Page 65 of Caged
"It's a great school, but I don't like you being all the way across the country if you need something."
"I'll be fine. Carter and Archer are in the area all the time. I can call them if I need anything." Faith narrowed her eyes at her dad. "I'll be just fine."
"I know you will, but I might not be." Matt sighed.
"Anyway, we decided to make a stop on our way home and visit. I hope it's not a bad time." Xander took a seat in front of one of the many computers.
"Not at all." Jeremy pulled Faith from Matt to give her a hug, then hugged Matt. "In fact, we're having a birthday party for Marshall's boyfriend tonight at our place. You guys are more than welcome." Jeremy glanced at Marshall as if hoping it was okay.
Marshall nodded. "Of course, we'd love to have you there."
"Boyfriend? This is new. You were a workaholic the last time we were here. No time for fun," Matt teased.
"He sorta just fell into my life." Marshall shrugged. "And ended up adding to the workload honestly."
"Oh?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, wait until you hear this." Jeremy gestured to the chairs around the room. "Might as well take a seat."
Marshall sat back down in his chair. "It's kind of unbelievable." He told them about buying the house, then about Danny running out of the house next door. The rest of the story fell into place as he talked about Danny's years being held and the other boys. "Anyway, I'm trying to hunt down his kidnapper, but I keep hitting brick walls." He explained about all the evidence they had found and the leads they were working.
Xander whistled. "Wow, what's the chances you'd move next door to a pedophile, and not just a pedophile, but one who's held his victim for twelve years. It has to be fate."
"Maybe. I like to think he would have escaped either way, but I'm glad I was there to be the one to help him. And now, I can hopefully be the one to bring that asshole to justice." Marshall turned to Matt. "You got any ideas what I'm missing? What I've failed to try and research?"
"What was the name of that film company again?" Matt asked.
"Lamp Light."
"Give me a sec. That rings a bell, but I can't be sure." Matt pulled out his phone and hit a few buttons, a second later he smiled. "Hey, Trenton, I need a favor. Remember that pornography company we found that had all those horrible Daddy videos. They were set up like a storyline. We traced it but couldn't figure out where they were coming from. What was the name of it?"
Silence filled the room as Matt listened to whatever Trenton was saying. "That's it. I'm in Denver visiting D. Can you send Marshall all the files we have about them? I think he's onto something here that might tie in with what we have." He listened for a minute more, then smiled. "Thanks. I'll be in touch and let you know what we find." He ended the call and looked at Marshall. "Just as I thought. Lamp Light Productions is a company we found online. The videos are put out through a sort of subscription. People pay big money for each episode. There's a lot of videos posted, all using the same two kids. It started when they were about three and now the kids have to be eight or nine. One girl, one boy. Nasty shit. The guy acts like their father, or maybe he is their father, but either way, it's like he's following a script. As the kids got older, it was like he was teaching them to follow a script too. Say certain things, act in certain ways. It's just the three of them, never anyone else. A lot of point of view filming as if watching from the father's eyes."
"If this links to what we have, we have reason to go in." Marshall smiled. "This could be the break we needed."
"Not so fast. Even if we link the company, we don't have any proof it's that location. While we think it is, thinking is not enough to have us risk going in and being wrong. We need proof. We'll need more than the link, but this is more than we had. See what Trenton sends you and go from there," Jeremy warned.
Marshall didn't want to wait. He was sure that the asshole was living at the ranch. The longer they waited to go after him, the more likely he was to get away. "We've got to get him."
"We will, but we won't break rules doing it. If you can't wait, gather the evidence you have and give it to the cops, maybe they can find something we haven't." Jeremy watched him closely.
"Right, like that will happen. They're so far behind on this case we'd be lucky if they looked into it by next year." Marshall wasn't happy, but he looked at Matt anyway. "Thanks for checking on that. If it is the same people, it's a big lead."
"Why would they use the same company name for historical documentaries and porn?"
"To cover up the porn I guess, but it wasn't smart if it leads one to the other," Xander said.
"Give Trenton time to get the files and he'll send them," Matt promised.
"For now, you should go home and be with Danny. It's his birthday. You shouldn't be here working." Jeremy gripped Marshall's shoulder. "We'll call if something breaks, but we both know it won't happen tonight. Go get ready for the party and we'll meet at my place in a few hours. I've still got to stop and get Danny's gift and pick up some more beer."
"Where's D?" Xander asked.
"He's doing some recon on a guy we're thinking about inviting to the team. He's Danny's counselor. We think he's a good fit, but D wanted to follow up on a few things. Check out some older information that came up when we started digging," Jeremy told him.
"Anything I can help with?" Matt asked.
"Antsy to work?" Marshall grinned.
