"Sir, we've got updates on the child abduction and trafficking syndicate that appeared on our radar a while back." Alex walked in with his tablet.
"What's the news?" Det. Torres took his seat as Alex flashed the update onto the screen.
"We've received requests from the neighbouring Southeast Asian countries to assist them in investigations. Namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia." Alex replied.
"It's an international syndicate?" Det. Torres questioned.
"The local police in these countries have reported numerous cases of missing children from smaller orphanages. It's inferred that these smugglers work to bring orphaned children across these countries, including the Philippines, wherever demand is high." Alex swiped to the next slide.
"Demand? What demand?" Det. Torres furrowed his eyebrows.
"Demand for orphans available for adoption. Many rich couples and families who are unable to find matches through legal adoption centres turn to these brokers who promise them a fuss-free and quick way to adopt a child either within or outside the country. These couples come from all over Asia and even the West." Alex explained.
"What else do we have on the situation happening here?" Jayden looked through the information.
"The smugglers here not only target orphans but also children of poorer families. They tell parents that the children would have their education and living expenses sponsored but after a while, the parents lost contact with their children. By the time they realise that it's a scam, their children are no longer in Philippines." Alex sighed.
"So these smugglers engage in cross-border adoption to make it harder for the parents and authorities to track the children down?" Jayden understood the syndicate's modus operandi immediately.
"Bingo. The further they are from their home country, the harder it gets to track." Alex nodded.
"What can we do to help?" Sabrina frowned.
"For now, the instructions are to dig deeper into the workings of the syndicate and get a better understanding of what is happening here." Alex relayed the message from the higher-ups.
"Send out notes to our informants on the ground and get them to look out for any possible links to this syndicate." Det. Torres ordered.
"Yes, Sir." The team replied.
~
"Dr Tricia, we've got a pediatric case." Nurse Rose paged Tricia.
"Coming." Tricia abandoned her half-eaten lunch and left for the ER.
"Female, 4 years. Found wandering alone on the streets with superficial cuts and abrasions." Nurse Rose gave Tricia a run down on the patient sitting before her.
"Hi sweetie, ako si Dr Tricia. Anong pangalan mo?" Tricia bent down and smiled at the child. Instead of answering, the girl stared at Tricia with a blank look on her face.
"Naiintindihan mo ba ako?" Tricia tried again. The girl didn't react.
"What's your name?" Tricia switched to English.
"K...A...E...L...A..." The girl spelled her name.
"Kaela? That's a nice name. I'm Dr Tricia. Can I take a look at your hands and feet?" Tricia was relieved.
"It hurts..." Kaela flinched even when Tricia touched her gently.
"Sorry sweetie, I'll be gentle. Can you tell me how you got hurt?" Tricia looked at Kaela, who just shook her head.
"Do you remember how you got on the street?" Nurse Rose attempted.
"Car..." Kaela spoke.
"Car? A car dropped you off?" Tricia inferred. Kaela nodded.
"Can you remember what car it was?" Nurse Rose pressed further. Kaela shook her head.
"Was it your Mama and Papa?" Tricia asked. Kaela shook her head again.
"You don't know them?" Nurse Rose frowned. Kaela nodded.
"Did they do this to you?" Tricia had discovered the bruises on Kaela's arms and legs.
"I don't want to go back..." Kaela's eyes welled up.
"It's okay, sweetie..." Tricia wasn't prepared for the outburst but still wrapped Kaela in her arms, calming the crying girl down.
"I'll call the police and see what they can do." Nurse Rose informed Tricia before leaving.
"You'll be safe here, sweetie. I promise." Tricia assured the girl.
"Nurse Rose, you called about a lost child?" Jayden and Alex were at the hospital within 15 minutes.
"I did...but since when were you in charge of lost children?" Nurse Rose was surprised to see them.
"Long story but this child may be a clue in one of our current cases...Mind if we talk to her?" Jayden couldn't divulge too much at this point.
"Dr Tricia is with her. Come..." Nurse Rose led the way.
"These policemen are going to take good care of you, Kaela..." Tricia introduced Jayden and Alex to the frightened girl.
"No...Don't go..." Kaela held onto Tricia's sleeve.
"Hi, I'm Alex..." Alex bent down to say hi but it made Kaela even more scared.
"Kaela...do you want to see something cool?" Jayden kept his distance so as to not scare Kaela.
"Candy!" Kaela broke into a smile when Jayden performed a 'magic trick' and had a lollipop appear behind Kaela's ear.
"Hi, my name's Jayden. Do you mind if I ask you some questions while you enjoy your candy?" Jayden tried broaching the topic now that Kaela's guard was lowered. The girl nodded as she sucked on the lollipop.
"Do you remember who dropped you off on the road?" Jayden asked.
"Scary men..." Kaela's lips quivered.
"Do you remember how the scary men look?" Jayden pressed. Kaela shook her head.
"Where were you before that?" Jayden followed up.
"I don't know..." Kaela shrugged.
"Were there other people with you?" Jayden waited patiently for Kaela's answer.
"Friends..." Kaela nodded.
"Friends? What do you mean by friends?" Jayden gave Alex a glance and the latter started recording the conversation.
