Page 28

Maddox

“How many more do we have to load?” I watch as zip-tied johns and some of the pimps climb up into the back of the moving van.

“They have one more floor to go through. It shouldn’t be more than 5 to 10 minutes.” Jacko stands guard with me.

“Do any of the kids require medical care?” Getting them down from the cages on the ceiling was a long process. If there had ever been a fire, none of them would have made it out. Though it’s doubtful that the filth planned on letting any of the girls live to become adults.

“None are critically injured. Most of them will need to see a doctor soon. I’ve already mobilized the clinic in town for those that are willing to go. Fiona is arranging food and their dorm rooms. The half dozen adults we found are on the way to the Nest now.”

Enzo rushes up, pushing a cart full of electronic equipment. “This is everything except the physical copies they kept. All of those were destroyed.”

“Guess who got to use a grenade?” Pit struts up.

“That’s because Dyce didn’t leave you anything but bodies.” Ace follows behind her.

My cousin looks like vengeance personified. She hit the zone somewhere around her sixth body.

We made the ones without bullet holes in them pack the bodies into the moving van first before climbing in.

“That’s everyone.” Canyon walks up.

Jacko slides the truck door closed, locking them in. “Vincenti has a ship ready for them. Do you think they know we’re taking them to their deaths?”

They will.

“He said he appreciates us sending over presents, but next time there are this many, he wants an invitation to the party.” Jacko reaches down to pick up the leader that’s trying to inch away thinking he’d go unnoticed. “You get the privilege of riding with us.”

Chained to a hook in the trunk.

***

The lights of the city go by in a blur, but I’m not really looking at them

Something isn’t right.

This group was too big to go undetected.

Someone had to have been helping them. We just walked in. There was barely any pushback from the men. None of them seemed all that bright.

Setting up and running this took brains and forethought.

“You’re thinking the same thing as me, aren’t you?” Dyce shifts to face me. “These guys were too stupid to be in charge.”

“Yeah.”

“We have a bigger problem.”

Hopefully, the dead man in the back will give us some answers before we kill him.

“Should we have waited?”

“And leave those children to be tormented for a moment more?” There’s no way I could have held the guys back even for a day regardless of whether it was logical or not. “If it’s part of a bigger ring, we’ll set Vex on them. But those children had to be rescued.”

“What if we missed something?” Dyce is definitely in worry mode.

I pull out my phone and call Enzo. “We ready?”

“Yeah. The thermal scan verified it’s empty,” Enzo responds.

“Do it!”

We’re far enough away not to be caught, but close enough to hear the explosion as the gas pipes ignite under the mall. Jacko rigged it to look like a combination of neglect and vandalism set off the ‘accident’, which should cover any evidence of us that might have been missed.

No one will ever hurt another child there. Maybe we should buy the land and make it into a park or something to replace the bad memories. I’ll propose that to the council at the next meeting.

The bad in this world needs to be overcome by beautiful things.

An image of Mindy sleeping in my office pops into my head. The knowledge that she’s safe in bed getting some much-needed sleep gives me comfort.

***

“I’ll bring him into the dungeon for questioning whenever you’re ready.” Jacko hefts the leader out of the trunk.

We don’t actually have a dungeon. But when we were kids, the tunnels under Willow Street seemed that way to us. Since then, we’ve blocked off all access to them to ensure our privacy. They’re also a useful way to get around the neighborhood unseen. “I’ll grab a few things and meet you there.” The mamba is usually an effective way of encouraging people to talk.

Enzo hops out of an SUV and rushes over. “We have a problem.”

That’s never what I want to hear. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s too much. The number of places and people these videos were sent to would take me decades to track down and erase and by then they’ll have been forwarded elsewhere. I need help.”

Everett could probably do it, but there’s no way I’d ask him to work on a project like this. That leaves one person. “I’ll make a call.”

Enzo’s shoulders sag with relief.

Shock could probably do it. But he’s kinda insane. I need someone that I can trust. I dial Rage.

“What?” Rage answers.

“Aren’t you cheerful in the middle of the night? Not getting your beauty sleep?”

“I was sleeping just fine since I wasn’t invited to either party. My uncles took care of everything. What’s up?”

The vilest task I could ever ask another person to perform. “The videos from the party are more than Enzo can handle.”

There’s a short pause before Rage answers, “How bad?”

“The worst I’ve ever seen. I can send him over to your house with the equipment.”

