by E. M. Leya
"You know, someday someone's going to manage to break through that cold heart of yours." Carter smiled.
"They'd have to find my heart first." Xander chewed harder on the cigarette filter, wishing like hell that he could light it.
"It's the house with the blue truck." Carter slowed, stopping a house down from the one they were going to.
"Cameras?"
"This isn't a hit."
Xander sighed. It wasn't like he could turn off his mind. It was ingrained in him to have a full background on someone before going in. The fact that Carter had all the information this time, and he had none, didn't sit well with him. "Anything I need to know?"
"Nope, just that the guy is fucked up about his daughter. Can't get any worse than that, right?" Carter got out of the car.
"It can, but we won't tell him that." Right now, Faith was just missing. There was hope. Finding a body or seeing her sold on the black market would be much worse for Matthew.
"No, we let him hold on to hope for as long as we can. If he decides to work with us, Bryon, Trenton, and I will watch him closely. We won't let him get too deep just in case. We need to protect him while this plays out." Carter brushed something off his pant leg. "Ready?"
Xander gave a single nod, and let Carter lead the way to the front door. This Matthew guy was less likely to think he was going to be attacked if he saw Carter's pretty face before he had to face his. He still couldn't figure out why the hell Bryon thought it was a good idea to send him. He did the dirty work, not the make people comfortable, come work with us kind of shit.
Carter paused at the door, glancing at Xander. "We'll be lucky if he answers. From what Bryon said, he doesn't even answer for his sister often."
"If it's meant to be, he'll answer." Xander reached out and hit the doorbell.
"Impatient?" Carter laughed.
"If he's not going to answer, then I can get that smoke." Xander shrugged. "No point in wasting time."
"You really need to quit." Carter sighed.
"And you really need to mind your own—" He cut off what he was about to say as the latch inside clicked, then the door slowly opened.
"Can I help you?"
Xander took in the dark-haired man, with deep circles under his eyes, and pale skin as if he hadn't seen sunlight in months. His hair was curling over his collar, looking as if he'd been running his fingers through it for hours.
"Hi, my name is Carter, and this is Xander. We were hoping to talk to you about a few things if you have a minute." Carter smiled.
"Listen, I'm not interested in buying anything, God isn't my closest friend right now, and I donate to my own charities, so I'm sorry I can't help you." The man went to shut the door.
"Wait, are you Matthew?" Carter pressed his hand to the door, keeping it from shutting.
"Yeah."
"We aren't selling anything. In fact, we're here to see if we can help you." Carter glanced at Xander.
"Help me how?" Matthew asked.
"We're aware of what happened to your daughter and we think we can help," Carter told him.
Matthew sighed. "The cops warned me there would be people showing up trying to scam me by making promises. Thanks, but no thanks." He again tried to shut the door.
Carter wedged his foot in the doorway.
Xander didn't have the patience to pussyfoot around. "We know about the dark web. We can help."
Matthew's face paled and he stepped back.
"Don't worry, we aren't here to hurt you. We know how well you've covered your tracks," Xander continued. "Believe me when we say we are on your side. We want to help find Faith."
Matthew shook his head. "How did you find me?"
Carter grinned. "You're one of the best hackers I've ever seen, but I'm better."
Xander sighed. "Can we please take this conversation inside? This isn't something I want Pauley Peeper to hear about." He gestured with his head to the little old lady peeking out her living room window at them.
Matthew shook his head. "No way. You're not coming in here." The fear in his eyes was intense, but the rest of him was standing strong and in control as if he'd fight if they tried to enter.
"Listen, Matthew. We are on your side. We want to help you learn how to deal with the dark web. You're deep enough now that one wrong move could get you killed. Let us help you. We've been doing this for years. My team and I have been taking down these creeps for a long time. We can help you, even add to your cover if you let us." Carter held up his hands. "If you'd rather talk here, we can, but we have to be careful. What we have to tell you isn't stuff we want public either."
"Why should I trust you?" Matthew glanced at Xander.
"You shouldn't. It's a damn good thing you aren't just opening your door up to us. I wouldn't either. I mean, hell, would you look at him?" He gestured to Carter. "Would you trust a face like that?"
Carter groaned, but Matthew smiled.
"Seriously, Matthew, you shouldn't trust us, yet, but you should hear us out. If we wanted you dead, we wouldn't have shown up at your front door. Once you hear what our team can do, I think you'll consider working with us. We can't make any promises that you'll get your daughter back. I wish we could, but working together, we might find her, or we might help someone else get their child back." Xander shrugged. "The choice is yours. Tell us to fuck off and we're gone."
Matthew stared at the two of them for a long moment before finally opening the door. "If you're here to kill me, then let's get it over with. If not, then talk fast." He turned and walked away from the door, not even waiting for them.
Xander smiled at Carter as he stepped inside. "See, you've just got to be honest with them."
Carter mumbled something Xander couldn't catch as he followed him inside and shut the door.
They found Matthew in his living room, sitting in his computer chair, but the computer screen turned off.
