Jimmy frowned. "Who are you?"

The older man simply pointed to the older woman. "She is Death and I...I am Destruction." He walked further into the warehouse to stand next to the woman.

"Oh, great. You two fit right in here." Jimmy scoffed. "Now that we know who you are, maybe I should ask what you are?"

"Honey?" Destruction handed the question to his wife.

"I thought you were Death and I was Destruction."

"Enough! My girlfriend just died and there are hundreds more dying here."

"Okay, young man." The woman stopped smiling. "My husband and I, well we...we find and ah...we."

"Wow, that told us everything." Windy snapped from the pressure of the day.

"Okay, we are someone's last hope." The woman spoke slowly.

"Continue."

"We specialize in missing women who are presumed to be headed into the sex trade industry."

"So, you are very busy?"

A simple nod from the woman. "Too busy. We traced six women here. Honey, go see if any of the ladies are here?"

The older man moved nimbly from cage to cage but did not immediately answer his wife.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Since my cousin went missing in 1982. We just turned twenty-one and no one could find Claire. It seemed everyone just stopped looking after the first month."

"Did you ever find her?" Windy sat on a chair tired from the past couple of days.

"No, but we found another girl who gave us a lead. We followed it and found another girl. We never gave up but we know the cold dark truth."

"Yeah, a lot of that going on."

"Honey, we have two here!" There appeared to be optimism in his voice

"Excuse me." The woman ran, Windy followed.

"It's Alisha and Aila!" Destruction turned to his wife.

"They look very weak. Can you grab some water for them?" Windy looked back to Jimmy.

"Sure, Win."

Jimmy hurriedly made his way to the gathering. He knelt outside the cage looking in at the young twins. "Why do we do the things we do?" He then felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Lisa.

"Everyone has their reasons. Justified or not." Destruction walked out of the cage. "Walk with me."

Jimmy pushed himself to his feet, Lisa tagged along. The older man continued his search for the other four missing women they were hired to find.

"They are all weak and need medical help." Jimmy could barely look through the cage as they walked.

"We called the authorities before we entered."

"Some of the police are dirty here, the..." Destruction interrupted Jimmy.

"We do not call the police. There's dirt at every level." Destruction stopped. "What do people call you?"

"Thick."

"Well, Mr. Thick."

Jimmy chuckled. "It's Jimmy. And this is Lisa."

"Yeah, I know." He continued searching the cages.

"How do you know her name?"

"She has been missing for five days from a mall in Texas. Likely a spur-of-the-moment abduction. I am surprised she is still alive."

"Why do you say that?"

"If I am correct, Lisa was taken from the food court. There is only one guy who is that daring."

Jimmy shook his head. "Why don't the cops do a better job?"

"It is not the police, Jimmy. The predators are crafty and damn near invisible."

"How do you know so much?"

Destruction frowned.

"What the hell was that look for?"

"This is not pretty work. We are in the underbelly of society in search of these betrayers of humans."

"Betrayers of humans? Seems too politically correct to say that."

"Here's Jillian. That's three." Destruction spoke to the young woman in the cage. "Your parents will be so happy to know you are alive!"

"My parents sent you?"

"Yes, this will all be over in a little while. We just secured the building. Just hang in there, Jillian."

He seemed to ease the burden of the young woman who breathed a sigh of relief. It looked as though she began to pray. Prayer seemed so far from Jimmy at this time who had pain and anger brimming.

"Things are looking up. The building is secure, most are alive and we found our replacements."

"Replacements for what?"

"For this."

"I'm not following."

"You really are thick. Jimmy, Death and I can not keep going as we have for twenty years. It has taken its toll on our marriage."

"Wait a minute. Hold on. I am a writer, a journalist but I am not a...what the hell are you?"

"A hunter."

"I am definitely not a hunter!"

"I disagree. You and your friend located these women. How long did it take you?"

"Who the hell cares? I was too late. Lana is dead and many will never recover from what they went through."

"That is precisely why you and your friend need to do this!"

"I have no idea how you came to that conclusion."

