Blurb:
Cole was hunting a suspect who not only killed his victims; he ate them. It took an alien to hunt an alien, and he was the right male for the job. He didn’t have time to concentrate on anything else; then Noah was assigned as his partner.
Noah didn’t do partners. The military drilled that into his head with the disloyalty and the dishonorable discharge they gave him. Now he was working a case where the subject was an alien, and so was his partner. The same partner he shouldn’t give the time of day too; since he was straight. There was something about Cole that touched him places he never thought anyone could reach.
Leta knew abuse, she knew how to hide it with a smile. More importantly, she knew recovering from abuse. How a sound or the sight of a figure could make you jump or stop paralyzed with fear. What she didn’t know was love. Her life was hard enough without Cole and Noah insisting on protecting her. They thought her life was in danger; it was a new nightmare. No, the real nightmare was what she was feeling for them.
No one knew what was happening or where the threat would occur; they also didn’t expect the spark of attraction. It couldn’t last because in life it was always two not three. Let the games begin.
Excerpt:
Prologue
Cole
I followed the kid down the alley. He was maybe somewhere between twelve and fourteen. It was difficult for me to tell the age of most humans. Even harder before puberty hit them. His eyes flicked back and forth over the alley never looking back far enough to see me. Add in the fact that I make no noise, there was no way for him to tell he wasn’t alone.
His shoulders dropped in a way that spoke of acceptance. I had a feeling that the last place he wanted to be was in a rank alley. The question I kept asking was why was he here? The answer made my gut turn. There was only one thing a kid his age could be doing in a place like this.
He stopped then pressed his back against a cement wall before sliding down. His ass ended up on the cold ground. Then his head found his hands before his shoulders started to shake.
I stopped when I was convinced he wasn’t going to move. I allowed my wings to come out. They took me to the top of the building directly across from where he was. I have better than human eyesight so watching him wasn’t a problem. I bent and unpacked my rifle and attached the scope. I wanted to make sure I was prepared in case I needed to kill.
I got comfy on the ledge of the building and waited. A shiver went through the kid’s body; he was cold. I wish I could say it didn’t bother me, but it did. He was just one of too many kids who were neglected, abused, and cold. Not just on this back-water planet but on planets over the known universe.
I knew because I had been to those planets. I watched the rich, the ruling class, the people in charge. It didn’t matter if they were riding in the finest cars, ships, or hover crafts. The inattention to the people was rife everywhere. I’ve seen the cities that shimmer with glass. When the sun touches them, the beauty is blinding. I’ve been to the planet covered in water where the song of the people is hauntingly beautiful. I’ve seen the city’s made of wood that would rival the ones made of glass. And I’ve been here on this planet of cement and dirt with sand that can kill and oceans that flow. In the end, I realized that they’re all backwater planets.
When no one stands up for what’s right, then no one can claim civility. So why did I end up making this planet my home? It’s so far away from civilization. I decided to stay here because I hungered to make a difference and this planet is still so untamed, lawless, and full of pride. It can’t see when it hurts its most valuable resource. The people.
The footsteps coming down the alley weren’t quiet at all. I turned and looked through the scope. A white male was walking with confidence. He had to be around thirty maybe several years older. There was a smile on his face that made me want to take a step back. I watched as he spotted the kid. The smile kicked up a notch. My finger rubbed the trigger, but I made myself wait. The guy could have some altruistic motive for meeting the kid here.
There was no doubt that he set this meeting up. The way he was unsurprised at seeing the boy said everything.
“Ryan, you came.” There was no need to keep his voice down. No one would hear him beside the boy.
“I came just like you told me, Mr. Anders.”
“Good Ryan, stand up.” The kid stood and looked at him briefly before casting his eyes down at his feet.
“Now Ryan haven’t we talked about this? You are to always look at me.”
“Yes, Mr. Anders.”
He went to stand over the boy. His impressive height made the boys shoulders sag, but he looked up.
“You know what to do.” Ryan dropped to his knees and began fumbling with the guy's belt.
I could kill him now. Save the kid one more trauma, but I would be adding a different trauma. I pulled back not sure it was worth it. I knew where to find the kid later. As much as I wanted to kill this fucker, I stayed my hand. The kid pulled his dick out and started sucking.
Mr. Anders, I could feel the sneer in my head as I thought his name, placed his hands in the kid’s hair. The kid, Ryan, started choking on the dick in his throat, and I breathed through what was happening. Why? Because shit happened like this through the galaxy.
Ryan moaned, not with pleasure. I could hear his sounds of pain as the man above him grunted. Finally, he came forcing Ryan to swallow his come. When he got free, he gagged, but one look at the man told him he'd better not throw-up.
“Next time we’ll do something new.” His eyes were on the kid’s ass. “Get out of here.”
Ryan stood but before he could run the man called his name again.
“Your secret is safe. I won’t tell the cops where you are, but if you miss meeting me even one time.”
Ryan nodded his head at the threat and ran back the way he came. The man laughed as he adjusted himself.
The man was nothing but wasted space. Still, the kid’s DNA was all over him. That’s how they liked to convict people on this planet. It was like they didn’t realize that most times there was more to the story than DNA.
