Lunatic, page 20
Mac’s heart hammered against his ribs, his unease turning to anger. Was that what they were hiding? Was this their secret they thought Mac had somehow stumbled upon? Archer’s hand settled on his thigh, giving it a squeeze. Mac took a deep breath and let it out, forcing himself to stay calm.
“Figure it out, Desiree. We still have that other loose end to tie up. Sooner rather than later—They’re already sniffing around—Yeah, I didn’t recognize him at first either, but he’s definitely one of them—I don’t know why they’re here. I’m assuming they figured out it was us that ruined their honeymoon. I told you we should have just let the whole fucking thing go. But no, you always have to be right.”
They were talking about Mac. Or maybe Noah. Either way, it was clear they knew Mac was in town. Though, clearly, they didn’t know exactly where. Part of him was happy they were scrambling.
“We have people to answer to as well, thanks to you, and while they’re not Thomas Mulvaney, they do have the power to fuck us royally.”
Mac was relieved to see he wasn’t the only one freaking out over this conversation. It was weird to hear people casually plotting your death. Noah gnawed at his thumbnail, eyes locked on the phone screen where the minutes of the call ticked down. Adam took Noah’s hand and pulled it from his lips, shaking his head. Mac placed his palm over Archer’s hand on his thigh.
“Don’t underestimate him, Desiree. He’s a billionaire. One of the richest, most powerful men in the world and we just went after his fucking son-in-law.”
Mac was tempted to start biting his own nails just waiting to hear what came next. “You think running a charity makes you altruistic? You run a charity and you’re literally one of the worst people I know. If we all end up dead, it’s on you.”
When the recording ended, Adam looked around like he’d just woken up. “So…how are we feeling about all that?”
“About how I’d feel if I spent the night in the bottom of a New York City dumpster,” Calliope said. “I don’t know what exactly these people are up to, but I think it’s safe to say they’ve met the code.”
“So, they’re definitely trafficking people over the border. Right?” Noah asked. “That’s what all their horse talk was. Code for trafficking? They’re auctioning off people?”
Mac’s stomach churned. “That seems to be the least offensive thing they’re doing.”
Calliope began typing somewhere in the distance. “I’m still searching the darknet for some kind of mention of this auction. It has to be virtual. Nobody would dare try to pull off something like this face to face nowadays. If I can find the site, I can tell you when it’s going down. We need to find out where they’re holding these people in the meantime.”
“Can’t we just kill these guys now?” Noah asked. “Like Calliope said, they definitely meet the code. Let’s just start taking them out.”
Adam gently patted Noah’s head like a dog. “Babe, you know better than anybody that’s not how this works. If there is an auction…if they are selling people…we need to find those people. We need to know how many more auctions like this are happening. We need to know if this goes further than just those three guys who tried to kill Mac.”
“We’re running out of time. They know we’re here,” Noah reminded them.
Mac nodded. “They’re scared. That works in our favor. Scared people make mistakes.”
“Agreed,” Archer said. “It never occurred to me that they’d think Dad was more corrupt than they are. But I guess shitty people always think other people are equally shitty.”
“I mean, Dad’s not corrupt per se, but he’s not exactly Mother Teresa either,” Adam said. “He did, in fact, send us here to dispatch your husband’s would-be-killers, just as they suspected.”
“They’re going to try to come after Mac even harder now. All we’ve done so far is put him in more danger,” Archer said.
Adam shook his head. “You’re too lovesick to see this is a good thing. They’re never going to have the chance to come after Mac. Let’s grab Boseman and the wife like we planned. Hell, let’s grab Egan, too. If they already know we’re here, there’s no reason to hide.”
“They also might not expect us to go after Boseman since he wasn’t there the day you photographed them. He might be the easiest to get to,” Noah said.
“Good point,” Adam said, beaming at Noah. “Let’s put the three of them in a room together with the twins and their toys and see who starts squealing first.”
“And tomorrow, when three prominent members of society go missing?” Mac prompted. “Won’t the others run scared?”
