“Are we going to do cleanup?” Sanchez asked when the warehouse had been searched again and found empty.

Clint shook his head. “Leave the fuckers.” He indicated the man with the crushed skull and Cochise’s boot print embedded in the gory mess. “Put him in with the others.”

Sanchez gathered a couple of his men and they transferred the body to the other room.

“The buyers will be here early in the morning,” Cochise said. “Are we going to be here waiting for them?” The deadly look in his eyes confirmed his want and readiness to slaughter another batch of these sick motherfuckers.

Clint itched to get his hands on them as well, yet he hesitated in giving a straightforward answer to the Egyptian’s question. “We’ll discuss it later,” he said. “We need to get back to the house and get the kids taken care of, then deal with the fucker in the guest room.”

One of the Santiago men approached Clint and handed him a leather-bound record book. “We found this ledger,” the young man said. “It’s full of recorded merchandise sales. Written up as actual merchandise, no doubt to avoid any incriminating evidence against them in case the cops get a hold of it.”

Clint thumbed through the worn pages and grew nauseous at the scores of completed sales. How many hundreds, or even thousands, of kids had passed through these bastards’ hands? The brainless dead man was right; the records showed dealings with multiple buyers. Rarely the same ones more than once or twice.

Clint closed the book and spoke to Cochise. “Let’s get back to the house.” He looked at the young man. “If you find anything else, let me know.”

“Of course.”

The cowboy and Egyptian left the warehouse and climbed into Clint’s car. With the engine idling, Clint stared out the front windshield, brow cinched in deep thought. “This is a fucking sex trafficking ring,” he murmured. “We could wait for the buyers tomorrow and get rid of them, but it isn’t going to slow down the trafficking of kids.” He shook his head. “We’re not equipped to deal with something this large and widespread.”

Cochise frowned, “What’re you getting at?”

“I don’t know,” Clint mumbled and put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb. “When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

 

•♦•

 

“What’s going on?” Maddy asked. Savannah stood beside him at the kitchen counter, along with Abel, Angel, and Caleb.

Max exchanged a look with Horatio, then explained, “We have kind of an emergency situation,” he told them. “Are you up for a massive rushed shopping spree?”

The young people frowned and looked at each other, confused.

“Shopping spree?” Abel queried. “That’s the emergency?”

“Well, in the sense that we need a lot of clothes right away,” Max said.

“For who?” Caleb asked.

The anguish of his recent call from Anthony pressed heavily on his heart. He relayed the situation to the young people in his kitchen.

“Oh my God,” Angel whispered, stricken. “Those poor kids.”

Horatio produced a shopping list and a debit card. “We need shirts, sweaters, jackets, pants, socks and shoes, warm boots, gloves, and under clothes. There are six girls and six boys. We don’t know their exact ages, just that they range from about five years old to sixteen.” He handed the debit card and list to Abel. “Spare no expense. Get multiple pairs of everything for each child.”

“Five years old?” Abel asked sickly, his face paling a bit.

Horatio nodded.

“I’ll take care of the girl stuff,” Savannah murmured. “I’ll call Emmy and Miranda. I’m sure they’d be glad to help out as well.”

“Good,” Max smiled. “That’s a good idea.” He looked at the boys. “You can handle the rest?”

Caleb smirked. “We’re gay. Trust me, we know how to shop.” He draped his arm over Maddy’s shoulder. “And we’ll educate this straight boy in the ways of fashion.”

“Hey.” Maddy scowled. “What’s wrong with my fashion?”

“Nothing. Nothing.” Caleb made a comical face at the others. “Not a thing.”

“Shut up,” Maddy laughed and shoved him away. “I’ll show you I know shopping. Let’s go.”

Max chuckled, then cleared his throat. “Take everything over to Anthony’s as soon as you’re finished.”

“Okay,” Abel nodded and ushered the others toward the door.

“By the way,” Angel grinned impishly at the two older men. “Just exactly how much is on that debit card?”

Horatio smiled and shook his head. “Enough. That’s all you need to know.”

“That means a lot,” Caleb murmured in Angel’s ear.

Max laughed quietly; a lot was an egregious understatement when it came to Horatio Kaplan-Raines’ bank account.

 

•♦•

 

Jacob rarely managed more than a shallow sleep, but he’d begun to drift away into a deeper slumber when the truck came to a halt with a short jolt. Jacob was afraid to open his eyes. Afraid of waking to the nightmare all over again.

“Jacob,” Eric whispered and gripped his arm. “We stopped.”

Raising his head slowly, Jacob blinked; the warm jacket remained wrapped around his shoulders and the two men who had boarded the truck with them were still there. Jacob tensed when the driver left the rig and walked around to the back. The younger kids pressed closer, fear and uncertainty etched across their faces as the rear door unlatched and rolled up.

“We’re here,” one of the men said; the same man who had told them that they were safe, and everything would be okay. He had kind eyes and a friendly smile—something Jacob hadn’t seen on the face of any man in a long, long time…if ever. But years of abuse had honed his distrust and he wasn’t capable of letting down his guard and accepting these men at face value. The man motioned them forward. “Let’s get you all inside where it’s warm.”

The other kids looked to Jacob to lead them. He didn’t know if he was guiding them into a good place or a bad place, but they had no choice but to go with the men. Jacob and Eric went first, and David, 14, the next oldest of the boys, took up the rear with 14-year-old Nina—a pretty Spanish girl. With the younger ones in between, they slowly unloaded through the rear of the truck.