I took my rifle apart. I was going after human prey, so I used human weapons. I let the man leave the alley before I followed him back to his house. It was only five, so I had some time. I took a perch on the house across the street and waited as darkness descended, and the streetlights came on. This place was so much nicer than where the kid… Ryan was staying.
My first rule of business was not to get involved. Do what needed to be done and move on. It always worked in the past. This boy though if I left him alone would only become a target for another older male, female, or a couple. It was always so easy to exploit the young. Even the ones who thought they knew what life was about.
I checked my watch it was eleven pm. Most of the lights in the surrounding houses were off. The street was silent, and the children had gone to bed hours ago.
I descended and made my way to the Anders residence. I did a slow walk around the house. The kitchen window was slightly open. No one had come in or out of the house since I arrived. I knew from the Intel I had on the man that he was single. No girlfriend, lover, or child. He liked little boys. The younger, the better. Mr. Anders had come before the courts three times. Each time he was released not enough evidence. That was the official record. He had a lawyer who wasn’t above greasing a few palms.
He didn’t have that kind of money. Where did it come from? I worked the window up keeping a lookout for anyone who may be looking to take a shortcut home. There was only one home facing his backyard. The lights were off, but I made sure to monitor it in case someone was watching. When the window was up, I hoisted myself and the bag with my rifle through it. Not that I intended to use it. One look around the kitchen told me it had recently been upgraded with what looked like new appliances. A single pedophile who cared about his kitchen? It might not be unheard of, but I wasn’t buying it.
The living room was the opposite. It was old, worn, trashy. Mostly, it was dirty. There was grime everywhere like he couldn’t take the time to even run a rag over the table or the television. This room said, decadent pedophile. Oh, I knew you could find them in upper-class neighborhoods and homes. The same way you found them mixed among the rich and the government. This room just looked like the male I had seen abusing a kid. The one I couldn’t do anything about if I wanted to take him out.
I walked up the stairs not needing to see another room. There were three doors up here. One went to a second bedroom. One look in there was confirmation that I didn’t need that the man was sick. The next went to a bathroom. On the floor were the clothes that he wore earlier. The ones with Ryan’s DNA all over them.
The third room was his bedroom. He never even looked at me when I opened the door. He was lying on his back with his hand fisted around his dick. A loud moaning sound came from him as he called out Ryan’s name. I wanted to throw-up, but I was more interested in making sure he never touched Ryan or any other boy again.
My hand itched to pull my gun and end his sorry ass in the middle of his fondling himself. That kitchen didn’t fit with who Anders was. Instead, I pulled my gun and shot between his sorry legs. He started to scream, but I was already on him my gun pushed against his temple.
“Scream, I want to blow your brains out.” He whimpered but didn’t say anything for the longest time. I could feel in the way he stiffened when he finally got some courage.
“I can get you money, ass, anything you want. Even forbidden things.” He trembled when he said that.
"Forbidden things?”
He nodded quickly. His voice lowered. “Boys, girls, even slaves. Or if you’re into more exotic things…” He let the words hang there to tempt me.
“How about I just kill you?”
His laugh was high and maniacal. “Do you know who I am? He’s going to kill you.”
Now we were getting somewhere. There was no way this piece of trash coward was acting on his own.
“Who?” He shook his head and laughed even harder. I placed the gun back against my spine before I punched him in the stomach.
“Who has been helping you?”
“Wrong question,” he spat out. I punched him in the face before lifting him off the bed with my hand around his neck.
I consider myself a patient guy. Any patience I had was gone. I sat through watching a man abuse a boy. That shit tore me up inside. Why did I do it? For Ryan of course. Have you ever seen the human court system tear down the witness? I have. I’ve seen lawyers abuse the victims as much as their tormentors abused them all in the name of the law.
I dropped him on the floor and kicked him.
“I want a name.”
“Go to hell.”
“Most likely when I die, but not before you.” He was talking of the place that humans said you went when you were bad. His version of hell was a fuckin’ picnic compared to the place I grew up.
“I want a name.” I punched him in his precious dick. That did the trick. He was sobbing in pain. I drew back my fist.
“Naresh, he’s going to take you apart.” He looked at me with that maniacal look on his face. As if he was picturing my death, and it gave him joy.
I stood. The kitchen made sense now. I drew my gun and put a bullet in his head while he was still drawing in the breath to scream.
The clothes were still on the floor of the bathroom. I stared at them like I thought they should have gotten up and walked away. I had a bag for them in my back pocket, I took it out and picked them up. No connection to Ryan could be left although with all the child porn in his second room; I doubt the cops would be looking for the boy.
I went downstairs and made my way to the kitchen. There was a door that I bet led to the basement. I opened it and flipped the light on. There was no way I was going any further. The smell of it hit me. Then I looked, and I could see everything I needed from the top of the steps. I flipped the light off and closed the door.
The window was beckoning me. I climbed out of it and turned to make sure I lowered it before I jumped down. When I was out of the neighborhood, I called in an anonymous tip. Then I allowed my wings out and ascended.
Fuckin’ Naresh.
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