Page 88 of Savage Seduction

London pulls back her hair into a tight pony and clicks the mouse. She taps in commands, and I'm amazed at how quickly she navigates through screens. It's clear she doesn’t want to waste even a single second accessing the information since there’s no way to tell how much time we really have to get in, try and uncover the local Followers of Kali members’ names, and get out unscathed.

“I’m in,” London says. “That’s weird.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The entire site looks like it’s changed. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Whoever has control over the dark web server I’ve been using has modified it to make it harder to search.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Unless you know specifically what you’re looking for… or who you’re looking for, you won’t get very far. I have a feeling the cult is involved. If they have someone on the inside, they could have added layers of protection to avoid detection from unauthorized viewing.”

“What do we do now?” I cross my arms and try looking over her shoulder, but nothing I am looking at makes any sense. I’ve never been much of a computer person. If it isn’t the standard search engine, I'm lost.

“Let me try a few things.” London pulls up a second monitor and mirrors the website on both screens. I’m not sure what she’s doing, but she manages to access the metadata within the search engine itself. “I got you, assholes. Y’all can’t hide from my ass.”

I feel my stomach twist into knots. The anticipation iskilling me. We are so close, but also dangerously close to getting caught.

“They’ve detected us,” she says.

“What? How do you know?”

“They’ve activated my program, and I’ve been alerted that my location has changed three times in the last sixty seconds. They are good—fast. Dammit.”

“Shit,” I say. “Do we need to unplug?”

She shakes her head. “Not yet. I’m not leaving without what I came for.” London quickly taps in command after command. The screens flash so fast, I can’t figure out where we’ve been or where we’re going. I sit watching in both awe and fear. Beads of anxiety-born sweat form on her forehead. I take a few tissues out of her bag and dab her face dry. She’s so focused, she doesn’t acknowledge my gesture or speak until she slams her hand down on the desk.

“Oh shit,” I say. “What happened?”

“They caught up to us,” she says, turning to face me, her eyes wide with fear. “We have to get the hell out of here, now.”

We unplug everything and shove it into her bag in a desperate attempt to get to safety. I open the door and look both ways, listening for any sound of danger.

Nothing. Absolutely silent. Too silent?

She follows close behind me. We hurry down the maze of aisles until we reach the exit door. I stop short of exiting into the courtyard. The little tingle in my gut tells me we’re being watched. I look behind us—no one. We slowly step through the door and scan our surroundings. The place is eerily quiet and empty. What was once full of people studying or accessing free internet, is now completely uninhabited.

“I’m freaking out,” London whispers. “Who’s that? One floor up behind the trash can by the escalator?”

I look where she’d indicated but am too late. All I see is the shadow of someone ducking away from view. “Wait here.” Irun for the escalator, momentarily losing visuals on the shadowy figure as I round the side. I take two steps at a time as I move up the staircase, finally reaching the next floor.

Running to the large trash receptacle, I say, “Show yourself.”

I wait, but no one complies. I step closer, now less than five feet away. I close the gap with my fists at the ready to throw a punch.

There’s no one there. No enemies crouched behind the trash can watching us. I walk over to the landing and lean over to see London. “We’re all clear.” I wave her to come up and join me. There’s no telling who it had been, but I don’t think it wise to wait around and find out.

London meets me by the can.

“Did you see him leave?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “No, but I saw him watching us before he disappeared, but I couldn’t make out anything but dark clothes… white guy, maybe… but that’s about it.”

“Were you able to access any of the information about the cult before they caught us?”

“I did,” she says, lowering her voice to a mere whisper. “The local member is named Cameron Cruz. Thirty-six-year-old male. Didn’t see exactly where he lives in the city, but I can’t imagine it would be too hard to find.”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell to me, but I have a new friend who can probably find out for us. He would also have access to the records through official means and won’t have to hide from bad guys to find it.”

---