Hi, everyone. This fic deals with a highly sensitive issue. Sadly, this thing happens within our communities. Some even worst in certain parts of the world. So, READERS' DISCRETION IS ADVISED. Or you can turn around now and stop reading. You've been warned.
SUMMARY : During a briefing, Team One learn that Sam keeps a secret. A deep, dark and terrible secret.
"Okay, guys. Here's the intel we got on the subject," said Sergeant Parker, starting the briefing for the coming warrant call. He stood next to the large screen, which currently showed a photo of a clean-cut good-looking man. "The subject's name is Matthew Stevens. Thirty years old. Runs a child trafficking ring, as well as underage pornography. The information we got is that he has a large place outside of town, the center for all his activities. This has been going on for almost a year now."
"A year? Why didn't we find about it much sooner?" asked Raf, frowning in disapproval. He had had a brief history with adults taking advantage on youngsters. He still held grudges to this day.
"He is sleek. He operates his dirty business underground," Parker further explained as he took his seat at the head of the table. "Matthew Stevens is known to the public as a rich philanthropist who likes to do good things for the kids. He also runs other bona fide ventures such as manufacturing and supplying children's products. The image he carries is as this lovable good guy that all mothers want their daughter to marry. The intel we received is from the inside. One of his people begins to realize that Mr. Stevens is not exactly the Prince Charming everyone thinks he is."
"What's exactly our mission here, Boss? We bring him in for questioning?" Ed wanted to know, balling his fists. He would love to do the 'questioning' if given the chance.
Parker gave the team leader a knowing smile. "Yep, we bring him in. But bear in mind, though. Highly likely this will involve innocent lives. Who knows how many kids he holds captive inside his private mansion."
"We might be looking at multiple hostage situations," supplied Sam, nodding in understanding.
"That's right. Things could get real ugly real fast. That's why we need to do this smooth and precise with as much info as we can get." The Sergeant turned back to the screen. At the click of the remote, it showed an aerial photo of a large house sitting atop a hill surrounded by woods. "This is his current location, our target. I'll send the coordinates to your PDAs. Now, Ed. How do you want to do this?"
Thoughtfully, Ed observed the screen for a few moments before he gave his inputs on tactical and strategic approach. He divided the team into two, with him and Sam leading Alpha and Bravo respectively. He then asked Spike, "How good is the security?"
"A guardhouse at the main gate with two guards at all times, high walls around the premises, CCTVs at each corner," Spike replied, pecking away at his computer. "I can hack into his internal security system to get a closer look on what's going on inside that mansion if you want me to."
"Did you ever need to ask, Spike?"
Spike grinned. "I knew you're gonna say that."
"Hack away then." Ed grinned in return before coming back to Parker. "Anything else we should know about this Matthew Stevens?"
"Yes. He's not doing this alone. He has a so-called partner named Garrick Stevens." The Sergeant clicked at the remote again until a photo of another man came up. He was in his early fifties with strong physique and harsh looking countenance. It clearly showed that he had the bearing of a man who had once served in uniforms.
"Any relations to Matthew?" This came from Jules, staring hard at the man's angular face. "He doesn't look much like his brother or father, though. Could he be a distant relative?"
"That's the strange thing. We don't know. No one knows. On paper, Garrick Stevens doesn't exist. There are no files whatsoever on him, as if he appears out of thin air," Parker elaborated. "He operates mainly in the shadows, out of the picture. The intel tells us that Garrick is Matthew's right-hand man, the one who does all the dirty works with great relish. If Matthew does it simply for money, Garrick actually enjoys hurting those children. That makes him the most dangerous."
"Working in shadows, non-existence," Jules wondered with a shake of her head. She turned to Sam beside her. "What, is this guy a ghost or something?"
To Jules' absolute surprise, she noticed that Sam's face had gone deathly white, his eyes a pair of bleak orbs as he sat still as a statue, gaping in horror at Garrick Stevens's photo.
