I have enough people I mistrust, and I’d rather not add someone else to the list.
So, I’ll accept her friendship, but all bets are off if sheisplaying me.
“What is it we are looking at?” she asks me.
“My father has a whole vault of evidence he uses to blackmail high-ranking elite members into supporting his campaign for presidency. We broke into his vault and stole some of the tapes. We’re watching them to see what’s on them, and we’re going to use it to approach these men and get them to switch allegiances.”
Shock splays across her face. “Ho. Lee. Shit.”
“It’s not going to be pleasant.” I take a few minutes to recap what I’ve seen in the dungeon and what we know from Drew about the young girls being abused down there.
“Oh my God.” She clasps a hand over her mouth.
“They are the sickest, most depraved bastards, and we’re planning to take them down.” I’m not elaborating any further because that’s as much as she needs to know for now. “Are you with us?” I ask.
“I’m in.” She doesn’t hesitate. “Whatever I can do to help, I’ll do it.”
We spend the next five hours watching bits of every tape. It’s all any of us can stomach. The scenes are scarily similar.
Men abusing young girls and boys. Men fucking men. Men submitting to other men and being physically and verbally abused. Men giving in to their darkest desires, using all the facilities and tools the dungeon has to offer. A few of them show men killing their sexual partners in some form of twisted sex fantasy.
A lot of these high-ranking elite are prominent figures in the world of business and politics. Drew and I had scrolled through the names at our disposal, choosing the best targets, and Father hasn’t let us down. If any of these recordings got out, their careers would be ruined, their reputations in tatters, their families torn apart and they’d definitely kiss their freedom goodbye. I don’t care how well connected the elite are, there is no way those men would avoid jail time with such incriminating evidence.
No wonder they are all scared to cross him.
“Fuck it. I need a drink after that,” Jackson says, stalking to the liquor cabinet, looking like he’s about to puke. The old Jackson would have pulled out a blunt and smoked his brains out. I’m not sure switching his addiction to alcohol is much better, but we all need a drink or ten after tonight’s harrowing session.
“You want something, babe?” Kai asks, and strain is evident in his tone and on his face.
“Vodka. Thanks,” I say, not even attempting to hide the tears cascading down my face.
“Hey.” He kneels in front of me, taking my hands in his. “We’re going to fucking end those bastards.”
“It can’t come soon enough,” Shandra says over a sob. Our pained tearstained eyes meet in joint understanding.
“I say we hire a fucking hitman to take them all out,” Xavier says, as a myriad of emotions flit across his face.
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Sawyer says.
“Fuck hiring a hitman,” Kai says. “Let’s just fucking take the assholes out ourselves.”
No one responds to his statement, because we all feel the same way but know it’s not possible. As much as no one wants to admit it, we need those disgusting, depraved, sick individuals to help us take down the bastard and send cracks splintering throughout the order.
“We are definitely sharing those recordings the day of the vote,” I say, more determined than ever.
“Hell yeah,” Xavier says as Kai climbs to his feet. “I’ll time it so the files are sent to the local police and the FBI at the same time.”
Kai stands, rubbing his thumb along my jawline. “Let me get you that drink.” He looks at Shandra. “Can I get you anything?”
“I’ll take a beer.”
She sits beside me, and we’re both quiet, watching Kai and Jackson get everyone drinks. They’re not speaking either. Everyone is feeling so many different emotions, and it’s hard to put it into words.
Xavier and Sawyer are quietly arguing about something with their heads buried in their laptops.
“I had no idea, all these years at school, that, that… those horrors even existed, let alone so close to where I live,” Shandra says, visibly shuddering.
“I’ve always known how nasty this world is, but I didn’t realize that was happening right under my nose,” I say, turning to face her. “I slept in my bed night after night, ignorant of what was happening a few floors below me. It makes me sick.”