Adam waved a hand. “By the time anybody realizes Boseman and Egan are gone, we’ll already be knocking on their door.”
“Then what?” Archer asked. “We need to know how high up this goes. Does it stop with them? This Desiree chick? Her dad? How many bodies do we have to drop before Mac is safe?”
Mac wanted to say something to assure Archer that he was no more or less safe regardless of what plan they went with. This was a shitty situation with no easy solution. There was a group of people who were abusing and subjugating another group of people. In the grand scheme of things, his life couldn’t be a factor in this. They had to rescue those people, whether Mac lived or died in the process. Whether any of them lived or died in the process. It was the right fucking thing to do.
Adam looked from Archer to Mac and back again. “This isn’t anything new for us. You’re just too involved. We’ll find out who’s responsible for the hit on Mac. We’ll figure out the sordid details behind their operation and we’ll shut it down. Then we’ll make sure the right people get punished.”
“If people in a particular friend group start to go missing one by one, it’s going to draw unwanted attention,” Noah said.
“Who’s talking one by one? Fuck it. You want to take them all at once? We’ll round them up, kill them, and then make it look like a tragic group accident. Come on,” Adam said with mock enthusiasm. “This could be fun. Like a team building exercise. Fun for the whole family.” When nobody joined in on Adam’s enthusiastic plan, he began to pout. “I can’t wait until the twins get here. They get me.”
“This operation has gone off the fucking rails,” Archer muttered, dropping his head into his hands.
Avi and Asa arrived around midday with their spouses in tow, the latter already complaining. Avi held a large black umbrella over Felix’s head while pulling a huge designer suitcase. Zane, as usual, kept his dramatics slightly more understated, pulling at his damp clothing and glaring upwards at the sun like it was intruding on his bodily autonomy.
The moment they entered the tiny dwelling, Felix immediately swooned onto the couch, the back of his hand going to his forehead like he was some Victorian maiden. “What is with this heat? Seriously. Who would live here on purpose? It’s vile.”
Zane snorted. “Based on the number of abandoned homes we passed coming in? Nobody.”
“We’re in a literal ghost town,” Archer reminded them. “The houses are supposed to be empty.”
Felix reached into the front pocket of his bag, unfurling a fan like he was in an old-fashioned tent revival, handing it to Zane with an exaggerated pout. “I’m melting into an actual puddle.”
“I told you to dress for the weather, kitten,” Avi admonished, dropping a kiss on his cheek as he passed by.
Felix gave an affronted look, glancing down at his wide-legged trousers and chiffon blouse. “How does one dress for this heat? A space suit? I feel like a microwave dinner.” He made huge puppy eyes at Zane. “Fan me.”
Zane gazed at Felix with the same level of adoration one gave a favorite pet, doing as he was asked without question while Avi and Asa shook their heads. Mac watched the circus unfold quietly, his gaze darting from one face to another.
Archer found it weirdly soothing. Having them around meant everything was normal. Felix complaining about mundane things was normal. Zane placating Felix was normal. His brothers shit-talking each other was normal. The thought stopped him in his tracks.
He had always thought of himself as a casual observer in the family. He’d done his best to keep his distance for as long as he could remember, but, despite his lies, they’d all crept in anyways. Maybe he wasn’t attached to them like some neurotypical could be, but they clearly lived somewhere in his head.
Mac frowned in his direction. What kind of face must he be making to get that look from him? He shook his head, letting him know he was fine and not having some kind of emotional crisis, which seemed to be his new normal. Ever since Mac had pried his way into Archer’s life, he’d lost all control of his feelings.
But they had no time for that.
Archer hadn’t anticipated the extra bodies, but he welcomed them anyway. While they had vetoed Adam’s let’s-round-up-everybody-and-kill-them plan, they had decided he had a point when it came to pitting Egan and the Bosemans against each other.
