Victim's Vow: Dark Urban Fantasy by M.G. Gallows

Author:M.G. Gallows [Gallows, M.G.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: M.G. Gallows
Published: 2023-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

At lunch, I sat in the funeral home lunchroom and texted a report to Jocelyn.

‘Troubling,’ she typed. ‘To learn there are still Malleus agents in the city?’

‘Ex-agents. Deserters, and a handful that didn’t make the cut,’ I corrected her.

‘Collaborators,’ Jocelyn revised. ‘I’ve been monitoring the detective’s efforts, and they confirmed Lawrence Redmane used his business to help customize their combat trucks.’

‘What about Wilcox?’ I asked.

‘The detectives sent officers to bring the owner in for questioning. I imagine they’ll have something to report soon.’

‘And the others?’

A pause. ‘Jennifer Lindell, aka Jennifer Wilcox is KIA. One of yours actually, from the shootout at Trinity Medical. We arranged for her to remain MIA in public systems.’

My mind drifted back to the Black Holiday. I’d wound up in a hospital after my first encounter with Malleus. They’d killed guards, patients and nurses to get to me. The Malleus gunmen had all worn face-concealing balaclavas, aside from Raymond Walsh.

I had an odd pang of regret over Jennifer’s death. Perhaps it was the impression I had gotten from Margot Redmane’s mind. She had admired Jennifer a great deal.

I blinked. ‘Wilcox? As in Danny Wilcox?’

‘The same.’ Jocelyn replied.

‘Why keep her MIA?’

‘A baiting tactic,’ she admitted. ‘Her closeness to Raymond Walsh, however brief, may have brought her into contact with the Inquisition’s target. Our hope is that someone attempts to contact her husband Danny Wilcox.’

I frowned. ‘You already knew about these people?’

‘We knew about Wilcox, but we could only watch for red flags. He’s been on the straight and narrow for months. Abandoned his paintball business where we believe Malleus was either hiring or training recruits. Our resources were needed elsewhere, and we can’t watch everyone at once, so he went on the back burner.’

I sighed. ‘Well he’s at the front of the line now. What about the rest?’

‘Bill Roberts and Lucius Tremblay are still operating a business called ‘All-American Thrift’ on Queen’s Row.’

‘Queen’s Row? The True Knights’ bar, Skinners, is on Queen’s Row.’

‘May be a coincidence, maybe not. Focus on the investigation for the moment.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Bill’s health likely failed recruitment standards, but his browser history and email accounts show an affiliation with multiple extreme-right groups we’ve linked to Malleus. Mr. Tremblay’s finances are also showing discrepancies.’

She sent me a file to glance at, but I was no accountant. ‘What am I seeing?’

‘Bi-monthly spikes in earnings for his business,’ Jocelyn said. ‘He’s laundering money.’

I frowned. ‘Where is the money coming from?’

‘Unknown. Cash deposits.’

I ground my teeth. ‘What about the others?’

‘Avery Thomas was last seen leaving his place of work on Christmas Eve. His body is unaccounted for, so we have to assume that he took part in Code Orange.’

‘And Leblung?’

‘Nothing.’

I frowned. ‘He could be our culprit. He had knowledge of the victims and the means to carry it out.’

‘But what motive?’ She asked.

‘No one liked Leblung. I saw what he did to those Illiterates.’

‘That’s not enough to suggest he would hunt down his former team members and their families.’

‘My gut tells me he’s the one.’

There was a long pause before she answered.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.