Owen waited for Kelly to take a drink from the bottle and then asked, “What happened to make the man mad? Why did he bring you out here and leave you? I’m assuming that was him that did it, right? Or were you able to run away?”
“I’d never leave Shiloh like that.” At the suggestion he’d abandon his sister, it looked like the boy was on the verge of exploding upward from where he sat. The sleeping bag fell to the ground as he flung his arms wide as if to keep even the idea at bay. His breathing spiked, and white showed all around the irises of his eyes. Panting, Kelly semi-repeated himself, “I would never leave her.”
“Okay. Okay. I believe you, Kelly. I do. She’s your sister, and you’d do anything for her.”
“I would. I did. I had a chance to run away so many times, but I couldn’t take her with me. So I stayed because I couldn’t just leave her behind.”
“The man brought you out here? How far was the drive? Do you know his name?” Brow scrunched into a frown, Kelly shook his head, and Owen groaned at himself. One question at a time. He needed to focus on what had led to the man dumping his bought and paid for property, something Owen knew was expensive. Participating in those auctions took a next level of affluence and influence, no matter if the income was gained legally or not. If he’d purchased sixteen children, he’d be rich enough to consider himself untouchable, no doubt. “Sorry, Kelly. What happened so you wound up here?”
“One of the boys was being a jerk to Shiloh and I got into it with him. I took my licks, but he was hurting too. I wasn’t going to let him think he could do what he wanted. I knew the man didn’t like it when we fought like that. But Five had hurt Shiloh. She was all scraped up. Then the man put his hands on her and I just…I couldn’t stand it. Not one more time. I didn’t think, though. We all knew not to try and fight him. He had the remote. He could do what he wanted.”
Owen’s thoughts swirled at the information Kelly had divulged. Owen set his concerns aside for now. Regardless of the source of her injuries, this part of the story was about Kelly. I can’t help her until I find her. “Remote? What was that for?”
Kelly angled his chin to the side, and Owen saw two marks on his neck. “For the collars. It’s how he kept us at the cabin.”
“Jesus.” He jerked his gaze from the boy and stared at the flames dancing in front of him, forcing himself to stay seated. So many kids kept as part of a pack mixed with dogs, forced to sleep outside, fighting each other for survival, dehumanized in every way, and controlled by painful shock collars. “I have a friend who can help. I’m going to call her now. I don’t want to tell her about you yet, so I’ll need you to be very quiet while I’m on the call with her. Then we’ll get out of these woods and head to my house. I’ll keep you safe, Kelly. I promise you. And I’m going to find Shiloh.”
He looked up, staring at the boy. Kelly’s expression was open and pleading, the anguish he was enduring at being separated from his sister there for anyone to see.
“I promise.”
Keeping his breathing steady on the call was no small feat, but Owen managed it. Hearing Alace say they had everything they needed to find out who’d bought Kelly and his sister firmed his resolve. We can do this.
“What’s your source?” Alace’s question was expected, standard even, and Owen found it difficult to not simply tell Alace about Kelly. Something had him holding back, though, and he tried not to question his gut reaction.
“A contact reached out. I’m not too far from the trailhead”—more like under an hour, which she would know if she mapped the Wi-Fi hot spot—“and wanted to get things rolling before I hit the road.” Alace’s expression sharpened, her gaze flicking to the camera and then away to whatever files she was manipulating. “I’m going to have to go home and take care of something before I can be the boots on the ground, but the more data we have and can dig through, the better it’ll be.”
“Urgency? Other than wanting to get these kids out of these bastards’ hands?” Alace’s gaze flicked back to the camera. “What’s up with the earbuds?”
“Habit to have you in my head.” Owen let his brief smile fade, knowing it appeared strained. “Pretty fuckin’ urgent, boss lady. I know of one sibling pair sold, a brother and sister. I want their buyer first, but then I’m going to want to deal with the rest of the buyers. I have to get these kids back to their families.” Kelly shifted uncomfortably, drawing the sleeping bag back up over his shoulders, head ducking down to rest his forehead on his bent knees. Shit. His posture said it all. The kid doesn’t have a family to go home to. Even when Owen rescued Shiloh, the two of them would be back in foster care, something that had obviously failed them miserably. “This pair, the info indicates they may have been surrendered to the ring via CPS, boss lady. If we have source info for the kids, that would be a secondary priority.”
“I saw data about the origin of most kids, so we likely have what we need.” Alace sat back in her chair, and Owen watched as her eyes moved rapidly side to side. She was reading whatever she’d surfaced on her screens. “Want me to share this on the tablet or wait until you’re home and at your regular setup?”
“Wait until I’m home. I’ll bug out of here soon as we finish talking and then let you know when I walk in the door.”
“I’ll know when you walk in the door.” Alace’s head tipped to the side, and one corner of her lips quirked upwards. “You know I’ve got security feeds from your place.”
Maybe I should tell her now. He inclined his head, acknowledging what she’d said. “That you do. Has there been any blowback or chatter about the organic material the fire left behind?” She shook her head deliberately, hair moving slowly as her eyes stayed fixed on his through the video. Shit. She knows something. He tried to pass off the fact he’d low-keyed the dead bodies he’d torched after the last mission. “Good news then. It could be that the next one will go as fast and easy.”
“Did you find what you wanted when you went to the woods, Owen?” She knew how much he’d needed the quiet of the empty forest to clear his head. The noise from the last mission had not subsided quickly, but over the hours and days of solitude, it had at least diminished in volume. Owen had taken his time, waiting until he’d found a better balance in his head to turn back towards the trailhead and civilization. That peace let him look past the anguish and terror the rescued kids had lived through and finally rest in the knowledge that he and Alace had been able to save so many.
“I did.” He didn’t look at Kelly but was relentlessly aware of the boy sitting there. Throughout the conversation, he’d felt the weight of Kelly’s gaze on him from across the fire, and Owen had scarcely flinched as he spoke aloud things that could have him sent to jail for a long stretch if shared to the wrong people. The boy was wilting, slumping as the hot food and warm fire conspired to ease the tension in his muscles, and knowing he’d be out soon spurred Owen to finish up this conversation. Getting on the road was critical. But he wanted to at least acknowledge to Alace that he might be leaving the woods with more than he expected. “And then some. You’ll see soon.”