“Why did you say that he would have been your son?”

“His mother was sick. The adoption was almost final. A few days later, and he would have been living with me. He’d still be alive if I would have filed the damn paperwork just a bit sooner.”

She heard the Australian release a deep breath. Then, in his soothing baritone, he said, “I’m so sorry. But you can’t blame yourself.”

“I don’t. I blame the soulless monster who did the killing.”

“And what would you do if you found this monster?”

“I think you know.”

“Say the words.”

“Whoever is responsible is going to suffer and die.”

He seemed to consider that response for a moment and then asked, “Is that justice? You don’t want to see him on trial, constable? Didn’t you take an oath or something?”

“I don’t care about justice or oaths or much of anything anymore. That boy was my whole world. When I close my eyes, all I can see is his little blood-stained pajamas and his …”

“How far would you go to end this man? To what lengths?”

“Maybe I am suicidal, but when I go down, I’m dragging the son of a bitch who took my boy down to hell with me.”

Over the phone’s speaker, a man with a British accent said, “I’ve heard enough. Set the place and time and give her instructions.”

“For what?” she said. “Who am I speaking to?”

Christopher picked up the phone and ended the call. “Congratulations. You’ll have your answers.”

“Who was on the phone?”

“A man who doesn’t exist.”

Isabel had heard that an infamous crime boss had recently set up shop in Jo’burg, but it was mostly ghost stories. She knew Interpol and the FBI had files on the man, but neither agency could confirm that he actually existed.

“Mobius?” she whispered.

Christopher smiled. “He wants to meet you.”

“But I thought you work for Angel? Aren’t they competitors and rivals?”

Christopher laughed. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, little girl. You’ve probably heard people say that there’s always a bigger fish. Well, you’re about to meet the fisherman. All of us little fish work for Mobius.”

Chapter 25

Gabi Deshpande wished that she had never felt fear like this before, but she had. And she could still feel his hands on her, his hot breath.

She had fought back then, and she would do the same now. Her father had taught her martial arts in order to protect herself from a trio of older brothers, who had made it their business to turn her into a house slave. She sometimes missed New Delhi and her parents, but she didn’t miss her former tormentors for a second. Especially her eldest brother.

Still, they had made her tough and fearsome with their constant barrage of condescension and humiliation. And her eldest brother, a predator always watching her with hungry eyes, had given her the motivation to strike out on her own and make a new life for herself in the United States.