Owen followed the trail, building a portfolio of the man until he stumbled on what he’d hoped for.
A mistake.
This man wasn’t one of those Alace had already traced land purchases for, which meant Owen was casting nets in the dark. His net eventually snagged on a detail with the opportunity to give him the break he needed. The man had uploaded images of his constructed cabin and lean-to for his pack. That’s what he always called them, the children he bought—and sold. Owen had found him as a source noted by buyers for several single children. After securing himself a pair, at times he’d keep one and dispose of the other. Or perhaps disposed of one as he had Kelly, and then rid himself of the remaining child if they turned out to be suboptimal for his purposes as well.
The mistake he’d made in those images was threefold.
First, he hadn’t stripped the metadata from the images, which in this case provided an exact location marker. Within minutes Owen was studying satellite imagery of the site, confirming the existence of both the cabin and outbuilding Kelly’d described. The second mistake was in going back to the same reseller for one of his returns. The boy had talked about a man until the name had made it into a set of business notes about the source. Earl. The third mistake was with one of the images where he hadn’t bothered to blur out the make and model of his truck shown in the distance. From that, Owen was able to find his license, lock down his name, verify a home address—and the fact he had three biological children. Owen grimaced when he realized they danced around Kelly’s age like stair-stepped siblings.
The crux of security was to have something you know, something you have, and something you are.
Earl Warrant wasn’t the smartest of perverts.
And Owen now owned him. Earl might not know it yet, but it was true.
Name, social, birth, family info—and tucked into a folder hidden in the man’s vulnerable cloud storage—the deed for an isolated cabin near a river in upstate New York. Within three hundred miles of the campground Owen had been in yesterday morning. Just like the others Alace found. Definitely a fetish ring.
Owen set aside the personal information he’d uncovered. That would be for Alace to deal with. She did the paperwork, he would handle the wetwork.
A noise behind him had Owen turning around. Kelly stood slumped in the doorway.
“You hungry, kiddo?” He got a nod in response. “Okay. Give me half a minute to shut stuff down.” As Owen closed out of connections, he kept an eye on Kelly drifting closer. Minimizing the final window flashed the image of the cabin on the screen.
“That’s it.” Kelly’s shocked voice shouldn’t have offended Owen, but it did. What, does the kid not realize I keep my word, always? “You found him? That’s the place. The cabin. When can we go get Shiloh?”
“We aren’t going anywhere.” Owen began the shutdown routine for the computer and took a breath before spinning slowly to face the boy. Just from the kid’s expression, Owen knew he’d be in for a battle. “When I’m ready, I’ll go.”
“You can’t leave me here. I won’t stay.” Kelly’s chin jutted stubbornly. The fire in his eyes was one of the first real signs of the boy’s personality Owen had seen. He hated like hell to be the one who’d squash that bit of spirit, but there was no way he could let the boy believe he’d be in on what he’d expect would be the rescue mission. The real mission would be far different, filled with red and pain. And redemption, as Owen would be releasing more children back to their homes.
A memory of a dusty compound from Central America flashed through his mind, the acrid scent of terror filling his nostrils. That had been the first mission after he’d lost Emma, and when he’d seen a tiny girl about her age, dark eyes staring up at her tormenter, it hadn’t been a mere decision to alter the trajectory of the mission. It had been a soul-deep imperative.
He shook his head, forcing those thoughts to the back of his mind where they stayed. Never leaving him because it was his fault Emma was dead, and no matter how many kids he saved, he’d still never find redemption. The boxed-up, shoved-down, painful thoughts were his purgatory, the knowledge his crucifix.
Focused glare aimed at Kelly, Owen pulled in a deep breath before laying down the law. “You will if you want to see Shiloh again.” The instant those words were out of his mouth, Owen regretted them. Kelly’s flinch was huge, as if he’d been surprised by a physical blow. Owen had taken it too far, been too harsh, a needless cruelty used against a boy already brutalized by monsters. Other monsters. “I didn’t mean it that way, kid. That’s not…” Mouth twisting against the emotions swelling inside him, Owen shook his head, not reaching out because he knew Kelly would reject any contact right now. Regret kept his tone quiet, his words simple as he tried to explain. “What I meant to say is I don’t work with folks. I do my stuff alone.”
“If I promise to stay right here, will you go get her now? I won’t be bad. I promise. I’d wait in that bedroom. Wouldn’t leave.” Kelly’s eyes glassed over as he stared into Owen’s eyes, growing desperation visible on his features. He tried to strike a bargain. “Now that you know where she is. You can save her. Like you saved me. I won’t get in the way. You don’t have to worry about me. I know how to behave. I’ll be good.” As the boy spoke, each word appeared to be another assault against the uncertain control of his emotions, and by the final syllable, his lips were quivering uncontrollably.
Owen’s arms were heavy, dragged down with the remembered weight of the boy as he carried him out of the woods, carried him into this house. There was nothing he more wanted to do in this moment than gather Kelly close and promise him everything would be all right. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t let this kid get any deeper under his skin than he was already, and promising something like that would be the equivalent of a blood oath for Owen. Instead, he did what he could. He told the truth, trusting Kelly to be able to take it on.
“I have to learn more. I have to know exactly what to expect. I know where the man’s real house is now, too, and I’ve got eyes on it.” Owen had sent a signal to the video doorbells of the houses across the street, changing not only their sensitivity but the routing of alerts. When they spotted a vehicle leaving Warrant’s house, he’d know. “One day at the most and I’ll have what I need.” He pressed his palm to his chest, hoping the kid would understand this was a promise he wouldn’t break for anything. “One day, one day only, and I promise I’ll go get Shiloh.”
Kelly’s head dipped and shook, more a tremor than a nod, and he took a jerky step towards Owen. Unsure, Owen stretched out a hand, ready to catch the boy if he fell. At his movement, Kelly stumbled into a slumping run, crashing to a halt against Owen’s chest. His arms wrapped around the boy instinctively, holding him upright, as Kelly’s fingers wound into his shirt. The boy was crying, great whooping sobs of grief and relief, a dam of control that had been under pressure for so long it had finally shattered.
“I got you.” Owen spoke the only words he could think of, carefully cradling the boy to him. “I got you.” He repeated the words, counting Kelly’s breaths, mentally gripping tightly to the single thread of control that was holding him together. “I got you.”