Chapter 25 #2
“He was strong. Stronger than a normal man. He pinned me down, and I couldn’t breathe from the force of it.
He didn’t respond to any of the physical pain I subjected him to, and he kept chanting, just like the guy who attacked me in the warehouse district.
Blood and breath. Over and over. He said some other creepy shit I thought was just the rambling of a psychopath.
But when I think over it now, it sounded a lot like religious doctrine. Veil doctrine.”
Jones glanced up at the whiteboard. “So, what does it mean?”
“It means that he is likely our UNSUB,” Mateo replied, drawing several circles around The Shepherd.
“Think about it. Korenic and the UNSUB don’t share power, they consolidate it.
Korenic is a believer, but concerns himself with the running of the operation that funds his lifestyle and provides capital for The Veil.
The Shepherd leads the flock and uses Korenic’s business to funnel in his sacrifices and the drugs.
He’s probably hooked on the stuff, just like his followers.
Then there’s Valemont and Vestra. Everything connected to Valemont concerns the trafficking ring.
Vestra’s interests are all tied up in The Veil.
They’re a perfect partnership, because while they have common interests, they are content to attend to their own wants and needs.
It might be too soon to call it, but I’m counting on the wiretap to shed some light on the situation.
We should be able to confirm the identity of the UNSUB fairly soon. Now, about Jones…”
Every eye in the room swiveled to Jones, who gave them a shaky smirk.
His demeanor had changed throughout this meeting, and Mateo began to see the fissures in his resolve.
He had insisted on going through with the undercover operation, but seemed anxious now that he could see with his own eyes what he was stepping into.
“Smith, how much longer before you think Caleb will agree to act as Jones’s sponsor? We can’t get the kid in without him.”
Smith lifted his eyes to the ceiling as if making calculations. “A day, maybe two. Gotta lean on him a little harder.”
“I’m giving you twenty-four hours starting first thing in the morning. According to the dark web chatter Darcy uncovered, whatever they’re planning is happening soon. We can’t afford to miss this chance to get someone on the inside.”
Smith glanced at his watch and heaved a tired sigh. Mateo wasn’t fooled by the slumped shoulders or haggard expression as he stood and yanked on his jacket. The man’s eyes were glittering from the thrill of the hunt. He’d have Caleb singing in twelve hours rather than twenty-four.
“Guess I’d better get some sleep,” he declared before leaving without a look back. “Good night.”
Mateo moved on. “Williams, gather everything we have and write the proposal for an internal case review on the undercover op. I want to read it before you send it to Carlisle. I trust you to make sure its airtight. I don’t want there to be any room for the brass to reject it.
Drive home the short timetable we’re on, why the infiltration is necessary sooner rather than later, and why Jones is the only viable candidate.
Include the specific objectives of the mission and everything we’ve already exhausted through surveillance, and talk up what experience Jones does have. Make it good.”
Williams took up the recorder with Caleb’s confession on it and a stack of files. “I’ll have it done tonight.”
“Jones, Donovan will prep you for the psych evaluation. They’re going to want to do a full workup—stress tolerance, mental resilience, trauma assessment. I want you ready.”
Donovan clapped Jones’s skinny shoulder with his large hand. “Come on, kid. I’ll grill you over a late dinner.”
The two set off, leaving him alone with Darcy.
Mateo sank into a chair near hers and studied her in silence.
She looked exhausted as she took off her cat-eye frames and rubbed her eyes.
Mateo wondered if she ever slept. She was almost always the first person here in the morning and the last to leave.
Sometimes she remained overnight, living on a diet of Cheetos and Red Bull while lurking in dark web forums and taking the occasional break to play HALO.
He studied the sleeve of her tattoos, now familiar with the Alice in Wonderland motif.
The Mad Hatter sat as the centerpiece, surrounded by Alice, the White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, and the rest. Clocks, aces of spaces, and clubs and hearts and diamonds were interspersed with checkered tiles.
Donovan had confided that before she was recruited by the FBI, Darcy had found herself on numerous watchlists for her dark web activity.
A black hat hacker with her kind of skills had turned out to be a valuable asset to the bureau, and when they’d finally caught her, they’d offered her a job instead of a prison sentence. Mad Hatter had been her alias.
