Page 4 of Pain
"Matt, what the hell are you getting yourself into?" She came up beside him, swatted his hand away and reopened the page he'd been on. "Holy shit. What is this?" Her voice was filled with disgust.
"It's a sex trafficking site. It's the dark web, where perverts sell young children and women to men who want to…" He shook his head. There was no need for details.
"Oh my God." Trish sobbed. "You don't think that Faith is…?" She stepped back, shaking her head.
"I don't know, but I have to make sure. I can't take the chance she's being held for shit like this." His chest tightened as he saw the tears in his sister's eyes. "I don't know where she is, but I have to look. I have to make sure. We've searched every possible place around here, and we'll continue to search, but if she was kidnapped, what are the chances they kept her close? They wouldn't. It's been weeks. She could be anywhere by now." Matt hated the reality of it all.
"She can't…" Trish gestured to the computer. "No, she just can't. I won't even think about it." She turned and walked back into the kitchen.
When he heard Trish crying, he sighed. How was he supposed to help her when he was falling apart himself? Going into the kitchen, he found her bent over the counter, crying. He stood beside her, his hand on her back. "I know it's horrid, and I didn't want you to have to think about it, but it's a reality I have to face. I'm not stopping until I have my daughter back. Without her, I have nothing."
Trish shook her head. "You have me."
It wasn't the same and she knew it. "I need Faith."
Trish reached for a paper towel off the dispenser and blew her nose, then grabbed another to wipe her eyes. "I don't even want to know what I was looking at on that computer."
"I wish I didn't know either."
She turned, tossing the paper towels in the trash before washing her hands. "You're going to drive yourself mad." She pulled two plates out of the cupboard and started to put chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn on them.
"I know, but what choice do I have? The cops aren't looking. The longer she is missing, the less they look. I can't give up. I won't."
Trish shoved a plate at him. "No one says you have to give up, but that stuff…" She shook her head. "You can't look at that and not have it have some effect on you."
"If it brings Faith home, it will be worth it." He stared at the plate in his hands, his stomach turning at the thought of food.
"Eat, Matt. You're not going to do Faith any good if you get sick." She went to the table and sat down. "Have you called Mom?"
He closed his eyes. He couldn't talk to his mother. It was hard enough without having her remind him how he should have kept a better eye on Faith. He knew the fight they'd had right after Faith went missing was nothing more than emotions being out of control, but some of the things she'd said cut deep. He needed time before he could deal with her again. "You know I haven't."
"She's worried about you."
"Tell her not to. Save the worry for Faith. She's the one who we need to worry about."
"You're her son."
"And Faith is her grandchild. I'm here, safe. Faith isn't."
Trish picked at her chicken. "Tell me about that stuff online."
He shook his head. "You don't want—"
"I need to know. You shouldn't have to carry this alone. What is it about?" She stared across the table at him.
Trish had always been a strong woman, but talking about stuff like this didn't feel right. Still, he was sure if he didn't tell her, she would find a way to learn about it on her own, and he didn't want that. Women weren't welcome on the sites he was on, at least not women like Trish. "It's a place people go to buy and sell other people. I mean there is a ton of shit on there. It's a drug market, a gun exchange, you name it, but the pages I look at are where they have women and children for sale. Think of it as a slave market. It's disgusting and horrifying what is on there."
"There are girls Faith's age?"
Matt lowered his gaze to the food on his plate. "Yes, and younger. Much younger." He bit his lip, remembering the first time he'd seen a three-year-old for sale.
"Jesus."
"I've slowly worked my way into the community acting like I'm looking to buy a young girl. It's taken time, and I'm still not fully trusted," Matt told her.
"How do you become trusted in a place like that?" Trish stared across the table at him.
"It's not easy." He wasn't about to tell her the things he had to say and do to earn the little trust he had. He'd shared photos that would probably get him a good prison sentence if he was caught, and talked about doing things that made him physically sick when asked why he was looking for a child. Even after all that, he still wasn't in deep enough. He had to get farther into the system, get them to invite him into the smaller inner circles, where the real information was shared.
