by E. M. Leya
"I was hoping you'd let me have the female tonight." Xander nudged the woman with the toe of his boot. "I'll make you feel things you never imagined possible." He grinned.
Tears rolled down the woman's cheek, and she struggled to breathe through the snot forming in her nose.
"Scared?" Dyson kneeled beside the man. "Maybe as scared as those three boys you have held downstairs?"
The man jerked, but that was all the movement he could make as the drugs took effect.
"Don't worry, it will only hurt for a minute." Xander narrowed his eyes at the woman. "Isn't that what you told the boys in that video you made?"
Her eyes twitched, but it was the only sign she understood what he was saying.
"Time to get naked." Dyson pulled a pair of scissors from his pocket, taking a moment to cut all the clothes off the man before tossing the scissors to Xander.
Purposely missing, Xander watched as the cold steel scissors fell hard against the woman's shoulder. It was nothing more than a heavy thud, but it was enough to add to the fear she was already experiencing.
As Xander took the scissors and started to cut away her clothing, he stared into her eyes. "What makes a monster like you? What is wrong in your head to make you like young children? Do you know how disgusting you are?"
The woman shivered as he pulled the clothes from her body. Once she was naked, he glanced over at Dyson. "Hey, you okay if I let her watch you work? I think she might enjoy it. After all, she likes seeing boys in pain." Xander lifted the woman up by her hair and leaned her against the desk so she had a full view of what Dyson was doing to her husband.
"I don't mind at all." Dyson started to pull tools out of his jacket.
A small whimper escaped the man.
"Don't worry, it only hurts for a second."
"Don't lie to the man. I used to hate it when my doctor would say that to me when giving me a shot. Those things hurt for hours." Dyson tied the string around the man's cock, then around his balls. "You sure you don't want to do this? You're better than I am," Dyson lied as he glanced at Xander.
"Oh, no, you need the practice. The chance of you messing it up again is unlikely." Xander loved being able to mess with the perp's head. "I'll get my turn in a minute." He brushed the back of his gloved fingers down the woman's cheek as her eyes went back and forth as if she didn't know if she should watch what was being done to her husband or keep her eyes on him.
"At least yours isn't as messy." Dyson made the cut, causing blood to spurt.
The woman's tears fell faster as her husband trembled on the floor, sweat dripping down his face.
"See how easy that was?" Xander smiled. "You didn't even need to saw through it this time."
The woman struggled to breathe.
"What? I thought you liked seeing males tortured, or is that only when they are too young to protect themselves?" Xander pushed her, causing her to crumple in a heap on the ground. "Let's get you tied up, shall we?" He kicked her legs apart, enjoying the fear in her eyes.
"Wait, I want to make sure he can see what happens to her." With the tube already in place, Dyson held up the blow torch so the man could see it, he then heated the knife and cauterized the wounds.
"I'm not sure he's with it enough to even care." Xander watched the man looking as if he was fading in and out of consciousness.
"Some guys just don't have the balls for…" Dyson frowned at the man. "Oops, guess that saying won't work for you anymore." He finished off cauterizing before setting his tools aside. He then grabbed the man by the arms and pulled him, so he was propped up against the other desk. "There, now you'll get a good view."
The woman stared up at Xander with her eyes filled with fear.
Xander glared at her. "You ignored the fear in your victim's eyes the same way I'm ignoring it in yours." He pulled his own tool out the front hoodie pocket.
"Oh, I didn't know they made those that size." Dyson shook his head.
Xander held up the two-inch curling iron. "Twice the size of your husband, isn't it?" He asked her, then shook his head. "Well, maybe we should just say, much more than your husband considering everything now." Xander gestured to her husband's cock and balls on the floor.
"Shoot, I forgot lube." Dyson sighed. "I always forget something."
"That's okay, we'll make it fit. I'm sure the pain won't be any worse than what her victims went through." Xander placed the curling iron against the woman's vagina, and without a care for how much it would hurt, he forced it inside her.
Unable to move, the woman couldn't fight him. Only the constant stream of tears gave away her discomfort.
"Well, that looks like we've taken care of everything." Dyson started putting everything they'd brought into a bag. "What should we do with these?" He toed the bloody cock with his boot.
Xander pulled out zip ties, securing each of the woman's hands to the desk before handing two ties to Dyson. "Toss it. It won't be any good anymore. It's trash."
Dyson picked the cock and balls off the floor and tossed them into the trash can under the desk before tying the man's arms to the desk, so he couldn't move once the drugs wore off. "Got everything?" He glanced back at Xander.
"Sure do." Xander glanced around the room, making sure there was nothing left that could lead anyone to them. "Good to go." He nodded to Dyson.
They made their way to the office door when Xander stopped. "Fuck, I almost forgot." He grinned, sure she'd been thinking she got off easy. He hurried back to the woman, reaching down, he took the plug to the curling iron and held it up for Dyson to see. "I forgot to plug it in." Ignoring the tear-stained face staring up at him, he plugged the cord in so it would slowly heat.
