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“WHERE THE BLOODY HELL is he?” Manny’s frustrated question came out loud enough to register as a shout. I looked into the team room to see him rubbing both his hands over his short hair. “It’s been two bloody hours.”
I cringed at Manny’s use of words, truly hoping that Caelan had not bled at all during these two hours. I didn’t know if Caelan was even able to cope with what was happening to him at the moment.
Daniel had been the one to discover Caelan was missing. He’d gone to Caelan’s flat to check up on him and found it deserted. Caelan’s backpack had been on the floor of his apartment, the contents all over the living room floor. Daniel had found Caelan’s two stress balls still in the backpack and another four amongst the scattered contents. Caelan’s phone was also on the floor, broken as if someone had stomped on it numerous times. We had no way to track Caelan. And he didn’t have his stress balls to help him cope.
Using the same method as at Adèle’s house, Shahab had been dressed as a police officer and had told the officers protecting Caelan he was there to relieve them. It had been past their shift-end, so they hadn’t questioned Shahab or the fact that he’d come alone. They’d been too happy to go home.
We’d never heard the voice of Jace’s killer because he was whispering. But we had heard his perfect French. When Colin and I had spoken to Shahab, he’d used English, so we wouldn’t have made the connection just by listening to his voice.
“I’ve looked everywhere. After Shahab went into that parking structure, he just disappeared.” Francine had not lifted her hands from her computer keyboard or tablet screen since we’d returned to the team room. “I can’t even find him on any of the cameras around Caelan’s flat. He had fifteen minutes to get from the president’s residence to Caelan, but I don’t see him anywhere. I looked at all the cameras along all the possible routes.”
“He’s most likely using a disguise,” Colin said. “Already we know he’s got a police uniform. In this cold weather all you need is an oversized winter coat and a cap to disappear in the crowd.”
Colin was right. Francine also knew this, but it didn’t ease the frustration and concern on her face.
The president had told us to do whatever we needed. When we’d left, he had been busy berating the Iranian ambassador and pushing for any more information they could give on Shahab. He’d phoned fifteen minutes ago to let us know he’d had to let the ambassador, Amin and Hamid go before it became an international incident. They’d not been able to tell him any added information on Shahab, and Hamid had not known about any of Shahab’s activities.
I turned back to the monitors in front of me. There was nothing new I could learn from Adèle’s chart, nor the photos of the labels. All the names and cities from the labels had been matched with descriptions from the chart. But without more context, any conclusions would be speculative.
I closed my eyes and mentally called up an empty music sheet. Instead of my usual speed of writing a Mozart composition, I took my time connecting the top two staves with a solid line. Then I took care to draw the G-clef, finding pleasure in the curls that formed such a beautiful symbol.
My eyes flew open and I turned to the team room. “Where’s François?”
“What are you thinking, Doc?” Manny walked into my room as Francine lifted her phone and tapped the screen. She got up and joined us, her phone pressed against her ear.
I looked at Manny. “François had an undeniable connection to the murders as well as the drugs.”
“Nothing that we could prove and then arrest him for.” The corners of his mouth turned down.
“True.” I thought back to François’ nonverbal cues. “My observations confirm Phillip’s conclusions that François didn’t torture and kill Adèle, Jace, Camille Vastine and Martin Gayot.”
“That animal Shahab did it.” Vinnie was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed.
“If we’re working on that assumption, then François is connected to Shahab.” Colin was sitting next to me and had been either working on his computer or phoning contacts to find out if they knew anything about these men. “I see where Jenny’s going with this. If we can’t trace Caelan or Shahab, it might be worth a shot to look for François.”
“His lawyer isn’t answering his phone.” Francine sat down on the chair Manny usually used and tapped her tablet screen. “But... Hmm... I’m hacking François’ phone. Damn, it’s turned off. But... yup, I have his location history.” She tapped the screen a few times. “I’m putting the map on the monitors.”
As I looked up, photos of Adèle’s chart on four of the monitors were replaced by a map of Strasbourg. Red dots littered the centre of the city, a few red dots to the north and the west. They started disappearing.
“What’s happening?” Vinnie asked.
“I’m changing the time to the last four hours.” She tapped a few more times, then looked up. “There. These are all the towers his phone connected to since noon today.”
