Noam stepped into the house, pausing as he stared at the man on the floor. Medical had yet to arrive, but one of the other police officers he worked with was kneeling next to him.
"Same as all the others. He's drugged, can't move or speak." Mitch looked up at Noam. "Kent and Barry found the kids locked in a room down the hall. We're going to lead them out the front once medical arrives, so they don't have to see this."
Noam looked down at the man's scrotum, trying not to cringe at the burnt flesh and missing anatomy. Well, it wasn't really missing. The man's cock and balls were on the floor beside him. "Almost wonder if it would be good for the kids to see him like this. To know he is suffering for what he's done." He didn't give a fuck if the man could hear him. He had no respect for pedophiles.
"True, but the last thing they need is something else to dream about at night." Mitch nodded to the file on the desk. "Guessing that's the case file."
Noam slipped a pair of gloves on and walked around the man on the floor to get to the desk. He opened the file, seeing copies of website images and chat logs. He flipped through several pages, seeing images he wished he hadn't. Quickly closing the file, he nodded. "It is." He stepped back, trying to ignore the gruesome scene on the floor in front of him. "No one else in the house?"
"Nope. We cleared it. Once medical gets here, we'll hand it over." Mitch sighed. "This is happening almost nightly. How many of these fucks are out there?"
"Too many." Noam had been on several of these calls in the last month but heard about many others.
"Makes me want to lock my kids in the house." Mitch glared down at the man on the floor.
They probably were out of line having this conversation in front of the so-called victim, but he really didn't care. "Yeah, I'm glad I don't have any. I'd kill anyone who hurt mine."
"See how lucky you are you're not dead?" Mitch stared at the pedophile beside him. "Any leads on who is doing this?"
Noam shook his head. "None." He doubted anyone was really looking very hard. Truth was, most of the other detectives he talked to supported whoever was taking down the pedophiles in the area. There was no denying they'd been able to bring a lot of kidnapped victims home because of the person who was doing this. He wasn't losing any sleep over catching whoever it was.
"Good." Mitch smiled.
"My feelings exactly." Noam made his way back outside. He'd seen enough. The first time he'd come across one of the eunuchized men, he'd nearly been sick, but now, after seeing it several times, and knowing the reason behind it, he could almost shrug it off. It still left his own cock and balls pulling up tightly, and he was pretty sure he couldn't be the one to cause the injury, but he had to give credit to whoever did. It was a definite way to make sure the men didn't re-offend. Most were locked up in prison anyway, but if released, they would suffer the rest of their lives from eunuchism.
"Kids okay?" Noam's sergeant came up beside him.
"I didn't go see. The other team is in there. Figured the less eyes the better. They're waiting on EMS." Noam nodded to the house. "One victim, male, same injuries as all the others. Case file on the desk waiting for us."
"Wish I knew who was doing this. The state should give them a medal."
"Agreed, but you know how people would react. You'd have every social justice whiner down here in no time. It's sick how many people defend these perverts." Noam watched as the ambulance pulled up in front of the house. It was dark out, but that didn't stop the neighbors from all gathering around, wondering what was going on. He was glad he wouldn't have to be the one to tell them a pedophile had been living in their neighborhood.
"Looks like we'll be here all night." His sergeant glanced at his watch. "You can head home. The case file will be waiting for you in the morning."
Noam nodded. "Good luck."
"Yeah, thanks. At least we can figure out who the kids are and get them back to their families."
That was the best part of all of this. That, and the fact that the pervert inside couldn't ever touch another child, at least sexually. With nothing to do, Noam headed out to his car, glad to see he wasn't trapped by the other vehicles around. He stared at the house, wondering how many more times he was going to get a call about a case like this.
It was happening all the time, in neighborhoods just like his. He thought about his own neighbors. He thought he knew them, but honestly, the men who were pedophiles really didn't stand out. They blended in, many were family men. It could easily be someone he lived near or worked with.
The thought put him in a bad mood, and by the time he'd made it back home, he was glad to have the night off. He loved his job, but the week had been busy. He still was actively working the missing girls' case.
His stomach turned at what they'd found online. He shouldn't have been shocked, but it still got to him each time he saw a case of child grooming happen. Abby had friended several men, well, they claimed to be boys, but it didn't take much digging to find out that the boys were really adult men, lying to get Abby to talk to them.
She'd set up a meet at the mall with one of the 'boys' and had taken Trina with her. The mall surveillance showed them walking outside with an adult male, looking as if they trusted and knew him. He wasn't sure what lie the man had told them, or how he got them to go with him, but it was clear now, this was a kidnapping case, not just some missing persons.
