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Before I can question that, there’s another beep and Gracie pops on with a, “These are screenshots from Armand’s cell phone.”
Our boxes are moved to the side as a document takes the center of the screen. My sister is amazing when it comes to cyber intelligence.
I learn forward and expand the shot to get a look at the time stamp. “Are these…”
“Up to date,” Gracie says. “Some are minutes old. I was able to use the memory cache to hack into Armand’s cell, but have only been able to piece together a few. From what I’ve seen, Armand has a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Tony asks, stepping on the exact question I almost got a chance to utter. Another rule of big families: speak fast.
Gracie twirls a Jolly Rancher in her mouth, presses some buttons, and scrolls texts until she comes to a specific one. She brings it up. “Walid had some missingmerchandise. Armand says he’s found it and is bringing it to him tonight.”
Walid is very careful when discussing his business. He calls humans by hair-raising euphemisms likeproductandmerchandise. I don’t look at Sean, but I have no doubt he can figure out what it means.
Tony asks, “How does someone go missing? Escape?”
“That’s where I started,” Gracie says. “But after a deep dive, I found these.” She clicks some more keys and emails pop up. “From what I’ve been able to put together, Armand is stealing women from Walid and using them for his own side business.”
“What kind of side business?” I ask, heart starting to pound.
“Femicide. He’s selling the experience, sex and murder. He’s got a very select clientele—an exact list will take time to uncover. It may be impossible, because a lot of the particulars take place on the dark web.”
There’s a long moment of silence. My brain readjusts from serial killer to… I begin to panic. I need to get into position at the bar. I need to follow Armand on foot. I need to find Rosa. Tonight. There’s too many unknowns, too many dangers, too many ways Rosa could be disappeared.
“He’s doing this on his own?” Tony asks.
Gracie shakes her head. “Seems like he might be communicating with another person, or maybe two. He never sends messages to the same number. He’s very cautious.”
My skin goes cold, and I sense Sean go incredibly still.
Tony asks, “D, didn’t you mention women being taken from town during our last call? You got anything on this?”
I feel his question everywhere—in my panicking mind, in my tensed hands, in my aching heart. I need to get out of here. I need to answer. I need Sean to stop staring at me with those beautiful eyes, wide and shocked.
“Are you trying to bite your lip in half?” Gracie pipes up.
I unclench my teeth from my lower lip. Exhaling a tremulous breath, I say, “I’d thought Armand was a serial killer. I wanted to find more information…”
Tony grunts, a noise that lets me know he doesn’t like where this is going.
But… what’s done is done. “I… I found a tomb with at least thirty women buried.”
Tony shifts forward. “Found?”
Gracie asks, “Did the bodies show the same cause of death, similar wounds like with a serial killer?”
My stomach pitches. I’m half-talking with them and half-mentally calculating the time I need tonight. Armand typically arrives at the bar around eight and leaves around midnight. If I finish here quickly, I’ll still have enough time to get into my disguise and follow him.
I try to pull out the worry that has my heart focused on Rosa so that I can answer. “I wasn’t able to ascertain causes of death, but from what I could see…” Gracie’s new information clarifies what I’d noticed in the tomb and would likely have put together before now, if not for the explosion. “No. They were different.”
“Fucking awful,” Tony says. “Sorry, this is happening around you, D. You okay?”
“Wait,” Gracie says. “Armand is stealing from Walid. What would Walid do if he found proof of that theft? Say, a tomb where thirty women were buried?”
Tony’s eyebrows rise. “If we have Sean alert Walid to what’s going on, Walid can take that fucker Armand out and stop the killings. Bonus: it gets our asset, Sean, in good standing with Walid, leaving us an opportunity to place an operative deep into his organization.”
I don’t panic. Well,normally, I don’t panic. Maybe that’s why it’s so hard to control this need to get out of here now. Time is ticking away. I feel it. I need to act tonight.
“That plan will take too long,” I say. “A woman’s life is in danger. She has a child. I’d like team approval to act tonight. To follow Armand and take him out if necessary.”
