Secrets in the Dark

by K D Michaels

  10

  Early the next morning, the group met up back at Trident Security’s conference room. Over breakfast sandwiches and coffee, everyone looked at files, brainstormed ideas on what to do next, looked at maps and discussed the entire case, looking at different angles, trying to figure out who Ares was and if Dakota was still alive.

  Ian’s phone beeped several hours into their discussions, “Sgt. Brocard, it looks like Tampa PD found a body, barely breathing. Swift sent over a photo for you guys to look at.”

  “Son-of-a-bitch! That’s Asia Davenport. He was kidnapper number two, the one who had his hand on Dakota.” Sgt. Brocard fumed, looking over at her team members. “Looks like Ares and Jennifer are cleaning up. First Peter Robinson, then Candy Ruiz, now Asia Davenport.”

  “That means we’re getting close. Those three were the weakest links.” Cortez stood up to stretch, looking over at Raso then Pratt before shrugging.

  “Technically Jennifer is the weakest link. Only a matter of time before she’s next.”

  “How did you come to that conclusion?” Carter asked Pratt, both confused and amused by her statement.

  “Well, I can see them taking out Peter and Asia because we’ve identified them from the mall video, but they left them alive this long only because we never found them. Peter fucked up somewhere along the way because he was the first taken out. We never would have thought about Tampa if it wasn’t for his body being gator bait.” Pratt glanced over to Gene and Larry sharing a look for a few moments, before they both nodded.

  “Candy was useful, until she wasn’t. Had she not been arrested for whatever put her on Tampa PD’s radar, she probably would still be alive. As soon as we landed, we found out she was here courtesy of Tampa PD. Candy bragged to officers and probably other prisoners about what she’s done. When she signed the paperwork refusing protective custody, she basically signed her death warrant.”

  “What I’m not understanding is why leave Asia for last? We didn’t even assume he was here. We thought he would be gone as soon as Peter was killed.” Rameriez stated, getting up and walking around the room, pacing as she talked, a common quirk among the Alpha Squad members.

  “That’s just it, when we assumed that Asia hauled ass, we didn’t even consider Jennifer’s link to Ares, we just assumed Jennifer was cleaning house. Even so, it doesn’t explain Red’s theory of Jennifer being the weakest link.” York looked over at Pratt.

  “Jennifer couldn’t resist the temptation to contact me and brag about her association with Ares. She had to boast that she was coming after me for her mother’s death. She also confirmed that Ares is here in Tampa, therefore giving us hope that Dakota was too.”

  “Shite, Laura is right. She painted a target on her back.” Highlander shook his head.

  “Then why haven’t we found her body yet?” Alvarez questioned, looking around the room for an answer.

  “Ares wants us to do his dirty work. Jennifer took out Peter, cleaned house. Either Jennifer or Ares ordered Candy taken out, attempted to take out Asia. Jennifer had Thompson taken out since his dick wasn’t useful anymore. Ares is amused at the ‘sibling rivalry’ that Jennifer assumes we are in.” Pratt used her fingers as quotation marks for the term regarding siblings.

  “He knows she threatened Highlander and your kids, but your badge would prevent you from crossing that line.” Brody stated, watching Pratt for a response.

  “Technically, yes, as a cop I can’t just take her out. Jennifer is banking on that part taking precedence over my first instinct as a woman, protect my family at all costs. She knows I value my badge over everything since it’s what caused the downfall of my marriage to Jon. But she doesn’t know the badge comes second when it comes to my husband, children, Dominick and those I consider family. I’ll put a bullet in your head without thought, fuck the consequences.”

  “If Ares knows differently…”

  Everyone looked at Devon before looking to Pratt, eyes wide open as realization dawned on everyone at the same time.

  “Fuck a duck! That means it’s someone connected to the Senator and his family. Holy fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! When we went up against Arrow and their people, Joe, you fought Opie’s brother, the one he didn’t know about…”

  “Pratt? What popped in your head?” Gene asked, concerned when Pratt looked out the conference room window, silent for several moments.

