Chapter Four

Don and his team took their positions outside of the warehouse. The building was situated in a run down industrial estate. The windows were boarded up, clearly replacing the glass had merely invited more kids to break them with stones. The estate seemed deserted. The perfect place to hold the child .

Slowly they made their way forward. Voices could be heard from inside. Don counted down to the execute signal. David was behind him, Megan and Colby the other side of the door. On the signal the group moved forward as one, each person keeping an eye on the backs of the others and the surrounding area.

They entered the warehouse , announcing their presence . Four men retaliated , Don took out one of them before he had a chance to shoot Colby, who nodded his thanks and moved into the back room , every agent spread out. The warehouse consisted of one main room and two adjoining smaller rooms. Two other men were cornered trying to make it out a window. The fourth man had run into the other back room .As David and Don entered the second room they stopped in their tracks . The man, a large muscular man ,held the child up to his chest and pointed his gun toward David and Don.

"Let me go"

"Not gonna happen man"

"Let me go or she dies."

"Tell you what, you let her go and we'll talk about letting you go"

Kaylee looked at the two men in front of her, were they here to help? The man holding her smelled of old alcohol, a smell she was very familiar with. She tried to struggle in his arms but he held on tighter. These men can help, they can help me back to mummy . Kaylee saw her chance and bit down on the mans hairy arm as hard as she could, She ignored the horrible sweaty taste and bit with all her might, tasting blood.

The man screamed and dropped the child, he raised his gun toward David when Don fired the shot. The man looked at him, astounded. He looked at the child and then back at Don.

"Do you know what you've done?"

"Saved this girl"

Don moved forward and took Kaylee into his arms. She seemed unsure of what to do so let her arms hang at her sides. Don tried to ignore the fact that this little girl had probably never been held by her father, let alone any other man. David moved forward, cuffs at the ready, when he saw they weren't necessary . The man had slumped forward, eyes unfocused.

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Bill Sanderson watched through the glass as his wife held their daughter tightly in her arms. Her tears mixed with Kaylee's as she returned the embrace with her small arms.

Don entered the room, followed by Megan.

"As you can see we have your daughter. Your wife doesn't want to see you" Megan watched as Bill stared at her disbelievingly .

"She's nothing without me"

"No, she's everything without you"

"Bill, we found evidence at the warehouse." Don sat down in front of him. He noticed the tremble. Not so tough now.

"What kind of evidence?"

"For one money matching the amounts you took out in cash"

"I tried to get my daughter but I didn't have enough money so they refused"

"You took the money before your daughter was kidnapped"

"They had threatened to kidnap her a month ago, I was trying to be prepared"

"That's not what Jeremy said" Megan leant forward as the shock began to register on Bill Sanderson's face.

"Jeremy is being more than helpful with our investigation. Seems he didn't want to be a part of any of this, he tried to escape the scene through a window with his brother. Seems the brother had Jeremy under his thumb. That is until you separate them. Then Jeremy was only too happy to cooperate. Apparently he's heard many stories about jail and doesn't particularly want to go"

Bill looked from this, woman, to Don. How did it go so wrong? It was supposed to be so easy. So many lose ends tied up in one foul swoop. It was so wrong, so very, very wrong. He kept his mouth shut, he figured they couldn't catch him out if he didn't speak. What would his father say?

"Bill, let me tell you what we know" Don sat back in his chair. "The little operation Jeremy was dragged into with his brother involved Joseph, Roy and Marc Bruton. The little shipping deal they had with you was the sale of kids to other countries. Mainly girls. We have evidence to support this so if you feel like keeping quiet then please do. You can claim to not know what it is they needed shipped but I doubt any jury would believe you."

"You never wanted a girl did you Mr Sanderson?" Bill barely glanced at Megan. She continued regardless, aware that she was getting to him none the less. "So you sold your child to try to cover your debt, the money you stole from Joseph Bruton . Does daddy know what you did?"

