“Hey, what are the tears for?” he asked softly.
“I tried, Mister Luke.I tried so hard.I didn’t know about that other boy or I woulda got him out too.I didn’t get to sleep much.I only ate when they were full and sometimes that meant I didn’t eat.I just wanted to keep ‘em safe until I was grown and could get a real job.”
He pulled Sutton closer to his side, wrapping a big arm around her, and kissed the top of her head.
“You are the bravest, smartest, most beautiful little girl I know, Sutton,” he whispered to her.“You can sleep now.You can eat all you want.You can play.You can study whatever you want to study.We won’t separate you from Pip.You’ll stay together, just like we promised.”
“Hey, what’s with the waterworks?” smiled Nine.Gaspar, Ian, and Ghost kneeled in front of them along with Nine and smiled at the little girl.
“She’s exhausted, Uncle Nine.She’s been taking care of these kids for more than a year and she’s just a little tired and lost.”The older men wanted to rip someone to pieces but they didn’t want to scare the child.
“Sutton, do you like animals?” asked Gaspar.
“Yes, sir.I never had a dog or anything but I always wanted one.”
“How would you like to see a lot of animals?Elephants, giraffes, bison, and so much more.”Her eyes grew wide and she leaped to her feet.
“Seriously?” she said.
“Seriously,” said Gaspar standing with her.The others rose as well, smiling at the little girl.“Why don’t you let the others take care of them and we’ll take you on a little boat ride to see the animals.We’ll be back for supper.”
“Is it okay, Mister Luke?” she asked.
“I think it’s more than okay,” he smiled.“I think the animals could use someone else to talk to besides my father and me.”
“You talk to them?” she asked excitedly.
“All the time,” frowned Gaspar.“It’s very exhausting.”Luke laughed at his father, then looked at Sutton.
“You go on with them,” he said.“I’ll let Pip know where you are and he’ll be ready for dinner when you get back.School starts tomorrow, Sutton.I know you’re going to do great.”
She raced back to Luke, hugging him around the waist.
“Thank you, Mister Luke.Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, honey.Go on.Say hello to the animals for me.”Luke watched the four older men walk away with Sutton, knowing that she couldn’t be safer with anyone else.
“You did good, brother,” said Eric standing at his left shoulder.
“Yeah, it was kinda cool seeing that soft, squishy side of you,” smirked Cam.
“I will punch you in the face,” frowned Luke.Hex just laughed, shaking his head.
“Face it.We’re all a puddle of squishy mush with these kids.The question is what the fuck are we going to do about those lunatics out there.We need to find them.”
“Luke?Y’all come with me,” said Ace.“I’ve got something that might help.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As the four men stepped inside the office with Ace, he led them to their data and comms center where Hiro, Tanner, and AJ were working on something for the Shadow team.
“What do you have, Ace?” asked Hex.
“It might be nothing but I was just trying to search anything and everything to figure out if someone out there had an interest in musical savants.”
“What did you find?” asked Cam.
“More than I wanted.There is a great deal of interest in them, mostly to exploit them.A whole chat room willing to pay outrageous prices to put your kid on a stage to perform for people and show their odd skills.It’s like those old-time side shows that exploited people for their weight or excessive body hair.It’s so sick it makes me want to kill them all.”
