Page 29 of Taken
"I happen to know that the D.A. and police chief have been at odds for years. They hate each other. I guess Jason had the chief's son arrested a few years back for a sexual assault and wouldn't give him any deals. Anyway, when I heard the chief was involved, I remembered this bit of information and thought just maybe Jason could go over the chief's head and help us out a bit. I won't go into the full conversation we had, but know I didn't mention the team. I told them I had information from an online source I'd met through our social media stings we do through the police department. If we are willing to step back and let the state handle the trafficking ring, then Jason is prepared to go in with SWAT teams tonight and rescue everyone. Jason says there is a team that doesn't report to the police chief he can use to get around any leaks getting out. Once the hostages are free and arrests made, then he is happy to focus on those names on the list and using the full extent of the law to bring them in as well."
Blood pounded in Bryon's head. "You do realize if we choose not to work with the D.A., then when we do go in, it will bring all the attention to you and our team, thus putting all of us at risk."
"The team won't be at risk at all. All attention would be on me and you know I'm not talking. This was the only way I could see us getting Trenton out safely. If we let SWAT go in, then we can focus on the list and others who frequented the place. The hostages get out and get medical care without us trying to do all that and still remain anonymous. When Jason heard there were several undercovers forced to work there for the last few months, with no action being taken, he was furious. He wants this operation shut down, he wants Chief Jones arrested, and he wants to find out how the chief managed to keep an undercover sting like this going for so long without anyone raising any flags. He's sure others are involved and he wants to know who. If his team goes in, they'll collect forensic evidence we can't. They'll gut the place digging for every hair, every bit of DNA, and they'll have access to all video, files, or whatever else is on the property which we would have to leave behind because we'd need to get in and out so quickly."
Bryon looked around the room. "So you're saying we just hand everything we have over to the D.A. and trust that he's going to rescue Trenton tonight?"
"The D.A. doesn't know about Trenton. He knows there is a large group of people being held at a large mansion in the area that is being used for sex trafficking. He knows there are international ties to this ring and buyers come and go from other countries. He knows the chief is allegedly a frequent customer of what this mansion has to offer, and that the sting to take it down was supposed to end in no more than three weeks, but has now extended into months with no given reason why. I'm sure by now, Jason has looked into the chief's cases and knows the location and what is going on there. I knew I couldn't stop him from looking, but he gave me his word, he'd wait to hear from me and see if he could work with our source to learn more about what is really going on inside."
"Our source meaning Ben?" Xander asked. "He's a cop, why wouldn't they just contact him?"
"Again, they don't know who they can trust. They don't know which of the undercover officers is our source. We suspect some of the officers have some involvement with the trafficking. Jason is guessing that the chief's job is to just hold off any raids until the trafficking ring can close down and move location to rebuild. Things are getting too hot here, and the chief had no choice but to go in, but he can delay anything major happening until the right time."
"Like people being sold to a dealer from Spain." Matt shook his head in disgust.
"My thoughts exactly." Noam nodded.
Faith sat forward. "I don't know about you guys, but whatever option gets Trenton out of there the quickest is what I say we do. If that means the team sits this one out, then we sit it out. We need to get Trenton out of there. I know better than anyone what he's going through. One more night might be just enough to break him if he's not broken already."
"I have to agree." Kasey looked around at the group. "He needs to get out of there. We know we don't have enough people to take on the guards in that place. And we don't have time to call the Denver team in to help. Even with them, it's risky and we could easily lose someone. Trenton wouldn't want one of us dying to save him. I think that would eat at him worse than going through what he is."
Noam nodded. "The police have resources we don't, and honestly, there are more hostages than we can handle getting out of there. Letting the SWAT team go in is the best choice."
Bryon tried to fight back his anger. He knew everything they said was true, but Noam had put the team at risk by going behind their backs. He should have talked to them first. That was something he would deal with later. He looked at everyone around the room, his gaze falling on Xander. "What do you say, Xan? How do you feel about all this?"
Xander brushed his hands up and down his pants leg. "Noam's right. It's the best option. Kasey said it best when he said Trenton wouldn't want one of us dying for him. If the police can have him out tonight, let them go in, but trust me, if they don't go in tonight or there is any sign we are being dicked around, I'm going in first thing in the morning."
Several others nodded.
"Okay, then if we all agree, let's hand it over to the D.A.." Bryon looked around the room. "Anyone against it?"
Not a single voice rang out or hand came up.
"Noam, get him all the information you can but protect the team while doing it. Understand, when this is over, we are going to have another team meeting about you going behind our backs to do this." Bryon was still pissed.
"Understood." Noam nodded, then turned to Matt. "You got any more info I can share with them?"
"A lot, but you won't have a way to explain where you got it."
"I don't need to explain. Jason and I are friends. He'll trust me without question as long as everything matches up."
Bryon watched Matt and Noam walk off, hoping this might be the beginning of the end. He just needed to get Trenton home, then everything else would fall into place.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Trenton listened to the sound of a child screaming in pain. He wished he could plug his ears because each screech sent a knife into his heart. There was only one reason a child would be in that kind of pain here. He wanted to kill every motherfucker in this place with his bare hands.
The girl had come back from upstairs a few hours ago and hadn't stopped screaming since. He was glad he couldn't see the children's cage from where he was. The sight would just feed his anger.
He'd been waiting hours to talk to Ben, but with the kid causing a ruckus and several other things going on, Ben had been busy with other things. He just wanted to know if Ben had contacted Katie. If he had, he knew help would be on the way in the next few days.
The sound of the gate opening had him rolling over to look. He let out a relieved breath when he saw Ben walking in and coming toward him. "How about another quickie in the back? This time I can fuck your mouth." Ben leered at him.
Wade laughed from where he stood at the gate watching them. "If his mouth is any good, maybe I'll give him a go. The bitch I grabbed tried to bite me the other day."
"Fuck you." Trenton rolled back to his other side, wishing they didn't have to play this game for everyone around them.
"My Aunt Katie would wash that mouth out with soap." Ben neared him.
