I Saw My Beta
Lou made introductions, then we got down to business. The immunity paperwork was signed, then Lou laid out the information Tania was providing. They had done a good job; in each setting, her recollection had been transcribed with as much detail as she could remember. The statements were signed and in a neat pile. I was most excited by the drawings they had come up with, as were the others. “These are very detailed,” Melanie said as they were passed to her. Done with computer software and aided by the images sent from werewolf to werewolf, they were better than any FBI sketch artist.
“My investigators were able to pair her with a skilled computer graphics artist, and we were fortunate Tania has a great memory for faces.” I set up a camera and started the interview. The next four hours were brutal, and I was wiped out by the time we stopped for dinner. Tania’s memory was amazing; she had remembered names, identifying features, sexual proclivities, phone calls, all kinds of things that could corroborate her statement. There wasn’t as much from the training facility as they were careful not to use names, but the people on the island didn’t care. They thought they were above the law, and the list of people who visited and abused her would keep us busy for months.
Actors. Celebrities. Politicians. Idle rich. Businessmen. Judges. It was all there, in great detail, and we hadn’t even gotten halfway through the time. When Tania and Snacks left to use the bathroom, I sank back in the chair. “Fuck, if we can prosecute a third of these people it will be the biggest case ever seen,” I said.
AUSA Michelle agreed. “She wasn’t sixteen for almost every session she’s described thus far, and that makes these acts felony sex tourism with minors. Under the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today, the PROTECT act, plus the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Reauthorization Act, they are each facing up to thirty years in prison.”
ADA Albert whistled. “That’ll leave a mark. I bet they’ll be shocked to find they can go all the way to South America and still get hit for sexual assault of a child. Do you think you can get indictments based on her statement?”
“Not just on that, but she has given us a lot of information on the people there. That pilot they use can fill in some holes for us if we flip him,” Rosalie said. “We get the flights and passenger lists and it’s a slam dunk. Add in travel information, credit cards, phone records, eyewitnesses…”
I could sense the AUSA’s excitement; she was seeing this as the case that would make her career, and she was probably right. “Can Tania file a case in civil court against them? I mean, if we don’t have enough evidence to convict, can she file a lawsuit?”
Albert nodded. “I’d personally recommend a dozen lawyers who would love to get these cases. None of these people will want to go through discovery, they’ll be eager to settle and have a non-disclosure agreement. If they go to court, any evidence is admissible for us.”
The door opened and Tania walked back in, Snacks right at her side. “I hope you don’t mind but I ordered some pizzas so we can keep working,” Lou said.
“I just want to get this done and go home to my boy,” Tania said as she sat down. “I’ve already missed so much with him.”
“Where is home,” Rosalie asked.
“It’s an undisclosed location,” Lou said. “If you need to get in contact with my client after tonight, you’ll do it through me.” We continued the interview, and she described in detail the last client she had on the island, the man who almost beat her to death, who left her scarred and broken. I wanted this bastard bad. He was a famous film director who lived in France but spent a lot of time in the United States. After she described how he destroyed her and paid a fine to the owners for the damage, she started to cry. “We need a break,” Lou said.
“Men leave,” Tania said instead. “You need to see something, Ms. Perkins. Do you have a camera?”
“I do,” Rosalie said, pulling it out of her briefcase. She looked at us and we got up and left.
I knew exactly what she was going to show them, I just hoped my brother was calm enough about it now. “You going to be all right with this, Bobby?”
“I’ve seen the scars and I love her all the more for it,” he replied. “You catch this fucker yourself, Randall. You and Talia make it a priority. He’s going to suffer under Werewolf law, not human.”
I walked away from the others towards the bathroom so they wouldn’t see how pissed I was. “You can count on it. He might bounce down a few stairs on the way to our cells, though.” She was my mate’s sister, MY family too. I knew Talia would be all for a road trip for this asshole.
We didn’t stop until eleven at night. We had pages and pages of suspects. As Tania stood up to leave, I came towards her. “I know it was very hard to go through all this again, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am this happened. I promise you that we will use every resource available to find the men who did these things to you and bring them to justice.”
Michelle came up and impulsive hugged her. “You’re so brave, Tania. I have already talked to my boss, and we are putting together a team right now to build cases against these men. These criminal organizations are going to be shut down and girls like you freed, I promise you that.”
