We head back to the academy. We get debriefed. Grant and I are told our work isn't done. We have paperwork to complete and hopefully we can take down the rest of the operation. We get to watch the interviews as well. Well, the interrogations, not the interviews. Grant and I are both ready for bed. Garrett calls Grant over Nat calls me over.
"We will position ourselves so you can watch them." Nat says.
"Thanks so much any other SO would dismiss my thinking and discourage it," I say extremely thankful of her support.
"Yes, I'm your SO. I've never been one before neither has Clint but when we decided to apply, we made a deal on a few things. That we would both teach you and that we would support you. We are here to guide you and help you, not scold you. I taught you to trust your instincts. They are telling you that Grant is being abused. What message would I send you if I scold you for trusting those instincts like you were taught. Your instincts are good." Nat says.
I smile at her with tears in my eyes. Out of the corner of my eye I see Garrett clap Grants shoulder and Grant flinches. I can also see Garrett clenching his teeth. I see the hand on Grant's shoulder go white with effort.
"Nat, Garrett." I whisper to Nat. Nat turns around quickly looking at the situation while walking over.
"Grant," Nat says. "I have to thank you for looking after bug. She will sometimes get involved in things she can't handle alone." She gives him a light hug. "I feel a lot better knowing you have her back here."
"Thanks," he says. He stiffens when Nat hugs him but doesn't flinch.
"Garrett we should get going let these kids get to sleep. I don't know about you, but Clint and I were pulled from a mission to do this," Nat says acting like she's just being polite.
She's fishing for information and getting him away from Garrett.
"Of course, I was, shield always has me on missions," Garrett says lying through his teeth.
I make a mental note to add that to my journal and Grant's abuse. With Nat and Clint's help I should crack this soon. Grant and I leave waving bye.
"Clint and Natasha leaving right away?" Grant asks. Nat and Clint told him he can call them by their first names.
"No, they said they will be here for another day. They are going to see Garrett off first. So, what is with him not having a mission?" I ask hoping Grant will tell me.
"You caught that, huh." He says looking at his feet.
"Yeah, I did," I say.
"I'm not sure he didn't tell me anything. He normally doesn't tell me more then I need to know," he tells me.
"I'm sorry," I apologize.
"Yeah, it can suck especially seeing how close you are with your SO and her partner." He says.
"They can be both annoying, but they care. I need that." I tell him.
"What do you think is going to happen to the kids?" he asks.
"They will head home or make a new home if they have none," I say with a smile. "It's new beginnings for them."
"I guess it would be a new beginning for them," he replies. We arrive at my dorm door.
"You crashing here again?" I ask.
"If you don't mind," he says.
"I wouldn't have asked if I minded," I say. We both head up to my room. It's still dark so I know Leslie will be still sleeping. "We have to be quiet because Leslie will be sleeping."
We both sneak in the room. I look over and see both Miles and Leslie in her bed. Grant and I both crawl into mine with a smile. We both chuckle quietly then fall asleep.
"Boo! You whore!" Grant and I both bolt awake.
"What's that?" Grant asks. I notice Miles wiping sleep from her eyes.
"It's a who. That's Leslie. It's routine now," I say with a laugh.
"She calls you a whore?" Miles asks confused.
"Was it because I slept over?" Grant asks right after Miles.
"Yes, she called me a whore. No, it's not because you slept over Grant." I tell them.
"It's because she usually takes all the hot water." Leslie says drying her hair.
"I can't disagree. I do take most of the hot water, with pride." I say smugly. "So, Miles spent the night."
"So, Grant spent the night." She returns.
"Touché," I admit defeat.
"We fell asleep waiting for you two. They pulled us to the hall to tell us that you uncovered a child smuggling ring and that we would be helping you guys with the evidence." Leslie explains.
"Ahh, Grant was too tired to walk to his dorm," I say nonchalantly.
"You aren't next door, man?" Miles asks.
"No across campus in foxtrot," He tells Miles.
"Why the hell would you be there?" Leslie asks looking offended.
"That's where I was put," he says with a shrug.
"Your SO can fix that," Miles tells him.
"I don't think he cares enough to fix it for me." Grant tells us not understanding what's wrong with that.
Leslie and Miles look at me in question. I shake my head giving the signal to drop it.
"So, what's this about us having to help in the case?" Leslie asks changing the topic.
"You guys will have to scan an insane amount of papers," I tell them.
"What are you two going to do?" Miles asks.
"Sleep a bit longer. Then him and I have an interrogation to attend. After that I have to look through everything you all scanned with a fine toothcomb, making sure everything is found out for the trail. I want to make sure everyone is taken down. We know there are more operations/ We are hoping all those documents have the answers to where the rest are." I explain.
"Sounds interesting. We have to leave now Miles, or we will be late. Feel free to use my bed if you need more space," Leslie says leaving and dragging Miles behind her.
"I hope they aren't upset that our targets had big cases as their secret." Grant tells me worried.
"No, they really were going to be late if they didn't leave," I say. "But I really am curious what their targets secrets were and what all they found out."
"I will remember to ask next time we are around them," Grant says.
We both lie down again and fall back asleep.
We wake up again later to my phone bussing. I look at the screen and read the message.
"What's it say?" He asks
"They are going to start the interrogation in the next ten minutes." I say.
