“It’s up to you.” He tilted his head. “But if you can believe in freaks, I’d think you’d be able to take it one step farther.”
“It’s a damn big step. You’re telling me about a whole world dotted with freaks and an equally weird family trying to take care of all of them.”
“Hey, you read memories. That’s pretty damn strange in itself. May I suggest you just ride with it?”
She was thinking. “Searcher. Was Mandak looking … Am I supposed to be a member of this Devanez family?”
“You’ll have to ask him. I don’t believe you are, but he’s never told me one way or the other.” He paused. “He may have heard about you and decided he needed you whether or not you were family. I know that he had a problem that he had to solve.”
“What kind of—” She stopped as he shook his head. He wasn’t going to answer that question. “You said that I wasn’t the first or the last. Mandak has brought other people to this place?”
He nodded. “Mandak is a Searcher. You’ve been tops on his agenda, but it’s been seven years, and he wouldn’t just wait around and twiddle his thumbs. He’s kept himself very busy during those years.” He wrinkled his nose. “And it wasn’t easy. Some of those people were half-mad, some bitter against the world. Some only victims but having to be taught.”
“And you helped him?”
“I gave him a place and a little protection. After that, it was up to him. I wanted to enjoy my life.”
“Why do anything at all?”
He smiled. “Because during the time when Mandak was bringing me through my own personal hell, I developed a bond with him.” He nodded as he saw her stiffen. “You, too? It’s not uncommon. Especially when he has to go deep. It took me a while to accept it. Sometimes I resented him, sometimes I liked him.” He met her eyes. “Sometimes I worshipped him.”
“You?”
“It’s a shock to me, too. You’re right, my entire easygoing personality flinches at the idea.” He added, “But it’s easier to try to work it out than to do without Mandak.”
“I don’t agree.”
“That’s your privilege. I’m only sharing my experiences.” He got to his feet. “Now if you’re through questioning me, I’ll leave you alone to absorb my words of wisdom.” He gazed at her inquiringly. “I’m dismissed?”
She nodded slowly. “Since you won’t tell me anything else I need to know. When can I see Mandak again?”
“Whenever you wish. He said he had arrangements to make. But I know he’ll come when you call him. I could send him to you now.”
She thought about it. No, her mind was whirling, and she was trying to weigh truth against fairy tale. She needed time to come to terms with what Sean had told her. “I’ll call him.”
“I’ll let him know.” He hesitated. “I know all this has been rough on you. If you need me, I’ll be in my study. I know you and Mandak have issues. If you just want to talk or have someone to hold on to, I’m volunteering.”
She was surprised. She could tell the offer was genuine. “Thank you. I don’t believe that was part of your instructions from Mandak.”
“Nah, that was all me. I just get a little soft now and then.” He turned toward the door. “Good luck, Allie.” The door shut behind him.
Good luck.
She might need that good luck. The Earth was spinning and turning upside down. She had lost the only two people in the world that she loved. Mandak was looming, lurking, in the darkness ahead.
Close him out. The only things that were important were the deaths of Lee and Natalie and deciding what to do about them. She leaned back in her chair as she felt the tears sting her eyes again. She’d stay here and let the agony come, then pass. Perhaps in the midst of that terrible sadness, she’d find the answer.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“YOU’VE BEEN CRYING AGAIN,” Mandak said as soon as she opened the door for him four hours later.
“So what?” Allie said as she stepped aside for him to enter. “I’m sorry if you’re disappointed that your two days of ‘handling’ my sorrow didn’t quite do the job. It still hurts. It will always hurt.”
“I knew that. I was only trying to keep you from falling apart. You’ve actually done better than I hoped.”
“Yes, I’m sure you’d think it a terrible waste if I fell apart.”
“That it would,” he said bluntly. “For you, for me, and for Lee and Natalie. You sent for me. Why am I here?”
“To fill in the blanks. You put a muzzle on Sean Donavel.” She moved toward the window and drew back the drape to look down at the strip. “And everything he did tell me was crazy and absurd and hard to fathom.”
“But true.”
“You’ll have to convince me.”
“I’m not sure I can. You have a built-in resistance. You may have to learn as you go.”
“But I have no intention of going anywhere.” She let the drape fall and turned back to face him. “Yet.”
“But you’ve left the possibility open.” His gaze was narrowed on her face. “I thought you might.”
“You’ve been playing this game with me for years. Guiding me like your puppet, never telling me anything. That ends right now, Mandak.” Her tone was hard. “I’m not going to stumble around blind any longer. You’ve offered me revenge for Lee and Natalie. Do I want it? You bet I do. But I don’t know if they’d want me to serve it up the way you’ve planned.”
“Probably not. Because they wouldn’t want revenge for themselves. They want it for Simon and the children.” He paused. “But I want it for them. And I can have Camano, and I can have Praland. I just have to work it right.”
“Praland?”
“Nelson Praland. Scumbag, monster, and your particular target.”
“Bullshit. I have no target. And I won’t be handed one by you.” She paused. “But I could be handed one by Lee and Natalie. Simon. Tell me about Simon. How did he die?”
