Budge stepped on my finger and I kept having her step on my finger ahead.
"We'll be back at base soon."
"Alright."
Ghost hung up and I kept playing around with Budge.
"What did you do?"
"Hm?" I turned to look at him curiously.
"What did you do, YN?"
"Uh...saved a bunch of animals with your money? It's really a team effort. Congratulations to both of us, buddy."
"I am NOT your buddy. Adrian is dead."
"Who's Adrian?"
"The man you attacked."
"I attacked a man?"
"YN!"
"Ghost, I'm hungry, can we-"
"FOR FUCKS SAKE YN! I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU KILLED HIM, YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSE TO DO THAT!"
"Why the hell not!? He was a pedophile! He-"
"Because we needed him to find where he hid the children!"
My blood went cold.
"What?"
"He owned a sex trafficking ring of kids! We needed him to tell him where it is to shut it down!"
I stared at him.
No.
No no no no no!
NO!
"But you have an idea, right?"
"We know it's in the west."
"I'll take care of the rest."
"What?"
I stared at my lap.
"I know people. I'll take care of the rest.
A few days later
"YN, you need to sleep. It's been three days since you slept."
"I'll go right now. I'm hungry and really craving tacos. Can I go? Please? I promise to sleep after I get back."
Price looked down at me and sighed.
"Fine. Put on your ankle monitor and here's ten dollars."
"You're the best."
I wandered through the streets and looked around.
I know I saw one around here.
There!
I hurried over to the phone booth and stepped in. I closed the door and put in some coins.
Ring..ring..
My stomach flopped.
This is a bad idea.
This is a horrible idea.
The phone clicked and I was met with silence.
"Hey, it's me."
"You? I thought you died. You went off the radar months ago."
"Yeah, well, I need help."
"Not my problem. Find your own way out."
"I fucked up, man."
"Again, not my problem."
"Listen, you no brain, mother fucker. There was a pedophile the people who caught me went after. I hurt him bad and left him to burn but they rescued him and he was on his way to recovery. I killed him."
"As you should. What's the problem with that?"
"He owned a kiddy sex ring. I've narrowed it down a bit but I'm limited here. I need you to find it and blow the place up."
"With the kids inside?"
My stomach flip flopped.
I don't know. The kids...I wish I had died instead of carrying the memories. I wish someone had killed me instead. But no one did and now I'm stuck as a criminal. How would these kids turn out? It's not their fault. What if they don't want to die?
"Find the place. I'll be back tomorrow at 5. I'll call you."
"Okay."