"Uh…Sam? Are you okay?" she asked, touching his arm. The rest of Team One turned to watch them both. They all grew concerned when Sam didn't reply, completely unresponsive.
"What's wrong, Sam?" asked Parker, leaning forward to look closely at the young officer. "You know this guy?"
Still staring at the photo, Sam slowly and wordlessly nodded.
"You knew him in the military?" Ed also asked, growing slightly impatient by Sam's lack of reactions. "Come on, Sam. Speak up. Is he your friend?"
That caused Sam to jerk back in shock. Staring at Ed, he mumbled, "M…my friend…?"
At once, hot bile pushed up his throat. Struggling against the gag reflex, Sam clamped a hand over his mouth and shot off his seat, rushing for the washroom as his team looked on in astonishment.
"What. The hell. Was that?" Spike wondered out loud, his fingers froze over the keyboard.
"Was it something Ed said?" Raf asked, bewildered.
"I believe there's more to it," Parker said, already deep in thought.
Brooking no arguments, Jules got to her feet and ran after Sam. "I'll go see if he's alright."
"So am I," announced Ed, only a step behind her. Together, they hurriedly cut through the men's locker room towards the washroom in the back. Before they even got there, they could hear the sound of Sam vomiting.
"Sam, how're you doing?" Jules hesitantly asked. She stood in the doorway, watching as her boyfriend bent over the sink and continued to get violently sick.
"You're ill, Braddock? Maybe you need to go see a doctor," Ed suggested, his gaze sharp as he observed his teammate.
After rinsing his mouth, Sam straightened and grabbed some paper towels to dry his face. "No doctor can help me."
"What are you saying, Sam?" Jules came closer. "It's that man, isn't it? What's your connection to him?"
Sam looked as if he was about to get sick all over again. "Connection? That's a twisted way to call it."
"Look, buddy. Talk to us," Ed said, his voice softening. "Who is that guy? What does Garrick Stevens have anything to do with you?"
"His name is not Garrick Stevens."
Ed and Jules exchanged surprised looks. "That is not his real name?"
"I knew him as Rick Stanley. But that's impossible."
"What do you mean?"
"Rick Stanley is dead. He has been dead for over twenty years."
Jules knew she wouldn't like the answer, but still she asked, "How do you know that?"
Sam's face was pale and drawn as he finally turned to them.
Gravely, he answered, "Because I killed him."
"Rick Stanley," Spike muttered as he typed in the name into his computer.
Sam had just returned to the briefing room moments ago with Ed and Jules at his sides. After confessing to the killing, Sam had gone very quiet. He had refused to say more on the matter, but he let them give the name to Spike so that it could be searched through the database.
As Spike did his things with the rest of the team looking, Sam sat waiting at the farthest seat and looked down at his clasped fists resting on the table. Silent, brooding. Anxious.
"Huh. That's weird," said Spike in puzzlement minutes later.
"What do you got, Spike?"
"That's just it. I got nothing. I can't even get through!"
Parker frowned. "We'll that's a first from you. You find no files on Rick Stanley too?"
"No, what I mean is, there is a file on him but I can't have access to it. The file is sealed."
"Sealed?" The Sergeant was clearly perplexed. "Well, find out which department it's under. I'll make a call and we—"
"Boss, it's not us," Spike retorted, jabbing away at his keyboard only to get the same result. Again, he was denied access. "His file is sealed by the military. The only thing I found about him came from a newspaper clipping dated two decades ago. A Lieutenant Rick Stanley was pronounced dead after his van flew over the bridge into a river. He had been under suspicion for the kidnapping and murder of several children around the area of Downsview military base. It was believed that he had just abducted another young boy who then managed to escape. The military refused to give their comments on this and chose to keep it under wrap for the kid's safety, the one who got away. The case file is fully authorized under a military officer named…"
Spike's voice trailed off. He lifted his head and stared at Sam, openmouthed. "Oh."
"Who, Spike?" Ed asked, but then understanding dawned on him and he also turned to look at the handsome blond SRU officer who sat with his head bowed in resigned. "Sam?"
