Finding You (UNDER THE PROCESS OF EDITING)

Chapter 8 - Before

~*~

The boy's face appeared on her screen, his oddly silver eyes shining as always.

"It's good to know that you've learnt to start an encrypted video call, " he said with a small smile.

His smile was contagious, and she just had to grin slightly. "Thank you for teaching me how to. Did you finish making it?"

It, as in the key. They had to be careful, no matter what, as anyone who was really good with computers could hack their way into their "encrypted" call.

His expression turned serious. "Yes, I've finished making it and also a spare along with it to fit in your lock. I've tried it - it fits perfectly into the lock and opens it without getting stuck at all. I'll store my part of the data in it before locking it, and then send the spare to you through a trusted friend. Is that okay with you?"

They had planned this part all along - they would find a way to collect their proof, piece the facts together, get to know what he was involved in, and then arrest Ash after a trial, where the evidence would be enough to eliminate any doubts. Or, rather, send him to juvenile court.

The boy had also taught Ruby how to hack into the forgotten security camera system in the abandoned warehouses at the end of the city where they worked, and she had been spying on Ash ever since.

What she had found had sucked the breath right out of her lungs.

She couldn't believe that she and her sister were studying in the same school as such filth.

One night, at exactly 12 am, she saw three huge black trucks stop in front of one of the warehouses. Ash was seen supervising ten buff men holding exactly sixty duffel bags as they got off the trucks. They opened them and she observed that they were filled with small packets of cocaine, marijuana, meth, and opium, glinting in the dim lights softly illuminating the entrance of the dark warehouse. They zipped up the bags and loaded them into trucks. They then exchanged large stacks of cash with him. She guessed they were going to sell them illegally in bulk.

Just yesterday at the same time, she saw one hundred or so fake passports strewn on large tables inside another warehouse, unable to guess what they were for until she had seen a young injured girl tied to one of two tall poles, glistening tears streaming down her already wet and blotchy face as she sobbed. A hundred others -  without clothes - were seen in small boxes with bars, caged like animals when they clearly weren't supposed to be there.

Then, it hit her.

Sex trafficking.

She couldn't even imagine the amount of stress and worry their families must have been going through right then.

That was why she had decided to visit the warehouses that night. It would be very dangerous, but if she could get her hands on anything that would account for evidence, she was ready to risk her life.

Her plan was simple: quietly step inside each warehouse, assess the situation, take pictures, collect a few things if needed and exit just as quietly as she had come.

Nothing could go wrong.

But one wrong move, be it a sneeze, a cough or something being dropped, and she was dead .

"Hey, are you okay? I was just talking to you but you zoned out,"  his gentle voice pulled her out of her thoughts as she snapped back to reality.

"Yes, I'm okay. When and where can I expect your friend to be here?"

"At exactly eight in the evening tomorrow, he will be standing at the Pavilion of Cheesman Park. You must be there on time as he cannot stay there for long, he has other things to do as well."