Connections (3)
Connections (3)
There had got to be some other way to get inside—or else how did Herman get in undetected? Gael's men had already surveyed all the known entrances to the main building, but there was no possible way—even the door to the underground cellar was locked from the outside and looked like it hadn't been opened in years. If only he could get a blueprint of this place—which would likely be inside the main building. He had no time and means for research now. He needed to act now and fast.
But with Herman holding a gun to the boy's head, they didn't want to risk him getting angered or threatened which could result in accidentally shooting anyone in the room. They just had to find a way in quietly and without endangering the people inside.
"Boss, I found something!" Trigger whisper-yelled near the front door, behind a bush, and everyone snapped their heads in his direction.
***
"Hurry up!!!" Herman roared as he ordered all the kids to get into the kitchen, using his gun to point. One by one, they were ushered down a manhole under the kitchen table.
Several times, Angela was tempted to lunge at him, but she was too afraid to move especially when every time someone "misbehaves"—Herman's terminology—he'd point the gun at any child close to him. The orphans were now traumatized—no thanks to this imbecile. It was harder to deal with a crazy person who had a gun—and a fidgety Herman with dilated pupils looked plenty crazy.
The children wailed and Herman yelled at them to "shut the fuck up", which only allowed for a few seconds of silence before one started crying again and everyone followed. Sister Mary sobbed and prayed while assisting the kids down the hole and the other female staff member was receiving them from down below. Angela guessed this was where Herman entered the building because it was already partially open when they arrived in the kitchen.
A little girl fell to her knees and Herman pointed the gun at her. "Get up!!!" Without second thoughts, Angela placed herself between the little girl and Herman, the gun now pointed at her chest. "You don't really want to do this." She gritted her teeth. "You've been in the orphanage for so many years. These kids are like your children now. Some of them looked up to you as a father figure. How could you do this to them?"
For a second, Angela thought she saw Herman falter, but the look of sympathy in his eyes was gone as fast as it appeared. They were menacing as he glared at her. He looked so different now that he shaved his head and his body was pale and pasty. "Shut up, you fucking bitch! This is all your fault. If you had just shut your mouth and turned a blind eye, we wouldn't be in this situation. I was doing fine—excellent, even, until you came sniffing around!"
She was pissed that Herman was still blaming her for all the wrong things he had done and what happened to him that she couldn't help but hiss. "How is your carelessness my fault? You're blaming me for getting caught?" People like him were unbelievable.
"Who else can I blame? You—"
Angela gasped as she watched Herman get tackled to the ground. Everything was so fast that she didn't even see how it happened. One second Herman was pointing a gun at her chest and the next, Gael came out of nowhere and had pinned him to the floor. Herman's gun was now in Gael's hand and Herman's face was smashed onto the tiles while his right arm was bent in an awkward position behind him with Gael putting pressure on it—that got Herman crying out in pain.
Gael didn't release him, though. If anything, he pressed his knee harder on Herman's back, earning another shriek.
More men poured into the room and Gael gave the gun to Rick for safety. Angela's ears perked up from the sound of sirens from the distance. The police were coming. Gael had alerted them before they came inside the building—something that Herman stupidly did not anticipate.
"Thank you, God. Thank you," Sister Mary repeatedly muttered as she helped the kids back up the hole with the help of the other men.
Trigger bounded Herman's wrists with a heavy-duty zip tie. He somehow always had one with him.
"Are you okay?" Gael reached for Angela and held her face in his hands. He was breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon, his eyes searching her body as if wanting to make sure she was in one piece.
"Y-Yeah… I'm fine." Her eyes roamed all over him, glancing at the other men and then back at him again. That's when she noticed that he had dust and soot all over him as if he crawled through a dirty hole. He was dirty—so did the others—but otherwise, no visible wound on him. "You? What happened to you?"
He blew out a breath and his shoulders relaxed a little, but he still held Angela in his arms. Shaking his head, he threw a scowl at Herman, who was now being dragged out of the kitchen, and Gael said, "That bastard put booby traps all around the area, preventing us from getting inside. Two of your father's men are being treated right now. They're gonna be okay." He nodded to his men. "Trigger found a poorly covered hole in the wall that led us inside the coat closet."
"Oh… That…" Sister Mary's eyes widened. "There was a small accident a few months ago. We've been meaning to repair that…"
Gael nodded. "It worked out for us in the end. We didn't want to break in recklessly and give him a reason to use the gun on any of you."
"Lillian!!!" Sister Mary crouched down and a little girl with streaks of tears on her cheeks jumped into her arms. "Oh, my child. I'm so thankful you're okay."
Angela exhaled a sigh of relief. She then faced Gael again and wiped some dirt from his face. She was still slightly shaky because of the experience but knowing Gael and the kids were okay, she could finally breathe easy.
"Oh, right!" She straightened her back when she remembered something. "It's not much, but it might help. In the big room, Herman mentioned something about someone being in charge even if his father can't take the seat. I'm not sure, I think he implied that. And I'm thinking it's General Leos, because who else could it be if his father could no longer run for governor? He also said the people he worked for are a lot scarier than the police—his words. I'm sure everything was recorded on the security cameras. I tried to ask more, but he was restless and flighty."
Sister Mary had updated Angela about getting new security cameras in the public areas of the building after she suggested it one time and to make sure only she and another trusted staff should know about it. Angela wasn't sure if Herman found out about the camera in the big room, but it was worth a try.
Gael brushed his knuckles on her cheek and gave her a small smile. "You did great." He pressed his lips onto her forehead and squeezed her once in his arms. When he pulled back, he told her, "I'll speak with the authorities outside."
For someone who didn't like working with the police, Gael sure trusted these people right now to do the right thing. He could have chosen a different method to take care of Herman and make him go away forever, but there were certain times—like this one when civilians were involved—that it was better to let the police handle it, especially when Herman's case was a high profile one.
At the front door, Trigger held Herman by the back of his shirt collar—the latter barely struggled as if he had resigned to his fate. Gael walked over to them, keeping his voice low as he watched the first police car roll into the long driveway.
"Let me make this clear, Herman. Handing you over to the police is my mercy to you. You won't enjoy prison. And if you say or do anything stupid during your trial and when you're locked up inside—you bet your ass I will find out about it—I will ensure every criminal will treat you like the dirt on their shoes. Even those people won't take too kindly to those who hurt children and women. I can make things happen that will make you wish I'd have ended your life today instead."
Herman's eyes bugged out as he looked at Gael in horror. Child endangerment and trafficking were already enough to put him behind bars and keep him away for a long time, but his time or safety in prison was another thing.
Gael's deadly glare towards Herman did not waver even when the authorities got out of the cars and strode towards them to take Herman away. An officer invited Gael, along with the others in the orphanage, to go to the station to give their statement. Gael promised they would drop by after making sure everyone in the orphanage was okay.
After an initial investigation, it turned out that Herman used an old tunnel that ran 300 meters from under the building's kitchen and a dirt road far ahead. Apparently, it used to be an escape route for some slaves back in the day. And Herman had help from the groundskeeper with the promise of money. To top it off, they discovered that Herman was desperate because he was given today as a deadline by an anonymous number on his phone that the police were still trying to track.
Fortunately, Herman was not smart enough to hide evidence that could be used against him. Unfortunately, though, because of his actions, everyone in the orphanage was traumatized. It would take a while for them to heal, but Gael and Angela decided that they would do everything they could to make the place safe again for the kids who deserved a home and a second chance.