Deception 2

Shaun and Horus had started working at Daily Planet for some time now. It had been 3 weeks since the incident at Alamo restaurant and no one had any clue as to where the truck had gone. Horus personally didn't care, but Shaun, he was curious. Initially as they started working, Shaun had requested Sam to let him continue with the Italian sex traffickers case, telling her that there might be a whole organization out there and that he'll find them. This wasn't entirely false, for the probability of there actually being an organization wasn't that far fetched. So Shaun started researching, checking for all the missing girls who were never found, to the area where these missings were frequent. He wanted to set a timeline to these abductions, to figure out when they take people, is there a pattern and what age girls do they prefer. During the Alamo case, the girls who were rescued were mostly of the age 19-20 years. Shaun decided to interview some of the family members of the missing persons and also some of the girls he had saved. First he went to the family of a girl named Penny Morgan, they lived at 33rd and Lexton street. He reached her place around 3 in the afternoon, he knocked on the door and waited. "Yes? How can I help you? ", it was a man, around 50 years old, "Hi, I'm Jake from the Daily Planet, is Penny here? ". After hearing Shaun say 'Jake', the man quickly invited him in. "Penny!! Jake's here to see you", Penny came running down her room, "Jake!! Hi! Please make yourself comfortable!", Shaun sat down on the couch and he was offered coffee. "I must say, thank you very much for saving our daughter, we are forever in your debt", said Penny's father, Shaun shook his head, "Not at all, actually I'm here to talk to Penny, can I get a moment alone with her?", "Of course", saying this Penny's father told them to go to Penny's room. Once in the bedroom Penny ran into Shaun's arms, hugging him tightly, "Thank you for saving me!", Shaun pushed her away gently and lookes her in the eye, "Penny, I need to ask you something important but before that, have you told anyone about that night? ", Penny swore that she never told a soul about what happened that night, only that Shaun and his 'brother' had saved them. Shaun left Penny's house after talking to her a few min, asking if she remembered anything before she was saved, any small detail. She only remembered one word which the kidnappers seem to be repeating, "Prato", which meant meadow. Shaun was intrigued, was this a place or some kind of code. Shaun returned back to Planet's office, to do some research when Horus approached him. "Hey, you got a minute? ", Shaun looked up from a newspaper, "Sure, what's up? ". Horus sat down near Shaun and leaned forward, "I got this project from Sam, I need to track down a police officer who seems to be involved in corruption and cover up". Shaun sighed and then grinned, "OK, I need a break from this case too".

He and Horus headed toward the police station, the officer they were tracking down was Paolo Esperanza, he was rumoured to have been involved in cover up in some major crimes. On reaching the station Horus gestured Shaun that he shall do the talking. Paolo was typing up something in his computer, seemed like it was a case report. Horus walked up to to him, followed by Shaun. "Hello officer, we were hoping you could help us with something", said Horus, while Shaun looked around the officer's desk. It was neatly arranged with pens in the stand, files properly clipped and registers neatly stacked. No one would guess this was a corrupt cop. Officer Paolo looked up from his computer, "Yes, how can I help you? Do you need to file a complaint?? ". Shaun noticed that he had the same demeanor as those traffickers, it was very faint but didn't go past him. Horus slightly grinned and leaned forward, "We need a help with a cover-up and we were told to contact you", Paolo stood up immediately, quite angry, "What the hell!? Do you think you can bribe me to escape law!? ", Horus was calm as usual. "Chill bro, no need to snap. We know all about you", said Horus while maintaining eye contact. Paolo was getting angry visibly, he was about to cuff Horus when Shaun stepped in and whispered, "Prato", Paolo on hearing this immediately fell silent. He looked around and then gestured them to meet him around the back. Horus eyed Shaun questioningly, and Shaun winked.

~Bingo!!~

Shaun and Horus left the station and circled around to the back, while Paolo announced that he's gonna take a smoke break and came to the back. "What do you know about 'Prato' !?", he asked once he made sure no one was listening. Shaun quickly got into character, "Look, we are just delivery guys, we were driving the truck this time, but were Interrupted by someone and now the truck is gone and we have been hearing chatter about girls being rescued and investigation and shit." Horus realized what was going on and he jumped in too, "Look we were just looking to make some quick cash, we weren't told to expect anyone and now we are in trouble, just help us to dodge the investigation". Paolo sighed, "I heard that the others were killed, but no bodies were found, how did you two escape? ", Shaun feigned worry, "Look bro, we heard screams and then saw Francis' head roll by, we got the hell outta there, we were previously told to contact you if there was any problems with driving that's why we came here". Paolo nodded, "You guys are hiding at the old safe house? Loew's 46th Street Theater??", Shaun stopped himself from grinning, this was jackpot! He and Horus nodded, to which Paolo said, "Ok, I'll get some cash ready by night fall, you guys need to lay low for a while, go to your relatives or something." Shaun and Horus thanked him and left, on the way back Horus asked Shaun how he knew that Paolo was involved in the Alamo case. " The report he was writing about mentioned some restaurant plus he had the same kinda of air around him as that of the traffickers, it was a lucky guess", said Shaun. Horus looked at him in awe, "You bastard! You could have gotten us locked up! ", exclaimed Horus while laughing. Shaun grinned, "Well tell Mason about Paolo, we'll be visiting this safe house, Loew's 46th Street Theater later this weekend. Make the necessary preparations". Horus exclaimed, "Yes boss! ".