Chapter 17: Busting the Human Traffickers’ Lair

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Busting the Human Traffickers’ Lair

Officer Lee had been wondering how he would comfort Zoe Sawyer when she got back, but his head snapped up the moment he heard her.

He quickly grabbed another tracker from the table, handed it to Zoe Sawyer, and asked anxiously, "What’s going on?"

"I think I’ve stumbled into the traffickers’ den. I saw several kids," Zoe Sawyer said with a sigh. After taking the device, she made a hushing gesture to the others before activating the tracker and tossing it inside.

Officer Lee didn’t have time to respond. The instant Zoe Sawyer threw the device, he rushed back to his station to begin tracking its location. At the same time, he took control of its micro-camera to survey the surroundings.

’I have to find out if there’s anyone else in this room besides these kids!’

The location was quickly confirmed. It was right here in the city!

This time, however, the location wasn’t on the west side of the city, but in East Varden!

That area would require cooperation from another precinct.

Realizing this, Officer Lee wasted no time. After confirming there were no adults in the room, he immediately contacted the chief and explained the entire situation.

"Coordinate with Sawyer and keep the children calm. I’ll contact our colleagues in East Varden immediately and have them on standby for support."

The chief, who had been in the middle of handling another case, quickly made the necessary arrangements after hearing Officer Lee’s report.

After hanging up, the chief wearily rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Sawyer had helped them catch a lot of criminals and prevented one tragedy after another.

But the workload was frankly getting a little overwhelming.

’I’ll have to consider expanding the team... and maybe even assign someone to handle Sawyer’s cases specifically.’

Once he confirmed that help was on the way, Officer Lee signaled for Zoe Sawyer to calm the children in the room and prevent them from making any noise that might attract attention from outside.

"Hey, sweetie. Can you move? Can you come over here?" Zoe Sawyer knelt, her expression gentle as she looked at the little girl closest to her.

The girl’s clothes were clearly stained, and her hair was a mess.

Hearing Zoe Sawyer’s voice, the girl grew wary. She shuffled away, making sure to shield an even smaller child behind her, as if afraid the strange woman would notice them.

Several other children noticed what was happening and crawled over on all fours, forming a protective barrier around the two.

A few of the more aggressive ones, clutching shards of porcelain they had found somewhere, snarled and bared their teeth at Zoe Sawyer.

’It’s touching how they’re protecting each other, but this isn’t going to work!’

’If we waste any more time, what happens if the traffickers come back?!’

Zoe Sawyer glanced around, looking for something she could use to win their trust.

Finally, her eyes landed on Officer Lee, who had just finished his call.

"Officer Lee, come over here a second. I need your help."

’The police uniform!’

’That has to be more convincing than just my words!’

Although he wasn’t sure why Zoe Sawyer had called him over, Officer Lee walked to her side, ready to see what she needed.

It went just as Zoe Sawyer had expected. Upon seeing Officer Lee’s uniform, the agitated and wary children began to hesitate.

One of the younger-looking children stood up as if to say something, but another child yanked her back, hissing in frustration, "Don’t go! What if they’re liars, too?

"Have you already forgotten how you were caught? Use your head!"

The child who’d been stopped hesitated. Of course, she remembered.

’But we’ve been trapped in here for so long. The traffickers wouldn’t go to the trouble of dressing up as police officers to trick us again, would they?’

Before Officer Lee could say a word, a series of hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

The traffickers were back!

There was no time to get them all out.

"Stay here and be quiet for now. We’ve already contacted the nearest police station to come rescue you.

"If anyone asks, just say you haven’t seen anyone else," she said, worried that her sudden appearance would alert the traffickers and interfere with the chief’s plan.

With those hurried instructions, Zoe Sawyer shut the door.

The moment the door closed, a heavy iron door on the other side was thrown open.

Two vicious-looking men swaggered in, each carrying a thick branch covered in small thorns.

Getting hit with one of those would be excruciating.

"What’s all the racket? I could hear you screaming from outside.

"All of you better behave today. If I find anyone making a scene, I’ll sell you off to some remote mountain village, and you’ll never get out for the rest of your lives!"

The thinner man in the lead spoke as he walked toward the children, kicking things out of his way as he went.

After confirming the children weren’t hiding anything, he sneered and turned to leave.

Just before leaving, perhaps because he was in a foul mood, he casually kicked the child nearest to him.

The force of an adult’s kick was more than a starving child could bear.

The boy who was kicked collapsed to the ground.

He clutched his stomach, his face turning pale.

The man who had kicked him looked at the boy’s expression and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

He was about to kick him again when the other man, who had been standing by silently, stopped him. "Enough. Let’s just deal with the inspectors outside first. Don’t waste time on this.

"Once the inspection is over, we need to ship this ’cargo’ out immediately."

The first man knew what was more important. He spat in the boy’s direction. "You got lucky, you little punk."

The two men walked out, locking the iron door behind them while complaining nonstop. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"There’s no one around here, and the factory is abandoned. What’s there to inspect? Let’s just get this over with so it doesn’t mess up our plans."

"Alright, just be careful. Don’t slip up."

"I know. The other guys are already in hiding. If anything looks wrong, they’ll grab the brats and get out."

Zoe Sawyer and Officer Lee had witnessed the entire assault.

Though furious, they knew now wasn’t the time to act.

They could only take screenshots of the two men’s faces and send them to their colleagues at the Varden East Precinct, telling them not to let these two get away.

"No, I have to go check on the boy who was kicked!"