Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Frankie

The charity fundraising event turned out to be an indoor carnival. Usually, carnivals were an outdoor event, but the spring weather was still too cold and wet to allow such a thing. One might wonder why the event would take the form of a carnival at all if the weather didn't allow for it. Surely, there were plenty of other types of events that could be used to raise money.

As I stood at the center of it all, looking around at the various rides and attractions, I knew exactly why a carnival had been chosen and my heart sank at the sight of every smiling face. Carnivals catered to families and children. It provided plenty of opportunities for the Senator's "people" to scope out new victims.

"This place is making my skin scrawl," I whispered to Newt, who stood at my side as the two of us pretended to watch a juggling act.

Gabe had managed to land a spot among the event's volunteer staff. It gave him a perfect opportunity to unearth anything suspicious about the event, but I hated the idea of him being on his own. He felt too vulnerable to me, although Newt and I were probably the ones more at risk as we played the role of visitors. If we ended up having to fight our way out of a dangerous situation, we wouldn't fare nearly as well as the ex-military man.

If only Sebastian had been able to come, but despite my efforts with his physical therapy, he hadn't been healed enough. Instead, we'd found a compromise. Sebastian stayed in the RV, which was parked just a few blocks from the carnival, and watched everything through a pair of pins that Newt and I wore that each held a small camera and a GPS tracker.

I had no idea where Gabe had gotten hold of the pins, but I suspected Lily was probably involved.

Occasionally, Sebastian texted us to point out things he'd noticed through the cameras. The man was, unsurprisingly, very observant. He had a good eye for just where to stand to get the best view of every attraction, and pointed out suspicious characters in the crowd long before Newt and I even noticed them.

It would be much easier if we actually knew what we were looking for. The instructions to look for "anything suspicious" weren't specific enough. So far, our efforts had helped us catch two pickpockets, and a pair of teenagers making out behind the popcorn stand.

That last one was embarrassing for everyone involved, and not the least bit helpful.

We'd been at the carnival for a few hours, and walked by all of the attractions at least once, when I noticed something familiar. At first, I didn't know what I was seeing, but my subconscious was waving a red warning flag at me, which was definitely worth investigating.

I led Newt toward the back corner of the indoor carnival, near the wall that was painted black and draped in dark fabric to give the illusion of more space.

The larger attractions, such as funhouses and roller coasters, were stationed at the back of the building since they attracted the most people. Newt and I had to push our way through the crowd, but I eventually found what had caught my attention.

Ozias Wren.

The man I'd met at the charity's information booth a few weeks ago, and if Lily's information was accurate, a likely member of the pedophile ring we were hunting.

At least, I thought it was him. I only saw him for a moment before he stepped inside one of the funhouses. He was dressed in clown makeup, as many of the people working at the carnival were, so I couldn't be certain of his identity. I needed to get a closer look.

"Newt, come on. Let's go in there."

"Are you sure?" Newt eyed the funhouse skeptically. "What would we even do if we caught up to him? He hasn't done anything. At least, nothing we can prove. Won't following him be suspicious?"

"What? No. This is a public event." I led Newt toward the funhouse. "And we're just two members of the public that have come to enjoy ourselves."

Through the front entrance of the funhouse, which was shaped like a giant ice cream cone, we stepped into a world of swirling colors and shapes. The whole thing had a candy theme, like a cheap knockoff of Willy Wonka's factory.

Newt and I stood out a lot more than I expected. Some parents had brought their kids inside, but most simply allowed their kids to run around alone. The contained structure of the funhouse probably assured parents that their kids couldn't run off or get into trouble.

As the only adults without kids, we looked out of place.

"Let's just find the guy and see what he's up to. If he's not doing anything bad, then we can leave."

That was a lie, and Newt and I both knew it. There was no way we would be comfortable leaving a member of a pedophile ring alone with so many children, even if he wasn't actually doing anything right that moment.

Stumbling our way through a spinning tunnel and a hall of mirrors, we eventually found the man we were looking for at the funhouse exit. There were two ways out of the building. A spiral staircase, or a slide. There was a man stationed at the entrance to the slide, helping each kid get situated before they went down.

I watched for a moment, making sure the man was who I thought he was.

