140 WJAL

They left after John checked on her mother's lab results and brought her to Arch Lithe Villa.

He introduced her to Leonard's team. Jenna played the hostess and toured her up to basement three. Diane was astonished to see the whole setup of the building. Her journalist spirit came out and bombarded Jenna with questions.

While Diane was away from earshot, Leonard laughed at John's odd behavior, for giving in to Diane. Before, John had almost won against all debates but he deliberately chose to lose to his girlfriend.

Who would have thought, both John and Diane forgot to shut off their communication from her earrings and his earphone. Their argument was heard throughout basement two, including the kissing, of course. However, Diane did not know this and John made sure it would remain a secret. Of course, John could not imagine her embarrassment and annoyance if she knew.

"I'm glad for you, bro. This is what love can do to a man," said Leonard, patting John's shoulder as he laughed boisterously. "Always giving way for love."

John didn't know whether to laugh or cry or get angry with the teasing glances and smiles from the agency staff. In the end, he shrugged it off.

Then they heard a shrill cry. The monitor viewed Lisa's room. John ran as fast as he could to assist the physician attending Lisa. Diane and Jenna followed behind him.

As he arrived in Lisa's room, "what happened?" said John to Dr. Ben Santos, a retired veteran doctor, who served in the US Navy for fifteen years.

"She's having a nightmare. This is the second time," said Ben.

"Did she wake up?"

"Yes, and she was in hysterics. She thought she was still attacked. We gave her sedative to sleep again."

John waved a hand to Diane, calling her to his side. "This is the girl I told you. Her name is Lisa."

Diane looked fixedly at Lisa. She gasped to see her arms full of bruises and her head covered with a bandage. "What happened to her head?"

John related to her everything that transpired in the hospital yesterday.

"Oh, poor thing," said Diane with real sympathy. She looked up to him and proudly smiled. "I'm glad that you were there to help her."

John was thankful too for being in the hospital at the right time. And he even got a reward, a sweet smile from his lady. "You can't talk to her, yet. She hasn't recovered from the trauma," he said to Diane.

"That will take time though," said Dr. Ben.

"I can wait," chimed Diane.

The Interpol had been in communication with them as well.

She also learned that they had been following Gallante for two years. There was more than one family who complained to the police of their missing daughters who worked under the recommendation of Wise Job Agency Limited(WJAL) and had not been communicating to them for years. But no case was filed since the agency would only assign them jobs to specific clients. The company had no constant communication with them nor had a say if the girls leave their working assignments.

"This WJAL is a legal company and have been operating for solid ten years. It had been hiring boys and girls from the province and promised them good paying jobs as factory workers or as house helpers. They were trained before they were sent out. We were able to locate some women still working in those companies but some girls left their jobs. Most of those who left are the ones who are considered missing," Leonard said as he showed Diane the documents, in favor of John.

Diane listened while she stood beside John. "So possibly, these girls were sent to the prostitution den?" she asked.

"Most likely but we can't tell since there's no trail to follow."

"Did you try placing a spy inside the agency?" Her eyes glistened.

"We placed two. One girl is still working in the factory until now. The other one is still working as a maid in a Canadian family. Both of them have been paid well. No complaints so far. "

"Gallante is playing safe. They might have some kind of requirement on what kind of girl they would send there." Her mind was formulating a plan.

"We are trying to figure that out, but we can't send more people. Our female force is limited."

"What can we do?"

"Nothing. Diane, I suggest you stop snooping for now. I can give you details that you can work on for the newspaper but nothing is certain yet. And don't ever think of applying and spying for you to go in," Leonard reminded. He saw the glint in her eye earlier and nipped her plans before it bloomed.

Diane quieted. Her intention was seen through.

Leonard signaled John to take her away but an idea lighted in her mind.

"How about checking Gallante's previous activities? We might be able to find a loophole."

Leonard gave her a list of Gallante's activities in the previous years to keep her busy.

Later, she seriously sat with a cup of coffee on hand in a room with a bed provided, where she could scan the list and rest at the same time. John left her for a while and went to Leonard.

John approached his big brother. "Bro, please check the person she talked with this afternoon."

"We already did."

"What did you find out?"

Leonard pulled a folder from a rack and threw it on the table. "His name is Dennis Espinosa. According to the files we dug out from the NBI and others, he was born to a single mother named Rizza Espinosa. She died five years ago. He lost their house for he couldn't pay for the loan. He applied to an architecture company, lived in a boarding house and was accepted as an apprentice of an architect while studying. He graduated as a licensed architect, was engaged to Diane and you know that." He paused and observed John.

John waited for Leonard to finish. He trusted there's more.

Leonard opened an envelope with pictures of Dennis with socialites. "But in contrary, he now lived in a condominium owned by Gallante. According to the condominium's security list, he moved there the exact month after breaking their wedding engagement. He is now working as a supervisor in that fruit warehouse which is also owned by Gallante. That's all we've got for now."

"What's his relationship with Gallante?" asked John.

"We're still digging that out."