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“He seems to think you do,” Hex goes on. “He told you to come down here and spy on us so we could grab you.”
“You’re lying,” Mikel argues.
Hex shrugs. “I don’t care if you believe me or not. Go ahead,” he says to Abra, who moves closer. The knife flashing in the light.
“Wait. If you don’t want information, what do you want?” Mikel asks, his confusion making him less confident.
“Nothing. You have nothing I can use. You’re just one of Maxim’s lackeys. I doubt you’d know anything that I can’t learn from him or my brother, Vladimir. You’re just here so I can watch you die.” Hex nods again, Abra takes another step.
“You can’t kill me,” Mikel says with confidence. “I have information that will rain down destruction on your woman if you don’t let me go.”
Hex scoffs and gestures for Abra to get on with his slice and dice. Abra takes his time cutting off Mikel’s clothes, making sure to knick the man with each slice of the blade. Hex and I watch Abra work until a gesture from Pirate has us moving to his side. He looks concerned as he holds the phone out for us to see.
On the screen is a map of New Orleans, with lines going between different points of interest.
“What have you got?” Hex asks, lowering his voice so Mikel can’t hear us.
“These lines show where Mikel’s been for the past seven days. Five buildings are ones owned by Golubrev Shipping. Buildings Cleo inherited from her father. Mikel shouldn’t have any reason to visit these locations, unless he’s still working for Zoloth or he’s working for himself. Cleo is still going through all the properties that she owns. She hasn’t visited them all. Golubrev could have been using these locations for his illegal activities. Mikel would know of them.”
“You think his threat is valid? That he has information that could ruin Cleo?”
I shrug. “We can’t take the chance. We should check out these locations and see what’s going on before we kill him.”
Hex nods before turning back to Pirate. “See if you can find anything more on his phone. Maybe his contacts can tell us more.”
Pirate nods and leaves with Mikel’s phone while Hex and I return to watching Abra. Hex gives Abra a tiny shake of his head to let him know not to go too far. Abra nods before slicing what’s left of Mikel’s pants, so he’s left only with his boxers. Blood trails down his arms, legs, and torso. He hasn’t lost enough blood to kill him, but he’s feeling pain.
“We can make a deal,” Mikel offers.
“You want to share information? Share,” Hex says in a bored tone.
“Not until you promise to release me,” Mikel says.
“You think you’re in a position to negotiate?” Hex says with a chuckle. “There is nothing you can do that will touch Cleo.”
“You’ll find out differently,” Mikel threatens. “Golubrev tied Cleo to everything he did, just in case he needed to control her. He didn’t have time to use his leverage, so I’ll use it. Let me go, or she goes to prison. Your choice.”
Hex gives a nod to Lake, who approaches with a syringe. He shoves it into Mikel’s neck before pressing the plunger.
“He’ll be out until we bring him back around,” Lake says.
“Good. Stick him in a cell. Make sure he’s locked in tight. No one is to let him out. I’m not having him escape again.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: DELPHINE
The bed is chilly when I wake up. Reaching over, I feel the now cold sheets on Dixie’s side and know he’s been gone for a long time. Glancing at the clock, I see it’s just now turning seven. He must have gotten up very early this morning. Since there is no good reason to stay in bed, I get up to shower and dress.
Downstairs, I feel like I’m suffering from Déjà vu. Olivia is sitting at a table, her distress palpable. Same as yesterday. The only difference is she’s not alone. Cleo, Shayna, and Sasha are sitting with her. All three of them of are reading through several documents scattered across the table.
“What’s all this?” I ask when I join them.
“Information that Pirate discovered on the disappearances of my co-workers. The two I told you about yesterday. He sent me their missing persons reports and what the police have found so far. Which isn’t much.”
I select a document that has the picture of a young woman with light brown shoulder-length hair. She has pretty hazel eyes and a kind smile. Talia Bonaparte. She’s 27 and a nurse at Tulane Medical Center. She’d been working for Tulane for two weeks, prior to that, she was working at Omega Hospital. Her roommate, a nurse who works at Tulane, reported her missing twenty-four hours after Talia didn’t come home after finishing her shift at the hospital. The two had plans to go out dancing with other friends the night she went missing.
I place the document down and pick up the report on the missing doctor. The doctor is two years older than Talia, with short black hair and lovely green eyes. Like Talia, she previously worked at Omega Hospital before transferring over to Tulane. She was last seen at the hospital three days before her sister reported her missing.
“Do they have any leads?” Cleo asks Olivia, who is reading through a police report.
