Mark

The bang of the metal door rouses us. I’m lying on my back, dozing in the afterglow, but Lara jerks the blankets over her breasts and stands.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you.” Molly goes to the sink and runs water. Her tone doesn’t sound sorry.

Lara steps into her jeans and pulls my tank over her head before storming around the screen. I push off the mattress, grabbing my pants.

“Where were you?” Lara’s voice is sharp. “You disappeared for hours, and you know we came all this way for help.”

Molly’s is equally sharp. “I’m sorry. My life wasn’t on hold waiting for you to show up. I had a prior commitment.”

“Where? What did you do?”

“I don’t have to answer that.”

Stepping into the room, I try to ease the tension. “I wish you’d at least answer my texts. I get it. You have shit going on, but this is urgent, Mol.”

She takes a breath and holds out her hand. “Show me what you’ve found.”

“Nothing.” We go to the computer, and I show her what I’ve done. “I searched the terms you said, but they only brought up that one video.”

Dropping into the chair her thin brows pull together. “You also have to use what you know about the time, the place, the people.” Her fingers fly over the keys, and I watch her type in sex club, underground, backstage, floating, exclusive, teens.

The screen fills with lists, and she scrolls quicker than me.

“You’re more familiar with this environment.”

Her eyes scan. Her lips are pressed into a straight line. “The population here isn’t that big. It’s a lot of the same shit repeated over and over. You learn to recognize it.”

The tension in my neck is back. “You said you’ve been searching for three days? So you think he’s deleted it?”

“It’s possible. I still might be able to find traces.”

Lara paces the room behind us. Her arms are crossed over her waist, and anger radiates off her. “Do people have usernames in this dark web? Couldn’t that be a clue?”

“No.” Molly’s voice is flat. “It’s about anonymity. Nobody uses traceable IDs here. It’s one of the first rules of a tor browser—no cookies, no storing passwords.”

My fists clench. “Dammit, Molly. He can’t have deleted everything.”

Her hand stills, and she hesitates over a listing. Faster than I can keep up, she clicks it. A window opens, and she scans the contents before closing it again just as fast. I only caught the first sentence, Third meeting, same day, same time, Black Pony…

Her cheeks are flushed, but she closes the window and continues scrolling as if nothing happened.

“What was that?” My eyes go from the screen to her face and back. “You found something?”

She shakes her head. “It was a false alarm. I thought it was something. I was wrong.”

Years as a policeman have made me pretty good at spotting a guilty face. “Was it something else? Something related?”

Blue eyes flash at me. “You’re looking for videos to exonerate Lara? Or at least give her an alibi for what she did?”

“Yes.”

“That wasn’t a video.” Her face is back on the screen, and her fingers move faster than ever, leaving whatever that was far behind us on the path.

The next search term makes her stop. “What’s this?”

I grab a chair from the table and pull it beside her so I can sit. The link opens a window to another video screen.

“This looks like a hit.” Her voice is high, and my chest squeezes.

“Play it.”

She taps the triangle below the black frame, and images start moving. Again, it’s black and white, very poor quality. We watch as a figure, a man, enters a room carrying a long pole. He leaves for a moment then returns with a bucket.

“Wait…” I lean forward, studying the screen, running my eyes past the man to the setting around him.

It’s a bedroom with dark walls and ornate light fixtures. A couch is against one wall, and trash is on the floor. A table is smashed, a lamp overturned.

The figure returns and puts his hands on his hips, staring at the room for so long, I’m worried the video is corrupted and has stopped playing. Then he takes the pole, which I realize now is a mop, and dunks it in the bucket.

“It’s me,” I say softly. “It’s my first job… for Gavin. I had to clean blood from a room and burn the sheets.”

Watching myself from all those years ago in that place, I understand the feelings Lara wrestled with earlier. It’s haunting, but more than that, it’s alarming to think everything was recorded and is somewhere on video. It’s similar to someone reading your old diary, discovering the worst things you’ve ever done from long ago.