Torturing three adults was no small feat on a good day. Doing it while also attempting to extract a traumatized child added an entirely new level of fuckery to the plan and gave Archer a migraine. Having Zane and Felix along would substantially lighten the load but would also add to the chaos. A chaos to which Mac had never been exposed. This was about to be a learning curve for him. Archer almost felt bad about it.
Almost.
Once everybody had found a seat, they began to hash out the details of the night’s plan.
Archer stood behind Mac’s chair, his hand on his shoulder. “Mac and I drove out to Boseman’s property in Marfa. It’s isolated as fuck. No camera. No fences. Just miles of desert and his adobe-style home sitting smack in the middle. Only two entrances. He’s pretty brazen for a pedophile.”
Noah scoffed from his spot in Adam’s lap. “The whole damn town is either corrupt or brainwashed. I guess he figures he’s got nothing to worry about.”
Adam grimaced. “Yeah, Egan is not so laid back. He gives new meaning to the word paranoid. His whole place is like one big tinfoil hat. He’s got a ten-foot concrete fence, security cameras mounted on every corner of the house, and a pretty elaborate security system inside as well. And a Rottweiler named Sadie he keeps chained in the backyard pretty much around the clock from the looks of it.”
“The goodest girl,” Noah said dreamily. “We’re gonna steal her.”
“We’re not stealing her,” Adam said, exasperated.
Noah gave Adam a withering glare. “Dexter needs a friend.”
Adam snorted. “Dexter needs a doctor to fix his gas problem. You need more friends.”
“Dogs are man’s best friend,” Noah countered, pivoting in his lap just enough to look him dead in the eye. “I want that dog.”
“You’re not getting the dog,” Adam snapped, eyes immediately going wide when he realized he’d raised his voice.
“Ooh,” Zane said under his breath to Felix.
“He’s so getting that dog,” Felix muttered.
Adam’s face flushed red and he locked his arms as a struggling Noah tried to squirm free of his lap. “Fine. Fine. I will kidnap the dog. Jeez.”
Noah melted against him, face smug as he said, “Thank you, baby.”
“Yeah, right,” Adam said, pouting.
“The security doesn’t concern you?” Asa asked as if the entire dog conversation never happened.
“According to Calliope, he spends his nights in his office having the world’s most vanilla phone sex with his mistress. You can just snag the dumbass from there.”
Asa nodded, pulling a bag of Skittles from the duffle bag at his feet, shoveling a handful into his mouth. “So, Lois, Felix, and Noah take the kid. Avi and I snag the preacher. You, Adam, and Mac subdue Boseman and his wife. Then we make with the stabby stabby. Get the answers we need and get home before anybody even knows we’re missing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”
Mac blinked at Asa like he’d grown a second head, but before he could formulate any kind of response, Felix piped up. “What? No way. I’m not missing out on the fun. I have toys I want to play with, too.” When Avi gave him a dirty look, Felix pointed a manicured nail at him. “Don’t you dare make so much as a single innuendo or I swear, you’ll regret it.”
Avi snickered. “Innuendo. Even that sounds dirty.”
“Can we focus, guys? The faster we can get this shit sorted, the faster we can go get my new dog,” Noah reasoned.
“I’m focused,” Felix countered. “I’m staying for the torture. Period. Avi never lets me play anymore.” When Avi opened his mouth like he was going to counter the statement, Felix raised a single imperious brow. Archer got to watch as his brother closed his mouth and sat silently.
Archer tried to suppress a smile as Mac’s eyes went comically wide.
Sometimes, Archer forgot what Felix looked like to the outside world. He was long and slender with a feminine softness that was only more exaggerated by his long, black hair and gender-fluid style. As a designer, Felix felt obligated to always look runway ready. Even when he was only planning on kidnapping and torturing people for the evening. Murder? Felix probably had an aesthetic for it. Probably even a Pinterest board and a spring line.
“This outfit alone should terrify these homophobes, kitten,” Avi assured him.
