Charming But Reckless (NightShade Security #5)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

ARICK

I went through the entire story with Detective Stabler. He remained patient as I broke down several times along the way.

It wasn't because I felt helpless or anything. It was because reliving the moment I realized my son was gone was so devastating. I cracked myself wide open to give him every little detail I could remember.

I had pictures with me, along with his birth certificate to prove that I was his father. Detective Stabler ran his hand over his mouth as he mumbled something I couldn't make out.

"Do you think you could help me?" I asked him.

He gave me a slow nod, his eyes not lifting from the paper. “I might not be the one to help you in particular, but I can connect you to some people who can find your boy. I don't know how much time they'll have to work on your case because they've been handling a lot lately. I think if we explain everything that's happened, though, they'll want to help. Hell, they just recently had a trafficking case roll across their desks. It might be so fresh that they jump at the chance to help right another wrong with the same issue.”

For the first time, I felt a sense of hope instead of dread. Maybe tracking the detective and convincing him to come was the right idea. I can't say that I'm proud of it, but I would do anything to get my son back, to have him with me again. And once he was in my arms, I would never let him go.

He's going to have to get married and make sure he has a two-bedroom house so that I can stay in one. It was that serious for me.

The detective handed me back the papers and straightened his jacket. “I need to make a call to work, let them know I have to take the rest of today and tomorrow off. We'll need to drive to meet the team. And I want to be there when things get explained. You shouldn't have to relive your trauma another time. Someone should have helped you long before now.”

The growl in his voice told me he was sick of seeing the justice system not do its part. That's how I knew he would be the right fit to help me. It was obvious in the way he handled himself and all the reports I'd read about him. He's the real deal.

“Thank you, Detective. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

He shook his head. “I'm just doing what's right. You deserve to be reunited with him. Let me just make this call real quick, and we'll get on the road.”

He looked at his phone and stepped away from me. His words became background noise as I sank into my own thoughts and feelings.

He knew someone who could help me. Someone who would do what I had failed to. I focused on the feeling of what it would be like to find my son. Of what it would be like to be reunited with him.

The dream manifested itself and lifted my spirits even more.

It didn't take long for the detective to finish his call. Once he came back to me, he pointed towards the parking lot.

"Do you have a vehicle here?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing I can't leave behind. I'm yours. However you need me to be."

He chuckled, then clapped me on the shoulder. “I wish I had more men in my department like you. They're all whiny and annoying. Something about the youth these days.”

I grinned at his offhand comment. The man wasn't much older than me. Or maybe he was, and I just didn't pick up signals like I used to. I had become so entrenched in searching for me son that everything else was unimportant. I didn't care about people or places or things. I ate just to sustain my energy levels. I slept because I knew staying awake would make me unproductive.

We climbed in the detective's car, and he set our path to head south. I paid little attention to the journey. Wherever we wound up, I’d research it more later. It wasn't as important as the people who would help us once we got there.

Eventually, we pulled up to a massive office building. He turned into a parking garage behind it and grabbed one of the entry spaces labeled for visitors. We walked around the outside of the garage towards the front doors, and I took in the sign on the door.

NightShade.

I knew then where we were.

Most people had heard of NightShade Security, run by the elusive Tank. Though maybe I should have called him a playboy. It wasn't a secret that he got around, but it was more that no one really knew what all NightShade did.

Their image was as a security firm. When I looked them up on the darker side of the internet, it was clear they were more. I had wanted to reach out to them early on in the investigation. They were exactly the type of company that could have helped me.

But at the same time, I didn't have the funds to hire them. I was convinced I could handle it on my own. The more time that passed, the more helpless I felt. The police hadn’t wanted to help me, and I figured if they couldn't do it, then a private security company sure wouldn't.

Yes, I was a fucking idiot.

Detective Stabler motioned to the security guy at the front desk. “We’re here to see Tank and the guys.”

