The Belial Stone(70)

Patrick looked at Henry as he answered. “We thought you might need some help with the next part of the plan.”

“Next part of the plan?” Laney stopped and looked from Patrick to Henry. “We have a next part of the plan?”

“Not yet. But I have some ideas," Jake replied.

Patrick glanced past her to the breakfast on the table. "Are those your egg-white omelets? Any chance Henry and I could snag one?”

She linked her arm with his. “Absolutely. Have a seat.”

Ten minutes later, she’d scooped the last omelet onto her plate and placed a couple of pieces of bacon next to it.

Taking her seat, she ate with one hand while scrolling through the pictures on Jake’s computer with the other. “Is that a landing strip?”

Jake nodded. “Yes. And we were there for the delivery.”

A chill went through Laney. “Are those men bound?”

“Yeah. And they were brought to some sort of structure. We couldn’t get a look inside. But it’s safe to say we’ve found the missing men.”

A startled gasp escaped Laney as she clicked onto the next image. “What is that?”

Jake leaned over to look at the monitor. “We couldn’t tell until we got home and brightened it up a bit. It appears to be where they put the bodies.”

“Bodies?” Patrick asked, paling.

Yoni gave Jake a look of apology. “It looks like when someone dies at the enclosure, they don’t bury them. They place them in a pit just outside the wall.”

Laney clicked on a different picture, not wanting to look at the macabre scene any longer. “How many men are in there?”

“We couldn’t tell,” Jake said, his voice strained. “But there were a lot.”

Laney shook her head. “I know we thought this was what was happening. Somehow, though, seeing the pictures makes it more real.” She hesitated. “Did you see any sign of Tom?”

“No,” Jake said. “It was too dark. And the enclosure is huge. He could have been anywhere.”

Laney reached over and squeezed his hand. “Okay, so now we know where they are. What’s the next step? Do we call the cops?”

Yoni shook his head, but Jake was the one who answered. “No.”

Laney looked between the two of them. “Why not? We have proof now.”

Yoni gently took her hand. “Laney, Kensington has enough political power to get planes re-routed. He’s going to be able to squash any search warrant or, at least, postpone it long enough to remove any evidence of the missing men. Do you know what the easiest way for him to do that is?”

“To kill them all,” she replied in a small voice.

Yoni nodded.

Despair weighed her down. “So what do we do?”

Jake's determined voice answered her. “We get them out ourselves.”





CHAPTER 56



Tom was worried. Ever since the fight, Seeley had struggled. Tom was pretty sure he’d only fractured a couple of ribs and not broken them, as he’d originally feared. He also had some cuts and bruises and Tom couldn't be sure there wasn't some internal bleeding.

But his physical injuries weren’t the main problem. He hadn't spoken since right after the fight.

“It’s not your fault, man,” Tom had said. “You didn’t have a choice. You’d have died if you didn’t take him out.”

Seeley had looked at him, but his face had been absent of expression. “But I did have a choice, man. These guys are monsters and they turned me into one. I could have chosen not to fight. If I died, at least I’d have died a man, not a patsy for these guys.”

Tom didn’t know what to say. His brain couldn’t come up with a logical response. He’d just sat next to Seeley and thrown his arm around his shoulder. They’d slept like that, sitting up. Tom had grabbed some bedrolls and used them as blankets. Seeley’s clothes were shredded and Tom was afraid if he let him lie down alone, he wouldn’t get up again.

Seeley hadn’t spoken since. In the morning, Tom had stripped one of the dead men of his clothes before he was carted to the pit. Seeley had let him dress him like he was a doll

Seeley seemed to have caved in on himself. His eyes were lifeless. At work, he worked silently. Tom would glance over at him, to make sure he was all right. Occasionally, he’d see hot tears burning their way through the dirt on his face. At night, he watched Seeley lie curled around himself, staring off into space. Every time Tom would wake, he’d see Seeley, staring out at nothing.

Tom didn’t know what to do. He’d tried talking to him, yelling at him. In the end, he just looked out for him. Made sure he ate, made sure he got his work done, made sure the guards didn’t notice him. But he was getting worse. His ribcage was a mass of dark bruises and he was getting weaker every day.