Chapter 24
Steel
They returned to the hotel. The journey back had been quiet, full of thoughts on both sides, he was sure. He needed to focus on Waters and Ka-Bar, but Daleyza’s presence in his life again—hell, in his bed—was all-consuming.
For the first time in his life, it wasn’t him straightening someone’s shit out, helping them get their head on straight. The fact that he didn’t know what to do or what to say added to a sense of weakness, and right now, he could not afford to be weak.
Arriving in their room, Daleyza removed her outerwear and went straight to the bedroom, where she lay down on the bed, her body turned away from the door. She slept almost immediately, exhausted from the fresh air and emotional upheaval.
At a loss as to how to help her, or even help himself, he scribbled a note and left it on the bedside table.
A few minutes later, he found himself in the executive suite that God had turned into a command center.
Medusa, Nemo, Gem, TB, and Demon were still tailing Howard and the mysterious man from their Cerro Otto meetup.
Gilgamesh and Loki were standing over a map they had spread out on the large table. When he got closer, he saw it was a map of Daleyza’s home. Taped to the various edges were extensions showing roadways that could be used to flee the area once their project was completed.
“Where’s Daleyza?” Gilgamesh asked. “We have some questions.”
“She’s sleeping. Today is one of several days that have been far too overwhelming for her. Give her an hour or two, then I’ll bring her to answer all your questions.”
Gilgamesh nodded. “She’s gone through some of the worst heartbreak imaginable for a woman. It’s understandable.”
Loki sneered. “She should be happy to be reunited with her husband. Some of us won’t get the opportunity for our loved ones to rise from the dead.”
Steel didn’t know Loki’s story. All he knew was that all of Mythos had suffered greatly at the hands of the Salieri.
So great, in fact, that the organization had become their sole focus.
The members of the group they met first and knew the best—Loki, Gilgamesh, Medusa—seemed exceptionally bitter.
Loki, perhaps, most of all. Steel wouldn’t be surprised, if it came down to it, if the man would not only scorch the earth to rid the world of the cult, but that he wouldn’t blink an eye if he took out everyone with him when he did it. It was a frightening prospect.
Gilgamesh, the seemingly gentler of the two men, tried to smooth over the awkward tension. “When she’s ready, we’d love to talk to her about the structures. Access points. We could really use a map of the castle structure inside as well.”
Steel nodded. “She’ll be happy to help. Just keep in mind, she hasn’t been home since the day we married, and she never returned there after the ceremony. It’s been a long time, and there are bound to be changes.”
Loki gave a curt nod. “Understood.”
A ping came over the computer, and God clicked a button. “You’re on speaker, Midas. How are our tails proceeding?”
“TB and Demon lost our mystery man. They thought at one point they’d been made because he looped around the town square and entered the civic center. It’s the National Snow Festival this weekend. He ducked inside, and they lost him in the crowd.”
“All right. Any luck with facial recognition?”
“No. It was hard enough to catch him on camera, where I knew there were cameras in the city’s center. He’s so bundled up that I’m getting hits on anyone in a blue parka. So far, all but two have been false positives. I’m having to click through them one by one, and it’s taking a lot of time.”
“Keep at it. Let me know when you have something. What about the general?”
“Still heading west, but we’re pretty sure we know where he’s going.”
“Misión San Nahuel del Vuriloche. Daleyza’s family home.”
“Yes. They’re not going to be able to stay out of sight much longer. It gets fairly isolated along the last miles of highway. Nothing else out there.”
“Damn.” God thumped his fist on the table. “Pull them back. We’ve now positively established the tie between her family and Howard. Any luck with your search on that event Daleyza saw him at?”
“I’ve narrowed down the year, and I have a list of every event the president attended.
You’d think these leaders would be out running their country.
He went to a fucking lot of parties,” Midas grumbled.
“It would help if I knew what season, since she was born in January. Otherwise, I’m weeding through a whole year. ”
Steel piped in. “Loki and Gilgamesh need her to help make a map of the inside of the castle against the historical documents. I can ask her when she comes to do that.”
“Thanks. Appreciate that. In the meantime, I’ll be in my cave with Nova, running facial recognition through all known points of origin into Argentina as well as Bariloche, trying to get a hit on our international man of mystery.”
Steel walked over to the bank of computer monitors. “Midas?”
“Yo.”
“Can you pull up the best picture you have of the new guy and put it on the big screen?”
“Here we go with the silly questions again.”
“It was more of a request than a question of ability, shit-gibbon.”
“Nice. Kubrick strikes again.”
There was a pause as everyone thought about Waters’ partner, leading to thoughts of the man himself. Everyone had to be feeling a little guilty about any sort of humor or enjoyment when their friend was in trouble.
Midas cleared his throat. “Routing it now.”
The picture flashed up on the television screen that Midas had commandeered.
Steel walked in front of the television, just a few feet from its center, and stared at the man they could only see in profile.
Tingles moved throughout his body, skittering along his bones and tickling his nervous system.
A soft glow formed around the unknown man.
Knit hat. Black-tinted sunglasses. High jacket collar pulled up to hide portions of his lips and jawline.
Age anywhere from thirties to forties. Midas was going to have a hell of a time trying to match him to another photo, let alone a name, unless he was wearing the same gear.
He really looked like any other tourist in the city.
God walked up beside him. “I can always tell when an idea is forming. What is it?”
“We sent Waters to my family in the hopes that it would lure out someone higher up in Salieri, someone pulling the strings.”
“Yes,” he agreed, puzzled.
“After being collected by my brother’s men, Waters would have been presented to my brother and then taken to my father.”
“In Córdoba, where his trackers were dug out and sent to two different locations, he was then moved to Bariloche with an ally. How does this connect to this new face?”
“Daleyza’s family was only important inside cartel business because her father owned a small shipping company.
My father found him somehow when he was just starting out.
Manipulated him into moving product until he was in so deep, even if he’d wanted to leave and go straight, he couldn’t.
Basically, her family owned the company, but my father determined how the business was used. ”
“And because we have an eyewitness to multiple business visits from Zion Norton to her family home, we know the tie to the Salieri is valid.”
“Exactly. So why did my family give a minor ally such an important job of housing the Salieri’s prize?”
“The oubliettes?” God suggested. “The remoteness of their location and the ease of guarding them?”
“While I’d agree with the second half, maybe, it’s still a tourist location.
A lot of eyes on the surrounding area, which means a lot of chances for someone to be seen.
As for the oubliettes, those are just a feature of this location.
Any of my father’s properties would have detainment facilities that maybe weren’t as primitive, but no less difficult to get out of.
“What interests me is that now we have a man we don’t know meeting with a known member of the Salieri, and they’re doing so in a place where we know our bait is.” He looked at each one of the men in the room in turn, then pointed at the screen. “Gentlemen, meet Mr. X. Our puppeteer.”
The three men with him looked at the screen.
“What are the odds? A completely unknown male meeting with Howard is able to spot TB and Demon? Not fucking likely. But if he’s part of the Salieri and higher up than Howard or Norton, it’s possible he could have spotted them because he knows who they are. They had surveillance on all of us.”
Loki filled in the final piece. “And now they know we’re here.”
“I’m willing to bet they spotted us long before we spotted them.”
“Midas!” God barked.
“Yes, boss?”
“Pull everybody back immediately. We no longer have time for stealth. If Howard and our puppet master know we’re here, we may have just signed Waters’ death sentence. We need to get to him yesterday.”
“Calling them now.”
“Steel. I’m sorry to do this—”
“You need Daleyza to help with the interior features of the mission. I’ll go wake her.”
He was out the door with purpose. Every second mattered.