by Hadena James
“Yeah, Gabriel went missing. Before he did, your sister worked out that it was the same person that had tried to kill him as a kid. When you were arrested, you indicated that you had information about it. I’m here to listen to what you know, Eric and we are racing a clock, so no games.”
“My sister is wrong, which doesn’t happen often, especially about killers. The man that took Gabriel is dead,” Eric told him.
“Raphael Henders took Gabriel.”
“The twin?” Eric drew his brow together and frowned. “No, that’s not possible. Raphael was nine and Gabriel was taken by an adult.”
“Gabriel was taken by an adult and Raphael. Raphael was going to eat Gabriel while the adult ate William.”
“That explains a lot,” Eric continued to frown. “I didn’t know he had a trainee when he took Gabriel, just that he was in need of help, the psychological kind. So, did they send you because they were worried Ace would let another family member go?”
“You and I both know that she didn’t let Patterson go.” Malachi said.
“True, but why are you here. I want to speak to Ace. I’ll tell her what I know.” Eric crossed his arms over his chest.
“Two days ago, Ace also went missing. We were lured to California by the murder of Nathan Green. While there, Raphael kidnapped Gabriel. Ace was working on finding out how to get to Raphael when she disappeared. We found her phone, she had taken a picture of her attacker. If I hadn’t known Gabriel had a twin, I would have thought it was Gabriel. They really are almost identical.”
“Snell Grove Lake,” Eric sat up and put his hands on the table. “You find her and you kill him, Malachi.”
“They aren’t at Snell Grove Lake or any other property listed in the names of a family member. We’ve even searched Gabriel’s father’s ranch in Texas. That’s why I’m here, Eric. What did you know back then?”
“Nathan Green was positive it was the work of Adam Market. So was my father.”
“Who’s Adam Market?”
“He went undercover as an FBI agent in the 1960s with a drug cartel. Lost his mind while he was under. The FBI had to pull him, but he came back convinced he was possessed by a demon. It got embarrassing enough that a hit was put out on him. Apex took the contract, but Market just disappeared after Gabriel’s escape. Eventually, Apex turned up some evidence that he had been in Juarez for a time, but he was gone again. The thing was, Apex took the contract to keep him alive. He was convinced that Market knew who the inside guy was. Eventually, Apex found some property belonging to Market in Maine. Middle of nowhere with a bunker kind of place, but Market was dead when he found him. That all happened just three months after my arrest. It looked like the work of another assassin that everyone called The Turk. Apex and I knew better, but someone had tried to make it look that way. We always suspected it was Market’s partner, James Gilroy, but then Gilroy turned up dead too, same kind of wounds. By the end of that year, The Turk had turned himself in to stop the killing and keep whoever was doing it from using his signature.”
“Why Market?” Malachi asked, ignoring all the other questions he had.
“Market crossed paths with a man named Yemenis Lobo, a practitioner of black magic and cannibal himself. He told Market that he was going to curse him so he’d eat his own children if he ever tried to go home. Market must have believed him because he didn’t go home, instead he went to his little shack in Maine and then frequented Snell Grove Lake and he did start eating children. If Raphael is a psychopath, he might have somehow felt Raphael could withstand the curse and taken him under his wing.”
“Eric, where in Maine can I find Market’s place?” Malachi asked.
“Finding it is the easy part, surviving is a different story. It took Apex nine days and some bleeding to get close enough to the bunker to find Market’s body. The place is booby trapped like you wouldn’t believe. People go there and don’t come back.” Eric took a crayon from a drawer hidden in the table and some paper and wrote down some coordinates. “Malachi, you have just three days. If Ace and Gabriel aren’t back, I will go find them myself.”
“I know,” Malachi stood up. “If they aren’t back in three days, I’ll help you get out of this place.”
“Market owned several thousands of acres up there, but it’s all uninhabited. It might be the most remote place in the United States and they do not like feds up there. You’ll get no help from anyone in the woods. You can’t fly in by helicopter, even if you want to repel down. There’s no way to take an ATV in there either. It all has to be hiked on foot and Apex ran into some interesting traps. One nearly took his leg off. I suspect if Raphael has been preparing for this moment, it’s gotten worse, not better.”
After he found Aislinn and Gabriel, Malachi was going to have a long talk with Peter about why they were keeping Eric Clachan in the FGN. It felt like they knew something that no one else did. Or maybe it was Eric.
“Hey, Eric, why exactly are you here and not in a prison in say New York or California?”
“Because I figured out who was behind the attacks and that’s information that will get you killed.” Eric told him.