We both get up. I change and we head to where the suspects are being held.
"Hey, sleep alright?" Nat asks.
"Yeah, you?" I reply.
"Yeah," she says.
"You two coming in or staying behind the glass?" Clint walks up and asks us. He is all business today.
"Staying behind the glass, I think. I'd rather just watch you two work and learn that way rather they trying to foal them." I say.
"Grant?" Clint inquires. Grant looks surprised.
"I agree with Sam," he says when he recovers.
"Sounds good. Ready to head in Tasha?" Clint turns and asks her.
"Born ready," she replies.
They both walk in and Grant and I both head into the room beside the interrogation room. We pull up chairs to watch. The interrogation is being recorded so we don't miss anything.
Have you ever seen them interrogate someone before?" Grant leans over and asks me quietly. If we aren't quiet, they might hear in the other room.
"In a professional setting?" I ask.
"Yeah," he agrees.
"Once it was interesting." I say.
"So, Mr. Bolen. My partner here is still a little bit upset about your disguise." Clint says. "And when she's upset, she tends to be unpredictable. She could cry, she could break your arm, or she could break your neck. It's anyone's guess what she does."
"Does she really do that?" Grant asks bewildered.
"Of course not. She has perfect self control." I reply with a scoff. "He's lying to get the answers that he needs."
"You see the Romans they sang like canaries saying you run this operation. They also said you run the whole rig. Now, to me you seem way too stupid, but I think you do know who runs the smuggling ring. So, you're going to tell us who and I'm going to make sure you live. Sound like a good deal?" Clint tells him.
"What do I get if I talk?" Mr. Bolen asks.
"Death penalty off the table." Clint offers.
"What about immunity?" He pushes for more.
"And I'm a fairy princess. That will never happen." Nat says.
"It I offered it I'd be lying. I don't have the authority to offer it even." Clint tells him.
"Does he?" Grant asks me.
"He can offer it, but Clint won't. He wants all these people behind bars." I say.
"Fine, a guy named diablo runs it. He lives in Mexico city." Mr. Bolen caves quickly.
Clint and Nat get up. Nat walks out but Clint stops at the door. He turns around to look Mr. Bolen in the eyes.
"Just so you know the Romans didn't think you were the main guy. They kept meticulous records. In these records it stated there was a man above you." Clint says then he walks out closing the door behind him.
"What?" Grant asks turning to me confused.
"Oh yeah. The records I was able to read showed that it was someone else in control." I say. "they just didn't have a name or location."
"So, their records were that good?" He asks surprised.
"Yeah, from what I've seen so far. It will take me a while to sort though then and organize them, but they should be all scanned by the time we are done with the interrogations." I tell him.
An agent goes into the room and drags Mr. Bolen out of the room. Hannah Roman gets dragged in shortly after. I pull out my laptop.
"What are you doing?" Grant questions.
"I'm going to sort through what's been scanned and the information I found last night. Maybe I'll find something that can be used," I say.
"Ahh, okay." He replies.
I read a few pages then gasp. I run out to talk to Clint and Nat before they head in. Grant follows me terrified.
"Sam! You, okay?" Nat asks.
"I'm fine but they were talking about defective product that they had to throw away. I think some kids died in their care and got buried somewhere," I inform them.
"What? You think they tossed the kids in a hole?" Clint asks outraged
"It's the only think I can think of when reading defective goods. What else could there be? I can't think of anything else defective in children would mean." I explain my theory. "The kids were kept in horrible conditions."
"We can ask when we head in," Nat says.
I can tell this case is weighing on here. She loves kids but can't have them. The red room took that ability from her. At the time it didn't bother her but now it does.
"Have you heard about how the kids are?" Clint asks me.
"I did get asked to speak about the shield children's program." I tell him.
"Shield has a children's program?" Grant asks.
"Yeah, they do. I was a part of it. I can tell you more another time." I say.
I usher both of us into the other room as Nat and Clint head into the interrogation room.
"You kept good note," Nat says to Hannah. "We decoded them. Once we learned keywords it wasn't that hard after that. Merchandise is children, dolls is girls, boys are teddys, defective is dead children."
"How did you figure that all out?" She asks.
"Simply by reading. The only thing we can't find is where you buried the children." Nat tells her. "So, tell us."
"Fine, but I want it on the record that I'm cooperating." She says.
"Fine, I make sure that goes in the report." Nat says rolling her eyes because she knows that wont make a difference in anything.
"We buried them behind the warehouse and in our backyard. Every time a kid died; we added it to the pile." She says not seeming to care that it was a life that was lost.
"How long have they done this?" Grant asks.
"Decades. I'm luck I wasn't one of those kids from the records. I could have easily been." I say taking a shaky breath.
"How many kids will we find buried?" Nat asks with a pissed off tone.
"I don't know," she says seeming disinterested.
"Guess," Nat orders slamming her hands on the table.
Hannah jumps. "Close to five hundred maybe more." She says fearfully watching Nat.
Nat then storms out. I can hear her ordering to have a team to dig up those bodies and give them a proper burial. She also wants them to see if they have any living family and give them closure. Clint slowly walks out. He stops still facing the door with his hand on the door handle.
"You disgust me," he says then walks out.