Chapter 7

Jason sat there, underneath the tarp, hoping and praying that Dustin wouldn’t come downstairs. He heard the thump of footfalls upstairs, like the man was looking for something. His heart hammered and blood pounded in his ears as he waited. He half expected the man to come thundering down the stairs with a loaded weapon, knowing that he was there, hiding.

Thankfully, none of that happened, as the footsteps receded, heading back towards the door. He heard the slam and stayed put for a few moments until he felt his phone vibrate. Looking down, he saw it was Luke calling him back. Jason picked up on the third buzz and waited for Luke to talk.

“OK, we caught ourselves a break! Dustin left just a minute ago, and it looked like he was headed for something. Groceries maybe?” Luke told him.

“Given the state of the kitchen upstairs, he’s probably getting himself some takeout or something. How long do you figure I have?” he asked.

“Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, if we’re lucky. You said that you found something?” Luke queried.

“Yeah! Went down into the basement and found a tripwire at the base of the steps. They are probably hiding it down here somewhere!” Jason replied.

“Snap to it, bud! We don’t have long. I’ll stay on the line, in case something happens,” Luke told him.

“Gotcha,” Jason responded. He meandered around the basement, looking around for something, anything that indicated where they had stashed the stolen tapes. Keeping his Gaian senses active, Jason felt around and could sense something ... dark. Though it he couldn’t see it, he knew it was there. Closing his eyes, Jason walked towards the source of it, walking into the wall with a thud.

“Dude, what the hell was that?” Luke asked.

“I can ... almost see something. Almost like something is hidden here,” he told his friend.

“Hold up, go to video,” Luke told him. Jason did as he was asked and went to video call, giving Luke a look at the room. His friend was quiet for a few minutes until he snapped his fingers together.

“That wall there, it’s a fake wall!” Luke almost yelled.

“How can you tell?”

“I’m looking at the blueprints and there should be a small window at the back wall! Only there isn’t one! There has to be a way to get through that thing!” he told Jason. “Look around for anything that looks like it’s out of place, or anything unusual.”

Jason looked at the wall carefully, scrutinizing every detail, until he spotted something. It looked like a small lever which had been carefully and cleverly concealed in the wall. It almost looked like it was part of the wall entirely, but his Gaian senses spotted it. He reached over and pulled on the lever, which opened a hidden door that had been cleverly worked into the wall.

“Damn! Good find buddy!” Luke enthused when he saw Jason’s discovery of it.

He quickly wished for the comment to be taken back, when he saw what was inside. Jason walked from an ordinary basement, into a room that could only be described as a torture chamber. Inside were various implements and pieces of furniture that were used primarily for torture. Even though he’d turned on the light to illuminate the room, he could feel the darkness emanating from this place and shivered at it.

“Dude, I feel you! Just plow through Jason! We have to find those tapes!” Luke reminded him.

Focusing on why he was there, Jason looked around and didn’t have to look far. On the floor, next to a computer desk that was tucked away into the corner, sat a cloth bag, overflowing with VHS tapes. Jason took a quick check of what the bag contained, and he knew that these were Fat Tommy’s missing flicks. He even took a tape out of its cover and spotted Tommy’s handwriting on the inside of it.

“Jackpot!” Jason stated as he looked down and found a couple of tapes had fallen out of the bag. He scooped them up and tucked back in as neatly as he could.

“Hey Luke, check this out. What do you make of this equipment?” Jason wondered, as he looked over the devices that looked like they hadn’t been there for long.

“That’s conversion equipment, man! Used to convert VHS tapes into digital! Looks like it was just bought too!” Luke said worriedly.

“Do you think these guys have converted anything to digital yet?”

“No idea, but you better boot up that computer there and find out!” Luke demanded.

Jason agreed and turned the machine on, letting it come to life. Thankfully, there was no password needed to get into the computer. Maybe these guys hadn’t thought of anyone but themselves using this computer. Once the screen came to life and had booted every application, Jason looked at the various files on the screen.

“Looks like these guys had just hooked up the machine but are busy figuring out how to make it work,” he told his friend as he showed him the files.

