tongue or something. The drive was extremely quiet and the civilizations kept getting sparser. That was until we came across an old building structure. Interpol was short on funds I guess, if their office building was so dilapidated.
She got out of the car and literally, "Out." It felt like she was talking to a dog or something. What did I expect? A welcome party? I got out quickly. She placed her hand on my arm and walked me towards the door. I noticed she had her gun in her hand which was strange. Weirdly I did not see any signs that mentioned that this was an Interpol office. No cars were in sight. That was weird. However, I obliged. I scanned my surroundings and an odd feeling settled in the base of my stomach. But given the way the past few days were, the feeling was like second nature to me. "The office is a little unkempt, don't you think?" I asked. She didn't say anything. "Do you come here very often?" I tried again. Her face went sour as she grunted, "Shut up." Okay. Message received. She would never reveal anything to me so I had to think fast. This place seemed suspicious. She continued to walk me inside the door. It was an open floor. But what caught my attention was the small cavalry of people inside, all covered by masks. A man standing in the center spoke up, "Benvenuto signora. Vedo che hai portato quello che avevamo richiesto. (Hello Miss. I see you brought what we requested.)" "Certo signore, (Yes Sir)" Valdifiori replied. A man walked towards us from the group as the man in the center spoke, "Ecco il tuo pagamento. (Here is your payment)" Valdifiori shook her head and held her hand up, "Fallo scorrere. (Slide it across.)" The man stopped and slid a tiny briefcase towards us. It landed right near her feet. She placed her foot on it and poked my back with the gun's muzzle, motioning me to move forward. "No way I am doing this. Are you out of your mind? You are ..." I couldn't finish as she slapped duct tape on my mouth. My eyes widened in surprise while I struggled. "They mentioned wanting you dead or alive. Your choice," she said, heavily implying on the consequences of what would happen if I didn't comply.
I took a step towards the group, but I did not get far as the man who had thrown the briefcase, grabbed me and rushed me towards the door, threatening with a gun at me temple. What the hell was going on? Did she just sell me? I heard the man in the center say, "Portala via e mettila in auto. (Take her away and put her in the car)" "Si signore, (Yes sir)" the man with me barked back. Huh. Were they speaking Italian? I couldn't say for sure. This was bad. We walked towards a car. The man used a remote to open the trunk of the car. Hell. I wasn't going to get into the trunk of a car. He nudged. I grumbled shaking my head, but he kept pushing me. A voice sounded behind him, "Ti rivogliono dentro. (They want you back inside)" It was his colleague. The man pushing me blinked, "Chi mi vuole dentro? (Who wants me inside?)" The other man fell silent, but in a flash of an eye he smashed the gun against the man's head. The man, surprised by the action stumbled back and fell down unconscious. The other man, now grabbed my hand and dragged me away. I struggled again. Who the hell was this guy?
"Come on Jade, you have got to cooperate with me now," he urged. I knew that voice well, so I complied and ran with him, through the shrubbery. Loud and confused voices sounded behind us. We picked up the pace and soon we were on the side of a main road. I looked around the empty road and rolled my eyes. I tried mumbling to him but he cocked his head to one side, "Huh?" I widened my eyes to point the obvious. "Oh shoot. Sorry," he said removing the duct tape from my mouth. I breathed a sigh of relief before whispering, "Please tell me that your idea of escaping is not by hitchhiking a ride?" He shrugged, "Of course not." At that moment a car emerged from the other side of the shrubbery. The car stopped right in front of us. He opened the door and asked the man in the driver's seat to move over. The man obliged and I jumped in the backseat. He then floored the gas pedal and zoomed away from the place. After I caught my breath, the man in the passenger's seat extended his hand towards me, "Agent Yang." I shook his hand, "Jade." "I know," he said smiling at me. In the mean time, "our driver", Ethan had removed his mask too, "You ok there?"
I nodded, "Yeah. What was that all about?" "You tell us," Yang said. "Umm Valdifiori bartered me for something to the Italian Mafia?" I said half jokingly. Yang and Ethan exchanged a look. Ethan then said, "Told you she was up to something shady." "For the nth time, I agreed with you. I just wasn't comfortable tracking her phone," Yang responded. "You knew this would happen?" I asked Ethan in an accusatory tone. "Calm down. I did not know this would happen. Once I got back to the office in Geneva, the paperwork did not add up so I just got suspicious," he said softly. "Why was she handing me over to those Italian guys?" I asked. "We don't know yet. So we head back to the Geneva office and complain to the Interpol chief about Valdifiori?" Yang asked Ethan. "No," Ethan said. "No?" both me and Yang asked in unison.
"We can't. We have no proof. Its hearsay - our word against hers. Besides we illegally tracked her, so that questions everything," Ethan pointed out. "So what now?" Yang asked. "I didn't think that far. I really want to know what Valdifiori is up to," Ethan said. "I was talking about the fugitive we have in the backseat," Yang said slyly. Ethan glanced at me through the rear view mirror, "Right. Ummmm we can't take her back to Interpol because of Valdifiori." Yang glared at Ethan, "You didn't think this through, did you?" "If you noticed, I didn't have the time to think this through. I just reacted," Ethan said. Yang slapped his forehead and shook his head in disappointment. "For now I think we can go to my house," Ethan said. Yang looked at him as if Ethan had offered to hide a nuclear weapon at his house. "What? You'd would rather us go to your house?" Ethan asked. Yang narrowed his eyes at him, "Êtes-vous fou? (Are you crazy?)"
"C'est possible, (That is possible)" I said dryly. "Oh yes the fugitive speaks French too. You might want to take a note of that," Ethan told Yang. Yang nodded. "The fugitive has a name," I snapped at Ethan. "Of course," Ethan said brushing me off. "Ethan this is a bad. You cannot harbor Jade. You will be in so much trouble. Plus I am sure Valdifiori knows Jade's gone and it will be a matter of time she figures out, you are behind it," Yang said. "Then let's give Valdifiori no reason to doubt me," Ethan responded.