Chapter Four
~ Jackson ~
I pulled out my cell phone when it rang, glanced at the screen, and then answered it. "Did you catch everyone, Miles?"
I wanted to make sure every one of these assholes were put behind bars. I was enraged that something like this had happened, and at my family estate by one of our long term employees.
This was going to be a media nightmare.
"William and a couple of others got away, but I've sent some men after them," Miles replied. "We got the rest."
"Good. Are you ready to do the video?"
"Yep."
I walked back over to Daniel and squatted in front of him. The poor man was as pale as a ghost. "Are you ready to do this?"
Daniel nodded, but I had to wonder if that was the truth. He looked so frightened it made me want to punch something. No one deserved what was done to him.
As soon as Miles had the video going, I got up and sat beside Daniel so I could support him if this became too much for him. I turned my cell phone so we could both see the screen and then said, "A yes or no will do. Just tell us if the people on the screen have been to the house before."
Daniel gave a simple nod and then stared at the screen. One by one, Miles showed the faces of everyone in the main room and one by one, Daniel pointed out the people that had been to the house before.
Miles had guards separate them out from the others, placing them on the far side of the room under extra guards. Those people were the ones I wanted interrogated before we turned them over to the police.
Once the video was done, Miles said, "Alejandro is with me. I'll have him question these guys. His husband has some wicked skills with a computer so he can find pretty much everything about these guys in a matter of minutes."
"Alejandro Díaz?" I hadn't seen many of my frat brothers in years, but it had been even longer since I'd seen Alejandro.
"Yes."
"I thought he wasn't allowed back in the US."
"It's a long story that I'd be happy to tell you after this is all done, but he's currently the head of Brooklyn. He also owns a security company. The men we brought with us tonight are all his."
Huh.
"Is there someplace Alejandro can question them?"
"Take them to the stable," I replied. "There's a tack room there that can be washed out with a hose."
Easier to get rid of the blood.
"Good idea," Miles snickered.
"Did you find the other two William was planning on selling?"
"Yeah, I've had some of our men take them to the hospital. It doesn't look like they have any injuries, but I want to make sure."
That wasn't a bad idea.
"Daniel should probably be looked at as well," I suggested.
"We have a plan for that and it should be arriving in about twenty minutes."
"Huh?"
"Do you remember Patty?"
"Sure," I replied. "He was a med student, wasn't he?"
"He was and now he works for a bunch of us as a private doctor. I called him up as soon as I had an idea what we were working with here. He and his husband, who is his nurse, are flying in as we speak. They will check Daniel over and make sure he's okay."
"And you didn't have the other guys wait to see Patty why?"
"They seemed less aware of what was going on here than Daniel does. After questioning them, Alejandro told me they were just a couple of college students that William kidnapped off the street. Daniel is different."
I glanced down at the sandy blond cuddled into my side and knew Miles was speaking the truth. There was something about Daniel that made me want to protect him from all the evils in the world.
"I also figured that discretion was a good idea considering who Daniel is."
Whether I decided to marry Daniel or not, he was still a member of the Wyatt family. If news of this mess got out, it could create a snow storm effect that would damage the Wyatt family name for decades to come.
"I appreciate it, Miles. I'm not sure I would have thought of that."
Miles chuckled. "What are frat brothers for?"
I hung up the phone and turned back to Daniel. The frightened man was just sitting there, not moving. He wasn't even looking around, but staring at the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.
I didn't know how to comfort him. It wasn't like I had a huge emotional wheelhouse to rely on. I'd lost my mother very early on in my life, my father and I had been butting heads since I was in diapers, and I didn't do long term relationships.
The closest people I'd ever had in my life were my frat brothers. Despite the different backgrounds and varied areas of study we'd been learning, once we at the frat house everyone was equal. There had always been someone to listen to my sorrows, someone to lend a helping hand if I needed it, and someone to back me up if there was trouble.
A decade later and they still hadn't let me down.
There was a knock on the door and then it opened. I stood firmly between the door and Daniel until I saw a guard holding a small stack of clothes. I grabbed it and carried it back over to Daniel.
"I'm going to step outside so that you can dress. Just open the door when you're done."
Daniel nodded once.
I sighed as I turned and walked out of the study. I couldn't even imagine the amount of therapy it was going to take to make Daniel better. I didn't know what William had done to him in the days since my father had died, but it had to have been horrible.
If I ever got my hands on that monster he wouldn't live to see another sunset.
I accepted a lot of things that skated the edge of what polite society said were okay. As long as people were over the age of consent, willing participants, and they weren't breaking any laws then what they did was none of my business.
Miles and Sam were a perfect example. I seriously doubted they had a conventional marriage. Miles was too much of a control freak and Sam seemed to need that control. That being said, they were both legal adults and I was pretty sure from the way Sam had hugged Miles that he was there willingly.