"Jack...Lily...Anna..." Kaela replied as she counted with her fingers.
"Are they the same age as you?" Jayden was getting closer.
"Jack is 10...Lily and Anna are 8...and baby is 1..." Kaela bit her lips.
"Baby? There was also a baby there?" Jayden was taken aback. Kaela nodded.
"Did they do this to you?" Jayden pointed to the bruises on Kaela.
"Jack got hit more...There was blood..." Kaela started crying at the memory.
"I think we need to end this here..." Tricia stepped in, comforting Kaela.
"Sorry...I didn't mean to...I just..." Jayden felt guilty for making Kaela cry.
"It's okay, Detective. It's no one's fault..." Nurse Rose assured as she led Jayden and Alex away.
"We'll try to track down Kaela's parents and trace the clues that she gave us. In the meantime, she's going to be in the hospital?" Alex confirmed.
"We'll contact the authorities and if nothing goes wrong, she'll be here until further updates. We still need to run a few tests on her health." Nurse Rose nodded.
"She'll be fine, right?" Jayden stared at Kaela in the distance.
"She's in good hands, Detective." Nurse Rose patted Jayden on the back as they left.
"How did it go? Any leads?" Det. Torres asked the second Jayden and Alex returned.
"The child was left alone by a bunch of unknown men on the road. She mentioned that there were other children with her, including an infant around the age of one." Jayden updated Det. Torres.
"Is the child local?" Det. Torres questioned.
"According to Nurse Rose, she only replied when they spoke English to her." Jayden sucked in his breath.
"So there's a chance that she's not local...Did she say anything about her parents?" Det Torres sighed.
"We didn't manage to get to that part...she burst out into tears talking about how the men had hurt her and the other children." Alex answered.
"God knows how many more children they've hurt and are going to hurt..." Jayden banged the table slightly with his fist.
"Sabrina, check the CCTVs along the road that the girl was found. It's probably going to be a fake car plate but at least we can track the type of car and see if we can extract any other information." Det. Torres turned to Sabrina.
"On it, Sir." Sabrina got down to work immediately.
"Alex, get the informants to search for any possible contacts. Jayden, I need you to join me for the conference call with the other countries." Det. Torres gave orders.
"Yes, Sir." The guys replied.
~
"Hi Kaela..." Tricia knocked on the door of Kaela's ward. The girl looked up from her dinner.
"Is the food not nice?" Tricia looked at Kaela's tray. She barely touched the food.
"I'm not hungry..." Kaela shook her head.
"But you didn't eat anything since you came in..." Tricia was worried.
"I miss my friends..." Kaela confessed.
"I know you do..." Tricia sat beside Kaela.
"Jack always gave me his food...the scary men only gave us bread to eat..." Kaela bit her lip, thinking about how the tasteless piece of bread twice a day rarely filled their stomachs.
"The police are working hard to find your friends. But for now, I'm sure your friends would want you to eat well and feel better soon so you can help the police find them." Tricia comforted Kaela.
"Really? Can I eat?" Kaela looked at Tricia.
"Of course you can, sweetie." Tricia scooped a spoonful of food for Kaela and handed it to her.
"It's nice..." Kaela broke into a small smile. It'd been a while since she had a proper meal.
"Have more then..." Tricia scooped another spoonful for Kaela, who gladly ate it.
"Are you going home?" Kaela asked after she'd cleared her plate.
"Yes, sweetie. I am." Tricia nodded.
"Can you stay with me? I'm scared..." Kaela grabbed onto Tricia's scrubs.
"I'll be back in the morning when you wake up...I promise." Tricia tried to convince Kaela.
"What if the scary men come back for me..." Kaela didn't let go.
"They won't. The hospital is a safe place, they won't let the scary men take you away." Tricia assured.
"Really?" Kaela loosened her grip.
"How about I give you this to keep you company tonight and tomorrow, I'll come see you early in the morning?" Tricia undid her keychain from her backpack.
"A doggy!" Kaela happily took the keychain.
"His name is Rocco. He's my dog. He'll keep you company while you sleep, okay?" Tricia smiled as she tucked Kaela in.
"You'll be back tomorrow?" Kaela checked again.
"I will. Good night, sweetie." Tricia gently stroked Kaela's cheeks as the girl closed her eyes. Tricia left after making sure that Kaela had fallen asleep. It didn't take long considering how exhausted Kaela was.
"You're really good with kids, Dr Tricia. We were trying to coax her to eat but she only listens to you." Nurse Rose was outside the ward.
"Perhaps it's because she saw me the most today...Anyways, did we get any information on Kaela's identity?" Tricia wondered.
"Unfortunately, our hospital doesn't have any records. Neither does the country's health databank..." Nurse Rose shook her head.
"Det. Rivera did mention the possibility of Kaela being from a different country..." Tricia remembered Jayden's words earlier on.
"I hope we get news on her parents soon...she's such a beautiful child. I can't imagine how heartbroken her parents are now..." Nurse Rose sighed.
"I hope so too...I'd be worried sick if I was Kaela's parents." Tricia looked at Kaela sleeping peacefully. She was indeed a beautiful child.
A/N:
Hint: Kaela's gonna play a big role ^-^