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The man nodded. “I’m afraid for my own daughters. They will be coming of age and—”
“James Henderson is dead. He can’t hurt them,” Bennett explained again.
“He is only one man. Others have come and still do. Our daughters are not safe. Not with the power they hold.”
Others. Still. Come. What the fuck? This horrific story was not just about the Hendersons any longer. This twisted, dark journey just became human trafficking. Rich men abusing their power for unpardonable reasons. Doug put a hand on Bennett’s arm, trying to tell him to stay cool. He was right. There’d be plenty of time to explode later. Right now he needed to get everything he could from the one man who was willing to talk to them.
“What do these men do?”
“They come. Pay government official to have sex with daughters. They want only the pure. They take them away from us. When they come home, our daughters no longer who they were. They are mothers without children. Women who no man here wants as wife. Many leave and never come back. Too much shame they feel.”
Fucking hell. Henderson had come here and paid for virgins to fill his disgusting need. Oh, God. I can’t ever let her know that. That’d be worse than anything she’d experienced from her father. She’d carry a guilt that wasn’t hers to carry.
“Do you know who the other women are?”
The man turned around in his seat and started the van. Without answering, he continued toward the airport. Bennett understood that he wasn’t willing to share for any other reason except to protect his own children. He wanted to ask how many daughters he had, what their ages were. Were they at risk of being sold now? But he wasn’t in the position to stop it. He was going to need help. And a lot of it.
When they arrived at the airport, they grabbed their bags. Bennett pulled out all the money he had on him, which was substantial in that country. Then he had Doug and the pilot do the same. Giving the money to the man, he said, “Use this to protect your family for now. But trust me, I’ll be back, and I’ll do everything I can to stop what’s happening here. It’s going to take time. You should leave this place if you can. But trust me, I will bring help.”
The man looked down at the money. As his eyes filled with tears, he said, “Help our daughters. That’s all we care about.”
Bennett and Doug boarded the jet. As they took off, Bennett looked at the picture of Logan’s mother again and closed his phone. Looking at it wasn’t going to lead him in the direction he needed to go. Putting a stop to what was happening was going to take a hell of a lot more money than he had. And going up against a corrupt government wasn’t something he could do on his own. Even with his Marine brothers, they couldn’t fight a country.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to tell Zoey?”
Bennett didn’t even look at Doug. “No. But I need Henderson backing.”
“Going to Shaun?”
“Nope. I’m going to the one person who might know how sick their father was.” Brice.
“You know you can count me in for whatever you decide to do. It might’ve been a long time since I carried a gun, but don’t think for a minute I’ve forgotten how.”
Bennett opened his eyes and looked at Doug. It was the first time he’d ever seen Doug as a fellow former soldier. He had the don’t fuck with me look. “I think we’re going to need all the help we can get.”
Making a plan was going to take time. Nothing at this level could be done effectively if they wanted to make the impact that was necessary. It was a change that needed to sweep through the country and make them more afraid of the repercussions, than what money might come their way.
“I’ll keep you posted after I meet with Brice. Hope you’re in for the long haul because this job just became long term without pay or benefits.”
Doug nodded. “Just the way I like them.”
The rest of the flight was quiet. Bennett had texted back and forth with Brice to set up a meeting as soon as they landed. He knew it would’ve been better to shower and put time between what he’d learned and visiting the family. He couldn’t stop imagining who else would be hurt before they got back there. This wasn’t something new to their way of life. Brice was turning forty and Dean almost thirty. Something like that wasn’t going to be easy to change. But no matter what it took, how long it took, he was going to do something. Zoey’s mother will not have suffered in vain.
As Bennett entered Brice’s office, he could tell by the look from Brice that the last two weeks had taken their toll on him. He hadn’t shaven, and he probably smelled. None of it mattered to him. He needed to know if Brice would be on board or not.
“I take it you’re not here about my sister,” Brice said as he pointed to a chair across from his desk for Bennett to sit in.
“It’s about all of you. I suggest canceling the rest of your meetings today. This visit is going to take a while.”
Brice leaned back in his chair, looking at him for a moment before picking up his phone and relaying to his personal assistant to hold all calls and cancel all meetings. He didn’t want to be disturbed.
“You’ve got the floor, Bennett. This better be worth my time.”
They spent the next three hours going over everything he’d found out. Brice insisted on knowing who had assisted him in gathering this intel. He wasn’t about to divulge those names. It wasn’t about his reputation as much as it was protecting his sources. His word to them was everything. If Brice couldn’t respect that, that was his problem.
“Are you going to tell Zoey about this?” Brice asked, his voice filled with concern.
That was the one thing he’d battled with the entire flight. He didn’t want to lie to her, but this was bigger than she could handle right now. “I would prefer to keep this between us and whomever we utilize to bring these guys down. The more people we inform at this point, the more risk we put on those girls.”
