Chapter 535: Buyer’s Education

Once it was just me, Winter’s parents, and the people from various agencies I said, “You’ve made a common mistake when dealing with children from families like these. You picked out some of the batshit crazy kids and psychopaths, like those that Lindy stopped trying to kill you with poisonous gas. Don’t be embarrassed about being entirely fooled by sociopaths. In their families, it is a learned survival trait.”

“You told that little girl that Colonel didn’t want her, only kids like the two on your lap at the time. Please explain,” a woman in the group asked. “I spent three decades studying the criminally insane, psychopaths, and cold-blooded killers that would be the last on a long list of suspects. Only one in thousands is adept at hiding their murderous tendencies from detection. If you put my children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews in the room with those two boys that tried to release a poisonous cloud, all of my relatives would have something they are hiding that they wouldn’t be able to hide. Neither child hid anything. They never lied. They were genuinely sweet, innocent little children with no signs of being cold-blooded murderers. I didn’t detect any malice or mal-intent in any of them. When Lindy reacted to the two psychopathic males, she could have allowed them to die, and no one here would have questioned it. I still can’t comprehend her causing the child to choke on his teeth until he was oxygen-deprived and then cleaning him up. Her eyes showed unconditional love and a caring manner when attending to him. I don’t understand this behavior at all.”

“That was the point of this exercise. You see, that boy is her brother. She loves all her siblings and cousins, but that doesn’t mean Lindy didn’t need to clarify that he better not do anything like that again. Lindy was also reminding him that she was much more intelligent than him. Siblings fight like cats and dogs. In these families, the mom and dad don’t come in to stop the screaming for help. Instead, they watch to make sure someone isn’t killing their sibling or cousin, provided they wouldn’t care if the child screaming for help died,” I told her. “I wouldn’t tolerate Ellen holding down one of my siblings and pushing their face into dog crap. For the kids in these families, that is loving and sweet. I met one boy who got someone mad at him. They made him the toilet seat and bidet as his punishment. You don’t get that Lindy is that sweet, precious little girl. These children don’t leave their homes unless with their parents, lest someone kidnap or kills them. Look at it this way. You take a genius, lock them away with no way to exercise their intellect, living in a family where all forms of abuse are common, and you know you’re a target. Your parents tell you they want you to play with the guns, knives, and bombs readily available around the house. Lindy knew the fate that would befall her if they caught her slipping out of the house, past exceptionally well-trained and paid security teams. Her father probably would have killed her if not for proof of her proving what she had done while out. Look at your records to see the account wired the funds for each hit. These people have billions and still hold out their hands to get paid.”

That caused some disruption.

“Why would a child put herself in such danger if her family is as you said,” a man asked.

“You don’t have any children, do you?” I said. “She is a little kid. It is not anything as nefarious as you are letting yourself believe. Ice cream, looking for a new toy, going to a bookstore to get more books, and buying more candy. Maybe she wanted to play soccer with kids in the park, fly a kite, or cuddle a puppy. She never got to do any of those because of the family she was born into.”

He looked horrified, saying a lot since he had waded through mangled, rotting, and shredded human bodies on many occasions for whoever paid his check.

Finally, he got his composure to ask, “She killed some of the nastiest men and women in the world because she wanted a lollipop or a new doll?”

By Jove, I think you’ve got it.

“Well, she could have gone to buy one of her psychopathic siblings a birthday gift or another five-thousand-piece puzzle,” I answered.

They started discussing Lindy, Carrie, Devon, and other kids like them.

I laughed as they were bartering for who could get which kid.

“Damn, and people say I’m naïve,” I said when I stopped laughing. “You don’t have anything to motivate these kids to be your assassins. I explained about Lindy. The snipers you wanted were bored and found something challenging to do with their time that kept the sick and sadistic fucks at a distance. Talk to your bosses. See if they think they have any clue what they are getting. I’ll let you sit with the children that they sent you here to retrieve. Whether they want to go with you or not is up to them. I will not keep them from going if that is their choice. We will bring them back here to be with their families when your bosses tire of trying to find a way to make these kids kill for them.”

I asked Winter’s parents to come to my office.

“You two don’t have much time to get your eight-year-old daughter to her birthday party,” I told them. “She wasn’t faking her fear of me taking you from her. Maybe one day, you will learn to see that look in her eyes. Lindy decided you were going to be her new parents. She wants people who will love her and not worry that love comes with a price. I’m not being an ass when I say that you don’t have any say in the matter because she will always find a way to find you no matter where you go. I’m sure April would have a challenge playing hide-and-seek with Lindy. It is easier on you this way, and the adoption is already official. She has a month’s worth of clothes, underwear, and shoes. Her medical file is already in the military’s computer systems. I suggest you make whatever excuses you need quickly. April, Ellen, and Ariba will be at the party with some military brats. As a bonus, the military brat’s parents will owe you some favors.”

