by Lincoln Cole
“But not for the Council. If I give you this name, I need full assurance that you will bring this person before the Council for justice and not murder him or her in the streets. If this person turns up dead, then I won’t have the ability to get the answers I need. You turn in this person with evidence. On this, I will not negotiate, Arthur. I need your word.”
“What good would a trial do?”
“It would hold meaning beyond us finding a body in a river, and it will help me find out how our security got breached and what we can do to fix it in the future. If I name this person, then you will collect evidence to bring to me, and together, we will bring down this person.”
“Who is it?”
“Your word, Arthur. I won’t say anything without it.”
Arthur considered. Jun wouldn’t tell him otherwise, but he hated the idea. Still, it seemed the best offer he would get.
“You have it. I will bring the evidence to you to deal with. I swear it on my life.”
“Swear it on Abigail’s life.”
“I don’t want to bring her into this. She doesn’t deserve it.”
“Which is why I know you will keep your word. Swear.”
“Fine. I swear that I will not kill this person, if you swear you will do everything in your power to have them pay for this crime with their life.”
Jun nodded. “That promise I can make easily. I have confidence you will have little issue finding evidence that proves this person’s guilt. But, as soon as you go after her, you will have kicked a hornet’s nest. When that happens, a firestorm will come down on your head; but, if you get me sufficient evidence, then I should manage to protect you from the worst of it.”
“You need to guarantee me justice,” Arthur said.
“I can and will,” Jun said. “If you can prove her guilt, then her punishment will be execution. You will get the justice you want.”
“Very well,” Arthur said. “Who is it?”
Jun nodded. “Emily Glasser.”
Arthur felt as if he’d received a punch in the stomach. He coughed in disbelief. “What?”
“She made for the third member of the Council tasked with protecting our familial assets.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I wish I were.”
Arthur composed himself, feeling a seething anger growing in his chest. The news had come completely unexpected, but it also made perfect sense. It infuriated him beyond anything he had ever imagined.
“Very well.”
“Know that I don’t give you this information lightly, Arthur. Both of us want to see her punished for these crimes.”
“I understand,” Arthur said. “I will deal with things accordingly.”
“I have great respect for you and consider what happened to your family a terrible travesty. But you coming into my home uninvited makes for a one-time situation. Should you ever try to come to my abode like this in the future, your visit will prove considerably less welcome.”
Arthur stood. “I don’t think that will become necessary.”
“I should hope not.”
Arthur bowed his head toward Jun and headed outside. Emotions raged inside him, including a feeling of helpless betrayal.
In the hallway outside Jun’s apartment, five armed men in casual clothing leaned against the wall and watched him. Jun’s crew, and not drunk. They looked ready for a fight while they surveyed him. He recognized some of them, but many more he’d never met.
Despite everything Jun had said, he had felt much better prepared for that conversation than he’d let on.
Council member Emily Glasser had a dubious past. She made for the sort of person he’d known better than to trust since first meeting her many years earlier. Self-centered and cruel, she always looked for what she could get for herself out of every situation.
She also had as a brother Leopold Glasser, a wealthy Catholic Bishop who lived in Washington State to the North. Leopold had responsibility for keeping the Council’s coffers full and had become one of their largest proponents in recent years. Every year, he donated a fortune to the Council on behalf of the Church, and they considered him a prized friend. That made things so difficult on Frieda and Jun Lee in bringing a trial against Emily.
Emily had joined the Council on Leopold’s special request, which meant she could get away with a lot because of her familial ties. Drastically unqualified, she did not take her position seriously. She always seemed to avoid punishment because her brother felt she could do no wrong and made his donations contingent upon her position.
The Council felt terrified of angering Leopold because he had provided almost three-quarters of their annual operating budget. Such disgusting and blatant nepotism, and it infuriated Arthur to no end.
He’d hated Emily from the day they’d brought her into the Council, but he’d always justified it by believing Emily only held a token position. Never had he dreamed that they would give her any sort of true responsibility.
Arthur had never even considered her as a suspect in the betrayal of his family. He’d had a few names in mind when he went to confront Jun, but she hadn’t factored on his list. Emily should never have known his family existed, much less become privy to their location or tasked with protecting them. If he had felt certain of anyone who could never get raised to such status on the Council, it would have been Emily Glasser.
Yet, he didn’t feel half as furious at her as he did at Frieda for keeping him out of the loop. Frieda had known about Emily’s position. She should have warned him about Emily gaining access to familial information the moment the Council voted on it. Then he could have done something about it. He would have had the ability to protect his family. Perhaps he could have moved them, or made his home more secure, or done something to keep them safe.
Instead, she had kept him in the dark while his family got slaughtered, and even now, Frieda had attempted to keep from him the information he so desperately needed.
Could he ever forgive her?
In any case, he had a clear agenda now.
Find Emily Glasser.
