Houston Night--The 12th Jack Nightingale Novel by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stephen Leather
Published: 2025-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 33

Nightingale was in the garden of the Airbnb smoking a cigarette when his phone rang. It was gone midnight and it was unusual for Wainwright to call at this hour.

“What’s up?” said Nightingale.

“I’ve had a ransom note,” said Wainwright. “They’ve been kidnapped.”

“What does the note say?” asked Nightingale.

“I have the woman and the girl. Come to the Highstone Enclave if you want to see them alive again. No police.”

“That’s all it says? No mention of money?”

“That’s all. And there is a gold-plated pass for ‘The Annual High Jinks’. It starts 14th July, I presume that’s when they want me there.”

“Annual what?”

“Annual High Jinks. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it is what it is.”

“And what is the Highstone Enclave?”

“It’s a place outside Houston, where the rich and powerful gather. They keep a very low profile and guards keep the riff-raff away. You know, I’ve been getting invites for this thing all year and I keep telling Valerie to put them in the bin. I think the only reason Monique and Charlie have been taken is to definitely make me go there.”

“Seriously? Somebody wanted you out there so badly that they kidnapped your new girlfriend and her child? I know it may seem like it but that’s a little extreme, don’t you think?”

“I can’t think of any other explanation. If there was a demand for money then this would be a lot simpler.”

Nightingale blew smoke and thought for a few seconds. “But why does this person want you there so badly?” he asked. “What happens there?”

“It’s basically a whole bunch of old bastards meeting up for a few days and getting pissed. Not your average old bastard, for sure, more like ex-presidents, tech CEOs that kind of thing. Important, rich people, that sort of crowd. And they all meet up under the watchful eye of a big wooden owl, and there are some bullshit rituals they perform.”

“A wooden owl? Literally, a wooden owl? An owl made of wood?”

“I know, it sounds weird. But there are some very important people there. Movers and shakers.”

“What sort of rituals take place?” asked Nightingale.

“It’s a long story. But I’ll try to keep it short. Originally there was just Highstone Club. The original founders were journalists, the artists and the musicians who wanted to live their lives according to more Bohemian principles, brothers who appreciated the arts and wanted to discuss them freely and obsessively, but those initial members all had something else in common too. They were all worshippers of Baphomet. He was their patron, a symbol of their life choices and a portal into the occult. They were introduced to one another by those who had known Baphomet for much longer. So first there was Baphomet, then the club, and the club gave birth to the Enclave.”

“And this Baphomet is a demon?”

“There are some who say so, yes. An old school demon, worshipped by The Knights Templar. In their prime, they were warriors who seemed to have almost supernatural protection and won a whole bunch of battles where they were outnumbered by better equipped foes.

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