bullets and bouquets

64

The Estate is full of energy the next morning when the seventy kids wake up hungry. Although Felipé has been waiting for this moment his entire life. He woke up around 5 AM to begin preparing food. He made anything and everything. Pancakes, waffles, french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, crepes, donuts, etc. He made fresh orange juice and cut up several pounds of fruit.

Trent had the trainees turn the backyard into a cafeteria with tables and chairs. Now, the children are eating and catching up on all the meals they've missed.

"Miss," Trent comes up to Bella outside, "I need to speak with you inside. You too, Miss Jenna."

The two look at each other before going inside, leaving Gianna, Briar, and Robin outside to watch over the children. Dacre, Finn, Joe, and Natalia stand inside forming a semi-circle.

"What is this about?" Bella asks. The gang leaders all look nervous.

"Sadie's missing," Natalia states. Jenna's jaw drops and Bella's eyes widen, "Florence found her car crashed in the Czech Republic."

"W-what? How?"

"We think she's been taken by the same person who took Sabrina," Dacre adds.

"How do you know Florence didn't take her? Isn't she kind of shifty?" Bella asks. Florence comes out from the kitchen.

"I'm going to ignore my feelings with that statement," she starts, "but no I didn't take her. I was taking Prince Noah back to his family when Trent radioed me. My men went back and found her SUV."

"So, now what?" Jenna asks, "Do you have any leads?"

"Not at the moment," Finn states, "But we're going to go through all of our files today."

"Do you think they're still alive?" Bella asks. No one answers, "Guys? Answer me."

"We can't make any assumptions, Bella," Natalia answers, "They haven't tried to take anyone else after Gianna, so they're laying low. Planning something."

"Planning what?" Jenna asks.

"We don't know," Joe says, "But whatever it is, it's gonna be big."

"Oh my god," Bella puts her hand to her forehead, "This can't be happening."

"Bella," Natalia approaches her, "Listen to me, we're going to find them."

"Yeah, while I sit here like a sitting duck," she fires back.

"No, you're not," the gang leader says. Bella looks at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"What?"

"The reason we're telling you other than the fact that you're her girlfriend is that..." Dacre starts, "We need you to come with."

***

"And where are you from?" Briar asks. After breakfast, Bella assigned Gianna, Robin, and Briar to start interviewing the children. They are creating files for them to try and reunite them with their families. They're finding out as much as they possibly can from each child. The rest of them watch TV and play with the toys that Briar and Jenna brought the day prior.

The children really do come from all over: Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, Belarus, Germany, you name it. The adults have created a list of countries in Europe and they have at least one child from every country. The biggest number of children are from Italy, Spain, Greece, and surprisingly, France.

Meanwhile, Jenna is busy training Bella how to fight. Trent is busy training the puppies, who are now larger in size. They've mastered potty training and the basic commands. Joe, Finn, and Dacre are all in bite suits, becoming bait.

Natalia walks with Vita next to her. The dog looks up at her, watching her facial expressions as she walks in random directions. Vita stays attached to her leg, no matter where she walks. Dacre walks into the room and Vita's attention still stays on Natalia.

"Hello," Natalia says.

"Hello, what a lovely dog you have there," Dacre replies. The two must initiate a conversation to help with the training. The dogs are learning the phrase "luce verde" meaning "green light" for when they can attack, "Can I walk with you?"

"No," she answers.

"Why not?"

"Luce verde," Natalia commands as she drops the leash. Vita runs up and attacks Dacre, biting the arm of his suit.

"Ah! Get off! Get off!" Dacre thrashes around to try and get Vita off, but she's trained to attack him until Natalia gives the command "fuori" meaning "out". Even though Dacre throws her off, she still runs back and attacks him, this time biting his leg.

"Fuori," Natalia says. Vita releases his leg and runs back to her side, "brava ragazza."

She praises Vita by calling her a "good girl". The dogs know English and Italian. English for regular commands when they are not protecting and Italian for when they are. Outside, Jenna is teaching Bella how to shoot.

"Make sure you hold tight, otherwise the recoil will hurt you," she instructs. Bella holds the pistol out, unafraid. She wanted to learn how to shoot a while ago, but Sadie was unsure of it. Now, she's going to get Sadie back herself, "Fire when you're ready."

Bella lines up her sight with the target in the distance. She takes a deep breath and pulls the trigger. She didn't know what to expect from the recoil, so her arm moves a little, but not to the point where she loses control of the gun.

"That was good," Jenna says when she takes off her ear protection, "Feel okay?"

Bella nods.

"Go again, you can do better this time," the former gang leader instructs. They put their ear protection back on again before Bella raises her arm again. She shoots again and this time makes it very close to the center of the target. Their training is cut off by Emma calling Jenna, "Hey."

"Are you okay? You haven't been texting me," Emma asks immediately once the call connects. Jenna forgot to text her back after she left with Briar. With everything going on, she had been busy.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, there's a lot going on right now," Jenna explains, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, you just didn't answer me. I thought you were taken or something," the blonde sighs.

"I wasn't, Sabrina and Sadie were," the former gang leader informs her.

"What? Oh my god."

"We're training right now to go find them. And they found a dungeon with children in it, so there's like a hundred kids at the Estate right now," she adds.

"What the fuck? Like... sex trafficking?" she asks softly.

"Thankfully, not that," Jenna says, "they've been forcing the children to fight each other for money."

"That's horrible. No wonder you didn't text me."

"I'm really sorry about that, Emma. I..."

"Don't worry about it, I'm not upset. Are you gonna be okay over there? Should I come help?" Emma asks.

"Actually, you're safer in the States. I might be off the grid for a couple of days while we find Sadie and Sabrina, but I promise you, I'll call you as soon as it's safe, okay?" Jenna asks.

"Okay. Be safe please," she replies softly, "I love you."

"I will. I love you too."