Page 45 of Soros
“Italy,” I answered because I remembered the young women mentioning that country.
“And what about the target? Is he Italian as well?”
The thought of sharing anything with Ko’roz was so repulsive to me that I quickly answered, “No.”
“Where is he from then?”
“It doesn’t matter where he’s from,” Lios told them. “He’s a murderer and we’re here to bring him to justice.”
The two men asked no more questions. Once we got to the address, they parked right behind a police car, and we all got out.
“This is Officer Gibbon. He’s the one who went inside the nightclub. You can talk to him yourself,” our driver suggested.
Lios began asking the officer questions while I took a moment to take in the place. It was a strange house without windows. A type of artful writing decorated the façade and the door looked like it was armored.
“I went inside the night club and there was no one there except for a few bouncers who were having a staff meeting. They were helpful in showing me everything I wanted to see,” the officer explained.
“Did you ask them about the phone?” Lios asked.
“No. I didn’t want to give them that information. But I checked with the station and the signal is in a different part of town now. If the women you are looking for were ever here, they left again.”
“Can we go inside and see for ourselves?” I asked.
The bald detective shrugged. “Why waste time, if Officer Gibbon already searched the place and the phone is showing a different location now? Don’t you want to get to your friends as fast as possible? You might miss them again.”
Nerix was already walking back toward the car. “This place isn’t up to Ko’roz’s standards. He wouldn’t take them here. We should get moving right away.”
While the others walked back to the car, I stood staring at the night club. Resolutely, I walked closer and pounded on the steel door.
No one answered and behind me Nerix was complaining that I was wasting precious time. Finally, a man my height opened the door. He was wearing a black T-shirt and vest with a pair of sunglasses that he had pushed up his forehead.
“What?” he asked in a rude tone.
“Can I come in and see your place?” I asked.
Leaning to the side, he peered around me to see all the others behind me. Narrowing the opening, he said, “Nah, I don’t think so. We already showed the officer around. We don’t have time for more curious cops. There’s nothing here.”
“Let me see for myself,” I said, but raising his chin, he shut me down.
“Unless you have a search warrant, I’m not letting you in.”
Not understanding what he meant, I turned to our driver. “Do we have a search warrant?”
“No.”
Glancing at Lios, I requested, “Can I use mind clouding or will you have to report it to the Federation?”
Lios sighed while Nerix insisted, “Let’s just follow the tracking signal. You have to agree that Ko’roz is far too pompous to stay in a shitty place like this anyway.”
I felt torn and tried to see past the bouncer.
“Come on, Soros,” Lios said. “If we can avoid mind clouding, we should.We have another lead so let’s investigate that before it goes cold. We know this place now and can always come back.”
“But…” I understood his reasoning and yet it was extremely hard for me to walk away. For a few seconds, I wondered if my desire to go inside and search the place was just my extreme longing to find Tania fast, or if my gut feeling was trying to tell me something.
Giving me a hard glance, the bouncer grunted. “There’s nothing here.” He didn’t wait for my answer but closed the door. I could hear him locking up on the other side.
“Hurry up.” Nerix was already in the car and Lios was getting in as I turned and jogged to them.