“Seems like it. Click open that file folder labeled ‘Subjects’. I want to know what these guys are up to in their spare time,” Luke told him. Nodding, Jason opened the file, and he found many sub folders within it. Each file was labeled with three letters, which Jason found somewhat odd. The files were organized by date and he opened the newest one.

Inside it were several video files, along with at least a couple hundred photos. The photos were images of a woman, in various stages of undress. She looked distressed and in pain, with many of the images showing that she was bound and gagged. Some of them were of her fully exposed, along with others where she was taking a cock in her pussy or her ass.

“What the fuck, man?!?” Luke breathed. “I think I know her!”

“You do? Who is it?”

“You remember Victoria O’Connor, from high school? How she was such a snarky, high headed bitch, looked down on everyone like we were plebes?” Luke asked. Jason had to focus on her face a little before he recognized her. She had grown a bit older and thicker since their high school days, but those eyes and cheeks were unmistakable.

“Shit! You’re right! How the fuck did she end up with this fuckhead??” Jason wondered.

“However it happened, it doesn’t look like she’s enjoying herself. We need to make copies of these!” Luke said. Jason heard his keyboard clacking and a grunt of frustration. “Damn it! I can’t get in! Do they have a VPN protecting that computer?”

Jason checked the hidden icons tab and sure enough, there was the icon for a more popular VPN active. He brought up the program and deactivated it, leaving the terminal vulnerable for Luke.

“VPN’s down. Get in, get everything you want and get out. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to be,” Jason told his friend.

“I’m on it!” Luke told him. Jason then heard his friend going to work on his laptop, taking control of the computer. He watched as Luke made copies of several file folders and even went into the other folders on the computer. Luke wasted no time and soon enough, the young man had replicated every file of interest on the computer.

“Job’s done, man! Reset everything and get the hell out of there!”

Not needing to be told twice, Jason put the VPN back up and scrubbed his tracks. He shut the computer down, killed the light in the room and walked out. Glad to be out of the dark space, Jason reset the lever and closed the door, sealing it like he’d never been in there. He then made his way up the stairs, carefully stepping so as not to trigger any of the trip wires.

“Is the coast clear?” Jason asked quietly.

“Yeah. Neither man is home and you’re in the clear to move. Get the fuck out of there!”

Moving quickly, Jason walked out of the door and using his lock-picking tools, reset the lock. He was glad that he kept his Gaian senses active, making sure that no one was nearby him, or watching. Once the lock was done, Jason walked as quickly as he dared and got back into Luke’s van.

Almost immediately, they left the townhouse complex behind, moving just a little over the speed limit, so as not to draw any attention to themselves. Once they were in the clear, both men breathed a sigh of relief, rarely having tried anything so risky before. Jason pulled into a Tim Hortons when they were far enough away from Brad and Dustin’s neighborhood. After a harrowing experience like that, both of them needed a coffee and some donuts.

Jason pulled up to the drive through, ordering a dozen donuts and two coffees. He paid for the food and they quickly scooted away, heading for Luke’s place. After passing Luke his donuts and coffee, Jason kept his eyes on the road. The darkness that emanated from that place was beyond bone chilling. The only point of reference he had for something that evil was ... when he fought his clones in that dream phase.

“WHAT! THE! FUCK!” Luke cried out in anguish.

“What is it Luke??” Jason asked, worried about his friend.

“They didn’t just get Victoria! They got a lot more women that we know!” his friend cried out in a fit of rage. Sensing that his friend needed him, Jason pulled into the parking lot of a nearby park and stopped the van.

“Who?” Jason asked.

“Almost everyone we went to school with! Seems like the sick fucks were tracking each one of them!” his friend went on, while showing him the various files. So many women he’d known were being showcased in positions of exposure, some being fucked, while others were tortured. The looks on their faces told Jason that they weren’t enjoying the sex, so it was clear that they were being raped.

Luke’s hand was hovering over the mouse pad, with the cursor sitting on the last file in the folder. The file in question bore the initials ‘DSR’, initials that Jason was familiar with. His eyes widened as realization hit him about who the file could contain. He put his hand on Luke’s shoulder, squeezing it gently.

