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Epilogue

"Well, that's just not fair." I glared over at him, which he ignored.

"What's not fair about it?" He's being so calm that I want to slap him one. I guess that's the hormones talking because the next second, I regretted even having the thought.

"I just want to know what's happening. Why can't I know?" I sounded like a petulant child but didn't care.

"Because there's nothing else you need to know." He had finally taken my cloned phone along with everything else Cierra had sent me, so now I had no way of staying in touch secretly or knowing what was going on.

He did have a point, at least partially, because I had all the answers I needed as far as where we were concerned. For one, Jack had given up the fact that one of his modus operandi was signing himself into rehab centers for the wealthy and targeting those he found to be the weakest.

Trudy wasn't exactly chosen randomly; he or someone he works with knew who she was and what her connection to me was. Because she was always either high or drunk, even at rehab, it was easy for him to talk her into recommending him, and the rest is history.

What I didn't know is that my husband knew what was going on from the beginning and still hired him anyway. He didn't involve me because he never had any plans to until the day he saw me taking his picture from my car. Knowing that he pretty much knew what I was up to from the get-go is still something I'm trying to wrap my head around. Though, he claims that there were times when he gave me space and didn't try to tap into my thoughts.

Now I have to live with him always on my ass, even more than usual. But what is usual, come to think of it? I believe him when he says he doesn't spy on me or eavesdrop on my life and that he would only do that if I was in danger. The fact that he would even know is something I'm learning to deal with.

"Still, I don't think it's fair that I don't get to see this thing through to the end."

"Do you want to see what happened at the end?"

"What do you mean?" We were sitting up in bed reading, him something for work and me this new age book on home delivery.

Mark had already vetoed the idea, and at this point, I'm just reading it to get under his skin because I don't think I would trust giving birth to multiples anywhere other than a hospital with a full staff on deck.

"Come with me." He put his work away and reached for my hand to help me off the bed. I'm not even showing yet and already he's so overprotective. We planned to tell the kids when they came home this weekend, though, even though it"s early days yet.

Mark and I had had lots of conversations in the last couple of weeks since the whole Jessica and Jack thing died down, and one of the things we are most focused on is making sure our older kids do not feel as though they're being replaced.

We've already started looking into ways and things to do with them to instill that fact because, for some reason, it's something I'm very wary of. Maybe I should stop reading specific forums that only dwell on that very thing.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." We ended up in the theatre room. "You're sure you want to know what happened to them?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I could tell that he was having second thoughts already, and I rushed to my favorite seat before he could change his mind.

For some strange reason, he placed his hand over my tummy for almost a minute before coming to a decision. "Why are we in here anyway?"

"You'll see." He picked up the phaser and turned on the large screen that dropped down from above. I could see from his hesitation that he was still doubting himself, but I didn't say anything; I let him come to the decision on his own because I still didn't know why we were here of all places.

"A party? Why are we watching a party?" he didn't say anything, just patted the hand he held and told me to ‘watch.' From the looks of it, there was some kind of elite soiree taking place. I can tell because of the gowns the women wore, not to mention the jewelry that was meant to one-up each other.

I didn't recognize the room or most of the people in attendance, though a few of them looked familiar, like a movie star or some public figure, but the camera never lingered on anyone for too long. "What's this? Some kind of home movie?" Bummer, he really had me believing he was going to treat me like an adult.

The camera turned to the side, and I saw Jack up close and personal, like the camera was in his face. "Who's holding the camera?"

Before he could answer Jessica's face came on screen and was just as close as Jack's was.

"Wait, what's…"

"They're both recording. Her camera is in her earrings, and his is in his tie pin." We turned back to the screen as the two of them turned back to the room. We were just in time to hear the hush that fell over the room, and when they greeted Mr. Wallis, I tensed up.

I knew enough to know who the man on the screen was and what he represented. He could be heard on the video reprimanding them under his breath, "You two have got nerve showing up here like this. Come with me."

The view changed from the party room as they made their way through parts of the house, with the cameras picking up everything as they went. It was obviously someone's home, most likely Wallis's, which was made obvious when he led them into the study and took his place behind the desk there while leaving them standing.

"Where have you two been? Do you know the hell you've put us through these last few weeks?"

"We can explain. We had to go under, and there was no way or time to contact you that wouldn't have given you away."

"I don't understand. What could that have happened?"

"Someone from the past showed up there."

"Who?"