"Tell your friends we'll be coming for them too," Dyson said as they walked out the door.
Once they had shut the couple in the room, Xander quickly pulled a can of spray paint from his pocket. He followed Dyson down the hallway, painting arrows along the wall every five feet to lead the police where they would need to go.
They continued down the stairs, going to the room that surveillance had decided held the boys. It was the hardest thing Xander ever had to do by not rescuing the kids himself, but this was for the best. The arrows he painted would hopefully lead the police to the kids before they found the couple. He spray painted a heart on the door where the kids were held, thankful that Carter somehow always managed to know where they were being kept.
With a final glance at Dyson, they quickly left the scene.
It wasn't until they were in the car and Dyson was pulling away that Xander called the police on a burner phone. "There are three kids being held hostage at 9432 Bunnion Lane." He hung up. Then pulling his own phone out of the glovebox, he quickly sent a message to the team.
Job completed. STK
Silence filled the car as Dyson drove them to the lake to dispose of everything. As much as they joked to torment the perpetrators more, what they did wasn't easy, and it wasn't fun. They all dealt with it their own way, but they all had to deal with it. It wasn't until they were away from the neighborhood that one of them spoke.
"My house and a beer?" Xander asked.
Dyson nodded as he pulled back onto the road. "Maybe two."
CHAPTER NINE
Matt unlocked his car and climbed inside, tired, and exhausted after his first few days back at work. He hated every minute of it. The work was the same, the job easy, but what he hated was that every five minutes, someone was coming in and telling him how sorry they were about Faith.
Each time he wanted to scream at them to leave him alone, but they were just trying to console him and be kind. He couldn't take his anger and frustration out on them. Still, it got to be so bad that he could hardly do the job he was paid to do. He was more of a distraction at work than a help.
He started the car, cranking the air conditioner, hoping to cool it down after it had sat in the sun all day. He stared up at the large office building he'd worked in for more years than he could remember. It h
ad been a good job. It supported his family when he'd first gotten married, then again when he had Faith, but now, without a reason to go in, without a reason to need that paycheck, he found he just was not motivated to do it anymore.
Life was different now. All he could think about, care about, was getting Faith back. It wasn't fair that he wasted his boss's time coming into work every day just to get nothing accomplished. He sighed as he pulled the business card Carter had given him from his pocket. He'd stared at it more times than he wanted to admit, going over everything that they'd said to him. Some of the things they'd discussed were hard to swallow, and he was fully aware that what this team did wasn't legal, but the more he thought about it, the more he understood why they did what they did.
One thing he'd learned being on the dark web was that most of the people who abused children had a record. They were on the sex offenders list already, and they were still active. They served their time either on probation, in jail, or a longer term in prison, but all of them went right back to doing what they wanted. There were some offenders who didn't care what the police or a judge said, they weren't going to stop. If what Carter and Xander did helped to stop them, then he could get behind them, maybe even join them.
He ran his finger over Carter's name, wondering what the rest of the team was like. Carter and Xander couldn't be more opposite. While he was comfortable with Carter's appearance and ease, it had been Xander's blunt but honest comments that were actually having him consider joining. He liked that they were open about what they did. They didn't have to tell anyone what they did with the pedophiles they caught. It was enough to know they were dealt with, but from the way Xander talked, the team was fully aware of everything the others did. That was refreshing.
He wasn't sure how to take Xander. At first glimpse, he looked as if he belonged riding with some motorcycle gang, but then it had been Xander who took the time to get him a cloth, it was Xander who was honest and open with him while Carter had been picking and choosing his words. He liked how laid back Xander was.
He'd been intrigued by the large, tattooed man. And more than once over the last few days, it was visions of Xander relaxing in his recliner that had brought a smile to his face when nothing else could. He liked that Xander made himself comfortable, that he didn't play by the rules of what was proper or expected. He was his own person, and Matt was jealous of that in many ways. For too many years he'd been what everyone else wanted him to be, not what he wanted.
Refusing to think about it anymore, Matt grabbed his cell phone and punched in Carter's number. He was fooling himself if he thought he could handle coming back to work another day. He'd go in first thing in the morning and tell them he was sorry, but with everything else going on it was best he quit. His heart wasn't in it, and neither was his mind.
"Hello?" Carter's voice came over the phone.
"Hey, Carter, it's Matt, Matt Springton. I hope I'm not bothering you." His palms were suddenly sweaty despite the air conditioning cooling the car.
"Hey, I was hoping we'd hear from you. How are you holding up?" Carter sounded genuinely happy to hear from him.
"As good as can be expected." He took a deep breath, again looking at the building he'd worked in for so long. "Listen, I've thought about your offer, and I think I'd be interested."
"That's fantastic. I'm excited to have you with us. Finally, someone who will understand my geek talk." Carter laughed. "We actually have a team meeting tonight. We hold them every couple of days. Would you be able to join us?"
"Sure, tell me where and when and I can be there."
"Actually, we never give the address out over a non-secure phone, so would you mind if I sent Xander to pick you up? Once you've been here, you won't forget how to get here, but until we get you a secure phone, we like to take all the precautions we can."