"You are invested in this whether you like it or not. Someone killed Lana. This is not over for you, trust me. You will not wait for law enforcement to find her killer. If you do, you will never find him." Destruction continued searching the cages for the three remaining women he was hired to find.

Jimmy stood there thinking what the man just laid on him. He realized the man was right. He would never let it go and not let it rest. But he was not idealistic and never thought of himself as anything more than an average person moving through life.

Lisa tugged on his shirt then pointed to Detective Gennery approaching.

"Jimmy, the ambulances have finally arrived. The real Feds are here as well." Gennery paused. "They want to speak to you personally."

He walked to the front with Lisa holding his hand. Jimmy had no idea what to expect after the week from hell. He just wanted this to be in the rearview mirror.

Detective Gennery pointed to the head of the Special Victims Unit, Agent Sutcliffe. She directed another agent to collect Lisa.

"Nooooo! I want to stay with him!" Lisa held onto Jimmy's shirt as hard as she could.

Jimmy grimaced. "Give me a second, eh?" Sutcliffe nodded. Jimmy crouched down to be eye to eye with Lisa, raised his right eyebrow. "I think it's safe now. These people are going to help you get home to your family."

Tears streamed from Lisa's eyes though she did not appear sad. She simply hugged him around the neck for a few seconds then released him. "I won't forget you." She turned and walked into the crowd of first responders with the agent.

Jimmy shook his head, stood, and asked. "Where to?"

"Right in here." One of the offices was made into a makeshift interview room where Agent Sutcliffe and another from her team waited. "Take a seat."

For the next two hours, Jimmy explained how his time in New Orleans unfolded right up to meeting the agent.

"And as far as you know, you are Mr. James Dunn from Minnesota?"

Jimmy smiled. "I am not from Minnesota."

"Stop right there. As long as you know it and we know it."

"What about Lana?"

"Fromanger will be charged with her death. His bodyguards as accessories."

Jimmy didn't like that Captain Chambered was not implicated at all. "And the Captain goes free?"

"For now. Unless someone talks." Sutcliffe began to exit the room.

Jimmy stopped her. "What about Lana's remains?"

"She will undergo an autopsy and her body will be cremated. Why?"

"I want to take her home to Russia."

"Give us a week." She handed Jimmy her business card. "You will need to show her passport to obtain her ashes."

Jimmy nodded and sat back down. He was exhausted to the core. He held his head in his hands not believing the past week of his life. Then Destruction made his way to him inside the office. Windy and Death were right behind him.

"You know what you know, but do you understand what you know?" Destruction pulled up a chair as the women looked on.

Jimmy raised his head. "What in the hell are you talking about, old man?"

"You see what has happened here but can you understand the bigger picture?"

"I see my life will never be the same. What more do I need to see?"

The older man shook his head. "Our lives are changing every day. Your life is bigger than just you, your girlfriend, and this woman." He pointed to Windy. "Understanding why your life has changed is the better question to ask."

Jimmy turned away, took a deep breath before turning back. "I get the feeling you are about to ask me to do something I am not prepared to do."

"You may not believe you are prepared, but you are ready."

"How am I ready?"

"My wife and I have been in New Orleans this week tracking down these people. Trying to find this very place even the Special Victims Unit could not find. And the two of you found it. Before anyone else!"

"It was all Win. She is the brains."

"I know, she has already figured out what I am talking about."

"Yeah, well if you could put a few words together I would understand and let me in on the big secret, I would appreciate that very much."

"You and Miss Windy need to do what my wife and I do. You are good at it. With a little help, you can be better."

"I hate guns."

"My wife and I hate guns too."

"Really? You look pretty damn comfortable with it." Jimmy pointed to the natural way the older man held the automatic weapon.

"It is part of the life, at times. Still doesn't mean I like it."

Jimmy looked to Windy. "Win, what do you think?"

"I think I know you will never let this rest, Jimmy. I believe we can do some good in this world."

"And?"

"And I know you want to do this. It is in your blood. You did the same thing reporting on politicians and crime bosses.

Jimmy frowned.

"Don't give me that look." Windy shot back. "You never let go. Of anything!"

The frown slipped from his face. "Yeah, well...what do you want, Win?"