CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"We're going to be close by," said Ghost. "Don't take any risks or chances, and damn sure don't follow those monkeys."

"Ghost, if I see them taking a woman, I'm going to follow," said Piper. "You can't expect me to ignore that."

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I'll pull you out of this, Piper. Don't do it."

"You forget that I'm as trained as you are. If I can stop this, I will." Ghost let a dozen curse words fly out of his mouth, then turned to stare at the group of women.

"Do not do anything stupid."

"We won't," smiled Addie. They all chose their vehicle and dog and waved out the windows as they sped away.

"Why don't I believe them?" muttered Ghost.

"Because they're lying to us," grinned Ian. "You know them. Now that they know what's going on, they're going to be looking for those monkeys and any women they might decide to take."

"Double the drones," said Ghost, looking toward Code and Ace.

Although Ace wasn't technically part of the senior team, with their new group of little geniuses, it seemed the VG team had all the manpower and brainpower they needed.

"I still say we should send Alvin," said Trak.

"That's because you're hoping he'd eat someone," said Nine. "We can't walk an alligator around a fairground where there are thousands of people."

"Why not?" asked Trak with a straight face. "He's well-mannered, polite, and knows his place."

"Are you fucking with me right now?" Trak just stared at him, not saying a word. "I'm losing my mind."

"We all are," said Gaspar. "Has anyone seen Gus today?"

"No. Not since last night," said Ian. "Poor guy. I worry about what will happen to him when this is done. I mean, if he somehow did have those people and forgot about them, is he going to be held responsible for something he didn't know about or remember? Something he couldn't know about?"

"I wish I could answer that. I think either way, we'll be able to bring some closure to this mess. But he's too sweet of a guy to have known about this and done nothing."

"Let's hope the women find something today," said Nine. "It's going to be another long one."

"It looks like it might rain," said Lauren. "I wonder if that will keep people away."

"If they're locals, it won't," said Grace. "We're used to the rain and don't stop our life for it. But you can feel the humidity for sure."

As they approached the gates with Zeus, Alexandra pulled back on Grace's hand.

"Look. It's ladies' day. Half-price tickets all day for ladies."

"Damn. We really picked the day to come, didn't we?" she frowned. "Comms, did you hear that?"

"We heard."

"Good morning! Welcome to the circus!" said a man at the gates. "Don't miss our special exhibits of the Seven Wonders. Our circuses have recreated them and are in competition with one another."

"Oh, that sounds like fun," said Addie. "Let's head over there." Glancing behind her, she saw Piper give a half-nod, acknowledging their plan. Piper, Alexandra, Grace, and Ella walked up with Beast and paid for their tickets. The man smiled at them.

"Wow! It's our lucky day. Four beautiful women and a blonde, redhead, brunette, and beautiful mixture of the three. I'd say we're going have something to look at all day."

"My husband is the only one that gets to look at me for free," smiled Piper. The man's face sobered, and he shook his head.

"Apologies. I meant no offense," he said, holding up his hands.

"Who was that?" frowned Alexandra.

"It wasn't one of the brothers. I'm not sure. Maybe he didn't mean anything by it."

The team found their way to the Seven Wonders exhibit, seeing their teammates a few paces ahead of them. The exhibits were interesting, but when they saw the other women had stopped at the Egyptian exhibit, they weren't sure what to do.

"Comms? Do we have cameras or devices in place?" asked Addie.

"Nope. Nothing. Which seems odd. What are you guys seeing?"

They all leaned forward over the exhibit, but comms couldn't see a thing on their cameras.

"We're not picking up anything."

"It's Gus."

"What?"

"It's Gus. He's lying in the sarcophagus. I mean, he's lying on top of the mummy in the sarcophagus," whispered Alexandra. The women walked around the mummy then around the other two. "I think we need Noah or Julia here."

"On their way."

The women left the exhibit then walked out into the open. When the sky opened up, bringing down torrents of rain, most of the people dashed inside the tents. The women huddled beneath the covered eating areas, waiting for their ghostbusters to appear. While they waited, they shared a few fair foods, indulging in the decadence, grease, and sugar that they usually didn't eat.

An hour later, Julia and Noah were walking toward them. Quietly, they all stood and entered the exhibit once again. Inside, Julia and Noah stood over the sarcophagus, staring down at Gus's face.

"What is he doing?" whispered Piper.

"It is him," said Noah.

"We know it's him. We can see him too, but what is he doing?"

"No. It is him. The mummy is him. That is why they have not found a body. They killed him and mummified him," said Noah. "This is how he is able to move around and get to the property. His corpse is near, and somehow, he can get to us."

"Holy shit," muttered Grace. "I hate to ask this, but what about the others."

Noah took Julia's hand as they offered one another strength and support. Stepping closer to the other sarcophagi, they both gasped and stepped back. Suddenly, three women were staring at the group.

"You can see us," said one. Julia was struggling to catch her breath. Noah held her hand tighter, and they both calmed. "You can see me."

"We can," nodded Noah. "Who are you?"

"Maxine Pine. They tried to kidnap me, and I fought them. I don't think they wanted to kill me, but they did."

"And the others?" asked Julia.

"Ruth Snow and Carrie Zosko. We were all taken in Denver."

"You remember everything," said Noah.

"Yes. We remember all of it. He doesn't," said the woman, Ruth. "We're not sure why. He didn't used to leave, but lately, he's left and returned often. We're not sure why. Poor thing is very confused, though."

"We think he had dementia when he was killed," said Addie.

"You can all see us?" The women nodded. "There are workers coming."

The women scattered, chatting and laughing about the exhibits as several workers entered the building. They looked up, smiling at the men, then continued walking around.

"Why are you in here?" asked one of the men.

"It's an exhibit, and it's raining outside," smiled Lauren. "We just thought we'd stay out of the rain and enjoy this."

"It's stopped raining," said the man. "You need to leave. The judges are coming in shortly."

"Okay, no problem," said Grace. "Ladies, I think it's ice cream time. Oh. When do the monkeys dance? I heard it was a fantastic performance."

"Not today," said one of the men. "They don't work in the rain. Union rules." The other man laughed, but when he saw the dark stare of Noah, he cleared his throat and nodded at his friend.

"They'll be performing tomorrow as the final act."

"Wonderful! We'll have to try and come back," said Ella, walking out of the building. The rain had let up, and they took their seats beneath the food tents again.

"Are they able to come out of the building and speak with us?" asked Lauren.

"I do not think so," said Noah. "I am not sure why, but I believe they are stuck where they are. I cannot figure out why Gus is not."

"Do you have any idea how horrible it must have been to be mummified?" asked Lauren. "I know they were probably already dead, but still, if they are in ghost form, they know, and it had to have been terrible."

"The question still remains why can Gus come out to the islands and Belle Fleur, but they can't leave the building?" asked Piper.

"Maybe they said something," said Julia. "Maybe when they did that to them, they said something like, ‘now they'll be stuck there forever.' Except Gus doesn't remember that."

"That could be," nodded Noah. "But we need to get comms to find out who those women were. Do you read?"

"We read. What women?"

Noah explained in a low soft voice about what they'd seen and then asked them to find out more about the women. Immediately, he got hits on their names and that they had disappeared in Denver more than eight years earlier. All three were alone, only one married, and none with children.

There was no one to pursue their killers. They had no one who cared that they were gone. No one to plead their case.

No one except Gray Wolf.