“Luke ... you don’t have to...” Jason began.

“Jason, I have to. I need to know, if it’s her,” his friend’s voice quivered.

He then pressed his finger to the button, opening the file. It was the same as the others, the poor girl being beaten, tortured and raped. Only this girl was Luke’s high school sweetheart, Dominique Sarah Rivard. Luke’s cry of anguish ripped through him as he couldn’t believe what he was looking at. But Luke could tell that these photographs weren’t doctored. That he was looking at the woman he had loved, being ravaged in the worst possible way.

Luke broke down, crying his eyes out, that this had happened to a woman he had pledged himself to. Jason held onto his friend, knowing that he would need him in the coming days and weeks. Finding out something like this was not lightly or easily taken in. Jason knew that if anything like that had happened to women he knew, especially his lovers, he would be beside himself with grief and rage.

“Maybe ... this is why she ... hurt herself, back in senior year,” Jason said, pieces of this puzzle finally clicking into place.

Dominique had gone and tried to slit her wrists, only to be found by her parents maybe a minute later. They were lucky and got her to the hospital in time, but that only made things worse. She had tried to end her life, multiple times and multiple ways, only to be placed in the psych ward of the hospital, much to her parent’s horror. She was getting the help she needed and seemed to be doing better until she escaped.

Since then, the woman had vanished into the night and never came back. Even her closest friends and Luke had no idea what had become of her. Now, they at least could make an educated guess behind the why. Jason figured she was ashamed of what had happened to her and, like most victims, blamed herself for it. Everyone feared that she’d died, but Luke refused to believe it, as did her parents.

Dominique was a resourceful woman, able to get what she wanted, when she wanted it. Sure, it often took some elbow grease and persuasion on her part, but almost everything came together as she had planned it to. Jason had often commented that Dominique would do very well out in the real world. The fact that she accomplished anything she put her mind to was astounding.

“Luke ... you gonna be OK?” Jason asked gently.

“Yeah man ... I just ... need a minute...” Luke whispered feebly.

“Take all the time you need, man. Is there anything we can do with what we have here? I want to see these fuckheads punished for what they’ve done!” Jason growled.

“File JRE. I think I know who is inside it, but I can’t look at this shit anymore man. Not for a while yet. Just please, open it up and have a look at who is inside it,” Luke begged. Jason nodded and stepped up to where Luke was just sitting and looked for the file. He found it somewhere in the middle of the dozens of files inside. He clicked on it and opened it, even more taken aback by what he found.

“Holy shit! That’s Jennifer Esperanza!” Jason stated, the wind knocked out of him on seeing this.

Jennifer had been an acquaintance of theirs in high school, but a friendly one. She was bordering on a proper friend after high school was over. She had become a major It Girl, picking up a moderate amount of fame with her YouTube channel. She would regularly talk about a range of topics, from beauty tips, to male celebs, even occasionally sharing her workouts with her followers.

Not long after she had cracked half a million followers, her behavior took a downward spiral, which cost her much. Her new look and behavior went from glamourous future starlet to hardcore crazyhead. Many of her rants barely made a lick of sense and she had recently gone into a goth phase, which her straight-laced aunt and uncle disapproved of. It cost her the bulk of her followers, and she was barely a fringe voice on the website anymore. Only her most hardcore followers ever listened to her these days.

“These assholes have ruined one life too many! How does this help us? Knowing those two assholes, they would likely spin it so they would say they’re not responsible,” Jason stated.

“Bring up the video. Maybe there’s something there,” Luke stated, drying his eyes.

“Are you sure, bud? We can do this another day,” Jason offered.

“We wait another day and I’m liable to do something to these assholes that lands me in jail. Need to do this all now, while I still have the resolve to not take matters into my own hands,” Luke told him.

Jason nodded and played the video clip in the file. It was over an hour long and filled with Jennifer pleading, begging, then screaming, as both men there ravaged her. Luke stopped it right where Brad was glancing at the camera. It was as though he was waiting for his father’s approval before proceeding.

“No way in hell these assholes can say it wasn’t them. Brad’s face is clear as day!” Luke went on. He pressed the play button and let it go on. He paused it once more when Dustin walked out, a malevolent grin on his face. “And there’s Dustin! We have these sickos dead to rights!”

