"He's not going anywhere, even if the drug wears off. I made sure of that." Xander kept checking his mirrors as he made turns to get them onto the main road. He drove for several minutes and then glanced at Kacey. "Call it in. It's a straight shot to the house from here. We'll be home before it's dispatched."
Kacey picked up the burner phone and called 911. "There's a man in need of medical attention." He gave them the address. "He's in the back bedroom and won't be able to come to the door." He didn't wait to answer the dispatcher's questions. They had all they needed to know to find Roger.
"You really didn't kill him?" Tera asked from the back seat.
Kacey was unsure if she was glad they hadn't or upset that they hadn't killed the man. He turned to look at her. "No, he's not dead. Just confused by the drug we gave him so we could save you. We left a lot of evidence with him so that the good police who find him will know that he's done really bad things. They'll take him to the hospital and once he feels better, they'll put him in jail." He hoped that the whole police force wasn't corrupt and would try to cover this up. Hopefully, the paramedics and others who would be on the scene would be enough to force even a corrupt official to have to follow through on charging Roger for his crimes. He wanted to ask Xander what he'd seen in the basement but wasn't going to bring it up in front of Tera.
"When we get to the house, we're going to leave you with Geo and a few friends, but we have to leave again. We'll be back later, but you'll hopefully be asleep. Tomorrow, when you wake up and after you've had breakfast, we can check out those video games and see about teaching you to swim if you want," Xander said.
"Where will I sleep?" Tera asked, the fear in her voice evident.
"That's up to you. If you want to sleep beside Geo, you can ask him if he's okay with that. If not, our friend whose house we're staying in has a little girl and her room is available. You stay where you're most comfortable. You can decide that once you talk to Geo. Tomorrow, we'll make a list of things you need like clothes, a brush, or stuff like that, and get it for you. Let Geo know if you're hungry tonight. He'll have pizza, but you can have something else if you don't want pizza. Just tell him." Xander pulled up to the gate, spoke quietly to the guard, then drove down the driveway once the gate was opened for them.
Kacey stepped out of the car once they'd parked, glad to see Geo coming toward them. He opened the back door for Tera and nodded. "You can get out."
"Tera?" Geo moved to the door and peeked inside. "I'm so glad you're safe."
Tera's tears started again as she threw herself into Geo's arms, her backpack dropping to the ground at their feet. "He took me and…" The sobs were so strong that they cut off her words.
"I know. It's okay. You're safe here. These are good guys. They're going to help us." He hugged her tightly.
"We have to leave again," Kacey told Geo. "Get her something to eat and loan her something to sleep in. We'll talk about everything tomorrow."
Geo bent and picked up her backpack. "Okay. Can she stay in Lenora's old room?"
"Wherever she's most comfortable. Let her decide." Bryon stepped up beside them. He handed Kacey a set of car keys. "Best to take another car out."
"Thanks." Kacey watched Geo walk with Tera inside. "We had to bring her. We didn't trust she'd be safe leaving her there. We don't know who we can trust right now. She'd end up back in the same system that fucked her over the first time."
"I agree. You two did the right thing." Bryon glanced at Xander who had just joined them. "Did you two have any other issues?"
Xander pulled a small camera out of his pocket that they always had with them in case they needed to photograph evidence they couldn't take with them. "The basement is covered in pictures of young girls. I'm guessing all the ones he's abused over the years. There were close to a hundred on the wall. I got pictures, but I'm not sure we'll be able to identify the kids." He handed it to Bryon.
"Tera said he took her down there and had her pose for him." Kacey pulled the thumb drive from his pocket and handed it to Bryon. "I downloaded his hard drive while we waited for Xander. I have no clue what's on it. Hopefully, Carter can pull something from it. She said he used video chat a lot when talking to people. Tera doesn't look injured, but we didn't push the issue with her. She was too scared. She did mention he hit her cheek and it was sore, but I didn't see any bruising. You might ask her about that."
"We'll take care of her. You guys made the right choice. She's safer here. This will give Geo something to do. I think he was feeling a bit left out. Go get rid of things and come back and get some sleep. Carter's listening to the scanner now. Police had just arrived on the scene when you pulled in. I'll call if there's anything to warn you about, but I think you're in the clear. We'll talk more in the morning."
"Sounds good." He tossed the keys to Xander, got into the new car, and prayed nothing would go wrong.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Bryon watched as Geo and Tera ate breakfast. He'd left them alone for the most part after speaking with her for a bit before she'd gone to bed. She claimed she wasn't injured, but he hated they couldn't be sure. He'd resisted asking her a ton of questions last night, wanting her to feel comfortable first. She'd looked so scared when Geo had sat her down in the kitchen to eat pizza with him. It hadn't been a shock when she'd asked Geo to sleep next to her. Even this morning, she was casting distrusting glances around every time one of the men would go near her.
He had questions he needed answers to, so he walked into the kitchen, casually poured himself a bowl of cereal, and took a seat beside Geo at the table. "Sleep well?"
Geo smiled. "Dreamed I was racing Xander across the pool and it turned into this big lake. Xander couldn't make it all the way across, so I won. Matt had to bring a boat out to get Xander. I waved at them as I swam all the way back."
Bryon wasn't even going to try to figure out the meaning behind that. He laughed. "Make sure you tell him that when you see him later. He'll hate that you beat him even if it was in a dream."
"I don't know how to swim," Tera whispered to Geo.
"That's okay. We can teach you if you want. I bet Xander and Matt would help. We'd have to find you a suit though." Geo took another bite of his cereal.
"That's one thing I wanted to discuss." Bryon took the opportunity to bring up shopping. "We can't leave here to go shopping, but we can order things online. I want you two to make a list of things Tera needs and we'll have them delivered or send one of the guys to pick them up. Do you know what size clothes you wear?" Bryon asked Tera.
She shook her head.
"We can look at the dress and see what size it is, and maybe try on some of the clothes in your room and see if they fit so we know what size," Geo suggested. "You're wearing her shorts today, so we know you're about her size."
