No sleep. No food. No rest. Nothing.
For the past two days I've had nothing. There is no trace of Veronica anywhere. Just speculations of where she might be.
There is no way she ran away, so the only option is abduction.
It didn't make sense. At all.
No one would dare to abduct one of us. It would mean a war, and no one is prepared for a war against us. We have too many allies, the worlds supply of guns and money. We have more men around the world than most organizations.
It feels like we're missing something huge.
"Look, here." Elijah pointed at the screen. Veronica was at the airport in Al Dhafra. She was buying a cup of coffee and sitting down on a chair in the first class lounge. "That's the last place she was sighted. Which makes zero sense because we would have surveillance from her getting back on the plane or moving or anything."
I tied my hair up in a bun and played the tape again. "Yes, but look," I pointed to the screen. "There is a wave of people right after. It was maybe a twenty or thirty second window. If done with proper organization, it's doable. They grab her when the cameras are blinded from all sides by the people and take her where we have no reach."
Mateo finished the last of his water. "Have we heard anything from the people we sent over the Emirates?"
I shook my head, "nothing. They've been investigating, but they can only do so much. One wrong move and they get killed and then we've tipped off the people who took her."
Gabriel pulled at his hair, "that doesn't matter. We know it's a highly skilled group of people with resources. They must have known about us looking for her to wait for the cameras to be blocked. They know exactly who Veronica is, so this isn't just a random group of lowlife's. And," he pulled a tab on the computer, "I got all the information on every passenger in that plane. They all got on afterwards, so they all clear out. These people knew about her flight, her stops and were waiting for her right outside."
"How?" Mateo and I asked at the same time.
"I don't know," Gabriel answered.
I hated this. It reminded me too much of Mussolini. Like we were being watched. It feel creepy and made my skin crawl just thinking about it.
Feeling on the brink of wanting to off myself, I got up. "I need more water. I'll be back."
They nodded, not bothering to turn around. I went for the door and opened it to leave, but wasn't able to take another step.
The utter shock paralyzed me.
I felt my blood freeze and my brain shut down. This...I...what.
"Hi," he said.
Nicolas Alfonsi.
He was standing in front of me. Tall like I remembered. Red shirt, black jeans. His hair was slightly longer and he had some scruff. Big brown eyes.
My mouth stopped working.
I haven't seen him in two years. I haven't allowed myself to think of him for two years. I willed myself to forget him and my memories with him.
He's a past forgotten. A past I wanted- no, needed to forget.
And now he's right here in front of me.
He didn't look away from my eyes. He stared intensely, like he always used to do. As if he was trying to drink in every thing about me. As if he was trying to see through me, which most of the time he can. Could. He could.
It's been two years. He can't do that anymore.
"I need water," I mumbled and sidestepped him to get out of the room.
I felt my heart rate increase dramatically. It was pounding hard enough to burst out of my chest.
Every memory, every conversation, every kiss...all of it. Playing in my mind.
I stumbled into the makeshift kitchen in the warehouse and took out a bottle of water. Twisting the cap off, I downed the bottle in one go. I took another one.
Breathe. Come on, Anastasia. Breathe.
I was getting surprisingly better at controlling my anxiety. Before I'd leave it unchecked and it would go bad for me. When I went to therapy after I was diagnosed with PTSD, the doctor taught me ways to keep myself calm and at bay.
A...b...c...d...fuck.
Z...y...x...w...v...u...t...motherfucker!
I slammed the bottle on the counter and took a deep breath. Why am I getting worked up? This meant nothing. Nothing.
He's here because his sister is missing, I should've expected that.
"Hey."
I felt my soul leave my body as I jumped.
"Sorry," Gabriel chuckled. "You okay?"
I nodded. "Just...drinking water." I shook the bottle in my hand.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Nick coming. It was the last thing on my mind with everything going on."
I waved him off. "Whatever. It was obvious he'd come, it's his sister. Did you find anything?"
"Actually, yes. Come on."
I followed him back to the room and took my seat. Luckily, Nicolas decided to sit on the other side of the room. "What'd you find?"
Gabriel pressed a button on the computer, "see that?"
I looked at the screen but noticed nothing. "No."
He huffed and replayed it. "Did you see it?"
I shook my head. "No. Do you need sleep?"
He rolled his eyes. "Look," he played it again. "It's very subtle. But right...here! You saw?"
I squinted my eyes, "kind of. Replay it."
He did. I noticed what he meant. "It's cut right? They messed with the footage?"
"Yes," Gabriel smiled. "They cut out a part of the footage which is when they must have taken her out of the airport."
"How do you know it's that part?" Nicolas asked.
"Because," Gabriel gestured towards the camera, "they cut out the camera that pointed towards the parking lot."
"They have cars," Mateo said. "Resources."
I huffed, "that doesn't mean anything. Any random thug can have a car and take her."
"Yes," Elijah agreed. "But not any random thug has somebody to erase camera footage for them. Can we retrieve the footage?"
"Not from here," he shook his head. "I would need to have the actual footage with me, this is just my view from hacking into the software. Besides, I don't think any of their cameras are backed up."
