Charles decided to take the lead the minute Abner returned to the table. He deliberately kept his voice neutral as he brought the two newcomers up-to-date. “And that’s where we are at the moment. Of course, we also have to contend with Harry’s friends’ problems, but that is separate and aside from what is going on at Happy Village. The two of you have been off the grid for a day and a half. You both know the rules: Three hours is the max you can be off grid. You both broke that rule. There are consequences to rule breaking. This is not like either one of you, so that tells me something very unexpected happened to keep you from checking in. Speak up and tell us what you found, what you know, and where the rest of us fit into the equation.” One look at Abner’s white, drawn face forced him to choose Avery to tell the tale.

“I took over one of the conference rooms off the mezzanine. We’ve been here at the hotel the whole time. It took us a few hours to set up shop and get my five operatives on board. We’ve all been at it from the time we split up. There were eight of us in total, if you count Abner’s friend Philonias Needlemeyer, who, by the way, was a godsend. He got us to places no one but the Devil goes. I’m not just talking about the dark web; I’m talking about the ugly, black underbelly of the dark web. That’s where the Devil and his disciples reign supreme. As you can see, I’m up there in years and I thought I’d seen everything, thought nothing could shock me or shake me. I was wrong. I regret that young Abner here had to see what I saw, because he will have to carry those images with him for the rest of his life.”

All eyes turned to Abner, who just looked sick to his stomach. Maggie offered him a stick of gum. “Chew it, Abby. It will settle your stomach because it’s peppermint, and mint is good for sick stomachs.” Abner reached for the gum and nodded in thanks.

Cyrus, sensing something not right with his travel buddy, got up and walked over to where Abner was sitting and nuzzled his leg. Abner looked down, smiled, and started to stroke the big shepherd’s head. He felt himself calm almost immediately. He wondered what it was, the gum or the dog—maybe the combination of the two.