Page 33

CHAPTER 33

Max

I wake up early and gather my things from the motel room, shoving them into the backseat of my car. I shiver—that room had been nasty, with bugs in the tub, stains on the sheets, and hairs everywhere. Next time, I'll stay in my car, even if it kills me.

I check my phone for the three hundredth time this morning, but still, nothing from Ben. I can’t imagine why he’d be so upset and refuse to answer my calls or simply respond to a text message. He doesn’t seem like the type to completely ghost someone because of one argument, but then again, it was our first real disagreement. People show their true colors during those times. Still, deep down, I care about him and had started to feel like our relationship could go somewhere given the chance.

It’s nice that London sent me a message every hour or two. She hadn’t wanted me to stay there to keep Nana safe, but apparently Nana found out London’s plan and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She wanted me safe and sound at her place. Despite all that, I can't shake the nightmare of how I’d put them in danger. I’ll do what I can to ensure it never happens again. It wouldn’t be fair, or right.

My phone rings and I fumble it out of my pocket, hoping in vain it's Ben.

Damn.

“Hey, London,” I answer.

“I’m so sorry,” she says. “I tried to talk sense into her, but she won’t listen to me.”

“What’s going on? Is Nana alright?”

“She’s fine, but there is no way you’re getting Chubs back from her.”

I would have bet a million dollars I’d never hear those words come from anyone—especially from Nana, who’d never even met the darn cat before last night. “I thought you were going to say that Chubs attacked her in the middle of the night, and she called animal control or something.”

“Not even close,” she says with a laugh. “They watch television together, eat their meals next to each other, and I caught Nana explaining to him if they play their cards right, he would be able to stay with her forever.”

“Wow,” I say. “I’m speechless.”

“Please say you’ll let her keep him. I haven’t seen her this happy to share her cream of wheat with anything before.”

I laugh. “Dang, he’s getting spoiled so fast. Are you sure you’re okay with the added responsibility?”

“Nana hadn’t slept well since the break-in, she’s been sleeping with the lights on and has been weepy. Chubs shows up and it’s like she has a purpose and reason to be strong again. I am totally okay with him living here. He’s actually been quite the gentleman; no hissing, no spraying, no biting. It’s been great.”

I think about all the times I’d tried to get Chubs to come inside but was flatly rejected. Chubs had been waiting for someone to need him as much as he needed them, and he’d clearly found that with Nana. “I love it. I’ll even help you guys buy some toys, food, and get him his first round of shots from the vet.”

“You’re too sweet,” she says. “Nana will be thrilled. Thank you.”

“Of course.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about the break-in… and I’ve got an idea,” she says.

I shake my head and smile. No matter how much my bestie protested, she would never be able to let the cult go until she found out everything there was to know about them.

“Lay it on me.”

“Meet me at the Los Angeles Central Library. Six o’clock tonight.”

“Why there?” I ask.

“I don’t want to risk accessing the dark web again from Nana’s house. We both know that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

“Agreed.”

“I’ll bring some of my equipment and we can use their public server along with my multilevel VPN and wit, I think it’ll work. Last night I couldn’t sleep so I wrote a program to keep changing our login location. Whoever is tracking us… it’ll send them on a wild goose chase.”

“It’ll still mean putting yourself in danger. Are you sure you want to do that? I’d be sick if anything happened to either of you.”

London doesn’t respond for a few moments. “I know what I’m getting into, and I don’t give a shit. Listen to me, Max. I am not ever going to rest until I know who the hell assaulted us and almost killed Nana. Not knowing is unacceptable.”

“I agree, but you’re going to need to manage your expectations. ”

“In what way?” Her tone is borderline hostile, but I don’t blame her; she’s still pissed off and she has every right to be.

“Even if we find out who was responsible for what happened, there might not be anything we can do about it.”

She sighs. “I know, but I can’t live in fear and be constantly wondering who it was. Who is still out there. At least I can get a name or names of people to avoid, keep track of… you get me on this?”

“Completely.”

“Six tonight then,” she says.

“I’ll be there.” I disconnect the call and start the car. Looking down at my phone, I sigh. I'm going to reach out one more time, but then that’s it. I type a quick message to Ben asking if we could speak later tonight. I hit send, put the phone back in my pocket, and pull out of the motel parking lot.

I can’t imagine going to work and paying attention to setting up the exhibit, giving it the needed brain power it deserved. Instead, I call in sick. Now, with my day free from responsibility and without a destination in mind, I take my time driving through the city. I take in sights I hadn’t been to in years. Point Dume, Palos Verdes, Santa Monica Pier—I'm like a tourist in a city I’d grown up in. Up and down the coast I drive, stopping long enough to take in the views and daydream about this entire shit show being over with.

I check the time. There’s enough time to stop for a coffee and then get to the library. Parking is always hit or miss in Los Angeles unless you're willing to pay an arm and a leg for it, so I might need to circle the block a few times.

I arrive with minutes to spare. As if luck is finally on my side, a spot opens up around the corner from the library. With a brisk pace, I carry my coffee in one hand and an iced latte for London in the other. Rounding the corner of the street, I hurry over to the automatic doors and enter the building. As soon as the doors close behind me, all noise from the streets is silenced.

The expansive open courtyard of the library is so big and full of people walking the hallways, but barely a sound can be heard. Looking up, I see there are multiple floors of business offices and library storage. Escalators lead down to other areas of the library based on what you are looking for or researching. Outside each entry point, people sit utilizing the free WIFI with their laptops.

