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THE SIX(118)

Author:Anni Taylor

Gray eyed her with a heavy expression. “I can see why you had to stop involving other people. So, did you ever find out anything else about the symbol?”

Jennifer shook her head. “Not anything useful. I’ve been concentrating on finding on who’s in the group and what they’re doing. But that’s proved damned difficult, too. They’ve wrapped themselves in many layers of secrecy.”

A short spell of silence followed.

I sat myself down on one of the wrought-iron chairs. “Do you happen to know anything about Wilson Carlisle, Jennifer?”

“Yes, I’ve got a couple of folders of information on Mr Carlisle,” Jennifer told me. “Nothing that could incriminate him. I’ve followed him many times on his trips to London. But I can’t follow when he takes off on a boat, helicopter or plane. I always lose him.”

“I followed him for a few hours.” I stiffened as I recalled his words about Kara.

Jennifer shot me a look of alarm. “You followed him? That’s a risky thing to do. Very risky. Wilson is certainly unusual, in that he’s much more flamboyant than any of the others I’ve suspected of being part of this. I think he’s a bit of a loose cannon. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up dead.”

“I hope he does,” I said darkly.

“No.” Jennifer waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “That’s not what we want. We need them alive so I can continue to investigate them. I only have strong suspicions about three. I was intending on heading to London to follow Wilson tomorrow.”

“You’re leaving?” Sethi raised his shoulders in a deep sigh.

Bowing her head, Jennifer turned to him. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed.

“Always, I return home and off she goes,” he said to Gray and me, giving a sad shrug. His eyes showed a quiet worry.

“I know a couple of names,” said Gray, laying out the rest of the photocopies on the table. “I found these images online and I found out who at least two of them are.”

Jennifer’s forehead puckered as she read Gray’s notes and viewed photocopies. “How did you manage to dig these up?”

“I know a few different ways of pulling out old information from the net,” said Gray. “I think these were taken by someone spying on the group. They were fuzzy as hell. I cleaned them up and made them sharp.”

Jennifer’s eyes were suddenly rimmed with tears. “This screen shot of the text under this photo here. It says For no no boo.”

“Yeah.” Gray studied her changed expression. “Does that mean something to you?”

She nodded. “That’s what I used to call Noah when I was very small. I’d heard someone call him by his full name—Noah Bloom—and I began calling him no no boo.” She took a full breath. “My parents took these photos . . .”

I swallowed, saddened by the wistful gaze on Jennifer’s face. Sethi pressed his face to Jennifer’s shoulder in mute comfort.

She raised her eyes to Gray, wiping away the wetness from her cheeks. “You did a great job. My parents must have been trying to keep a record of what they’d found out. But these photos might just be what prompted the Saviours to kill them.”

“Do you recognise any of the names and faces?” said Gray, his tone intent but gentle.

“Yes,” she said. “Both of these people are dead. I thought they were victims of the Saviours. Now I know better. The Saviours are quick to kill their own if there’s any chance of being exposed—these two must have posed a risk.”

Gray sat heavily on a seat, his eyes clouding with disappointment.

Sethi kissed Jennifer’s temple and then took a close look at the photocopies himself. Suddenly, he slammed a hand down on the table. “Gamóto!”

“What did he say?” I whispered to Jennifer.

“He said fuck, basically,” she told me, turning to frown at her boyfriend. “Seth, what is it?”

“This landscape behind the people,” Sethi said. “I know it. It’s Greek.”

Gray ran a finger across the hilly backdrop of the photocopy. “Where? Where is it?”

“I don’t know the name of it,” Sethi told us. “It’s not a place you go by any accident. It’s a tiny island. Nothing on it except for an old monastery and a silent order of monks. No one is allowed to enter. I went there just one time as a teenager, with my father. We were looking for my uncle and his fishing boat. We found my uncle later in another location. But the island, I cannot forget it.”