I saw it immediately. “That’s the route to the self-storage warehouse.”
“Holy hell.” Manny lifted his phone. “I’m phoning Daniel.”
“I don’t know what he’ll be doing there,” Vinnie said. “That place is locked up. All the tenants have been told it’s an active crime scene. And it hasn’t been released yet.”
“Is it guarded?” Colin asked.
“No. Dan told me the crime scene techs went through all the lockers and found no more artefacts or drugs. The brass decided it would be a waste of resources to post officers there when the locks on the doors worked perfectly fine. But the same clever brass also determined it should stay a crime scene. Smart, right? Not.”
Colin’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of locks?”
“Keypad.” Vinnie grunted. “Easy enough to bypass.”
“Their system is ridiculously insecure.” Francine pointed at the bottom right monitor. It was split into three windows, all showing the outside of the warehouse. The parking area was empty and there was no movement anywhere. “Too easy to hack.”
“We’ll talk about your illegal hacking later.” Manny put his phone in his trouser pocket. “Daniel says they were called out to a robbery. They’re wrapping up and will leave in about ten minutes.”
I looked at the security footage and wondered if we would be able to see anything once it got dark. This time of the year, we only had another thirty minutes of daylight left. I remembered Pink’s disgust at the lack of security and I inhaled sharply. “Adèle had cameras above her lockers.”
“Of course! How could I forget about that?” Francine’s fingers were flying over her tablet. “I’ll put the live streaming on the monitors. This is one of the times I’m happy someone has bad security on their system. I still have access to Adèle’s entire system, including her...”
Everyone in the room jerked and inhaled sharply when the monitor above the warehouse videos came to life.
“Oh, God.” Francine wiped roughly at her eyes and leaned forward. “Caelan.”
He was only partly in view of the camera placed above one of Adèle’s lockers. His feet were out of the view of the camera, his legs stretched out in front of him. He was rocking and slapping his thighs, his mouth moving constantly.
“He’s reciting his geographical facts.” The anger in Vinnie’s voice made me turn around and look at him. Every muscle in his face was pulled tight in fury. “I’m going to find this motherfucker who picks on those weaker than him and I’ll show him—”
“Save that for later.” Colin got up. “We can be at the warehouse in less than ten minutes.”
“It will take Dan and his team at least thirty to get there.” Manny scowled. “They’re on the other side of the city.”
“I’m going now.” Vinnie’s hand rested on his holstered gun. “Whether you’re coming with me or not. I’m going there right now to bring Caelan home.”
“Take a breath and be smart about this, big guy. We’re going, but we need to do this right.” Manny turned to me. “We might need you, Doc.”
“Fuck no.” Vinnie took a step towards me. “She’s not going anywhere close to danger.”
“Will you be able to calm Caelan down and protect him?” Colin took my hand and pulled me up to stand next to him. “Look, I don’t like it either, but with you, Millard, me and the GIPN team there, Jenny will be safe. There will be too much happening for you to focus on Caelan.”
“I’m good at calming him.” Francine didn’t take her eyes off the monitor. “But I’ll be much more useful here.”
Sometimes, it amused me to observe neurotypicals argue. Right now, it only irritated me. I pulled my hand from Colin’s and walked to the filing cabinet to get my handbag. “This is my choice. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to be in a dangerous situation, but Colin is right. None of you understand Caelan as well as I do. I’ll go.”
“I’m streaming this to your phones.” Francine now had the live footage split on four monitors. I jerked. Caelan’s eyes were wide in fear, his slapping was increasing and would no doubt leave his thighs bruised. Darkness teased my peripheral vision, but I pushed back at it. I needed to stay at my best until Caelan was safe.
We didn’t speak on the way to the elevator. This time I didn’t say a word about the small space when all four of us squeezed in. It was an uncomfortable fit, but I pushed my face into Colin’s chest and mentally pulled up that empty music sheet again. Now it was time for me to write Mozart’s Symphony in C major. It always calmed me when I needed it.
I also didn’t complain when Colin raced through the city, breaking countless traffic laws. I wasn’t paying much attention in any case. I had my phone in my hands, watching the live video on Caelan. He hadn’t changed his position once, his rocking and slapping increasing and becoming more erratic.
