Page 84 of Whispers at Dusk
“All right,” Bisset said. “But use the buds and tiny mics we have as well—best if you just come across something. We can all hear.”
“Will do,” Mason promised.
He hung up and glanced at Della to see if she’d gotten what Bisset had said.
“We have—”
“Security footage,” she said. “If he came in, no matter as who—or what he looked like—Angela will find him.”
Mason’s phone was ringing again. This time, it was Edmund Taylor, checking in from Baton Rouge.
“I was wondering if we should be trolling the nightlife again. Divide and conquer. New Orleans is filled with bars where partiers are out, happy and carefree. Dante teaches his people—” Taylor began.
But Mason interrupted him. “Not this time, Detective. Because Dante knows who we are. He played the congenial bartender Sven to the hilt in Norway, and he knows exactly who we are.”
Della arched a brow and he nodded, letting her know the call was with their European counterparts. “We’re heading out to the bayou. We’re going totrollthe area where the Midnight Slasher found his place.”
“We’ll head back that way and join you,” Edmund said.
He lowered his volume but put the phone on Speaker so she could hear the conversation.
“Head back this way and join us, but we’re going to start out. Detective Fremont is getting us out there, and he’ll have a team of his best—men who know the area—out there in plain clothes as well. Come to headquarters here in the city, and they’ll see to it they get you out there, too. We’ll have radio connection with local law enforcement, and Bisset reminded me we have something even more important, the mics and earbuds he procured for us. Bisset is going to stay on the security footage and correspond with anyone necessary, but he’ll hear everything that goes on. We just need to speak up when we want each other to hear without anyone knowing we’re communicating with one another. Nothing against the police, just radio communication in a tight spot may not be enough.”
“Right. Double communication. I like it. Not against any local cops, but if one of us does run into a killer...well. And we don’t have alligators in my woods back home,” Edmund said.
Mason looked at Della and nodded. “Are you and Lapierre going to be all right out there?” he asked.
“We’re going to be fine. We aren’t going home without this guy,” Edmund told him.
That was something Mason well understood. “We’ll get started. Let us know when they’ve got you out there,” Mason said. “And remember, he knows us. He knows all of us and all about us.”
“Discretion is the word, of course,” Edmund told him. “But you two be careful out there. He knows us—he wants Della.”
“And we may have to play that card,” Della said softly to Mason.
Della knew Mason would protest—as would the others. If she tried to get herself caught up by Dante, she was putting herself in danger.
But it wasn’t something that hadn’t been done dozens of times before. She’d played many a part to attract the eye of a criminal, and so had dozens of other female officers and agents. Undercover cops and agents of both sexes played roles when necessary.
Bisset had seen to it they had a car upon arrival, and when they left the station and their planning with Detective Fremont, Mason drove to Coffee Science just as Fremont had suggested. After they arrived and parked, they ordered and waited, and Mason expressed his concerns.
“First, we have no idea—this is worse than looking for any needle in any haystack.”
“Except—” Della began.
“We’re hoping to find our ghostly Gideon—and hoping he might know something?” Mason finished.
She nodded gravely. “Fremont will be with us. And we do need to use the mics and earbuds the way we did before. If anyone encounters him—”
“You’re planning on encountering him,” Mason said.
She paused, lightly biting on her lower lip before speaking. “Mason, there are two girls out there. Young and innocent of all this. Our first responsibility is always to the victims. And he’ll bring me to them. I know he will. Because he does know too much about us. And that’s the thing—if those girls are alive, hewillbring me to them.”
“Because he knows it will be the worst torture for you to watch what he’ll do to them,” Mason said.
“You have to have faith in me,” Della said.
“I do. We’re also facing a truly heinous killer who is also frighteningly intelligent when it comes to ways to get around the law.”
