EUNOIA ━ diego hargreeves

56

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

LOCATING BEN'S last appearance was the easy part—he'd left a trail of bodies in his wake, practically a massacre. The greying tentacle nearby was enough proof that he'd been there, but finding out where he went afterward would be the hard part.

Crowded together with the rest of the Hargreeves, Freya stood with her arms crossed, fighting the urge to let her teeth chatter. It was damp and windy, and being in an almost completely open field offered no aid to warm her, either.

"Okay," Allison said. "Ben's an asshole, I'll give you that. But a mass murderer?"

"Turned everyone into haggis," Lila mused, stepping away from the group. Freya watched her near one of the bodies, and she bent down to grab a dismembered arm. She revealed it to them, and Freya's gaze dropped to the upside down umbrella symbol on the skin. "And they have terrible taste in tattoos."

"You did not just touch that," Freya winced, and she realized it had been a mistake to show her disdain, because Lila lunged forward with the arm, wiggling it in her face. "Get away!"

"This could have been a rescue mission," Viktor said.

"More likely a massacre by two individuals who are growing increasingly violent by the minute," Reginald argued.

"You don't know that."

Five reappeared before anyone could say anything else, and from the looks of it, he brought news. "All right, so, my guys tell me this whole farm actually belongs to those two lunatics who ambushed us in New Grumpson. Gene and Jean Thibedeau."

"Maybe Ben killed them, too."

"Well, forensics found fresh tracks leading out of the barn. My guess is that they escaped."

"They couldn't have gotten far," Allison sighed, crouched over one of the bodies. "Based on the signs of rigor, I'd say time of death was six, maybe seven hours ago."

Diego squinted at her, suspicious. "How do you know that?"

"Wichita PD," she shrugged. "Thursday nights at 9/8 central."

Reginald shook his head. "Ready the car."

"I gotta make a call," Allison announced, stepping away.

"Never thought I'd say this," Freya murmured, watching him go. "But I miss Wanda."

As if this reminded Diego of something, he spun on Viktor, just as Five strode off, and Lila followed after him. With no time to question that, she reverted her attention back to Diego. "Actually, where did you leave Wanda, Viktor?"

Instead of replying, Viktor made a point to follow after Reginald. Diego threw his hands up in annoyance, and Luther picked up a limb to examine it.

"Put that down," Diego demanded.

Freya eyed him. "Seriously? You don't even have any gloves."

"So what? Lila did it, and nobody said anything to her."

"C'mon, man," Diego slapped the body part out of Luther's grasp. Freya watched it splatter to the ground. "You're contaminating the crime scene."

"You're contaminating the crime scene," Luther shot back, then paused as if hearing how lame his reply sounded.

"Nice to see your insult game hasn't improved," Freya said. "Please go wash your hands. Ew."

"Diego," Five called, speaking to a tall, dark-skinned man in a suit. Freya could only assume he was part of the CIA. "Freya, Luther. Come over here, I want to introduce you to my boss."