“And he agreed to this?” Rogers asked, pointing at the unconscious man, whose vitals were looking better since the last dose of flumazenil.
Valerie and Tom exchanged stares again. “Not exactly,” Valerie finally said. “He agreed to listen to our plan to get him away from his father, but didn’t commit to doing it. Breaking free from an overbearing and abusive parent isn’t easy. He’s been fed lies from his father his entire life. His father told him from a young age that I gave him up because I didn’t want him. His father was livid when he found out that Brandon had tracked me down and we’d met. That’s how Mark came back into my life, with a threatand a demand to store his shit or he’d make sure I never saw Brandon again, threatened to kill Tom too.”
“Let me see if I understand this. Jessica Rosenthal is Mark’s wife, Brandon’s stepmother,” Burke began.
“She was in the middle of divorcing Mark. She’d left him and went to stay with her sister in Detroit because Mark went too far with his extremist views and that scared Jessica. She’s a good person, was a good stepmother to Brandon,” Valerie said.
“And even with her leaving, Brandon doesn’t believe you about his father?” Wilson asked.
“It’s complicated,” Tom said. “Brandon doesn’t know everything Mark is into, and Mark has made Brandon an accomplice in a crime to scare him into submission. Yes, he knows his father isn’t one of the good guys, but he didn’t agree to play dead so he could break free.”
“So you made the decision for him,” Tessman said.
“We did what we had to, to get him away from his father. The only way this ends for Brandon is getting killed for his father’s warped delusions or going to prison for a very long time. I couldn’t protect myself from Mark Ellison, but I’ll be damned if I sit back and not protect my son now that I can,” Valerie stated emphatically.
“And if after all this he doesn’t agree to disappear, and he returns to his father?” Burke asked.
“Then I guess Tom and I are the ones who will need to disappear,” Valerie said.
Burke made brief eye contact with Wilson. Wilson turned his back to the exam room. “Are you still on the line, Control, and did you get all that?”
“Affirmative,” Yvette’s voice came through every man’s comms. “I pulled up the mission report and can confirm the Jessica Rosenthal case.”
“Thanks, Control. I’m going to call MP and see if there was more to the Rosenthal story,” Wilson said.
“Roger that. I’ll put a rush on the info regarding the rest of their story with the Digital Team for you. Smith is handling this. He’ll get back in touch with you directly as soon as he has anything. And I’ll notify Big Bear of the situation. I’m dropping off now,” Yvette said.
“Thanks, Control,” Wilson said. He turned back.
“So, who do you treat at this clinic?” Rogers asked.
“That’s another part of Mark’s blackmail. His group often has wounded members who need to be treated outside of regular medical centers.”
“How do they get injured?” Tessman asked.
“We don’t ask,” Tom said. “We just treat their wounds.”
“What kind of wounds?” Burke asked.
Tom frowned. “Mostly GSWs, stabbings, sometimes severe beatings.”
“We’ve treated a few sexual assaults too,” Valerie added.
The four men from Shepherd Security were surprised by their statements.
“How long has this been going on?” Wilson asked.
“Just over two years,” Valerie said.
“And you never thought about calling the authorities?” Wilson asked.
“Thought about it every day,” Valerie said.
“Why didn’t you?” Burke asked.
“Because we don’t want to be killed,” Tom Butler said as though it was obvious. “We have no idea how many are in this militia or how connected they are. We could be reporting them directly to someone in the group.”
“Either way, this is over now, and the proper authorities will be called in. You asked who we are. We’re a multi-agency task force, FBI, ATF, and DEA,” Wilson said as he drew his DEA badge and creds. He left out Rogers’s CIA designation.
