Thanatos

Chapter 13

As it turned out, Sammy was more of an owner of the ranch than Megan had assumed.

Full name, Samuel Jordan; Sammy was a world-renowned arms dealer, although Ricardo liked to think of him more as a businessman dedicated to supplying the less privileged of the war-torn regions of the world – and of course, make some profits off it too in the process, Megan added with a little scoff in her mind.

Notwithstanding the job description, Sammy was quite handy when it came to tracking weapon movements around the globe, especially those under the radar or of unknown origins. His vast connections made it so that it was almost certain he would be in the know of such activities, or at least be able to find out with minimal investigation. In fact, it was because of a weapon that Ricardo had helped Megan and Olympus enlist his help the last time; and all that had happened afterwards had happened.

But a man like that don't do ranches, Megan circled back to her earlier conclusion.

And she was right, to be honest.

Thing is, Hacienda Cortez belonged to Sammy's forty-something years old elder sister, Elizabeth Cortez, nee Jordan. She co-owned the ranch with her husband, Marco till his death two years earlier. Now, she owned the place all by herself.

The ranch was where Sammy had concluded would be his best choice for an escape destination after the incidents of the last time when he almost lost his life alongside Megan and Ricardo - though Kei still insisted on a very different version of the story - and he was right to think that. It was under the radar, far away from his name and all the dangers that came with it; but even more so, it was home.

"Allow me to retire from the table now, guys," Elizabeth said after she and the others had gotten acquainted at dinner. "I'm sure you have very important business to attend to."

"Thank you, Ms. Cortez. You've been very hospitable," Megan replied with a smile.

"Please call me Lizzy." She smiled back before giving her brother a light love tap at the back and left the patio for the inside of the house.

Sammy waited for a few seconds after Lizzy had left before delving into the matter at hand; Megan suspected to get her out of earshot – she still wasn't sure if the latter was clear on her brother's actual business dealings.

"So, you said you want information on a rare weapon," he said. "Can I have a look at the schematics?"

"Well, we don't have the schematics," she replied, "but we have this." She passed him a tablet recording the details of the two explosions in the Thanatos issue.

One glance through and a frown crossed Sammy's face. "Are you sure the same weapon caused the two explosions?" he asked.

"We have evidence to that conclusion," she added a nod for further affirmation, "but not much else."

"And what does Os Buscadores have to contribute to this?" He turned to Ricardo.

"Been chatting with the different channels all the day," he replied. "There's still no actionable intel to go on."

Sammy began to stroke his beard in deep thought. "I won't say it's impossible to locate your weapon," he said, "but it will definitely be difficult without even a name to go on."

"Thanatos," Megan said and he immediately went stiff.

"What did you say?" He looked up with a curious expression on his face.

"Thanatos," she repeated. "It's a certain concept that has been lingering around the attacks. Whoever orchestrated the attacks, whatever weapon they used, there's a particular homage to Thanatos in the end."

Now, Sammy looked more than curious. He seemed particularly startled.

He knows something, Megan realized.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Have you heard of the ND?" he asked.

"The New Dawn brothers," Ricardo replied now, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought they were a shadow crew who rarely had something to do with the underworld even though they're a major force in it."

"Umm, can somebody explain what's going on to me?" Megan waved her hand in between the two.

"Okay Megan, here's what you need to know about the ND," Ricardo began.

Apparently, the New Dawn brothers, ND for short, were a high-level secret organization. They were said to be headed by two brothers whom no one had ever seen; only known fact being that they were twins.

The ND orchestrated the most high-profile attacks across the world, ranging from assassinations to mass suicide bombings. No one had ever been able to actually prove their involvement though; most trails going cold the moment the investigation starts, or leading to dead ends or other organizations which had no affinity to the ND. They themselves never claimed credit for any attack or made any connection between their activities and any political or private objectives.

"Some people called them a hired assassin group. Others, a terrorist organization. And others, even a fellowship of psychopaths," he said in conclusion. "But no one had ever come out to say they'd seen the ND in person so they've become more of a stuff of legend in the underworld."

"Until now, that is, Rick!" Sammy returned with a smirk.

"Care to elaborate on that?" Ricardo asked.

Sammy adjusted himself in his seat, a little excited now. "You see, a while back, I had a visitor..."

This visitor, a man, had gained access to the ranch and Sammy's bedroom without detection. He claimed he was in the market for something extraordinary; a weapon that had never been seen before.

"After discussing with him for a while though, I realized I wouldn't be able to get what he wanted as quickly as he seemed to want it. So, I ended the conversation there and then," he ended the statement with a shrug.

"And how are you so sure this guy of yours is from ND?" Ricardo probed further.

"Cos he introduced himself as such." The latter rolled his eyes a little. "But that's not even the main thing. The more important info here is that during our conversation, he received a call. It was in Italian but I'm very sure I heard the word Thanatos more than once."

"Are you sure?" Megan asked now.

"Very."

"And how long a while back was this?"

"In November. The first week, if I remember it correctly."

Right before the Bodø apartment explosion, Megan realized.

"But what else makes you so sure ND has something do with this Thanatos issue we're investigating?" Ricardo asked again.

"Cos I put a tail on the guy when he left," he replied, "and it may be not be top-notch but they were able to report back to me the next week that he was in Bodø before they lost him."

Now, that's definitely more than a coincidence, Megan was sure at that point.

Truth be told, no one could conclude that the New Dawn brothers were the actual culprits behind the Thanatos attacks just off one call and a location. Being sighted in Bodø put them in the same area as the explosion - alongside a thousand people, it had to be added - and nothing more. Unless they were proven to be at the affected apartment or its vicinity in the period of the explosion, it was just conjecture. Plus Thanatos could refer to anything as regards anything. It wasn't a strong proof of guilt on its own.

However, Megan had to admit that the organization was the most viable suspect that she had come across since the investigation began, and a part of her could feel that there was something there even as she couldn't explain what exactly.

"Sammy, I need you to do me a very big favour now," she said. "I want to face this ND."