Chapter 425: Revealing Everything

Chapter 425: Chapter 425: Revealing Everything

If even one was missed, the family that snitched would never know peace again.

Getting harassed would be the best-case scenario. The fear was that a more ruthless person would just kill them, and the police couldn’t guard them 24/7.

Move?

But that wasn’t a guarantee. Who could say if a new neighbor or a passing stranger wasn’t there for revenge?

No one wanted to live their life in constant fear.

So, for their own safety and their family’s, everyone had a tacit understanding: take the money and pretend they saw nothing.

Getting paid *and* protecting your family—that was the best choice.

Sean Hughes was stunned for a moment when she heard this, but then she realized it was the most sensible way for ordinary people to protect themselves.

"I understand the situation. Now, what about the route? Do you know it? Write down the specific stops." Sean Hughes changed the subject, taking out a pen and paper and handing them to Gary Dawson.

As had been mentioned, Ms. Yorke was also in custody. He had no hope of getting out.

So Gary Dawson had no intention of hiding anything further. He grabbed the pen and wrote down the few stops he knew.

Sean Hughes looked at the stops he’d written, frowning in confusion. There were some discrepancies with what they had found, and the number of stops didn’t match.

’Have the stops been updated? Or is Gary Dawson still holding something back?’

Perhaps sensing the doubt in Sean Hughes’s eyes, Gary Dawson thought for a moment before explaining, "Only the core confidants know the entire route and can contact the people on the other side at any time. The rest of us only know a small segment of it."

"And if there are any changes, they only tell you after the fact. I can’t guarantee how up-to-date the stops I’ve provided are, but I can say that if you investigate them, you should still be able to find plenty of leads."

"Aren’t you the Yorke family’s son-in-law? You took over so many of their businesses, yet you’re not part of the core group?" Sean Hughes stared at Gary Dawson in astonishment.

She had assumed Gary Dawson was at least a core member, but he didn’t even know the full route.

Hearing Sean Hughes’s question, the hint of calm that had settled over Gary Dawson’s face vanished, replaced by an ugly expression.

This was the one thing he was most unwilling to admit, even to himself.

To outsiders, it looked like he had taken over nearly all of the Yorke family’s domestic operations, but only he knew the truth.

He had never earned Boss Yorke’s ultimate trust. The old man was still wary of him.

Now that Sean Hughes had pointed it out so bluntly, the resentment Gary Dawson had been suppressing finally erupted.

"Yes! That’s right! I never earned their full trust! What could I do?!"

"We had a child, I did all their dirty work, and still, they treat me like a burden they can cast aside at any moment!" Gary Dawson slammed his fist on the table, hissing at Sean Hughes in a low, furious roar.

’Is this what he wanted?’

Even so, Boss Yorke still didn’t trust him, excluding him from important decisions.

He even had to hear about later plans and arrangements from other people.

Gary Dawson’s eyes were bloodshot, his breathing heavy and ragged. It was as if he could once again see the looks of pity and ridicule from those around him.

Sean Hughes tapped her pen on the table. The sharp sound pulled Gary Dawson from his reverie.

"They’ve treated you like this, so why are you still holding on to some old loyalty? Tell us police everything you know. We’ll bring them all in to keep you company."

"The most satisfying revenge is destroying what they’re most proud of." Sean Hughes’s voice was soft, yet filled with temptation.

If this had been the old Gary Dawson, he might have sensed something was off.

But the current Gary Dawson was blinded by rage. After hearing Sean Hughes’s whisper, his eyes lit up, and he grinned with manic excitement. "You’re right! The most satisfying thing would be to see them end up in the same boat as me!"

"It’s good that you see things clearly. Now, about this route, tell us everything you left out."

"What is this route normally used for? How were those children transported in? And are there other victims?" Sean Hughes continued to press.

Gary Dawson rubbed his face, thought back to the records he had seen, and organized his thoughts before answering Sean Hughes’s questions.

"You’ve already arrested Kai Thorne, so you should know that among the Yorke family’s shadier businesses, besides running small casinos, there’s also loan sharking."

"But the money from that was too slow. Boss Yorke wasn’t satisfied, so he got into human trafficking and drug running." With his first words, Gary Dawson dropped a bombshell.

Hearing the last two, Sean Hughes’s and the other two officers’ expressions instantly turned grave. ’There’s drug running involved, too?’

"Ms. Yorke is physically weak. Without bodyguards or a weapon, a normal twelve or thirteen-year-old kid could take her down."

"She was bitter about it, so she set her sights on smaller, younger children. But there are too many surveillance cameras around here. Any child going missing could attract police attention. So they turned their focus to some of the more chaotic places abroad. It’s easier to get kids there, the local police don’t care, and some even help round them up to make extra money." Gary Dawson ignored the three officers’ grim expressions and continued.

The border is long, and there are always some treacherous locations or forgotten corners that get overlooked.

Boss Yorke’s men and some traffickers on the other side would target these spots, sneaking around to smuggle people into the country.

Then they’d follow the routes they’d carved out, hiding all the way, to deliver the people to their designated destinations.

Because of his daughter’s particular hobby, Boss Yorke had his men round up a few children from over there and send them over for his daughter to vent on.

If one was accidentally killed, it didn’t matter. They’d just send another batch.

Gary Dawson couldn’t remember which batch the children currently in the villa belonged to.

Besides children, Boss Yorke would also abduct young girls from those countries and send them to remote mountain regions.

Compared to college students who understood Chinese and were always looking for a chance to escape, these foreign girls were more to some people’s liking.

There was no need to worry about them snitching, contacting the police, or trying to run away on their own.

It was indeed much safer than conventional trafficking.

Apart from these, there was another source: gamblers who couldn’t repay their high-interest loans.

These people were lost in the heat of gambling. To turn their luck around and clear their debts, they would do anything.

Selling their homes and land, selling their sons and daughters, pawning their wives—it was all commonplace.

"You should never overestimate a gambler’s rock bottom."