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  Xander tugged on the strings, smiling when it lifted Jensen's cock and balls from his body. "Perfect." He made sure he had a small blow torch beside him and the tubing that he would need. "It's kind of amazing how simple this is. See, all I need to do is slice the penis and balls off, then insert this tube into your urethra. Once that is done, I'll cauterize the wound. As long as you don't get an infection, everything should be normal." Xander winked at Jensen. "Well, almost normal. You won't be raping young kids any longer, will you?"

  He'd done this so many times before that he didn't even feel pity or shame for what he was about to do. The man deserved it. Every man he'd done it to before this had deserved it. "Okay, how are those drugs holding up? Can you feel anything?"

  Snot, drool, and tears shined on Jensen's face.

  "You'll let me know if this hurts, right?" Xander tugged on the strings, lifting the cock and balls out from his body and with one quick slice, he severed them from Jensen.

  Jensen's silent scream was nothing more than a rush of air.

  "Sure bleeds a lot, but no worries. You'll be fine." He quickly inserted the tube into the urethra, keeping it from becoming blocked. They might be seeking to stop the man from hurting children, but they wouldn't take away his ability to pee. Once that was done, he heated the knife with the blow torch before cauterizing the area. The smell of burning flesh was the worst part of the whole thing, but it also added to the torture and torment for the perp. He didn't bother to try and make it pretty. The hospital would take care of that once they got hold of him.

  The whole process took less than an hour. Xander pulled a bag out of his pocket, dropping the used tools into it, making sure he wasn't going to leave anything behind. Jensen was in shock, his face pale, body shaking, and Xander guessed the drugs were starting to wear off. "Good, you seem to have some feeling back. We've got one more thing to do before I leave." He pulled out two more zip ties before grabbing hold of Jensen's feet and dragging him to the desk. It wasn't heavy, but it would do the job of keeping Jensen stationary in his weakened state. "Now, I'm just tying your feet to the legs of the desk. You aren't going to want to be moving around for a bit. It will take some time for the drugs to wear off, and you did lose quite a bit of blood. Give yourself some time to recover."

  Jensen let out an audible grunt.

  "See, you're feeling better already." Xander made sure the file he had on Jensen was visible on top of the desk. "Now, I'm going to leave. Help will be here soon. You don't have to worry. We are nicer than you. Those poor kids didn't get any medical treatment after you made them bleed, did they? See, once I'm gone, I'll call for help. All you have to do is lay there and wait for them to show up." Xander glanced around the room, again making sure he had everything. "Oh, I guess you might want to keep these too, don't you?" He picked up Jensen's bloody cock and balls and set them on his chest, right between his nipples.

  Jensen gagged as he stared at them.

  "Yeah, I'm sure the kids you rape feel the same way about it." Xander held no sorrow for the man. "Tell your friends I'll be coming for them." After another glance around the room to make sure he didn't miss anything, Xander slipped out the back door. He lifted the ski mask from his face once he hit the driveway, tucking it on top of his head, hidden by the hoodie. The street was quiet as he made it back to his car, the neighbors unaware of what had happened.

  Xander got to his car and slid into the driver's seat before he let out a long breath. He quickly reached for his phone, texting his team.

  Task complete. STK

  Once he'd sent the message, he grabbed a second phone from his glove box and dialed 911. Once the operator answered, he lowered his voice as he told her, "a man needs help at 4123 Sycamore." He didn't wait to answer questions before he disconnected the call and dropped the phone onto the seat beside him.

  He took a moment to light a cigarette before casually pulling away from the curb and driving out of the neighborhood. It had been another successful night. One more pedophile was dealt with, and that meant a lot of kids were saved. Sadly, Jensen was only one of many, but Xander wasn't going to quit. He'd fight for the kids, no matter what it took. He never wanted anyone to go through what he did as a child.

  As he drove past the lake, he stopped beside it. He stepped out of his car long enough to toss the bag of tools and the burner phone into the water. He glanced up at the moon again, taking a deep breath as he peeled off his gloves and tossed them into the water as well.

  Thinking about the run he still wanted to take, he slipped back into the car and headed home. Once he got his run, he'd enjoy a hot shower, followed by a cold beer. Tomorrow, he'd do it all over again.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Matt reached for the bottle of water beside his computer, taking several large gulps. He needed to eat, but he just wasn't hungry. Everyone was telling him he was losing too much weight, but they just didn't understand. How could he eat when his daughter was missing?

  Food wasn't high on his priority list. Finding Faith was.

  He rolled his shoulders and started scrolling through the information on his computer. He'd spent the last three weeks trolling the dark web, looking for any clue of where Faith could be. Hell, he wasn't even sure she was still alive, but he liked to think that if she was dead he would know it. After weeks of search parties and too many police interviews, he finally decided that he had to start searching himself. Let the cops look through the fields and lakes, Faith wasn't going to be there. She wasn't the type of kid to run off. Whoever took her had grabbed her as she walked home from school.

