The Guardian

How much do I need?”
    “A lot. Come on this way. Don’t try anything funny or you’ll live to regret it.
    The Guardian followed the large man to the center of the park where a large doublewide trailer sat. It was surrounded by large trees and very isolated.
    Once they reached the trailer, the large man told him to stay put until he was told to move. The Guardian stood there scanning the area. He wanted to commit as much of it to memory as he could.
    A few moments later, the man came to the door and motioned him inside. He climbed the steps very cautiously.
    There was an older woman sitting at a table right inside the door. She was a rough, haggard looking woman. She was probably all of thirty-five years old and looked to be fifty. Her blouse was undone half way down with her large breasts barely covered. It was obvious she wasn’t wearing a bra and appeared to be proud of it.
    “What is we can do for you mister?” She said. A fourth of her teeth were missing. Her breath would knock a buzzard off a shit wagon.
    “As I told this gentleman here, I was told you had girls of a special interest.” He didn’t like the set up. Everyone was very evasive, noncommittal.
    “You must mean girls of a certain age, isn’t that right? Or perhaps maybe boys?” She cocked her head slightly and squinted at him.
    Jesus, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This was worse than he thought. He would have to reconsider this plan and regroup. Halloway and Griffin would need to supply him with some back up in the event that things went wrong. He needed to see exactly what was here first. They would want proof before bringing any warrants. His gut was telling him to bail. His heart was contradicting it.
    “Yes, uh, yes. I mean no, not boys. What do you think? I'm no pervert. I prefer girls.”
    The two of them just looked at each other and laughed loudly. “Okay, look here, it’s gonna be twenty five hundred dollars. That’s for one hour to do anything you like. Just don’t kill um. If you do, you do the clean up.” Said the woman with a stare tat would freeze Lake Mead.
    The Guardian pulled a large leather billfold from inside his jacket and counted out the money. He fanned out twenty-five one hundred dollar bills.
    The woman with the large, ugly breasts and rotting teeth looked at the large man and smiled.
    “Follow me” the man said.
    The Guardian was led down a narrow hallway to the far end of the trailer. It was dark but he could see into the rooms as he passed by. Each room was illuminated by candles or small table lights. Some of the doors were open. It was all he could do to control himself. Each of the rooms held a small girl, nearly naked, sitting on her bed. They had a zombie, half-dead look to them.
    As he passed the room second from the end, he could hear loud moaning and cries coming from inside. That was the final straw. He couldn’t tolerate it any longer. He stopped dead in his tracks. He grabbed the handle but it was locked.
    “Hey asshole, what do you think you’re doing?” The large man said.
    The Guardian kicked the door just above the door handle with everything he had. It barely moved. It was reinforced within the doorframe. He kicked it again, this time dead center. His foot splintered the wood with a loud crack making a large hole.
    Suddenly he heard a muffled pop and felt a sharp pain in his neck. Instinctively his hand went to his neck. He felt something sticking out from the side of his neck. The last thing he was aware of was the large man with no neck slamming him to the ground. Then it all went dark.

EPILOGUE
    Charles Radcliff was the first of many to face the wrath of the Guardian. For his sins, he would spend the next five years in a state hospital. No one would ever know if he ever had thoughts of young boys, girls or any perverted thoughts of the children that he’d abused or perverted thoughts of any kind. Charles would never speak again. It wasn’t so much that he had no tongue to do so, he would just sit and stare out of the wired, fogged up window in his hospital room.
    The Mexican man who unknowingly had met The Guardian in the middle of the night was secretly looking over his shoulder all the time. The Guardian had gone back on two other occasions over a series of months. His first encounter with the Guardian had left a lasting impression on him. The man hadn’t even done anything to the little girl. He just woke suddenly in the night with a light shining in his eyes.