Dianne shrugged. “I should get into his head and find out.”
“Make yourself comfortable.”
She sat on the edge of the cargo hold, leaned into a pile of clean clothes, and tapped the dagger under her skirt. “Should I try to remove this from my thigh?”
“Not yet. Let’s see what happens with this phone call. Do you know what to say?”
“More or less. It was pretty simple as you explained it.”
“Sure.” Liam lowered his laptop case to the cargo bed and pulled out his computer. He energized his cell tower tracking program and connected the wealthy buyer’s phone to his USB port. “I’m ready. Get inside his head.”
She became quiet.
“Are you in his head yet?”
The wealthy buyer answered for her. “Yes. It’s me in here.”
He put the phone in front of his face. “Which number is the auction house?”
“Scroll down recent calls.”
He thumbed through them.
“Stop. There.”
Liam called to the elder hunter. “Father, will you hold the phone please? I want to be in front of Dianne in case she needs coaching.”
Connor took the phone and held it near the possessed man’s cheek. “Sure.”
“Wait for my signal. I want to make sure I can communicate with Dianne.” Liam moved to the seated empath. “Can you hear me in there?”
She answered through the buyer. “I can. You worry too much. I’ve got this.”
“I may need to talk to you out of earshot of the phone.”
“It’ll work. Can we make the call? Let’s go. This is tiring.”
“Right. Go ahead and dial, Father.”
The auctioneer answered in English, which Liam assumed was the language of his local peddling trade. “Hello, sir. What can I do for you?”
Dianne spoke through the wealthy buyer. “This is client twenty-one. I’m interested in a secondary resale.”
“From today’s event?”
“Yes.”
“Do you wish to buy or sell?”
“Sell, primarily, but I wish buy as well.”
“Then I assume you’d like a secondary market with client thirty-three?”
“Yes, can you put me in contact with him?”
The auctioneer hesitated. “That’s unusual but not impossible. For a ten-percent fee, our seller’s happy to broker negotiations and hold funds in escrow for secondary sales, but direct contact with another buyer would require our seller’s permission, and I would need to personally broker the conference call.”
Liam nodded and gestured for Dianne to press forward.
She gave her rehearsed retort through the buyer’s body. “I’m sure you understand that I’d like to give my own sales pitch.”
“Of course, but may I ask what’s your opening offer?”
“I’ll offer my second purchase of the day, the one I purchased for ten thousand liras in the fifth auction, in exchange for all three of his purchases of the day plus an additional eight thousand liras, and your fees to be paid by him.”
“That’s demanding. He may reject it outright.”
“Client thirty-three wanted my woman but lacked the funds on hand. I think he’ll be willing to pay now.”
“I’ll speak to the boss and see what I can do.”
“Should I wait to hear from you, then?”
“Yes.”
The line went dead, the wealthy buyer started cursing in Turkish, and Dianne opened her eyes.
As a test, Liam checked his laptop and noticed the brief talk with the auctioneer had pinpointed the call within a four-kilometer radius of the restaurant and its backroom auction block. “If we can get the wraith on the line for even thirty seconds, it’ll help.”
Dianne frowned. “I can do better than that.”
“Do what you can, if you get the chance.”
“He’ll let us talk to him.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m an empath, remember?”
Liam tried to remain positive. “That’s my concern. In Michigan, you were able to see through the wraith’s eyes. Here, you’re having trouble.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Of course, I don’t. I wish I did. Why’s it so hard now?”
Her voice rose an octave. “Did you think it was easy in Michigan?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Why’s it impossible now?”
“I tried it, and he was too strong. He toyed with me.”
He remembered her saying he’d tormenting her by making her watch him slice a throat. “But you still profited from the invasion of his head, whether in real time or in his past.”
“I didn’t say I was giving up. Let’s just try your plan with the phone call before we do anything else.”
The phone in the elder hunter’s hand chimed.
Liam looked at Dianne. “Get in his head.”
A moment later, she spoke through the wealthy buyer. “I’m in.”
Connor lowered the phone to the hog-tied buyer’s cheek. “I’m answering.”
The auctioneer’s voice was crisp. “I have client thirty-three on the line.”
The wraith’s voice was ice. “I’m here.”
The young hunter felt his heart pumping as he ran his cell tower tracking program.
Dianne responded with the possessed buyer’s voice. “Client twenty-one here. I recognize client thirty-three’s voice. Go ahead.”
The auctioneer kept control of the phone conversation. “We have interest from both parties, but we don’t have an agreement on price. The opening offer is item number five in exchange for items two, three, and four, plus eight thousand liras, plus the ten-percent fee payment. The counter is to client thirty-three.”
Liam verified his laptop recorded the conversation, in addition to locating the cell towers nearest the wraith.
“I’m keeping the three I have. I’ll purchase item number five for eleven thousand liras plus the commission fee, giving client twenty-one an instant ten percent profit.”
