56. Peter

56

PETER

T he mansion's grand foyer served as Peter's command center while he coordinated the cleanup operation. The children were already gone, whisked away while thralled to sleep so they could be transported to the sanctuary where they would receive professional help.

The Guardians were not equipped to deal with traumatized children, so that seemed like the best solution. The last thing Peter wanted was to add to the damage that had been done to them.

Now came the methodical work of erasing the immortals' presence while securing evidence and prisoners.

"Teams Three and Four, status on prisoner transfer?" he asked, tapping his earpiece.

"Loading the last of the guests now," Alfie reported. "All secured and sedated. "

"The Doomers are double dosed as per Julian's instructions," Jay added.

They had ended up with many more prisoners than Peter had ever expected to bring to the keep, but he wasn't an interrogator, and he preferred to leave the selection of who to leave alive and who to eliminate to the pros.

None of these sick fucks deserved to live another day and harm another child.

Peter climbed to the second floor, checking the Guardians' progress. In what had clearly been a security office, Theo and Bowen were disconnecting and packing computer equipment. There were countless hours of surveillance recorded on those, evidence of perversion that was no doubt meant to be used for blackmail and extortion.

He wondered how many politicians, Hollywood elites, and other public personalities had visited this house of horrors.

Peter wanted to develop a new side hobby and personally go after each one and tear their throats out with his bare fangs.

He could just imagine the news headlines.

"A reign of terror has the elites scrambling for cover!"

Other headlines came to mind, but he pushed them away. He had a job that needed to be done.

"Everything gets tagged," he reminded the Guardians. "The intel team will need to know which machine came from where. "

"Already on it." Theo held up a labeled hard drive. "Looks like they were recording everything."

"Of course. That's why they do it. The big rewards come later with the extortion. They are paid with money and influence."

It was always about money and power, and the ones who paid the price were the most powerless, the innocent, the defenseless. Peter's jaw tightened. "Pack it all. Every backup drive and every cable. Make it easy for the hacker team. Their job will be hard enough just watching these recordings."

Theo nodded. "I'm glad I won't have to do that."

"Yeah, me too." Peter barely suppressed a shudder and continued to the mansion's office, where similar activity was taking place.

The office spoke of big money and no taste, with its leather furniture and pseudo-pornographic obscene artwork. Peter's attention was immediately drawn to the gaudy painting hanging on the wall behind the desk. "Did anyone check that thing for a safe?"

"Not yet," Gordon said. "I'm still busy tagging and packing the computer equipment and the various items from the drawers."

Peter walked over to the painting, and as he'd suspected, there was a safe hidden behind it.

"Need a safe-cracker in the second-floor office," he called through the comm.

Jay appeared moments later, tools already in hand. "Finally, something fun to do. "

While Jay worked, Peter helped Gordon go through the desk drawers and check the undersides for hidden items and hidden compartments. Everything went into evidence bags—files, notebooks, loose papers, even random receipts. The intel team would sort through it all later.

"Got it," Jay announced as the safe swung open. "Oh, hello. Look at all this money and drugs."

Peter glanced inside. Multiple stacks of hundred-dollar bills were bound with paper ribbons, and the large bag of white powder was enough to drug an army. There were also several external hard drives, paper files, and ledgers.

"Bag it all," he told Jay.

The Guardian arched a brow. "Even the drugs?"

Peter nodded. "We will dispose of them safely. I don't want to leave them lying around."

He wondered if it was okay to just flush the stuff down the toilet. It was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it was poison that had to be destroyed.

After the office, Peter continued to the third floor, where the staff quarters were located.

He found Randel in the staff common room, finishing the thrall work on the household servants. The Guardian's face was grim as he gave them their last marching orders and sent them to their rooms.

"It's done per your instructions," he reported. "Tomorrow morning, they'll walk into the nearest police station and confess to knowing about the operation and not reporting it sooner."

"Were they threatened?" Peter asked.

That was the only explanation he could think of that would prompt normal people to stay silent about the atrocities committed under their noses.

"Of course. But they were also well paid. So that was a double whammy. I made sure that they will have no memory of us or how their employers disappeared."

Peter nodded. Since there were no signs of forced entry or any struggle inside the house, the authorities would assume that the perpetrators fled with the children and all the incriminating equipment.

The monsters were already on their way to the clan's warehouse, where they would be checked for trackers before being taken to the keep's dungeon. They were going to get what was coming to them. As for the staff, Peter was fine with letting the human authorities deal with their complicity .

He tapped his comm. "All teams, final sweep of your assigned areas. I want every piece of evidence, every surveillance device, anything that wasn't part of the original house tagged and bagged. Search under and behind furniture, hidden cameras inside bedposts, statues, and artwork."

Confirmations kept coming in as he continued his own sweep. The house had to look untouched as if its occupants had simply left, so everything had to be done carefully.

"Perimeter team, status?"

"Area's clear. No curious neighbors, no patrol cars."

Of course not. In this neighborhood, people minded their own business, and most lived behind tall fences and electric gates. It's what had allowed this operation to flourish.

"Van is loaded with all equipment and evidence," Theo reported. "We're ready to move out."

Peter did one final walk-through, checking each room. Satisfied, he headed for the front door. "All teams, move out. Standard dispersal pattern."

When everyone other than his personal team was gone, he climbed into the seat beside Alfie and tapped his comm to Onegus's private channel. "Mission complete. Evidence and prisoners secured. No casualties."

"Excellent work," Onegus responded. "Kian's here with me. I've already given him a report, but he wants to hear it from you to get your impression."

As Alfie eased the SUV onto the road, Peter summarized the operation, emphasizing the smooth execution and Drova's crucial role. "Her performance was exemplary. She did exactly what she was asked to do and didn't crack under pressure. "

She cracked after it had been done, but that was to be expected of a young woman who hadn't been hardened by life yet. Igor's compound might have been a harsh place, and some of the things that had gone on there were deplorable, but even that sociopath hadn't sunk this low.

"Jade will be proud," Onegus said. "Julian is en route to the warehouse with a fresh team of Guardians. They'll handle prisoner transfer and processing so your people can go home. Debriefing can wait for tomorrow."

"Appreciated," Peter said as he clicked his comm off.

His team had done good work tonight. Saved lives. Gathered evidence that would help them take down more operations like this.

But they also needed to talk about what they had seen, and they needed him to help them process it. Once they transferred the prisoners to the intake team, he was going to gather them for a quick pep talk before sending them home.