“How?”

“Jennifer’s uncle is the local police chief!” Luke told Jason, a feverish light in his eyes. “Not only that, but the guy has built his career on putting away fucknuts like these two!”

“Aren’t the chief and Dustin good friends?” Jason asked, a memory coming back to him just then.

“They might be, but irrefutable evidence like this will end any friendship, no matter how deep!” Luke told Jason. The redheaded man nodded, remembering the chief to be a fair-minded man, unwilling to take a side over the rule of law.

“What do you have in mind?” Jason asked.

“Send the chief a copy of this file. When he sees it, he is going to demand an investigation into this immediately,” Luke enthused, a plan for revenge forming in his mind.

“I take it you are forming up a plan right now?” Jason asked.

“Yes, and it’s one that will see these men ruined beyond all recognition. By the time the media has had its fill of this, they will be reviled as badly as the worst sickos the world has ever seen!” Luke growled.

Jason had never seen this side of Luke before and wasn’t sure he wanted to. But he couldn’t fault the man for this. Seeing his sweetheart abused like she was, had set something off in him and Jason was sure he would be the same way. Jason was certain that Luke wouldn’t stop until he had attained the level justice he felt was deserved.

“We should be in a good place right now. Get in the driver’s seat, in case we need to bolt,” Luke told him.

“What are you up to?”

“Jason, trust me, the less you know the better. Now get in the seat and wait for if or when I give the signal,” his friend stated. Nodding curtly, Jason did as he was asked and got behind the wheel, as he let his friend go through whatever he was planning.

Luke’s mind was awhirl with what he was going to do. It was ballsy and risky as hell, but it was the only way he saw he’d get justice for what happened to Dominique. He set up his Ghost Phone, a masking system of his own design. It would cloak his location from where he was calling, for at least five minutes. This would give him the time to say or do what he wanted, without being traced.

Using several computer programs that he’d picked up and cobbled together, Luke cracked his way into the police mainframe. He didn’t use a blunt force attack, but a stealthy one, designed to escape notice. He wouldn’t stay hidden for long, as police techs were good at what they did. Thankfully, he didn’t need long to get the job done, and he located the personal line for Chief Esperanza. He dialed the number, and the chief picked up on the second ring.

“Chief Esperanza here.”

“Chief Esperanza, I hear you’re a man with a penchant for finding criminals. The worst and the sickest that society has to offer. Would you like to get your hands on someone as sick and twisted as Paul Bernardo?” Lucas asked, using a harmonizer to mask his voice.

“Who is this? Are you some kind of prankster? If you are, I swear, I will find you and...” the chief’s whiskey soured voice threatened.

“I assure you, sir, I am no prankster. Consider me a good Samaritan, who wants to help you do your job in bringing criminals to justice. Check your e-mail. I just sent you something,” Luke replied.

Luke listened intently as he heard the ping of a new email over the line. He used a dummy account that he maintained for the purpose of sending things anonymously. Luke had made a copy of the JRE file, containing everything with Jennifer in it. He heard the clacking of a keyboard, then a choking, strangled cry. Heavy breathing followed almost immediately, then a scrabbling sound soon after.

“What the fuck is this?!? Some sick joke?” the chief growled over the line.

“It is no joke, sir. I recently noticed this file floating around on the Dark Web. I recognized who it was and put the pieces together about how she spiraled out of control. There is a video of the whole incident, with the faces of those who did this to her. I hope you have a strong stomach, sir. It gets ugly, fast. I have given you what you need to seek justice. What you do with what I’ve given you, is now in your hands. Good day,” Luke stated before he severed the line.

He was on the line for a little over four minutes. Luke could only hope that the chief would do something with the information he’d been given.

“Jay, I need you to drive, right now!” Luke called out.

“You get traced?” Jason responded, turning the engine over.

“Don’t think so, but in this business, you can’t be too careful! Get us out of here!”

“Copy that! And, I know exactly where we’re going to go!” the redheaded man told him.

“Where?” Lucas wondered.

“To the one place where we can be sure to know that we got through to the man!”