  “Six years ago, we handled a case with a young girl, well she’s not so young now, but until she had gone missing a second time, we never knew who she was other than a girl we rescued,” Pratt rambled without breaking her staring contest with the outside world.

  “Shane?” York asked, making sure she was thinking along the same lines as Pratt.

  Pratt nodded slightly. “When she was found, she needed a blood transfusion due to the amount of blood she lost. That’s how Dom and I found out she was our sister. It was no secret dad fucked around on mom through the years. Because Dom always stood up for me, against the parents, they tended to favor Maria. What if, dad didn’t care about Dom taking over any ‘empire’ he has because he has another son? Who the fuck else would know about any shit I’ve done in my past? The Senator knows I took out his kid, well attempted to…” Pratt started to ramble again before looking over at Larry and Gene, staring at both of them.

  “Shit, Laura, don’t get ahead of yourself with that thought. It could be a kid the Senator has that no one knew about. Could be another bad guy who gets his rocks off taking out people. Hell, it could be someone that the Senator hired.”

  “What are you thinking, Detective Pratt?”

  Pratt looked over at Ian for a moment, trying to gather her run away thoughts. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Pratt looked up and saw her husband standing behind her, giving her silent support.

  “We all know that human trafficking is branches of a whole. What if Arrow and Ares are the same? Ares is a branch off of Arrow, a family business, with Jennifer as the go between, that may be the only thing keeping her alive right now.”

  “That’s the general idea, about human trafficking. But we all know there are those who start their own branches, not really falling under the same organization, other than by trade. Gangs are one of the largest ones that have their own branch.” Rameriez walked over to the white board writing down the word ‘gangs’ on it then underlining the word.

  “Don’t forget pedos. While they may not have a harem, they do traffic victims now and then.” Diesel spewed as if she had a bad taste in her mouth.

  “Well, the mafia would also be another branch of their own. There they tend to branch out depending on the family. The Italians and the Irish…fuck it all of them branch out thanks to how they work it.”

  “Technically, Ramz, the mafia, mafioso, mob, whatever you wanna call them, they do answer to a higherup, the Godfather! Wonder what it would be called if it was a woman leader though?” Diesel looked up at the ceiling in thought, causing her teammates to snicker at the look on the men’s faces as they shook their heads.

  “Fairy Godmother!” Pratt answered, straight faced. “Anywho. Arrow isn’t mafia or part of a gang, the pedo shit is still debatable with some of the shit I’ve learned through the years. But, we can all, I hope, agree that he is part of a secret society with some of the connections he’s gotten through the years.”

  “Arrow?” Devon questioned, looking at each Alpha Squad member, Gene, Larry and then the SEALs.

  “Arms dealer who also dabbled in human trafficking. It’s a tossup on which made him more money.”

  The men of Trident Security, Carter and Alvarez all watched Pratt, waiting for more information. “Okay, I’ll be the one to ask…how do you know so much about this Arrow? I take it he’s someone you’ve encountered.”

  Pratt looked up at Alvarez for a moment before she looked over at Highlander for encouragement. “Arrow happens to be my lass’s sperm donor.”

  “What?” Gene asked confused, looking over at Larry who looked just as confused.


  “Yeah, the case that killed Jennifer’s mom, well it turns out my sperm donor was Arrow, starting in his military career days. I’m guessing when he started running with the Senator. My stepmother was his sidekick or something. She helped him with getting the girls to sell. They had help from a few other people he made connections with while in the military through the years.”

  “Was it a son of your father’s that involved with that case?” Marco asked, curious about the situation.

  “Not my father’s son. But we did find out one of his friends lead the double life like my father did. He had a son who was a prior Marine and then went to work for the CIA before going rogue to assist his daddy. Seems like that’s a running theme for this group.”

