Page 19 of John’s Yearning

John recalled the photos that had been attached to the police reports. “Yeah.” He could see Oliver’s mind working, and knew which direction it was going. He’d had the same thought many hours earlier, but he hadn’t wanted to follow it to its conclusion.

“How many?”

“A dozen in the last five or six weeks alone.”

Oliver sighed. “Bastards. Sick bastards.”

“I was hoping that I was wrong. I was actually hoping that it’s just another group of rogue vampires.” It would be something he could handle easily. Because he knew how vampires thought, he knew how they acted, he knew their weak points. A vampire was after blood, first and foremost. Which meant while the kids would certainly be traumatized, they wouldn’t be irreparably harmed. Not in the way these bastards would harm the kids. It was painful to give it a name. “It’s a child sex ring.”

Oliver pressed his lips together in a grim line. “That would be my best guess.” He rose from his chair. “Sorry, man, but there are a lot of sick people out there.”

“Yeah, very sick.”

~ ~ ~

Two hours later, John walked into the small meeting room on the executive floor, where the offices of all of Scanguards’ directors were located. Three people were already waiting for him: Samson, Gabriel, and Quinn, who was Oliver’s sire and looked no older than twenty-five. With his attractive blond hair, he gave the air of a quintessential womanizer though he was happily blood-bonded to a vampire woman. They sat around the conference table talking and looked up at John when he entered.

Samson exuded authority despite his casual attire. His hazel eyes were alert, his black hair styled back, his shoulders relaxed.

“Evening, Samson.” John nodded to the other two. “Gabriel. Quinn.”

“Take a seat, John. Fill us in,” Samson said and pointed to the chair opposite. He glanced at Gabriel. “I hear Donnelly is trying to get us to take on a case. What have you found?”

John sat down and placed his file in front of him, but he didn’t open it. He didn’t have to. He’d memorized every pertinent fact. And now he had to make a case for Scanguards to accept this assignment. He’d done this dozens of times before, but never with as few convincing reasons and as much heartfelt passion.

“Over the last few weeks, there’ve been a large number of child abductions in the Bay Area. All of them were girls between the ages of nine and twelve. None of the parents received ransom notes. The kids simply vanished.”

“And you think vampires are involved in their disappearance?” Samson asked.

“Considering that some of the children were taken in broad daylight, no. However—”

“Then why are we even discussing this?” Samson asked. “Hand the case back to Donnelly.”

“I don’t think it’s that clear cut,” John protested. “This is big. Bigger than Donnelly’s people are prepared to handle.”

“That may be the case, but our arrangement with the SFPD is clear: we only get involved if we’re dealing with preternatural creatures. We just don’t have the manpower to do any more than that.” Samson made a motion to rise.

John shot up from his seat. “Please, hear me out, Samson. I think we’re dealing with child sex trafficking. These are little girls. If we don’t help them, they might be lost forever.”

Samson closed his eyes for a second and sighed. “Don’t think I’m heartless, John. I’m not. I feel for the children and their parents, but we can’t take on more than we can handle.” He exchanged a look with Gabriel and Quinn.

Quinn patted the file folder in front of him. “Everybody’s already taking on more assignments than they can handle. We’re spread thinner than a Japanese paper screen. And since we had to dispatch some of our men to fulfill our obligations with the Stealth Guardians, we’re short-staffed.”

John knew about that. Only a few short months ago, Scanguards had allied themselves with the Stealth Guardians. They’d agreed to help each other battling evil, and as a result Scanguards had dispatched some of their staff to help the immortal warriors in their fight against the demons, while the Stealth Guardians in turn helped out whenever their skills were needed by Scanguards. At the moment, the Stealth Guardians’ need for battling the demons outweighed Scanguards’ need for assistance.

“But this is important. We’re talking about kids. Innocents. I’m not confident that Donnelly’s people can handle this. They have no leads.”

“Do you?” Gabriel shot back.

John swallowed. “Not yet. But I can feel it. There is a connection between these children that will lead me to the culprits. I’ll find it. I’ll work day and night if I have to.”

Gabriel shook his head. “John, be reasonable. As much as we all want to help these families get their children back, it would be at the expense of others that we’ve sworn to protect. If times were different, if we had more men at our disposal, there’s no question that we’d take this case. But our hands are tied.”

“And you can’t work day and night,” Samson added. “I appreciate your dedication. But if you work twenty-four-seven, you’re going to burn out and you’ll make a mistake. One that might cost you or someone in your care their life. I can’t allow that.”

“And if one of those children were your child?” John barked, realizing he was marching into insubordination territory.

Samson’s eyes narrowed. “I’m going to ignore that question. Do you understand me, John? Hand the case back to Donnelly. This is their case. They have the resources. They will eventually make a break.”