“Thank you.” She had her hand gripping Snack’s fur. “Put them all away.” With that, she walked out with her lawyer.
“Great job, Tania, you did so much more than I had hoped for,” I sent to her as she left. “Give Talia a hug for me.”
“I will when I see her,” she said.
“Randall, you need to call your father after you get them to a hotel,” Lou sent to me. “A lot has gone down while we were talking.”
“Let him know I’ll call him when I can. I don’t know if they are going to want to get a hotel or head back home.” It turned out they were too excited to sleep. I ended up driving us back to Dallas, getting there at four-thirty in the morning. I dropped them at the office and went home with instructions to be back at one for a meeting.
My office was going to strike a blow for justice. I knew they wouldn’t give up on this, even if I had to leave the FBI.
Alpha Brent’s POV
Sulphur River Pack House
The celebration had gone late into the night, yet I was up at six like clockwork. That was one of the things I’d lost at fifty years of age, the ability to sleep until my alarm. I don’t know why I bothered to set it anymore. I linked with Security Control and everything was quiet. They were going to send a “highway cleanup crew” out to the battle site to pick up brass and make sure no evidence had been left behind in the sunlight. So far, we had been lucky, no law enforcement interest.
I got out of bed and dressed quietly. Patty was still sleeping with Phillip curled up next to her. He’d bonded quickly with his grandmother, and that had helped with his transition. He still had crying fits, he missed the parents he grew up with, but his wolf was helping him now. We’d be watching him today since Tania and Bobby were going to do the interview with the FBI and the lawyers. They’d be gone after lunch, and it might go into the evening.
Downstairs was quiet, only Sally was there making early breakfast for those on duty or who like me were up early. With the celebration, we’d be having a pack brunch starting at nine instead of the normal breakfast. “Good morning, Alpha,” she said as she brought me a cup of coffee. “Biscuits are just coming out of the oven. Would you like a chicken-fried steak with that?”
“That would be wonderful, Sally. Take your time, I need to wake up.”
I sat at the large table, iPad in hand, and thought about the day. We had worked over Todd Aldridge in the cells last night, and he had quite the tale to tell. Heck, he was giving us information as he was being driven to the cells, which is why I knew exactly what Chief Enforcer Jones was up to when he showed up later. The Council was behind this all. Todd had cut a deal with them, bring them Talia and Jarrod and his slate would be wiped clean.
We would have to dispose of the rogues soon, and for that I was glad we had construction equipment and thousands of acres of land. Sally sat a huge breakfast plate before me, the steak covered half of it, four biscuits on the other, and it was smothered and covered with the thick sausage gravy. A huge glass of orange juice was set down next to it.
A few more people straggled in and took their seats, and Sally was joined by four others as they started to prepare for a buffet brunch. “Grandpa!” I looked up and smiled as Dusty’s daughter Sandy ran into the room.
“Hey sunshine,” I said. “Did you get up by yourself?”
“No, Mommy and Daddy are coming,” she said. I saw Dusty and Kimberly come in the room and come sit by us. “I’m going to watch cartoons.” She ran off into the play room for the kids, obviously not hungry right now.Exclusive content from NôvelDrama.Org.
“Couldn’t sleep in?”
“I think this boy is going to be a soccer player by the way he keeps kicking my bladder,” Kimberly said as she sat down by me. Dusty sat on her other side.
I saw my Beta, “Bear” Baldwin, entering and I waved him over. Sally took their orders and I took the opportunity to talk. “Priorities for the day. Cleanup of the road, I hear we have a crew heading out already, we need to make sure that area is sanitized before anyone else gets there.” Bear nodded, he would put someone on it. “The rogues have to be disposed of. I want them photographed, identified and buried by noon. Take the excavator out by the old dump and make the hole deep, I don’t ever want them found.”
Bear nodded. “They have cars, hotels, phones…”
“Dusty, you have cleanup from that. Collect everything that could track or identify them. If they’ve rented a car, sanitize it and return it. If it can’t be returned, get it to the chop shop. Same thing with hotels, go there, pick up all their stuff and check out. Leave the phones in a public place, scatter them around so it doesn’t look coordinated,” I said. “Keep any cash, throw everything else.”