"One of the girls, she's been rescued somehow. I don't know why she was there but I saw her before she saw me and got us out of there. I didn't know if it was a setup or if anyone was watching us, but I didn't want to take any chances."

Wallis nodded while reaching into his desk. "There's been stuff happening. A few of them have been rescued, but we don't know who has been doing it. We lost quite a few clients a few weeks ago as well, so maybe it's a good thing that you went under. I do wish you could've gotten word to me, though. I had no idea what was going on, and no one knew where you were."

"Yes, we got rid of everything that could've led back to you before making our way back here. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"No, you did the right thing; that was quick thinking. I'm just bummed we didn't get that company, but there're others."

"Thank you for your understanding, sir."

"Wait a minute, why does he sound like that?" There was something very off about Jack. I'd had more than my fair share of dealings with him over the years he'd been here, and his voice sounded almost monotone. Even odder is the fact that Jessica never spoke, not once.

"Well, I can't be gone for too long, so since you're here, you might as well join the party. Some of the others are here; I'll show you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, sir." Now, they both spoke, and she sounded even stranger than him.

They didn't return to the party room but instead walked deeper into the house. All the while, the cameras were picking up the panoramic views of both inside and outside the windows they passed as if deliberately showcasing.

My heart started racing with excitement as I started catching on to what it was that they were doing. But why? How? Wallis opened doors to rooms where it was obvious that there was a different kind of party going on.

My mouth fell open as I saw what was going on in those rooms, and I looked at Mark, whose jaw was as tight as the hold he had on my hand. They moved from room to room as if looking for something or someone in particular until they came to a door at the end of a very long hallway.

There were underage girls in very little clothing made up to look like women more than twice their age. I was already feeling sick to my stomach. Some of them, I finally realized, had been made up to look like past movie stars, such as Monroe, Garbo, and the like.

The wigs and makeup they put on these poor kids looked garish to my eyes, and I almost asked him to turn it off. The cameras picked up everything, including the trays of cocaine and the table that looked as if it had every drug known to man, from pills to needles, laid out.

"Ah, this is it. You two have fun." Wallis clapped Jack on the shoulder before leaving the room, and the two of them walked around, giving a good view of who and what was going on in the room. Until I saw it with my own eyes, I could still pretend that monsters like this didn't exist.

My heart broke and I felt such intense anger it almost lifted me off my chair. Thankfully, they didn't stay in that room but left soon after, only to go into another and then another, where it was all the same.

They took their time making sure to capture the faces of all the people in there, including the kids. I'm guessing the last was for recognition purposes.

Once they'd scoured the last room, the cameras were turned to each other, and I saw the two of them nod at each other before making their way back down the hall and down the stairs where the gala was still in full swing.

I saw Jessica's hand through Jack's lens as she lifted a glass of champagne from a passing tray and then his through hers doing the same. They walked around the room, nodding to people as they passed before coming to a stop.

There were five people standing together: three men and two women. Wallis started to say something before Jessica's camera turned to someone else in their midst.

"Wait, isn't that the governor? What's his name? The guy from Virginia. Is that a gun?" On the screen, Jessica shot the governor in his head, then turned the gun on Gilbert Wallis. Him she shot in the arm and leg before turning the gun on herself.

It all happened so fast that I would've missed it if I had blinked. I pointed at the screen in shock. "You…. she, what…."

"Seen enough?"

"Is this real?" my voice didn't sound like my own.

"Yes! Now, do you see now why I don't want you involved?" There was pandemonium in the room, with people screaming and running, and just before the cameras went dark, the sound of windows breaking could be heard.

I sat stunned for at least a good few minutes, trying to come to terms with what I just saw. It was like something out of a movie. "What was that? What did I just watch? And why were those two acting so weird? Like robots."

"Mind control."

Is that even possible?"

"You just saw that it is. It's the first time we've used it; the first time we've had anyone with the capability, in fact, for at least a couple hundred years."

If I hadn't seen it myself, I would've thought it was made up. What world am I living in? I went back through the whole thing in my head, trying to make sense of it from beginning to end.

"I don't understand; why did she kill the governor and not that Wallis guy?"

"Because he's the one who's going to open up the shitstorm we need to get all the information we're after."

"So far, our whole operation has been focused on gathering intelligence. As you can imagine, these people are very good at what they do, and there are thousands, if not millions, of them all over the world. Their network is extensive and there's no way to know all the players at once, but this is a big win for us."

