Chapter 14 #2
“Currently, a hundred and fifty thousand females under the age of twenty-one go missing a year. This is actually down compared to even a hundred years ago, though not as far down as we’d like.
The statistics include kidnappings, runaways, and those who decided to go missing of their own accord.
For example, if someone who is eighteen chooses to disappear to escape an abusive household, they would fall under the missing category despite them having full control over their situation.
” Pascal turned his laptop to show me some FBI statistics on missing persons.
“With only ten thousand over a century or so, she’s truly a small fry. ”
I sighed, taking the time to poke through the figures. “How many of these do you think are kidnappings?”
“Surprisingly, not as many as you would think. Currently, a thousand or so of the kids, combined boys and girls, are believed to have been kidnapped by strangers, often for trafficking purposes. Most kidnappings are familial in nature. Most commonly, divorcing parents fighting over custody will get into a dispute, and one of them will make a run with their children. More often than not, it’s the father running with the kids because the laws tend to favor the mothers in custody disputes.
Sometimes, mothers will run with the kids because of fears of abuse.
There has been a surge of aunts and uncles taking the kids and making a run for it lately while the parents are bitterly battling for custody.
That trend started about thirty years back, and people copycatted upon learning others were doing it.
The aunt or uncle will assume they can do a better job of parenting than the actual parents, get fed up with the divorce disputes, and take the kids and run.
The recovery rate for those cases is, honestly, a lot lower than I prefer.
But the outcome is usually better if the kids are taken by the aunt or uncle.
The aunt or uncle genuinely cares about the children in most cases. ”
“How do you know that?”
“The children, once they become adults, tend to show back up in their thirties to get some closure for themselves and their parents, and the FBI ends up doing interviews with them. In those cases, the aunt or uncle tends to have vanished off somewhere, taking on a new identity or moving abroad. Honestly, dragons are more inclined to participate in this form of familial kidnapping. And sometimes, the parents just go with it and don’t put in a lot of effort recovering their children.
They often realize they haven’t done what was best for their children.
It becomes quite messy rather quickly.” Pascal eyed my spreadsheet with a disgusted expression.
“Sadly, the parental kidnappings are the most likely to end in the death of the child. Traffickers need living victims.”
“What about an older sibling kidnapping a younger sibling?” I’d seen that happen a time or two in Miami, although I had never followed the cases to their conclusion.
Chasing after murderers had consumed most of my life back then.
“It happens. It doesn’t happen as often as you might think, but it does happen.
Usually, the children are closer in age and are considered to be running away from the divorce and their general situation.
Charges are rarely pressed unless the older child is taking away a toddler or an infant.
Age matters in those cases. If the older child has proof of abuse in those cases, they’re let off the hook.
” Turning his attention to his laptop, he tapped at the keyboard, his brows furrowing.
“Last year, we had twenty thousand known cases of older children running away with younger children. Of those cases, charges were only pressed three times. The older children were in their late twenties, and the younger children were all below the age of eight.”
I could understand why charges would be pressed in that situation. “That’s an incredibly low charge rate.”
Pascal nodded. “Circumstances matter, and there are likely more than a few cases where the parents ended up being charged with something. Older kids don’t tend to run with younger kids without a good reason.
It’s a lot of work caring for a younger sibling, and the older ones understand that.
We look at those cases a little closer, particularly at the parents.
We’ve uncovered a lot of abuse cases that way.
” He gestured at his laptop with a disgusted expression.
“Last year, a quarter of those cases resulted in the older sibling either adopting their younger sibling or everybody ending up in foster care.”
That so many children suffered bothered me, but it also helped offer a new perspective that might color how I viewed the Merorie case. “Madam Merorie loved her son and husband to extremes. Psychologically, how does that influence how she trafficked people?”
The FBI agent eyed me with interest. “You’re thinking about demographics?”
I nodded. “However much I despise the woman’s actions, I can acknowledge she began her descent into madness due to love.
She loved her son as much as she loved her husband, and she wanted both back.
Is there a possibility that she believed the trafficking system was better than the lives those missing children had?
” I pointed at his laptop. “Do we have a database of missing children and a database of abusive parents that we could compare?”
For a long moment, Pascal stared at me, and he paled enough I worried for him. “You think she would sell children into sex trafficking to ‘rescue’ them from abuse?”
“Not all trafficking rings are for sex,” I reminded him.
“What if we aren’t actually dealing with sex traffickers?
If they aren’t trafficking for sex, then it would make sense.
She would be comfortable selling the children, and she would, in her mind, be saving them from abusive situations.
Then the parents would be used for her necromantic rituals.
In her mind, she’d be giving those children justice while working at bringing her son back from the dead. ”
“But she was targeting brothel workers,” he reminded me.
“She also targeted criminals. But I wasn’t going to be trafficked, Pascal.
I think she was going to dissect me and likely use me as part of her necromancy studies.
That’s probably why she behaved as she did; keeping me alive hadn’t been part of her plans, and her trafficking work doesn’t involve grown women.
Once she found out I wasn’t a brothel worker and have a fiancé, her entire demeanor changed.
I think her trafficking work involves children or young adults who can be brought into the system.
So, what other types of trafficking networks are there?
Who might want children outside of sex rings? ”
“There is a strong market for adoption agencies overseas, especially in cultures that value children with specific physical traits, such as blue or green eyes,” he replied, his expression troubled.
“Crime rings always need new bodies, and some mafias are not against buying promising children and grooming them to be part of their group. Then you have medical research facilities who want to do tests on humans without having to deal with human rights and safety regulations.”
Having almost endured being used as a science experiment, the thought that anyone would do so as part of organized crime sickened me. “Are there other reasons someone might be trafficked?”
“Sure. Let’s use your parents as an example.
Let’s assume you were just born and someone learned about you.
Scaretti dragons are highly diverse. Ramons dragons are less diverse but are still considered to be diverse.
A hatchling of a Scaretti and a Ramons dragon would be hugely valuable overseas to a dragon clan wishing to expand its power and prestige.
Should you have been kidnapped and trafficked, you would have been given to a mated pair of dragons of appropriate prestige, you would have lived a lie believing you’re their hatchling, and chances are, you would have been married off to the original buyer so your genetics could be added to their clan.
As you would have been kidnapped as an infant, you would have no idea that your family wasn’t actually your family.
Ultimately, it’s a variant of sex trafficking, but you, as the victim, would have been treated exceptionally well and groomed carefully into your position so that you would have viewed the marriage offer as a great honor.
Honestly, that’s quite possibly part of why your parents hid you from the rest of dragon society.
You would have been viewed a prized jewel among dragons due to your genetics and heritage.
Frankly, your parents are a marvel. You’ve fully established yourself into your adulthood role without interference, and you’re a remarkably rounded individual. ”
“Would you like to tell this to my parents? We’ll be seeing them tonight after work as they have our carbunclo and my bird. I’ll ask Erik if he minds a visitor at our home tonight, and you can get this off your shoulders.”
The FBI agent considered me, and he nodded. “Actually, yes. I would quite like that if you don’t mind.”
I scooped my phone off the table, sent Erik a text, and waited.
A few moments later, he offered his consent along with a string of question marks.
“It seems I have thoroughly confused Erik. Remember, my parents do not know we’re married yet, so I’m going to have to ask that you lie for a good cause, Mr. Black Dragon. ”