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Giorgio hated that it was Sarah sitting next to Enda when they all adjourned to the living room. They were sitting on the couch, while Giorgio and Mitchell were on chairs brought in from the kitchen. The last thing Giorgio wanted to do was dig into the details of how his little bird had ended up under a pile of bodies. If it had simply impacted him, then he would’ve just left London and set up in another country with a new identity, taking Enda with him.

But whoever had tried to kill him – and Enda – had also targeted Mitchell. Giorgio had worked with Mitchell for years, and Sarah had accepted him into their lives as though he was family. He could not and would not abandon them now, especially when they had no idea where the threat was coming from.

“Enda, I need to ask you some serious questions,” he said firmly, pulling on all of the training he’d had as a negotiator. “If you need to take a break at any time, then please just say so. I have to ask you these questions in English so that Mitchell, as a witness, can understand the question and answers, so, if I say something you don’t understand, please say so.”

Enda nodded. “If you don’t talk too fast, it should be fine.”

“All right. Let’s start with some basics. Where were you born, and where were you living before you were taken?”

“I was born in Japan. My mother was Japanese, my father was American. Until my mother’s death, I used to travel between Japan and America, but when she died, my grandmother looked after me – she lived in Japan – and I haven’t seen my father since. I don’t know why. I was ten when that happened.”

“How did a boy from Japan end up in rural England?” Mitchell was already scratching his head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Is that where I am?” Enda smiled, although Giorgio could see the tension behind it. “I did wonder. You all talk differently than American people. I was working on a boat when I got taken. I was put on a plane, so, that must have been when we came to England.”

“What sort of boat were you working on?” Giorgio asked, although he was already getting a bad feeling about what he was hearing. “Was it a fishing boat or a trawler?”

“No.” Enda shook his head. He indicated with his hands. “It was a big…” - his hands spread apart and then raised up - “Sails…engine…yacht. That’s what it was. A super yacht.”

“Did your grandmother know you were going on the yacht? Did she know the people who owned it?”

“I’m not sure. I guess she must’ve done. I came home from running errands for her one day, and there were two men there. She told me I was going with them, and I was going to work on the yacht. So I did.”

“What did you do on the yacht, Enda?” Mitchell asked. “Did you have experience in boating? Or marine engines, perhaps?”

“No.” Enda shook his head. “I was studying graphic design at an online college back then. When I got on the boat, I was told I was eye candy. Is that the right word? Wear brief-briefs, serve drinks, smile nicely.”

Yep. Giorgio didn’t like where the conversation was going at all. “Who paid you, Enda?” he asked as gently as he could. “What was the name on your pay slip, do you remember?”

“I didn’t get paid. I got food to eat and a bunk bed.” Enda frowned. “The men I went with said they would send the money to my grandmother for my work. I was sure she would save it for me.”

“Sounds like we need to get in touch with the grandmother,” Sarah said darkly, and Giorgio knew what she was thinking. But Enda was already shaking his head.

“She’s gone. I don’t know where. I tried calling her one time when were…were…parked? Is that the word? In port. But a strange man answered and said my grandmother left just after I was taken to the boat.”

Another mystery inside of a mystery. Giorgio made a mental note to ask one of his packmates, who had a house in Japan, to see if they could find out where the grandmother had gone. He was sure one of his packmates had a house there.

“All right,” he said gently. “So, how did you go from working on a boat to being on a plane? Was it a commercial flight or a private plane?”

“A big plane with no seats. Just a bench along the wall. It was very noisy and very crowded.” Enda wrinkled his nose. “I had been working on the boat, and then a man came and said someone else was going to have my job, and I was being offered…” he tapped his fingers on his knee, “offered an opportunity, that’s it. I asked if I could go back to Japan to see my grandmother, and the man said I could go when I’d done this other job first. They gave me some clothes, and I went in a big black car that took me to the airport, and I was told to get on the plane. My bird did not like that.”

“Were the other people on the plane the same ones that were in the warehouse last night?” Giorgio swallowed a sudden rush of bile hitting his throat.

Enda nodded and then looked down at his hands. “While we were on the plane, they gave us all a drink. They told us it was a protein drink and that we could have a meal when we landed. It tasted horrible, but they made us drink it. People started falling off the bench, and at first, I thought they were asleep, but then I saw that they weren’t breathing, so, I fell on the floor, too. I tried hard to make sure no one could see me breathing.”

Sarah gasped, quickly covering her mouth with her hand.

“Killing them all midflight – probably in international airspace. Really difficult to prove legal jurisdiction if anyone is found responsible for this,” Mitchell murmured. “It would be a logistical legal nightmare.”

Resting his elbows on his knees, Giorgio inhaled slowly. “Do you remember how you were moved from the plane to the warehouse we found you in?”

