Chapter 40: In Search

When we arrived at the location, we found nothing. The place we had come to was an unfortunate part of the city. There were drug addicts and girls selling their bodies, even local gangsters guarding them.

To avoid causing a clash between the police and the local gang, we decided to conduct the search without seeking help from the locals. After making this decision, we spent several hours searching but found nothing, neither her nor any leads to find her. Realizing that this wouldn't work, I decided to negotiate with them after all.

Having made up my mind, I scanned the area for someone who would be more susceptible to dialogue. Choosing one of them, I approached him. "Hello. I know you've already figured out that I'm a policeman. But I don't want to conflict with you. This is the last place where a girl was seen. I need you to help me find her," I said.

"Why should I help you?" he asked.

"At least for me to get out of here. The sooner I leave, the easier it will be for you to continue your business, right?" I asked him.

He looked at me as if assessing me. "Wait here, I'll ask the boss," he said and walked towards a nearby house.

After about 3-4 minutes, a tall but overweight man approached me. His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing a protruding belly. He approached me slowly, as if in a movie. "I heard from my brother that you're looking for a girl here," he said.

"Show me her photo, I'll send it to my guys and if anyone has seen her, I'll let you know. But in return, as soon as I find out something, you'll leave our area," he said.

"I agree," I said and handed him the photo through the cloud. "Now wait here. When I find out something, he will come to you," he said, pointing to the same guy I had spoken to before.

"Got it, I'll wait here," I said, sitting under a tree.

As they left, I began to wonder where Samuel had gone. Since we had split up to search this area, I didn't know where he was. The main thing was that he didn't get into trouble. I was a little worried because he wasn't answering my calls.

As I sat here waiting for information from the local gang, I messaged Samuel about the deal I had made with them. But my messages and calls didn't go through, which bothered me.

Could he be underground somewhere? Or in a room with thick walls that blocked the signal? I was anxious, but I couldn't leave here to look for him. I had to wait for a response from the local gang.

But with each passing minute that I waited for their response, my concern for Samuel grew. He didn't seem like someone who could resist.

Fortunately, my wait lasted only about 10 minutes. The same young guy I had spoken with before approached me, holding a phone out to me.

"Here," he said, handing me the phone.

I looked at him quizzically, wondering what he wanted.

"Remember the map. There's a hideout where the local gang hangs out. One of the girls saw her in that hideout. As we agreed, get the girl and get out of our area," he instructed.

"I'll do that, but I lost my colleague around here. So until I find him, I won't be able to leave, even if I take the girl with me. But as soon as he shows up, we'll disappear from your area," I replied.

He made a call and then turned to me again.

"The boss said he'll give you time to find him and the girl. But after that, you can't be here," he said, before walking back to where he had been when we first met.

I roughly remembered the location, so I opened the phone and found the spot on the map. After marking the building shown on the phone, I hurried there.

I followed the navigator, which told me it would take 17 minutes to walk from my location to the building where they had seen Judy. But due to the anxiety I felt about Samuel's disappearance, I rushed to the place and arrived there in just 7 or 8 minutes.

As I arrived at the location, I noticed a building that was almost collapsing, consisting of several floors, leaning heavily under its own weight. One of the staircases led to the basement of the building, while the other led upstairs. At first, I ran up the stairs, but soon realized there were almost no people there.

I realized this because there weren't any common syringes or other supplies scattered around the den. In a normal situation, such places would be littered with them, but here there were only a few dozen. And that means the den is located in the basement of this building.

So I hurried down the stairs. Once on the first floor, I ran to the basement. The staircase leading to the basement was crooked and dented, so I had to change my run to a quick walk.

Finally, when I reached the basement, I saw the scene that I should have seen on the upper floors. Syringes and people were scattered throughout the corridor. As I walked, I saw more than a dozen needles on the floor. I walked carefully so as not to provoke anyone.

Carefully passing between the people lying on the floor and the syringes scattered throughout the corridor, I peered into the rooms that were strewn throughout this basement.

It took me more than 10 minutes before I heard Samuel's voice. I was surprised because I couldn't get through to him all this time. No longer holding back for fear of waking up the people lying on the floor, I hurried to Samuel's voice coming from the end of the corridor.

Reaching the room from which Samuel's voice was coming, I opened the door, or rather, broke it down. Literally forcing the door to almost come off its hinges. There I saw Samuel hugging a girl. The girl looked like the one in the photo I had.