It was Tuesday at 1:15 AM in the middle of the night, and Dante was sitting alone in a stakeout car, watching a warehouse and wondering if it would really deliver on its promise. Then again, there wasn't an actual promise – he figured it was another pick-up date for the traffickers and the human cargo, but he didn't actually know for sure. He didn't even know if this was a trap or not, and he hadn't brought backup.
Dante hadn't even told Hale – that's how secretive he was being about this whole operation. If someone was going to get hurt, he'd rather it just be him, so he was alone. He waited, and waited, and waited… but sitting here alone at a warehouse waiting for the unknown could only get so interesting.
So when the clock struck the time, 1:33 AM, he looked up excitedly. Well, not excitedly – more like in desperation. He hoped this intel was right, and he hoped his suspicions weren't wrong. That being said, he knew the stakes; people were being transported somewhere else against their will, and that was probably the scariest thing he had ever faced in his little time as a detective.
So when two black, unmarked vans pulled in to the parking lot of the warehouse while he was camped out two blocks away, his heart shattered. His prayer to not be wrong was now flipflopped to hope he actually was. He didn't want to see it – the people pulled out of the vans, tied and gagged and yelled at as they were shoved into the warehouse – but he did.
Now the parking lot was empty, and Dante had to rewind in his head to figure out what all he saw. Three children, and four women. Pale, tied up, gagged, and scared – five men guarding them, all armed. He quickly pulled out his radio.
"This is Detective Winters. I have stumbled upon what appears to be a human trafficking ring. Repeat, I have found a human trafficking ring."
It didn't take long for a response to come in. "Hear you loud and clear, Winters. Location and numbers."
"Redpoint Logistics Hub warehouse. 1257 Signal Row in the South Industrial District." After he rattled off the address, he started to get his gun ready. "There were five men, armed with guns, guarding a group of women and children. They were all gagged and bound, three children and four women."
"We copy, Winters." The woman on the other side of the radio said. "We'll get someone to your area."
"Copy that," Dante responded. "They went inside. I'll try to get the license plate numbers. I'm gonna leave the radio behind."
"Negative, Winters." The woman called. "Do not endanger yourself. I repeat, do not endanger yourself, Winters."
He put down his radio in the car out of sight without a response while he loaded his gun and holstered it. With another glance around the area, confirming that all those men were inside, he slipped out of the car. He kept a hand on his gun while he circled into the shadows of the alleys and came up in the parking lot, glancing around again before sneaking up behind the vehicles.
Dante pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of the first one, glancing back to see if anyone was coming out. Confirming that no one was, he snuck over to the other and snapped another photo. However, when he heard shouting approaching the warehouse doors, he didn't have much of a choice besides to dart under the vehicle in a hurry.
He saw the doors open, and he held his breath as he could see feet jogging towards the other van. Sitting completely still, he watched as the person dug around in the van and produced… something. They shouted in another language, went running back, and he barely had time to comprehend that it was Italian.
After they disappeared back into the warehouse, he took his chance. Dante crawled himself out from under the van and ran, right back to his sedan without looking back. He got in, panting and gasping, having probably dead sprinted two blocks to be left heaving at his steering wheel. It seemed nobody had followed him.
Unfortunately, that didn't mean the people weren't back outside. It seemed some were carrying crates now, and the prisoners were missing from the scene. Dante's blood boiled at the thought that the people were in the crates, where they carried them to a parked semi-truck. There were at least ten crates, and Dante didn't like the thought that there had been more people inside than he originally knew.
However, his hatred for these men was quickly dwindled to a sick kind of joy when police started pouring out of the woodworks. Like a stealth operation SWAT team, they came in with black suits and guns and without a single word. The people froze, confused, but they didn't have time to react.
One of them tried to pull a gun – it didn't make it past his waist. Another went to run – he didn't make it six feet. The third was taken down before he could even drop the crate. The fourth was yanked hard from the driver's seat without a moment to think. The final was tackled before he could get a second shot off his gun, the first having gone off into oblivion.
Dante felt his heart sink with relief as he saw this all go down, and he got out his police identification as other officers began to take the lead. He got out of his car and started walking, putting his hands up with the card in clear sight in one of his hands.
"Detective Winters?" One of the officers called.
He nodded. "That's me. I called this in."
They waved him past the SWAT team, leading him on towards the scene. The assholes were being cuffed as others were helped out of the crates – most of them seemed to speak Spanish, and unfortunately, Dante didn't know any. Other officers on the scene did, so they were gently coaxing them into safety and explaining the entire situation.
"This is quite the find, Winters." One of the officers said. "How did this happen?"
"Got a tip from an informant," Dante sighed. "Didn't think it was real, so I came alone. Turns out they were right."
"Really?" The mused. "Hot damn."
"Fucking Blaze set you up to this, didn't he?" One of the men being cuffed snapped.
Dante looked between the asshole and his other friends, then approached. He leaned down where he was forced to sit, tilting his head as he tried to keep his distance from the criminal.
"Who is Blaze?" He asked.
The man blinked, then grinned. "Blaze Kuron set this whole thing up. Didn't you know?"
Dante tried to figure out if he was lying or not, but before more questions could be answered, one of the SWAT members grabbed the criminal and pulled him up. Standing, Dante watched as he was dragged away. For some reason, the scumbag was grinning like he had just won something as he was pulled away.