CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Code, what do we have on the O'Noth circus?" asked Gaspar.

"Not much. It's been around for about seventy years. Always been relatively profitable. They seem to pass all the safety inspections, as well as all the onsite animal inspections. No deaths, nothing that raises any red flags."

"What about the owners being so dark?" asked Nine.

"O'Noth isn't their name," said Code. "It's the name of the circus and the original owners' names, but not the ones in the past few years. It took me a while to dig that up, which was strange. Usually, I can find things like that quickly."

"But they introduced themselves as the O'Noths. Patrick and Sean O'Noth."

"That's their circus or stage names," said Code. "The names on the licenses and tax documents are Alberto and Fernando Tolivari. Born in Juarez. They are sixty-eight and seventy-one, respectively."

"Okay, so what do we know about them?" asked Nine.

"Nothing." Gaspar, Ian, Nine, and Ghost stared at the man, waiting. "Look, I found nothing. Ace is working on trying to gather more information now."

"I've found a few things," said Ace, poking his head into the room. The men stared at him, waiting patiently for him to continue. Ace stared back, then realized they were waiting for him.

"Right. Sorry," he smirked. "Code is right. They were born in Juarez but came across the border together when they were in their early twenties. They came on the pretense of visiting a sick relative. There's no record of them returning. They worked odd jobs before finally getting their U.S. citizenship, then suddenly were able to purchase the circus. They paid cash for it."

"Cash? What was that bill?" asked Ian.

"It doesn't say. The circus closed for two years right after they bought it, then reopened with all new acts, animals, attractions, everything. They've traveled all over North America performing, never staying more than three or four days."

"Is that significant?" asked Ghost.

"Most circuses will stay for a few weeks because it allows people to return often. Win their money back at the midway games, see a different act, or sometimes come without the kids and enjoy."

"So why didn't they do that?" asked Nine.

"I'm not sure yet. What I can tell you is this. A woman has disappeared at every performance they've done in the last thirty years. Sometimes more than one," said Ace, staring at the men.

"And no one is investigating this?" yelled Gaspar.

"It could always be related to a woman having work or partner troubles, and in some instances, it wasn't determined that she disappeared at the circus but just somewhere during her travel time to and from the circus. Many of the disappearances weren't reported until weeks or months after they'd left, and it couldn't be related directly to the circus itself. These aren't teenagers or little girls. These are grown women, all over the age of twenty-three."

"What the hell?" muttered Ghost. "That place is crawling with people. How are they getting women out of there unnoticed?"

"That's your job," smirked Ace. "My job was to figure it out."

"Smart ass," smirked Code. "You figured out that women have gone missing from the circus, but you didn't figure out how Gus fits into all of this." Code was proud of himself, staring at Ace. The other man nodded.

"You're right. I forgot," said Ace, grinning at the men. "Nozo Tolivari was Fernando's oldest son. He was found dead of a heroin overdose a year before Gus disappeared."

"How is that significant?" asked Nine.

"He attended the St. Thomas More church," said Ace. They all stared at him. "Gus was the priest at St. Thomas More."

"Shit," they said in unison.

"The son confessed something to Gus, or at least that would be my guess. But why wait all that time to kill Gus?" asked Ghost.

"Maybe they didn't know," said Ace. "I'm going to dig in more on the missing women and see if any were ever found. It seems odd that not even a body popped up anywhere. Oh, and by the way, Whiskey, Mac, and Clay are handling an issue at the circus now. Another woman disappeared today, leaving her little girl unattended. The sheriff is with them now, along with her husband. Whatever happened in the past is still happening."

"We've got to get Gus to remember this," said Gaspar. "How are we doing on reviewing his journals?"

"They're working on it, but there are dozens. That man wrote something every single day."

"Well, kudos to him for doing that. I never had the urge to write down my thoughts," said Ghost.

"That's because it would have scared the shit out of anyone reading it," smirked Nine. Ghost nodded, flipping him the bird.

"Any idea where Gus is now?" asked Ghost.

"No," said Ace and Code, shaking their heads.

"He was on Devil's Island earlier today, but we haven't seen him since. It's strange. He seems able to travel wherever he likes. On and off the property. How is that? Why is that? Everyone else here seems bound to this land or this property. None of them have been able to leave during their time here, that I'm aware of anyway." asked Nine.

"I don't know," said Gaspar. "But if he can, then maybe that's how he got on the property. Maybe he's not supposed to be here. Maybe he's supposed to be somewhere else, but because he didn't die here, not that we're aware of, he's able to move back and forth to wherever he's supposed to be."

"Something is very, very wrong with all of this," said Ian.