The men helped the smaller ones down and Jacob and Nina picked up the two youngest, Samson and Susie, and carried them into the large house through the double entrance doors. Instant warmth enveloped them, and Jacob caught a whiff of food cooking. It smelled good; really good. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smelled hot food…or had a hot meal. What food they were given was always cold and usually tasted bad. The aroma sifting through the wide hallway now kicked in hunger pains and his stomach growled.

Samson held onto Jacob’s neck and lifted his small face, breathing in the pleasant scent. “It smells so good,” he whispered wistfully but didn’t ask if they would get some. The two little twins hadn’t been with them long, but long enough to know that good things weren’t meant for them.

“Yeah, it does,” Jacob murmured.

The tantalizing aroma infected all the kids and the longing, hopeful looks on their dirty faces brought tears to Jacob’s eyes. It wasn’t fair that any child, anywhere, had to go hungry…or be so viciously abused.

They were led into a large room where four other men were waiting. One of them was younger, maybe nineteen or twenty. The first to approach them appeared to be in his late twenties, early thirties. He spoke to the one who had driven them here.

“I want to give them each a quick examination,” he said quietly. “Make sure there aren’t any health conditions that require immediate attention.”

The driver nodded. “All right.”

“I called Dr. Perelli. He’s on his way over. He will want to administer thorough examinations.”

Was this man a doctor, too? He’d said he wanted to examine them. Jacob glanced at the other three who had yet to approach. There was nothing threatening in their eyes…only sympathy and compassion.

The “doctor” came over to Jacob. He smiled softly. “I’m Adrian. I’m a nurse and an in-home care provider. I need to give each of you a quick examination, just take your vitals, mainly.” When Samson shrank away, the man’s smile stretched a little. “I promise, it won’t hurt.” He met Jacob’s wary stare. “I can start with the youngest ones.”

Jacob swallowed, then nodded. When he started to set Samson down, the little boy whimpered and clung to his neck in a death grip, nearly choking him. In Nina’s arms, Susie started crying, begging them not to hurt her brother. Nina tried to soothe her as Jacob squatted down and set Samson’s feet on the floor. The child refused to let go of him. He rubbed the boy’s back, assuring him it was okay, that the man just wanted to make sure he was healthy. When that didn’t work, Jacob asked the child, “Want me to go first?” The little boy nodded, his face buried in Jacob’s neck. Jacob hugged him. “Okay.” He stood up and handed Samson to Eric. The child released Jacob and quickly grabbed onto Eric’s neck.

“Go ahead and take off your jacket,” Adrian said as he produced a stethoscope.

Removing the warm coat, Jacob stared at the man silently.

The doctor breathed on the metal piece of the instrument to warm it up then stepped closer. “What’s your name?”

“Jacob.”

“It’s good to meet you, Jacob,” he said with a small smile. “This won’t take very long.”

Over the course of the next few minutes, Adrian listened to Jacob’s heart and lungs, checked his blood pressure and his pulse, shown a penlight in his eyes and looked inside his mouth and ears.

When he was finished, he looked at the frightened children watching them. “That’s all there is to it,” he smiled, then asked Jacob, “Did I hurt you, Jacob?”

“No,” Jacob answered and turned to the kids. “It’s okay.”

Samson still wasn’t having any of it, so the doctor didn’t try to force him or Susie to comply, and moved on to the other children who, though scared, cooperated with him.

He finished with Eric last then addressed the twins. “What if I examine the two of you at the same time? You could sit on the older kids’ laps while I check you.”

Jacob and Nina took the twins and sat down next to each other in a couple cushioned chairs. Susie was a little braver than her brother and grasped his hand. “It’s okay, Sam. He won’t hurt us.”

Smiling, Adrian brought a chair over and sat before them. He looked at the little boy. “Your name is Sam?”

“Samson,” Jacob said. “Susie is the only one who calls him Sam.”

Adrian winked at the little girl. “I guess that makes you Susie?”

Susie nodded.

“You’re not afraid, are you, Susie?” Adrian asked. “I didn’t hurt the others. I won’t hurt you or your brother.”

“I’m not scared,” she said quietly. “Not anymore.”

“That’s good,” Adrian smiled. “No one here is going to hurt any of you.” He noticed Samson eyeing the stethoscope and asked the boy, “You want to listen to your heartbeat?”

The child hesitated then slowly nodded.

Adrian chuckled softly and carefully hooked the earpieces in the child’s small ears and let him listen as he moved the metal piece around his chest.

Samson blinked then looked up at Jacob, a hesitant smile on his face. “I can hear it, Jacob. I can hear my heart.”

“Cool.” Jacob swallowed thickly and blinked back tears.

“You listen.” Samson plucked the instrument from his ears and held them up to Jacob.

“Okay,” Jacob smiled and commenced to the listen to Samson’s heartbeat. “Wow. That’s a loud heartbeat you got there.”

Adrian allowed the twins to play with the stethoscope for a few minutes until they were relaxed and at ease with him before he went ahead with their examinations. This was the first time since the twins had been abducted…that smiles touched their little faces.

Hope pressed tentatively against Jacob’s heart as his eyes drifted between the men in the room. He wasn’t ready just yet to let the hope in…still afraid this was all a dream. But with each passing minute, it was beginning to feel more and more real…and safe.

Maybe…it was.