I left it at that and went to get the group of snipers and up-close-and-personal kids together. I explained why the people wanted them, and each child was free to choose to go with one of these people if that was their wish. They didn’t have to go anywhere, and the facility would always be their home.

Carrie hugged me before saying, “We used our resources to dig into all these people and their plans for us. Lindy’s new parents know the score. Your country won’t let children, especially pre-teens, go out to be snipers or do wet work. We pick agencies or black ops groups that can use our skills, but we won’t be killing people. Where I want to go, they want me to provide support by doing things like shooting power lines, engine blocks, tires, door locks through windows, and other tasks that let me be creative. Those like Lindy, who like to get in up close, will use non-lethal means to take down their targets. How does that saying go, dead men, tell no tales?”

“I know you felt we wouldn’t like getting ordered around or their whole chain of command structure. When we looked into it, these groups are like having the annual spring vacation every day. The methods they use to punish and discourage unwanted behaviors are nothing close to what happened to us in our families,” Devon said. “Being locked in isolation with no food for days? Have someone face fuck me or screw my ass? Getting knocked around as a way to correct behavior? My siblings and cousins did all those to me simultaneously, frequently. In some cases, I only survived because the amount of cum pumped down my throat provided me with fluids and some protein. Girls get it much worse. Anything that doesn’t leave a permanent mark and bruises that clothes can hide is part of life.”

A little girl came over and told me, “David, we are freaks to our families because we are so intelligent. Elite families don’t want girls with brains marrying their sons. Look at Skylar, Corwin, and Mary. Even before Darren came around, those three had no chance of their parents finding a guy to marry them. Why do you think their fathers made Darren their heir? That was as close to having a husband as they would ever allow anyone to become. Most men and boys in elite families don’t want smart wives either. They want breeders who do what they are told without challenge. I knew more than my father about the family business before I was ten. He didn’t kill me because I could pick up packages and bring them back onto the property without anyone knowing. I want to go live somewhere that I am wanted.”

I can’t argue with their reasoning why they want to be somewhere other than here with people that want them for their skills.

After I asked if they were sure, we headed back toward the conference room.

“It appears that these kids you want hacked into your systems and got to people who told them your plans for them. It seems that they want to go with you after all. I’m going to warn you all right now, take care of these kids like they were your own. I will take you out individually, and the kids that want to go with you will be waiting there with their things. I don’t care how hardened you think your emotions are. They will get under your skin, and you will love them. These kids will love you back,” I told them. “It doesn’t matter if causing someone’s chest to explode as if an alien came out from the inside won’t have them bat an eye or feel one ounce of remorse.”

I took one man and woman from the same agency to where the kids going with them were waiting. Both commented that I couldn’t imagine how well trained they are in controlling their emotions. These weren’t the first group of children they had collected over the years. They didn’t form emotional bonds with any of them.

One little boy ran over, and the woman picked him up without realizing she had done it. A girl was soon in the man’s arms crying. He was doing his best to comfort her and not having much luck. I could see the emotions on his face that he wanted to make whatever was wrong with the girl better. He would use all the resources at their disposal to make her hurt go away

The girl and boy both got down, turned to the two adults, laughed, and said, “We are going to love this more than we thought. That didn’t take any effort at all. If we wanted to get picked up or held when we cried, we usually had to be bloody, beaten nearly to death, and they had to be in the mood to be bothered. That wasn’t often.”

“I tried to warn you,” I explained as the man and woman realized that two young children had expertly played them.

I ensured the kids had everything they thought they might need if they went with these operatives.

Carrie was in the last group, and she was going with Winter’s dad to meet his people that would take her and the rest of the group to their next destination. Winter’s dad wanted to know what was in the case Carrie had.

“Holy shit! That is a decade beyond anything I’ve seen in any of the mad scientist’s labs. Keep that out of sight until you get to your destination. If you can help your handlers source weapons like those, you will be living like a queen for the rest of your tween and teen years, at least,” he told Carrie. “They will bow down before you.”

Carrie replied, “There isn’t another like it anywhere in the world. I built it by hand, including the custom barrel, ammunition, targeting system, and optics. I hand-ground each lens to my exact specifications. We all created our own. It isn’t as if daddy would go out and spend any money on us.”

He didn’t know what to make of that, but he knew she wasn’t lying. I reminded him that he had a birthday party to attend soon.

Lindy may have come from an elite family, but she was still an eight-year-old girl. The hospital nurses and mental health doctors asked her what she wanted for her birthday, so I had a good wish list from which to pick. I did text Winter’s parents that the last thing Lindy wanted or needed was money.