Having hard times meeting his teammates in the eyes, Sam kept his gaze lowered as he reluctantly began to speak. "I was nine years old. My Dad was based in Downsview at that time. My little sister, Alice…she was killed by a reckless driver just a month before. I missed her. I miss her still."
"Sam, if this is too much for you…" Parker said.
Sam shook his head. "No, Sarge. You all have to know about the real Garrick Stevens, the kind of a man he is. You should hear this."
After taking a deep breath, he continued. "Alice was seven, two years younger than me. Natalie was still young then, about two years old. Due to our close age, Alice had been my usual partner-in-crime, my most loyal companion. When she died in that accident, I was devastated. I blamed myself for not keeping her safe. Sometimes I thought even my parents blamed me for it. On that particular day, I felt so lonely and so I took myself back to the park where I had intended to take Alice.
"It was around mid-day and I was by myself at the children's playground. I sat on the swing, remembering those times when I held Alice in my arms as we swung high towards the sky. I also sat atop the jungle gym, recalling Alice's squeal of delight as she went down the slide. I was missing her so bad I didn't realize that I was completely alone. A van then stopped beside the road, real close by. I paid no attention to it until a man in uniform emerged and walked towards me. He told me his name, and said that my father was looking for me. He had been ordered to take me home."
Sam emitted a bitter smile. "There was that dumb blonde moment again. I was a fool, so naive. Without thinking much, I followed him into the van. And that's when my nightmare began."
Swallowing hard, Sam continued, "Before I knew it, he had pressed a damp cloth over my face and I passed out. When I came to, the van was parked somewhere deep in the woods. He had stripped me down and he…he was doing things to me…things that my young mind couldn't understand…"
Sam's voice broke, his eyes swam with unshed tears. Jules wanted to squeeze his hand, to show him her support, but she didn't dare interrupt the flow of the story, painful though it was. And so she listened, her own heart breaking to pieces.
"I fought," Sam was saying, "I fought with all I got but…I was only nine. What more could I do? I punched him, he punched me back. I kicked him, he kicked me a lot harder. No matter what I did, I lost the fight. I was a victim, and I could do nothing about it.
"I don't know how long he kept me there. Could be hours. When it turned dark, he began to drive. I was getting really scared, but not of him. Mostly I was scared of my Dad. He would kill me for being out so late! And I had broken the rules. I shouldn't talk to strangers but that was exactly what I did, and look what it got me into. I was sure that if I didn't get home soon, my Dad would be terribly mad. And so I planned to escape.
"As Stanley drove, he left me lying there in the back. He thought I was asleep. I searched around and found something hard and heavy. Might be a wrench or a jack, I can't remember. I grabbed it and slowly came behind him and I just bashed his head in. He slumped over. The van swerved out of control. Too late, I realized we were on a bridge. The van rammed into the railing and flew off into the river below.
"I got knocked about quite seriously but I wasn't out. I managed to crawl through a broken window and get myself to the surface. That's when I realized I couldn't swim. I didn't even know how to swim…" Stifling his sobs, Sam dropped his face in his hands. His entire body was trembling so bad that Ed reached over and put a calming hand on his shoulder.
Several moments had passed when Sam raised his head and took a deep breath. "I was swept downriver. The water was cold, frigid. I thought I would drown. And it was so dark. I couldn't tell where the river was taking me. As luck would have it, I got caught in some brambles near the riverbank. I couldn't remember much what happened next. When they finally found me, I was near death from hypothermia. I had to spend almost a week in the hospital.
"They dragged the river afterwards but found no signs of Stanley. After weeks of searching, they finally called it off and pronounced him dead. He was never heard again. I really thought he had died." His blue eyes narrowing, Sam turned to stare at Stanley's photo on the screen and added, "Until today."
Rising to his feet, Sam gazed at each member of his team before he softly said, "The military sealed the file to protect me. To get it unsealed, you need to talk to General Braddock. Only my Dad can authorize it."
At that, he turned around and in silent dejection walked out of the room.
TBC…