“How are you holding up?” he asked. He’d made a lot of demands of her these past few weeks and felt guilty that it had taken him this long to check in.
She gave him a wry smile and settled her glasses back on her nose. “Oh, no better or worse than usual. Same shit, different day. Doesn’t matter how many of these deranged psychos I track down and help put behind bars. Seems like three more pop up when one goes down.”
“Tell me about it,” he muttered. Then, giving in to curiosity, he asked, “What’s it like? You’re privy to a lot of people’s private information. Their secrets, their dirt, their skeletons. I imagine that doesn’t instill a lot of faith in humanity.”
She snorted and shook her head. “That’s exactly what it’s like. A dark cave filled with glowing screens that remind you every day of the depravity of mankind. Still, if a bitch gotta lurk in the digital underworld, she might as well slay some demons while she’s in there.”
“Fuck yeah,” Mateo replied with a smile.
“Go home, Darcy. Tomorrow morning will be soon enough for you to start working on Jones’s cover.
We need it airtight—background and documentation.
Throw in a criminal record while you’re at it.
Make him look like the kind of scumbag they’d want to let into their little club. ”
“Throw some dirt on the kid’s name,” she muttered, unfolding her legs and standing with a groan. “Got it. See you in the morning.”
He offered her a fist as she passed him on the way out. “Good night, Hatter.”
“Tootles, Rabbit,” she replied, giving him a bump before leaving him alone.
Mateo slouched in his chair and slipped his personal cell out of his pocket.
It was past nine now, which meant Melody had arrived for her shift at Solstice.
Early tomorrow, Roman Korenic would return to New Orleans on a private flight.
This afternoon, tactical surveillance had sent a team posing as a cleaning crew into Korenic’s penthouse in the South Market District.
The wiretap had been successfully placed and was hot, which meant that once Mateo arrived home, would be able to listen to everything said within the range of the living room.
Phone calls, private conversations, all of it would be admissible in court once Korenic was brought up on charges.
Tomorrow night, he and Donovan would attend Glow Night at the club while Darcy, Smith, and Williams manned the surveillance van.
If any backroom dealings went down, everything would be caught on tape.
With the rest of Carlisle’s court orders in the hands of various judges, there wasn’t much left for Mateo to do but wait.
Once approval for the undercover operation went through, it would be time to prepare Jones for deep cover.
While he gathered his things and clicked off the lights, making his way out of the office, he mentally reviewed the steps that would need to be taken.
He and Smith would need to drill Jones on typical cult protocols, dissemblance techniques, and manipulation tactics, as well as intel extraction, protecting his cover, exit strategies and emergency signals.
If he was going to risk the life of his youngest and most inexperienced agent, he was damn well going to make sure the kid was prepared.
Sliding behind the wheel of his rental, he debated over his destination for the night.
He could go to Solstice, even if just to lay eyes on Melody for an hour and assure himself she was all right.
She had texted him that morning, but he hadn’t heard from her since—though he knew she was busy.
She’d been tasked with dressing the other waitresses in the matching ensembles for Glow Night, and apparently, some of the girls had been giving her a hard time over the choices of certain pieces.
Melody had her hands full, and would need to rest between tonight’s shift and tomorrow’s.
As badly as he wanted to see her, he had also promised to keep his distance publicly with Korenic’s return imminent.
He was already going to have to make an appearance at the event tomorrow night, so it was best that he not show up there now.
Still, he couldn’t resist taking up his phone again and sending her a quick text.
Miss you, baby girl.
He decided to head back to his hotel and find some way to occupy himself until he settled down enough to sleep.
If it weren’t so late, he might try to call Valentina and check in on Angelica, but his mother-in-law was known for her early bedtime, and he had no idea what time zone they were in.
Mateo made a note to set aside time for the call first thing in the morning and then set off.
By the time he arrived at his room, his phone pinged with a returned text from Melody.
Miss u too, stalker.
He chuckled, and texted back, If you feel eyes on you tomorrow night, you know your stalker’s in the building. Be seein’ u soon.
A few seconds later, her reply came: Can’t wait.