Ebun doesn't answer Sean for some minutes. She's pondering on which question to ask first because she has a few. There is so much information to process. Everyone in the room is quiet, waiting on Ebun to talk.

"I have questions to ask, and my first question is... Why does everyone here, including you, speak English so fluently? I get that most people have back ancestry, but most of you have Russian names and have stayed in this country for a long time, and I thought Russians speak Russian as their first language."

Sean stares at Ebun in disbelief. She couldn't possibly be asking a question like this after all the more important things he'd said. He is so shocked that he doesn't know when a snort escapes his lips. Ebun is wondering what's so funny about her question that is very much necessary. Communication with Miss. Mariyah at the hostel was difficult. It was only thanks to Viktoriya that she could understand some of the words she said.

"The answer isn't far-fetched at all. At a point in our lives, we've either had to travel out of Russia, deal with criminals that speak English, work with a staff and a school that primarily speaks English and Besides, we are in Moscow — a city with the highest number of English-speaking residents."

"Okay then. Here goes my next question. You walked into this room with this blue overall, and no one reacted to it. No one asked you any questions or mocked you for looking strange. Does that mean that they are used to seeing you like this? Does it mean that you do this often? Do you recruit many other people like me into this barracks?"

Sean's jaw twitches slightly. He didn't expect her to grill him with questions like this.

"No. I've been looking for a woman to take home and introduce to my parents, but I'm not that desperate. Also, this isn't my first time showing up in the barracks with overalls because we work hand in hand with First Moscow Medical State University, as I said earlier, so it's not hard for me to make use of one of the school's bus. I've used the school bus to drive a few criminals to the venue of their death. The school authorities were even aware of the students I picked up earlier this morning, so there's nothing shady."

Ebun squints her eyes, pouts her lips, then nods her head. "I get it. I have another question to ask, though." she stares deeply into his eyes like they are the only pair present in the room—such enchanting, beautiful eyes.

"Okay, go on—"

"But privately, " Ebun cuts in.

Sean rubs the stubble on his chin as he gives Ebun a look that could make imaginary question marks visible. "Hmm. Let's go outside then."

***

"I made a crucial deal with the daughter of Mrs. Mariyah, the old woman you met this morning, " Ebun dips her hand in her pocket as she strolls around the fields with Sean, who is still wondering what she was on about. "Her daughter's name is Viktoriya. She is a student of First Moscow State Medical University and a rape victim. The perpetrator is a postgraduate student in his mid-thirties with a kink for girls who wear lace panties. They don't necessarily wear lace panties on a normal day, but he makes them wear it before raping them."

"Okay? So? Does the perpetrator still come around the school premises? When did this incident occur?" Sean fires the questions. He still seems a bit uninterested.

"About a year ago. About the first question, " Ebun itches her temple nervously. "I forgot to ask her, so I don't know."

"That's super important because if he hasn't been around the school premises since the incident happened, then we have no power to kill him. It's risky."

"She's not his only victim, though!" Ebun argues. She's slightly annoyed by the damn rules. "He's raped a few other innocent girls, and there's no way the school authorities won't know about his case in one way or the other. We should bring his case to book whether he comes around or not!"

"If the school authorities knew, they would have contacted us to get rid of him, " Sean insists coolly. "Look, the fact that we serve justice in situations where the police fail us doesn't mean we can catch every criminal. Do you even know what the perpetrator must have done to the victims to get the case swept under the carpet? Are you aware that there's rape by guilt-tripping? Some people guilt-trip their victims into giving consent. Some are effortlessly good at brainwashing and manipulating. My point is, he could have done anything possible to stay hidden—either to his victims or to himself or both."

"Then what's the point of these barracks if you can't fetch criminals like that?" Ebun snaps.

"If you're going to talk trash about this establishment, then you can as well leave and kill every criminal you see in Moscow. Then see how amazing it is to be a fugitive on the run because I promise that we are way more effective than the police. Even with the limited power that we have, we've been able to do a lot."

Damn. This man rants a lot. Ebun observes. And it's kind of hot.

God, Ebun! Have you gone nuts?! What's hot about a man talking harshly at you when he's not your father?! This isn't who you are, girl! Wake the hell up!

"Okay, I'm sorry, " she breathes out after battling with her thoughts. "It's just that... I promised to catch the man. In return for capturing the criminal, she will cover up for me whenever I'm not around at the hostel because my elder sister assigned the hostel owner to keep an eye on me before she left for Nigeria."

