They reconnoitered the next afternoon in the parking lot of a Jewel Osco. Kim was the last to arrive, Liam in tow. She left him strapped in a car seat and gestured the others over. The window was closed so Liam couldn't hear them. He was asleep, so it didn't really matter, though Kim knew by instinct that Liam was aware he was being used, young as he was. Abuse and trauma had a way of imparting insight best left for those mature enough to handle it, which was mostly no one in existence as far as Kim was concerned. She swallowed bitterly, her eyes searching for Adam's. They were distant and angry when she found them, and she quickly averted her gaze to Voight.
Voight introduced Espinoza in his trademark gruff manner, rasping that he was good police, which was his way of saying listen up, this guy's one of us. Tensions eased slightly.
'Where we at?" Voight asked all of them.
Upton answered first. "I'm having drinks later with a DCFS worker who's pretty high up the food chain, and part of the ring. Once I'm sure, I'll give her part of my list of names, including yours, Kim."
"Has anyone tried to contact Garrett yet?" Espinoza asked. "Any movement at all?"
"Not yet," replied Kim. "Though I expect now that I have Liam, that will change soon. Listen, Sarge, this kid's been through the wringer, I can't allow anything to happen-"
"Garrett has been trained on what to do. I don't think it'll come to that."
"And if it does?"
"Then we'll deal with it then. Ruzek?"
"We made a couple good contacts today. One at Lakeland elementary, a janitor, real Santa Claus type that the kids all love and trust. The other is a sex offender at Morningstar who works on the packaging line. He's very eager to move up the food chain. He was already putting feelers out."
"Be careful, he could be a plant by the ring, looking for UC operators. Remember, all these pedo outfits are in competition. Think of them like drug dealers defending their corners," said Espinoza. "I know y'all are good at what you do; just a friendly reminder. Hang back a little. I know it's hard when we want to bust these guys fast so no more kids get hurt."
"More kids are gonna get hurt," Halstead put in. "I saw a teacher in the lounge downloading files not an hour ago."
"I logged the file transfer," added Espinoza.
Kim shuddered, her gorge rising. Teachers, who were supposed to value the safety of kids as much as parents, who were supposed to instill in them a sense of wonder for the world around them. "I hope the next meteor heading for earth has better aim," snapped Kim, voicing her private thought aloud unintentionally.
"I heard that," Atwater agreed.
"I bought and viewed a couple of their masterpieces today," Voight told them. "As bad as you think these videos might be, they're worse. This is family against their own blood. Violation of the most sacred in what should be the safest of spaces. Nowhere and nothing is off limits to these people. Keep playing your parts, and I'll let you know where the next meet is. Good work today, but we've just scratched the surface. Don't let up."
The others drifted away until it was only Kim and Adam; Ruzek, Voight and Atwater speaking animatedly about something out of Kim's hearing."
"How you holding up?" Adam asked her, his eyes still hard somehow.
"Not so well." She crooked a thumb at Liam's sleeping form. "You wouldn't believe the story here."
At least he's still alive, Adam said with his eyes. "I wish there was some way we could, you know. Hang out, or something. It sucks we can't even text."
"We've been apart before, Adam. This is not new ground."
"The hell it isn't. Did it ever occur to you that I lost something too, Kim? Why is it men always need to ask permission to grieve when they lose a child, as if only mothers are allowed?"
"You've been waiting to dump that on me all day, haven't you? I could see it in your eyes the minute I got here. Why?"
"I've been thinking all day about a friend of mine in high school. Randy. His girlfriend got pregnant. Told him she was keeping it and they'd raise it together, that Randy could be as involved as he wanted to be. Then, at six months, she changes her mind and has an abortion. Doesn't say a word to him until after it's done."
"Six months? That would have been illegal back then."
"She went to another state. I couldn't understand what Randy was so broken up about. To me, it seemed like he was off the hook completely. It tore his family apart. No one understood what he was going through, including me, and I was one of his best friends. I blew him off after that."
"Then look him up and apologize. Don't take out your guilt on me."
"That's not what I'm trying to do! It's just that...men feel it too, Kim. Fathers. No matter when or how it happens."
Kim's face softened slightly, though she was still breathing hard with anger.
"I can't look him up. He killed himself. All I'm saying is, let me feel what I feel, the same as you are."
Kim moved imperceptibly closer to him. "Okay. I'll try." She smiled and grimaced at the same time. Adam almost reached for her, but she shook her head.
"Is there any way we can...you know…"
Liam began to wail in the back seat of the car. "No," she answered bluntly. She wanted that wall around her again, safe and impervious. He would break her before this case did, if she let him.