“Did you bring me a coffee?” London says as she enters the building behind me. The smile on her face is both genuine and excited. “You don’t have any idea how badly I need this right now. I got no sleep last night.” She takes the drink and sips, sighing heavily, punctuating her delight with feigned weak knees.

“I know my bestie almost as well as she knows herself.”

“Better,” she says. “Okay, we should get going.”

“I haven’t been in here for years. Do you have a good spot we can do this without people watching us?” I ask.

“Never can tell with the library, but usually the area containing tax law and accounting is pretty light this time of day.”

“Great,” I say. “Let’s go.”

I follow her and we go down three flights of escalators, enter the glass-walled section, and then weave our way through aisles of books and banks of computers. London points to a few glass-walled, private study rooms along the back wall.

The rooms are all unoccupied, so we choose the one farthest from the rest. It sits near the back of the expansive room. Closing the door, I turn and watch London set up multiple computers. She connects everything and taps in commands with the ease and deftness of a true hacker, computer-nerd.

“I think we’re ready,” London says, turning to face me. “I think we can evade most anyone for an hour… once they start hunting us. My program is pretty high-tech, but this organization is obviously well-equipped.”

“I’m ready when you are,” I say.

London pulls back her hair into a tight pony and clicks the mouse. She taps in commands, and I'm amazed at how quickly she navigates through screens. It's clear she doesn’t want to waste even a single second accessing the information since there’s no way to tell how much time we really have to get in, try and uncover the local Followers of Kali members’ names, and get out unscathed.

“I’m in,” London says. “That’s weird.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The entire site looks like it’s changed. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Whoever has control over the dark web server I’ve been using has modified it to make it harder to search.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Unless you know specifically what you’re looking for… or who you’re looking for, you won’t get very far. I have a feeling the cult is involved. If they have someone on the inside, they could have added layers of protection to avoid detection from unauthorized viewing.”

“What do we do now?” I cross my arms and try looking over her shoulder, but nothing I am looking at makes any sense. I’ve never been much of a computer person. If it isn’t the standard search engine, I'm lost.

“Let me try a few things.” London pulls up a second monitor and mirrors the website on both screens. I’m not sure what she’s doing, but she manages to access the metadata within the search engine itself. “I got you, assholes. Y’all can’t hide from my ass.”

I feel my stomach twist into knots. The anticipation is killing me. We are so close, but also dangerously close to getting caught.

“They’ve detected us,” she says.

“What? How do you know?”

“They’ve activated my program, and I’ve been alerted that my location has changed three times in the last sixty seconds. They are good—fast. Dammit.”

“Shit,” I say. “Do we need to unplug?”

She shakes her head. “Not yet. I’m not leaving without what I came for.” London quickly taps in command after command. The screens flash so fast, I can’t figure out where we’ve been or where we’re going. I sit watching in both awe and fear. Beads of anxiety-born sweat form on her forehead. I take a few tissues out of her bag and dab her face dry. She’s so focused, she doesn’t acknowledge my gesture or speak until she slams her hand down on the desk.

“Oh shit,” I say. “What happened?”

“They caught up to us,” she says, turning to face me, her eyes wide with fear. “We have to get the hell out of here, now.”

We unplug everything and shove it into her bag in a desperate attempt to get to safety. I open the door and look both ways, listening for any sound of danger.

Nothing. Absolutely silent. Too silent?

She follows close behind me. We hurry down the maze of aisles until we reach the exit door. I stop short of exiting into the courtyard. The little tingle in my gut tells me we’re being watched. I look behind us—no one. We slowly step through the door and scan our surroundings. The place is eerily quiet and empty. What was once full of people studying or accessing free internet, is now completely uninhabited.

“I’m freaking out,” London whispers. “Who’s that? One floor up behind the trash can by the escalator?”

I look where she’d indicated but am too late. All I see is the shadow of someone ducking away from view. “Wait here.” I run for the escalator, momentarily losing visuals on the shadowy figure as I round the side. I take two steps at a time as I move up the staircase, finally reaching the next floor.

Running to the large trash receptacle, I say, “Show yourself.”

I wait, but no one complies. I step closer, now less than five feet away. I close the gap with my fists at the ready to throw a punch.

There’s no one there. No enemies crouched behind the trash can watching us. I walk over to the landing and lean over to see London. “We’re all clear.” I wave her to come up and join me. There’s no telling who it had been, but I don’t think it wise to wait around and find out.

London meets me by the can.

“Did you see him leave?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No, but I saw him watching us before he disappeared, but I couldn’t make out anything but dark clothes… white guy, maybe… but that’s about it.”

“Were you able to access any of the information about the cult before they caught us?”

“I did,” she says, lowering her voice to a mere whisper. “The local member is named Cameron Cruz. Thirty-six-year-old male. Didn’t see exactly where he lives in the city, but I can’t imagine it would be too hard to find.”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell to me, but I have a new friend who can probably find out for us. He would also have access to the records through official means and won’t have to hide from bad guys to find it.”

“Sounds like a dream come true,” she says. “Who is it?”

“Long story,” I say. “I’ll fill you in soon, but I think we should get out of here.” Bretton would no doubt be able to find out about Cameron Cruz and maybe it would lead to Viktor Fedorov.

I take her hand, and we run to the nearest escalator and go back up to the entrance at ground-level. “I’m parked right around the corner on the street,” I say.

“Same.”

We hurry down the dark street, every few steps checking over our shoulders to see if we’re being followed. I can’t help but feel as if we’re one step away from being tracked down and killed. I have to get this information to Bretton and fast.