Euclid took a deep breath before he opened the door of the interrogation room. As he expected, Maria was seated on a chair, handcuffed hands were on the table, and her covered head remained low.
When he shut the door behind him loudly, her body moved a bit. Euclid walked towards her, and his heavy steps caused thumping sounds on the floor. He stopped beside her and watched her breathing.
He clenched his jaw as his chest tightened again just by looking at her. “You don’t have to hide your face from me,” he murmured and pulled the coat over her head.
He heard her gasp when the coat fell on the floor. Euclid expected complaints from her, just like what she always do before whenever he’s snatching something from her, but she just lowered her head and hid her face with her long hair.
Euclid knelt beside her. “It’s only the two of us here, Maria,” he said and removed the strands of her hair from her face. “Where’s the mask that I told them to give to you?”
Maria didn’t answer. She looked so fragile, weak, and hopeless. Her lips are trembling as if she might cry at any moment.
“Maria, don’t talk to me, please…” he said and reached to touch her face, but she avoided it. Euclid clenched his jaw. “I wanted to touch you, to hug you, to kiss you… Maria, you didn’t know what I’d been through when—”
“I don’t want to know,” she cut off. Her sharp words penetrated his chest and stabbed his heart.
To see her like this was like a nightmare for Euclid. But, what’s hurt him the most was her reluctance and hatred at him that he doesn’t know where it came from.
“How did you become like this?” he asked, trying his best to steady his voice even his whole muscles were shaking in frustrations and stress. “Who made you do this?”
Maria looked at her with cold eyes. “I need a job,” she replied without hesitation. “I want to have a lot of money, and selling my body to different men is the easiest way to reach it.”
Euclid looked away from her eyes. He can’t take long to look in the eyes that he once loved to stare at. The pair of hazel brown eyes that never gets tired to stared back at him with admiration. But, that was all in the past because the eyes looking at him now were far different from the past.
“Why are you looking away, Euclid? You used to look at me for hours back then,” she said sarcastically. “Am I not the same girl that you love to call your Sweet Maria?”
Euclid stood and went to the other side of the table to face her. “Tell me who brought you into that job, Maria—”
“I brought myself into this, Euclid,” she cut off. “I asked them to hire me because I need a job—”
“That is not what I wanted to hear, Maria!” he shouted, tears beginning to pool in his eyes. “I want you to tell me why you became like this?”
Maria looked away from him. Her lips trembled, an indication that she was about to cry again. “Set me free. I need to get home before sunrise.”
Euclid’s brows furrowed. “Why? You’ll turn into something strange when the morning comes? Is that what’s your fairy godmother told you?”
Maria glared at him, but after a few moments, she looked away again.
“You can’t just walk out from here, Maria. You have to undergo drug testing and questioning. And, if what you told us is enough for you to bail out, that’s just the only moment that we’ll release you here—”
“Please, Euclid… I need to get home—”
“Why? Your man is waiting for you?” Euclid clenched his jaw. “Am I right, Maria?”
Maria lowered her head and started to cry. But it only pissed him off. “I don’t owe you an explanation, Euclid—”
Euclid laughed. “You don’t owe me an explanation? Did you forget where you are right now, Maria? And who am I now?”
Maria didn’t answer. “I want to go home—”
“Then, tell me why you became like this?” he asked slowly, stressing every word. “Maria, listen to me. If you keep your mouth shut, I don’t know how I am going to help you—”
“Help?” Maria smirked. “You will help me? I doubt that you could help me. You never did that nor tried. That’s why I’m here in front of you—”
Euclid slapped his hand on the table. “Just tell me who brought you into this! What I need is information, Maria. I don’t have time for your drama. I am here because you are caught in the act of human trafficking, and your group is transacting with a drug dealer.”
He caught the sudden change of Maria’s expression. Her eyes showed fear and confusion, but Euclid won’t rebuy those sad eyes, not now that they’re a thin thread away from completing their mission.
“Now, if you will continue to refuse to tell us all the information you have…” he shook his head. “I don’t know if I can help you out here until sunrise. You will stay here—”
“No!” Maria shouted. Euclid can see that she’s trying to fight back her tears. “Let me out of here, just for today, please…”
Euclid looked away from her. He can’t take to seeing her like this, but she left him no choice. He has to separate his emotions from his profession. If he didn’t, it might put Maria’s life in danger.
He started to walk towards the door, but Maria called him. The sound of her pleading is making Euclid’s chest hurt more.
“Euclid, please...” He heard the sound of her movements. “Let me out of here—”
Euclid looked back at her, and when he saw her kneeling on the floor, crying and pleading for him to release her, Euclid felt his heart broke again into pieces. He dashed to her side and helped her to stand up, but still, she refused. She even pushed him away.
“Maria, I need your cooperation in this case. Your life is in danger, the organization that your club manager’s been transacting with is illegal and—”
“I know...” she said in between tears. “But, they’ll also kill me if I speak—”
“I won’t let that happen, Maria. I promised,” he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her tightly. “I will never let them touch you again, Maria—”
“I doubt it…” she whispered as her icy stare shot at him. “You never cared for me.”
Euclid’s brows pulled together. “I don’t know why you’re mad at me, Maria. But, whatever the reason was, I will do everything to protect you.” He took out the handcuff keys and released her hands. “Now that I have found you, I will never let you out of my eyes again.”
***