The events are dragged from the hidden depths of memory to the front of my mind, no longer buried under rationalizations.

“He kept the ones that incriminate us. None of the videos showing his involvement, the crimes that happened there, are still around.”

The truth is a lead weight in my stomach.

Molly watches me cleaning the bloody room in silence until I start to strip the bed.

Lara speaks from behind me. “Do you know whose blood it is?”

Glancing up at her, I nod. “I do now. I didn’t then.”

She waits, but I shake my head. I don’t even know Tanya’s mother’s name. “Someone Landry knew.”

Snapping out of her trance, Molly touches my hand. “It’s possible something is still out there. If he hid things, it’s possible he forgot where.”

I pull back. “Are you being optimistic?”

The tension in her brow returns as quickly as it left. “I’m only saying what I’ve seen. People hide things then they forget where they hid them. It happens a lot, especially with old guys.”

“Right.” I meet her cocky glare with my own. “It’s how DollBaby was able to find Esterhaus.”

Her eyes widen, and she’s out of the chair. “I’ve got to go out.”

“I’m going with you.” Lara is right behind her, grabbing her sweater off the chair.

Molly doesn’t even pause. “No, you’re not.”

“It’s after midnight.”

“Which to you feels like 2 a.m.” Molly pulls a black jacket over her shoulders, and snatches a small duffel off the floor. “I have to meet Joshua.”

“I want to see Joshua.” Lara hasn’t stopped moving, and I know she won’t back down. Not after what she learned today.

“Hang on.” I’m on my feet again. “Can we run another search first?”

“I don’t have time.” Molly’s voice is a low exhale, and she’s gone.

Lara is still pulling on her boots, but she stops to tap out a text. “She thinks she’s going to race out that door, but Joshua will tell me where he is.”

Digging in my case, I take out a long-sleeved shirt. “I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not.”

I almost laugh. “Between you and Molly, I don’t know who’s more stubborn.”

“If she’s doing what I think, you’ll only attract attention.” Her boots are on, and she’s at the door, but I stride across the room and lift her off her feet.

“Mark!” She yelps, trying to struggle. “Put me down!”

My grip on her is solid, and I deposit her roughly on the bed. “I’m a cop. I know how to blend in.”

“Don’t you need to do more searching?”

“I can’t do it without Molly, and if she’s doing what you think she’s doing, you need me with you.”

We’re out on the street and a gust of wind hits us right in the face. Lara gasps, and I stop at a small souvenir shop and grab a black hoodie.

“Put this on.” She shoves her arms in the sleeves and I zip it up. “You should put the hood on. Or put your hair in a ponytail. Gavin will recognize you.”

“What about you?”

“I’m a lot bigger than I was the last time he saw me.”

Her phone buzzes, and she lifts it. “Josh says he’s at the Pony.”

She starts out, but I catch her arm. “Pony?” My mind races back to the link Molly followed; the one she said was nothing. “Did he say a color?”

“No.” Her fingers move quickly as she texts him back. “I’m asking for the address now.”

“Molly said Gavin is doing the same thing here he did in New Orleans…” I think about the work I did for him, the rooms I guarded.

I try to remember the search terms she used. She said them so quickly, but I remember sex club, exclusive, and teens. She was searching for their next meeting.

“Here’s the address.” She sends it to me, and I pull it up on my map. A quick study, and I’m almost jogging up the sidewalk.

She’s right beside me. “What’s happening?”

“It isn’t what we came here for, but maybe we can end this tonight. If we’re lucky.”

“How? What do you know? Did Molly find something?”

“Is Joshua a part of whatever she’s doing?”

“I don’t think so. He knows what she’s doing, but I don’t think he’s involved.”

We’re a block from the bar, and the red neon sign in the shape of a horse’s torso juts out over the sidewalk ahead of us. I glance at Lara, and her head is uncovered, her long hair moving in the wind. Her lips are full and pink, and she’s the most eye-catching thing I’ve ever seen.

