“What would get Nyleena’s attention?” Alejandro looked at me.
“A nuclear bomb?” I suggested.
“This isn’t time for fun and games,” Alejandro scolded.
“That’s the problem, I don’t know. She doesn’t have the issues that Malachi and I have. Nyleena is a mostly normal, well-adjusted human being. She’s taken on the Cartels, gun runners, serial killers, mass murderers and human trafficking. Killing anyone she knew could wake her up to a brutal reality or she might just shake it off because it comes with the territory. She chooses to keep a best friend whom death follows around like plague. She decided a long time ago that she could tolerate Malachi and The Butcher to be friends with me. So, I just don’t know what would and wouldn’t bring her running.”
“If I wanted to ensure I had Nyleena and Malachi’s attention, I’d kidnap you.” Lucas made this sound very matter of fact.
“I’m not going to fit into the Hanging Coffins, unless they designed one for me and I’m not a good victim. Getting a hold of me is a battle in itself. I’m not above being kidnapped, but I don’t think two psychopaths could do it and while they may not know it, I do have that very bizarre pseudo-serial killer watching me. I don’t think he wants me dead. They’d have to contend with him as well.”
“We could use you as bait then.” Alejandro suggested.
“I don’t think that works,” I frowned. “Kidnapping me gets them Nyleena and Malachi’s attention. Kidnapping Nyleena does the same thing and she would fit in the Hanging Coffins and doesn’t have a serial killing stalker. Getting past Malachi might be an issue though. What do they do for the three days?”
“Huh?” Xavier asked.
“They keep them alive for three days. Why? Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd? Especially since they aren’t physically torturing them or raping them? Are they psychologically torturing them for three days? If so, why? To what purpose? That would make the deaths, even the most painful of them, seem like a release, not a punishment. So what the hell are they doing with them for three days?”
“This is like the Maidens.” Lucas shot me a warning glare.
“A bit, yes, but we found stuff out about the maidens. Might find out more stuff from the maidens.” I quipped.
“What we discovered from the maidens was pretty unhelpful,” Michael added.
“True, to some degree, it was pointless. However, it helped me realize that these things were planned long before they happened. It made Lucas re-evaluate some of his theories.”
“That’s true. We think the victims are planned, not random. Two people would be better than one, especially at grabbing ten women in a single night. We know they have back-up women just in case something happens to their first ones. We know they plan far ahead.”
“The next torture device is going to be the same; they are going to use the Scavenger’s Daughter on these ten.” I closed my eyes.
“But we have their hoop thingy,” Xavier commented.
“No we have a hoop thingy. Surely they had more than one made. If they can afford five Iron Maidens, they can afford more than one Scavenger’s Daughter. How are they getting the money for these things if they are off the grid? How many ways can you make non-traceable money?”
“Not many; drugs, prostitution, robbery, burglary, illegal gambling,” Lucas started listing.
“I think we can ignore prostitution and illegal gambling.” I told them.
“Why?” Alejandro asked.
“Because it is too chincy. There’s too much that is left to chance. What if Jessica were arrested for prostitution? What if they lost all their money gambling? What if they were accused of cheating in some backroom of a Russian club? These are not risks the two of them are going to take. It would negate all the planning,” Lucas said.
“That leaves drugs, robbery, burglary and...” I started listing things.
“The internet,” Michael suddenly perked up. “Far easier to run a porn site on the internet and if you are routing it through multiple servers, it becomes harder to trace and porn is legal. However, we are talking about sums that would require hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“And you can’t make that off internet porn?” I frowned at him.
“You could, but the IRS would be all over it, regardless of how many servers in different countries it was routed. Besides, with all the new child porn regulations in place, it is becoming harder and harder.”
“Poor word choice,” Lucas chided him.
“Sorry, it is becoming more difficult to run internet porn sites anonymously,” Michael said.
“So we are back to burglary and robbery,” I said.
“Yep,” Lucas seemed to be thinking.
“What?” I asked him.
“They are kidnapping ten women at a time; surely some of those ten have money and things at their houses. The rest could be supplemented with other burglaries and robberies,” Lucas said.
“And muggings,” I suggested, finding the idea ridiculous, “you can’t make a couple hundred thousand a year off burglary.”
“No, no you can’t,” he deflated like a balloon, looking smaller. His entire frame seemed to shrink.
“Other ways to make that kind of money?” I asked.
“Drugs.” Xavier suggested.
“Again, that seems rather chincy. Too many variables that you can’t control. Same with weapons dealing. But maidens aren’t cheap,” I cocked my head to the side.
“Trust funds?” Lucas asked.
“Not that I can see.” Michael answered, “of course, if they did have trust funds they emptied at 21, they might have disappeared. I’ll do more digging into their backgrounds.”
“Jessica didn’t seem like the trust fund type,” I sighed again.
“What is it?” Lucas asked me.
“I feel like I can’t see the trees for the forest.” I told him.
“Normally it is the big picture that gets missed, not the details,” he counseled.
“That’s just it. I can’t seem to find the details. I have the big picture; Jessica and Marcus take revenge for their brother. They used the Book of Torture to lure me in. They are killing off Malachi’s ex-girlfriends, but that’s a never-ending list and won’t have much impact on Malachi. It will bother me more than him. They may or may not go after myself or Nyleena; either would strike me as poorly thought out, which is the exact opposite of what they have been doing. They are buying incredibly expensive replicas of torture devices but they don’t seem to have any money coming in. Hell, they don’t seem to exist. I guess they could be day-laborers, working with illegals, but that wouldn’t make them enough money. We’re still missing something, something important. Something that I can’t grasp.”
“Maybe it’s lack of sleep,” Michael chimed in, his fingers working frantically over his keyboard.
“I’ve gone days without sleep. It starts to bother me after about 48 hours. I’ve slept in the past 48. That rules out sleep deprivation.”
“Well, we need to figure something out because while we sit here spinning our wheels, those women get closer to dying,” Alejandro suddenly became livid. His face went red with rage. Sweat beaded on his brow. I frowned at him, he reminded me of something.
“Get out,” I told him quietly. “And so help me god, if you ever break down another door that I’m on the other side of, I’ll put a bullet into your brain.”
The calm washed over me. I felt myself slide into that special place where no emotion filtered through. Alejandro moved closer to me.
“Out Alejandro,” I said it calmly, felt myself begin to reach for a knife I had strapped to my wrist.
“You will not order...”
“You will not stand here, hulking out on me and expect me to back down. I said to get out. I meant it.”
Alejandro looked at me for a couple more heartbeats. He snarled, turned and left.
Chapter 44