Page 48 of Fighting for Mallory

“She doesn’t want to draw attention to it for one of two reasons. Either she knows what’s going on and accepts it or rejects it.”

“Makes sense.”

They ambled toward a campus coffee shop and stayed alert for any sign of danger. After they received their order, they settled on a cement bench. Judd touched the wireless piece in his ear.

“Do you have eyes on her?”

“Copy that, sir. She just entered room 202.”

“Secondary exit?”

“Negative.”

The San Francisco PD owed Justice a favor, so it sent two cadets from the police academy to keep Dr. Khalil under surveillance. Judd hoped she would lead them to Neheb. If they took him into custody, they might be able to prevent Mallory’s death, or at least be able to pinpoint her exact location. Of course, it was possible Neheb was already in Tennessee. Did he even have to be present for the weighing of the heart ritual?

“Is this a waste of time?” Judd wondered. “We should be in Tennessee helping Luca search for Mallory.”

“No, it’s not. This is an insidious organization that needs to be exposed and stopped.”

“You’re right. I’m at a point where my patience is running thin.”

Judd and Faith finished their coffee and tossed the empty cups into a nearby trash receptacle. They wandered around campus, casually checking hands for a fanged copperhead tattoo. When Dr. Khalil’s class ended at noon, they observed the throng spilling into the hallway outside the classroom but didn’t see anything suspicious.

“She’s on the move,” a voice crackled in Judd’s ear.

Judd checked his phone. “Got her.”

“She’s headed toward her office.”

“We’re in the area.”

“My partner and I will keep tabs on visitors.”

“Copy that.”

Five minutes later Judd received a photo of a group of three girls who visited Dr. Khalil. “Sounds like a dispute over grades,” said the voice in his ear.

Two students who wanted to discuss upcoming assigned papers came and went.

Just as Judd opened his mouth to comment that he and Faith should confront Dr. Khalil, their tactic yielded more than they expected.

No longer troubled by her students, Dr. Khalil made a phone call. Due to the proximity of her cloned phone, Judd and Faith heard every word of her conversation.

“You broke the circle,” an unidentified caller declared. “You have no business with me.”

“No? You and your aunt have made serious enemies with your irresponsibility. You’ve come to the attention of the authorities by targeting first a cop and now a district attorney whose friends are morally incorruptible and relentless when they’re on a mission.”

“We have stopped them. They do not know where we have hidden Mallory Hayes.”

“They will find her. They found Patricia and now me. They’ll find you, too, Neheb, and they’ll kill you. Do you understand? They’ll kill you, my son. And all for nothing.”

“Not for nothing! To maintain harmony and balance and peace!”

“Your aunt Patricia has tainted your mind. This world can never be brought into harmony and balance and peace. That is a myth. Myths are truths that cannot exist in the real world.”

“You are named after the greatest Egyptian goddess who ever existed, and you choose not to believe.”

“Not in this matter. I believe in the freedom to choose a path of good or evil. I believe in free will.”

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