He flashed his badge showing his bureau ID, then asked me to pull out my wallet to show my plain old driver's license. I had never felt quite so inadequate.

The man printed out stickers with our faces and names on them, then told us to put them on our chests. I did as he asked before following the detective to the elevator. The whole way up he hummed along with the cheesy piano music.

“You must come here a lot to talk to the front desk person like that,” I said casually.

He chuckled. “You'll understand what it's like once you meet the guys. Memphis, their IT person, is notorious for hacking into FBI servers. I've had to warn him more than once to keep his searches more under the radar. My supervisor has instructed me that one more slip up on his part, and he'll be recruited.”

I shook my head. “Seems odd that he would get caught if he's that good.”

“Exactly my thoughts. I have a feeling he just wanted to get caught a time or two. Maybe wave the flag at us to let us know he had access. I doubt it had anything to do with wanting to see me as much as he has. Tank especially gets tired of my mug.”

We smiled right as the elevator doors opened. A reception desk sat across from the entry with an excited looking young man behind it.

He waved to the man beside me. "Hey Detective, I didn't have you on the schedule today."

Stabler stepped forward and leaned on the counter. I followed him, though I remained upright. No need for me to become casual with these people until I had more of an indication of what was coming.

“I wasn't planning on stopping by, Jared. A case came across my desk, and I have a feeling Memphis can help with it. It's kind of related to what's been going on lately.”

The young man nodded quickly though I could see in his gaze he wasn't quite sure exactly what was going on. Moreover, he had an understanding that it was important business, and he did not need to stop us.

“They're all in the main room. You know where to go." The phone rang, and he answered cheerily.

The detective pointed in the direction of a hall that looked like a dead end. He led the way, though I didn’t see how we’d get far. Surprisingly, there was a corner, which we turned, then the sound of voices increased.

This place was a maze, and I never wanted to be left alone in it. When the main area that Jared mentioned came into view, I could see that this place would definitely be of use in my hunt. A technological wet dream covered one wall with screens and computer processors. There were cubicles set up around and a main table in the middle with paper strung across it.

Several imposing figures stood around chatting. They immediately stopped once we came into full view. The largest of them, a burly man with a sharp jaw, said in a deep voice, "Detective Stabler, to what do we owe this pleasure?"

Another man seated at the table with a boyish grin snorted while repeating, "Pleasure."

A smack came from beside him to the back of his head, while a third voice said, "Enough."

It would have been comical in any other situation, but I was too dumbfounded to understand. A voice from behind a cubicle shouted, "Stabler's here? What the fuck? I haven't even hacked anything today."

"That would be Memphis," Stabler told me. “Just the man we're here to see.”

A head popped up over a cubicle. A young guy with glasses and a scowl looked at us.

“I don't have time for whatever it is you want. We're a bit busy trying to finish all this.” He waved his hand at the wall.

It was then I noticed it held several faces with giant Xs on them and some slightly disturbing images. I had seen worse in my quest to find my son, but it still wasn't something I wanted to look at all the time.

A voice from behind us said, "Memphis, get that shit off the screen. Got civilian company."

The image changed to some odd cartoon image of Bugs Bunny bouncing around in circles. I tilted my head, curious as to why that was the generic screen. It was more distracting than what he already had up there.

I didn't say anything though. It wasn't my place.

I turned to look at the newcomer. He perused my figure from head to toe. It wasn't sexual, but there was definitely curiosity there. This had to be Tank.

"Stabler," he said, addressing the other man. "You don't typically make things my business unless you need something from me. Memphis has been on his best behavior, haven't you?"

Memphis shouted, "Yes, Daddy."

The others groaned. For the first time since walking into the room, I smirked. It amused me to know when things like that bothered people. I had heard the word for years and never put any sexual context to it, though I was aware that the kink community existed.

If I was a betting man, I figured Tank was a part of the group that enjoyed hearing that particular moniker. I hoped to never find out.

