Chapter Eight #2
The lock gave way with a click, and Jasper yanked the cage door open. “Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
The girl scrambled out, followed by two younger boys. They clung to each other, looking around at the fighting with terror. There were more kids than Jasper had expected.
“Stay behind us,” Jasper told them, already moving to the next cage. “We’re getting you out. All of you.”
Kerry appeared at his side, working on another lock while Corey and Braith kept the guards at bay. Some of the kids moved quickly, while others limped, and one was carried by an older boy who looked barely strong enough to walk himself.
“Finn?” Jasper called out, searching the faces. “Finn Henderson?”
“Here!” A teenage boy with dark hair and haunted eyes stumbled out of a cage. Bruises covered his arms, and a cut above his eyebrow looked infected, even though he hadn’t been here long. “I’m Finn.”
“Your parents sent us.” Jasper moved to help him when the boy swayed. “Can you walk?”
“I can try.”
“Good.” Jasper passed him off to Kerry. “Get them to the exit. We’ll finish here.”
Most of the guards were down or retreating, but shouts from the main room suggested things weren’t going as smoothly there. It made sense considering how many more people had been there when Jasper had walked through.
The final cage held two kids huddled together. The youngest looked no more than ten, her face streaked with tears and dirt. When Jasper opened the door, she didn’t move.
“Hey,” he said softly, crouching down. “My name’s Jasper. We’re here to help you. We’re going to take you somewhere safe, okay?”
She stared at him with huge, dark eyes. “You’re like us. I can tell.”
Jasper’s throat tightened. He wanted to cry and scream at the same time. “Yeah. I’m like you. And I promise, no one’s going to hurt you anymore.”
She took his hand.
All the kids were out of the cages now. It was a relief, but Jasper was pissed.
“Everyone okay?” Archie asked.
“Some injuries, but nothing life-threatening. They need medical attention, though,” Jasper said.
“Let’s get them out first, then—” Corey cut himself off as a hunter appeared at the door.
“Martinez, we’ve got a situation out here. Several of ours were working with the people who organized this mess. We’ve got four in custody, but three escaped. This is bigger than we thought.”
Martinez swore. “I’ll be right there.”
Jasper might not be a hunter anymore, but he wanted to know what was happening. Something told him that the hunters weren’t done with him, and he needed as much information as he could find. He might be able to use that against them.
The way back to the main room felt longer than when they’d come in, but they made it.
The main room was now chaos of a different sort.
Martinez’s hunters had the situation under control, but barely.
Several people were zip-tied on the floor—guards, organizers, and yes, four hunters that Jasper recognized. None of them looked happy.
“We got four hunters,” one of Martinez’s people explained, gesturing to them. “But three got away through the back exit. We’ve got people looking, but...”
“They’re gone,” Martinez finished. “Damn it.”
“What about the organizers?” Braith asked.
“We got them.” Martinez nodded toward a small group of people. “This operation is done, at least.”
“One operation,” Archie said quietly, voicing what they were all thinking. “How many others are there?”
No one had an answer.
Jasper looked down at the little girl still holding his hand. How many other kids were in other locations, still trapped and fighting for their lives in cages?
“We did good,” Corey said, coming to stand beside him. His knuckles were bloody, his shirt torn, but his gaze was steady. “Don’t forget that.”
“It’s not enough,” Jasper said.
“It never is, but it’s something. It’s a start.”
Archie’s hand landed on Jasper’s shoulder, squeezing gently. When Jasper met his eyes, he saw the same determination he felt burning in his own chest.
This wasn’t over.
The little girl tugged on his hand. “Are we going home?”
Jasper crouched down. “Yeah, you are. You’re safe now. These people won’t hurt you ever again.” Jasper couldn’t ask this little girl about what had happened, but Finn was older, and he might have answers.
“Hey.” Archie stepped closer. “You okay?”
Jasper looked around the room. Monsters and hunters were still working, and they were doing it together. Maybe they could find a way to make things work.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think I am.”
Archie watched him and smiled. “Good. Because we’re not done yet. I want to talk to Finn.”
“Me, too.”
He wasn’t there as a hunter—he’d left that part of his life behind because he’d wanted to help people, not to hurt them. He could still do that. He wasn’t just a monster or a hunter. He was Jasper, and he was exactly where he needed to be.
Doing exactly what he needed to do.
* * * *
THE DRIVE TO THE HENDERSONS’ house was quiet except for the sound of the engine and the occasional sniffle from the back seat. Archie kept his eyes on the road, but his attention was split between that and Finn’s reflection in the rearview mirror.
The kid looked exhausted. One of the hunters, who apparently was trained as a paramedic, had cleaned and bandaged Finn’s injuries and had declared that he’d be okay, but his bruises were stark against his pale skin, and he held himself like every movement hurt.
Jasper sat next to him in the backseat, just in case, close but not too close.
Finn hadn’t let go of the blanket someone had given him, clutching it like a lifeline.
“Your parents are going to be so happy to see you,” Archie said, breaking the silence because it was getting heavy. “They’ve been looking for you since you disappeared.”
