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"That depends on how nice you are to me." She smirked back at him. "Becca cooks for you when she has time."
"And she can cook for Trenton too if you go back to school," Xander argued.
"Again, school doesn't start for a month. I'm already set to go. I won't be missing anything. My rent's paid, and my roommate will be just fine alone for a few more weeks. Becca is busy enough." She smiled at Becca, hoping she'd have her back and agree.
"Let her stay a while. At least give her a week. We have no idea how long Trenton will be in the hospital, and you did tell Ben to promise him that Faith would make him meatballs. I heard it on the recording when you met with Ben. Don't let him down." Becca gave her a supportive smile.
"Thank you." Faith grinned.
"Fine, we'll play it by ear for now, but don't get comfortable. I know how badly you miss being here, but you can't pass up—"
She turned and stared at Xander. "Do you remember how badly I want to be a doctor? Yes, I miss the hell out of you guys, but I'm not going to mess up now. If I don't go back, Trenton will blame himself. I just want some time with him first. Some time with all of you."
Xander sighed and grasped her shoulders gently. "I'm sorry. We're all worried and under a lot of stress. Sometimes I forget you're not a little girl anymore."
"I love you, Xan. Even when you're an ass." She stepped into his arms.
With that said, he hugged her tightly, then as a group, they headed the rest of the way to the cafeteria. She loved these guys. They were her family. No matter what the next week would bring, they'd get through it together just like they always did.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ben just stepped out of the shower for the second time, feeling a bit calmer after his long run. He tossed the towel over his shoulders, threw on a pair of sweats, and grabbed his phone. Something as big as a raid on a trafficking ring wouldn't go unnoticed by the media. Especially the vultures in Los Angeles.
It took only a few swipes on his phone to find an article about it. It was vague, but there were photos of the mansion and a few interviews with neighbors who claimed they were shocked to hear there was sex trafficking going on in their neighborhood.
Truth was, most of them knew and probably took part in the illegal activities there. The estimated number of victims didn't shock him. He knew first-hand how many were held there. If the report was to be trusted, arrests were still ongoing as more and more evidence came to life.
He wondered what information was stored upstairs. With the money paid, you'd think that Isaac would have never used any name or identifying information, but that didn't mean there wasn't any. There were security cameras everywhere, and if they were recording, the police would have all they needed to start filing charges on people.
He was so focused on reading the news reports, he nearly dropped his phone when he heard the burner phone start to ring across the room. He quickly set his down and went to grab the one the team had given him. "Hello?"
"Hey, Ben, it's Noam."
"Noam, have they found Trenton?"
"He's in recovery after surgery. He took two bullets. One to the shoulder, another to the thigh. I'm not sure how severe the damage was. Doc said he lost a lot of blood, but should recover just fine. We haven't gotten to see him yet."
Relief swept through Ben. "Thank God."
"You can say that again. We're lucky there weren't more fatalities. I just got off the phone with the man in charge and he said orders were given to kill the hostages just as SWAT entered. We're still collecting statements so it will be a while before we have a full picture of what happened. As you can guess, many of the victims aren't up for being interviewed just yet."
"Yeah, I was thinking about that. It's going to be hard going for some. Many of them were addicted to the drugs, others had just checked out of reality. It's not going to be an easy road."
"About that, how was Trenton's state of mind?" Noam asked.
"Determined. He didn't get drugged often because he complied with orders and kept quiet. The few times he was drugged were because the guards were lazy and just drugged all of them to keep them quiet. Trenton seemed angry, but he didn't show the withdrawal many of the others did. He was still focused and determined to find a way out." Ben thought about the last time he'd seen Trenton and how he'd saved them from getting caught by Wade. "He's weak, sore, and I'm sure was hiding most of his pain from everyone."
"Sounds like Trenton." Noam sighed. "I'm just glad we have him home and safe."
"Me too." Ben stared out the window, watching kids play in the yard across the street. "What's the story on Chief Jones?"
"That's the other reason I called. Have you talked to anyone?"
"Nope, I took the chicken shit way out and didn't go in this morning. I wasn't in the mood for hours of questioning. I know I'll have to do it soon, but today wasn't the day. I was worried about…" He was going to say Trenton, but that sounded too personal. "Everyone."
"Yeah, I get that, and it's good. The thing is, in order to protect Trenton and the team from the risk of being discovered, I told my source, D.A. Jason Elbert that we were friends and that you knew I worked with some pedophile sting operation online. I informed him that you'd come to me with concerns about your undercover sting and rumors that Chief Jones was involved in the trafficking. You'd given us enough information that it took only a few phone calls for Jason to find out what your team was doing and learn how the sting kept being extended. Thanks to a personal conflict the Chief and Jason had a while back, he was more than happy to take the job of going in and raiding the place. I needed you to know my cover story so that you didn't say something different and put Trenton or the team in any danger." Noam cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but if they knew—"
"No, that is okay. It's how it pretty much happened. Leaving that small bit of information out isn't a problem. I'm turning in my badge as soon as I figure out who I report to now. The fact that my captain didn't call me today to find out where I was, tells me he was probably involved."
