Noam took a deep breath before he headed up the sidewalk to the house. The nearly full moon helped to light the front yard, but with every light in the place on, it wasn't hard to see even in the darkness.
He rolled his shoulders, wishing he was home in bed and not having to face what he was about to walk into. He was halfway up the steps to the front porch when a young police officer shot out the front door, barley making it to the edge before throwing up in the bushes.
Yep, this was going to be another bad one.
It was hardly the first one he'd seen. Noam was getting used to these late-night calls. Of all the calls he got, these were the ones he dreaded the most. Not only were they gruesomely violent, there were always victims. Young ones who they either had to rescue or families they would have to contact the next day.
He rubbed his hand down the back of his neck as he left the rookie officer to finish puking. He steeled his own nerves and headed inside.
He didn't blame the rookie. No one got used to seeing stuff like this. It just didn't affect you the same after you'd seen it so many times. He didn't know an officer who hadn't at least come close to losing their dinner after walking into one of these scenes.
Noam had been lucky enough to hold his stomach until he'd gotten home after the first time he'd responded to one of these. But there was no doubt he'd fought to keep from getting sick in front of everyone.
"What do we have?" Noam walked into the living room where several paramedics were trying to stabilize the man on the floor. He couldn't call the man a victim, even if in some sense he was. The man bleeding on the floor had gotten what he deserved.
"Usual. Male, mid-forties, priors for sex crimes against children. The man's been castrated, just like the other cases. A folder with his current criminal activity and history sitting beside him. No sign of forced entry." Officer Giles nodded to the man on the floor. "He's drugged like the others. Hasn't been able to speak yet. We'll have to wait until later to question him."
"Children?" Noam asked, even though he knew the answer because he hadn't heard a call go out to child services to report to the scene.
"None on site, but from the look of the things in the folder, the man is part of a small sex trafficking ring that pimps children out and delivers them to clients around the city for a few hours. The file is going to be a gold mine for our sex crimes unit." Giles glared at the man on the floor.
Noam understood what Giles was feeling. It would almost be easier if whoever was attacking the pedophiles in the area just killed them. Scum like them didn't deserve to live. Still, it was his job as a detective to follow the law, and no matter what crimes the man on the floor had committed, castrating him was still a crime.
Another crime that Noam would add to the file of others and do as little as he could to follow up on.
Truth was, he was sorta proud of whoever it was that was taking out the perverted scum in the area. It might be his job to investigate the crimes, but he might not press as hard to find whoever was doing this as he did other crimes in the area.
Giles stepped back as the paramedics moved the drugged man onto a backboard. His face paled as he watched one of the men pick up the man's balls and cock and place them in a bag and set them into a container.
"Never gets easier, does it?"
"Timmons lost his cookies on this one." Giles didn't smile about it.
Noam nodded. "Saw that as I was coming in. Haven't reported to one of these where someone hasn't lost it." He walked over to the computer that was on the desk and wiggled the mouse. Just as he expected, as the screen came to life, he was met with images of underage girls performing horrific sexual acts.
He swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. "Fuck, I'll never get used to that." Noam turned away as they finished with the man and wheeled him out of the house.
"Who the hell is doing this?" Giles shook his head. "How do they find these people when our team can't?"
Noam wondered the same thing. Whoever it was, they had to be in the inner circle of these freaks. They had to have inside information on who was involved in sex trafficking and child abduction. Whoever did this had been able to find kidnapped children the police hadn't even been able to get a lead on. "I don't know. I almost don't want to find out. If we did, we'd have to stop them."
Giles nodded. "Nothing like having a vigilante do your work for you."
Noam stared at the computer screen again. "Some vigilantes are easier to forgive than others." He didn't glance back at Giles as he stepped away from the desk and left the room.
This was the fourth case in his district just this month where a pedophile had been attacked and castrated. That didn't take into account the other cases throughout the state that were happening. Whoever did this was busy. And didn't that just suck, because for him or her to be busy, that meant that the area was filled with sick perverts praying on the children in the community.
Noam walked the house, not really looking for anything certain. His team would scour the place and get him all the information he needed. Still, each time one of these cases came in, he wandered the house, taking in how normal everything looked.
One would almost expect a pedophile to live in some trashy run-down place, but the truth was, most of them were well-off, middle class or better, career-oriented people. Mostly male, but he'd seen a few females.
Noam shivered at the thought of what this vigilante did to the women. It almost bothered him more than seeing the men with their dicks cut off, and that was saying something.
Like the others, the house was clean. The neighbors, this person's friends, and family, none of them would have a clue to the evil that went on. If not for the computer and the files left behind by whoever did this, even his team wouldn't find evidence of anything illegal going on.
With nothing left to do, Noam headed back outside, smiling at the rookie who glanced over at him, his cheeks red with embarrassment. He wouldn't give the kid any shit about it. This was something they'd all had trouble stomaching. Sadly, the rookie would grow thicker skin quickly and, in a few months, things like this would hardly get a second glance. That didn't mean it wouldn't bother him, but like Noam, most of the cops and other first responders learned to keep it all in until they could get home and drink the memories away or cry and scream into their pillows once they were alone.
Unlike the others, Noam had seen the worst in humanity at a young age. He'd been raised in Israel, in an area that was known for terrorist attacks and crime. Growing up, he'd seen things most children would never see in their lives, even on television. Then, during his time in the Israeli Defense Force, he had seen much worse. It took a lot to get to him now. He had no false illusions that the world was a safe and beautiful place. He knew all too well the darkness that lurked around every corner of it.
"Noam?" One of the other detectives walked over to him. "We have security camera footage from a house half a block down. Not sure it will be much help, but I've sent it all to you to look at."
"It will be the same as all the others. A black clothed figure with a mask leaving in a car with plates that somehow always come back as government vehicles. I'll give it a look. Maybe we'll get lucky." Noam went through this with almost every case when there was footage.
"Just wanted to let you know." The detective sighed.
"No witnesses?"
"None. Neighbors didn't hear or see a thing. Everyone said they got along with the victim and have no idea who would want to hurt him. Of course, that will change once they get wind that we'll charge him with at least possession of child pornography, if not more."
Noam rubbed a hand over his thigh, the ache in his muscles growing stronger. "Send me all you find. I'll do what I can."
"You'll have it as soon as I do." The detective gave a slight wave before turning and walking off.
Noam sighed as he looked up into the sky, taking in how the moon had changed positions in just the short time he'd been there. He was going home. There was nothing left for him to do here. Tomorrow, he'd start digging again, but like all the other times, he would probably hit a brick wall. Whoever was doing this didn't want to get caught. And if the truth was known, Noam really didn't want to catch them.