Thursday. Unknown.KIDS WERE FUCKING CREEPY.Gazi had always kept that thought to himself. He wasn't the kind of guy who doted on little versions of people he already knew. Especially when they locked him in what he could only assume was a coat closet. One of those kids looked like a guy he'd killed.There was just enough space for him to sit and stretch out his legs. If he put out both arms, they wouldn't fully extend. There were gouges on the wall. He wasn't the first person to get tossed in here. The door had to be reinforced and the walls weren't just drywall or he'd have kicked through them by now. No, this was a cell and he was a prisoner. It wasn't the first time. In his line of work, some shit went sideways. But he'd always known the score. Here, he had no idea what was going on.Time had blended together. He didn't know how long he'd been here or what the fuck was going on, only that he really did not like children.Voices drifted toward him and the light at the b

Friday. Hotel, New York City, NY.JAMIE COULDN'T HELP BUT feel like this day was a waste. And why the hell hadn't they brought Tabby with them? If for nothing else than keeping her close and safe?He stared at the table, trying to pay attention to Zora, Baruti and Sammy debating the merits of what they'd uncovered yesterday. All in all, it wasn't much.They knew more about the kind of devices Abner sold. There was no hard evidence to link a wide variety of crimes to either him or his customers. Including a sale to a guy down in Mexico who'd attacked a plane carrying another Aegis Group team a month or so back. But as far as Jamie could tell, none of it told them where to find Abner, and by extension the drones, children or women.It was a clusterfuck. They weren't any closer to finding Abner than they'd been yesterday. Sure, Jamie understood the move was more to cut off the flow of cash than track him down, but hadn't they all hoped for more?"I'm sorry, can you say that a

Friday. New York City.JAMIE GOT OUT OF the SUV at the corner near the hotel, pulled the hood on his jacket up and started walking.He had pulled a number of children out of harm's way. They were often the innocent targets of evil men or bargaining chips used to extort money. Today was the first time he'd hunted a kid.As best anyone could tell, the boy's name was Nate Cox. He'd been taken from his family two years ago and never seen since. Until today.Diha was a miracle maker. She'd lost the girls that had taken part in Tabby's abduction, so instead of searching endlessly for where they might be, she'd tracked the girls to where they'd been. Which had led to a lonely stretch of urban road on the very outskirts of the city where the two girls had paused to talk to three boys also wearing uniforms. One of them was Rodney, who'd also taken part in Tabby's abduction. The second boy's face was hard to make out under a baseball cap, but then there was Nate. Fair complexion, neat

Friday. Slide Mountain Wilderness, NY.NEARLY SIX HOURS LATER, they had a location. Or at least they hoped they had one.Jamie didn't quite understand the techno-jargon Diha had thrown at them. What he did know was that backtracking the signal on Nate's cell phone to a location deep in the woods of rural New York was equal parts a guessing game and following the digital breadcrumbs.Nate's story made Jamie all that much more determined to find Tabby and the missing children. Abner was brainwashing the kids, making them believe their families were dead or didn't want them, that their future was with him. It was disgusting to think about how much of these children's lives and innocence had been lost. The worst part was still to come according to Nate.After the satellites came down and the world descended into chaos resulting in the deaths of millions if not billions, Abner had another plan. One to repopulate the country using those same children.Kids having kids.Deep do

TABBY PULLED AGAINST THE man wearing black holding her arm. Dalton has moved to the complete opposite side of the vehicle, as far from her as he could get.This wasn't right. None of this was right. These people didn't have badges, they weren't with the task force, and Jamie wasn't there. She wanted to see Jamie."Dalton?" She glanced at him wringing his hands. "Dalton, what's going on?"He opened his mouth.The man behind him reached up and smacked Dalton in the head. "Don't say a damn word."Dalton sent her a look that was tinged with fear and desperation.Her mouth went dry as she realized she wasn't getting out of this situation alive. Neither was Dalton.The farther she allowed this vehicle to get from that building the less chance she had of staying alive. No one had been able to find her abductors, but they were looking for Abner. They didn't know to look for these people. No one would ever find her.She sucked in a deep breath and knew what she had to do.This