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We stayed together all night like it was a sleepover.
The next morning, Dolly found Charlotte in her bedroom, dead.
THIRTY
XERO
The next morning, after checking out, I return to the penthouse and remove a panel at the back of a closet, which separates it from the rest of the roof space. Jynxson sits inside with a laptop, its screen providing several viewpoints around the suite.
I spent the rest of yesterday evening working through the islands within the archipelago. There are thirty in total, eight of them currently occupied. We started with those first, with Tyler and his team identifying every possible shooting venue.
Our goal is to disable Father and his entourage, leaving as many of them as possible alive to help us dismantle X-Cite Media and locate the facility of child assassins.I refuse to believe Father just abandoned the boys to concentrate on making snuff. Somehow, the two ventures are connected. It’s only a matter of time before I discover how.
“Any updates?” I ask Jynxson.
He yawns, his gaze still fixed on the screen. “Camila’s flight just landed. She’s in a rental car, tailing the padre’s taxi.”
“Give me a visual.”
He swivels the computer, bringing up her dashboard camera feed. On screen, a yellow cab navigates a winding highway set between rolling hills.
“Camila, report,” I say.
“He threw up once on the flight and already burst into tears twice. He’s going to need some help walking into this evening’s mixer.”
“How about a miniature C4 charge in the rectum?” Jynxson asks.
She scoffs. “Dr. Dixon already administered that explosive so he wouldn’t fuck up at the airport.”
“Give him a shot of Lorazepam before the event. Any word from Father?”
“Yeah, he’s set up a group chat. Nine people, including him and Thomas.”
Jynxson whistles. “So, he’s already made one and a half million just from selling front-row seats.”
I grind my teeth. Eight people at a quarter million investment each. That’s more than our entire operation earns from a single assassination. “Not to mention the amount he’ll rake in from memberships and from renting the content for a hundred dollars an hour. All without getting his hands dirty.”
As the hotel’s cleaning staff comes in to turn over the penthouse, I patch into a mirror of the reverend’s phone and find the group chat. At the top is a message from Delta, welcoming them to a glimpse into his inner circle. It’s already filled with eager replies about the nature of the shoot, along with commentary on the previous movie starring Lizzie Bath.
Each man asks if they’ll meet Dolly and gushes when they discover she’ll star in the next movie. Their excitement is sickening, yet I force myself to scour through each comment for clues on where Dolly and Delta are keeping Amethyst. It’s crowded by requests for them to be the first to fuck her corpse.
Rage roils in my gut. Father isn’t planning on murdering his wife. He’s using Amethyst as a stand-in for Dolly.
Jynxson reads over my shoulder. “This is some twisted shit.”
Someone in the chat, with the codename of Nemesis, asks how many have already arrived at the Royale. Two other men mention that they’re having brunch and invite the others to join them at the hotel’s restaurant. From the way they chat, I can tell this isn’t their first time observing an X-Cite Media shoot.
I send a message to Tyler and his team to gather the names and addresses of everyone checking into the Royale. After Amethyst is safely back in my possession, I want to hunt down Father’s most ardent supporters.
We spend the rest of the day coordinating operatives waiting at the marina and place small explosives in discrete locations around the penthouse. Our aim is to create the maximum amount of chaos to make it easier to capture Father.
Later, Reverend Thomas checks in, and Camila installs herself in the room next door.
“Something’s gone wrong,” Jynxson says as I’m testing the last explosive.
I straighten. “What?”
He passes me the phone. “There’s a message from Delta, informing the investors that he’s running late due to technical errors on set. Dolly will meet them for an early dinner, and he’ll join as soon as possible.”