Finn nodded but didn’t speak. He was looking out the window.
“How long were you in that warehouse?” Jasper asked quietly.
“I don’t know.” Finn’s voice was rough. “They moved us around a few times. Made it harder for anyone to find us, they said. I didn’t think anyone would.”
Archie’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. The Hendersons had hired him a week ago, and Finn had been missing for three days before that. He’d been in that place for ten days because the police hadn’t taken a missing monster kid seriously.
“You’re safe now,” Archie said.
“Am I?” Finn looked up, meeting Archie’s eyes in the mirror. “Those hunters who escaped know me. They know where I live. What if they come after me again?”
He looked older than his fifteen years, and Archie hated that. He should be allowed to be nothing but a kid, but instead, he’d seen things he’d never forget.
“They won’t get near you,” Jasper said. “Martinez is going to have people watching your house for a little bit. And if they try, they’ll have to go through all of us first.”
Finn seemed skeptical, but he relaxed. “There were others,” he said. “Other kids. They took them away before you came. I don’t know where, but they said something about another place being more secure. They only kept us here because it was supposed to be temporary.”
Archie’s stomach dropped. Of course there were other kids.
This operation was too organized and well-funded to be just one location.
Archie had suspected it, but hearing confirmation made it real in a way that he wasn’t sure how to deal with.
He’d been paid to find Finn, but what about the other kids?
And the adults who didn’t have a choice but to fight to earn enough to survive?
“How many others?” Jasper asked, leaning forward slightly.
“I don’t know. At least six or seven that I saw. Maybe more.” Finn wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. “They were younger than me. They were so scared.”
Archie forced himself to keep his voice calm. “Did you hear anything else about where they might be taken? Any names, locations?”
“No. They were careful about that. They didn’t want us to know anything.”
They pulled onto the Hendersons’ street. Archie had called to warn them they were coming, so he wasn’t surprised to see lights in almost every window of their house. Finn’s parents were waiting.
Finn sat up straighter. He watched the house as Archie parked the car, almost vibrating out of his skin.
The car had barely stopped before the front door burst open and Mr. and Mrs. Henderson came running out.
Archie got out quickly to open the back door, and Finn practically fell out of the car and into his mother’s arms.
The reunion was everything Archie had hoped for when he’d agreed to take this case. Mr. Henderson shook Archie’s hand so hard it hurt, then pulled him into a hug. Mrs. Henderson did the same to Jasper, even though she’d never met him. She was crying so hard it was hard for her to speak.
“Thank you,” Mr. Henderson kept saying. “Thank you, thank you. We can never repay you—”
“You already paid us,” Archie said. “Just take care of him. He’s been through a lot.”
“We will. We promise.” Mrs. Henderson pulled back, still holding Finn against her side like she’d never let go again. “If there’s anything you need, anything at all, let us know.”
“Just keep him safe,” Jasper said. “And if you see anything suspicious, call immediately. We don’t think anyone’s going to come after Finn again, but we’d rather be cautious.”
They promised they would and ushered Finn inside. Archie watched until the door closed behind them, then let out a long breath.
“There are other kids,” he said.
“Yeah.”
They got back in the car. Archie didn’t start the engine right away. He sat there, hands on the steering wheel, staring at the Henderson house with its warm lights and the reunited family safely inside.
“I’m a PI,” he said after a moment. “I did the job I was hired to do. We found Finn. Case closed. Martinez and his people can handle the rest since they’re hunters.”
Jasper turned to look at him. “You don’t want that.”
Archie sighed. “Those kids out there are just as scared as Finn was, but maybe they don’t have parents with enough money to hire someone like me.
No one will come for them, but I’m sure they’re still waiting for someone to save them.
” Archie ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself. “It’s not my job.”
“No,” Jasper agreed. “It’s not.”
Archie thought about those kids Finn had mentioned. He thought about how young some of them probably were, about all the cases he’d turned down over the years because they didn’t pay enough or seemed too dangerous or just weren’t his problem. None had involved kids, but this one did.
“I’m going to make it my job,” Archie said finally. He turned to face Jasper. “This case isn’t closed. Not until every single one of those kids is home safe.”
Jasper smiled. It was soft and proud and one of the reasons Archie was making this decision. “Martinez will want to be involved.”
“Then we’ll work with him, or around him if he gives us trouble.” Archie started the engine. “Braith’s going to kill me for taking a case with no paying client.”
“I think he’ll understand.” Jasper reached over and squeezed Archie’s hand. “For what it’s worth, I’m with you. Whatever it takes to find those kids.”
“I know you are.” Archie squeezed back. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
As he drove them back, Archie was already thinking about the next steps.
How many kids were still out there? How involved were the hunters?
Would Archie and his friends be able to stop them if they were more deeply involved than they expected?
Archie hadn’t been planning on taking on the entire hunters’ organization, but he might have to, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.
The only way was forward, though, and not only because of the kids. Something told Archie that the hunters, and specifically Leroy, had been involved in whatever had happened to Jasper’s birth parents, and eventually, Jasper would find out.
Archie dreaded that day as much as he anticipated it.