"Who is this Wallis guy anyway?"

"He's a top-level pedophile with links to some of the most powerful men and women in the world. The con he tried to pull on me, he's been doing that for years. If I'd fallen for it, the affair would've been the least of my worries. As much as he's a top-level member, he's nowhere near the apex."

"He's just one of their errand boys with a little more clout."

"What do you mean the affair would've been the least of your worries?"

"I mean, there would've been compromising situations that I wouldn't be able to get out of. Things that, if known to the rest of the world, would destroy me. That's how they control the wealthy, by getting shit on them that they'd pay anything to keep hidden."

"What does that have to do with trafficking?"

"That part, nothing, but what they wanted from me was my company to use as a front. As long as they had control over that, the sky was the limit. It goes deeper than money, but that's all you need to know for now."

"Doesn't anyone ever try to get out?"

"Only one guy that I know of. Dad still has him in hiding, and it's been twenty years."

"What happened to him?"

"The woman he was having an affair with drugged him and put him in bed with two minors. Of course, there were pictures taken, and they had control of his life from then on."

"He's one of the lucky ones. He came clean to his wife because the whole thing made him sick. He wasn't thinking about being exposed but about the young girls they had used in their plot. That's why Dad believed him. He said every time the guy mentioned those girls, he threw up. That, and the fact he knew the guy was telling the truth."

"How did he find Dad?"

"He didn't; Dad found him. Come here." He lifted his arm, and I left my seat and climbed into his lap, needing comfort. I didn't even realize I was shaking until he wrapped his arms around me.

We sat in silence for a while as I let my mind go where it would. I couldn't get the image of those kids dressed up to look years older than they actually were out of my head or the sick things that were happening in those rooms upstairs.

"Mark, as soon as I give birth, I want back in."

"We'll see! You'll get your chance to meet your new friends in a few months."

"Oh?"

"Yes, our whole family has been invited to the new head's daughter's wedding. I believe you've spoken to one of his kids already."

"So, she really is a kid." He just nodded his head.

"Yes, a very powerful one at that."

* * *

LYON

* * *

"Catalina!"

"Yes, Daddy!" I watched her lick her ice cream out the side of my eye. Murdering fuck!

"I thought you said no killing."

"I didn't kill anyone, Daddy; I wasn't even there."

"But you put it in her head." She shrugged her shoulders and twisted her head to get the bit of ice cream that dripped onto her hand.

"Ooh, Daddy, who won though? I think I won this one again. Your guy didn't do much." I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my cone while looking out at the ocean. One of these days, I'm going to walk into that shit and not come back. Hopefully, that day would come before this one incinerates every shit in her path.

"You did good."

"Thanks, Daddy. It was fun." Only Mengele would think it's fun to mess with people's minds. I was a bit skeptical about letting her test her chops on a job this big, but I should've known better than to doubt. She's fucking pro.

The mind control thing isn't something I prefer, but in this case, it came in handy. Besides, I needed to see how advanced she was at this age, which I sometimes regret. She makes everything look like a stroll on the beach.

I know she knows it's not a game, but it still bothers me that she knows anything about this hell at all. I'd left Wallis to her after my squad raided the party and took him. The fallout from that night is still reverberating around the world and will be for a long time to come.

No one had escaped that night. Masters and Summers, along with Mancini's wife, had coordinated with the bureau and the task force in their divisions to round up what was left after we took Wallis out of there.

Mengele was now streaming the killing with the story of what went down that night running in the background, and the outcry was as loud as you could imagine. She didn't let the reporter get shit; she'd exposed the governor along with some of the other dignitaries who had been in attendance that night to the rest of the world.

The only ones who had been protected from exposure were the children who were being abused, who were now at Thorpe's complex being treated before they could be reunited with their loved ones. Politicians, entertainers, businessmen, and women had been caught in her trap.

And it was hers, from beginning to end. She'd come up with the idea and executed it from beginning to end. Now, it was over. It had been over for a few days, and we were finally able to catch our breath.

She had Wallis back there somewhere, torturing information out of him with her shit. It must be hell for him, being at the mercy of three little girls that he couldn't control or harm in any way.

I brought her out here after the others went to bed because her murderous aura was still strong, and she needed to be a kid, at least for a little while.

"Daddy!"

"Mengele, if you're about to ask me about going to see that fu… that damn rat again, don't. I'm not going." She turned her back and pouted. Pain in the ass, just like her mother.

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