Page 37 of Heal
"Okay." Parson wasn't sure if he should be worried or not. He couldn't imagine what Beau would have to tell him about the kids, unless it was more bad news concerning what happened to them. It was impossible not to try and guess what it was, but nothing he thought of should have made Beau nervous.
"Stop worrying about it." Beau smiled. "We're five minutes from the restaurant and once we order, we can talk. Tell me about your day. What did you do?"
"Um, well, it was like any other day. I worked a few cases, trying to find homes for several kids. I set up three inspections. Don't worry, it wasn't on any of the kids that Lisa showed us. It's on new applicants. Then I dug around a bit more, looking for any more information I could about the kids Lisa showed us. There is nothing linking any of them. Not a caseworker, school, doctor, nothing. It's all different. There was one thing I did notice though. On all the kids Lisa said were at the sex parties, including the home Lisa had been in, the inspections all came back perfect."
"Why did that draw your attention?" Beau asked.
"Because it's rare that any home inspection comes back perfect. There are always a few things wrong. It can be as simple as not having a first-aid kit in the home to the batteries on a smoke alarm dead, even a kitchen knife left on a table where a young child could reach it. All little things that wouldn't make it so a foster family failed the inspection, but it would be noted in the report. Every inspection done on these homes was perfect. Not a single thing out of place," Parson told him.
"Can you find out who did the inspection?"
"Yeah, I looked, and they are all different. I even went and made sure the names were real people working for CPS. Unless all of them are in on this, I don't think that's our link, but it's something we need to watch and be aware of. I don't have a way to pull up just the homes who had perfect inspections, but I did skim through some randomly and pulled a few names out that were also perfect. If nothing else, it could lead us to the homes the abused kids are living in."
"It's worth looking into. I have a friend who works sex crimes with the police department. If you want to get me photos and names, I can have him run the images through a database they have of children and we can see if any of their photos have hit the dark web." Beau pulled into a parking lot.
"Oh, that's an idea, but do you think these kids are being used for pornography?" Parson hadn't even thought about that.
"I do. Jeff and Lisa mentioned to me that they would film things at these parties. Make the kids perform together sometimes for the cameras."
Parson swallowed hard, suddenly feeling sick. "Fuck."
"I know. I'm sorry you even have to know about that."
"No, I need to know all this. It's not easy to hear, but the more I know, the more I can watch for. Jesus, how does someone sit and go through all those videos and photographs all day to make sure they have these kids' faces in a database? That has to fuck with your head."
"Yeah, I couldn't do it. It's hard enough dealing with what I see." Beau blew out a breath. "Gotta respect guys who can handle that."
Parson agreed. He sure wasn't strong enough.
"Come on, let's go in. Have you been here before?"
Parson glanced up at the place. "No, I've driven by a million times, but it's not really the type of place you come alone."
"Sure it is. I do all the time." Beau reached for Parson's hand as they headed inside. "But hopefully, I'll have someone to come with me from now on."
"I like that idea." Parson gave Beau's hand a squeeze.
It had been a long time since he'd walked around in public holding hands with someone, and Beau, being who he was, would draw attention. He wasn't as well-known as some Hollywood actor, but his face was in the news often, and his family was known throughout the country, not just locally. It would be only a matter of time until the media figured out they were dating.
Once they were seated and had ordered, Parson met Beau's stare. "Okay, let's get this over with. What do you have to tell me?"
Beau took a drink of his water before saying anything. "Well, I was trying to figure out a way to keep Jeff and Lisa together. I decided I'll take them. I'll be their foster family."
Parson narrowed his eyes. "You know that approval can take months, right?"
"I might already be approved," Beau said softly.
"What? No. I would have noticed your name on the foster family list. There's no way I'd miss that. Besides, you would have brought it up before this." Parson knew he wouldn't have missed Beau's name when he was going through foster families, looking for a place that might take them both.
Beau nodded. "This is why I was nervous about this."
Parson lifted his chin, daring Beau to go on.
"Let's just say, money can get you anything." Beau bit his lip nervously.
"You didn't." Parson's eyes went wide.
Beau leaned back and nodded. "I did. I know how it sounds, but think about it. I care about these kids. I can give them a great home. I'm not just messing around. I'm going to start the adoption process as soon as I'm able to. I know I have to jump through hoops with CPS first, but there isn't time. I needed to make sure that when I release them from the hospital, they are safe and not split up."
