Where the Ghosts Lie

Chapter Nine

  Nolan, Toby, and Grace sat around a small circular table shoveling in a breakfast of eggs, toast and coffee. Agnete the innkeeper had graciously served it to them, even in the early hour.

"Did they feed you while you were in captivity?" Toby asked between a mouthful of eggs.

Grace's features tightened. "They did. Sometimes."

"Like, bread and water?"

"Toby." Nolan hissed.

Grace gingerly lifted a teacup of coffee to her lips. "It's fine." She said, her voice slightly rising in tone. "They didn't always torture us physically...it was usually in psychological ways. We didn't have a mealtime or even full meals...sometimes nothing at all. The not-knowing drove...some of us crazy, eventually. We usually ate watered-down soup and water; sometimes bread. But that wasn't the bad part. We moved around a lot, but never knew where we were. That kind of thing." She took another sip of coffee as if it was no big deal.

"So are we headed for the library?" Nolan asked, trying to change the subject.

"No." Grace said. "Agnete had a laptop in her room, so I already sent over the files to Howard."

Both Nolan and Toby gaped at her.

"What?" Toby exclaimed. "Just like that?"

Grace nodded.

"Without telling us?" Nolan asked, dumbfounded.

She scrunched her eyebrows together. "I didn't know I had to tell you when I sent it. I'm waiting for him to call back with more information."

"So does that mean you can tell us what's on it now?"

Grace dropped her gaze and fiddled with a napkin that was partially hanging off of the tablecloth. "Those computers held maps and receipts, basically. The maps had fifty-four red marks around certain locations around the world; Kavala, Washington DC, Bolivia, Cuba, some US states. And then there were copies of receipts exchanged around the Midwest for some rather large pieces of equipment. We couldn't figure out was it was for, exactly."

Nolan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Red marks...so you're thinking those were areas they were wanting to attack?"

"Exactly." Grace said. "And whatever parts of machinery they were ordering was for that purpose. But here's the thing...the receipts were addressed to Dimyan Egor."

Nolan raised his eyebrows. "So he really is alive, then?"

"Seems so. And Howard's not completely crazy when he says he's planning an underground attack. None of this information would've been found if my team and I hadn't stumbled upon it while we were in Turkey. Needless to say, the terrorists weren't happy when they found out that we knew where their kill spots were. This organization has grown beyond the Bolsheviks, even though it's still headed by Egor. They've named this operation Colossus." She kept her gaze down as she tapped a nail against the porcelain of her cup.

"What about the heroin at the ice house?" Nolan inquired, after it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything more.

"I know this is going to sound crazy," Grace replied, "But that was how they funded this whole thing. Colossus has been running the biggest drug cartel in history, right under our noses. There's no telling how much money they've made; it's probably close to trillions of dollars. They've been trading drugs throughout the world and still haven't been caught."

They settled into thoughtful silence for a few moments. 

"So what now?" Toby asked. "Are Nolan and I still supposed to take out Egor? And what about you? Where do you go next?"