Page 39 of Deliverance

“What if they’re under eighteen?” Adrian asked.

I bit my lip. “This is where it’s a gray area.” While the guys knew we operated in gray areas, knowing about it and witnessing it were two different things. Especially for Marcus and Dominic.

Marcus squeezed my leg softly. “We’re all in,” he reassured me.

Dominic nodded. “Same. No judgement here.”

I looked at Izzy, who nodded as well.

“It depends on the situation,” I started. “If we think the parents will sign over rights voluntarily, then we have them sign them over to a few foster families we have in our network. If they don’t sign them over voluntarily, then we create a fake case file which shows the child is removed from the home and placed with one of our foster families.”

“Basically, the end result is the same,” Izzy said. “But how we get there varies by situation. For one of the girls, Milena, she said her family sold her to the traffickers.”

“They fucking what?” Sebastian straightened in his chair. His jaw was tight, the easy warmth that usually lived in his expression completely gone.

“Unfortunately, it’s more common than you think,” I admitted. I had heard this story before, in different forms, and it never got easier. The day it got easy was the day I needed to stop.

“Does anything happen to the families who do that?” Alexander asked. His expression hadn’t changed, but his hands had gone very still on the table, which I had learned was worse than if he had reacted outwardly.

“Not usually,” I said. “Unless the authorities are involved, which is rare in our cases, nothing happens. I wish we had the resources to go after them, but we don’t, and I won’t risk the children’s safety over seeking revenge.”

I had to prioritize the Archers’ limited resources, and destroying the lives of the families who sold their children, as satisfying as that would be, unfortunately wasn’t a priority over ensuring the children’s safety and wellbeing.

The table was quiet in a way that made the back of my neck prickle.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Alexander said, but his tone said differently. All of them had weird expressions on their faces.

“You’re all looking at me weird.”

“We’re admiring you,” Sebastian said, completely unabashed. “Let us admire you.”

“Please don’t.” I was no hero. Just a broken girl trying to absolve myself of the guilt and shame I felt from my past.

“The work you’ve done…” Adrian said, quieter than the others. “The people you’ve helped… It’s…” He shook his head. “It’s remarkable, Evelyn.”

I opened my mouth to redirect the conversation back to something useful, but Izzy beat me to it, which was somehow worse.

“None of it would exist without her,” Izzy said, looking at the guys rather than me. “I want you to know that. Every person we’ve helped, every kid we’ve gotten out…that’s her. She built this from nothing.”

“Izzy.” My voice came out sharper than I intended. It wasn’t just me. It was a team effort.

She shrugged. “I’m just telling them the truth.”

“We can debrief on the operation, or we can do this,” I said, gesturing vaguely at whatever this was. “We can’t do both.”

Marcus’s mouth curved. “We can do both.”

I looked at the ceiling briefly, my cheeks burning. “Can we please just get back to work?”

“Don’t worry, we have a lifetime to teach you how to accept a compliment,” Sebastian said cheerfully.

“Anyway…” I stressed. “Moving onto the warehouse. What did Jasper and their team find after we left?”

“Nothing obviously incriminating for Kingfisher,” Izzy said. “Definitely where the girls originated, and there’s probably a ton of DNA evidence, but we don’t have a way to process that.”

“Any paperwork in the office?” Marcus asked.