by David Hosp
‘I was there, mate.’ He holds up the dial. ‘That was setting two, of ten. I’m going to three now. Do you want to try again?’
NetMaster nods listlessly.
‘Good. You were going to rape that boy this morning, weren’t you?’
NetMaster manages a second weak nod. ‘I wanted to, ja. I don’t know whether I would have been able to, but if I could have, ja, I would have.’ He sobs at the thought. ‘It has been so long.’ He breaks down and weeps openly.
‘So much better,’ Cormack says. ‘Hopefully we won’t have to resort to this too many times again.’ He holds up the dial.
I step out of the building for a moment twenty minutes into the interrogation, pulling off my ski mask and breathing deeply to clear the stench of the warehouse out of my nose for a brief moment. Cormack hasn’t even started asking NetMaster about the girls and his role in the De Sade murders. I’m growing impatient, but Cormack has made it clear that he wants to establish that NetMaster is telling us the truth before he starts asking questions about the things we really need the answers to. His contacts have given him enough information about NetMaster’s illicit activities in Amsterdam for it to be clear when he’s reached the point where he’s no longer willing to lie and take the risk of another shock. I know it’s going to be another ten or fifteen minutes before we get there, and the sight of the torture is beginning to wear on me. In addition, I want to check in to see whether Yvette has discovered anything in her hack into Pinkerton’s NextLife computers.
I dial her number and she picks up on the first ring.
‘What’s happening?’ she asks without greeting.
‘You don’t want to know.’
‘Is it bad?’
‘It’s not good. What’s happening there?’
‘I’m working in a corner of the floor to try to keep out of sight,’ she says. ‘I don’t know what people know. I think they’re aware that things are fucked-up. They all saw you being walked out of here in handcuffs, and the police have taken everything out of your office – computer, desk, everything.’
‘Great.’
‘I don’t know whether people know about Gunta and François. This place is pretty well removed from corporate, so they may not have any idea how screwed-up things really are. The one thing that people are starting to hear is that Josh has gone into hiding. It’s freaking everyone out.’
‘Is anyone bothering you?’
‘No, everyone is pretty much keeping their distance. I feel a little like a leper, but I’m fine with that. I don’t have any interest in talking at the moment, and if I had to deal with questions, I wouldn’t be able to get anything done.’
‘Have you been able to get into his servers?’
‘Yeah. I’ve cracked his security both on his desktop and his laptop. I have pretty good visibility, but it’s taking me a little time to get through everything. I’m surprised he didn’t do a better job of protecting things, but I suppose it’s better for us.’
‘Is there anything related to Kendra’s murder?’
‘Not that I’ve been able to locate yet, but like I said, it’s taking a while to get through everything. There are a ton of emails from when they were together, but I haven’t read them all. There’s a bunch of other stuff on his system, too.’
‘Keep looking. If we find anything, I’m in a lot better shape.’
‘I know. I will.’ Something about her voice raises an alarm in my head.
‘Is there something you’re not telling me?’
She hesitates. ‘I did find something on Josh’s laptop,’ she says in a whisper.
‘Something about Kendra?’
‘No. But it’s . . . ’
‘It’s what?’
‘It’s similar to the De Sade LifeScenes. But this one doesn’t use the De Sade name. It’s got Josh’s personal identifier, and Josh is the star in it.’
I’m leaning against the cinderblock side of the warehouse, looking out at the water. There is a huge Liquid Natural Gas tanker going by. It’s so big it seems as though you could walk across Charlestown harbor on it and never touch the water. Its housing is nine stories, and that’s on top of the deck, which must be 200 feet off the water. It’s more than 500 yards long, surrounded by armed coastguard boats. If a terrorist were able to mount a successful attack and blow up one of these tankers, the damages-estimates suggest that all of Boston would be leveled. It makes me think about how fragile everything we take for granted really is, as I watch my life collapse.
‘What’s in the LifeScene?’ I ask.
