Chapter 186 - Muller

Inside the dark after-hours club, Jaclyn smiled as the sharp-jawed man returned. In his hand, he was holding a syringe and she knew what was inside.

The drive between Cologne and Munich took 6 hours, so she had not received an injection since they left Cologne and the effects had already died down. Thus, she was craving more. She never knew something could make her feel so good and the effects were addictive. So addictive that she couldn't stop thinking about it.

It was no surprise that she felt this way. After all, heroin was one of the most addictive drugs available on the market. It made a person feel good by influencing the production of feel-good chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine and endorphins, and nearly one in four people that tried it for the first time became addicted to it. 

Human traffickers knew this, and they knew that once addicted, addicts would do anything for another shot, so they often used it on their victims. Initially, it was a good way to keep them quiet. But, ultimately, it was an effective way to turn them into obedient slaves.

The man stabbed the syringe into Jaclyn's arm and her eyes rolled back in pleasure as she felt the drug rush to her brain. Yes, this was the feeling she had been waiting for.

"Stay here. Truck come for you in 2 hours. You go to Italy. Be good and they give you another shot," the man said in broken English.

Jaclyn smiled and nodded her head. Italy? She had never been to Italy before. If there was a shot waiting for her at the other end, she couldn't wait to go to Italy.

Meanwhile, hidden behind some crates of alcohol, the beautiful blue-eyed woman from earlier, shook her head. She knew that Italy was likely the final destination for Jaclyn because there was no other reason to enter Italy. After all, from Munich, all of Italy's neighboring countries could be easily accessed without passing through the Italian border. But, why was she being taken to Italy? 

Jaclyn's hair was messy and she was a little smelly from over 24 hours of travel, but the blue-eyed woman could clearly see that her nails were neatly manicured and her clothes were branded. Plus, she did not show signs of long-term drug use. She wasn't some drug addict that had been randomly picked up off the streets; she was obviously kidnapped and she looked quite well-off.

So, as soon as the man left again, the woman immediately ran back over to Jaclyn and tried to knock some sense into her, "Jaclyn, I think you've been kidnapped and they are taking you to Italy. I have a bad feeling about this. You need to get out of here before my brother returns."

"Your brother?" Jaclyn mumbled with confusion.

"My name is Mia Muller. The man you just met was my brother. I think you are about to be sold off to someone in Italy..." the woman said worriedly.

...

Meanwhile, in Brussels, Jackson and the others had just reached the airport. Fortunately, they managed to get tickets for the next direct flight to Munich, but there were only two seats left at the front and two seats left at the back. 

Of course, Jackson seated Halia next to himself and placed Trisha next to Oliver, but Trisha did not understand this arrangement. In fact, she didn't quite understand why Halia was there at all. It wasn't like she was from Interpol. 

"I don't understand why that woman is here," Trisha complained as she sat down next to Oliver.

"What do you mean?" Oliver asked. "Weren't you the one that practically invited yourself on this mission?"

Trisha glared at the man, "That's because the captain needed my help. I don't see how she's of any help. She's obviously clinging to the captain like a useless sidekick. She even tried to sound close to the captain by calling Jaclyn Wu her sister!"

"How shameless..." Trisha scowled as she stood up and tried to take a look at the couple.

Trisha and Oliver were sitting pretty far back in the plane, so Halia and Jackson's heads were like two little marbles at the front of the plane.

"I think you're the shameless one..." Oliver sighed as an air stewardess walked past, gesturing for Trisha to sit back down and put on her seatbelt.

Trisha frowned and sighed as she did as told. 

"That's it! I need to find an opportunity to show off my skills. I can't let that woman outshine me..." Trisha said with determination.

Oliver looked at the woman and held back a smile. This woman was so clueless. Wasn't it obvious that Halia and Jackson were a couple? Did she not see the ring on Halia's finger and the bracelet that read J&H in Morse Code? Even he figured it out by now...

But, he decided not to reveal it to her just yet. After all, it was fun to watch the woman's comical reactions. It was one of the many things that were unique about her.

...

Down at the front of the plane, Halia grabbed onto Jackson's hand comfortingly and said, "Don't worry, we will definitely find her. Tell me what you know so far."

Jackson wrapped an arm around Halia's shoulder and pulled her into his embrace. Lucky this woman was there to keep him sane. Even though he didn't know his stepsister well and they barely saw each other, he did feel bad for Auntie Lily. After all, Auntie Lily had always been nice to him, and as a mother, she tolerated Emma Wu and tried her best to protect her daughter. But, even if it wasn't Jaclyn that had been taken and it was a complete stranger, Jackson would have still been frustrated and disgusted by this case. To him, Human trafficking was one of the worst crimes in existence.

"Jean Louis said that Trojan mapped out a route for Jaclyn. She went from France, up to Brussels, then to Cologne and finally ended up in Munich this morning. She is now in the hands of a man named, Elias Muller, but we aren't sure if that is Jaclyn's final destination," Jackson explained.

Halia closed her eyes and thought for a second. Elias Muller. The name sounded familiar.

"Elias Muller..." she repeated the name to herself.

Jackson glanced at his fiancee as she repeated the man's name over and over again like she was trying to hypnotize herself.

Suddenly, as the plane began to lift off, Halia fell silent. 

Jackson looked worriedly at the woman as her eyes remained closed. "Halia?" he checked as he gently shook her.

There was no response.

"Halia?" he asked again.

Suddenly, Halia raised a hand as her eyelids twitched, "Shhh! I see something...It's a club...Muller...Elias Muller owns a club in Munich called 'Muller'!"

Jackson looked at his fiancee in surprise, "Is that Trojan's memory?"

Halia looked back at Jackson with an equally surprised expression as she nodded her head. This was the first time she had accessed another person's memory like that. Normally, the memories randomly came to her...

Had she found a way to control it?