Hidden Crimes

Chapter 1 SIX YEARS AGO (2016) The quiet night was disrupted with a shout coming from a woman who had realized that her husband was bathe in cold blood. The children who were sleeping on their own bedroom woke up from the loud shriek that their mother produced. They immediately got up and ran towards their parents’ bedroom. With only the light coming from the moon outside the house, shock and fear were seen to the children’s faces. In front of them were their mother crying and their father, breathless. Standing beside the bed was a man with nothing but his gun and a face that only satisfaction and hunger were seen. Satisfaction for the body he killed and hunger for the people around him whom he was waiting to be killed. One, two, three, and four. Four bodies “Get out!” the woman shouted to her children. “Get out of here!” she repeated, pleading. She was not able to save her husband. She was hoping she could save her children from the hands of the murderous man in front of them. But the killer was swift before the children could turn around, he pointed the gun towards them and shot the three children. The three children collapsed to the ground. Children whimpering from the pain. “My children!” the woman shouted nonstop as she put down her husband’s dead body to the bed and ran towards her children. Blood pooling all around them and eyes pooling with tears. She could not breath properly. She felt as if her soul left her body, empty. The woman looked at the man who only evil grinned at her. The woman already looked like a mess. Hair disheveled, sleeping gown stained with blood, and face covered in tears. The killer man liked what he saw. “You will pay for this—“ The man smirked. The man did not give her the chance to let her finish her sentence when he raised his gun and pulled the trigger for two times. Her body collapsed. The man laughed as he looked at everyone. Bath in cold blood and pulses not palpable. His hunger was satisfied. He raised his gun and pointed it on his own temple and pulled the trigger. His blood splashed and his body dropped into the floor. The sound of the police siren followed. One week later, Daniel Pesci woke up inside the hospital. He was one of the children of the Pesci who had been killed through homicide. He was the only survivor of the family. He woke up alone. PRESENT (2022) “Hey, Daniel!” Daniel woke up from the reality when he heard his boss shouted his name. He was staring at the sea. He followed the movement of the waves as it collided with the ship in front of them. He immediately went towards his co-workers and helped them unload the ship with its cargoes. His sweats rolled down from his forehead, muscly arms, and neck as he carried the cargo up above his shoulder. Because he was only wearing muscle tees, his tan arms with full of sweats glistened as the sunlight kissed him. “Faster! We do not have the whole day!” the boss shouted as he clapped to get every workers attention. Everyone hurried. They were working nonstop. They continued until the sun started setting. Despite the heavy workload, the workers did their job willingly. “Great job!” the boss commended his workers, including Daniel, as they finished unloading all the cargoes from different ships. All of the workers were drenched in sweat and were breathing heavily. “Because of that, I will treat you all for dinner,” the boss announced. Daniel’s coworker cheered. Free dinner or any free meals were the things the workers always anticipated aside from their pay day. They all went inside an eatery where they always eat because of its cheaper price and delicious food. Water was free so they got to save the money that they supposed to pay for their beverage. The area was infested with rats and cockroaches but the people did not mind it for they were already used to it after living in poverty all of their lives. “Good day, everybody!” Dontrell Carleton greeted them as they went inside the eatery where he was working. He placed a cup of water in front of each of them. Everyone cheered except for Daniel, he was the kind of person who does not smile. He had the opposite personality of his best friend, Dontrell. In terms of their physique, Daniel has the big build features where his pecs always stood out when he was wearing muscle tees. He also had biceps because of working in the port for the past six years. While Dontrell, he was the skinnier one. It was visible that he had been living his life in poverty. He had tanner skin compared to Daniel. Both of them were in the same age. They met each other when the thugs in the city were trying to pick at Dontrell. Daniel saved him and because of that, Dontrell decided to tag along with Daniel. Staying with Daniel would be great for him because the thugs would not pick Daniel because of his big build. “What do all of you want to order?” Dontrell asked as he pointed the big tarpaulin with the food list that they served. “Bring me the cheapest!” the boss commanded. Everyone laughed. They all understand. Their boss was also on the same class as them. They were at the lower class. He was also in need of money but because it was pay day he wanted to thank his workers for their hard work. While waiting for their food, the boss decided to start distributing the pay that they received from their employer. They all received equal share. They did not think that it was unfair. They were already happy for the money that they received that could possibly last them for a week. But what was funny, the eatery provided a food called ‘cheapest’ for the workers working around the area to have a cheap food with a good amount enough for a person to be full. “Aye, aye, captain!” Dontrell answered while saluting and went to the kitchen to inform the cook about their order. The girls from the other table looked at them with flirty eyes. They were all wearing short shorts and tight halter tops. They were all twirling the end of their hair and kept biting their lips as they stared at Daniel who had the beauty that every male on the port could not equate. “Are you not going to give one of them a chance?” Daniel’s coworker asked as he noticed that the girls were interested in Daniel. He had this grin from his mouth. He was also assessing every one of them from head to toe. Daniel looked at him, “I noticed you are interested at them, why do you not join them?” he asked to divert the attention from him to his coworkers. The man immediately drank his water and removed his stare from the girls because her wife was just working in the same eatery and she might hear what Daniel said. “Here are your orders,” Dontrell placed the plate to each one of them with a smile. They all started digging in. Hunger was visible to everyone’s face after a long day of work. As they were eating, they heard a gunshot sound echoed throughout the area.