Matt hesitated. Did he trust these guys enough to let them take him to an unknown location? He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think.
"I know you might not be comfortable, but I will tell you it's a home in a safe neighborhood. If you aren't comfortable when you get here, we'll take you home anytime. We just can't risk the team's safety by giving out information," Carter told him.
"You know what? If I trust you enough to say I'll work for you, I should trust you enough to drive me somewhere. I'm just leaving my other job and it will take me about a half-an-hour to get home."
"No problem. I'll have Xander pick you up at about six-thirty, so that will give you some time. Once you're here, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team and show you our computer system. I'm looking forward to working with you."
"Me too. I have to admit, I'm eager to see what I can learn from you." Matt was always excited to learn new computer skills.
Carter laughed. "I'm happy to teach you all I know, but from what I've seen, you're going to do fine on your own."
"Thanks." Matt smiled, then thought about how rare it was to smile anymore, but since meeting Carter and Xander, he found himself doing it more often, especially when he thought about Xander and his outlandish comments and attitude.
"Anyway, watch for Xander around six-thirty and plan on being gone an hour or two, then one of us will take you home. Once you know where we are, you can drop by anytime."
"I'll see you then." Matt hung up his phone, his stomach turning nervously, but he wasn't sure how much of it was fear and how much was excitement.
He set his phone down, giving his work one last glance, not as upset about quitting as he thought he would be. He loved working in IT, but the job had always been too easy for him. It was something he did for the paycheck, not something he did to challenge his mind. He hoped working with Carter's team, he would be able to push himself, actually have to think once in a while.
As he pulled out on the road, he thought about Faith. Usually, he would be headed home to see her smiling face, the older neighbor who watched her at their house after school would have dinner ready, then the three of them would sit down and eat together. Once dinner was done, and the babysitter was gone, he'd shower before helping Faith with any homework. He loved that time with her, the two of them sitting together, laughing, and talking, instead of working on the math problems she'd bring home. God, he missed her.
He tried not to wonder where she was or what might be happening to her. He refused to believe she might be dead, even though statistics said she probably was. He couldn't think that. Until there was proof, he would think of her alive, because as long as she was alive, there was a chance she'd come back home.
Traffic was light, and he pulled into his driveway earlier than he expected. Taking advantage of the extra time, he quickly jumped in the shower, glad to rid himself of the suit and change into a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt.
As he headed back to the living room, he paused for a moment at Faith's bedroom, opening the door and looking inside. He hadn't touched anything in there, hoping she'd come home and find it just as she left it.
There were some nights he would go in and lay on her bed, remembering every bedtime story he'd told her, or even back to when Jill would fall asleep beside Faith and he'd go in and quietly cover the two of them up before heading to bed alone. Fuck he missed his family. He didn't think things could get harder than they were when Jill died, but losing Faith was harder than anything he could imagine. He wanted to go door to door, tearing apart every house to find her. He wanted to take out ads in every city, call every hospital. His mind never stopped thinking of things he wanted to do, but then the truth hit him, there was nothing he could do but wait.
He closed Faith's door. He didn't need to get himself in that mood before his meeting tonight. He needed a clear head, and allowing himself to get lost in memories wasn't going to help anything.
He grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and sat down at the kitchen table, again thinking over his conversations with Xander and Carter. From what it sounded like, they did pretty much the same thing he'd been doing online at
home, searching the dark web, trying to weave their way into circles and find out what kids were on there. It didn't give him a lot of hope of finding Faith if their team was deeper involved in the sex trafficking circles than he was, and they had yet to see any signs of her. He was driving himself insane trying to figure out new ways to search, new leads to look into, but there was nothing.
The sound of the doorbell was a relief, and he quickly made his way to the door, taking a second to look out the peephole before opening the door for Xander.
"You called for a cab?" Xander smiled.
"Actually, no, it was insisted that I take one." Matt grinned back. "Thanks for picking me up."
"No problem. You're on my way. Glad to hear you decided to join us." Xander ran his hand down his beard, fisting it for a moment before releasing it. "I think you'll fit in well."
"Just as long as I don't have to deal with anything bloody."
"Nope, other than Dyson's steaks, which he always under cooks." Xander winked. "You ready to go?"
"Yep." Matt patted his back pocket to make sure he had his wallet, grabbed his keys before setting the alarm, then walked out and locked the door. He followed Xander down the steps to a new model Mustang. "Nice car."
"Thanks. It's not the one I use for work, but I enjoy it when I can." Xander unlocked the car.
"You have a work car?" Matt raised a brow as he got in.
Once Xander was seated beside him, he nodded. "This one would draw attention. I don't want anyone noticing me when I go out. I have a little Toyota Camry I use when I go out on jobs."
"I'll be honest, I sort of expected a Harley." Matt grinned.
"I have one of those too. It's good for those weekend road trips."
"You take a lot of those?"
"Nope, too much work, but when I can I sneak away."
"How often do you have a job to do?" Matt had figured they would get maybe one person every month or so.