Chapter 1

My comrade had not returned by the agreed time. Half-an-hour had already passed after the appointed hour. Fear coiled in my gut like a snake. I kept imagining more and more horrible fates that might have befallen him...

A sharp knock against the front door nearly made me jump out of my skin!

I eased out my Glock 17. Slowly, thumbing back the hammer, I released the safety catch.

Perhaps I should introduce myself.

My name is Thomas Sanchéz and I am a sergeant in New Scotland Yard. And I am in a hell lot of trouble.

The problems began two days ago when I decided to take a break from work in the crime-filled streets of London to help out a fellow colleague on his mission.

Julius Revère was on a case of a drug-dealing gang and his investigations had led him to believe that their headquarters was based in Rome, Italy. He had left a month ago to do a quick recon. But a few days earlier, my colleague requested my help. Tired of catching small-fries back home, I took leave for a week to fly over from London.

During the journey, I went over the case files that Julius had couriered me. It was a brief report mentioning the drug-dealing gang name which was La Elixir Donatori- The Elixir Donators in English. I really didn’t need to read the translation to understand, my mother had lived in Rome in her youth and had made me learn Italian.

When I arrived, Julius drove me over to the small apartment he had rented. He showed me around the area the next day and late at night, my old friend shared all that he had uncovered which, unfortunately, wasn’t a lot.

“These guys are very secretive. The only leads I have are the name of their gang and that their leader goes by the name of Gesù. Also, they sell the latest mentally harmful drugs on a huge scale.”

“Gesù? Pretty egotistic. I mean, He calls himself Jesus in Italian.” I had observed.

Sadly, the man might have been egotistical but...he was not a fool. He had created an impenetrable wall of deception around himself. Searching through the Italian police’s records, Julius had found that anyone who got too close for comfort to him, somehow vanished or went mad or lost their memory.

“At first when I started investigating these strange cases in London, I thought I was dealing with a gang that sold the drug which causes Anterograde Amnesia, “Mitigatore di Memoria” but-”

“Yes I read your file about this, ‘Memory Reliever’ but from your report says that people not only keep turning up dead or amnesiac, but from the past few months many seem to be disappearing and suddenly reappearing albeit mad and spouting nonsense.” I interrupted him.

“Yes, that’s what has led me to believe that Gesù’s gang is also dealing in “Illusione Istigatore” which is commonly known as the ‘Illusion Instigator’ in London,” Julius reported. “I have got some leads and I will be going to meet one of my agents tom-”

“Agent?” I asked curiously. “Do you really have someone whom you can trust inside Gesù’s inner circle?”

“No, no, nothing of that sort!” Julius answered shrugging, “It’s just a very snoopy bastard who seems to have an interest in breaking into high-profile gangs. Anyway,” His voice took on a serious tone, “I need you to go through all the files that I have collected and then meet with the local police inspector in this area. When I get back we will discuss what you gleaned from it with your own search.”