While I was positive Daniel was of legal age because my father had married him, he very obviously hadn't been at the auction of his own consent and selling people had been outlawed over a hundred and fifty years ago.
I walked back into the study when Daniel opened the door. He was dressed in a simple blue long sleeve shirt, a pair of jogging pants, and socks, but he still had the blanket wrapped around him.
"Are you cold, Daniel?"
He nodded, but didn't raise his eyes to me. I hated that subservient attitude of his. It grated on my nerves. He should never be made to feel ashamed or that he was lesser than someone else.
I just didn't know how to change it. Worse yet, I wasn't sure I could. Something obviously profound had happened to Daniel. I didn't know whether William had caused it or something else.
I seriously doubted my father had caused this reaction. He might not have been my favorite person in the world, but that was my shit with my father. I knew he was an honorable man at heart. He'd never hurt Daniel.
I turned and took a swift step in front of Daniel when the study door opened. I was relieved to see Miles walking in, but I was surprised by the men that followed him.
"Jake, Alejandro, I wasn't expecting you guys."
"I told you Alejandro owns a security company now," Miles said. "Those were his helicopters we used to get here from the city."
I may have missed that part.
"Thank you for coming so quickly," I said as I shook the men's hands. "I don't think I could have handled this on my own."
Alejandro shrugged. "It's kind of what I do now."
Wasn't he a mob boss?
"And Brooklyn is just for kicks?"
Alejandro snickered. "Yeah, kind of."
"Patty is ten minutes out," Miles said. "Once he gets here, he can look Daniel over and make sure he's okay."
That would be good.
I turned to look at the smaller man, a frown creasing my forehead when I found him huddled in the corner of the couch.
Maybe he needed another blanket?
"Daniel, these are some of my frat brothers that came to help us tonight." I waved my hand to indicate each one of them, introducing them by name. Daniel nodded to each of them, glancing at each one of them for a mere second before lowering his eyes once again.
I squatted down in front of him once again, smiling when he peaked at me through the fall of his bangs. "Are you still cold?"
"Yes, sir."
I glanced over my shoulder to my friends. "Can one of you wrestle up another blanket for Daniel?"
I glanced back at Daniel when he tugged on my shirt sleeve. He leaned in close to me and whispered, "There are extra blankets in the closet on the second floor."
I gave those directions to Jake before giving my attention to Daniel once again. "You said that William had taken stuff out of the house. Do you remember what he took?"
Daniel nodded.
"Can you write me a list?"
He nodded again.
I got up and went to the desk by the bookshelves. I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen and brought them back to Daniel, handing them to him. He began writing almost immediately.
"Alejandro, Miles said your husband might be able to identify some of the people that were here tonight. Can he really do that?"
Alejandro chuckled. "I doubt there is much Delancy can't do when given a computer. I'm pretty sure he was born knowing binary code."
Yeah, I had no idea what that was, but if this Delancy could help us pin these people down, I'd be thrilled.
"My main concern is that these idiots might be into buying and selling people on a regular basis. The more ammunition I can give the police, the better chance that they will spend the rest of their lives behind bars."
"Lucky for you," Alejandro stated, "this is what Delancy and his friends do. If there's information out there on these people, he'll find it." He huffed a little. "He knows where all the deep dark holes are located."
That sounded...dicey.
I glanced down when I felt another tug on my sleeve. Daniel was holding the paper out to me. My anger started growing again when I glanced at the list he had written for me.
"It seems as if William has been planning this for awhile." It was the only explanation for all of the items listed. Each one of them was valuable, some of them irreplaceable. "Well, if we can't get him for human trafficking, we can get him for theft."
"I'll have some of my men track him down," Alejandro stated. "Once the police are here, I am sure they will put an APB out on him. My men can look in places they would never think of. I'll also call the other family heads and ask them to look for William. Unless he leaves New York City, we'll find him."
"I appreciate it, Alejandro. I don't want this asshole getting away."
William needed to pay for what he had done to Daniel. He needed to be put behind bars even if it was for Daniel's own peace of mind and before I got my hands on him. I didn't relish the idea of spending the next few decades in prison because I strangled the man with my bare hands.
The door opened again and a guard stepped in. "The doctor is here."
"Oh, good." I was eager to have Patty take a look at Daniel and make sure he was okay. Physically, he looked fine, but that didn't mean there wasn't something wrong that we couldn't see.
I turned and once again squatted down in front of Daniel. "The doctor is going to be here in a minute to check you over. I don't want you to be afraid of him. Patty is another one of my old frat brothers. He's a good guy. I promise."
Daniel gave a single nod.
I hated that.
"Once he's checked you over, I want you to pack a bag. I'm going to take you into the city."
Daniel should have been happy to get out of here for a little while, so why did he suddenly look so frightened?