‘It’s a little like the others. There’s a girl, and she’s in what looks like a dungeon. She’s all suited up in leather and chained to this wall with leather padding. He’s having his way with her, and then he strangles her.’
‘Sounds fairly simple.’
‘It is. It doesn’t have any of the creativity of the other De Sade LifeScenes.’
I think through what she’s telling me. ‘Is there anything else about it?’
‘Yeah,’ she says. I can tell that she’s debating whether or not to tell me something. ‘There’s someone else in this one.’
‘Someone else?’
‘Yes. It’s another man. He is chained to the wall, too, just a few feet from the girl. He’s watching what Josh is doing to the girl, trying to pull away from his chains. Josh kills the guy after he strangles the girl.’
‘How?’
‘He stabs him slowly with a long sword.’
‘That can’t be fun.’ My mind is racing as I try to figure out what it all means.
‘It gets weirder. Once he’s done killing the guy, he steps back and jerks off to the whole scene while auto-asphyxiating himself to heighten the sensations.’
‘Jesus! Sounds like Josh has gone completely around the bend. Did you recognize the models in the Scene?’ I ask.
‘I did,’ she says. Her voice is so quiet now, I can barely hear her. ‘The guy is you,’ she says. ‘The girl is me.’
It feels like I’ve been hit with a charge from the car battery. The sensation is so powerful it shoots pain throughout my body. ‘Listen carefully, Yvette,’ I say, trying to keep calm. ‘I want you to get out of there. Get out of there now, and wait for my call. I’ll find you as soon as this is done here.’
I’m back in the warehouse, the ski mask pulled down, hiding my face, standing behind the light, out of NetMaster’s sight. I’m watching everything as it unfolds, but it’s like I’m not really there anymore. I feel completely removed from my body. I’m floating, as though someone else is in control of my actions. Things feel less real than when I’ve GhostWalked others’ LifeScenes.
‘Tell us about the girl,’ Cormack is saying. He is standing over NetMaster, looking down on him. Toby now has the dial in his hand, and he’s taking his orders from Cormack. The setting on the dial is up to seven, and NetMaster looks like he can’t take any more. His skin is gray, and from the smell I’m pretty sure he’s shit himself at least a little. That stench is nothing compared to the pungent sting of fear that clouds the air.
‘What girl?’ he asks.
Toby holds up the dial, as though he’s going to press the button, but Cormack waves him off.
‘I tell you, but what girl?’ NetMaster pleads. He’s so worn out now, his English is barely passable, and his accent makes it difficult to understand him.
‘Your boss’s old girlfriend.’
‘The whore?’ NetMaster asks. ‘She was murdered.’
‘What did you have to do with it?’
I can read the confusion on NetMaster’s face. ‘Nothing,’ he says. ‘I have nothing to do with that.’
‘Your boss, then,’ Cormack presses. ‘He relies on you; surely he told you something.’
‘No, he have nothing to do with it. Ask police; they arrest someone for that already. Caldwell. Nick Caldwell. He kill her!’
I can feel the eyes of the other men in the room on me.
‘That’s what the police thi
nk,’ Cormack says. ‘But that’s not the truth, is it?’
‘Yes, it is truth!’
Cormack nods at Toby, and Toby looks at NetMaster malevolently. He presses the button and keeps it down for close to five seconds. The giant’s body twitches and quivers like it’s a chunk of bacon on a griddle. I can smell burning hair, and I’m watching as his face twists, his tongue sticking out like a slab of meat.
‘That’s enough!’ Cormack shouts.
Toby allows a beat before he takes his finger off the button.
NetMaster is having trouble catching his breath, and he is doubled over. ‘It is truth!’ he pants. ‘I know nothing else. My chest!’
‘Tell us,’ Cormack yells back at him. ‘Tell us, and we can let you go!’
‘I don’t know nothing. Nick Caldwell! He kill!’
‘Tell us!’
