Page 11 of Wed
Bryon sat back down. "What else did Lenora say?"
"That after doing the video for them, they sent her back downstairs. One of the older girls was down there and crying. Said the girl had been raped and that she'd been told she was too old to sell but would be perfect for videos." Becca put a hand on her stomach. "It makes me want to vomit."
"I know." Bryon wished he'd been able to talk to Lenora so he could spare Becca from some of the graphic information. "Did she say how much older this girl was?"
"I asked. She said maybe thirteen," Becca whispered.
He wasn't shocked. Disgusted, but not shocked. Girls lost a lot of their value to pedophiles once they started menstruating. The risk of pregnancy turned many men off. They like prepubescent girls. Once a girl was a certain age, they would use her to produce porn, dressing them up to appear younger than they were and putting them on birth control. It sickened him to even think about it.
"Lenora thought that was what they were going to make her do because she was older than many of the girls there, but she was never taken upstairs like the older girls. They'd come back crying and scared. She knew what was being done to them." Becca took a deep breath. "Anyway, Lenora said it was a few days later that they finally called her to go upstairs. She was scared to death they were going to rape her. Instead, they had her shower and gave her new clothes to put on. Then she was told she was going to lunch, and she was to keep quiet the whole time and not say a single word. That when the time came to leave, she was supposed to go with the other man quietly. That was today when they'd taken her to the restaurant where Faith and I saw her."
"Okay, so give me some time to find us a place to move to. That's our priority. It's not safe here or anywhere on the Strip. We need to be away from all the cameras. Once I know the team is safe, then we'll start digging into finding Lenora's brother and trying to rescue the rest of the kids there."
"How? We're out of our comfort zone here." Becca gripped his arm. "It's not safe."
"Nowhere is safe when you're doing what we do. We've done stings out of town before. It's nothing new for us. We just have to plan and be careful. At the least, we need to find her brother and get the two of them back together." Bryon kissed her nose.
"Then what? We can turn her back over to CPS and risk it happening again."
"No, we won't be turning her back to CPS. We'll figure that out as we go. Parson might have some suggestions, and I know Carter has some connections in government here. We'll use what resources we have. We'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, we'll get to a safe house. Once we do that, we'll get to work on the rest." He cupped her face. "This might delay our wedding a few days."
"This is more important than any wedding." Becca met his gaze. "We have to help the kids."
This was why he loved her so much. "Agreed, but I will make it up to you."
"Help Lenora. That's all I want. You know I never cared if we had a big wedding or just went to city hall. That marriage certificate never mattered to me. I know you're mine with or without it. I believe we were meant to be here to help Lenora and the others." Becca brushed her lips over his. "This is what we do. We can get married anytime."
"I love you." His voice broke as he said the words, emotion hitting him hard. He couldn't ask for a better woman. She was so strong and determined. She was his everything.
"I love you too." She smiled at him. "Now go do what you do best and find us a safe house. Faith and I will keep Lenora safe. Don't forget to call Trenton and Ben if they aren't already in the air. Let them know not to come to the hotel."
"Right, good thinking." Bryon stood. "Make sure you're packed and ready to go."
"Someone else will have to pack my stuff if you don't want me in the hallway to get to our room," she reminded him.
"Right. I'll handle it. Anything stashed where I won't notice it?"
"No, but all our shopping bags are in the living room. We didn't take the time to put that away."
"I'll just gather it all and you and Faith can sort it once we're at the new place." He pulled out his phone. "Speaking of which, I think we might have a location." He sent a quick text back to his friend, thankful that he had so many resources around the country to pull from. He glanced at Becca. "Let's go talk to the others." He held out his hand and when she took it, he pulled her to him. "As mad as I am that you put yourself at risk, I'm also so proud of you for doing it. I know I might get a bit hot-headed at times and focus on the danger you're in, but at the same time, you amaze me. What you and Faith did was the right thing to do. Don't let Xander, Matt, or even me make you feel as if it wasn't. We're just worried about your safety."
"I know that. I'm used to you being protective and bossy. I wouldn't want you any other way. As for Faith, she'll handle Matt and Xander. I think everyone knows we couldn't just walk away. In fact, you'd be let down if we had." She hugged him. "Go do your thing. We'll be just fine."
He smiled, kissed her, then led them out of the room. As they walked into the main living room, he smiled as he watched Lenora bite into a ketchup-covered fry. She still looked nervous, her brown eyes filled with caution, but it seemed some of the tension had left her shoulders.
"You should have seen it. Faith lost control and went skating right into a big bush. Just as she hit the ground, the automatic sprinklers turned on, soaking her. That was one day I wish we'd had the camera out." Xander was laughing.
"Were you okay?" Lenora glanced at Faith.
"I was fine. Just embarrassed and wet. Dad made me get up and keep practicing, despite my dripping clothes. I finally learned how to skate without crashing, but now I have to live with Xander and Dad telling everyone that embarrassing story." Faith playfully glared at Xander.
"Be nice. There are plenty more stories I can tell." Xander wiped his mouth as he grinned over at Bryon. "Welcome back. Thought you two might have decided to take a nap in there."
Bryon rolled his eyes. "We were just discussing plans." He sat down on the couch across from Faith and Lenora. He gave the young girl a smile. "We want to help you find your brother and get somewhere safe, but it's going to take some time to do that. Are you comfortable staying with Becca and Faith while the rest of us try and figure out what we need to do?" He had no idea what he'd do if the girl didn't want to stay with them.
"You won't let the police take me again, will you?" Lenora asked.
"Nope, we won't let anyone take you until we're sure they aren't going to hurt you or your brother. The thing is, to make sure the bad guys who had you don't find you, we're going to have to move to another place. I have a friend who has a house here that we're going to go stay in. Once we are there, we'll find your brother and make sure he's safe too."