  “Wait a minute,” Sgt. Brocard told the room, standing up going to the white board. “We know the Senator is from old money. He’s been a part of this secret society malarkey since he was in diapers, having been born into it. What if he recruited your father and Opie’s dad while they all served in the Corps with him?”

  Pratt thought for several moments before looking over at Gene and Larry. “Is there a way to find out about the men my father and the Senator served with in the Corps? I know they served together, along with a John Adamson. I dealt with Mr. Adamson when we handled his son’s case eight years ago. Adamson is dead, so that’s one less asshole we have to deal with.”

  “Brody can help us with that. I’ll call Matthews to get the authorization into the classified information on your father’s enlistment as well.” Larry nodded at Brody as he pulled out his phone and dialed the President’s phone number.

  11

  Several hours after getting the clearance they needed from the President and the Pentagon officials, Brody was digging into classified files that had information on Senator Nation Harris, David Pratt, the late John Adamson and four new names to add to their list.

  “Okay, so we have four new names to add to our list of this so-called secret group. Now if there was just a way to figure out who banged who and how many of them spawned out children who wanna do daddy’s bidding in this group.” Diesel mumbled as she looked over the new names of the four men.

  “Well, we know Adamson had one. The Senator has one or two that would do daddy’s bidding, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he has more than one that the media didn’t know about.” York concluded, looking over her notes.

  “Brody, what can you find out about the other four names on the list that my father served with?”

  “Well, from what we’ve gathered, two of the names we can cross off as they are dead. One from cancer about four years ago and another from a car accident about ten years ago. That leaves James Leonardo and Franklin Carver.”

  “Carver? That name sounds familiar. I think he is one of the security guys that the Senator uses. Not Secret Service, but private security.”

  “Makes sense, you can’t get away with a lot of things without getting noticed as a Secret Service Agent. Private security, they will do whatever they are paid to do and do it well. Especially for a boss like the Senator.” Cortez admitted to the group, looking at the photo that was procured of the small team of men.

  “What does James Leonardo do for a living?” Sgt. Brocard asked the room.

  “Looks like he owns a dry-cleaning business.” Brody looked at the screen, placing the information on the overhead screen.

  “Meaning they use his business to launder money for the arms deal’s and the human trafficking victims. How many does he have that we need to deal with? Any here in Tampa?” Larry asked, looking at his notes on the team.

  “Shows he has four here in the Tampa area.”

  “Great, four to dig through.” Diesel groaned, looking at the locations of the four stores.

  “Check for two things, the most active and something near water or easy in and out access for heavy traffic when it comes to the transport of the trafficking victims.” Carter advised for narrowing down where to look.

  “Takes it down to two. Seems there are two with waterfront locations and heavy traffic from Leonardo.”

  “Split into teams of two. Team one will take one of the storefronts, team two will take the other. We’ll hit them at the same time. Devon, have Swift on standby with Tampa PD for both locations. We may need them if they have any victims there.”

  “How would you like to split the teams, Mr. Sawyer?” Sgt. Brocard asked, looking from her teammates to Ian.

  “Ian, we’ve worked together long enough for you to call me Ian. I’ll lead team one. I’ll take Marco, Boomer, Highlander, Speedy, Snake, you, York, Raso and Rameriez. The rest can go with Carter.”

  Carter clapped his hands together as he rubbed them. “Sorry Highlander, I get the wife to play with today. Alvarez and I will take good care of her.” Carter winked at Highlander who growled at the fact that he and Pratt would be separated for this assignment.

  “Down tiger. We’ve worked separate before. I have Mac, Doc and Casanova with me. They won’t let anything happen to me. Gene would also have Carter’s balls in a jar if he let anything happen to me before you had a chance to take him out.” Pratt winked at her husband before kissing him as they walked away to suit up.

  Carter and his team showed up at the storefront on Bayshore drive near Hyde Park. Pratt, Cortez and Diesel walked into the drycleaners pretending they had laundry to be serviced. Once they arrived in, they signaled who was seen in the store and their locations. When the last customer left, it was their turn. Diesel locked the front door, lowered the blinds and replaced the open sign with the closed sign, just as Cortez and Pratt drew their weapons and ordered the person at the front counter to get on the ground.

