Page 81 of Heal
"Same to you. I made a cake if you want a piece." She sounded so proud of herself.
"That sounds amazing, but I just ate a huge meal at my parents, so maybe later when I've digested that. I can't wait to try it."
She nodded, but looked at Beau. "So did the team get them?"
Beau turned to face her. "How much did you hear?"
"Almost all of it. I walked up shortly after Parson got here. I'm sorry for hiding, but I wanted to hear what you were saying."
"That's okay. I don't mind you knowing as long as you don't talk about it to anyone, even Jeff. He's too young yet. We need to wait to tell him, okay?"
Lisa nodded.
"They got one of the men, but are still looking for the others. The ones you lived with were arrested by the police. The team couldn't get them, but they will be in prison for a long time. The others, we won't stop looking for them. I promise we will do everything we can to find them."
"I want to help," Lisa said confidently.
"You have, by going through those photos that Parson brought. That helped us find one of the men," Beau told her.
"There has to be more I can do. I saw their faces. I know who they are. Jeff is really worried about his friend, Eric. They made Jeff and Eric do things on camera together, but they became friends. He wants to know Eric is okay."
"Do we have Eric's picture?" Beau asked.
"No, he wasn't in the ones you gave us." Lisa glanced at Parson.
"I made copies of all the kids in the system for you, so maybe he isn't in foster care." Parson's heart broke at the thought of how many kids they might not even be aware of.
"We haven't given up looking," Beau promised her.
"Do you have pictures of the adults? Maybe I'd know them." Lisa looked hopeful at Beau.
"You know, I might be able to get some. I'll see what I can do. Are you sure you are okay doing this?" He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face.
"Yeah, I want to help the others. I want them to have a chance to be happy again like I am now."
Beau smiled. "I'm glad you're happy. I want the others to have a chance too. That's why we won't stop until we find them."
Parson leaned forward. "I hadn't thought about it before, but with this whole thing linked to CPS, there has to be someone involved from CPS, someone still working there, not Albert, but someone still falsifying files, putting kids into homes with the pedophiles. There is a link on the CPS website with employee pictures. You could look through those and see if any of them are people you recognize."
Lisa nodded.
"But not tonight. It's after ten, and you need to be in bed. You can look tomorrow." He bent close and kissed her on the forehead. "And, if you need to talk to someone about what you heard, I'm here, but you can also talk to Faith. She knows about the team. There are things she might not be able to tell you, but she knows what the team does," Beau told Lisa.
Parson's eyes went wide at that news. He had no clue Faith knew everything. That was a lot for a child to know, but then again, they had seen and experienced much worse. He kept his mouth closed for the moment, not wanting to ask questions with Lisa around.
"She knows?" Lisa reached in her pocket for her cell phone.
Beau put his hand over the phone. "Not tonight. Go to bed and maybe I'll let Faith come over tomorrow and you can talk in person."
She made a face, but shoved her phone back in her pocket. "Goodnight." She stood, smiling at both of them.
"Night." Parson grinned, figuring she would just go in her room and text Faith from there.
"Night. Don't stay up all night." Beau narrowed his eyes at her.
"I won't," she called over her shoulder as she left the room.
Beau hurried and reached for his own phone. "Give me a sec. I have to text Faith and warn her that Lisa knows and let her know what she can and can't talk about." He quickly started typing on his keypad.
