The gangster's little unknown assassin - Part 2

Chapter 64 - Case Damiano is closed

SAGE'S POV

I left Pokemon on the phone with Hazel and Vin. The three nerds seemed to understand each other well, so I left them to their devices.

Last I heard, Vin had a program running that cleared the footage images and got a hold of another one that helped him identify people using a hacked database from somewhere.

While they did that, I searched every nook and cranny for secret compartments where they could have hidden anything useful.

"Hey, Sage? We got a hit." Vin called out for me from Vinico's office, and I rushed back.

Did they find something about Zeke's siblings? Or was it about Damiano?

I reached the office and went to stand behind Hazel and Vin. They found footage of the day Damiano was taken from us.

"That's Damiano." I extended my hand, wanting to touch his face, but it would be too awkward to do in front of these two, so I dropped it back to my side.

He looked so scared, thin, and dirty in that picture! My eyes burned uncomfortable with welled-up tears. He was my Damiano. He felt like my own little brother and a ray of sunshine inside that hell hole, and just like with my biological brother, I allowed him to get hurt.

If only I could have been stronger... I should have been able to save him!

Looking at his face from so long ago made a cold feeling fill my stomach.

"Zeke, can you please search the cabinets for a file with the date of this tape?" He approached us and looked attentively at the date. He took out his phone and noted it down before looking at me with questions in his gaze.

"This is my Damiano." I finally mumbled, a bit detached. The coldness in my stomach spread all over my body, goosebumps rose on my skin, and for a moment, I couldn't tell if the world was spinning or I was simply on the verge of falling.

I don't think I can find him alive. This thought was like a single drop of water falling inside a deep, cold, and dark well. It made the still water ripple and splash, and my heart froze with this harsh reality.

I wish to be wrong.

I wish that, for once, Agatha had half a brain and sold him to a nice family that was simply longing for a child. I wish he grew up well and happy and that he forgot all about me, his mother, and this terrible place. I wish for him to be alive. If he was alive but living unhappily, there's still a chance of rescuing him and giving him a better life. But if he's dead, all hope is gone.

"I was six the last time I saw him. He was still five..." Hazel got up from her chair and hugged me. Vin stared at my face and silently grabbed the hand I was using to hold onto his chair to keep myself upwards. He squeezed it softly.

I couldn't look at them unless I wished to break and cry. I stared at his frozen face on the computer screen and convicted it to my memory.

A muffled sniff from the side of the cabinets made me glance his way.

Zeke was crying for me. He was grieving for me when I couldn't allow myself to do it, and for that, against my will, a single tear fell down my face.

"He was the son of a dog's man. Agatha didn't find him useful, so she never told him about the boy. Had he been someone semi-powerful, she would have extorqued him of all his money." So many times, I heard her yell and lament his parentage. She tested six men to know who his father was, and when none came back positive, she beat him for coming from a useless man.

"Dog's man? Isn't that Deper?" Hazel shushed him, and Vin closed his trap, but I was so lost in thought that I didn't even hear what they said.

"No power, no rank, no money, no nothing other than a decent cock! Why didn't I fucking kill you when I found out about you! Argh! Useless! Fucking useless!" But even after every beating, and underneath all his fear, the only thing he ever dreamt of was the day his mother would change.