Page 79 of Secret
Faith glanced up at Matt. "Is this why you won't let me get online or have a Facebook account?"
Matt nodded. "It's exactly why."
Kasey gripped Faith's shoulder supportively.
"I'm thinking about hiring another team. This one would be at a different location and spend all their time dealing with the social media aspect of it. I'm sure many of you have seen the teams mostly coming from the UK who set up decoy accounts and act as if they are young children, then go out and have the men arrested after they agree to meet." Bryon glanced around the group.
Several nodded.
Bryon looked relieved he didn't have to explain too much. "It would be much of the same concept. A lot of these men don't fall into the requirements for us to go after them. Many are first-time offenders. Not that I don't think once is too much, but when we formed this group, we laid down rules that we would only go after the repeat offenders or the worst of the worst first-timers, and I won't deviate from those rules. So, what I'm thinking is this team will be just simply people willing to spend a few hours a day acting as if they are eight to ten-year-old boys and girls. They will build a case, including chat logs, information on the perpetrators, and even go as far as setting up meets. Our team will work with them as far as hacking personal information on the men and women, finding out if this is their first time, if they are on a sexual offender's registry already, you get the idea. Once we've made a case file, then the leader of our new team will work with the police—"
"No way." Dyson shook his head. "That puts things too close to us."
"Hear me out." Bryon narrowed his eyes at Dyson. "We can't make arrests. We need the police to do that. So, what I'm hoping is to see if we can bring Noam in to be our go-between."
Kasey nearly choked on his food. After a bit of coughing, he managed to swallow. "Noam quit his job." He wiped his eyes.
"I'm aware of that, but he still has connections. They trust him and will trust any information he gives them. My goal is to get these men and women arrested and on the sex offender's registry for child grooming with intent to meet. It won't stop all of them, but hopefully, it will scare many of them enough not to act on the urges again. We all know there is no cure for pedophilia, but having the cops cuff and arrest you can be a good deterrent for many." Bryon glanced at Kasey. "The first question is, do you want Noam working with us? I don't want it to be an issue for your relationship."
"No, it wouldn't be an issue. I'd welcome him if it's something he'd want to do. Are you guys all okay with him knowing who you are?"
"Do you trust him?" Dyson asked.
Kasey nodded. "Not only with my life, but yours too. He won't do anything to risk the team." He was confident that Noam would never do anything to hurt anyone on the team. He would keep their secrets.
"Noam would be the only person on the team to have contact with us. He would run a small group of men and women from another location. They would have nothing to do with what our team does. It would be two separate entities. He would report to me, but he would also handle the stings, getting the information to the police, setting up a meeting for the perp to meet the child and have the police with him when the meet took place. That way everything is legal. I'm sure there will be a few technicalities to work out, and it might be a trial to get the police to work with us, which is why I'm hoping if we have Noam help, he might have some pull in getting them interested." Bryon looked around the group. "As always, it's a team vote. We don't do anything without everyone having a say. Of course, it will be up to Noam, but I figured there was no point in talking to him unless you all vote yes. So, what say you?"
"Will this be something Noam is interested in?" Trenton asked Kasey.
"I honestly don't know. He has mentioned he could never do what I do, but this is different. This isn't as intense. I know the cases he's worked have gotten to him, and he wants change, but I can't answer if this is what he will want to do."
"Do you want to work that closely with him?" Xander asked.
"I don't mind. It will be like Matt and you. You work together, but not. You're in different departments in a way. You're both involved, but not covering each other's backs. I don't think I could do what we do with him there." He gestured to Dyson and Xander, careful not to say too much with Faith in the room.
"Where will you hire decoys from?" Matt asked.
"That, I haven't worked out yet. I was hoping for some ideas." Bryon sighed. "Whoever we hire won't be aware of our team. They will work together in a call center type setting. We'll figure it out as we go along. It's not something I can just put an ad in the paper about. This will be very trying work. It gets to you mentally. It takes the right kind of person."
"I say bring Noam on." Becca lifted her fork into the air as she spoke. "He's experienced, he's got the mental capacity to deal with this stuff. He's seen what we do. If Kasey trusts him, so do I."
Kasey smiled at Becca. "Thanks. I vote to bring him in also."
"That's two. Who else."
Faith raised her hand. "I know I don't get to vote, but I like Noam. I think he should join."
Xander laughed. "Well, if Faith thinks so, I have to agree."
"Me too." Matt smiled at his daughter.
"I'm with them. I've dealt with Noam at the hospital. He's calm, he doesn't let what he sees get to him. I think he's perfect for this," Beau told them.
"Carter, Trenton, Dys?" Bryon looked at the three of them.
"I'm okay with him." Dyson didn't look up from his food as he answered.
"I say bring him on." Carter shrugged. "He already knows what we do. Sure, it's a risk letting anyone know who we are, but if he was going to turn against us, I think he would have done it by now. He would have arrested Kase."
