The Child Thief

by Bella Forrest

  I navigated into it and saw that, to my surprise, it was completely empty of submissions. There was a “new submission” button right there, clearly visible for all to see, and I’d thought that people would be all over this feature—eager to begin posting suggestions for our next move and taking votes.

  And then I saw a pop-up notice on one side that explained how the poll worked:

  “Enter a succinct description of how you believe we could begin taking action as a group. Your idea will go through a moderating period, then be reviewed by our administrators, to ensure that it is within the realm of reason, and then each submission will be sent out via private message to each member of the group. They will have an option to select yes or no. At the end of this process, submissions will appear within the poll area, and in this way we will see which ideas are the most popular, and are worthy of further discussion.

  Please be patient as we go through this process. It may take several days for a submission to show up. And please do vote on all ideas. Every voice matters.

  Submission deadline is this Saturday for the first pilot mission, so be sure to send us your idea by then if you have one. After the winning idea has been chosen, focused discussion will start.

  Yours,

  The admin team.”

  I finished reading and immediately checked my inbox, but no new messages had come through yet, so I guessed whatever submissions they’d received so far were still in processing. The admins had been extra busy recently, after all, not just with working on this new portal while maintaining the main OH network, but also on the in-person groundwork the team was doing.

  That didn’t mean I was going to wait to get my suggestion in.

  I set down my pad, thinking. This seemed like a pretty logical way to go about this. Now I just needed to figure out what I wanted to submit. I’d thought about it some before, and figured that whatever we did first should be something that painted us in a positive light before the public, something that inspired trust and respect, and showed we were not only good guys, but motivated and organized. A force to be reckoned with. But how could we do that? It was what I had to begin hashing out now. I needed to come up with a solid idea, or at least an example, that could be a starting point for discussion.

  I closed my eyes, and was just falling into concentration when my phone rang, startling me. I scrambled to pick it up and saw that it was an unidentified caller.

  “Hello?” I said, answering it.

  “Hi, Robin, this is Gabby,” the girl’s voice crackled through at the other end of the line.

  “Oh,” I replied, surprised. “Hey, Gabby! How are you doing?”

  “Okay, thanks. Hope I’m not disturbing you?”

  “No, it’s okay. I just got home.”

  “Okay. I guess you already logged in to the portal and saw the changes?”

  I looked back to my screen. “Yeah. In fact, I’m just thinking about what to submit now under the poll section. Have you submitted anything yet?” I wondered.

  She sighed. “No. I’ve just been thinking about it, too… You know that trafficking ring I’ve been trying to hack? I still haven’t managed to crack it, but imagine if everyone on this platform put their minds together on a way to get in. We could bust it in no time. I know it’s not directly related to OH’s main objective of ending the CRAS, but it’s just really been bugging me. Somebody has to do something about those monsters.”

  I paused, an idea hitting me hard and fast. I hadn’t thought of that site, per se, but I suddenly realized how it could cross over to my line of thinking. Start with something good, and possibly unrelated to our main agenda, to begin inserting ourselves into the public’s consciousness.

  “You’re right, Gabby,” I said slowly, the cogs beginning to whir in my brain. “Even regardless of what we’re trying to achieve here, something has to be done about that site.”

  I’d bet we had enough techy minds to hack their system within a day or two, maybe even a few hours, if we joined together. And if we went about this right, we could end up killing two birds with one stone.

  “I’m so glad you agree!” Gabby replied, sounding excited. “I was thinking it could be a great first exercise in working together, even leaving aside the kids we would have helped.”

  “Is that why you called, by the way?” I asked. “To share your idea with me?” I was eager to get back to full concentration, now that, thanks to her interruption, the first inkling of a solid plan was beginning to form in my mind. But I didn’t want to cut her out.

  “Um, yeah,” Gabby said. “And to give you an update on how I was doing with the site, since you asked. Also, I figured I’d see how you were doing with all of your other visitations.”

  “They’ve been going pretty well so far, actually,” I replied. “Mr. X just has a couple more on his list, and then we should be ready to close the portal, to begin working on an actual mission. Apparently, all admins should be done by this Friday.”

  “That’s exciting!”

  “Yes, it is,” I murmured, drifting back into my musings. “Well, I’m gonna work on a submission now,” I said after a pause. “You’ve given me a good way to pitch something that I’ve already been mulling over, and I’m actually thinking we could submit a pitch jointly. How about I send it over to you for feedback once I’ve hashed it out?”

  “Oh, sure! That would be awesome, because I wasn’t really sure how to word the idea.”

  “Okay, keep an eye on your inbox.”

  “Will do! Bye-bye!”

  I ended the call, then picked my tablet back up and began to compose the submission. There was a limit on words, so I had to be concise, but after about an hour of thinking and rewording, I finally sent it off to Gabby. She got back to me within five minutes with a “YES, THIS IS PERFECT!” and a string of thumbs-up emojis, so I went ahead and hit submit, signing it with both of our names.

  I was pretty happy with the end result, but time would tell whether others thought the same. For now all we could do was wait.

