“Franny O’Rourke will no longer be a threat to you, and you will no longer be a threat to the rest of the world,” the woman continued. “You suffered a severe beating, lost all your material possessions, and now you will spend the rest of your life helping people.

“As soon as your wife filed the divorce papers, she left town. The press was all over her. Last we heard, she had moved to Belgium and is working as a cocktail waitress.”

Marcus wished he could ask questions. Maybe try to talk again? Then he remembered the warning about making no sound.

“Dr. Marcus, grunt once if you are understanding this.”

Two grunts.

“Then let me go through it again.” The woman painstakingly repeated what she had told him, pausing between sentences. She had to recite some of it several times before Marcus was down to only one grunt.

The vehicle drove for several hours before it arrived at its final destination. It was the nursing home the woman had spoken of.

“Remember, Dr. Marcus is dead. You are James Sherman. Make up whatever story you want about your past, as long as it does not contain any part of the truth. Understood?”

One grunt.

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

It was the fifth day of Corbett’s and Steinwood’s unpleasant stay at Chateau Justice. Kathryn reluctantly made contact with Pearl. The last part of the final phase was approaching. Out of respect for Pearl’s facilitators, the sisters agreed to let the two scum buckets shower and put on clean orange jumpsuits. They didn’t want any of their associates to have to suffer the stench of the men’s unwashed bodies.

Charles escorted Corbett to the shower, with Fergus watching closely. The two men would go one at a time, still not knowing the whereabouts of the other. Steinwood and Corbett could barely stand, let alone walk. Neither was a threat. They were deflated, humiliated, and destroyed. Even with a shower and clean hair, Corbett looked grizzly. Steinwood looked like a schlump. Corbett opened his mouth to speak, but Charles gave him a look that said, “Don’t you dare.”

Charles pulled Corbett’s arms behind his back and zip-tied his wrists together. Corbett started to yell, but Fergus shoved a sock in his mouth. “Keep your piehole shut,” Charles barked and reapplied duct tape to the man’s mouth. He marched Corbett up the steps, as the sisters lined up and watched him do the walk of shame. Then a burlap bag went over his head and he was passed on to Pearl and her crew, who would relocate Corbett to some unknown place, a place so remote, he would never be found.