085

Jolene knocked precisely at 8:30. She may have been waiting outside for an hour for all I knew. She seemed as excited as I was. I hugged her tightly as soon as she walked through the door, nearly causing her to drop the folder in her hand.

"I can't believe this might all be over," I said.

"Me either. He was a slippery little fuck."

"How did you catch him?" I asked.

"Like I said yesterday, I took a couple weeks vacation and I started following you..."

I hugged her again. "Oh, Jolene. It's amazing you did this for me; using your vacation to look out for me. I'll never be able to thank you enough. It was so incredibly generous."

"Remember," she said, "I know what it's like to go through what you are. I couldn't tolerate we couldn't nail him down for you."

"I'm sorry I keep interrupting. What happened?"

"I was following you, like I've done for the past week and I saw you pull into the Home Depot and climb into the van. I called Mauro and he came with two other guys in separate vehicles. Before they got there, I saw another female get in the back of the van. About a half hour later, she got out. Mauro and the others weren't there yet, so I decided to stick with the van. We can get her later."

"I didn't see who it was. Was it any of my girlfriends?"

"No." I sighed in relief. "Why didn't you see her?"

"He made me wear a mask and she didn't speak."

"What was her involvement?"

"I had to lick her pussy while he fucked me."

I said it so matter-of-factly, it surprised even me. No big deal. I licked a little pussy. Who cares. Jolene took my hand.

"Please, tell me the rest of it," I said.

"I saw you get out of the back of the van and I started following it. Shit he was slick. He kept clearing his tail. It took all four of us tailing him to actually nail down his location."

"What does that mean, he kept clearing his tail?"

"If you think you might be followed, you make random turns for no other reason but to see who makes the turns with you. When he started doing it, I had to drop out and let another car pick up the tail or he knows he's being followed. Fortunately, by the time he started doing his clearing turns, the other three guys were in place. We all drive nondescript, common car models and colors of car so we can pick up the tail again later, if he keeps clearing. He did it about seven times, four times before he switched to his own vehicle, and three times after. I don't know if it's a common practice of his owing to victims such as yourself who might have reason to hate him, or if he believed our agency was still working on his case. He acted like we were. We eventually followed him to a gated community. We couldn't enter without him knowing, but the tag we ran on his personal vehicle came back to an address in the community. Running a search on the tag and the address, provided his name, and a check of the driver's license photo corresponded to a man fitting your description. I also got some surveillance photos at a stop light. Take a look and tell me if this is the guy?"

She pulled a photo out of the folder and showed it to me. I'd never seen his whole face, but the cruel sneer on his lips was unmistakable.

"That's him. I'll never forget the sneer. You say his name is Oliver Crowley?"

"Yes." She handed me more sheets of paper out of the file. "This is his address. This is where he works. These are his known acquaintances and affiliations. Anything you recognize in there?"

I read it over carefully. "No. I don't know any of these people or places. You didn't find any ties to any of my girlfriends?"

"None we can find, no. It's not a comprehensive list. I'm sure there are more people than we've established so far. Mauro doesn't want to throw a lot more resources into this without getting paid more. He felt as bad as I did we didn't catch him before, which is why he helped out when I called. But as he says, he's not running a charity, he's running a business. I'll do a little more on my own, but without more money, the company needs to concentrate on paying business."

"I understand completely. I do. I'm surprised you used vacation time to follow me and catch him. It was above and beyond."

"What do you plan on doing with the information now you know?" Jolene asked.

"I don't know yet," I replied honestly. "I was beginning to worry I'd never know who he was. I didn't get much further than finding out."

Jolene looked at me for a long time, not speaking. I could almost see the wheels turning behind her eyes.

"If you decide something," she said. "I'd be willing to help."

"An accident perhaps?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "Something like that. It's a dangerous world out there."

"Right now, all I want to do is confront him in my own time and way. I want to know why he's chosen me. What I do past that is still undecided. If I should think of something which might require your help, I'll ask for it."

"You promise?" Jolene asked.

"Oh, yes. I promise."

"Are you familiar with the name Aleistair Crowley?" Jolene asked.

"No, why do you ask? Is he related to Oliver?" I asked, noting it was identical to Oliver's own last name.

"I'm not sure. He's a controversial figure in the early twentieth century. He was a believer in mysticism and magic and founded his own religion or philosophy named Thelema, based upon the tenet of 'Do What Thou Wilt Shall be the Whole of the Law'. Interestingly enough, this was also the motto of a group called the Hellfire Club. Aleister is listed on his birth certificate as Oliver's father but Aleister died before Oliver was born. Even his birth certificate listed him as dying well before Oliver could have been conceived. Aleister was widely believed by the popular press at the time to be a satanist, but much of the material I can find on him denies he was, though he certainly was anti-Christian. He was a hedonist and practiced what he called sex magic, with both men and women. He was an avowed bisexual, preferring women, with whom he had a number of different children with quite a few, some from among is followers. He founded an esoteric order called A∴A∴, and was also a member of Ordo Templi Orientis, a group of German mystics in which he became head of the British branch. It is believed he worked for British Intelligence, being recruited while a student at Cambridge and much of his travels were due to work performed for them. One source said he convinced the Germans to sink the Lusitania, which he did specifically to draw the Americans into the first world war on the British side. Assuming he cannot be the real son of Aleister, I wonder how it could appear on his birth certificate."

"Maybe I shall ask him when I confront him."

"Are you sure you want to confront him on your own? I'd be happy to stand with you when you do."

"Not at this time. I want to learn as much as I can about him as I can before I do anything else, but I thank you for the offer and all the help you've provided me." I hugged her again.