“Truck. Covered truck.” Enda was looking at his hands and then out the window. “I thought about shifting. If I shifted while the truck was moving, I thought I could fly out the door the moment they opened them.”

“What’s this business about shifting?” Sarah asked.

“Enda shares his body with an animal spirit. In his case, it’s a bird,” Giorgio said quietly. “I’ll explain more about that shortly. Enda, what happened? You couldn’t shift? Was this because of the drink they gave you?”

Enda shook his head slightly. Giorgio winced as he saw how closed off his mate was being. “They thought the people they were moving were dead.” Enda spoke in monotone. “When they picked me up off the floor of the plane, I let my body go limp so they wouldn’t guess I was still breathing. Because they thought…that…they weren’t being careful how they were moving people.” Enda touched his head. “They smacked my head against the doorframe on the plane. I passed out and didn’t wake up until they put a big body on top of mine in that pile.”

Sarah let out a sob, and Mitchell cleared his throat. Giorgio focused on Enda. “I don’t know how long you were trapped under there, but couldn’t you shift anyway? Once the danger was gone?”

“I didn’t dare.” Enda’s breath was shaky, and he had his arms wrapped around his slender frame. “As I woke up, I could hear people talking. Male voices. Deep. One man said something about what if any of us were still alive. He said that some of the bodies he’d moved were still warm. This other man – he was loud and had an American accent. He said that if any of us…”

Enda looked over at Sarah and said, “He called us a bad word, which I won’t repeat.” Then he looked back at Giorgio, looking into his eyes. “But he said that if any one of us moved so much as a finger, then the whole place would blow sky high. He was laughing and said something about there being enough explosives under the bodies to level half a city. I believed him.”

“Well, shit.” Mitchell got up, walking around, taking deep breaths. “That is fucking shit!”

“He doesn’t mean you,” Giorgio said to Enda quickly. “He’s upset about the situation you were in. Do you have any idea how long you were there before we arrived? Same day, next day?” Please don’t be longer than that.

“I’m not sure, but it was dark when we arrived, so, it couldn’t be more than a couple of hours.” Enda bit his bottom lip. “I need a break now. Can you tell me where the bathroom is, please?”

“Sure. It’s just through that door,” Giorgio indicated the hallway. “Go left down the hall, and it’s the second door on the right.”

“Thank you.” Enda jumped up from the couch and ran in the direction Giorgio indicated. Seconds later, he heard a door closing. Giorgio’s hound immediately started to worry. There was something very wrong with their young mate, and Giorgio imagined he’d only heard the bare bones of the events leading up to Enda’s rescue.

“We need more details,” Mitchell said grimly, still pacing the floor. “At the risk of getting my head punched off, Enda hasn’t told us anything that can help right now. Who owned the boat he was on? Knowing the name of the boat would be a good start. What is his family name? His grandmother’s name? He said he stayed in the States as a kid. Where and what’s his father’s family name? Did he recognize any of the people on the plane with him? Where did the plane take off from? Where did the boat stop? They couldn’t have been at sea all the time. We need leads, something to investigate for fuck’s sake, or we’ll just be spinning in circles.”

“Not now.” Giorgio glared at his friend. “I know we need the answers, but just not now, all right? Why don’t you and Sarah go into the office and use the computer in there? See if you can find out what’s been said in news outlets about the explosion and if anyone has mentioned our deaths. Check to see if anyone has been trying to reach out to us – other members of the team – via email or something. Just stay off our team chat. Enda is only one part of the story, don’t forget that, all right? We need to find out why we were sent on that job in the first place.”

/~/~/~/~/

Enda hoped the sound of the toilet flushing drowned out the sound of his crying. Going over to the small sink, he ran the cold water, washed his hands, and then splashed water on his face. His reflection stared back at him, his eyes haunted, his mouth pinched.

You have to tell him.

Enda shook his head. I didn’t lie. I gave him the facts as I know them. Any speculation won’t make any difference to the answers he seeks.

He’s our mate, he deserves to know. His bird was an insistent one.

But Enda still shook his head. We could be wrong, he insisted. What if we tell him the wrong details and then the real people responsible get away with a horrific crime?

We know that voice! You told our mate about hearing the talking. Why didn’t you tell him you knew who was saying the words?

Because I desperately want to be wrong. Enda could never hide the truth from the other side of his existence. If that person speaking was who I’m afraid it was, then what does that say about the rest of our life so far? I’m not ready for that – not right now. Not with our unclaimed mate waiting for us in the other room.

When he claims us, you’ll tell him?

If he claims us, I promise I’ll tell him.

His bird fell silent. Enda found a towel and dried his face before flicking his fingers through his straight black hair. I look like an emo character, he thought glumly, letting out a long breath. As much as he’d really like to spend some time on his own, preferably with a smartphone or a computer, Enda focused on his breathing until he was confident he wouldn’t break down and then left the bathroom.