  Less than half a block. That was how far his house was from the doors of the school. He could see them from his front porch. He'd probably been wrong to allow Faith to walk home alone after school, but at ten years old, she'd seemed mature enough to handle walking half a block. He thought she'd be safe with all the other kids and parents around. How wrong he had been.

  The images on the computer screen broke his heart, and the thought that Faith might be abused that way made him sick. He couldn't think about it too long because the fear and anger would grow into something he couldn't handle. More than once he had to rush to the bathroom and get sick after seeing some of the images that people shared.

  How had he been blind to this going on? Thirty-four years old and he'd never realized how big the sexual trafficking rings were. He'd heard about them, but he assumed it was mostly older women, not children. Not that one was easier to deal with than the other, but having his daughter out there, possibly in the middle of all this, made him literally vomit.

  After weeks of trusting the police to do their thing, without any leads or answers, he decided he had to start searching his own way. First, it had been simply checking hospitals, morgues, and other places within a few hundred miles. It wasn't until he'd joined a chat group supporting parents of missing children that he'd heard about the pedophile rings. At first, he was in denial, telling himself that would never happen to his child, but the more the talked to others, the more real the possibility became.

  With no other leads, he dug deeper, learning about the dark web and the sex trafficking rings that, until then, had been nothing more than rumors in his mind. Each bit of information pulled him deeper into the underground world. Learning everything he could, he found many of the children that were sold on the dark web were his daughter's age, and they were taken just as Faith had been, close to home and within areas that most parents deemed safe for their child.

  He was a fool all these years. He never thought about it before, but he had somehow gotten it in his mind that there were safe places and dangerous places. He let his guard down when they were in what he thought was a safe place, giving the child abductors the perfect chance to take the most important person in his life.

  He stared at the picture of Faith that he kept beside the computer. She was his world. His life changed the day she was born. He finally understood the meaning of the words unconditional love. Even the love he had for Faith's
mother paled in comparison to what he had for his daughter. She was everything. When his wife died from cancer five years before, Matt had done everything he could to continue to make sure their lives went on, and Faith had everything she could need. He didn't spoil her with materialistic things, but he did keep her busy, filling her days with things they could do together. He never wanted her to feel unloved. Now, he had failed her in the worst way. He let her down, unable to protect her or keep her safe.

  Forcing his attention back to the computer, he scanned the ads for young girls. It was disgusting how many there were. There wasn't a picture of all of them, but each had a description. He avoided the blondes and redheads, focusing on the dark brown-haired girls, hoping, but at the same time, not hoping that Faith was one of them. If he could find her, save her, bring her home where she would be safe, then find a way to make everything all better again, maybe then, he could feel some redemption

  That was the thing, even if he did get her back home, would she ever be okay again? Night after night he thought about the things she might be going through. Just when he didn't think his mind could go anywhere worse, something popped up online, showing him differently. The world was full of sick fucks, and his daughter could be out there with them.

  The sound of his front door opening startled him, and he rushed to see who was just walking into his home without ringing the doorbell. When he saw his sister, carrying two grocery bags of stuff, he sighed. "Trish, what are you doing here?"

  Trish pushed past him, heading into his kitchen. "I brought you dinner." She set the bags on the counter and started to pull a bucket of fried chicken out along with other side dishes, all packaged in Styrofoam containers. "I tried to call, but you didn't answer." She glanced over at him.

  Matt leaned against the refrigerator, wishing he'd remembered to lock the door. Not that it would do a lot of good, she was the only other person with a key, but it might have made her think twice about coming in. "I've been busy." He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Trish. She'd been amazing the last few weeks helping him with everything, but now that she was starting to 'mother' him, he wished she would just let him be.

  "I know, that's why I brought food. You've been too busy to eat, too busy to answer your phone, too busy to let anyone know you're even alive." She turned to stare at him, her green eyes filled with compassion. "I know this has been hard for you, Matt, but you have got to keep your strength up. Faith is going to need you strong when she comes home."

  "What do you think I've been trying to do? I'm trying to get her home." He ran his fingers through his hair as he pushed away from the fridge. "I'll eat when I'm hungry." He ignored her worried expression and left the room.

  "You spend every day locked up in this house. Get out there and look with me. Let's hit every park, every playground, every mall. Someone had to have seen her. We've handed out fliers to everyone."

  "And I appreciate all the help from everyone, but the fliers aren't working. She's not home yet. I have to do something." He sat back down in his computer chair.

  "What the fuck is that?" Trish's hand covered her mouth as she stared at the disgusting images on his screen.

  Matt sighed, wishing he had changed the page before she saw it. "It's how I'm searching for Faith. You don't want to see it." He clicked the mouse, opening up another page so she wouldn't have to stare at the naked images of children.

  "Matt, what the hell are you getting yourself into?" She came up beside him, swatted his hand away and reopened the page he'd been on. "Holy shit. What is this?" Her voice was filled with disgust.

  "It's a sex trafficking site. It's the dark web, where perverts sell young children and women to men who want to…" He shook his head. There was no need for details.

  "Oh my God." Trish sobbed. "You don't think that Faith is…?" She stepped back, shaking her head.