  23

  For the first time since I’d started going out with Jace, I had an evening off. He confirmed to us via private message that the second appointment wasn’t until Wednesday (with the third set for Thursday), and with that, I had an entire night to myself.

  I thought I might enjoy having the evening free, but I found myself wishing that I was out doing something. Moping around the cabin allowed my mind one opportunity too many to return to Bridgeton, and the memories that had resurfaced there. The feelings the place had dug up hadn’t left me yet, either, as I’d hoped they would. Instead they lingered, simmering just beneath the surface of my consciousness, and bubbled up whenever my mind wasn’t deliberately focused on something else.

  Which was annoying, because I didn’t want to keep feeling awkward around Jace. He was my colleague, and this foolish crush I had on him was making it even more difficult to focus on the task at hand, adding to the tension I was already feeling by going out on these uncertain missions. I had to get over it. And I would. I probably just needed to give myself more time.

  And in the meantime, I’d keep acting like I wasn’t swooning over him every time he glanced at me.

  This evening, the main problem was that there wasn’t much more to do on the OH+ portal to distract me, given that we were waiting for the poll results to emerge. I did have a number of submissions to vote on starting to trickle into my inbox, which was something, but it didn’t take very long for me to go through them. Most of them were recycled ideas that I had already seen bandied about on the forums. They were less rash than they had been in their original state (most likely rethought in order to get them through the admins’ moderation), but all seemed to be rooted in short-term vengeance, rather than long-term thinking. I just hoped that, when people saw Gabby’s and my suggestion, they would be able to see past their bitterness and recognize that it could make sense from a strategic point of view.

  After logging out of the portal, I ju
st ended up getting an early night, catching up on some extra sleep for the next day, in case we got back late. The appointment had been set at another remote location, in the countryside, which, according to Jace, we could still reach by train.

  And I was glad for that, because a motorcycle journey would’ve been tedious, and I had been spending way too much on fuel recently.

  Once the end of the workday arrived the next day, I headed straight for the nearest station, and, after a couple hours’ journey, reached Yew Station, located in the small village-like town of Appleburn. I was both surprised and relieved to find that everyone had already arrived, because waiting around would’ve only made me feel uneasy—not just from the fact that I would’ve felt pressure to make small talk with Jace, but also because it would’ve allowed more opportunity for tension to build up for today’s meeting.

  As it was, I was able to immediately launch into action, because as soon as I approached them, we took off into the night.

  It wasn’t long before Jace was veering us away from the town, and along a seemingly endless road that wound between fields of wheat, with a disconcerting lack of lampposts. They were stretched too far apart to shine light on every stretch of the road, and Jace ended up pulling out his flashlight to help illuminate the way.

  To say I was nervous about tonight’s location would have been an understatement. I sensed the nerves stretching around all of us, even Jace, who kept glancing uncertainly down at the map on his pad, as if wondering whether it might somehow be leading us the wrong way. For all we knew, we were walking right into a trap, and although we were armed, we had no idea how many people might be waiting for us at our destination. Or whether they were government moles.

  “You sure we’re going the right way, Hux?” Ant asked warily, after fifteen minutes of walking along the dimly lit road.

  Jace swallowed, then nodded. “Per the GPS.”

  “And what is this person, or people, supposed to be offering us that’s worth the risk of us coming out this far in the dark to see them?” Abe asked, his angst mirroring his brother’s.

  “He/she wouldn’t say, exactly. Same deal as with Mr. Montague. Said they didn’t want to disclose details until we’d met face-to-face, but it’s supposed to be some other kind of technology. Said it could be particularly useful during stealth missions. So we’ll just have to see.” He paused, glancing at each of us. “Unless any of you don’t feel comfortable about this and want to turn back now. You’re free to, of course.”

  We all glanced at each other with a firm look that said, “Nope, we’re in this together,” and kept walking, swallowing back our nerves and fixing our sights on the road ahead.

  Once Jace’s GPS announced that we were approximately ten minutes away, we paused to pull on our masks, and then prepare our guns. I retrieved mine from my bag and slipped its cool frame into my pocket, keeping my fingers wrapped around the handle for easy withdrawal.

  This was a much dicier situation than Bridgeton had been, and I found myself wishing we were wearing Mr. Montague’s suits for this already. Even if the contact wasn’t a government mole, they could easily just be regular thugs, looking to rob or do who knew what to us. And, out here, nobody could hear us shout. There was no saying how long it’d take for cops to reach us.

  Not that we’d dare call the police anyway.

  I tried to keep my brain on a more optimistic line of thought as we took a left turn off the road and down a dirt track, which was completely devoid of light, except for a warm orange lantern glowing at the end of it.

  As we neared the light, a small building came into view behind it, and Jace cut a beam across it with his flashlight. It was an old chapel, judging by the steeple and stone slab walls, and had been abandoned many years ago, based on the many holes punched into the stained glass windows. The smallest flicker of light spilling through from one of the ground-level windows caught my attention, and I pointed to it.

  Each of my colleagues followed my gaze.

  “Seems like someone’s home, at least,” Jackie muttered.