“I am here for a bit of a favor,” Stabler said, interrupting my thoughts. “This here is Arick. He came to me about his son, Solomon. He was taken around two years ago. His local police force is shit, and every time he tried to escalate it, no one gave a damn. Sound familiar?”

The big guy, the first one who questioned our arrival said, "Very familiar. Memphis, come out from behind your case. We got a case."

I spoke up for the first time. “You don't even know all the details.”

The man replied, "I don't need to. You look as if you're ten seconds away from blowing over. It's obvious there's been a strain in your life, and if it's your son, we want to help.”

Detective Stabler clapped his hands. “I knew you were going to say that, Ronan. And if you had not, I was going to tell you that Arick here believes his son was trafficked.”

The room went deadly quiet. A man that I had yet to notice because he hadn't spoken up knocked his knuckles on the table. He wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to the guy I now knew was Ronan. He read it and nodded.

“Exactly my thoughts, Takeshi,” he said to the silent man before addressing the whole room. “Takeshi said that we have to take the case, no matter what. We are not going to let any more trafficking victims remain victims if we can help it.”

I gave Takeshi a grateful smile. He nodded back, his lips pressed firmly together. A man leaned into his side, equally as quiet. When Takeshi turned to press a kiss to his head, I felt a blimp of jealousy. I had not had any relationships since before my son was born. When he was younger, I was still focused on raising him. And then after he was taken, the search became frantic.

Why would I date when the only person in my life that I cared for was missing and gone?

“Let's have a seat. Tell us about the case,” Tank said.

Stabler put a hand to my arm and shook his head. “I'll tell you the high points. I made him tell me everything before I agreed to come here. It's a daunting story.”

He didn't wait for anyone else to speak. Instead, he dove into a rendition of my story, though it was very abbreviated. He hit all the high points without the emotional turmoil. By the time he finished, all the men looked ready to murder someone. I suspected they might have if that person was in the room at the exact moment.

Thankfully they weren't. I did not need to add cleanup to my timeline of events. All I wanted was Solomon.

Memphis shook his head. “Why are there no records of him existing? Why did you wipe it all away?”

I squeezed my hands into fists as anger surged through me. Not at Memphis, but at everything I had gone through.

“When no one decided to help me, I took to the not-so-legal way of looking for things on the internet. Because I was working with people who couldn't be trusted, I made it as if we didn't exist. I went off descriptions and the single picture that I allowed to float around. I would delete it off every server once people told me they couldn't find him or didn't know where he was. And it only went up a couple of times before I decided it wasn't worth the risk. What if the people who had taken him saw that and only hid him further? It was counterproductive.”

Memphis's posture changed. “I can respect that. But I will need a photo. I have some facial recognition software I can put it into.”

I reached for the pile of papers I had brought with me. They were in my back pocket, folded enough to not draw attention. Before I could pull out a picture, one slipped onto the table.

The men leaned forward, taking in the image, and once again the mood in the room shifted.

“That’s Solomon?” Ronan asked.

Cohen and Godric, who introduced themselves during Stabler’s explanation of what happened, gave each other a serious look.

“What is it? Do you know something?”

Tank whistled. “Yeah, we know something. The problem is, we don't know everything.”

Takeshi wrote another note and handed it to the man beside him this time. The man set up wide-eyed as he leaned forward to look at the photograph.

"Holy shit," he said. His voice was soft and lyrical. “I can't believe this is happening. Your timing could not be worse.”

I scrubbed my hands over my face as anger swelled. "Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on right now?! You're all acting as if you know who my son is, but he's not here, and you're not telling me anything."

Stabler put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off.

"Do not try to calm me down right now. You are my last resort. I have done everything I could within my power to find my boy, and you're all freaking me the fuck out."

Tank took that opportunity to pick up the photo. He went over to Memphis and whispered something in his ear. Memphis went around his desk and clicked some buttons. The annoying bunny in the back changed into what looked like surveillance footage. I watched it with a frown, curious as to what the hell was going on. It was only when I saw my son's face appear on camera that reality slammed into me.