Chief Robert Esperanza couldn’t believe what he was watching! His niece, the little girl he had helped raise with his wife, was being brutalized and savaged by these men! What was worse is that they were both men he knew! Men that he trusted! He couldn’t believe that this was happening, but the evidence in front of him was as clear as day! He was watching Brad and Dustin Gerkie rape and torture his niece!

“Margie, get me the head tech from Cyber Division, on the double! Tell him to get here, to my office!” he almost shouted into the phone.

“Yes, sir!” came the shocked and meek reply. Robert hadn’t meant to lose his cool at his secretary like that, but he wasn’t in the best of places right now. He waited maybe seven minutes before he heard a knock on the door. He told the person who’d knocked to enter, and a lanky man walked in, wearing blue jeans and a white polo shirt.

“Paul Glengarry, head of Cyber Division chief! What can I do for you today?” he asked in a chipper tone, in his usual, idiosyncratic way.

“Paul, I need you to look over something and tell me if it’s genuine or fake,” the brawny man requested.

“Why not send it to me over the network? I could analyze it better at my terminal...” he began before the chief cut him off.

“No, it needs to be done here. This is a ... personal matter and I want this kept quiet, for the moment,” the chief told him brusquely. Taken aback for a moment, Paul shrugged and walked over, looking at the images, then the video. Working in Cyber Division, he saw all kinds of sick shit that was dragged up from the Dark Web. What he witnessed, though, was enough to make even his stomach turn.

“I’ve seen enough. I can tell you right now chief that this video and those photos, are the genuine article. Everything is way too smooth in the movement for it to be a fake. The photos match up with the setting in the video as well, so this is real,” Paul told him.

The chief nodded, his face full of anguish, and Paul let him be. Having been a good friend of Robert’s since he was a beat cop, he knew his family and had met them occasionally. Both men had made assumptions about Jennifer’s sudden change in attitude and demeanor, but neither one could have predicted this. Chief Esperanza sat there, brooding for almost half an hour before coming to a decision.

“Judge Warren still fast tracking warrants for us on cases like this?” he asked.

“Given our track record, he’s always up for granting those, as long as we have solid evidence,” Paul replied, seeing the light return to his friend’s eyes.

“Make a copy of this and let’s go see him. We have some scumbags to put away,” the swarthy man growled. Nodding, Paul was on his heels, knowing that no matter what, Chief Robert Esperanza was out for justice. Damned be anyone who stood in his way.

It had taken little to secure the search warrant, given the chief’s record. There was also the fact of the video that he’d shown the judge who had granted it immediately. Robert Esperanza had gone with the units he’d dispatched to Dustin’s residence. Seeing that no one was home, they kicked down the door and searched the whole house.

While walking down in the basement, one of the uniformed officers nearly triggered the tripwire. Seeing the whole thing as suspicious, the rest of the units were called down and between the group of them, it didn’t take long to find the hidden room. Once they walked in, Chief Esperanza knew the truth of the video that he’d seen. This was the place where it had all happened.

“Call it in. I want CSI all over this place now!” the chief said, his voice cold as ice.

Nodding, the uniforms called it in, and CSI units were due to arrive in around twenty minutes. Everyone headed back upstairs, not wanting to tamper with what they found and needing to get away from the archaic room. The chief needed air most of all, finding the whole situation sickening.

Two officers were stationed inside, to ensure that no one could try to slip in, and another two were outside with the chief. They milled around as they waited for their compatriots to arrive. A vehicle pulled up a few minutes later, but it wasn’t the CSI’s. It was Dustin, who was looking disconcerted, but brightening when he saw Robert was there.

“Hey Rob. What’s going on?” Dustin asked as he got out of the truck with some groceries.

“Hands where I can see them!” the chief told him gruffly.

“Rob, what are you doing?” the lanky man asked, his voice tinged with worry.

“Hands. Where. I. Can. See. Them!” the chief ground out, drawing his sidearm and training it on his onetime friend.

“What the fuck, man?!? This shit ain’t funny!” he growled, not liking where this was heading.