“He was butchered by Nelson Praland. Simon was a social worker who was sent over to Tanzania by the State Department to help try to track down children who had been kidnapped and sold into slavery by a band of criminals. Praland was second-in-command to Molino, a scumbag who dealt with local bandits as well as Mafia families in Europe and the U.S. Everything was on the table with them, vice, assassinations, and the kidnapping and selling of children. The latter was particularly profitable in Africa since many men there believed breaking a virgin could cure AIDS.”
“Filth.”
“Without a doubt.”
“So did Simon find the children?”
“A few. But the buyers hid most of them away in small tribal villages in the jungle. Only Praland knew where they could be found.”
“What about this Molino? You said Praland was his second-in-command.”
“We managed to take Molino out. We found some documents and records on his property that we thought would help in finding the children.” He shook his head. “But Praland had already taken over the operation, and they didn’t do us any good. We’ve been searching for those children for years. The biggest percentage of them were little girls. A good many have probably grown into their teens and been married off or sold into whorehouses by now.” His lips twisted. “But they’ve been replaced by an entire flood of new kidnapped children during these last years. Praland has been very busy.”
“How did Praland catch Simon Walberg?”
“Simon was obsessed with locating the children. He wouldn’t give up. He got too close, and Praland pounced.” He added grimly, “He was an easy target. Simon was no fighter. He was in the Peace Corps after he graduated from college, then worked with UNESCO. Lee and Natalie were very proud of him.”
Allie remembered that last night when Natalie had spoken to her of her son. “I know they loved him very much.”
“He was everything to them.” He paused, then said bluntly, “Praland tortured Simon, then cut him into pieces. He called Simon’s parents and told him that he laughed, then walked
away after he’d done it. It nearly destroyed them.”
“Couldn’t the government do anything about Praland? Simon was a U.S. citizen.”
“Praland had money, contacts, and corruption was rampant in Africa. Very difficult to fight. I watched the Walbergs battle against the system, but I knew it would be futile. They even tried to go after Praland themselves, but the CIA scooped them up and sent them home.”
“You let the CIA do it? Couldn’t you help them?”
“Not at the time. I was occupied with something else.”
“And Lee and Natalie weren’t important enough for you to bother.”
“Not fair,” he said sharply. “I just couldn’t put them first on the list.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’d just found out that Praland had managed to steal something that made everything else he’d done pale in comparison.” He held up his hand as she opened her lips to speak. “I’ll tell you. Give me a chance.” He pushed her down in the chair. “I told Sean to tell you about the Devanez family. Did you believe him?”
“No. Yes. I’m not certain. The entire story is crazy.”
“But then so is a woman who can read memories and a man who has his own particular brand of strangeness.”
“Sean said something like that.”
“I hate to be repetitive, so I’ll skip trying to convince you. He told you about the ledger?”
“No. What ledger?”
“When Jose Devanez sent all of the members of the family to the four corners of the Earth, he still wanted to keep tight rein on them for their protection. That meant keeping records of births, deaths, marriages, and the cities to where they’d moved. He sent his brother with a ledger to travel the world and keep those records. It became his life work, and when he died, the job was given to another member of the family. As centuries passed the family became disconnected except for the core Devanez group. But the tradition and the duty of maintaining that ledger was ingrained and active in the family. It’s considered absolutely necessary to prevent chaos and harm to those members who don’t even know why it’s happening to them.”
“And what does all this have to do with Praland?”
“Praland’s boss, Molino, hated what he called freaks because he blamed them for his son’s death. He wanted to destroy all of them. When he learned about the ledger, he began searching frantically for it. Before he was killed, he almost had it in his hands. We thought that we’d fooled him with a duplicate.”
“Thought?”
“Molino had pulled Praland into the plan to work behind the scenes. Praland managed to pull a sleight-of-hand gambit and snatched the true ledger.”
“And that was so important? You said Molino was dead.”
“It was the most important event imaginable to the Devanez family. Not only were all those families listed in the ledger in danger, but they were vulnerable to a man who had absolutely no scruples. Praland wasn’t as obsessed with psychics as Molino, but he was clever, vicious, and ready to become king of his particular world.” He paused. “And there were also account codes of the economic activities of the families that would be worth billions if deciphered. The entire family core was in an uproar.”
“That’s only money. Simon Walberg was dead and his parents in agony.”
“The money was the smallest part of the picture.” His lips thinned. “You have no idea how helpless some of those people are who have no idea how to control their gifts. Some of them go mad. Suicides are common if we don’t find them in time. We knew they’d be sitting ducks for a man like Praland.”
“And some of the people in your family are far from helpless if you’re any example.”
“True. But it’s a fragile balance.”
“Then why not send some of your high-powered psychic wizards after him to get the ledger back? Someone who could perhaps read his mind and just go after it?”
“We tried. Everything from special forces who tore through his residences trying to find the ledger, to sending some of our best mental ‘wizards’ as you call them. Praland has a natural mind block. Very strong.”