Only when we entered the warehouse area did Colin slow down. Clouds had gathered and shortened the daylight hours. It wasn’t completely dark, but the shadows from the warehouses could provide plenty of cover for someone who didn’t want to be noticed. I changed from mentally writing Mozart to playing the symphony in my mind. Loudly.
Colin parked next to a building and rested his arms on the steering wheel. “He’s in there.”
I looked at the neighbouring building, then at my phone screen. Caelan’s movements were jerky. “He’s becoming more unstable.”
“Did you see anyone else walk past the camera?” Vinnie asked.
“No. Only Caelan.”
“The GIPN team is still thirteen minutes out.” Manny’s tone was tight.
“We need to get that kid out.” Vinnie opened the back door. “I’m not letting him sit there another minute.”
“Oh, for the love of all that is holy.” Manny opened his door and we followed suit. The cold air was harsh against my exposed skin and I pulled my scarf higher to cover more of my chin and cheeks.
“Ain’t it grand we came in my SUV?” Vinnie opened the boot and I blinked a few times. I had been so absorbed in the video and in my concern for Caelan that I hadn’t noticed that we’d taken Vinnie’s vehicle. From the back of his car, he took a device the size of a camera and aimed it at the warehouse. His smile was wide and genuine. “Thermal imaging, baby.”
I stepped behind him and Colin joined me, both of us watching the small square screen as Vinnie slowly moved it from right to left. I hadn’t seen this model before. “How accurate is it?”
“Very. It will pick up heat signatures as small as a kitten within six hundred metres.” Vinnie’s muscle tension increased as first one, then a second red light entered the small screen. “Two people.”
One was lower than the other and I assumed that had to be Caelan sitting on the floor. “Who’s the other person?”
“No idea.” Vinnie frowned at the screen. “He’s not moving at all.”
Caelan was. His rocking and slapping caused the lower red image to expand and retract.
“Check the rest of the warehouse,” Manny said. “Twice.”
Vinnie did that. “Still only these two.”
Manny turned to fully stare at Vinnie. “We lead.” Then he turned to me and Colin. “You follow. No heroics.”
“I’m not a hero.”
“Doc.” Manny’s lips thinned, then he looked at Colin. “You make sure she’s out of the line of fire at all times.”
Colin nodded once.
Vinnie reached into the back of his SUV again and came out holding a handgun. He held it out to Colin. “I know you hate this, dude. But let’s just make sure we’re covering all our bases here.”
Colin sighed deeply before taking the pistol. He removed the magazine, put it back and cocked the gun. Despite his intense dislike for weapons, he was expertly trained. The way he held it in both hands, his arms slightly raised and the barrel of the gun pointed downward, showed his unconscious competence at handling the weapon. It brought an uncomfortable tightness around my throat. I swallowed.
Manny looked at each of us, then nodded to himself as if satisfied that we were prepared. I wasn’t. Yet I followed him and Vinnie as they walked to the door thirty metres ahead of us.
Colin stepped next to me. “Put your hand on my belt and stay half a step to my left and behind me.”
I did that and focused on the sound of the snow crunching under our feet. It was strangely quiet for this time on a weekday. It made me wonder what was in the other warehouses that didn’t require or invite a lot of movement. All those thoughts stopped when we reached the red metal door.
I recognised it from Jace’s video. Except this time the keypad was badly damaged. The door was ajar. Manny and Vinnie raised their weapons at the same time, their postures focused and ready for action. Vinnie tapped Manny’s shoulder. Manny responded by opening the door.
Manny went in first, Vinnie right behind him. Colin waited two seconds before he followed. My hand tightened around his belt and I stayed half a step behind him the whole time. My movements were stiff and even the most untrained eye could easily observe the fear making my shoulders hunch and bringing my arms tightly against my torso.
The utter silence in the large space exacerbated my nervousness. As did the low lighting. We stopped in front of the aisle, Vinnie lifting his device again to ensure no one was there. Once satisfied, he and Manny still moved around the corner, their guns aimed into the aisle, Manny aiming high and Vinnie low as if they’d agreed on this before.
