Rebound: Passion Book 2 (24 page)

It was around one in the morning when I watched over the monitor
as agents busted down the door of Bruno’s house. I’d been waiting for it for
hours but now that it was here I couldn’t believe it was actually
happening.
 
“Thank fuck I was about to
give up on their ass.”

“Ssh, turn it up Josh I can’t hear what they’re saying.” He turned
up the volume just in time for us to hear the charges against Tommy Bruno as he
was being cuffed. Dazed and confused after being dragged out of bed the
middle-aged predator didn’t seem to know what the hell was going on around him.
Somehow I’d expected him to put up more of a fight but he just looked scared
and out of his depth.

We watched for the next few hours as they combed the residence
taking away boxes and boxes of files and searched every inch of the place. “I
hope none of that shit is about Kadyn.” James hadn’t found anything but there
was no guarantee that there wasn’t. Whatever the case she wasn’t going back
there if I had anything to say about it. “One phase over now we wait and see if
he slithers out of this.”

“He won’t, you ready?”

“Yeah.” We used the voice distorter to place a call to the local newsroom
in Nebraska, which was closed at this hour but I was sure they’d get the
message first thing in the morning. Along with the message from an unidentified
source we sent the damaging pictures from Bruno’s hard drive along with some
other information. All in all we hit up three news stations, two local and one
national and with that, sewed up one pedophile nice and tight. If his money had
gotten him off in the past it would be hard for them to get away with that shit
this time. The public had a way of convicting assholes better than the justice
system did. Corrupt fucks.

Back in our room where she was fast asleep I looked down at her.
Sometimes she looked so young and innocent that it was hard to imagine her life
had been what it was. But I wasn’t going to think about that anymore, after
tonight I was going to make sure that neither of us spent any more time
dwelling on that shit. Standing there I made a decision, it was the only one in
the end that made any sense. “Kadyn wake up baby.” I
laid
beside her and ran my fingers over her face until she opened her eyes. “Hey
baby.” I only meant to kiss her awake but the taste of her lips under mine
coupled with the adrenaline high that I was riding changed my mind. I fell into
her softness as she opened herself to me.

No words were spoken as we undressed each other in the dark. I ran
my hands over her body burning the touch and feel into my memory. She moved
beneath me her hands making their own foray over my hardness as I covered her
and slid into her waiting heat. There were no rushed movements, I didn’t feel
the need to pound away at her but instead I wanted a slow loving. I wanted to
use my body this once to show her without words how much she meant to me. We
clung to each other as I rode her to completion. “Again.” I didn’t stop moving
inside her, staying buried deep until the fire raged out of control once more.

When we were both spent and our breathing had calmed down I
finally told her. “Bruno has been arrested.”

“What?” she sat up like a shot. Pulling her back down to my chest
I told her everything I’d been up to. She shook for a good ten minutes while
she cried tears of relief in my arms. Her first thought was of her mom, which I
kind of expected so I passed her the new phone I’d bought her. I didn’t even
try to stop her from calling at this late hour because I’m sure neither of them
would care about that.

I think out of everything I’d done so far, watching her talk to
her mom was my greatest achievement. The two women stayed on the phone for
hours as she caught her mom up on everything that she’d been up to. I was
subjected to an embarrassing snapshot and a disjointed conversation with the
woman who would be my mother in law but it was all worth it to see the
unbridled joy on my baby’s face. I couldn’t wait to give her
her
other surprises this weekend.

Eight of us hopped on dad’s jet to head to New England that
weekend, it was a festive group and the atmosphere was light. The news broke
the day after the arrest of the local businessman who’d been caught and as was
the case with these things even more shit was coming out about him. So far it
seems Kadyn was the only stalking victim but there was a lot of allegations
about child pornography among other things. If half of that shit stuck he’d be
going away for a very long time. It was finally over.

We checked into our hotel before heading over to the campus to see
where we would be spending the next four years of our lives. The place felt
good, the atmosphere wasn’t much different from home, just another small town
with new scenery. I was glad that I’d shared the news with her in the end
because she seemed so much more light-hearted and the four of us were excited
about starting our new lives in a couple months.

“Do you like it Kitten?”

“I love it, I love the air it feels different here.” She took a
deep breath as she spun around with her arms outstretched, a wide grin on her
face. The little starter house mom and dad had found us turned out to be a lot
more. That was to be expected when mom was involved. The place was huge with
its own backyard and front lawn, more than enough space. It was off campus but
still in walking distance and Josh and I walked the grounds sort of mapping out
a route.

We were both very conscious of the fact that we were going to be
responsible for these two young women for the next four years with no parents
around. I’m sure we were up to the task and though it might seem a bit like
overkill to be checking out the area for any danger, we weren’t about to take
any chances. We’d already ran a background check on the area and found that
though there had been a few break-ins here and
there in the last year
or so, there was
really no real crime to speak of. The campus had a good police force and they
had things in place to safeguard their students, which was perfect.

With that taken care of, it was time to relax and enjoy the fact
that our lives were heading in the right direction. I had a little surprise in
store for my girl and that evening as we gathered in the hotel dining room I
was on pins and needles waiting for it to show up. I recognized her as soon as
she came into the room looking around for her daughter. I nudged Kadyn and
nodded towards her mother who was following the maitre ‘d towards our table.

Now I felt like my job was finally done.

“When
did the girls say they’d be back again?”

“Fu…I mean he…crap; I don’t
know.”

“Watch your mouth Josh.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah but you almost slipped and
you know who has their ears pricked.” I inclined my head in the direction of
our two little angels.

“I can’t
believe we’re wearing this
sh
…stuff bro.” Josh pulled
on the feather boa around his neck. I would laugh at him if I weren’t in the
same predicament.

