Chapter 66: Stalking

From afar, my father, Dante, Carlo, and I watch the seemingly abandoned house guarded by two men on the outside. We're currently in a shady town far from our house within the Ricci's territory. The area seems a bit unmaintained and gloomy, but we know better than to cause trouble here. So, at the moment, we can only watch everything unfold in silence.

According to the document from Fabio's office, this is where the meeting point is with the Romanos. We've waited for hours, and no one has entered or left the building. As I'm about to give up, a car pulls up to the house. It stays idle for a second until someone comes out of it.

We continue to watch the car in silence, and as expected, Fabio is the one who's just arrived. Without wasting any time, he steps into the house. If Fabio really is involved with the Romanos, this could change the relationship between our family and his. It's hypocritical considering what my family do, but selling drugs is not as bad as trafficking a human being, especially children.

"Dante. How many children are in there?" I ask. Dante said he's been asking around about the human trafficking ring in the area yesterday. However, I'm not sure if he has gotten any information about it.

"I'm not sure. I didn't get the intel from my guy. He's still looking around, but he did confirm that a family controls the area under the Ricci's leadership. It's the Carabello," Dante says.

I'm not sure who they are, but I guess they only have a little influence in the territory. I haven't heard about the family name, so they are probably insignificant without the Ricci. I think that's why Fabio chose this area to hide the children. No one would really look into a place this far from the big cities for the children.

"Considering the size of the house, they could easily fit tens of children, but then again, I know they're not that mindless to put that many children in the same place. So, maybe they only have around ten children in there," my father says.

Ten children. Poor kids. I wish I could do something to help them, but I can't. At least not now. What are they really planning to do with them? Sell their organs? Pimp them? Gosh, I hope the latter won't be the case. If they do sell their organs, then those unfortunate kids wouldn't have to deal with pain and trauma for the rest of their lives.

"Look," Carlo says.

Everyone turns their head towards the house again. After half an hour, Fabio finally comes out of the house with two men following behind him, carrying one unconscious girl each. Both seem to be around 8 years old. They get the girls into the car and then drive away from the house. I turn to Dante, then to my father and Carlo. Everyone seems to be puzzled by what we just witnessed, wondering where Fabio will take them.

Without wasting time, we follow Fabio's car, wanting to find out where Fabio will be taking the girls. The drive takes so long that we haven't even reached Fabio's destination after an hour. I begin to suspect Fabio might be bringing the girls to Alvaro himself. Or worse, to a bad place. If he really works with the Ricci, he probably keeps Alvaro and his family safe in his territory, so my family won't know where the Romanos truly are.

Carlo slows down the car as we see Fabio's car stop in front of a house. This house looks so much better than the one we were at. I wonder what he's doing here. Is Fabio going to drop off the girls here? What will happen to them once he leaves?

Two men come out of the house and take the girls from the car and into the house. Yeah. I don't think anything good will happen to them in there. Shit. I wish I could save them now, but it would be too risky. We don't know how many people are in the house and in the area, so it would be a suicide mission if we tried to save them right now.

"Is that it?" I ask.

"I guess so. Maybe someone else will transport them somewhere else later. My question is, why does Fabio do all this himself? He could've ordered his men to do it. Or maybe, Alvaro or his sons might be in there, so he decided to do the work himself. I'll ask someone about this. I know a guy who lives an hour from this place. Maybe he could watch over this place," Dante says as he takes out his phone.

"Do it," my father says. Dante texts someone on his phone quickly and then nods to himself.

"Done. What now?" Dante asks.

"Let's just go back. We can't do anything just yet," my father says. I frown at my father's decision, but he's right. If we try to do something, we might end up hurting ourselves, and if that happens, we won't be able to save anyone else. I can only hope the girls will be safe in there.

"Yes, boss," Dante says.

Once we're finally back home, I go straight to my room. Guilt fills me for not being able to save the girls. The thought of the worst possible things happening to them haunts me. This world is too cruel. I can't believe someone as innocent as they are has to go through such an awful situation.

I snap out of my daze when I hear a knock on my door. I don't say anything as I see Dante stepping into the room. He frowns when he notices the gloom on my face. He closes the door behind me and then takes a seat next to me.

"Are you okay?" Dante asks.

"Not really. I don't think I'll be okay knowing there are children going through god awful situation," I say.

"We'll save them. Soon. I hate to say this but it's better late than never, right?" Dante says. He's right. I'd rather have them saved than letting them go through the same shit over and over again for the rest of their lives.

"Promise?" I ask.

"Promise," Dante says. Letting my emotion clouds my jugdment, I wrap my arms around Dante, hugging him as I continue to frown. Despite his rejection yesterday, he doesn't hesitate to hug me back, soothing me by rubbing my back gently. I wish this could last forever. I wish Dante and I are a thing in the future and not just two people having feelings towards each other without a true bond.