It’s too much for me to take. I have an image of Josh torturing Yvette in my head, and as awful as the thought of him torturing Kendra was, the thought of the same thing happening to Yvette is unbearable. Combined with the doubt that I can see in the eyes of the other men in the room as they look back and forth between the two of us, it feels as though my head may explode. Before I know what’s happening, I am moving toward the gasping man strapped to the chair.
‘You’re lying!’ I scream, as I punch him in the face. ‘You’re a fucking liar! Tell the truth!’
‘I tell. I tell!’
‘You’re a liar! Tell us about Pinkerton.’
‘No, not Pinkerton. Caldwell! I tell the truth!’
I’m hitting him repeatedly now. Blood pours from NetMaster’s broken nose, and his lips are sliced to ribbons, but I keep swinging, no longer fully in control of my actions. ‘Tell the truth! He killed her!’ I pull off my ski mask, grab him by the ears and stick my face right in front of his. ‘Tell me, you motherfucker, or I swear I’ll kill you right here and now!’
His eyes go wide as he recognizes me. ‘You!’ he screams. ‘You! You kill girl!’
‘Liar!’
‘You kill girl!’
I am punching him again, holding him by the throat, his blood and sweat sticky in my hand. I am aware of the other four men in the warehouse moving behind me, talking – saying something to me – then screaming at each other. Out of the corner of my eye I see Toby hold up the dial. I hear him echoing my own demands of ‘Tell us!’ I hear Cormack scream, ‘No!’
A split second later it’s as though the world has caught fire. I feel like the wrath of the gods has been visited upon me through NetMaster. It’s running from my hands, up my arms, into my shoulders and spreading throughout my body. I’m looking him in the eyes, and they are burning into me. Both of us are shaking. I can hear Cormack somewhere far off, screaming through miles of cotton candy, muffled and barely audible. ‘Turn it off! You’re fuckin’ killing them!’
It stops and I fall to the concrete floor, the world sliding onto its side as I lose consciousness.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
My eyes open slowly, and with great pain. My vision is blurred and I can’t seem to move. It’s as though every nerve in my body has been shorted out. I try to lift my head, but it feels like, if I do, it may separate from my body.
‘Easy there,’ a voice says. I have the sense that I recognize the voice, but it’s muffled, and I can’t be sure.
‘Where?’ I choke out.
‘Where are you? Union office, down on the docks.’ My vision clears a little, and I can see Cormack standing over me. ‘This here’s our sickroom. Bed’s pretty comfortable. It seemed the best place to take you. Couldn’t very well admit you to the Emergency Room. Too many questions, you understand. And I didn’t want your ma to see you in the condition you were in. She’s got enough to worry about.’
‘What happened?’
He moves back, sits in a chair a few feet away. ‘Toby let his anger get away from him,’ he says. ‘Stupid fuck. He cranked the dial to ten and hit that fat fuck with the maximum juice. You were holding onto his neck, so the current went straight through him and into you. For a moment I didn’t think you were gonna make it. You looked like a fuckin’ hot dog that’d been left too long on the charcoal. Lookin’ a bit better now.’
I flex my arm and manage to push myself into a sitting position. It still feels as though all of my extremities may fall off the rest of my body. ‘NetMaster?’
He shakes his head. ‘I’m not sure he would’ve made it much longer anyway. You carry around that kind of weight, it takes a toll on the heart. He certainly couldn’t take the last jolt, though. He was belly up before you hit the floor.’
‘Where is he?’
‘You don’t need to worry about that. Toby’s in charge of disposal. He has experience, and it’s his punishment for fucking up. Toby had a difficult childhood, and I think he let that cloud his thinking on this job.’
‘That’s it?’
Cormack shrugs. ‘Not like the world’s the worse off for not having the likes of that man in it. There’s not a child in a twenty-mile radius that isn’t safer now than they were this morning. And I can’t imagine there’s anyone who’ll miss the bastard. It’s not how I planned it, but it’s part of the risk when you start in on a business like this.’
‘We didn’t get anything from him.’
‘No, we didn’t.’