Sean's countenance changes a bit — and it's an expression that has a bit more interest and a bit less anger, and it shows in the way he raises his eyebrow.

"You still have to ask her the important questions, though." Sean insists again after a minute of decorum. Ebun sighs. "Just do that first." he urges with a tone of consideration.

****

Ebun arrived back at the hostel at six forty-five pm. As she knocks at the door, her heart hits hard against the cages of her rib simultaneously. Is she too late? Is she early? Is this the time Viktoriya would typically get back from school? So many questions with no answers.

A few minutes later, she hears the unlocking of the door from the other end and a whisper in the next minute. "Ebun? Is that you?" Viktoriya's whisper comes to Ebun's hearing, and quickly, Ebun brings her face closer to the door so that one of her ears is next to the keyhole. "Yes, it's me," Ebun whispers in return.

A squeaky sound comes after the fast jingling of the keys, and the door is ajar. Quickly, Ebun walks into the hostel like a rat. With her eyes wide opened, she scans the entire atmosphere and quickly whispers to Viktoriya.

"Is your mother present?"

"Yes, but she's in the backyard. Follow me quickly, " Viktoriya hurries Ebun with her fingers, and Ebun mounts the stairs hurriedly till they get to Viktoriya's room.

"You didn't go to school today, right?" Viktoriya asks Ebun in her normal voice as soon as they are in her room. "I figured as soon as I saw that guy standing by the school bus. He's not a staff of our school."

"No. I had important stuff to do, " Ebun answers after catching her breath for five minutes. "I have a question to ask you, by the way." Ebun hops on Viktoriya's bed, sitting at the edge.

"The man that raped you. When last did you see him after the incident?" Ebun asks.

Viktoriya's face turns pale. She clenches her tiny fists in trepidation, and Ebun doesn't fail to notice it. Even the look on her eyes beneath those framed glass— they are moist with tears—such a broken soul. I hate to see it. Ebun remarks inwardly.

"Two months ago, I think. His presence at the school premises became even more scarce after he raped me. Normally, a post-graduate student doesn't come to school as regularly as the student but, He only comes around once in a Blue Moon. The last time I saw him, he probably came to rape somebody else, but I was too scared even to do anything when our eyes met two months ago."

"Is there like a specific date or season when he usually comes around? Or is there any event that is synonymous with the days when you see him in school? Does anything special happen on the days that he's present?" Ebun asks after gazing into thin air for a few seconds. Sean didn't tell her to ask this question, but it just came to her mind, and she was glad it did. Perks of having a lawyer as your elder sister.

"Hmm, " Viktoriya fists the hem of her shirt as she bows her head slightly.

"Please give this a proper thought."

After a while, Viktoriya answers after she has connected the dots. "Yes! Oh my God, Yes! He used to come around on normal days for the normal school curriculum and to find new prey, of course, but on the days when he rapes his victims, there's always an event going on at school. He raped me on Valentine's Day. The last time I saw him two months ago, the school celebrated its tenth annual inauguration ceremony on that day. Also, there was another time when I heard that he raped a girl, and that day was the vice chancellor's birthday."

"Okay. Thank you for your helpful answers. Umm...by the way...did you cover up for me? Did your mum ask you when I'd be coming home while I was away? What did you tell her?"

Immediately after Ebun asks the fundamental questions, the door to Viktoriya's room snaps open, and standing by the door is a woman in her sixties, emitting blue flames of death solely from her piercing gaze — Mrs. Mariyah.

"Pochemu ty prishel domoy pozdno?"

Goosebumps spread like a swarm of locusts on the pores of Ebun's skin at the sound of that subtle thunderous voice. For Mrs. Mariyah to have fully spoken in Russian without giving a damn? Boy, is she furious!

Ebun turns towards Viktoriya. She's not expecting a translation from her because she has an idea of what Mrs. Mariyah was saying in Russian, but she looks at Viktoriya to see her expression at the sound of that question. Ebun is praying to God that Mrs. Mariyah isn't asking her why she came home late, but seeing Viktoriya's lips twitch nervously to the side and her pupils moving slowly from one end to the other, Ebun's heart drops, and with an instant throbbing headache, she whispers.

"You didn't cover up for me?"