Everett said, “Fits with Tony Brooks acting alone as Gabrielle’s new stalker. He worked for Black Spade Ranch and got fired after stealing goat carcasses. He had access to steal goat hearts, too.”
“I agree with both of you,” Kane said. “It’s most likely Brooks, but we need to definitively link him to the threats on these sites to rule out the chance that there’s a group of bastards out there trying to be copycat stalkers of Gabrielle. The cops are exclusively focused on Brooks and if they are wrong, Gabrielle could be in even bigger danger.”
“Started without me, I see,” Sebastian said, crossing the room. He gave each man a half-hug and signature handshake, then stood back to look at the screens.
The first one had Tony Brooks’s mug shot and excerpts from his police arrest, criminal trial, and prison inmate records. The middle screen had the guys’ attention. A site frequented by incels was on display, zoomed in on a series of posts related to Black Butterfly. The last screen damn near made his heart stop. The Black Butterfly herself was projected. The About page from Gabrielle’s Emerge Anew website and photos from her social media accounts.
She was stunningly beautiful, but none captured how fucking gorgeous she was sleeping on his chest when he awoke this morning. He’d wrapped her in his arms and held on for dear life as the familiar feelings flooded him. All-consuming desire to be with her always, watching her, holding her, fucking her. The thought that any other man thought she was his had him seeing red. In his heart, she was his, and he’d take down any fucker who tried to stand in the way of him being with Gabrielle.
Those thoughts compelled him to flee her hotel suite, using his PISCO skills to get out without waking her. The shadow of the old man’s sick obsession with his mother seemed to hang over him as he stared at Gabrielle in bed. Disgust settled in his gut as crazy thoughts ran through his mind. Understanding how the old man had felt and why he was driven to stalk his mother made him dizzy with fear.
He didn’t want to hurt Gabrielle. He didn’t think he was physically capable of harming one strand on her head. But he had to prove it to himself by getting away from her. Doing what she needed, which happened to be eliminating the bastard who was stalking her and robbing her of the life she deserved.
Still, he’d snuck back in one last time, unable to help himself. As he sprinkled hibiscus petals on the bed next to her, plucked from the bushes surrounding the rooftop pool, he felt like a moth drawn to a flame.
Sebastian tore his attention away from Gabrielle’s photos and back to the incel website. “Was the goat heart threat a winning request on the incel site?”
Bobby swiped the massive touch screen. “It was. Same doer as the request for the snakes. Profile name Nospero.”
Everett frowned. “No hope. Spero is ‘I hope’ in Latin.”
“You think that fucker is an intellectual?” Bobby laughed.
“Fits with some of the profiles of incels,” Sebastian said. “Nerds with no social skills who can’t get women to give them a second look.”
Everett added, “Again, Tony Brooks fits that profile from what his aunt told me this morning. She said he was always a loner, never had a girlfriend, and stayed on his computer all day and night. He got fixated on a girl at the local grocery store when she was nice to him, but couldn’t see it was random kindness.”
“This is the woman he stalked that led to him spending time in Tiverton?” Sebastian asked.
Everett nodded. “His aunt said she’s more worried about him since he’s returned home. He’s still reclusive, but now he is angrier with a short temper and prone to violent outbursts. That’s why she kicked him out a couple of weeks ago.”
“Did she have any idea where he was staying now?” Kane asked.
“No. I told her I was concerned that he had set his sights on a friend’s sister and might be stalking her. That’s when she took me to a back room and told me I could have any of the things Tony left behind to try to find him.” Everett pointed to a couple of hard drives and a laptop sitting on the table. “Maybe Bobby can find something on them that links Brooks to the Nospero profile. Then we can cross ‘the group of copycat stalkers’ theory off the list.”
“I hope there’s something on those drives that tells us where he might be hiding out,” Kane added.
“What about the cops? Why didn’t Brooks’s aunt give those things to them?” Sebastian asked. Since Tony was the prime suspect in the investigation, he’d expected them to have any evidence from the house he’d lived in already in police custody.
Everett gave him a dubious look. “Cops haven’t come to visit her.”
“Why the fuck not?” Bobby asked.
“Good question,” Sebastian said, unable to shake his unease. “Can you track if more requests come in for Black Butterfly?”
“Already have an alert set on this website and dozens of others. If something gets posted, we’ll know,” Bobby confirmed.
The screen flickered as a bubble popped up in the corner.
Incoming call from Lachlan Ritchie.
Sebastian tapped the screen to connect the call.
“Where you at, man?” Everett asked.
“Flying back now since I got the all-clear on Quattro,” Lachlan said.
“Good, because I’m going to need you,” Sebastian added. Hunting Tony Brooks across the Palmchat Islands would require the only pilot he trusted to get him in and out, off radar and undetected.