"You think you know so much, what are you anyway? A stupid woman"

"This woman could take you down in a fight with her hand tied behind her back so I suggest you talk to her with a little more respect" Don had to admit, he definitely thought Megan could take anyone of them. The thought caused him to smile. This just seemed to make Bill all the more nervous .

Megan got up to leave.

"I suggest you be careful what other women you try to domineer. If I have my way the prosecutor, defender and judge are all going to be women. "

"You're a bitch"

"So will you be when you get to jail."

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Jeremy Welsh had been moved to a holding cell , awaiting the DA in the morning. What had he done? He'd managed to say so much. Why? He should have kept quiet , should have got out through that window. Where was his brother now? Matthew had told him to not say a word. That they'd make so much money from this little deal. Ask no questions. Keep your head down and there was no way it would go wrong. Sweet deal. Yet when Jeremy had seen the first cargo hold of five young girls, the oldest barely thirteen, his heart had abandoned his soul's desire for money and he'd wrestled with his choice. They were so innocent. Many of them street kids. Unwanted and unnoticed. The deal worked well though. They'd find the kids, ship them through Sanderson's Shipping, run by a slimy , wiry man who Jeremy could barely stand the sight of. He turned a blind eye to most of the things that went through his company.

When Jeremy had first met Joseph Bruton he'd barely known where to look. The man had such a presence about him. A big, muscular man. Easily passing for a Hell's Angel's biker but without the humour and lust for the open road. This man wanted profits and power and was successful in both. Until the payments for the shipping started to go missing. Sanderson would claim no money had been deposited. He'd blame a bank, he'd blame one of his employee's. Then cargo started going missing. Rumour reached Joseph's ear that Bill Sanderson owed hundreds of thousands to all kinds of people and was attempting to cover his debts by stealing certain cargo and passing the goods along for a lower price than was intended by the original owner. Joseph knew that business men of Bill's standing had rarely reached those heights without picking up some bad habits along the way. But Bill was ripping him off on his way down. That just wasn't right. That couldn't go unpunished.

Late one night Joseph and his younger brothers Roy and Marc , paid Sanderson a visit. They'd beaten his men to within inches of their lives and turned their attention to the quivering, crying wreck of a man begging their forgiveness. An amount in cash was agreed. He'd promised anything. Anything at all. Joseph had seen the family picture on his desk. Knew there was a daughter. An eight year old like that fetched a good price. To his surprise Sanderson had agreed.

Jeremy's job had been to break the window. Bill Sanderson had handed Kaylee off to Marc outside on the beach. It had all gone smoothly. That was until the FBI had arrived. What was Sanderson playing at? The slimy weasel was trying to save his own hide. Jeremy needed to save himself. If Bruton knew that he'd blabbed it was only a matter of time before the sky fell. A phone call. He had a phone call.

"Yeah?"

"It's me"

"Singing like a bird no doubt"

"No no no , calling to give you a name"

"Name?"

"For Marc and Roy"

"I'm listening"

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Don had finished his paperwork and made his way to his car. Megan, David and Colby had all left earlier.

They all had needed to unwind but there was still evidence to log so the case had dragged on late into the evening. Molly and Kaylee had gone home safe in the knowledge that Bill wouldn't be around for a long, long time. Don hoped Molly would find the strength to get her life back on track. She'd already shown she had the potential, as they brought Bill out she'd kneed him so hard even Colby and David had cringed. Don had had to turn away while Megan had laughed at them all.

Driving home Don was tempted to call into his father and brother but it was already well after midnight so he carried on to his apartment. He didn't notice the car tailing him. He pulled over next to an all night grocery store to get some milk and beer, on his way out two men had stepped between him and his car.

"Do you know me?"

"Er, no I don't. Should I ?"

"You killed two of my brothers today"

Don had tried to reach for his gun but the other man had already fired a shot . The bullet rammed into Don's left shoulder, he staggered back , still attempting to pull his gun. Before he had time to retaliate the two men had grabbed him and shoved him into the back of a black van. He was knocked out before he had time to even shout for help.