Page 41 of Monkey Business

“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.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“They’re mummifying these victims?” screeched Ian.

“Someone is. Maybe not all of them, but those three and Gus, they did. Maybe they discovered something about them they didn’t like,” said Addie.

“I think I might have an answer for two of them,” said Code. “Ruth Snow and Maxine Pine were both breast cancer survivors. They went to the circus together, celebrating their decision to not have breast augmentation.”

“They needed them to look perfect,” whispered Ghost. “They’re trafficking these women.”

“Maybe Carrie fought them. Maxine said she fought them,” said Lauren. “Carrie looked younger than the other two.”

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