Some kids at the foster care complex needed a bit of encouragement to get with the program. For the most part, it was purely a language barrier. They didn’t speak English, and none of the staff spoke the kids’ family language. Where I picked them up wasn’t their primary home but a place their fathers hid in. They didn’t have any of their tutors here. I called Yuki’s mom for some help.

I shouldn’t be surprised that she has two of her businesses and homes for her kids on two other islands.

It wasn’t free, but she said she would have people over here who spoke English and the languages for one of these kids’ families.

The rest of the kids with issues settling in were in two camps. First, I had those who needed a hug and assurance that they were safe here.

The last group was cranky, confused, and angry. After ensuring that they ate and took any needed meds, I took them to the various smash rooms.

“Go break things, but not each other or yourself,” I told them as I turned them loose in the smash rooms.

Take out that frustration, kids. When you finish, Yuki’s people will be here to help you talk with the doctors to get your head on straight.

Because the birthday party was a bit of a last-minute thing, the cooks here made the cake. I caught a ride with them to the party. I found myself headed toward one of those trampoline places where kids have birthday parties. It didn’t take as long as I had expected to drive there. The staff was there with a cart to help me get the cake around into their reserved area for Lindy’s party. I got a pair of the socks they required everyone to wear and headed toward where Lindy was bouncing around like a Mexican jumping bean on a hot road.

Lindy had a group of kids trying to catch her as they ran around the place. Ellen, Rosie, and Ariba were off with some middle school kids waiting for the next dodgeball round to start.

I discovered my parents had dropped the girls off and gone out for a date night. They were leaving tomorrow afternoon, flying David Air. They were taking the girls back with them to let me have some time to myself before I headed home.

Seeing that the older kids were getting ready to start a round of dodgeball, I headed over to watch.

“Hey, no fair!” one of the guys that Ellen just beaned with the dodgeball after grabbing it from their air right in front of him. It didn’t surprise me that Ellen was the last one left in each round.

A different guy said, “She should find some dodgeball team. With that girl on their team, they would win all the time. No one can hit her. She is too fast.”

When the next round started, I grabbed a ball that came bouncing over near the entrance. I felt her shield protect her when I nailed her with the ball, but it still knocked her on her ass from mid-bounce. Being that I wasn’t playing, she said it didn’t count. The other six times I tagged her didn’t count either.

“I’ve been watching our boys for hours. No one can seem to get close to her. How in the world did you not miss her even once?” one guy asked,

Another, who I suspect was a recruiter, said, “You have excellent hand-eye coordination with a knack for predicting where your target will be, not where they were moments before. That’s a rare talent. Your country could use a man like you. Looking at your build, it would be unthinkable that you wouldn’t be a great candidate for the special forces.”

I saw Winter’s dad come over and tell that guy, “Oliver, you’ve got a good eye, but the wrong guy.”

“How so, Colonel? I mean, look at this kid. When was the last time you saw a guy build like a pro linebacker with that agility and speed? He barely moved and put that girl on her butt. She’s a little demon in her own right. We know that no one would concern themselves about it if he were gay, if that is what you mean,” he replied.

With a chuckle, Winter’s dad said, “David’s a friend of my daughter Winter, so I know that the special forces would have to fight Intelligence for him. This kid has five bachelor’s degrees, at least ten master’s degrees, and multiple PhDs in advanced languages. He did that when he was sixteen.”

“The Seals and Rangers need officers who can speak multiple languages. I doubt he would have any issues getting through basic and special forces training,” Oliver replied.

Winters’s mom came over and said, “They wouldn’t have a chance at him. David is already certified on all military aircraft. You put him in the cockpit, and he can fly it.”

“Video games and simulators don’t count, Admiral,” one of the women there joked.

“Captain, I’m not talking about some joystick jockey. David did a textbook landing on a carrier during rough seas in a F/A-18 when he was seventeen, on his first time flying it,” the Admiral said. “The problem is, he refuses to kill anybody, and he’s had good reason many times. That puts special forces and fighter pilots off the table.”

Oliver saw the seal team leader coming over and pointed me out, saying I had a future as a Seal or a Ranger. He wanted the seal team leader’s support in recruiting me.

After laughing his ass off, the seal team leader said, “This kid is too much trouble, Oliver. Brass would never sign off on his enlistment or commission, and he’s never had any problems with the law.”

“The brass is willing to overlook many things these days to get good troops,” Oliver replied.

“Sorry, but he is too good all around,” the seal team leader said. “You don’t want someone with the number to the bat phone for every world leader on speed-dial. I don’t mean their office, but the phone that they don’t let go to voice mail, ever, day or night. You know the video of that guy on the carrier that ran circles around my team and the Marines on board, carrying a minigun, rucksack full, or weights, wearing a weight vest, and carrying simulated ammo for that minigun?”