“Clear.” Manny’s whisper was so soft that I barely heard it, but it made me exhale a breath I didn’t know I’d held.
The next aisle was about ten metres ahead, the light coming from it brighter than anywhere else in the warehouse. My muscle tension increased to the point where it felt as if my boots had turned into lead. Everything in my mind and body screamed at me not to move forward.
Then I heard Caelan’s keening. It was soft, but non-stop. The closer we came to the aisle, the clearer it became, until I could hear that he wasn’t keening. He was reciting geographical facts.
Manny and Vinnie stopped at the corner and Vinnie reached for his device again. The two red images filled the screen when he aimed it towards the aisle. Caelan was in there. With someone.
Vinnie touched Manny’s shoulder. Leading the way with his gun, Manny leaned around the corner. First his body tension increased, then significantly decreased. He stepped into the aisle, not lowering his gun or level of focus. “Well, well, well.”
“About twenty percent of all volcanoes are underwater!” Caelan’s shout wasn’t very loud, his voice sounding damaged. How long had he been reciting facts? And at what volume?
Vinnie followed Manny into the aisle, but held out his hand to stop Colin from following.
My breathing increased, as did my heart rate. I started feeling lightheaded and pushed Mozart’s symphony back into my mind and concentrated on taking slower and deeper breaths. Four of these later, Manny’s voice reached us. “Clear.”
“An erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows and rock falls! Doctor Lenard! The word volcano originally comes from the name of the Roman god of fire, Vulcan!”
I followed Colin into the aisle, wondering why Caelan was reciting only facts about volcanoes. When in great distress, he usually recited facts at random. Then all these thoughts left my mind.
Caelan was on the floor as I’d seen him on the video. His eyes were wide open and had a wild look in them. I was amazed that he’d not given in to the shutdown that had to be pushing down on him with an incredible weight.
Vinnie was at the end of the aisle, his weapon still raised, but the barrel now also aimed at the floor. Manny was standing between us and Caelan.
“One in twenty people in the world live within danger range of an active volcano!” He flapped his hands in the air a few times, then slapped his thighs. “One thousand nine hundred volcanoes are considered active!”
My eyebrows shot up when I saw the thick rope around his ankle. His jeans had ridden up and the rope had chafed away his dark skin. It looked raw and very painful. I took my hand from Colin’s belt and took a step to the side to see Caelan completely.
Immediately, and irrationally, I wished I hadn’t done that. On a chair three metres from Caelan was a badly beaten man. The rope was tautly stretched between one leg of the chair and Caelan’s leg. It seemed as if Caelan had moved away as far as he could from the man.
I swallowed and took one step closer. Then another. With every step, Caelan recited another fact, his movements becoming more agitated. I stopped.
“Seems like Shahab got to you before we could find you.” Manny lowered his chin and stared at the man on the chair.
“There are no active volcanoes in Australia because it sits in the middle of a tectonic plate!”
It took another second for me to recognise the man on the chair. It was François. His hands were resting on his lap, all his fingers broken. His face had been beaten and was swollen so badly, it was hard to see any recognisable features. Or micro-expressions. The dominant expression on his face was pure physical agony.
He wasn’t dead. He raised his head a little to look at Manny and smiled. His mouth was filled with blood and it looked like he was missing a few teeth. Because of his injuries, I couldn’t determine the nature of his smile, but found it hard to imagine it could be genuine. Not when he had difficulty breathing, most likely because of broken ribs.
His legs looked unharmed, but I couldn’t see through his trousers. His ankles were also bound to the legs of the chair and a rope around his waist seemed to both hold him upright and seated. His bulky winter jacket hid any injuries to his torso.
“Caelan, bud.” Colin walked closer, but also stopped when Caelan flapped his hands again and viciously slapped his legs. Colin glanced at me.
“Doctor Lenard! Japan has ten percent of the world’s active volcanoes! The eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980 had five hundred times the power of an atomic bomb!”
I closed my eyes for a second and held my breath as I considered Caelan’s facts. My eyes shot open and I shook my index finger at François’ jacket.
“Jenny?” Colin looked from my finger to François. “What’s wrong?”
“Volcanoes. Explosion.” I shook my finger again. “There’s a bomb under his jacket.”