As soon as Arthur got back on the street and away from the apartment, he called Frieda. She answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“You knew,” he said, shaking his head. “Frieda, how could you not tell me?”
The line fell silent for a full minute. “Arthur, let’s talk about this.”
“Why the hell would I talk to you now? You knew about Emily, and you didn’t tell me.”
“I told you I would take care of—”
“All those times you told me you were looking into the issue of my family’s death, you lied, didn’t you? You knew the culprit as Emily the entire time and that you would never get to touch her.”
Frieda hesitated, and then said, “I have collected evidence against her, with Jun’s help, but she covered her tracks so well. She seems genuinely surprised by what happened and doesn’t act like a guilty person. We have no evidence linking the murder at your home to Emily or any of her acquaintances.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“In your fury, you would have done something rash.”
“You’re damn right. I knew the Council as incompetent, but this takes it to new depths entirely. She killed my family, Frieda.”
“We don’t have enough evidence. She has the support of the Catholic Church, Arthur, and they’ve forbidden us from investigating her. Who do you think the Church will believe if we hold a trial?”
“We know she’s dirty. Remember what happened in Atlanta?”
“Nothing ever got proved.”
“It shouldn’t have to have. If you had any doubts at all of her trustworthiness, why would you entrust her with the fate of our families?”
“Three members of the Council get entrusted with the list of names of the Hunters and their families. Her name got suggested a few years ago, and she got voted in despite mine and Jun’s opposition. We fought to keep her out, Arthur, and
we lost.”
“If you knew, why didn’t you warn me all those years ago? Why didn’t you tell me so that I could better protect my family?”
Frieda didn’t reply for a while. “I’m sorry,” she said, finally, and devastation laced her voice. “If I had imagined it would come to this …”
Arthur took a steadying breath. He felt unsure if he would ever forgive Frieda. In his heart, he understood that she had nothing to do with what had happened to his family and that no way could she have known, but at that moment, he felt as furious and heartbroken as ever before.
“I need to go.”
“Arthur, please, let me deal with this. I beg you to let this go. I swear to you that I will take care of this. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“You had your chance. Now, it’s my turn.”
“Emily has powerful friends. A poor excuse, I know, but there it is. The Council has had three meetings dealing exclusively with your family’s murder, and each time her name gets brought up as a suspect, they dismiss it immediately because of her brother. The sister of a bishop couldn’t possibly be guilty. The feeling is that the betrayer must have come from outside the Council.”
“Outside the Council?”
“Your brother.”
“Mitchell? Are you kidding me? He would never betray me like this.”
“I know. But, so far, I haven’t managed to find any evidence against Emily that will convince the Council or the Church to take a closer look. It’s risky for me to even search.”
“For you, but not for me.”
“If you do this, I will not have the ability to protect you. Please, Arthur, think about what you’re about to do.”
“Goodbye, Frieda.”
“Wait, hang on—”
He hung up before Frieda could finish, breathing quickly through his nose and trying to regain control over his frantically beating heart. He had to hurry now because Frieda would try to stop what he planned to do.
Chapter 12
As soon as his plane touched down in Sacramento, California, it hit Arthur that he now operated without a lifeline. It seemed a crazy realization for him, as he had grown used to being able to contact any number of assets all around the world at a moment’s notice.
Worse, Frieda would actively try and stop him from confronting Emily. She would think that she did it for his own good, but it would make his job considerably more difficult. Did the Church have any Hunters in the area that she might send after him? Even if not, it wouldn’t take long before she flew some in.
The sunny and warm day didn’t feel too cold even though winter loomed large. Not a single cloud dotted the sky. Raised in the Midwest, he’d spent quite a bit of time out there with his family, and it would be cold and windy this time of the year.
He left the airport late in the afternoon, and the sun had begun to set, but he didn’t expect it to get a lot colder in the hours of darkness. This close to Los Angeles, the weather made California so desirable. Though he loved coming to the sunshine state and enjoyed the pleasant climate, he would hate living here. His personality contained something dark that craved more dangerous weather. His favorite activity involved him sitting in his home and listening to a thunderstorm, cradling his daughter in his arms while she slept.
The daughter he had lost.
Frieda had tried to get hold of him several times since he’d left Japan, but he hadn’t answered any of her calls to his satellite or cellular phones. He didn’t want to hear what she had to say, and she would just try to talk him out of what he had to do.
Part of him regretted making his deal with Jun Lee to spare Emily. The flight out here had given him time to think, and the more time he spent mulling over what Emily had done, the more furious he became about the entire situation. If he had known Emily Glasser as the person who had betrayed him, he would never have agreed to hand her over to the Council alive. No way could Jun or Frieda give her the sort of justice she so richly deserved.
But Arthur was a man of his word. He would do as Jun had asked and bring Emily in. The only thing it changed was that he needed irrefutable proof of Emily’s betrayal so that they had no choice but to put her to death. And acquiring that information brought something that Arthur looked forward to.
He had to bring her in alive. Not unharmed.