Noah nodded. “Psychological warfare is an important aspect of any interrogation. Zane and I can handle getting the little girl out. I’m fine missing out on the blood and guts.” He looked at Zane. “You?”
“Yeah, you can put me on the permanent do not call list for the torture sessions,” Zane said, then gave Asa a smirk. “I get enough of that at home.”
Archer laughed when Mac’s startled gaze slid to his. His new husband was certainly getting a crash course in Mulvaney 101.
“Fine. Zane and Noah have the kid. Mac, Adam, and I will take care of Boseman and the wife. Avi, Asa, and Felix will secure Egan and bring him to Boseman’s place. Good?” Archer asked.
When everybody nodded, Archer stood. “Good. Let’s get prepped and ready to go.”
They could only drive in so far with their headlights on. After that, it was a matter of using the GPS to guide them down what was an almost non-existent road. Archer had never been the type for quiet solitude. Just two days in the Terlingua ghost house and he was already desperate to get back to the real world. He couldn’t imagine anybody choosing to isolate themselves like this for fun. But he also wasn’t a child-enslaving pedophile, so…there was that.
In the light of day, the sprawling scenery was probably idyllic. Peaceful, even. But now, in the dead of night, it seemed almost as sinister as their plans for the man and his wife. As far as set-ups went, it was pretty ideal. In addition to the home, there was a large garage-like structure set on the back edge of the property that they’d determined would be fine for their Q and A session with the trio.
When they were about half a mile from the house, they abandoned the cars and went the rest of the way on foot. Zane stayed behind, prepared to drive in once the couple had been subdued, so that Noah didn’t have to carry the little girl far.
With the help of Thomas’s Range-R thermal scanner, they were able to deduce from a reasonable distance that Boseman and his wife were not the only ones in the home. There were two heat signatures coming from a room at the back—presumably a bedroom—and one substantially smaller one from the front of the home. Likely the child they’d spotted in the photos.
“Comms check,” Archer said quietly, then listened as each of them responded one by one.
They’d opted to infiltrate the home at the same time through the garage’s side door. Once inside, they would break off, with Noah seeking out the girl and Adam, Archer, and Mac breaching the bedroom.
They approached the house in a single-file line with Mac in the lead and Adam bringing up the rear. They’d been fully prepared to pick the side lock, but when Mac turned the knob, it gave with ease. These people were so cocky, it almost didn’t seem fair.
The door spilled them into a large open space with a kitchen in the far corner and several closed doors. It took a moment for them to orient themselves. Mac pointed towards the room where they’d noted the Bosemans’ presence. Noah nodded his head towards the kitchen. The girl had been spotted in that general vicinity.
Archer held up his free hand, telling Mac and Adam to wait, looping his finger in a circle. He wanted eyes on the child before they took out the Bosemans. He didn’t know why, but it suddenly felt important for him to see her with his own eyes.
Archer followed Noah towards the kitchen area, stopping when a glass hutch caught his attention. It was one of those large curio cabinets, backlit with a light that gave off a soft amber glow. But where most people kept their grandmother’s vintage plates or porcelain dolls, Boseman had Nazi memorabilia. Third Reich pins and vintage weapons. Also photos of Klansman holding nooses and standing next to mutilated corpses. Christ.
Of course, he was that guy. Maybe this was the kind of shit Boseman chose to spend his money on. That and buying children. Noah had his hand on the doorknob leading into another room when Archer met him there.
When Noah attempted to open the door, there was no give, despite the turning of the knob. He panned his flashlight towards the top of the door, realizing there was a padlock keeping the door shut.
Archer holstered his Ruger, then reached into his back pocket and snagged the lock-picking kit he’d intended to use on the side entrance door, quickly cracking the generic lock and removing it.
When Noah pushed the door open, it reverberated off of something that sounded like heavy plastic. Noah pushed harder, the door finally giving just enough for them to watch two bare feet retreat from the light like something out of a horror movie. Something twisted deep within him as Archer realized the girl had tried to barricade herself in, probably attempting to keep Boseman away from her.