"Have a seat if you want one." Matthew gestured to the couch and chair against the other wall.
"Thanks." Carter took a seat on the couch.
Xander sat down in the recliner, relaxing back with a sigh. "This is comfy. I need to get one like this." He reached down, pulling the lever on the side of the chair, causing the footstool to pop up.
Matthew watched him with an amused look. "If you're comfortable enough, why don't you tell me who the hell you are and what you want?"
Carter cleared his throat. "For now, we are going to keep who we are to ourselves, but I will tell you what we do. We have a team that works on taking down pedophiles. We take down the worst of the worst. We aren't looking for the nineteen-year-old who is caught with his fifteen-year-old girlfriend. While we do frown on that, it's a case for the cops, not us." He gestured to the computer. "We have people, who like you, are deep into the dark web with fake identities, trying to take down the trafficking and sex rings we find. We focus mostly on children under the age of twelve, but we do get involved in the adult cases if we have enough information. We go in and do what the cops can't or have failed to do. We look for the creeps who have been given a chance already, served time, and been released. Once they have proven they aren't going to stop hurting kids, we jump in and either take them down before they can physically hurt a child, or we go in and rescue the child after taking the perpetrator down."
Matthew narrowed his eyes. "Take them down how?"
Xander smiled, wondering how Carter would answer this one.
"Well, we don't kill them, but we do go in and make sure they will never be able to rape another child again. We then leave them secured with files about all of their cases, both new and old, and let the cops deal with them once we've eliminated the possibility of them raping again." Carter ran his fingers through his hair.
Xander laughed. "Carter never was comfortable talking about that part."
Matthew paled. "If they can't rape anyone again, you…?"
Xander made a slicing gesture that had Matthew paling even more. "We take away their need, their w
eapon. We make sure they never find pleasure again."
Matthew stood, running down the hallway.
Xander jumped up, following quickly, making sure Matthew wasn't calling the cops, but he found him in the bathroom, the door wide open, with Matthew on his knees heaving into the toilet.
"Told you not to be so graphic. Most of us can't handle that shit," Carter said from a few feet away.
Xander flipped Carter off before stepping into the bathroom, finding a washcloth, and wetting it. He waited for Matthew to stop throwing up before handing him the cloth. "It's always a shock to hear about, but you'll get used to the idea."
"Thanks." Matthew flushed the toilet as he sat back on his feet. "You're serious, aren't you?" He glanced up at Xander as he wiped his face.
"Yep, sure am. I can't stand what these assholes do to kids." He stared right at Matthew, letting him see how serious he really was. "If they can cause the kids pain, I can cause them pain."
"Why not kill them?"
"Death is too good for them. They need to suffer a little. One day I'll tell you the side effects of eunuchism." He wiggled his eyebrows.
Matthew shook his head. "You're a sick fuck."
Not the least bit offended, he shrugged. "When you've seen what I have, you learn what sick really is. What I do is far from sick. It's deserved."
Matthew slowly stood, brushing past Xander to get to the sink. He stared at Xander in the mirror for a second, then turned on the water, cupping his hands and washing his face.
Xander had a towel ready for him when he straightened. He handed it to him, meeting his gaze. "I'm not going to lie to you about anything. If you are going to work with us, you need to know what we do. You need to be prepared for the things you'll see and hear. If you don't have the stomach for this—"
"I can't cut off someone's—"
"You won't have to," Carter interrupted from the doorway. "We are interested in your hacking skills. We leave the dicing and slicing to the others who can handle it."
"We'll give you a minute to collect yourself. When you're ready, come back out and we'll talk about everything." Xander gently brushed his fingers over Matthew's back as he turned and followed Carter down the hallway.
As they sat back down, Carter glanced over at him. "Did you have to be so blunt?"
"He needs to know what he's getting into. You can't sugarcoat the shit we do." Xander looked around the room. He wanted to go over and explore the computer, find out what exactly Matthew was up to, but the last thing they needed right now was to snoop and ruin what little trust they had earned, which wasn't much.
"Still, leave the bloody shit out of it. Let me talk." Carter glared at Xander.
"Right, because he was listening to you so well." He shrugged as he leaned back in the recliner again. "Fine, do it your way. Wake me when you're done." He closed his eyes, relaxing as if he was sitting home, ready for a nap.
Carter snorted. "You're so fucked up!"
Opening one eye, Xander smiled. "Don't forget it."
CHAPTER SIX
Matt braced his hands on the bathroom counter, trying to understand everything he'd been told. In less than fifteen minutes, his world had shifted, and he wasn't sure how to digest the information he was learning. He took a deep breath, before stepping out of the bathroom, but he paused in the hallway, trying to think what he would say to the two strange men in his living room.
When they'd first shown up and mentioned the dark web, he'd thought he was fucked. He was sure that they'd somehow tracked him and knew who he was. His life flashed before his eyes for a moment until they must have seen his fear and then tried to ease his mind.
He still didn't fully trust them. How could he? He was good at what he did, and his identity was well hidden. There shouldn't have been any way for anyone to figure out who he was or where he lived. If these two could do it, who else could?