"Oh my god," I cried out. "That's my boy."

The men kept quiet, watching me as I watched the footage. Memphis did something to change the image. They were no longer out somewhere at night with flashlights shining around. Instead, they were in this very room.

And as I caught sight of my boy again amidst all these women and children who were in tatters of clothing and looking filthy, I saw a man standing beside him. My breath caught as he turned enough for me to see his face.

"Orion?"

He looked far too much like the boy I remembered, only more mature. Older and sophisticated in a way, but also rugged and broken.

"You found Orion too?" I asked.

“”It wasn't that we found Orion. He's one of ours. He's been part of the team for years. He's who found your son, who pulled him aside and tried to get him to tell us who he was. How do you know Orion? Maybe that would connect the dots as to why he was so protective of your boy.”

“He protected my son.” Tears streamed down my face. My emotional control was shattered.

I had not seen this man in years. Not since we were around Solomon’s age. I thought he was long-dead.

“I knew Orion as a boy,” I admitted. “I was there the day he…”

I bit my fist as anger and sadness flooded me. Detective Stabler put a hand on my shoulder. This time, I let him keep it there.

“You were there the day he was taken, weren't you?” Ronan said.

It wasn't a question. They could all tell.

I nodded, then moved my fist so I could speak. “I was there that day and there was nothing I could do. I tried so hard to help him, to get to him, but they knocked me out and when I woke up, no one wanted to believe me. My dad just decided that I needed to —”

I couldn't finish what I needed to say. The memories of my father had been long buried. I couldn't go back there.

Hell, just the thought of Orion was enough to send me spiraling. Add in the joy of knowing that Sol was found safe, I didn't know how to feel about anything anymore.

"Where are they?" I said. "Where are Orion and Solomon? Are they here somewhere?"

Cohen answered first. “Orion said that he found Solomon's family and sent him to be with them. He's been gone a few days now. He was kind of emotionally thrown off by everything, so we gave him time off.”

I leaned back in my chair, not quite understanding what was going on.

Tank handed me back the picture. “Don't worry. We will find out where he sent him, and we'll find Orion. I don't —” he paused. “I don't think Orion actually took him to any other family members. I caught him sneaking back in after I told him not to leave, but I didn't say anything because I knew he’d been struggling. I think he took the boy to a safe house.”

"A safe house?" I repeated.

"Yeah. That's what I think. We just have to figure out where that safe house is. Memphis, get Orion on the phone."

Memphis shook his head. "No can do, boss. His phone is off. I've been trying to reach him the last two days just to see if he was okay."

Tank cursed, then looked at his IT expert with a frown. "Can't you just pull up his fucking text messages or something? Treat him like he's a bad guy. Let him be pissed about it later. This is serious."

Memphis didn't immediately respond. He had stood up to look at us while he spoke, but as he eased down in the chair and clicked at the keys slowly, I realized just how much these men were giving up to help me. They were going against one of their own, someone that they implicitly trusted, but who had not been completely honest with them.

A laugh filled the room. It came from Memphis's desk. It felt too carefree to be him after I’d only seen his grumpy attitude.

Tank frowned as he rounded the space. "Have you finally lost it? Why the hell are you laughing?"

He pulled up the information he was looking at on the main screen. I saw the message and though I didn't find it funny for any reason, the other guys laughed.

“Of course he would go to the ranch,” Godric said. “I told you guys he really enjoyed that place the one time we went out there.”

"They're on a ranch?" I asked.

Godric turned to me and nodded. "Yeah, it's about the safest place he could be besides here."

"You ready to take a road trip? It'll be a few hours before we get there."

I stood from the table and gathered all the paperwork I had. “Like I told Detective Stabler, I'm yours. Take me wherever we need to go. I'm ready to get my boy.”