“No. Not with Hope here. I’ll text you an address. And next time, invite us to the party.”

Whine and complain. That’s all they ever do when they miss one little event. “It wasn’t much of one.”

“So, no one got hurt?”

Pit got hit with some shrapnel when he set off the hand grenade. But it was superficial. It probably won’t even need stitches. Brie’s probably going to yell at him for the next few weeks. “Nope.”

“Send it over. I’ll see what I can get done tonight.”

“You’ll need some bleach for your eyes.”

“Don’t worry, I have a filter for that.”

There’s a filter for everything now. “Thanks for taking care of this.”

“If you need anything else, just let me know.” Rage clicks off.

An address pops up. “Enzo, you’re going for a drive.”

“Thank you.”

If all of our problems could be that easy to solve.

Canyon rushes over. “Fiona needs to see you.”

That’s not what I want to hear. “Got it.”

***

Fiona could have run an army. She’s in her element handling twenty things at once. I hang out by the door, not wanting to get in her way, but not being able to look away from the first sight of good any of these children have experienced in a long while.

She has help, but there never seems to be enough hands at moments like these. I message Canyon.

Me: See if you can find any other women to help out in The Dorms.

Canyon: On it.

Fiona glances around and notices me. It takes her a long minute to get away.

“How are they?” I ask, even though the answer is right in front of my eyes.

“Scared. Traumatized. Alive.” Her eyes are filled with as much pain as the children’s.

“How can I help?”

“Find the guy that did this. It was a cop.”

WHAT?

“Most of these kids got separated from their parents in the city, and they went to a cop for help?” She shakes her head.

That’s what parents teach their kids to do. And the police are supposed to protect and defend, especially the smallest among us.

“I think it’s all one man. Just the way they describe him, it always feels like they’re describing the same guy.”

“Uniforms can do that.” You can be blinded. “It could even be a man posing as a cop. Uniforms are easy enough to fake. Send me the description when you have time.”

“Will do.” Fiona turns back to the kids but doesn’t walk away. “Thank you for saving them, too.”

***

I step into the dungeon, seething with my hands full of death. Our guest has already been chained to the wall. Several members of the council stand at the back, waiting for me to arrive.

No time like the present to make the introductions. I set down the travel cages, grab two hooks off the wall, and walk over to our guest. “You have two choices tonight. Fast or slow.”

“What? I didn’t do—”

“Spare me the lies and don’t waste my time. We all know what you did. All I need from you are the answers to two questions. If you answer them honestly, I’ll grant you a fast, relatively painless death.” I open one of the cages and lift out a snake. For our safety, I placed it in a chilling cage for a few minutes to make it a bit more docile without hurting it. But that doesn’t mitigate how lethal its bite is. “This is an Eastern Brown Snake all the way from Australia. As you might know, almost everything from there can kill you, and this is one of the biggest killers. One bite will kill you in as little as fifteen minutes. During that time, you will wish you were already dead, but it’s relatively quick.” I put the snake back away. “This one you should know.” The rattles sound as soon as I lift it out. “Rattlesnakes are always so showy, aren’t they? Especially the Eastern Diamondback. From the lavish design on their scales to the rows and rows of rattles, they are impressive snakes. But the thing is, you can live for days after one bites you. We keep these to help produce anti-venom, but you won’t be receiving any of that.” I bring the snake up close enough to give our guest a good view, and then put it back in its case.

The trick is to let them stew in their thoughts for a little bit.

“I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Just don’t let those things near me.”

That wasn’t one of the choices, but there’s no need to remind him of that fact. “Who set up the operation?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I swear I don’t know. I wasn’t the first to run it. The previous guy ended up dead after he ignored a direction. When I got a message telling me what to do, I did it. No questions asked. You’ve got to believe me, man.”

I actually do.

“The only one I actually saw was the cop that delivered the girls.”

The cop! Now we’re getting somewhere. “Who was that?”

“Some old white guy?”

That’s helpful when you’re twenty. The cop could be anywhere from forty to sixty. “What’s his name?”

“It’s something weird. Tree. Shrub. Bush… No. His name was Plant.”

Plant? Marlie’s Plant? “Plant brought you all the girls?”

“Yeah.” His head bobs. “He would come get a bag full of cash and give me another girl. We always met under the mall in the parking garage tunnels early in the morning when none of the johns were around.”

“Tell me everything you remember about Plant. Every detail from the date to the amount in the bag.” We might be one step closer to finding Marlie!