“And he’s evidently hidden the ledger very well.”
“We haven’t been able to find it in nine years.”
She was silent. “And am I supposed to be next on your list of ‘wizards’?”
“You could do it.”
“How do you know?”
“I was one of the first on the list sent to probe and try to find out where he’d hidden the ledger. I couldn’t get anywhere reading his mind, but I could see movement and vulnerability in the memory area.”
“And you want me to dip into that cesspool he calls a memory and pull out your ledger.”
He nodded. “What you’re able to do is unusual and almost unique. If there are any others capable of reading Praland, I haven’t found them.”
“Even if I could find out what you know, I’d have to get close enough to read him. And sometimes people live in the present and seldom think about the past.”
“I know all that. But I’ll get you to him; and then we’ll worry about the rest. It’s worth it, Allie.”
“In your opinion.”
“Dammit, it’s worth it.” He paused. “Because Praland is playing games with that ledger. He told us he was using that ledger to list all the children that his organization kidnapped together with their purchasers. He’s been teasing us with that damn list. Also, in the last nine years, he’s killed seventeen family members. He’s taking his time and plucking them one by one. Seven of those people didn’t even know they belonged to the Devanez family. One day, they were living their lives, and the next, they were dead.”
“Why is he taking his time? Seventeen lives are a terrible price, but there could be many more. Right?”
“Right.” He shrugged. “Blackmail.”
“What?”
“Praland is blackmailing the family. Not money. I’m not sure he knows about those economic codes yet. But he wants to continue with his rotten little empire, and he’s forcing the Devanez family to pull back from exerting even a minimum of political or police interference on Praland’s turf. As long as we play along and give him protection, he’ll keep the killing to a minimum. If we fail to do it, he’ll turn loose the bloodhounds. If he thinks that he’s in danger, he’s given orders that those children he’s sold to his clients are to die. If we get too close to the ledger for his comfort, he’ll either burn it or throw it to the crocodiles.”
“Ugly. But what you’re doing isn’t clean either.”
“Because we’re protecting ourselves? You’re right, we’re playing a dirty game, and we hate it. We try to walk a double line. We send people in to rescue his captives whenever we can do it. I’ve been trying for years to find ways to get to Praland that would keep the ledger safe.” He looked her in the eyes. “So far, you’re the only hope we have.”
“And you were ready to force me to give up everything I wanted to do with my life to give you that hope.”
“Yes.”
“No shame?”
“I did what was necessary. You were the solution. I’ll try to help you survive.”
“You’re not answering.”
“Guilt, yes. But I made the decision, and I have to stand by it.”
She shook her head. “The decision’s in my court now.”
“Not entirely. There are things that I could do to alter circumstances.” He paused. “But I prefer not to do them.”
“And now that I know what game you’re playing, you might have a hard time leading me down the garden path.”
“When was it ever easy between us? I’m not asking you to embrace me or the Devanez family. That would be completely ridiculous and unrealistic. I believe what we’re doing is the only possibility under the circumstances, but you seldom agree with me. All I’m asking is that you remember what I offered you. Freedom from Camano. Revenge for the killing of your friends.” He added, “And one more thing. The justice for Simo
n that Lee and Natalie wanted above everything.”
“God, you’re clever.” She could feel the tears sting again, and she didn’t want him to see them. “Get out of here, Mandak. I’ll call you when I’ve made up my mind.”
He nodded as he headed for the door. “I’ll be waiting.”
But not long, she thought. He’d be moving and shaking and subtly pushing. She leaned her head back against the cushioned chair and closed her eyes. But she wouldn’t be pushed. She had to have time, and she had to be clear about what she needed to do. What Natalie and Lee would want her to do.
“Help me, guys,” she murmured. “You thought it was worthwhile when you let Mandak talk you into it. You’re both so smart. You must have thought it was right.”
But she was alone now, and she was the one to decide right and wrong …
* * *
SIX HOURS LATER, SHE CALLED Mandak.
“I’ll do it,” she said curtly. “But you were too vague about what you were offering me in return. I’m going to spell out exactly the terms you have to offer me. Revenge. I want Camano dead and his crime organization broken up. Freedom. I want out of the Witness Protection Program. I’m tired of being a prisoner. Camano’s death could help with that, but Dantlow might want me to testify against other crime figures. You see that I’m not held hostage to the program.”
“Done. Anything else?”
She hesitated. “I don’t want my mother hurt or killed. She couldn’t have been involved in this atrocity. She’s only entertainment for Camano. I want her free of him to make a new life.”
Silence. “With you?”
“I don’t know.” But the thought of starting a new life with someone who had told her that she loved her and wanted to be with her was comforting in this vacuum of loneliness. “I’ll have to see. I’m confused and hurting right now.”
“And that’s very dangerous for you.”
“I’ll handle it. Is it strange that I want my mother to survive?”
“Done,” he said tersely. “And what do you give me in return?”
“I go after your bogeyman, Praland, and find out where he’s hidden your ledger. I won’t stop until you have the damn thing. Fair?”