Olive said, “Yeah. I heard you let that guy slip away without grabbing him up.”

“Can’t grab up someone who is still under eighteen. I’ve been around long enough to admit that some don’t belong in the military, no matter how damn impressive those people are. You know that my team is one of the best. David made us look like toddlers taking their first steps. He is faster than anyone I’ve ever seen and isn’t bragging when he says he is at the grandmaster level of all martial arts. He’s like a rabbit with a nuclear reactor stuck in his back. I wouldn’t want give the orders to take him down,” the seal team leader said. “Oh, that girl owning your son and mine? That is his twelve-year-old adopted daughter.”

Winter’s dad added, “You know why the Admiral let David’s two-year-old steer the carrier? He could afford to buy us a new one if she destroyed it, including all the aircraft onboard, and not bat an eye or take much of a hit in the wallet. I would guess he probably has one sitting in a dry dock somewhere waiting for the highest bidder to buy it off him.”

One of the other dads standing there asked, “Can you ask your daughter to quit making my son cry? He can take a lot.”

“Ellen may play hard, but she isn’t trying to hurt anyone’s feelings,” I told him.

“I’m not talking about the girl kicking everyone’s ass. I’m talking about your albino daughter with purple eyes,” he said.

I laughed and said, “That isn’t my daughter. She’s my adopted sister. What could she have done to make him cry?”

The kid kept talking to Ariba once they got eliminated from the current round. When their eyes locked, he felt at peace with the world. He found someone that could reach something deep inside him that he never knew existed.

Once they broke eye contact, it hit him that she was leaving tomorrow, and he wouldn’t likely ever see her again.

The pizza for the party arrived, and the kids were all called over to eat and then have cake.

When Ariba came close, I reached out to guide her away from everyone else.

“The boy you’ve been talking to is having his heart ripped out,” I told her.

She told me, “I know. We get drawn to each other.”

“Can you get some pizza and invite him to that area upstairs that no one is using for a party right now? We have another hour here, and I think he needs to talk to you for a while. He won’t do it with anybody, except maybe Elise, Faith, and me.” I told her, and she agreed.

I watched her get an entire pizza, take his hand, and walk off to find the stairs. I saw them sit down next to each other and start eating. Ellen took them up some drinks before coming back down to sit with Rosie.

Finding the boy’s dad, I told him that the two kids were upstairs talking over pizza.

From the looks of joy and happiness I saw on Lindy’s face, and I don’t know if anyone had celebrated her birthday in years, if ever. After they all had cake, Lindy took some up to Ariba and the boy. The various kids left. She made sure to go to each one to hug them and thank them for coming. Someone from the mansion came to get Rosie, Ellen, and Ariba.

When only Lindy and Winter’s parents remained, Lindy went over to hug each of the staff to thank them too. I found out I was staying over at their house tonight if something came up with Lindy. They didn’t expect anything but wanted me there to be sure.

Lindy was instantly overloaded as she walked into her new home. Front and center, she found a bike, kick scooter, and skateboard. Those were simple gifts for an eight-year-old. While those were near the top of her list, it was the simplest thing that made her rush to hug her new parents. They didn’t have any idea what was so overwhelming.

It took her a few minutes, but Lindy said, “I had a bike and skateboard at my old main home. Safety gear is my most precious gift today, only second to having you become my new parents. No one cared enough about me before to make sure I had pads and a helmet to help ensure I didn’t hurt, maim, or kill myself if I wiped out. They could always have another kid.”

Being an eight-year-old, once she realized there were piles of wrapped gifts, all for her and her alone, she started tearing off the wrapping paper and emptying gift bags. Surprising her new parents, Lindy put the wrapping paper, bows, and ribbons in the trash. She spread tissue paper into sheets and then put books on them to flatten the sheets. Gift bags got folded up too. She asked for some pieces of paper and then proceeded to write down who gave her which gift.

You are starting to see the scope of Lindy’s brainpower. How many gifts did she get? She has opened them all, cleaned up the mess, and now writes a list of who gave each one.

When Lindy finished the list, she had every gift listed and the person’s name that gave it to her. Some gave her multiple things, so she had their names on her list multiple times. When there was someone with the same name as another, Lindy put a number at the end. As the kid’s gifts didn’t have last names, she had to ask which one was which.

On a piece of paper, she quickly sketched out a damn good picture of a girl from the party.

Lindy asked her parents, “A girl named Amy with dirty blonde hair, green eyes, freckles on her nose, sports bra, orange t-shirt with white logo, white letters, yellow shorts, pink panties, four-foot-eight, around seventy pounds, and braces only on her top teeth. Is her last name Carter, Palmer, or Turner? What is the last name of the darker-skinned Amy wearing a green tank top, white bra, and blue skorts?”