The thought sent a chill down his back. He only wanted to get Faith home, not bring danger to the house where he wanted her to return to. No matter what, he needed more information from the two men. He couldn't even recall their names. He'd been too stunned finding them at his doorstep.
He was going to have to deal with whatever this was. There was no avoiding it now that they were in his house. At the very least, he needed to find out how they managed to find him, so he could protect himself better.
With a deep breath, he tried to calm his nerves as he walked back out to the living room. As he entered, the blond smiled at him, but the other guy, the one with the beard and ink, seemed to be sleeping in his chair. Matt raised a brow as he looked at him, then back at the blond.
"Matthew—"
"It's Matt." He walked over to his computer chair. "What were your names again?"
"I'm Carter, and Sleepy over there is Xander." Carter rolled his eyes at Xander.
Xander lifted a hand and waved, but never opened his eyes.
"And you hunt pedophiles?" Matt was trying to remember everything they said, with the exception of what Xander had told him, but unfortunately, that was the one thing he couldn't seem to forget, as much as he wanted to.
"We do, but only the worst ones. The ones who have already been through the courts, already served time, have gotten out and reoffended. There are a few cases where the offense has been so extreme that we've gone after first-timers, but those are the most horrendous cases you can imagine, infants and—"
Matt held up his hand. "I get it." He took another deep breath. "Okay, start at the beginning. How did you find me?"
"Like you, we have people searching through the dark web. One of us saw you, and like we do with all new faces, we did some background. We dig up what we can through normal channels, but when someone comes up blank like you did, with just a basic bit of information, but not much else, that's when it's handed over to me, and I dig a little deeper. As I said before, you're an amazing hacker, but I'm just a bit better." There was confidence and pride in Carter's voice. "I have to admit, you impressed me. I haven't seen someone as good as you in a long time, and I know some of the best."
The compliment shouldn't have made him smile, but it did. He was proud of his skills even if he'd never really used them for much until now. "Thanks."
"How'd you learn?"
"A friend and I used to play around, the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. Most of it is self-taught, but there was a guy in college that helped me some. You'll forgive me if I don't give his name." Matt leaned back in the chair, trying to appear more comfortable around these two than he really was.
"No, I get it, I really do." Carter grinned. "Anyway, we started to see you posting, weaving your way into the community. You'd post just enough to earn their trust, but not enough to make us think you were a serious player. I dug as deep as I could go, finally finding your true identity and that led to the news reports about your daughter. It didn't take much to link it all together."
"But if you found me…" Matt shook his head. "I should have known this would backfire."
"Actually, it hasn't. I can help you hide even better. Fill those small holes that leave you vulnerable." Carter offered.
"And in return?"
"Nothing. I'll help you either way. No matter what you decide to do with the information and offer we are about to make you." Carter glanced over at Xander, rolled his eyes, then looked back at Matt. "Your hacking abilities are amazing. We'd like you to join our team. You're already getting deeper into the dark web, and we'd like to have you keep that identity and have us help take you deeper. You'd work with our team to find the men and women who have no intention of changing. The ones that have proven time and time again they are going to re-offend. We do our homework. When we go after someone, there is no doubt that they are guilty. We go in, do what needs to be done, then leave them for the police. We've done this for over ten years now."
"I don't know. I just want to find my daughter." Matt ran his fingers through his hair. "I never wanted to get into all this. I just want my baby
home."
"We know that, and finding her is always your first priority. We understand that. We'll help look. We are praying she isn't on the dark web. I know other scenarios aren't much better, but we pray she isn't…" Carter shook his head. "We have resources to help, not just with the dark web, but other places. We've already reached out to see if there is any chatter about Faith through those connections, be it the local police, FBI, or just others like you and I who use our computer skills to better the world. But while you're sitting in front of that computer, searching through all the horror, help us maybe save a few others as well."
"You'd trust me?" Matt couldn't imagine they'd let a stranger into their circle so easily.
"Not fully, yet. We have only eight members right now. We haven't brought someone new in for several years. We don't trust easily, and we are very careful about who we let join us. You’re the first we’ve come across in quite a while who has the skills and reason to help us. As of right now, we can walk out that door and you'd have no clue who we are or how to find us. If you decided to do this, to join with us, then we'd slowly integrate you with the team." Carter shrugged. "We can use your skills, but the choice is yours. Either way, we are already trying to help you find Faith and that won't change."
"And if I join and decide it's not for me?"
"Then you can leave. We'd ask you to keep everything you've learned a secret. Something you would take to the grave with you. There are too many children at risk for us to have to deal with someone leaking our information or even going public with it. As of now, the police are aware of what our team does, but they have no clue who we are. It's not without danger. As much as we like to think the police and justice system might secretly support what we do, there are laws, and we are accountable to them just like anyone else. Hacking is illegal, what Xander and some of the others do is mutilation and torture. All of us could go down at any time, but we are willing to take that risk to save the kids. It's all that matters to us," Carter explained. "You don't have to answer now. Take some time and think about it. One of us will be in contact."