Page 14 of Secret
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kasey walked into the team house. Actually, it was Bryon's home, but the team worked from there. They were like family in many ways, including the fights and the way they sometimes got on each other's nerves. What held them together was what they did, the reason they were there.
Bryon had worked with others long before Kasey joined the group but had split from them shortly before meeting Kasey. He didn't know a lot about Bryon's history other than he'd lost his sister somehow in the past, and that drove him to start hunting pedophiles. Bryon refused to talk about it, and none of them brought it up.
The rest of the team was slowly brought in over the years. Bryon handled most of the active hunting on the dark web. He was well trusted and had worked for years to appear to be a very active member of the dark web's pedophile circles. It was how they managed to gain most of their information. Trenton, Carter, and Matt also worked the computers, all possessing hacking skills that would leave the government in awe. Carter especially had skill, able to get into almost any system and spy on whoever they needed to research at the time.
Xander and Dyson rotated jobs with Kasey. They were called the muscle of the team because they were the ones who went out and did the physical job of taking down the men and women who hurt children. They were the ones who broke into the houses, stormed into warehouses, and the ones who expertly made each victim suffer with their own brand of vengeance. Right or wrong, it worked. They might not be able to change some pedophile's warped mind, but they could make sure they didn't find any sexual gratification again.
The team also had a doctor working with them. Beau was a pediatrician at the local children's hospital. He was trained in how to handle child sexual assault and had seen things that Kasey didn't want to even imagine. Beau also took care of the team. More than once something had gone wrong and they'd needed Beau. Be it an accidental cut from a knife or something more severe like when Xander had been shot a couple years back, Beau was there for them. They had a bedroom at the team house converted into a medical room, and Beau kept it fully stocked for almost any situation.
The only female member of the team was Becca. She was young, and Kasey had no idea how she'd come to join them, but she was a huge help. She worked for the local courts and was able to get them information on offenders, case outcomes, and other legal information they would need. She heard about new cases often before the team did, and could give them a heads up when a case was coming up that they needed to watch the outcome of.
The team had rules, and as long as the legal system did their job, the team let them for the most part, but it was when the system failed, and the pedophiles were released and reoffended, that STK would step in and take care of the problem.
The team met a couple times a week to talk about cases and to plan stings, and this afternoon was one of those meetings. As Kasey grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, Trenton walked out from where they had the computer lab down the hall. Xander liked to call it the geek cave since that's where all the computer geeks spent most of their time.
"Hey, you look beat. Long day?" Kasey eased back onto the couch as he twisted his water bottle open.
"Yeah, I've been staring at those screens too long today. Most days it doesn't get to me, but today…" He shrugged. "I probably just need to grab a beer and reset."
"I'm free tonight if you want to go grab one." Kasey hadn't spent a lot of time with Trenton, but they were good enough friends they could enjoy a night of beer and pool.
"Thanks, but my brother is in town. I'm going to hang with him." Trenton sat down in one of the oversized lounge chairs.
"I didn't know you had a brother." Kasey should have known that. A wave of guilt hit him for not knowing more about some of the team.
"Twin brother. He lives in Oregon. Married with two kids. We get together a couple of times a year. He's here for some business convention." Trenton glanced up as the door opened and Faith rushed in, followed by Xander and Matt.
"Can I go downstairs?" Faith glanced back at her dad.
"Don't make a mess, and none of the violent games." Matt narrowed his eyes at her.
"You know I don't like those." Faith waved to them as she darted downstairs to the game room the team had set up so they could relax from time to time.
"Greetings, married couple." Trenton laughed.
"You make that sound like a bad thing." Xander flopped down next to Kasey, pulling Matt beside him.
"You two make it look good, but it's not for me." Trenton shrugged. "Bachelorhood looks good on me."
"Don't you mean celibacy?" Bryon walked out of the back room.
"Fuck off, I get laid when I want to." Trenton flipped him off.
"I was talking about a real human, not your fist or some store-bought plastic thing." Bryon took a seat in one of the other chairs.
"Fuck you." Trenton laughed.
Kasey bit his lip. He hated when the guys got this way. They acted like sex was so important. He just didn't get it. Sure, it felt good, but it wasn't all they made it out to be. It was messy, it was awkward, and it didn't do anything for him. He found it easier to just stay out of these conversations when they started.
The door opened again, and Beau walked in, his arms full of medical supplies. "Who's bringing dinner?" He set the stuff at the base of the steps that led upstairs. "I'm starving."
"Becca's bringing Chinese," Bryon said.
"Thank God. I thought I'd have to go home and cook or pull out another frozen dinner." Beau sank down on the other couch.
"Long day?" Kasey asked.