The
wives had gone on one of their shopping marathons with Nessa. This could take a
whole day but they promised that they’d be good which is what they’ve done a
hundred times before but always broke their promises. I watched as our little
girls poured us tea and chattered away at each other. Amara was mine and Selah
was Josh’s; born one day apart three years ago, the two girls looked uncannily
alike for cousins. Somehow we’d lucked out and there were no pregnancies while
we were in school. There were more than a few scares but those always turned
out to be false alarms. I was never too sure if I was pleased or disappointed
after each one but it had worked out in the end.

We’d
gone away on vacation after school, kind of a get out of jail free type thing.
School was over and we were respectable college grads, it was time to unwind
and relax. I don’t know if there was something in the water in Turkey or if the
girls had planned this shit but three months later the house was filled with
the sounds of morning sickness and quite frankly, bitching.

We
were back home getting our lives sorted out, things hadn’t changed all that
much except that we’d fixed up our floors a little to reflect adulthood instead
of the teenagers we’d been when we left. Mom and dad were only too happy to
have us back in the nest and life was settling into a routine. Then we’d jumped
from college grads to dads in the twinkling of an eye.

Somewhere
along the way the girls had decided to open a business together. Nessa was some
up and coming hot shot designer and the three of them had some kind of business
proposal put together even before we’d finished school. Carrie was going to do
marketing and Kadyn was the numbers man.

Josh
and I had completely changed our majors after we decided that we wanted to do
something in the security field. We set up a nationwide database for victims of
stalking which we got off the ground our last year in school. With James
spearheading the security detail we searched the nation for men and women
interested in offering security and workshops for women and men who were living
in fear for their lives. Since the law seemed to move slowly even four years
later we decided to take the initiative.

Now
there were four states where we had safe houses set up along with workshops
where victims were taught how to protect themselves and how to live their lives
without fear. Josh had found a way to improve the tracking devices that we’d
been using on the girls for years. The shit was so good the federal patent
office had come calling. We had lawyers on payroll whose only job was trying to
fight legislature to get the lax laws changed.

When
we’d first set up the database I had no idea of the number of young girls that
were being subjected to this horror. Families being held hostage in their own
homes who had their hands tied by laws that seemed more interested in
protecting the rights of the perpetrator than the victim. It was our aim to arm
these people with everything they needed to take their lives back. Having seen
the effects of that shit first hand I had a pretty good idea what was needed,
and Kadyn was instrumental in a lot of the procedures we implemented. We had a
few offers to work with law enforcement but decided against it. Their hands
were too often tied by bureaucracy and bullshit, which defeats the whole
purpose of what we were trying to do.

I
got a great sense of enjoyment out of the fact that we’d used Bruno’s money to
finance a lot of this because the shit was expensive. When we found a candidate
it was up to the vetting team to decide the threat level and what was needed.
Each of them was then outfitted with all the necessary equipment needed for
their safety. A team was dispatched to secure their residence at our expense if
they couldn’t afford it and the women were tagged along with other security
measures as needed.

Everything
was done to catch the perp in the act so that he could be brought to justice.
We didn’t always stop there because as in a lot of cases these creeps got out
of jail and went back to their crap. In those cases we set up security for the
victim and if need be there were what I like to call enforcers to make sure
they got the message. In essence we were helping the over worked local police
who were sometimes less enthusiastic about our involvement than others. I
didn’t really care about them or what they thought. As long as I could help
people in need I was good. I never forgot my wife’s years of horror or Carrie’s
near rape and murder. I was proud of my brother and myself that we’d made this
our life’s work for all that it had started from a dark place.

Bruno
was doing a hundred and twenty five years because once the feds had started
pulling on that string they had unraveled a whole network of sick fucks far and
wide who were into the exploitation of children and young women. The only thing
I wouldn’t agree to was
Kadyn’s
telling her story in
public; she’d come a long way since those days that was for sure but I was
still keen on keeping her protected.

She
no longer had any fear of the man who was her own personal demon. And each year
on the anniversary of his sentencing I sent him a little present. He never knew
whom or where it came from but I was satisfied that he got the message. From
everything I’d read I knew that it was picking away at his sanity that his
obsession had gotten away and he would never be able to see or get near her
again. It was probably a petty ass thing to do but it gave me great pleasure to
torment his ass.

These
days I’m the one losing my damn mind though. It seems Josh and I spend our
every waking moment trying to come up with something to ensure our daughters’
safety and protection. From the moment they were born, which I still think was
some sort of cosmic joke we have been in a tailspin. Pregnancy was an
experience best left untouched. I don’t think I breathed easy from the moment
she put that little stick in my hand until…well now.

My
daughter is an exasperating mix of her mother and I. She has a mind of her own
and lets it be known that she’s her own person, even at three. Her cousin isn’t
much better; I think the two of them think up shit to drive their poor dads
nuts when they’re in
their
shared room at night. The
two of them are inseparable, preferring each other’s company to anyone else’s,
and they had some strange ways about them that I feared bode ill for the
future. They spoke in code or some shit that not even their mothers understood
and they had that eye roll shit down to an art form.

 
Josh was a complete lunatic when it came to
his daughter and niece. I like to think that I’m a little more with it, though
others seem to think we’re two of a kind. They were tagged obviously, and we
tried to give them as normal a childhood as possible without stifling them but
it was a trial. Maybe it was a product of our careers I don’t know, all I know
is that there are some seriously twisted fucks in the world and you can never
be too careful. Anything that can be used as a security measure is in place.
The women act like we’re nuts but I know their freedom and stability stems from
the fact that they know we’ve got them covered.