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room was the most spacious room in the house. An ivory white pianoforte took up the entire far right corner. Across from it stood a writing desk, piled high with fashion magazines, and Jason knew the Apple notebook was tucked somewhere in between. Paintings and prints cluttered the walls, displaying a variety of styles and colors that Jason loved to browse. A bar took up most of the rest of the place, and though Jason and Matt both liked the room, after a while Jason felt a bit claustrophobic around such closed confines.
    Jason sat close to the window. Though the room was cool enough, the thin curtains rippled invitingly with a subtle draft.
    “Who’s Debbie asking about? Who’s missing?”
    “William,” Matt said, settling into a nearby chair.
    “What?”
    An image shot into Jason’s mind, a picture of William talking with the black-coated man at the restaurant. Could he possibly be connected to all this?
    Matt shrugged. “No one knows where he is. He hasn’t been seen since yesterday. And Debbie is freaking out.”
    “I guess so. This,” Jason held up the newspaper then passed it to Matt, “is the reason she’s freaking out.”
    Matt took the paper and read the article, looking confused.
    “Turn to page seven,” Debbie said, carrying in a small tray with cups of coffee and sandwiches. She set it on a table in the middle of the room, then sank onto a lush sofa. “When I went to Jason’s, I found a letter with that kind of symbol on it, you see? Like those letters there? And now they’re being found on these people’s left shoulders—do you remember Jason talking about how painful his left shoulder has been lately?”
    “Wait,” Matt said, trying to figure it out. “So you’re saying whoever sent the letter to Jason might be the same ones who are killing these people?”
    Debbie crossed her legs and sipped on her coffee, then nodded. Jason noted she had changed into black, close-fitting knee breeches and a rose shirt. She’d even pulled her hair up and added some mascara. She looked lovely. But her eyes were unsmiling and wary.
    He sipped on his coffee, then set it down. “Can’t say for sure, but someone’s trying to scare the hell out of me. And with William missing, the situation is getting even more out of control.”
    “Should we report him missing?” Debbie asked, rubbing her arms together, though she couldn’t possibly be cold.
    “It’s probably too early yet,” Jason replied.
    Matt was reading the rest of the article, his dark eyebrows arched with disbelief. “Reykjavik, Atlanta, Erevan, Frankfurt am Main, Minsk,” he whispered, then raised his eyes to Jason and Debbie. “That’s like … the whole world!” He laughed out loud, but the sound was constricted.
    “Four people killed and more alleged missing,” Jason said. “Do you know what that means … to me?”
    Debbie fidgeted with her golden Believe necklace, staring past Jason into nothingness. She nodded slowly. “It means you’ll have more dreams.”
    Jason closed his eyes. She was right.
    “That sucks,” Matt muttered.
    “Let’s check the internet,” Debbie said, hopping up from the sofa.
    In one smooth move, she cleared her desk of all the magazines and dropped them in a neat pile nearby. Then she plopped into the rickety desk chair and opened her laptop. Jason and Matt watched over her shoulder as she googled the title of the newspaper article, then leaned in when a few links popped up. She clicked the first one.
     
    CORPSES WITH MYSTERIOUS MARKS REMAIN UNIDENTIFIED
    A number of murders and abductions taking place in capital cities around the world are attracting more public attention every day. The first victim was found in Reykjavik, but the case received extensive media coverage following the discovery of three more bodies. All the victims bore similar marks on their left shoulders. At this point, experts have not been able to account for the origin of the marks, or to decipher their meaning. What is more