Page 65 of Deadly Sacrifice

Lei took a sip from her mug, grimacing slightly at the coffee’s bitterness after a day sitting in the pot. “So, let me get this straight. You’re basically using Hollywood magic to turn blurry pixels into a face?”

Katie smirked, fingers still flying across the keyboard. “Simplified, but yeah. Think of it like how they make a dinosaur out of some janky CGI bones. We’re filling in missing data, using AI to predict what should be there.”

Lei leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs out. “And you’re sure it won’t give us a T-Rex instead of a suspect?”

Katie laughed. “I mean, that would be cool, but no. The software is trained on human faces—no dinosaurs, no aliens, no hobbits. Just good old-fashioned bad guys.”

“Good, because I don’t think the department’s ready for a Jurassic Park crossover.” Lei took another sip of coffee, watching the code scroll across the screen. “So what happens now? We wait for the magic to happen?”

“Pretty much.” Katie cracked her knuckles. “The rendering takes a while, but if all goes well, we’ll have a clearer image of Mu’s face. Maybe even enough to cross-check against databases.”

Lei shook her head, impressed despite herself. “You and your internet wizardry. I swear, if I ever get stuck in the Matrix, I’m calling you first.”

Katie gave an exaggerated bow from her seat. “At your service, boss. Just don’t expect me to wear a leather trench coat and sunglasses indoors.”

Lei smirked. “That’s a shame. You’d rock the look.”

Before Katie could respond, Lei’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She fished it out, glancing at the screen.Pono.

She answered immediately. “Tell me you’ve got something.”

“We do. Noble’s being processed out of jail right now.” Pono’s voice was sharp, all business. “If we’re tailing him, we need to move.”

Lei was already up, setting her mug down on Katie’s desk. “On my way.”

Katie shot her a look. “You think Mu’s watching Noble?”

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” Lei said, already heading toward the door. “Keep working your magic, ninja. If there’s a face in those pixels, I want it.”

Katie gave her a mock salute. “You got it, boss. Go catch the bad guy.”

Lei didn’t respond. She was already planning next steps regarding Noble as she strode toward the exit.

39

MU

The engineof Mu's van ticked as it cooled in the stifling hot garage where he’d parked it after gassing, washing, and getting an oil change to prepare for his next victim. Wouldn’t do to have the thing break down at an inopportune moment; staying under the radar of authorities when out on the road was key. Preparing for his work, he pulled on a mask and gloves; these additions added to his sweaty discomfort. “It will be worth it in the end,” he muttered. “Everything I’ve done has been leading up to now.”

The air in the garage hung thick with the metallic stink of the engine. Mu turned on a fan, but he couldn’t risk opening the main door and a neighbor glimpsing his activities. He went around the back of the vehicle and opened the doors, gazing down at the disgusting mattress on the vehicle’s floor. Steinbrenner had messed it up with blood and fluids during a long day and night spent there. Separate lidded buckets beside it held his bodily waste.

Distasteful as it was to deal with the aftermath of his kill, Mu was preparing forHer. He couldn’t put Her in the van in its current state. She deserved better.

Mu stripped the filthy sheet off, exposing a plastic covering over the mattress. He threw the sheet in the nearby washer, doused it in bleach, and turned the setting to Hot. He carried the buckets inside the house and flushed them, then brought them back out into the garage to the utility sink. He splashed bleach into them and then rinsed them out, setting them to dry.

He wouldn’t need them again; he didn’t plan to have Her in the van as long.

He took out the large plastic gun case where he kept his kill kit. The police would be combing the marketplaces for where he’d obtained his weapons; they would find nothing. The latestleiomanohad arrived with the other materials in the mail from the maker in a foreign country; he had paid anonymously with cryptocurrency.

His orders were untraceable.

Mu removed the weapon from the packaging and set the bubble wrap and cardboard into his burn can; he took no chances with disposal. He held up the weapon; a ray of sunlight came in through the side window of the garage and moved along the smooth wood and shining white shark teeth that ringed one end and the sides.

Mu’s gloved fingers traced the serrated edge; he wanted to caress its bite with his naked fingertips, but it wouldn’t be wise to leave any possible trace. The shark teeth, harvested in the Philippines, were pristine and sharp as jagged razors, catching on the rubber of the gloves but not piercing it.

The weapon felt springy and alive in his hands as he swung it back and forth. It hungered for flesh, as had the others he'd used to honor each kill.

He nestled the weapon in its waiting foam niche, then reached for the next item. The syringe gleamed under the single fluorescent light as he filled it from the vial, capped it, and put it back in place. He then took the fresh and stiffly new coiled woven fiber cords he’d ordered from the same source as theleiomano. He unwrapped them, stowing them in the case. He packed the terrifying tiki mask he would wear. And finally, he shook out and refolded the printed cloth he would drape around Her loins.

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