Heavy rain pelted the window panes. Dario matched the steady drone by tapping his fingers on the marble countertop of the kitchen island. Phone stuck to his ear, he listened to the endless rings. Damn you, Ante, where the hell are you? Irena ceased her pacing. Her pallid face and furrowed brow indicated her concern.
“Why isn’t Ante answering?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“He won’t pick up if he’s driving.” Dario tapped the end call button on his cell and speed-dialed Ante’s number again.
Irena exhaled a shaky breath and resumed her pacing, chewing her fingernail. “I never should’ve let her go. What was I thinking? If something happens to Ella… Oh, why did I let her go?”
Dario rushed to Irena and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders. “Nothing’s gonna happen to our…um…your daughter. They’ll be here any moment. You’ll see.”
He squeezed Irena’s shoulder. Her rigid posture indicated she knew he suspected Ella was their child. She would tell him everything on her own time. But time was a thief, it had already stolen over a decade he should’ve spent loving her.
Muffled buzzing had him turning in the direction of the sound. Was it coming from the couch? He approached and lifted the cream cushions. Ante’s cell chimed with Dario’s name displayed on the screen. How had he missed hearing it numerous times he’d dialed his brother’s number? He ended the call and the low tone stopped. “The idiot most likely doesn’t know where he left his phone.”
“That makes matters worse.” A deeper crease formed between Irena’s knitted eyebrows. “If they are snatched off the streets—”
“Let’s not get crazy. This is a small town where everyone made it their business to know everyone else’s. No one gets kidnapped here.” Dario swallowed a knot in his throat. What he described used to be this city. It had grown over the last decade and a half. These new people who moved in were a different sort than those he’d grown up with. There was a time he could swear on people’s dependency. Not anymore.
He wrapped Irena in his arms and rocked them for a few long minutes. Her body shook and his gut clenched. Where are you, Ante? “I bet Martina didn’t have Jasmin ready and made them sit while she packed. She does that. It’s her chance to talk with Ante. She’s trying to restore their relationship, but he can be a real prick.”
Irena nodded but didn’t say anything. Her silence tightened the knots in his stomach. He should keep talking to pass the time. He might have Martina’s phone number in his missed calls list. Long ago he’d learned not to meddle in Ante and Martina’s business and never answered her calls. Fool of his brother mistook her caring for controlling and checking up on him by calling Dario’s number. When his brother returned, he’d punch his nose for taking his sweet time.
“How much does Ella know about this school? I don’t want to blurt something in front of her. You know…I don’t want to frighten her.”
“She knows everything. I’ve seen a few of the teens returned to their parents.” Irena stepped away from him and shook her head. “It’s not living, Dario. They are husks of what once were vibrant children, now frightened, broken, all using drugs to forget the demons.”
His chest squeezed. What kind of men could do such things? They were someone’s daughters and sons, sent to school to get a better education, not to be used in the vilest way. This was the outcome when no one speaks out. The crime goes on and more innocent lives got destroyed. “It won’t happen to Ella. You have my promise.”
“Dario, you can lose everything. Even your life. And not just you, Ante too and everyone he loves.”