‘He wouldn’t give Josh up.’ Cormack looks away. ‘What?’
He looks me in the eye. ‘I’ve seen a lot of men pushed hard during interrogations. I’m not proud of that, but it’s a fact. I’ve got a pretty good eye for when a man’s gotten to the point where they’ll give everything up, no matter what the consequences.’
‘And?’
‘And that worthless pile of pig shit was well beyond that point. He was telling the truth. I have no doubt.’
‘So you think I killed Kendra?’
He shakes his head slowly. ‘I’m not saying that. I’m saying that he believed you killed the girl. He certainly wasn’t protecting his boss. He would have said anything we wanted to at that point, but he was genuinely telling us what he believed was the truth. When you were out of the warehouse, he copped to all sorts of ugly shit. Trafficking in children, rape, all manner of crimes against God. He was done, and he knew it. He wasn’t holding anything back anymore.’
I shake my head, and the motion sets off a firestorm of neurological distress as my nerves learn how to function properly. ‘It’s hard to see Josh doing this without involving NetMaster.’
‘I’m only giving you my honest view.’
I’m stumped. ‘How does a guy like that end up here with Pinkerton?’
‘Well, it’s logical actually,’ Cormack says. ‘The sex trade was moonlighting for Dieter. His real money came from working on the Internet.’
‘The Internet?’
‘Yeah. When he was in Amsterdam, his specialty was cybercrime. Identity theft, electronic extortion, things like that. It’s a huge business these days. Very organized and well funded.’
‘And that makes him a good fit for NextLife?’
‘If you want to protect your system, the best people to have working for you are the people who would know how to compromise that system, so they can figure out ways they can prevent others from getting in. It’s logical. Lots of banks and top Internet companies seek out the rebel types and hire them to be on their team.’
‘I guess that’s right,’ I concede. It does make some sense.
‘Frankly, I’ve always thought that was why your company hired Yvette. I know there’s no one better at hacking than her.’
The mention of her name sends a new kind of pain crashing through my nervous system. ‘Yvette!’ I exclaim, bolting painfully to my feet. ‘Where is my phone? I need to call her.’
‘I called her when we were on our way here. I left a message.’
‘She didn’t pick up?’
‘No, but maybe she didn’t have her phone with her.’
‘How long ago was this?’
&nbs
p; ‘A few hours. You’ve been out for a while.’
‘And she hasn’t called since then?’
He looks a little unsettled, but it’s nothing compared to how I feel. ‘She hasn’t. I didn’t give it any thought. Why? What’s wrong?’
I pick up my phone and check for messages, but there’s nothing. I dial Yvette’s number and it rings four times before I get her voicemail. I leave her a message and hang up the phone.
‘What’s wrong?’ Cormack asks again.
‘She’s in danger,’ I say. ‘Serious danger, and we have to find her.’
Cormack drives me to pick up my car at the warehouse. The mere sight of the place is enough to make me feel sick. I wonder how Toby disposed of NetMaster’s body, but I would never ask. I assume he was probably chopped up and mixed with chum and is currently being dropped bit by bit into the Atlantic several miles offshore. That’s one of the advantages of being on the water as a leader of organized crime. There’s never any real problem with disposing of bodies.
I head to Yvette’s place, with Cormack following me. It’s after ten o’clock, and dark outside. No lights are on in the house. I know where she hides a key behind a gutter in the back of the house, so I retrieve it and we go in.
There are only a few rooms in the place – two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs; kitchen, living room, dining room and half bath downstairs – so it doesn’t take us long to go through the place, but there’s no sign of her. I try her cell again, but with no luck. I leave another message. Cormack calls the Cambridge office and asks for her, but he’s told that she left several hours before. I call Ma’s house, just to make sure she’s not waiting for me there, but Ma says she hasn’t heard from Yvette. Getting off the phone with Ma is a challenge.
‘What’s happening?’ she asks.
‘I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.’
‘The other thing? The part that you and Cormack were handling? Did anything happen there?’