Surprised with the counter, Liam orchestrated a lie, which he whispered to Dianne. “You’re running a business. You need more assets, not less.”
Speaking through the hog-tied man, she followed his lead. “I’m running a business. I need more assets, not less.”
The wraith countered. “You can buy several assets for the price I’ve offered.”
Liam whispered again to Dianne’s ear. “You need Iraqi assets. Your clients value them at a premium.”
“I need Iraqi assets. My clients value them at a premium.”
The auctioneer interjected. “Given this recent valuation of Iraqi assets, we can arrange for another shipment within a couple months.”
The young hunter looked to his laptop, liked the progress in filtering cell towers, and whispered. “That’s too long to wait. Unless client thirty-three is willing to give up his Iraqi assets purchased today, this isn’t going to work out.”
Dianne conveyed the answer through her puppet. “That’s too long to wait. Unless client thirty-three is willing to give up his Iraqi assets purchased today, this isn’t going to work out.”
“I cannot give up the ones I have.”
Liam sensed the wraith’s resistance turning into suspicion, but his cell tower tracker had done enough, pinpointing the wraith’s phone to within a several blocks. “Thank you, but we’re done here.”
“Thank you, but we’re done here.”
The auctioneer retained his public persona. “Contact me again, either of you, if you have future needs. It’s always a pleasure doing business.”
Connor hung up the phone. “What did you get?”
“As close as the program can get me. A few city blocks. It’s still a lot to cover, but it’s the closest we’ve been.”
“Good.”
“What about him?” Liam pointed at the cursing buyer.
“Help me carry him up front to the passenger seat.”
&nbs
p; With his father’s help, the young hunter slung the trafficker over his shoulder and carried him forward. The elder hunter opened the door, and Liam dropped the man into the seat. “Now what?”
“Now his driver shoots him in a one-for-one deadly exchange.”
“Gruesome.”
“Would you like me to handle it?”
“No, best that I get my hands dirty.” Without hesitating to overthink it, Liam probed the corpse on the floorboards for a pistol, withdrew it, and aimed its silenced barrel at the wealthy man’s chest. He pulled the trigger, stopping a tirade of curses. With his father’s help, he untied the restraining garments from the man’s feet and wrists and removed the handcuffs. “Do we just leave them here?”
“You would prefer to burn them and the truck?”
“It would be cleanest.”
“It would also suggest a third party. Without burning, the police can simply say that they killed each other.”
“That sounds like a stretch, given that the driver moved from his seat to the passenger floorboards postmortem.”
Connor shrugged. “Don’t give too much credit to the police to wasting their time on this. These two men are criminals, and it will be a case they’d be wise to close as fast as possible.”
Wondering if the order would make his father’s prediction come true, Liam nodded and trusted the elder hunter. “Right. Let’s regroup with the team and start figuring out how to find the wraith in his lair. We’re two days from a full moon.”
CHAPTER 37
Dianne rode in the passenger seat while Liam drove the 500X. “I’m starved.”
“I imagine it’s a good time for dinner. We’ve got two days of hunting ahead of us.”
“Are you sure it’s only two days? And are you sure he’s not going to kill before then?”
“No, I’m not. I was hoping as the empath, you could tell me. All I know is he’s allowed to start killing his three tributes at eight-forty-nine in the evening two days from now, and I’ve still got a few thousand addresses to comb through to find him.”
She grew short with him. He was the hunter. He was supposed to know how to find the bad guy. “What do you want from me? Are you saying we just did this for phone trick nothing?”
“No, I narrowed down a lot of geography, and you have access to three women on the inside now. Start talking to them.”
Laying back in her seat, she felt like an idiot for forgetting her three new colleagues under the wraith’s control. Everything was happening fast, and her energy was low. “Can I just take a break? This is exhausting.”
“I’ll call Father and pull us together to get some food. We could all use a break.”
In the restaurant, the growing team nibbled on crispy disks of hot bread and a plate of raw vegetables. Dianne rolled pickled cabbage into a small wrap, bit into it, and swallowed. She felt the discomfort of multiple eyes on her, as if they looked for her to do something impressive. She poked the ribs of the young hunter, who sat next to her.
“What?”
“I’m going to contact one of the women.”
“Right now? You’re sure?”
“Look around the table. Nobody’s asking me yet, but they all want me to do it.”
“Understood. Do you know which one to contact?”
“Dunya. She was the second oldest after Nadine.”
“I’ll make sure nobody disturbs you. Happy telepathing.”
Dianne gripped the dagger glued to her thigh and concentrated on the young Iraqi woman. With the enchanted weapon’s help and the captive’s affinity for Dianne, the link was strong.
“Dianne?”
“Dunya? Can you hear me?”
“Yes. It’s like you’re in my head.”
“I am. Can you talk safely?”
“Yes. I’m alone with the others in our own jail cell.”
“I made it out with Nadine’s sister. You three are the only ones left to be freed.”
“No, there are others here. We talk in Arabic between the walls. There are three Syrian women from Aleppo being held captive here, too. They’re in danger, too, I’m sure.”