  Cortez zip tied the young woman’s hands and feet before they moved to the back of the store. Cortez opened the back door allowing Alvarez and the men to enter the store as they broke up into smaller groups to check the rest of the area.

  Finding a door, Doc slowly opened it to see that it led down a flight of stairs. Carter, and the rest of the team slowly made the trip down the stairs behind Doc. Once they reached the bottom, they saw it led to a bigger hallway. Giving the signal, they split into teams of two, each one hitting one of the four doors at the same time.

  After taking out the shooters hidden in the room, they found several young girls in small cages that were obviously under the influence of drugs. Alvarez and Pratt kicked in their door to find three men in the room with a young girl on the ground pleading for her life. One of the men had a gun to the girl’s head, screaming at the two women to drop their weapon or the girl would die.

  “So, Red, how good of a shot are you?”

  “Depends on who you ask, really. I could probably take out two, but that third would be tricky.”

  “Eh, I could deal with the third, probably help you with that second.”

  “Ohhhh, recreate the head exploding if we hit the same spot. Yum!”

  Alvarez chuckled, “You seriously need help!”

  Pratt shrugged as she took aim and fired her weapon, striking the man standing behind the young girl, to the right of the tango with their gun to the girl’s head.

  At the same time Pratt fired, Alvarez fired her weapon taking out the guy standing to the gun holder’s left. Both women fired a second round, taking out the man holding the gun to the girl’s head, causing the girl to scream out as she dropped to the ground.

  Alvarez and Pratt walked over to the girl to check on her. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, thank you. Where am I?”

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” Pratt asked softly.

  “Coming out of the mall with some friends. Some guy saying that he was a photographer and thought we should be models.”

  “Ah, the classics.” Alvarez mumbled as she checked their surroundings for stragglers.

  “They said they were selling us to new masters who were going to train us to be proper slaves,” the young girl cried into Pratt’s shoulder.

  “Alvarez, the
men have any luck finding someone they can make talk?”

  “Yep. Carter, the jerk, is boasting about his tango. Wants to have some fun with him to make him talk.”

  “Good, let’s go join the party. Swift and her team should be here shortly to help us get the victims to safety. Let’s go have some real fun now.

  Just as Alvarez and Pratt walked into the room that Carter and the others were in, the man they were talking to started screaming out his answers. “Well damn, he’s no fun!”

  “Jackson! His name is Jackson Ares. His father is a fucking Senator!” The man screamed out in pain as Doc manipulated his broken arm.

  “Shit! That’s why he’s been so fucking arrogant. He’s the Senator’s kid.”

  Carter took out his phone and dialed Brody’s number. “Find out what you can on a Jackson Ares. Let Ian know what we’ve found. We’re on our way back to the compound now.”

  12

  Both teams met back at the compound, discussing their findings with both storefronts. Brody, Gene and Larry used their resources to find out what they could about Jackson Ares and his location.

  “So, this Jackson fella is older than Jon? Carlton was only two years older than Jon. This makes Jackson what, three or four years older?” Pratt looked over the bio she had in her hand for Jackson.

  “Wait, here it says his name is Jackson Stephenson…”

  “Holy shit he’s ten years older than your ex, Red.” Diesel pointed out the birthdate. “That puts him at least in his late forties.”

  “That can’t be right. That would mean the Senator…ugh the Senator knocked up a girl when he was in high school.” Pratt groaned doing the math with the Senators age and the year the suspect was born.

  “Boys will be boys and it really wasn’t unheard of back then, redhead!” Gene laughed at Pratt’s look she was giving him.

  “Well, I can say this, he’s got one hell of a tan. Wonder what his momma looks like.” Diesel mumbled looking at the photo of the suspect, turning her head side to side.