Without the Council or other assets to help him, though, he would have to remain cautious about his next move. He did this completely on his own and out on a limb. The fact that he had cash on hand meant he could avoid using any of the traceable cards the Council supplied him with. Also, he had multiple identities and aliases that he could call upon to stay undercover for a while, some of which the Council knew nothing about. Still, it gave him much less than he had gotten used to working with.
His biggest worry, however, came from whether or not Frieda would give the Hunters searching for him orders to bring him back alive, or to kill him.
He hoped for the former but suspected the latter.
If lucky, he would never have to find out. He had a head start on her and knew where he would find Emily Glasser. She frequented a huge and obnoxious nightclub known as Afterlife.
Emily Glasser often hung out in the nightclub Afterlife, located in downtown Sacramento. The seedy and unsettling place, dark and vibrant, provided a venue where a lot of illicit dealings took place. It offered a haven for unsavory types, including fixers and dealers who worked in the underworld.
A respectable member of the Council wouldn’t get caught dead in such an establishment, but Emily Glasser proved anything but respectable. This would be the place to find her, or at the least, the club’s owner would know where he should search next.
A man named Elgin Fortman owned Afterlife, a smuggler and trafficker in all sorts of drugs and paranormal paraphernalia, he had built the club a dozen years ago. The small man had a big ego and thinning brown hair and still spoke with a Brooklyn accent despite living in California for more than half of his life. Arthur couldn’t remember a time that sweat didn’t cover the man, even in the air-conditioned environment of his club.
Arthur found himself there at just after ten o’clock that same evening after a fairly long drive. He felt exhausted after spending so much time on international flights and in transit, but at the same time, had become used to operating in sub-optimal conditions. Without any thought, he could handle his discomfort.
By the time he got there, it had grown dark and muggy. Sacramento looked a beautiful city, but it had a few districts less than hospitable.
A line hadn’t formed outside the club yet, but he saw bouncers posted, and the doors stood open. It wouldn’t get going until around midnight and would stay crowded until at least seven in the morning. Arthur had visited Afterlife quite a few times on behalf of the Hunters, and Elgin had become a font of resources and information for the Council, but this time, things would turn out differently. Elgin would never harm a member of the Council, but if he knew Arthur had come here on his own ...
Elgin hated him.
Two bouncers waited at the door, and he recognized both of them. They had a strong loyalty to Elgin, which was fine, but they’d also worked here the last time Arthur had stopped by, which seemed less fine. Heavy and muted bass tones spilled out through the door behind the pair.
“Hey, guys,” Arthur said as he walked up to the door. “I need to get inside and talk to your boss.”
Tony, a burly Italian man, wore an expensive jacket a few sizes too small. It looked like he had ignored the dry-clean-only tag. He had also donned sunglasses and looked like he’d walked out of a nineties “B” movie. He acted mean, but Tony had shown himself one of the laziest and least intuitive people that Arthur had ever met. He could tell right away that Tony didn’t recognize him.
Carmen made for the dangerous one. A petite woman, she had brown hair and mousy features. She looked pretty, wearing a white sweater.
For sure, she looked more like a soccer mom on her way to pick up her kids than a club
bouncer for a place like Afterlife, but she’d spent several years with the Sacramento police before getting discharged for extreme use of deadly force. She had a powerful temper and knew how to handle herself in a fight, and Arthur knew better than to piss her off.
Also, she had a long memory.
“I didn’t expect you to show your face around here again,” she said when Arthur walked up. The words came out smooth, but her eyes belied her worry at seeing him.
Tony cast Carmen a sidelong glance, unsure of to what she referred. Arthur felt unsurprised that the big guy didn’t recognize him.
The last time he’d seen Arthur he had gotten knocked unconscious after only a few seconds. Arthur’s last job had brought him here to question Elgin about some of his shadier clients, and it hadn’t turned into a social call.
“I’d hoped I wouldn’t need to.”
“They let you off your leash?”
Tony still looked confused as he watched the pair talk, and then, suddenly, his eyes widened with recognition.
“No way. You are that Arthur?”
“What Arthur?”
“The one who killed all those people.”
Tony’s statement caught Arthur a little by surprise, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. This den catered to the underworld, and they traded in illicit information, which meant that they would know about what he’d done to the cult in the woods of West Virginia.
It also explained why Carmen looked so afraid of him, though he only understood her fear in a clinical way. What he’d done to the Ninth Circle that day almost nine months ago had become legendary in some circles, and a lot of inaccurate rumors had spread. Each time he heard the story, another dozen people had gotten added to the body count.
These days, people almost always seemed deferential or scared around him, even his fellow Hunters, who he had known for dozens of years. A bond used to exist among them all, but now, they treated Arthur as an outsider. He had become infamous. Not a good feeling, but it beat the heck out of being dead. A little unsettling, the negative fame made him look forward to the day when people finally dropped the issue and forgot about it.