The Selfless Gene

Chapter 26

"Who else is there?"

"Ramirez is fine. Pragmatic and quiet. Somewhat outnumbered. And the new guy Jonas used to be here for a while. He was true to Ormr but Mirna has corrupted him to become her own soldier. Worst still, I think they'll eventually merge with Lohikaarme's organisation, now that both of you aren't in play."

Thame thinks about telling Anna about the boat but decides against it. She was a true follower of Ormr and seemed honest and faithful. Too much knowledge would only bring her into danger. Instead he asks, "What are you preparing for?"

"The big get together. Everyone is coming back here for it, like the one you attended in Rome. I saw you then you know. It was exciting to think that it was all actually real."

"Too real. When do they get to town?"

"Mboki is here already. That's the only one that's been flagged."

"Right, good." Thame's mind races ahead, wondering when to pay him a visit. He was dangerous, and his heart sank at what had to be done.

"I need a passport. I wondered if you ever had back ups for me?"

"Absolutely my Lord. Hiding you from Lohikaarme was always part of the game plan. Dragon and later Seymour got your alternates up-to-date."

"Great."

"I'll bring them to you. Oh and here." Anna writes down her log-in details for the computer system.

"Not sure you've ever been given a log in."

"Thank you." Thame smiles at her before she leaves him alone. She didn't tell him where Seymour was but he sensed that no one actually knew.

Thame investigates the desk and sees staged family photos, some postcards and now almost parchment-like pieces of art done by Abigail as a child. He starts looking through the drawers, at anything loose around the desk. Nothing gives any clue as to his potential whereabouts. He gets up and scans the books outside the air-locked rooms but still nothing. There must be something in his files. Thame logs in and starts looking around the servers. Without The Monk's actual log in, it'll be impossible. However, what he does have is access to addresses, people and information. He knows whatever he opens will be obvious to Anna if she wanted to follow it up, so instead he copies files to a usb that's lying in a drawer. Addresses, owned properties, personnel files. He was a one-man GDPR nightmare, getting what he could with the sole intention to burn it all down.

Nothing was giving him any inclination as to where The Monk could be. Mirna, Jonas and Ramirez would all be together soon. If he can take them out, discredit them and take away the leadership, the body will flail and split apart. He can't destroy the business, but he can remove its history. At least Mirna and him agreed on something. The world had many big businesses and enterprises, another one didn't matter. The problem was the link to the lineage and the dangerous people in charge. Mboki though, the bloodbather, was the biggest imminent danger. He needed to be dealt with separately. Thame sighed deeply, knowing he couldn't put it off any longer.

His mind flicked through the best ways to get good people in charge, to end the sorry cultish tendencies that would forever stop its new purpose. He began looking through the pictures again, but still nothing was screaming out. He decided to take one of the photos in case he needed to ask people if they'd seen them - if, of course, he get a clue as to where to start. 

Removing the back of The Monk's family photo frame, he sees that it's been doubled up. Behind the family photo was an older picture of a younger Seymour and his father. They're on a fishing boat, posing together with some drinks. Written in faded pencil on the back are the words 'Key Biscayne, Summer 1987'. Thame puts the photos into his inside pocket and sets the frame in a drawer out of sight. It was a thin lead but The Order would have exhausted all of the normal routes. It had to be there. He had no idea where Key Biscayne was, but guessed the Florida Keys.

There's a knock on the door.

"Come in." Thame shouts.

Anna comes back in with a wooden box which she hands to him. "These are all we have at this location," she offers.

Thame opens the box to see 10 passports. He flicks through a few, all with the face that was on his current passport.

"How did you... don't answer, I don't want to know." Thame looks at the range of names the passports give him. Not wanting to let Anna know where he's going, he takes the American, a British, Australian and Swedish passport.

"Thank you, Anna."

"My Lord, it is my absolute pleasure." She bows her head.

Thame leaves the room and heads for the exit, followed by more eyes trying to covertly glimpse Ormr, their living God, in the flesh before he leaves.

As his phone flashes back to life, he gets a message from Isabella.

SO, SHOULD WE MAYBE MEET FOR A COFFEE? CLEAR THE AIR? FOR ANDREA'S SAKE? COULD YOU MEET FOR BREAKFAST, ROUND THE CORNER OF MY WORK? SAY 815 IN THE GRIND?X

Thame looks at his phone. He was going to hit Mboki's in the early hours when security will be at its most lax, and hopefully when Mboki would be asleep. He probably won't be alive to meet her after, so why not.

SURE, SEE YOU THEN.X