Page 88 of Secret
"I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but I'm willing to give it a go." Noam glanced at Kasey. "I trust you guys to guide me."
"Of course." Kasey smiled.
"First thing you need to hear is how many child groomers we are encountering." Trenton sat forward. "Carter and I have made decoy accounts on several social media chat apps and on Facebook. We are posing as nine-year-old girls and ten-year-old boys. In the first thirty minutes of being active, our girls are averaging forty-seven messages, our boys thirty-two. Out of those, over half continue to speak with us once we inform them that we are only nine or ten years old. Out of those, over half are requesting photos, and sending us pornographic images of themselves. We are seeing one woman to every ten men contacting us."
"Shit, that's a ton." Noam tensed.
"It is. We haven't arranged any meets yet, but we are guessing out of the men and women who send images about half of those have asked to meet, and probably would meet if we managed to set up a place for them to come see us. Most are suggesting a park or even a couple of times, they said they could come see them after school."
Kasey's temper flared. "Are you sure our team can't handle them?"
"I know, I feel the same way, but hopefully once Noam and his team arrange a meet, then we can make an arrest and they will think twice before reoffending. If they don't scare, then your team can have them, Kase." Bryon sighed. "We really want to get this going, but we need to find a location, have Carter and Matt set up your computers, then hire a team."
"I was thinking about that." Noam rested his palms on Kasey's shoulders. "How involved do you want the police?"
"Why?" Bryon asked.
"A lot of our patrol officers are looking for part-time jobs. They often work sporting events, security at stores or other locations. Some will take any shift they can get. I'm sure I can get a handful of officers who would be willing to decoy for us, but that brings them right into the action. It's not just the sting and arrest they will be part of but obtaining the chat log and playing the role of a young child online." Noam looked around the room. "I might also be able to get trainees from the academy who are interested in doing this."
"That is a perfect idea. That way, once arrested, it is more likely to stand up in court. Showing we have trained, or soon to be trained police officers doing the decoying will have pull with a judge or jury. The conviction rates should improve, though, I don't see any problem getting convictions once you see the chat logs and photographs that are sent to our children." Bryon reached for his drink on the coffee table.
"Where are you getting images of young children for your decoys?" Kasey asked.
"That's been a bit harder. I've reached out to our online community, the one support group that Matt was in when Faith went missing. They have been very generous to help us find images. All the images are of people who are now over eighteen and have given us permission to use their historical photos. Thanks to Trenton's fantastic graphic art skills, we have been able to change them up enough that one photograph can give us up to ten different decoys. It is going to be harder once we start making arrests and need to change up the photos more often, but I'm trying to work something out so we will have new photos to use as we need them," Bryon explained. "The only real thing we have left to figure out is location."
"I like your house idea. It's casual here." Noam looked around. "What are the other rooms?"
"Kase, give him a quick tour, then we can talk more." Bryon sat back.
"Come on." Kasey stood, waiting for Noam to join him. "We'll go upstairs first." He led him up the single flight of stairs. "Bedroom at the end of the hall is Bryon's. I don't go in there, I don't even open the door. It's the one place in the house that is off limits to everyone but Becca and him."
"Oh, that makes sense. Becca's the source from the courts, makes Bryon get up early." Noam grinned.
"They deny it most of the time, but we all know what is going on. She's here more than she's home. I was actually shocked she left tonight." Kasey pushed open the first door. "This is our medical room."
Noam whistled. "This is a surgical suite."
"Pretty much. There isn't much Beau isn't prepared to handle. Of course, anything major we'd go to the hospital for, but he's planned for everything he's able to deal with on his own." Kasey had been on his back in that bed more times than he cared to think about. Luckily, it wasn't ever for anything too serious.
"I don't think we'll need more than a first aid kit for my team." Noam raised a brow.
"I hope not. I don't want to start having to worry about you getting shot, though it's always a possibility when you go to meet the pedophiles." Kasey didn't like that image in his mind at all.
"But we are working with the police, so if by chance it does happen, we can go to the hospital without drawing any attention where it shouldn't be." Noam kissed him. "Hopefully, the worst thing I risk is a paper cut."
"I hope so. That I can kiss better." Kasey nipped at Noam's bottom lip.
"Babe, you can kiss any part of me better any time." Noam pressed him to the wall, his hands on either side of Kasey's head as he deepened the kiss.
When they broke apart, Kasey licked his lips. "I'm so glad I don't have to hide any of this from you anymore." He held onto Noam's waist, keeping him close.
"Me too. It's a relief to know there are no more secrets between us." Noam smiled. "There aren't, are there?"
Kasey laughed. "No, none. You know everything, or if you don't, I just haven't got around to telling you about it yet."
"Good." Noam stepped back. "They're waiting for us downstairs."
"I want to say make them wait, but I'd rather get this done and get home where we can really be alone." Kasey kissed him one more time before pushing away from the wall.