“I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say everyone is going to stop and look at you when we walk in there.”

“It’s a gay bar, Mark. If anyone turns heads, it’ll be you.”

“Doesn’t mean everyone in there is gay. We’re meeting Joshua here. Isn’t he into Molly?”

“He could be bisexual.”

“Bisexuals will notice you.” Turning her around, I gather her long hair in my hands and put it down the back of the fleece jacket then I lift the hood over her head. “Tie that close around your face.”

“This will attract even more attention,” she grumbles. “I look like an idiot.”

“Stay close behind me. Keep your face down.”

We approach the small bar that looks like a piece of modern art. The façade is a curved strip of black metal with studs around the top, and a cheeky, hand-written sign warns prudes to stay away.

The message on the website flashes in my memory. Black pony…

This is it.

I’m ready to charge inside, when Joshua steps out and intercepts us. “Come with me.”

He walks away from the club at a brisk pace, but Lara and I both hesitate.

“Hang on,” Lara calls after him, “Josh… wait.”

“The message said it was—”

Joshua pivots on his heel and rushes to us, grabbing my arm hard and pulling us close. “Stop talking.” He raises his voice. “Great to see you!”

He glances around us. Two men in dresses and blond wigs smile broadly and skip past us into the bar.

He smiles and nods before leaning in to speak. “Anyone hears you, they make one call, and it’s gone.”

I’ve only been around this guy a few times, but he’s usually smiling, pretty casual and laid-back. This change has me on edge.

He takes off again, and we follow behind him, keeping our heads down. After a few blocks, he turns into a coffee shop and slides into a wooden booth beside the door.

“What’s going on, Josh?” Lara pulls the hood off her head.

“Candi texted. She’s out tonight.” His hands are clasped on the table in front of him, knuckles white. “This group is dangerous. Ultra freaks and criminals.”

My jaw clenches, and I’m glad I put on my shoulder holster before we left the apartment. “How do you know where they are?”

“I don’t. I only know the Pony is where they go to pay and get the real address. They have a guy there waiting. It could be anybody, and if they think the cops know—”

“Makes sense,” I say nodding. “But what do we do now?”

“Wait for Candi to text me again.”

A waitress appears at the end of the bar, and we all order coffees. She leaves, and I lean back against the wooden booth. This is way more action than I anticipated coming to this town.

“We need a plan,” Lara says. “The three of us can’t storm into a… a place like that and expect to get away with it.”

“She’s right.” I lean forward. “When I worked for Gavin, only the people who knew about the club showed up at the door, and even then, they were only let in with special cards.”

Joshua’s brow quirks. “What kind of cards?”

“Business cards but different every time, impossible to forge.”

Three coffees are set in front of us, and the server disappears in the growing crowd. Lara shifts in her seat, the tension rippling off her in waves.

“What are we going to do?” she asks softly. “We can’t just sit and wait while who knows what’s happening.”

Joshua picks at the paper sleeve surrounding his cup of coffee. None of us drink the hot beverages.

“Once we know where they are, we can figure it out.” Joshua’s eyes flicker up from his cup to mine. “It’s impossible when we don’t know what type of venue we’re dealing with, if there are windows or doors—”

“If it’s like the old club, there won’t be any windows.” My voice is grave and my eyes focus on the cup in my hand. “And only one door.”

“Two,” Lara softly adds. “One for the girls.”

“And it’s bolted once everyone is inside.”

Joshua leans back in his seat and lets out a groan. “Molly…”

“I need to walk,” I say, standing. “Is there any chance you have an idea where the place might be?”

“None.” Josh shakes his head. “It could be anywhere.”

“Take us to any potential spots, anywhere that has back rooms or hidden passages. Do you know any places like that?”

His lips poke out and he nods. “A few.”

“Let’s start with that. At least we’ll be moving around, and who knows. We might get lucky.”

“The only luck I want is finding Molly.” His voice is low as he stands. “And it not being too late to save her.”