  “So, I’m thinking same protocol as last time,” Jace said, his voice whisper soft. “Everyone okay for the twins to play backup again, or you wanna switch things around?”

  “I’m okay to go in,” I replied. “Up to you, Jackie.”

  She nodded curtly. “I’m okay with it. They just owe us next time.”

  The twins exchanged a look, and then Jace was distributing the comm equipment again. Once we were all set up, he unlatched the wooden gate and eased it open, just enough for him to squeeze through. He gestured for Jackie and me to follow, while the twins ducked down behind the stone walls.

  It was eerily quiet as we moved through the overgrown yard—which I quickly realized was a graveyard, as my foot connected with a low headstone. Jackie cursed beneath her breath as she almost tripped on one too, and we tried to stick to the narrow path that wound in between the weeds toward the entrance.

  Then Jace was approaching the heavy oak door and knocking his fist against it hard, three times. And then we were all holding our breath and waiting.

  I counted the seconds in my head. Thirty passed, then sixty, then ninety, and I was about to suggest to Jace that he knock again when I heard the whining of metal, and the doorknob twisted. It made me jump, as I hadn’t heard the slightest sound of footsteps on the other side, and when the door creaked open, I was equally taken aback by the figure that stepped into view.

  It was a small woman. A small, young woman, wearing a patchwork dress with a woolen shawl clutched around her shoulders. She was probably not much older than any of us, and yet there was a weariness to her features that aged her. Her blue eyes were dull, her mouth downturned, and a small scab ran across her lower lip. The skin around her jaw was oddly slack, her face holding a pallid, sickly hue.

  Her thin lips stretched into a crooked smile as she laid eyes on us, and when she spoke, her voice was raspy, like that of a heavy smoker. “Ah, Mr. X and friends. I was worried you might’ve bailed on me! Come in, come in.”

  She staggered slightly as she stepped backward, away from the door, revealing a brown bottle clasped in one hand.

  None of us budged as we cast uncertain looks at one another.

  I didn’t know who this woman was, but it seemed obvious that she was a waster. And I couldn’t imagine what value we’d get out of this meeting. Still, I wasn’t picking up on any imminent danger from her yet, so I supposed that since we’d come all this way, we might as well hear her out.

  Jace and Jackie seemed to conclude the same thing, as they started to move after the woman through the door, and I took up the rear, careful to keep the door slightly open before following them through into a cavernous hall lined with dilapidated benches. All items of worship seemed to have been removed long ago, the walls stripped of decorations, leaving the place an empty, echoing shell.

  I shivered at the chill draft wafting through. It felt a lot colder in here than outside.

  The woman angled for a door in one corner of the chapel and pushed it open, leading us through to a small service room lined with candles. She’d turned it into some kind of temporary bedroom, judging by the sleeping bag rolled out in one corner, and a camping stove surrounded by a small pile of canned food.

  At least, I assumed it was temporary. I couldn’t imagine living in this place full time.

  “Sorry, I got no chairs in here,” she said roughly, gesturing to the floor around the stove. We all remained standing while she plopped herself down on her sleeping bag with a huff. “Suit yourself.”

  “Um, Ella,” Jace finally spoke. “What is it exactly that you have to show me?”

  Her blue eyes narrowed on him, and then a cackle bubbled up from her throat. “I’m sorry, I lied to yeh. Ain’t got no special stealth tech to offer, or any tech at all! But I do got myself. Pamella Pomfry, at your service. And that’s not a fake name, by the way. It’s the one my parents cursed me with.” She cackled again.

 
I exhaled, figuring we’d definitely seen enough by now, though my heart ached for the young woman. I didn’t know what had driven her to this state, but I could only imagine that her past was tragic. Nobody deserved to live like this.

  Still, we were just wasting our time at this point.

  It was just one of the risks that came with the job, I supposed. Sometimes the meeting would end up being a dud. Though duds were better than death traps, so there was that, at least.

  Jace sighed and started to back away. “I’m sorry, Ella. In that case we have to leave.”

  “Wait!” She shot to her feet so abruptly, she was practically a blur as she latched on to Jace’s right arm. She tugged him back into the center of the room, panting under the strain of pulling the large man. “Please, wait!” she said, a look of urgency streaking across her face.

  She sounded so desperate that we couldn’t help but stall. A part of me felt terribly sorry for her, though another part couldn’t beat back a creeping suspicion that began to unfurl within me. She seemed to really want us to stay.

  Could this be some kind of trap?

  I looked nervously to Jace, who extricated himself from her gently, gripping her shoulders and guiding her back down onto her sleeping bag. He then rose to his feet, frowning down at her. “What is it?” he asked firmly.

  “Just hear me out, mister,” she rasped, pinching the bridge of her nose while continuing to take deep breaths, as if trying to force herself to focus.

  Jace nodded slowly, and then glanced at Jackie and me. Still half-fearing that this was a trap, I moved back to the door and peered out into the dark chapel. It was ghostly quiet, as before, the only movement a large spider weaving its web against a nearby windowpane.