“We found your little ‘dungeon’. I know what you did to Jen,” Rob ground out, his teeth clenched, keeping his weapon aimed at the man.

Eyes widening in realization, Dustin dropped his groceries, turned and fled as fast as he could. He tried to, at any rate, as the CSI vehicles and additional units arrived to secure the area. Officers jumped out of their cars and drew their weapons, demanding that he stop where he was and put his hands on his head. Seeing that he had no way out without getting shot, the older man complied with their orders.

Several officers drew near, keeping their weapons trained on him, while one drew his handcuffs and locked them over Dustin’s wrists. The officer then stood Dustin up and read him his Miranda Rights, which the man acknowledged before being led to a police unit. Robert stopped the arresting officer, a burning question on his mind. Dustin turned to the chief and looked at him impassively.

“Why?” Robert asked, anguished.

“The little bitch had it coming,” Dustin stated with a smirk.

Robert almost lost it right there, wanting nothing more than to beat that smirk right off Dustin’s face. But he checked himself, reigning in his temper before he did something stupid. If there was one thing that Robert would not allow, it was this case to be compromised. No way that he would let this sick sack of shit walk free on a technicality.

“Get this piece of shit out of my sight,” Rob mustered as calmly as he could. He saw a brief flash of anger on Dustin’s face. He knew Dustin had tried to bait him, and it failed. There was far too much at stake to let shit like that happen. This was going to be a long day, but he knew that at least he would have some peace from it.

“Are you crazy? Insane?? Have you lost your fucking mind?!?” Luke griped as Jason had parked them by a Harvey’s. The restaurant in question was located maybe two blocks down the road and in sight of the police station, where Chief Esperanza worked.

“No one would think to look for a tipster this close to the cop shop. The best thing to do is to just sit tight and wait. Given what you just gave the chief, I don’t think we have to wait long. Onion rings?” Jason offered as he stuffed his face.

“No, I don’t want any fucking onion rings! I want you to get us the fuck away from here!” Luke yelled.

“Dude, chill. Sit down, eat your burger and relax. I have a feeling that things are going to pan out for you on this,” Jason told his friend.

In truth, Jason knew that the police inside the station were getting geared up. Odds are that the chief had found a judge who would issue a warrant that day, and they were now off to make their arrest. His Gaian senses had expanded to where he could tell what people were feeling and what their current demeanor was. Of course, he wasn’t going to tell Luke that. Not yet, at any rate.

“Jay, look!” Luke pointed briefly before lowering his hand. Outside the station, cops were scrambling to their vehicles, everyone hopping to. They saw a lot of uniformed officers hop into their cars before they were off. Two groups had formed up, one group of vehicles heading one way, while the other group headed in the opposite direction.

“Why are they splitting up?” Luke wondered.

“My guess is that they’re off to check their places of work. Last I heard, Dustin worked in the opposite direction from my job site,” Jason supplied. “So, where do you want to go?”

“Dustin’s place of work is too obvious. Let’s head to your job site. People come and go there a lot, yeah?” Luke wondered.

“All day, every day. Prospective buyers mostly, along with contractors for other parts of the job. Ready to see that shithead get taken down for good?” Jason asked.

“Been waiting for this since sophomore year, man! Let’s go!”

Robert Esperanza was on his way home for the moment. He left the crime scene, knowing that it was in expert hands. The CSI’s were having a field day with what they’d found in Dustin’s residence. The tipster had been correct in the matter where there was more to find. Both Brad and Dustin had kept quite the archive of their sordid and twisted activities, which spanned the abuse of dozens of women.

Jennifer hadn’t been the first, but she hadn’t been the last either. So much made sense now, with all the puzzle pieces fitting into place. Her behavior, her downward spiral, the lashing out, her refusal of therapy, everything. At least now, Robert had an answer about the what and the why. He cared not to know about the how, at least for the moment.

If nothing else came of recent events, he had at least stopped a pair of sick bastards before they could hurt anyone else. He pulled up to the house, parking in the driveway, before walking into his home. The smell that was coming from the kitchen was delicious, as Lusia was busy making dinner. Robert walked to his wife, a small smile on his face, but with a look in his eyes stating that there was something he had to talk about, later.