Page 45 of Charming But Reckless

"Are you okay with this?" They asked without saying a word.

I nodded slowly. "So long as my son isn't put back in danger, I'm willing to do whatever it takes. This woman deserves to know that her father is a pervert. Her kids should not be around him.”

Tank walked into the room just then. "Damn right. I always fucking hated Varr anyway. Self-serving asshole. Figures he's into kid porn. No offense, Arick.”

My eyes went wide. “Why would I be offended?"

And then I froze.

"Wait! Sol wasn't involved in any?—”

Orion gripped the back of my neck. "No, he wasn't. Tank just sometimes has no idea how to be a decent human and take people’s feelings into account.”

He bit the words out at his boss who had the decency to wince.

"Sorry about that, Arick. I've been having a stressful time lately."

I watched as Takeshi eyed him down. The man knew something else, but he wasn't typing on his phone, so I guessed none of us were going to have answers about what it was.

Rather than delve into it, Tank turned to the group and clapped his hands together.

"Looks like we've got a plan to get our first lead in a while. Let's go cause some trouble boys."

CHAPTER 16

ORION

It tookMemphis less than an hour to hack into Olivia Varr's schedule. The woman had her entire life meticulously planned out. There were meetings and appointments, school schedules, and even her cleaning time had a designated spot.

I had never seen anything quite so anal.

Sadly for us, there was no empty space in her schedule for us to try to meet with her. On top of that, we were all concerned about just reaching out directly. If she suspected that we were contacting her about her father, she could bail or give him a heads up.

We couldn’t risk that.

So the plan became interference.

We were going to pop up somewhere where she was and use Arick and Sol as a buffer of sorts to get her attention. Arick was fine with the idea, considering it would be a way to get him to the man responsible for his son being taken.

We had found out after digging deeper that it was likely that Varr had requested a specific type of child. Usually, men in his position had a preference — whether it was the hair, color, or eyes. Sometimes it was simply the body type or age.

Whatever sick fantasies they had, the kidnappers and traffickers worked together to find the specific one.

It just so happened to be Sol this time.

“Run the plan back by me,” I told Arick as we sat in the war room. “I just need to make sure you got it.”

He smiled softly. I could tell he was one more question away from being frustrated with me. He’d been a good sport so far. Since this was his first mission, I was understandably worried.

But this was a big deal. Tank had even said he was going to pay him. When Arick argued, Memphis jumped in and told him he wouldn't be able to help him on any more projects if he didn’t get on payroll. Arick changed his mind quickly.

I think working with computers had given him focus. It alleviated the anxiety and stress he'd been feeling. Now he had a way of making sure Sol was safe from anything else that might come our way. It gave him back some control instead of fretting over what happened and all the tiny details he still didn't know.

Sol had been quiet about his time away. He still had a nightmare every so often, but it wasn't every single night, and they weren't near as bad as they had been. Getting to live his life as a kid and being reunited with his dad had done wonders.

We also had plans to get him into a therapist, one who specialized in child trauma. They were already familiar with the case and had dealt with other trafficking victims. There would never be a time when he was completely healed and magically better, but we could give him the tools to navigate a world after being taken.

I had gone through some of the work myself, though I waited until I was an adult to do so.

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