  "I don't know, but I have to make sure. I can't take the chance she's being held for shit like this." His chest tightened as he saw the tears in his sister's eyes. "I don't know where she is, but I have to look. I have to make sure. We've searched every possible place around here, and we'll continue to search, but if she was kidnapped, what are the chances they kept her close? They wouldn't. It's been weeks. She could be anywhere by now." Matt hated the reality of it all.

  "She can't…" Trish gestured to the computer. "No, she just can't. I won't even think about it." She turned and walked back into the kitchen.

  When he heard Trish crying, he sighed. How was he supposed to help her when he was falling apart himself? Going into the kitchen, he found her bent over the counter, crying. He stood beside her, his hand on her back. "I know it's horrid, and I didn't want you to have to think about it, but it's a reality I have to face. I'm not stopping until I have my daughter back. Without her, I have nothing."

  Trish shook her head. "You have me."

  It wasn't the same and she knew it. "I need Faith."

  Trish reached for a paper towel off the dispenser and blew her nose, then grabbed another to wipe her eyes. "I don't even want to know what I was looking at on that computer."

  "I wish I didn't know either."

  She turned, tossing the paper towels in the trash before washing her hands. "You're going to drive yourself mad." She pulled two plates out of the cupboard and started to put chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn on them.

  "I know, but what choice do I have? The cops aren't looking. The longer she is missing, the less they look. I can't give up. I won't."

  Trish shoved a plate at him. "No one says you have to give up, but that stuff…" She shook her head. "You can't look at that and not have it have some effect on you."

  "If it brings Faith home, it will be worth it." He stared at the plate in his hands, his stomach turning at the thought of food.

  "Eat, Matt. You're not going to do Faith any good if you get sick." She went to the table and sat down. "Have you called Mom?"

  He closed his eyes. He couldn't talk to his mother. It was hard enough without having her remind him how he should have kept a better eye on Faith. He knew the fight they'd had right after Faith went missing was nothing more than emotions being out of control, but some of the things she'd said cut deep. He needed time before he could deal with her again. "You know I haven't."

  "She's worried about you."

  "Tell her not to. Save the worry for Faith. She's the one who we need to worry about."

  "You're her son."

  "And Faith is her grandchild. I'm here, safe. Faith isn't."

  Trish picked at her chicken. "Tell me about that stuff online."

  He shook his head. "You don't want—"

  "I need to know. You shouldn't have to carry this alone. What is it about?" She stared across the table at him.

  Trish had always been a strong woman, but talking about stuff like this didn't feel right. Still, he was sure if he didn't tell her, she would find a way to learn about it on her own, and he didn't want that. Women weren't welcome on the sites he was on, at least not women like Trish. "It's a place people go to buy and sell other people. I mean there is a ton of shit on there. It's a drug market, a gun exchange, you name it, but the pages I look at are where they have women and children for sale. Think of it as a slave market. It's disgusting and horrifying what is on there."

  "There are girls Faith's age?"

  Matt lowered his gaze to the food on his plate. "Yes, and younger. Much younger." He bit his lip, remembering the first time he'd seen a three-year-old for sale.

  "Jesus."

  "I've slowly worked my way into the community acting like I'm looking to buy a young girl. It's taken time, and I'm still not fully trusted," Matt told her.

  "How do you become trusted in a place like that?" Trish stared across the table at him.

  "It's not easy." He wasn't about to tell her the things he had to say and do to earn the little trust he had. He'd shared photos that would probably get him a good prison sentence if he was caught, and talked about doing things that made h
im physically sick when asked why he was looking for a child. Even after all that, he still wasn't in deep enough. He had to get farther into the system, get them to invite him into the smaller inner circles, where the real information was shared.

  "How did you find out about all this?"

  "One of the other parents in a support group. His son was taken and sold. They found evidence of it, but have never found his son. He gave me the information to get in. He's deep inside the rings too, trying to find his son. It was only because he'd been working for two years to earn their trust that he was able to pull me in as a friend and have the groups have a little more trust in me than they would have if I'd started on my own." He stirred his spoon in his potatoes, still not having bothered to take a bite.

  "And if you find her there?" Trish wiped tears from her cheeks.

  "I don't know. I'd like to say get the police to follow up, but the truth is, most of these men are so well hidden that the cops would never find them. The only thing I could do is try and buy her. I honestly don't know."

  "Fuck, are you listening to what you are saying? Buy your own daughter?"

  "In a perfect world, this wouldn't be happening. Faith would be sitting here with us, stealing all the drumsticks. It's not a perfect world and Faith isn't here. I have to do whatever I have to do to find my daughter and bring her home."

  "So, this is why you haven't answered your phone? You've disappeared."

  Matt nodded.

  "Hell, this isn't good. It's going to kill you."

  "If I don't get Faith back, I might as well be dead anyway. I would never forgive myself if she was taken by these monsters and I didn't look for her there. There are so many kids, Trish. So many women who have been forced into this. It's disgusting."

  "Why haven't the police shut all this down?"