It was agreed that I would wait an hour and a half, since I hadn’t been on-line when he established contact and the Wolf would know that. During the past day we’d been unsuccessful in trying to connect the Wolf’s Den to an owner or even to one of the other users. This probably meant that a high-level hacker had protected the site well. The Bureau’s experts were confident they would break through, but it hadn’t happened yet.

Homer Taylor had been transported to D.C. again, and we used his eyes for the retina scan. Then I sat down at a computer and began to type. I was following the model of communication to the Wolf’s Den provided by Taylor as part of our deal.

This is Mr. Potter, I began. Can I have my lover?

Chapter 84

Chapter 84

I WAITED FOR the Wolf to answer Potter’s insane question. We all did.

No response came. Shit. What had I done wrong? I’d gone too far, hadn’t I? He was clever. Somehow, he knew what we were up to. But how?

“I’ll stay on for a while,” I said, as I looked around the room. “I want what he has to offer. He knows it. I’m supposed to be horny.”

This is Potter, I typed again a few minutes later.

Suddenly words began to appear on my screen.

I read, Wolf: That’s redundant, Potter. I know who you are.

I typed some more words in Taylor’s strident “voice.” UR rude to make me wait like this. U know how I feel, what I’m going through.

Wolf: How could I? You’re the scary freak, Potter, not me.

I typed: Not so. UR the real freak. The cruelest of all.

Wolf: Why do you say that? You think I take hostages like you?

My heart raced. What did he mean by that? Did the Wolf have a hostage? Maybe more than one? Could Elizabeth Connolly still be alive after all this time? Or some other hostage? Maybe one we didn’t even know about?

Wolf: So tell me something, faggot. Prove yourself to me.

Prove myself? How? I waited for more instruction to come. But it didn’t.

I typed: What do U want to know? I’m horny. No, not really. I’m in love.

Wolf: What happened to Worcester? You were in love with him too.

The chat was heading into uncharted waters. I was guessing, hoping I could maintain continuity with things Homer Taylor might have shared before. The other question made me edgy: Was this really the Wolf I was speaking to?

I typed: Francis was incapable of love. He made me very angry. He’s gone now, never to be heard from again.

Wolf: And there will be no repercussions?

Mr. Potter: I’m careful. Like U. I like my life; I don’t want to be caught. And I won’t be!!!