Chapter 38

It took us ... or rather, my private investigator ... more than six weeks to locate Lily. Once she got the facts straight, she decided to share the information with the feds, even without asking me first. That meant a wait of two extra days for me, which together with the fact that she refused to give me any other information made me worried. Very worried. Besides, the look behind her eyes was something that I feared. Lily has just had her fifth birthday.

It had been partly my efforts, or at least my money, that had been used to locate Lily. So, I was allowed to be there - in a middle-sized city, two states away, with two federal agents, and two local policemen - to pick her up. The local cops were just about to knock the door when a scream that was suddenly interrupted, came from inside the house. It was not Lily, was the first thought I had. Then I felt almost ashamed as it was clear that somebody had just been hurt. We could hear some muffed yelling follow that scream and then nothing. The cops were just about to crash in when my investigator stepped in.

"Would it be better to get in silently in situation like this? I guess that if you turn away for a few seconds, you may find the door was left open."

Hell, I was not going to rat them out. I would certainly swear in court that the door was left open.

It turned out the voices came from the basement. I was behind the two cops and the pair of the feds. I guess none of us were prepared to see what we saw down there. We walked into the middle of an orgy. There was a woman in her thirties who was eagerly fucking one man while sucking another one, and then were five other men and two girls. One, perhaps twelve years old, was the girl who probably had been the one who had screamed, as she was obviously crying. Then there was Lily. My Lily. What I saw there, was something that burned into my brain, forever. I would probably have run past the cops and killed the bastards if the private investigator had not stopped me.

It seems that we had hit a wasp's nest. The feds soon took control of the situation and the house was soon swarming men with suits and some women, too. I found myself sitting in the living room together with my private investigator and the two cops with a clear statement to stay there and NOT to contact anyone outside. From the discussion the local cops were having between each other, it was clear that one or more of the persons involved were from the local force, which explained to them why they had been given this mission with such short notice. Someone inside the house had probably seen the possibility to clean their own house.

Suddenly, I was woken from my own, dark, thoughts.

"I'm sorry, Eric. I had no idea it would be this bad."

I blinked my eyes a couple of times while collecting my thoughts.

"Don't you dare to say you are sorry, without your work she would probably have never been found."

"You were just looking so grim."

"I was thinking about the people who started this all, or maybe it was me who started this when I wanted some revenge for Sara's death."

Suddenly the older woman took my hand into hers.

"Don't YOU dare to think like that, somebody had to stop them, but I can understand that you may feel that the price is too high, but your daughter is alive and I'm sure she will recover."

Then she told me why she was not on the force, anymore. She was married and working in a big city on the coast. Then one evening her husband and son were mistakenly identified by a drug gang. Her husband had died at the scene and her ten-year old son had fought for his life in the hospital for a week before dying. It took her two years to find out who had killed them and a year and a half to get into a situation in which she could kill those gang members without being prosecuted herself. She'd had to retire, and move away. The lack of emotion during her speech was probably the thing that startled me most. When those cold dark eyes turned to look at me, I could not help feeling cold shivers in my spine.