Instinctively, I press the gas pedal to the floorboard. At least I’m on the toll road, which is only sparsely populated at this hour. When I hit I-4, I’ll need to drop my speed to weave through traffic. Until then, I’m keeping the hammer down to compensate.
Agent Hemsley voices our collective belief. “How the hell did he slip this by us? The bureau doesn’t only have a file on him, it’s a whole series of novels. Unless I’m thinking of the wrong man.”
Chase responds, keeping her tone flat. “You aren’t wrong. Jabali Campos, akaCarnage, is the head of STK’s southern region. According to ASAC Dawkins of the gang unit, Carnage is making a play to oust the national STK head. He’s been amassing a fortune to fund his takeover, prove he’s worthy, and gain even more cred. The gang unit didn’t knowhowhe was getting the cash to pull this off until the dots were connected to our casino investigation this morning.”
McBride interjects next, raising a damn good point. “The gang unit’s informants dropped the ball on this. They’re supposed to pass this kind of shit to their handler.”
“ASAC Dawkins shared two theories about that with me,” Chase begins, irritation darkening her tone. “Option one is the informants could be on the take, working the casino grift as one of themanycheating minions.”
“Valid. And the second?” Carson prompts.
“Good old fear. If Carnage is making this massive power play, he’s probably got everyone on a tight leash. Let’s face it. To these informants, he’s a way bigger threat than the FBI.”
That tracks. He wasn’t given the street name Carnage because it sounds cool. He earned it by being lethal and ruthless. If memory serves, he rose to his rank by killing his father and taking his place. Even offed his brothers to eliminate his competition for the throne.
Keeping us moving, Chase starts with the next item. “In other gang news, ASAC Dawkins confirmed the tattoo on Elliott Riddick’s hand—the same one Lila told usSilashas—is an official STK leadership mark. Carnage is careful to conceal his in public. We never caught it on the photos or videos from when he, as Silas, prowled the casino a few months ago.”
Obviously as in the dark about this development as the rest of us, Agent Carson asks, “How did he beat face rec, though? Sure, he’s dark-skinned, which can trip up the program, but the FBI has caught him on cameramanytimes before.”
The SSA punts that question. “Fowler, do you want to take that?”
He comes off mute to respond. “Morales and I are currently at the Tampa home of a plastic surgeon who specializes in trauma-related facial reconstruction. Yesterday morning, his wife’s body was found in Temple Terrace by a jogger. Two shots to the head. Cops came here to notify the doctor of his wife’s passing. Instead of finding him, they saw signs of a break-in. Eventually, they accessed home surveillance footage, which revealed the couple had been abducted two nights earlier. In case you aren’t connecting the pieces, Carnage is changing his face when he takes on a new alias.”
Chase interjects. “Do you haveconcreteevidence to confirm that Silas is, in fact, Carnage?”
“Absolutely,” Fowler answers with vehemence. “We’re looking at the surgeon’s laptop as we speak. He’s got a file of photos and computer-generated renderings. It’s safe to assume this is the same doctor Carnage used about a year ago to become the man we’ve been hunting as Silas. I’m looking at before, during, and after photos from the actual facial reconstruction procedure, along with various mockups the surgeon created before the procedure, presumably to give Carnage options.”
Jesus.
“That’s not all. There’s another file on here guaranteed to clench your cheeks,” Fowler continues, his voice animated with a heightened sense of foreboding. “Last week, the surgeon created another set of mockup photos. The before picture of each matches hiscurrentface. We should proceed with the assumption that they grabbed the surgeon and killed the wife to force him to perform the procedure. If we don’t find Carnage soon, he’ll be in the wind again with a new face.”
It might already be too late if he’s had the doctor for more than two days.
Fucking hell.
Andrews cuts in. “Something isn’t adding up. Why did Carnage abduct the doctor and kill the wife this time around? Not only is he the same surgeon from last year, but he was clearly on board if he prepped those mockups last week. What gives?”
“I have a theory,” Carson answers coolly. “I peeked at the surgeon’s financials. Around the time Jabali Campos became Silas Everson, the doc had several large wire transfers into his account, totaling about a quarter of a million. Carnage paid dearly for the Silas face. If he’s working this hard to secure significant funds for his STK mutiny, then he probably didn’t want to pay him again. The sword is cheaper and more effective than the wallet for someone like him.”
SSA Chase jumps back in. “Carson, let Fowler and Morales track down info on those wire transfers and other evidence to support our theory with this later. The gang unit can do its part as well. I need you to pivot back to the abductions right away. If we find Kenzie or the plastic surgeon, we’ll find Carnage.”
“Oh, I’m on that too,” Bianca replies with a trill of smugness. “I put out an APB for the red sedan Kenzie was taken in. Get this. Ginny Lawrence was driving the car.Hercar, no less. Plates match, and she was the only one in the vehicle without a facialcovering. She was clearly visible from several angles in traffic cams downtown. Not only that, her phone’s GPS puts her at the condo at the time of the abduction. She’s our getaway driver.”
I was right about her brain being a hollow cavern.
Tapping the unmute button, I fire off questions. “Are you still tracking her location? Has a response team been sent to intercept them before they reach their destination? I don’t know why they wanted my sister again, but it can’t be to take her for a leisurely ride through town. We need to find them.Now.”
Before it’s too late.
Carson’s response is partially cushioned by compassion. The rest is sheer frustration. “We lost the signal from both Ginny’s and Kenzie’s phones about two blocks away from your place. Someone in the car smartened her up and turned the phone off or got rid of it. The car itself doesn’t have GPS either. We followed their route on traffic cams for a while but lost them when they left downtown. Not enough cameras for viable tracking.”
Son of a bitch.
SSA Chase attempts to mollify me. “We’re doing everything we can, Hayes. We’ll find your sister. I’ve got every law enforcement agency in the area looking for that vehicle.”
I stay on mute. Anything I say will only delay our progress.
And as the call shifts to the next topic, I’m hit with another delay. This one was unavoidable. Heavy traffic where the toll road hits the interstate.
