The Mephisto Club

“We have confirmed it’s your mother’s car. The registration hasn’t been renewed in twelve years. The keys are still in the ignition.”

“I told you they would be. I told you exactly where you’d find the car.”

“Yes, everything you said has checked out, except for that one small detail. There’s no body.”

“It could have rotted away.”

“There should still be a skeleton. But there’s nothing. No clothing, no bones.” Jane paused. “You know what that means.”

Lily swallowed and stared at the windshield, now blanketed in snow. “He’s alive.”

“You haven’t been ru

“The Mephisto Foundation,” Lily murmured.

“If Mephisto’s as well regarded as Sansone claims, then its reputation has probably spread beyond law enforcement. Clearly, Dominic’s heard about them, too. He certainly knew how to entice them. That phone call to Joyce O’Do

“Dominic used them to find me.”

“And they did a good job, didn’t they? In just ten days, Mephisto found you.”

Lily thought about this for a moment. She said, “There’s no body. You can’t charge me with any crime now. You can’t hold me any longer.”

Jane stared into eyes glittering with fear and thought: She wants to run.

“I’m free to go, right?”

“Free?” Jane laughed. “You call it freedom, to live like a scared rabbit?”

“I’ve survived, haven’t I?”

“And when are you going to fight back? When are you going to take a stand? This isn’t the Devil we’re talking about, this is a man. He can be brought down.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one he’s hunting!”

“No, but I’m hunting him, and I need your help. Work with me, Lily. You know him better than anyone.”

“That’s why he can’t afford to let me live.”

“I promise, you’ll be safe.”

“You can’t keep that promise. You think he doesn’t already know where I am? You don’t know how meticulous he is. He misses no detail, no opportunity. He may be alive and breathing. But you’ll never convince me he’s human.”

Jane’s cell phone rang, startling them both. As she answered the call, she could feel Lily’s gaze, tense and questioning. She assumes the worst.

It was Barry Frost on the phone. “Where are you right now?”

“We’re still in Norwich. It’s late, so we’ll probably check into a motel tonight and get back to the city tomorrow.”

“I think it’d be better if you don’t bring her back here.”

“Why not?”

“Because we have a big problem. Oliver Stark is dead.”

“What?”

“Someone used Stark’s phone to call nine-one-one, then left the receiver off the hook. That’s how we found out about it. I’m in his house right now. Christ, it’s a bloody mess in here. He’s still tied to his wheelchair, but you can’t even recognize him. The poor kid never had a chance.” There was a silence as he waited for her to speak. “Rizzoli?”

“We have to warn the others. Sansone and Mrs. Felway.”

“I’ve already called them, and Dr. Isles as well. Mephisto also has members in Europe, and they’re all taking precautions.”

Jane thought of what Lily had just said. You’ll never convince me he’s human. What precautions could anyone take against a killer who seemed able to walk through walls?

She said, “He’s hunting them all down.”

“That’s what it looks like. This has grown way bigger than we thought. It’s not just about Lily Saul. It’s about the whole foundation.”

“Why the hell is he doing this? Why’s he going after all of them?”

“You know what Sansone called it?” said Frost. “An extermination. Maybe we’re wrong about Lily Saul. Maybe she’s not the real target.”

“Either way, I can’t bring her back now.”

“Lieutenant Marquette thinks she’ll be safer outside Boston, and I agree. We’re working on a long-term arrangement, but it’ll take a day or two.”

“Until then, what do I do with her?”

“Sansone suggested New Hampshire. A house up in the White Mountains. He says it’s secure.”

“Whose house is it?”

“It belongs to a friend of Mrs. Felway’s.”

“And we’re going to trust Sansone’s judgment on this?”

“Marquette okayed it. He says the brass doesn’t have any doubts about him.”

Then they know more about Sansone than I do.

“Okay,” she said. “How do I find this house?”

“Mrs. Felway will call you with directions.”

“What about Sansone and Maura? What are they going to do?”

“They’re all heading to the same place. They’ll meet you there.”

THIRTY-SIX

It was one in the afternoon when they crossed the Massachusetts state line, into New Hampshire. Lily had hardly said a word since they’d checked out of the motel that morning in Oneonta. Now, as they drove north into the White Mountains, the only sound was the squeak of the wipers scraping snowflakes off the windshield. She’s too nervous for chitchat, thought Jane, glancing at her silent companion. Last night, in their shared motel room, Jane had heard all the tossing and turning in the next bed, and today Lily’s eyes were sunken, her face gaunt enough almost to reveal the whiteness of bones through that pale skin. With a few extra pounds on her, Lily Saul might be pretty. But now, when Jane looked at her, what she saw was a walking corpse.

That may be exactly what she is.

“Are you going to stay with me tonight?” The question was so soft, it was almost lost in the sweep of the wipers.

“I’m going to check out the situation,” said Jane. “See what I think about it.”

“So you might not stay.”

“You won’t be alone up there.”

“I suppose you want to go home, don’t you?” Lily sighed. “Do you have a husband?”

“Yeah, I’m married.”

“And kids?”

Jane hesitated. “I have a daughter.”

“You don’t want to tell me about yourself. You don’t really trust me.”

“I don’t know you well enough.”

Lily looked out the window. “Everyone who really knew me is dead”-she paused-“except Dominic.”

Outside, the falling snow was a thickening veil of white. They climbed through a dense forest of pine, and for the first time Jane felt uneasy about whether her Subaru could handle the road if this snowfall continued.

“Why should you trust me?” said Lily with a bitter laugh. “I mean, all you know about me is that I tried to kill my cousin. And screwed it up.”

“That message on Lori-A

“Because I have,” murmured Lily. “And I’ll never stop paying for it.”

“And the four place settings on her dining table. That was meant to represent the Saul family, wasn’t it? A family of four.”

Lily wiped a hand across her eyes and looked out the window. “And I’m the last one. The fourth place setting.”

“You know what?” Jane said. “I would have killed the son of a bitch, too.”

“You would have done a better job.”

The road grew steeper. The Subaru struggled up the mountain, tires churning through ever-deepening fresh powder. Jane glanced at her cell phone and saw zero bars. They had not passed a house in at least five miles. Maybe we should turn around, she thought. I’m supposed to keep this woman alive, not strand her in the mountains where she’ll freeze to death.