Chapter 6: Adrian William

As soon as Marco arrived, he went straight to Aruna's room, expecting her to be awake. But when he came in, Aruna was already sleeping. She was curled in a fetal position, kicking the blankets off earlier, so now she was shaking. Her brows knitted, and sweat dotted her forehead.

'Is she having a bad dream again?' Marco wondered. He pulled the blanket over Aruna's body and caressed her hair. Aruna's body eased up, her knitted brows and body relaxed.

Each time Marco visits her at night, he notices Aruna tossing in her dreams. For some unexplained reason, his heart clenches whenever he witnesses her struggling from her nightmares.

He looked at Aruna one last time before he walked out of her room and into his. Their rooms were side so he could easily hear her at night. He was there to change his clothes and wait for Bastian's arrival. After two hours, Bastian had finally arrived.

"Tell me what you found?" Marco commanded without looking at the man who just arrived. Bastian's mouth was agape. 'I've just arrived, dude' . He thought.

"Can't you at least allow me to sit? Or ask me if I want to drink anything" Bastian jokingly said. But Marco glared, then he pointed to the chair in front of his table.

"Tell me what you found, NOW!" Bastian hissed, then he sat on the chair.

"Chill! Dude" shaking his head, he took the brown envelope from his bag and handed it to Marco.

"I haven't found any personal information about the girl we saw. Her name doesn't show in any of records. Are you sure that name is really Aruna Arindita?" Bastian asked.

"I'm not sure I know either. When I asked, she told me Aruna Arindita was her name" Marco frowned in confusion. He opened the brown envelope and saw pictures of two different cars. The first picture shows the front of a red car, and the second the bumper of the gray car.

"What is this for?" He asked.

"Well, those two-car piqued my interest. I took those from the CCTV footage near the area where we saw the girl. Both cars headed in the reaction of our hideout. Though they stopped a few miles away from our borders, they seemed suspicious. Where were they going?" Bastian said. Then he took another small envelope from his bag.

"I found out who owns one of the vehicles. The gray car is unknown. The plate number was fake, and we couldn't see who was inside because it was heavily tinted. But the red car.. you will never guess who owns it" Marco raised his brow, waiting for him to continue.

Bastian smirked. "It is owned by Adrian William" Marco leaned on his swivel chair.

"What is he doing in that area? He doesn't have any property around that parameter, right?" Maco asked.

"Well, he has" Bastian shrugged. "It is in a remote area along the way to the hideout, located in the middle of the forest. And when I searched for it, I saw an abandoned house. Here's the thing, I saw a piece of ripped white cloth inside the house. I assume it was Aruna's. "Marco's hand clenched. His eyes were burning with anger, enough to kill with his own bare hands.

"That filthy asshole!" Marco gritted his teeth.

"Wish.. chill, dude. We don't know if that's a fact yet. The best way to find out what really happened is to ask Aruna about it. Maybe try to show him Adrian's picture. And if she reacts, it means it was Adrian's doing" Bastian reminded him.

Marco took a deep breath and nodded.

"Tell me, what kind of business is Adrian involved in?" He asked.

But Bastian came prepared. "Here, I brought more information" Bastian after handing a white folder to Marco.

"Adrian William, 39 years old, widowed. Ranked 2nd in the underground organisation. He has a shipping line and owns several clubs around the country, to cover up his dirty deeds. He uses these businesses as front to smuggle drugs, guns, and sometimes, even women. Those he kidnapped were sold as prostitutes to international buyers here and abroad. He is powerful and very well connected with people we can't afford to be enemies with. The other mafia families are praising him, and even though he many seem old, he's very dangerous" Bastian said.

"I don't care. If it confirms that it was him who abused Aruna, then I help her take revenge on him" Marco said while holding the folder containing Adrian's information.

"That is our assumption. For now, we don't have any evidence yet. So you better ask" Bastian advised as he noticed Marco looked furious. He is afraid that Marco might do something unjustifiable to Adrian even before he gathered his facts.

The next day, Marco decided to say at home. It was time to ask Aruna about what really happened to her, and if she knew the person responsible. He knocks on her door before entering. A sweet fragrance welcome him. Damn, why does her room smell so good? Did she just take a bath?' he thought. Aruna's fragrance gave him images of her the shower. 'Stoo it, Marco... You know nothing about her '. He reminded himself while staring at her, sitting in front of the vanity, combing her long wavy hair. Her creamy white skin enhanced by the blue button-, down long sleeve dress that reached below her knees.

Marco gulped. "Good morning!" He greeted. From the reflection in the mirror, Aruna finds him standing behind her. She turned around and smiled sweetly. "Good morning"

"Don't you have work today?" She asked, noticing Marco still wearing his jogger pants and white shirt.

He shook his head. "I took the day off". He smiled as he sat on edge of the bed. "Aruna" he started."Can I ask you something?"

Aruna could sense what Marco wanted to ask, and she was ready. 'I will tell him everything he wants to know. I will not hold back'. She thought.

Aruna slowly nodded. "Sure, what is it?" She said, smiling.

"Remember that day..." He started referring to the time they found her. "Can you tell me what happened?" Marco took a picture from his pocket and showed it to Aruna. "Do you happen to know this guy?' watching how Aruna reacts to the photo.

Aruna clenched her fists, and tears streamed down to her face. She bit her lips to prevent them from shaking. Marco understood how Aruna was feeling. And it gave him the answer that he wanted. He knew it. The guy in the photo was the one who tried to rape her. "It's okay if you don't want to..." He was stunned when Aruna shook her head.

"No, I am ready. I am willing to tell you everything"