"What's this safe house Gideon?"
Shit, I was hoping she'd been too preoccupied to hear that little bypass, no such luck. "Nothing for you to worry about baby." She pouted my way but kept still. I've noticed that she never contradicted me in front of others, no she saved that shit for when we were alone so I was sure I hadn't heard the end of it.
I needed to go over all the stuff Jason had brought with him but I didn't want to do it with her in the room. I had shuffled everything back into the envelope before she came into the room, I didn't want her hurting anymore than she already was over this shit. With things moving though we needed to get on the ball, I didn't want her anywhere near it but I didn't want to send her away either, shit.
"Babe we're going to go into the inner office you and Jason stay out here and catch up okay." I kissed her once more before heading in the direction of the office not giving her a chance to answer. The office was just right through the door so I could still see and hear them.
My guys were right behind me. Gone were the easy smiles and laid back manner, in their place was disgust and anger.
"It must be said, these fuckers need to die." Maurice sneered at the evidence I pulled out once again.
The pictures laid out on the table were of the senator and the doctor. Some were in Ashley's bedroom when she was very young some were of the two men with other young children in pretty much the same positions. What was most incriminating though was the detailed diary of one Keith Starks. This coupled with the recordings my security team had made of Starks and Sanders after I'd taken Ashley was more than enough evidence to put the men away. I took the photos of my wife and locked them away. I don't know what if anything I'd do with them in the future but I knew I didn't want her involved in whatever was going to befall these fuckers, it might be a pipe dream but it's what I wanted.
Some of the pictures weren't too incriminating taken on their own, but couple them with the fact that all of the featured kids were now missing and that was a strong indication of wrongdoing. Not to mention the ones where the surgeon general had his hands in some very inappropriate places on these young girls' bodies while the senator was in attendance. Pretty hard to explain that shit away. I wonder how the fuck Starks had got his hands on this shit but at this point it really didn't matter.
My gut burned with anger as I thought of the story those pictures told. She was so fucking young and innocent. In some of the earlier ones she'd looked terrified. Shake it off Gideon get the job done, the sooner you do that the sooner you can get to work on healing her.
"So we've decided on the press first?" The question drew me back from my musings.
"Yes Maurice, I have my contact ready all we need to do is forward the info. This is even better than what we had before; we'll call it trial by the public. When the public gets hold of this there wouldn't be a court anywhere that wouldn't throw the book at these monsters.
"They're gonna want to interview the victims and all that shit, you know these fucks are fucked up in their own way too." Gage had a point but I'd already put some stipulations in place. My contact at the station knew I was sitting on something hot that involved a high flying official but she didn't know who or what. She took my word on it because she knew I wasn't one to fuck around. I had to make sure that these kids who'd already been victimized weren't going to be treated like commodities for some news channel so I'd done all that I could to safeguard them.
"I already told Carla that if she handles this the way I want she'd get first dibs whenever the kids are ready to talk. Her bosses are gonna have to cough up some dough too, I'm gonna see that these kids get paid. I've already got Whistler on the ball to sue the senator and the doctor. Their families are gonna be pissed because I mean to see that these kids are compensated heavily for all that they've been through. Not that money can make up for this shit, but it will go a long way to getting them settled in society when they get older. Some of them are adults already and will be coming back to nothing, having to start over from scratch. And you can bet these fucks haven't been keeping up with educating their little play toys, fucking monsters. Plus with doctor bills and who knows what, we're talking millions."
"Take all their shit so they can't even afford a damn lawyer at the end of the day."
"I'll do my best Stefan."
"I'm going on record as saying you can't do it boss, we end up having to take those fuckers before the feds get them you'll burn ‘em." Gage didn't even break a smile as he made that very accurate assessment. It was true; I kept waffling back and forth on my decisions where their punishments were concerned. In the end it comes down to what's best for my girl, it's always gonna come down to that shit for me.
"I won't take that bet either boss, I mean it's gonna be hard enough for us if we come face to face with these fucks not to pull the trigger. If you want this to go down the American way you better let us handle it from here on out because there's no fucking way I see you letting them walk otherwise." I looked at Maurice after Stefan's little speech to see if he had anything to add to the other two's statements. He simply shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "It is what it is boss."
"Good to know you guys have such faith in my ability to keep a cool head." I was saying that shit but I knew they were right on the money. There was no guarantee that I'd let these fuckers live if we ever came face to face. They'd fucking put hands on what's mine a man doesn't take that shit lightly. "Lets put this shit away until we take care of the other thing first. Looks like we might have this thing cleaned up in a few days or less, good work guys thanks." They all brushed off my thanks but I'm sure they knew what this shit meant to me.
Within thirty minutes we got word that the first rescue mission had gone off without a hitch and the rescued were on a private jet with hand picked staff on their way here. The safe house was one of my properties in the country. I had a doctor on hand to look over them and there was a trained staff on hand whom I'd had to let in on what was going on. These were people I'd dealt with for years so I didn't worry about shit going wrong, besides with dad overseeing everything I was guaranteed that things would go smoothly. I'd done all I could now it was time to end this shit.
"I think we'll bring the senator and the doctor in after we've seen the rescued children. We might as well have a little reunion before I throw them to the jackals." Yes I wanted to look them in the face and let them know who it was that had fucked them and why. That was for her, I needed them to know that though the asshole had been willing to throw her away like garbage there was now someone in her life who valued her above all else.
"Please tell me we're gonna get to fuck them up before we hand them over."
I didn't answer just smirked at Gage and the others.
Chapter 31
I got Jason settled in a room upstairs while Blossom fussed around him making sure his every need was met.
"That's enough Blossom I don't think he needs four blankets and don't try lifting that chair again."
"Yeah about that, I meant to ask earlier Ash but got sidetracked; what the heck happened to you anyway?"
"It was an accident." She brushed it off with a slight wave of the hand, I'm sure she didn't want to get into it with him not on his first day back; smart and considerate.
"There's something else I didn't tell you." From the wide grin on her face I knew what was coming next.
"What's that?" He was testing the mattress and looking around the room; probably checking for an escape route.
She reached back and took my hand before answering him.
"We're having a baby." She looked at him expectantly almost as if expecting to be rebuffed. I saw the flash of surprise that was quickly covered before he smiled at us.
"Congratulations Ashley. Man time sure does fly huh you're married and about to become a mom, that's cool." I felt a little sorry for the kid; there was no doubt that he had a slight crush on my wife. I'm not sure if it was a good thing or not that she hadn't a clue.
"Come on baby, let's let Jason get settled in, you have everything you need kid?"
"Sure I'm cool, can I grab a shower?"
"You have your own private bath right through there kid you don't need to ask; you already know where the kitchen is if you get hungry."