Yes, it was definitely Ozias Wren. What I had originally mistaken for a clown costume, was actually a harlequin. He wore a pair of checkered pants, a diamond printed waistcoat, and a matching mask that covered half his face. There was also a surprising amount of jewelry to go with the costume, including several layers of necklaces, and rings on most of his fingers.

The overall effect made him hard to identify. If I hadn't gotten a good up-close look at the man before, I wouldn't have recognized him at all.

Each time Ozias placed a hand on a kid's shoulder or waist as a way of helping them, a little more bile built in the back of my throat.

Yet, there was nothing we could do. Helping the kids was his job, and he wasn't doing anything wrong. Whatever sick thoughts might be going through his head at that moment weren't technically illegal.

"Are you going down?"

I jumped when Ozias addressed me directly. I'd been staring at him so long—probably glaring—that I hadn't realized I'd gained his attention.

He didn't say anything about Newt and I being the only adults present without kids, but just held out a hand toward the front of the slide.

"There are stairs, but this is definitely the more fun way down. Come on. Give it a try."

Newt and I shared a brief look. We could decline and take the stairs, but it would definitely look suspicious.

Why else would a pair of adults come into the funhouse without kids if we weren't even going to participate in the attraction?

"All right," Newt said, and he stepped up to the slide.

I clenched my fists behind my back as I watched Ozias take Newt's hand and help him sit down, and I didn't breathe again until my friend disappeared down the tunnel.

Then it was my turn.

I avoided Ozias's hand when he held it out to me and sat myself on the edge of the slide. Yet, the man still placed a hand on my shoulder, just low enough that I could feel the cool touch of one of his rings against my skin.

I shivered and pushed myself down the slide as quickly as I could to get away.

The slide was a twisted tube that went from dark to light and back again, like a very slow strobe effect. It would have been fun under a different context, but at that moment I just wanted it to be done.

Newt was waiting for me at the bottom of the tube, brushing dirt off the back of his pants where he seemed to have landed on the ground.

"Well, that was pointless."

I shrugged and climbed out of the mouth of the tube.

"At least we know it's actually him. Maybe there's a way to get the guy fired from the carnival. Could we maybe frame him for something?"

"Hold on." Newt sat down on a nearby bench and pulled out his phone. "I'll ask Sebastian about it."

His fingers flew over the keys as he typed out a quick message. With nothing better to do, I leaned against the bench and watched each kid that came out of the slide.

They seemed all right. None of them showed any signs of distress, but what was I expecting?

Big black handprints on their bodies to show if the man's hands had wandered to inappropriate places?

"Sebastian says not to do anything to confront Ozias," Newt reported after a moment of back and forth texts. "We'd only draw attention to ourselves. He's going to see if Gabe can do anything to at least get the guy reassigned to a different part of the carnival where he won't be in such direct contact with kids."

"Better than nothing I suppose."

Newt tucked his phone back into his pocket, and a flash of red caught my eye.

"Hey, Newt. Are you bleeding?"

Surprised by my sudden question, Newt held up his arm to reveal a single drop of blood running down his wrist to his elbow.

"Oh, I guess I am. Did I scratch myself on the slide? Weird. I didn't feel anything."

He wiped the blood away with a tissue to reveal the tiniest pinprick on his wrist, almost too small to see. For such a small wound to bleed that much, it must have been deep.

I stood up from the bench, intending to inspect the odd wound closer. Yet, the moment my weight settled on my feet I staggered.

"Frankie, you all right?" Newt shouted when my knee hit the ground. He stood, reaching out to help me, but he stumbled as well.

"What the hell..." My speech was slurred.

What was going on?

The image of Ozias's hand gripping Newt's wrist flashed through my mind. Following a sudden hunch, I craned my head to the side to look at my shoulder.

A drop of blood rolled down my arm, starting just under the sleeve of my shirt, where Ozias had touched my skin.

"We need to go. Now."

I grabbed Newt and tried to stand, but my vision wobbled, and I fell over again.

To my side, Newt was having the same problem. He braced his hands against the ground to keep himself upright, but I could already tell it was a losing battle.

I pulled my phone from my pocket to try and tell Gabe what was going on, but my fingers were numb. The device slipped from my grip before I was even able to turn it on.

"Hey, are you all right?" someone asked.

I couldn't see who spoke. Everything around me was blurring together, and I couldn't even tell which direction was up and down.

The last thing I heard before I passed out was an unknown voice calling for the carnival staff to come help.