That complicated the rescue effort. “I understand. We’ll find a way to get you all out. Did you notice anything about the building?”
“He parked his van inside the building and blindfolded us one by one as he moved us into our cell. It’s some sort of big warehouse, judging by the echoes.”
That aligned with Dianne’s visions. “Can you let me see through your eyes and listen through your ears?”
“I guess so. I don’t know how.”
“Just don’t resist me. Here we go.” Dianne saw the small room and shackles at Dunya’s feet. Her two companions were leaning against the wall at the edge of the single cot. The space appeared to have been a floor supervisor’s office prior to the addition of a toilet, a deadbolted door, and a central chain mounted in concrete. Dianne backed off from her sensory control of the Iraqi woman’s body. “There’s nothing to been seen here.”
“Unfortunately, this is all we can see.”
“He hasn’t hurt any of you, has he?”
“He’s used an electronic shocking tool.”
The Taser rekindled Dianne’s nightmares from Michigan, but it suggested something promising. “The electronic shocks are the cruelest thing he can do without disfiguring you. That may mean your safe at least until the full moon.”
“All of us?”
The addition of three Syrian women muddled the math. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll have to ask Liam. Have the Syrian women been beaten?”
“One was, but they haven’t seen her since the first day. The other three say they’ve had nothing worse than the electronic shock.”
“This is good information. I’ll see what I can learn.”
“Please. Hurry. We’ll fight him any way we can, but we’re scared.”
Dianne reappeared inside herself and scanned the faces around the table. As she accepted how time moved faster within her links than in reality, she realized she could jump in and out of them with a measure of secrecy.
“You were hardly gone.”
She glanced at the young hunter. “But I learned a lot.”
His eagerness betrayed his imperfect data on his enemy’s location. “Something about where he is?”
“No, nothing that good. He’s holding three women from Aleppo in jail cells, in addition to our three new friends. There were four from Syria, but they’ve lost track of one.”
The young hunter scowled. “The Syrian women were there before our Iraqi colleagues?”
“Yes.”
“Then why the bloody hell did he need our Iraqi ladies?”
“You’re the hunter.”
“I know. I’m just thinking out loud. I’m sure he killed the first Syrian woman for sport. The other three, I’m not sure. Three Syrian women support three tributes, but three Iraqi women also support three tributes. Maybe he hasn’t made up his mind yet, or more precisely, maybe his Master hasn’t made up his mind yet.”
A chill overcame Dianne. “But if he makes up his mind right now, that’s three women he can kill for sport, right? We’re racing a clock, and we don’t even know when it runs out of time.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.”
On Dianne’s other side, her brother stirred. “No.”
“Josh? I’m sorry. Did you have something to say to help us?”
He kept his face in his tablet. “Yes.”
“Josh, can you share what you’re thinking?”
“Yes.”
“Josh, what are you thinking?”
He looked away.
“What did you want to tell me, Josh?”
“It’s about the hunters’ books.”
The conversation around the table died, and Dianne continued extracting information from her brother. “Josh, what’s in the hunters’ books?”
“The first chapters of both hunters’ books are the same.”
Dianne loo
ked to Liam and then to Connor beside him, who nodded his approval to keep talking. “We know that Josh. They’re the same, word for word, and they relate to Nana’s book’s first chapter.”
“But it’s obvious!”
“What’s obvious, Josh?”
“Oh, why are you all so stupid?”
Dianne exhaled and reminded herself to be patient. “It’s not nice to call people stupid, Josh.”
“But it’s so obvious.”
Liam tried to talk out the solution in the younger man’s mind. “The first chapters in all three books, Nana’s, Father’s, and the other hunters’, all have three hundred and forty-three characters written in the shape of a cross. Three hundred and forty-three is seven to the third power, which was purposefully mystical. You also discovered that applying the encryption scheme from Father’s book to Nana’s book created a new chapter. That new chapter talked about the power of Dianne’s dagger.”
Josh opened up. “Not just the dagger, the good spirits inside it. It said that evil spirts can’t see what the good spirits want to hide.”
Dianne raised her hand to stop Liam, who seemed ready to pounce. “Are the good spirits hiding something from the evil spirits, Josh?”
“Yes.”
“What are they hiding, Josh?”
“The wraith didn’t know we switched you for Nadine.”
The profound insight weighed upon the table, but Dianne noticed a lack of incomplete understanding in the hunters’ faces. As the waiter brought plates of cubes and shredded meats, Dianne waited for him to leave before recommencing her inquiry. “He bid for me at auction like he wanted me, but I drove the price up too high with the other bidder. Are you saying he specifically wanted Nadine?”
“Yes. Sort of, but he didn’t even know it.”
“Do you know why?”
“It’s obvious, but the wraith can’t see it. He can only see part of it.”
“He can’t see it, because the good spirits are hiding it?”
“Yes.”
“What are they hiding, Josh?”
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