He pulled his car into the garage and climbed out, smiling as he heard his dog barking from inside. He hurried in, happy to see her. Pausing to pet her, he slowly let the stress of the day fade away. It was late, and he just wanted to relax for the rest of the night. Standing, he glanced down at Casper. "I'm going to grab a shower, then grab some of that leftover pizza. Then we can watch the fight I DVR'd earlier." He started to strip as he made his way down the hall to his bedroom. Casper followed. She was such a good dog, putting up with his odd hours and the long days alone. One of these days, he'd take some time off. Take her camping and spend a week with her.
Once in his room, he tossed his clothes into the hamper and walked naked into the bathroom that connected to his bedroom. As he turned on the water, he glanced back to see Casper lying in the doorway, watching him. "Tomorrow afternoon, we'll go out and play, I promise." He hated that he had to leave her home for eight hours a day, but she didn't seem to mind. He had a doggie door for her to get in and out of the house into the backyard, and he always made sure to take her out on a hike or run on his days off.
He paused, staring at his reflection in the mirror, his attention drawn to the ugly scars that lined one of his thighs and his groin. He hardly noticed the pain anymore. It had become something he lived with, something he ignored unless the weather turned cold or he managed to pull a muscle in that area of his body, which happened easily with it already injured.
It was almost a lifetime ago since it happened. He didn't remember most of it. He was serving in the IDF, on patrol. There had been no warning, nothing to say that that night would be any different than any other. One minute he was thinking about a letter he'd gotten from his father, and the next, he was waking up from surgery, half the man he'd been before.
He was lucky he hadn't lost his leg. It was only the amazing medical team that saved him from losing it. He was grateful, but that day had changed his life. Changed everything about who he was and what he thought he was going to do with his life.
Refusing to get pulled back by the memories, he turned for the shower, making sure the water was hot before stepping in and letting the water wash away his stress. No matter how he tried to quiet his mind, he couldn't. He was always thinking about his cases, trying to work through the evidence, find something he missed.
As he rinsed the shampoo from his hair, he heard his phone beep from the bedroom. He'd put in enough days, and whoever was texting him knew to call if it was important. He ignored it, letting the water run down his body as he closed his eyes, wondering if it was all worth it. The long hours, the caseloads, the victims, they all weighed on him.
It never bothered him much before, but now, with so many more cases involving children popping up, it was digging into him a little deeper, pushing his stress level higher. He thought about the two girls who were missing, fearing the worst. He'd seen what could happen to them, knew all too well what sick men wanted young girls for. Hell, since the 'Castrator' had started working in the area, he had files upon files of horror staring him in the face. It was one thing to know it went on, it was another to see it. It made his blood run cold thinking about how many were in his area, let alone across the country, or worse, the world.
Turning the water off with more force than he meant to, he reached for a towel, drying off his face and hair before rubbing it across the rest of his body. He stepped out of the shower, staying naked as he made it to his bed.
Casper jumped up, finding her spot on her side of the bed, curling up against her pillow.
Noam sighed. The fact he shared his bed with his dog spoke volumes. He missed sleeping next to someone, having someone to wake up beside. He hadn't done that in years.
He reached over, running his fingers through Casper's hair. "For better or worse, huh?" He smiled as she watched him. "I guess I could do worse." He gave her a final scratch behind the ears before getting back up and pulling on a pair of sweats. "Dinner in bed?" He glanced at Casper.
She lifted her head but didn't follow him out of the room. He smiled. She knew him well. He'd be back beside her in no time. He really was predictable and pathetic when it came to his downtime. He grabbed the leftover pizza and a beer and headed back to the bedroom. He set the pizza box on the nightstand and twisted open his beer. It was after one in the morning, and he had to be up at six, but he was too worked up to sleep. After a long pull of his beer, he reached for the remote and flipped on the TV across from him. He found the recorded MMA fight and settled back, pulling the sheet over his body as he eased back against the pillows.
"Here." He pulled a chunk off his slice of pizza and gave it to Casper. She ate it quickly before settling back down beside him. As the fight started, he remembered his phone and reached over to see who'd text him.
With a sigh, he read the words, closing his eyes at the news from one of his partners.
Body found, young female, no ID made yet, but the description doesn't appear to be one of your cases. Will update when I have more information.
Noam closed his eyes as he dropped his phone to his lap. This was the third dead child in the last four months. Luckily, he hadn't worked any of those cases, but it really didn't matter, a child's death hit everyone at the force hard. It was the ultimate failure in protecting the innocent. His biggest fear was having to make that phone call to a child's parents and tell them their son or daughter wasn't going to be coming home.
Blowing out a long breath, he glanced over at Casper, pressing his hand to her stomach and scratching. She comforted him without even knowing she was doing it. He smiled at her before looking back at the TV. He wasn't going to let the news get to him. There was nothing he could do about it now, but tomorrow, he would throw himself into work and do everything he could so that one of his cases didn't end the way someone else's had tonight.