Nicolas sighed, "is it possible that any of the airport officials had anything to do with this?"
No one answered. I was looking at the camera, trying my best to ignore the awkward tension and nerves I felt. I looked over my shoulder to realize they were waiting for me to answer.
I'm in charge and all that.
"Well," I took in a deep breath and kept my gaze locked on to the cameras. "Yes."
"How?" He pressed.
"The Emirates are known to have allies in Ukraine, Germany and other gang infested rivals of ours. Most of the people working for them are ordinary people looking for cash. Since they most likely knew Vee came from the inner circle of the Sicilian Mafia, it wouldn't have been hard to get any of them to cooperate for a few thousand euros."
"In fact," Gabriel added on, "I can almost guarantee that they helped them."
"How?" Nicolas and I asked at the same time. I rolled my lips into my mouth, feeling my heart pound against my rib cage.
"Well, we all know Vee. She's a feisty little thing. She wouldn't have gone out of there without kicking and screaming. There would have been some type of alarming behavior. Besides, she was in the first class lounge. You need special access to get in there. So, any one of those employees either helped drug the girl to get her out peacefully, or helped take her out without anyone seeing."
"Did you guys send anyone there to investigate?" Nicolas asked.
"Yes. Tasia sent two men there yesterday," Mateo explained. "We've been waiting for a response but have nothing yet."
"So we have nothing concrete yet?"
"No," Gabriel answered. "But we do have suspicions."
"Spill."
"It may have to do with the trafficking ring we've been after. Girls around Vee's age have gone missing over the last few months. We don't know who's leading it or which country is hosting it. We've been chasing them down, rescuing kids. Still, we have no idea who the head of it is. This could be a warning to tell us to stand down."
The blood seemed to drain from his face. I couldn't imagine what he must be feeling. We've dealt with trafficking rings before and it's never a fairy tale ending. "When were the last group of girls taken?"
"About a week ago, maybe a little less." Gabriel answered. " The most recent were taken from Spain, but we're still checking out that information. The other confirmed group was taken from Ukraine and brought to Germany. Germany seems to be the most suspicious one. They're almost always at the center of trouble."
"Shouldn't we check out Germany then?"
None of them answered again.
"No," I finally said. "We're not sure if she's there and it's far too dangerous to go without a proper lead. We have to wait."
"Wait for what?" His voice was tight.
"For more leads. For more information. Things in Germany aren't good for us, so we can't bust in there without knowing. It'll only get us killed."
He sighed, exasperated. "It's been two days. We can't wait any longer."
I finally looked at him, "yes. We can. We're going to wait for the people we sent to The Emirates to update us. Then, we're going to form a plan of action from there. Until then, we keep looking for clues from here and wait."
"Wait for what?" He was getting angrier. "For her to get killed? You more than anyone know how long those kids last, Anastasia. A day? Two if they're lucky? It's been two days for her. She could be dead tomorrow for all we know!"
The tension was growing, and no one dared to intervene.
"They won't kill her," I finally said.
"How do you know?" He challenged, eyes angry and accusing.
I took a deep breathe, knowing my answer won't reassure him in the least. If anything, it'll make it worse.
"Because it's a sex trafficking ring," I replied. "They'll auction her off first, or send her to a brothel."
Any anger or accusation was replaced by complete grief at my answer. He looked defeated. A look all too familiar these days.
"She's from the inner circle of Lorenzo Bianchi's business. She's worth millions. They'll keep her for last, give her to someone who is willing to pay the amount she is worth. She's got time, but not much. So, we need a proper plan to look for her."
He closed his eyes, his fists balling at his sides. No one spoke, all feeling for him. And if he's anything like the Nicolas I knew, he's somehow blaming himself for this.
"I'm going to find my sister," he declared. "I'm gonna go to Germany."
I clenched my jaw, feeling the stress getting the best of me. "Go ahead, but if you get in trouble, don't expect backup."
"What?" He seemed taken aback.
I swallowed hard. "Let's get one thing straight, Nicolas. I'm the boss now. On top of anything, Veronica is a member of this organization. I will do everything in my power to find her. One thing I will not do is endanger the lives of everyone else I am responsible for. You're not someone I am responsible for, nor have you been here to see how the situation has worsened. If you want to go to Germany and die, go ahead. Now, if you want to work with us and have people backing you up, then you do it on my command."
He bounced his leg. "I can't stay here and do nothing. My sister is missing." The pain in his voice made any hardness disappear in mine.
A knock on the door stopped me from replying. Diego, Elijah's new partner, popped his head in. "Boss?"
"Yes?"
"We have news from The Emirates."
Finally! "What are they?"
"The men we sent are dead."
***
You guys are so awesome. 101 followers? Ugh, if I could give you all a big fat kiss and a bear hug I would. But apparently some of you are even in India? Mexico? Australia? Netherlands? My country, Colombia? (I cried a little with that one) and so many other countries that warm my heart because you guys are my favorite people in this whole wide world. I hope you liked this part.