Page 13 of Heal
"I shouldn't be telling you this yet. Officially, the police have yet to finish their reports and everything is in limbo until that is done, but one of the kids might have mentioned to me that they were aware of other foster children being used for some kind of sex parties. I don't have a lot of details, but maybe having you check up on other foster children is the best thing right now. Someone with fresh eyes. Someone willing to really look at the kids and see past the fake façade some of these foster parents must be putting on."
Parson's breath caught. "More? Jesus, don't tell me that."
Beau nodded. "I know. I felt the same way. When I was told, it was while we were dealing with another medical issue and I didn't press for many details, but I will."
"You have to let me talk to them. I might be able to get details to help me know who these other kids are." Parson stood and started to pace the room. "I know there are rules, but this is serious. We can't wait on this. Those other kids could be being abused as we speak."
"I know, but I don't want to push too hard. Only one of the kids is opening up about things, and I don't want to risk that child closing off again because I press too hard. As I said, they don't trust adults right now. It's going to take time. Trust me, I want these assholes who are hurting them caught just as much as you do, but my hands are tied for the minute. I'm taking a chance even telling you this much, but I'm out of options. I can't do anything. Like I said, for some reason, I think I can trust you. I don't think you're part of whatever is going on. Having you be able to look at other cases, follow leads I don't have, that could be exactly what we need right now."
"Fuck!" Parson shook his head. "How long has this been going on?"
"Child abuse? Probably since the beginning of time. This case, a few years at least from the injuries I've seen and what the kids say." Beau stared up at Parson. "I know this is hard, especially with the new information. I don't know where all this will lead, maybe nowhere, but I can't just ignore what I've been told. If there are other kids out there, we need to find them."
"I can't just sit here and do nothing." Parson sank back down on the chair, feeling defeated and helpless.
"I'm not asking you to do nothing. Right now, go check on the other children. Look harder than you're trained to. Look for signs of abuse, both physical and mental. Follow up on doctor's records. These four kids that just came in had to have had records of seeing a doctor, but I highly doubt they ever did. Find out the name of the doctor who supposedly did their yearly physical and see if any other children have seen the same doctor. It might lead us to something. You said the school didn't exist, are other kids enrolled in this fake school too?"
Parson smacked his head. "I didn't even think about cross-referencing the school or the doctor. You think a doctor is part of this?"
"I don't know. All foster children have to have a yearly physical. Someone signed that they did. I don't know if they are forging the signature or if there is a doctor who is willing to overlook the abuse and sign off on it anyway. Either way, it should be something we look into."
Parson nodded. "I can do that."
"Be careful who you talk to or what you say to anyone right now. As I said, I shouldn't even be trusting you with this information. You don't know who you can trust. For now, just gather information. I know it's hard to not jump in with guns blazing, but we don't want to risk whoever has these kids or is helping whoever has them going underground. Once we figure out who these other kids are and who is ignoring the abuse they are going through, then we can go after them. Right now, it's he said, she said." Beau's phone rang.
Parson watched as Beau pulled his phone out and glanced at the screen before silencing the call and looking back at him. He wanted to ask Beau questions about the kids, but he was sure that he wouldn't answer them. Still, he was desperate to make sure they were okay, especially the young boy who seemed to have had the most serious injuries. "I know you can't say much, but how are the kids? Physically, will they recover?"
Beau nodded. "They should heal physically in time. There will be scars for some of them, but nothing that will seriously affect their lives."
"You see a lot of this, don't you?" Parson stared at Beau, taking in the dark circles under his eyes, the tension that seemed to sit in his shoulders. He looked tired, and more than just a bad night's sleep would cause.
"More than any person should. Once is bad enough." Beau sighed. "I make a difference. I have to remember that. You might not be able to help all the kids, but you help some. It matters. So, on days like today when you feel like you aren't doing anything to help, remember that you are helping. It might not always be the way you like, but every little thing you do helps. Today it might be just checking in on other kids, tomorrow it might be rescuing one from an abusive home. Every part of this matters."
Parson nodded. "When I got into this, I knew there were cases of abuse. I figured most of it was verbal, maybe a few beatings. I'm not naive enough to think sex abuse didn't happen, but I didn't expect it to be so prevalent. It changes how I feel about the job."
"It's not for everyone."
"It's not that. I just… I guess I just want to bang on doors and demand to see every kid is safe, and I can't do that. I hate that I have to follow procedures, wait for information. I hate that when I walked out of the office today, I looked at all my co-workers and wondered if they knew about the abuse. I wonder how deep this goes and how anyone could know about this and not do something about it."
"If it helps, most people are good. They speak up when they see abuse. People who do this hide it well. Until something major happens, no one is any wiser to what is going on in their neighbors' homes. All we can do is our best."
"Thanks." Parson sighed. "I'm sorry I'm so pushy. I just want to help."
"It's nice to see someone from your office care. I gave up on the state a long time ago. I wish I could be more open with you about things, but for right now, take what information I have given you and start digging. I've said more than I should, but like you, I want to help the kids out there we don't know about." Beau reached in his pocket and pulled out a card. "If you find anything, call me. The people in your office might not follow up quickly. We aren't sure who we can even trust at this point, but I know people who will help if we need them. Let's find these kids and get them help."
"Thanks. I will let you know if I find anything. And, if you don't mind, when I'm able to visit with the kids, could you give me a call?" He pulled his own card from his pocket and handed it to Beau. "I know it might be a while, but I guess I just want to see for myself they are okay. I want to get to know them a little so I make the right choice in placing them when they are ready."
Beau looked as if he was going to say something, but shook his head as if he decided not to.
"What?" Parson asked.
"Nothing, it's just that you won't get a choice where they go. I know how this works. You will be given the name of a family. They've already been interviewed to even qualify for foster children. Then your boss will tell you to check in weekly for a while, then monthly. It's the same process every time."
Parson knew this, but he'd hoped this time he could change things. After what the kids had been through, he wanted to make sure they had a family who understood their issues and what they'd gone through. He wanted to give them a home where they could be happy for a change, not just live. "Doesn't mean I won't try to change the system."
Beau grinned. "I hope you do." He nodded to the card Parson still held. "Call me if you learn anything. I've got to go get a couple Happy Meals for our kids."
Parson laughed. "Go for the Mighty Kids Meals, they get more fries."
