The Squad

Jason

“How’re you doing, kid?” I turned my head towards the doorway where Gideon was standing. “I’m fine.” I could tell from the look on his face that he was still pissed at what had gone down with Mancini earlier. More than anyone else, he knows how much that particular topic freaks me out, but funnily enough this time, it wasn’t as bad.

The way Mancini explained it made more sense to me than anything else I’ve been thinking over the years. It never occurred to me that my sperm injector had experimented to become what he had; I just always assumed that the shit was hereditary. Since there’s no way I’m ever doing that shit, there’s no fear of me becoming a damn four-legged beast sniffing my ass in the woods.

The other thing he mentioned I’ll have to give some thought to, but as long as it’s my choice and something that can help and not hinder my purpose in life, then I’m good with whatever. Gideon might be a whole other story. “You know you don’t have to do anything.” I tried not to smile at the fact that he always does this.

Somehow in his and Ash’s eyes, I never grew past the age of sixteen. No matter what dangers I face, what hardships I overcome those two just always sees the kid who came to them broken and destitute. “I know, I wasn’t even thinking about that.” It’s true, my mind has been going over the stuff Track, and I put together earlier, looking for anything we might’ve missed.

“As long as you’re sure. By the way, the others are getting together on the beach in a little while, meet me upstairs.” He turned and left after giving me that order. Note, it wasn’t a request. It’s just another way he overrides my anti-social proclivities. He knows that if it was left up to me that I wouldn’t step foot on that beach with all those people there.

I still have a hard time accepting that I deserve the life he’s given me, as grateful as I am. When you’ve eaten out of dumpsters for a couple of years, it’s hard to assimilate that with the fact that you’re now wearing a Rolex watch that the man who adopted you as his brother bought you for your eighteenth birthday.

Or the fact that the greasy grimy kid who hid from child predators on the street because he’d learned the signs to look out for way too early in his young life was trusted with little babies who were born into a life of excess luxury. My life has been just too confusing from the time I was taken in by them, and it only seems to get better. Best of all, apart from having my sister back in my life and the new family she and Gideon have given me, is this new venture Mancini has drawn me into.

It’s like giving a starving man a buffet of all his favorite foods. Saving kids from these trafficking assholes is my lifeblood. With what Mancini had shared so far, it looks like he has an even wider network than Gideon does, and that’s saying a lot. It doesn’t hurt that the men upstairs all seem to be on the same page, no distractions from the issue at hand.

Not many people seem to know or care that this shit is going on and has been since for fucking ever. It’s a dark, ugly underbelly that society would much rather ignore or pretend it doesn’t exist until it’s standing right outside their own door. I’ve seen and heard it all in the past twelve years or so, that’s why I’m convinced down to my soul that the person we’re tracking is a victim of this shit or related to one.

I turned to face the wall as my mind got back on track after Gideon’s interruption. It was hard at this point to choose a gender for the killer, though I’m inclined to think female. Only for the fact that most of the victims have been male and the kill shots have been up close and personal. Not many men would let another man get that close without a fight, which, except for the first kill there was no sign of any resistance.

The problem with that is that if these people were involved with child-sex trafficking, they most likely went both ways since kids aren’t human to them so they wouldn’t bother with gender when it came to their sick depravity. Mancini hasn’t said as much, but I’m hoping he’s asking me to bring this person in unharmed.

After learning what I have about Lyon from Gideon and his team, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t be on the side of anyone who thinks differently. The guy’s started his own war on pedos, and it’s not even his job, fucker builds custom bikes that cost a mint and is worth bucket loads of money. Until Gideon, I never knew another wealthy person who gave a damn about the poor kids who were usually the ones at the end of this ugly shit.