“Red Falls? That’s, what, eighty miles from Mistone?”
“We’re in Mistone?”
“We are. How did this happen?”
Theo shakes his head. “It was so fast. These two guys came around and offered us sandwiches and a few bucks. They said they were from a new church and were doing community work. They invited us down to a youth group. Said they would have food and drinks and we could hear what they were all about.”
“How did they find you?”
“Just hanging out. There’s not much to do in Red Falls, you know?”
I do know. Red Falls is one of the lower income areas afflicted with a lot of crime and drug activity. These kids were obviously targeted.
“Then what happened?”
“We showed up in a field and there were a lot of kids there from around town and the surrounding city. Some of the farm kids were there too. Those guys had vans and said they would drive us to the church, but they served us some punch and cookies first. It all seemed really nice. There was a guy there with a guitar and one of them was carrying a Bible. I don’t care about church and stuff, but I thought it could be cool. Something different to do.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t remember much after that. We got in the van and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a dirty warehouse.”
“They drugged you with the punch, probably.”
Theo nods. “I figured. We were there for a couple of days, then they moved us tonight. A whole bunch of other kids showed up too, but some of them don’t speak English. I don’t know where they came from but one of them said ‘boat.’”
Rage builds inside me. This was a very organized and targeted operation. “Anything else you think I should know?”
“I don’t know what they had planned for us, but I did hear one of the guys talking about boats and shipments and getting the merchandise down to Bolivia or something like that. I don’t know what kind of merchandise they meant.”
I do, unfortunately. These kids were bound for Bolivia to be trafficked, likely in exchange for the drugs.
“Okay, well, you’re safe now. We’re going to get you all to a shelter and they’ll find your parents and go from there.”
Theo scoffs. “Oh, my mom probably doesn’t know I’m gone yet. She’s always high.” He shrugs. “But a ride home would be nice.”
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen.”
Oh, damn. He looks so much younger. “We’ll get you home. Come on.”
An hour later, we’ve found all the kids and have them huddled together for warmth. We’ve killed every guy on the property, including Mike Connelly, who Carnage found hiding in a storage container after he convinced Phil to admit where his brother was. There was no sign of Blackhawk though.
Carnage is covered in other people’s blood but he’s as happy as he can be. Shadow has the look of a man haunted by the past, and Stealth doesn’t look much better. I find Boone talking to the kids, assuring them that it’s all gonna be okay now.
Ghost and Phantom are inside the warehouse burning bodies, and the rest of us are just making sure we’ve covered all our bases.
“Where are we taking all these kids, boss?” Specter asks.
“We’re meeting a contact of mine from the Missing Minorsunit at the MPD. She’ll take it from there. Tonight they’ll have food, warm clothes, and beds to sleep in. Tomorrow they’ll be seen by doctors and start the process of getting home.”
“They should give you a fucking key to the city for this,” Whisper says.
Shadow actually chuckles. “If only. I’m assured they are appreciative of our efforts. That will pay dividends for us later.”
I walk over to Boone and put my hand on his shoulder. “You good?”
His face lights up. “Thank you. All of you. You did what I set out to do. You saved these kids.”
