They. SLMN

at the only evidence in police records that these women ever went missing. There was no follow-up, no notes added to the case, nothing. It’s like the police weren’t interested in trying to find them.”

      Tim frowned. “Where did you get these?”

      “We have a friend at the local precinct. He pulled these out for us a decade ago. This is literally all he could find about these women on file.”

      “Okay,” said Tim. “This looks really bad, but it’s not evidence against Granger.”

      “No it’s not, and that’s why we’ve still got it after all these years and Granger is still a free man.”

      Melissa shook her head. “He should be in jail.”

      “I agree,” Kirsty said. “But no judge will convict him. No prosecutor would dare bring his case before one.”

      It was Melissa’s turn to frown. “Why not? Because he’s rich?”

      “Even rich people go to jail sometimes.”

      Tim laughed at this. “Not in my experience.”

      “It happens, sometimes, usually when the Feds get involved. But there are some people who are untouchable. Kidnapping and blackmail are nothing to these people. They’ll do anything to retain power and use every opportunity to wield it.”

      Tim laughed. “Who? The Illuminati?” He said the word in a mocking tone, like he was talking about the bogeyman. When Kirsty didn’t reply, just gazed at him, Tim snorted. “You’re not serious.”

      Melissa looked confused. “I’m sorry, what’s the Illuminarty?”

      “The Illuminati,” Tim corrected her. “They’re a sort of shadowy organization dating back centuries. They’re supposed to be the ones with the real power, unelected, unknown, unaccountable, pulling the strings from behind the scenes and steering humanity towards a New World Order.”

      “I’ve heard of New Order,” Melissa said. “My dad was a fan.”

      Tim laughed. “Not quite. The New World Order is the concept of one world government. No individual nations, just one organization ruling the entire world.”

      “Sounds creepy,” Melissa said.

      “It is,” Tim agreed. “It’s also a myth.”

      “Really?” asked Kirsty, raising an eyebrow.

      “Of course it is. There’s no such thing as the Illuminati. They’re the stuff of Hollywood B-movies and pulp novels.”

      Kirsty paused for a moment, taking a couple of sips of her coffee.

      “Look, I don’t expect you to buy into the truth–” Tim snorted again at the use of the word “–but honestly it doesn’t matter whether you believe me or not. We call them ‘They’, and Granger is a powerful member with deep connections. You will never bring him down.”

      “I don’t want to bring him down,” Tim replied. “I want him to leave me alone. I want him off my back so I can pursue the agenda I ran for election on. I want to be rid of his money and his influence. I want the freedom to do my job without being beholden to corporate interests.”

      “You would never have been elected without him,” Kirsty said.

      “Well that’s… true,” Tim admitted. It made him uncomfortable to say it but she was right. Before Granger injected his cash into Tim’s campaign, nobody knew who the hell he was and he would likely have sunk in a sea of candidates vying for his seat. “But he broke his side of the deal. He said he wouldn’t have demands. He said he liked my policies and wanted to see me go far.”