CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“We may have a good one to add to our research,” smiled Judy.
“Don’t we have enough?” asked Benjamin. “We’re pushing it looking for more kids. We know we can make this shit work.”
“Yes, but our specimens are gone,” said Judy.
“Specimens? Fuck, Judy, you’re even colder than I am and that’s saying a lot. They are kids, you know. Fucked up kids but they are kids.”
“When did you get sentimental?” she snapped. “You certainly don’t give a shit about anyone’s kids. You’re the henchmen. The guy who takes kids into dark rooms and leaves them to die.”
“Shut the fuck up! The kids are dead when I dump them and you know it. All except the one kid and he’s probably dead by now as well.
You’re going to start fucking around again and someone will find out about this shit.
Just because you’re trying to replicate what your sick old man did, don’t think it’s all going to go smoothly for you. ”
The woman’s face turned flaming red and she picked up the stapler on the desk, flinging it at his head. He ducked and laughed at her. He was better trained and faster than she would ever be.
“What’s the matter? Don’t like being reminded of what a sick fuck your father was? We all knew it. He just didn’t have the balls to figure out how to make this shit work. I helped to figure that out,” he sneered.
“Now wait a minute,” said Jericho. “I’m the one who figured out how to liquify the formula and put it in milk and shit. Me. I’m the brains to all of this and you’d both do well to remember that. If you can’t get along, move the hell out. I’m tired of you two acting like children!”
“I’m not going anywhere until we sell my father’s dream,” said Judy, her chin jutting upward in a haughty way. Benjamin laughed, shaking his head.
“You’re something else, Judy. You act as if your father was saving humanity or developing a cure for cancer. He was abusing kids just like we are. Don’t get it twisted.”
“Fuck you!”
“Enough!” yelled Jericho. “I’m so fucking sick of listening to the two of you argue like damn brats. Look, I don’t want to do this but we need to cut our losses with you, Benjamin.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked with a sneer. Judy gave a caustic grin, her crossed legs suddenly relaxed and bobbing up and down.
“I’ll give you your cut, as of now. What we would owe you to this point,” he said shaking his head as he opened the safe.
“No. No, fucking way,” he snapped. “We’re partners to the end. You sell this shit, I get my share of the cut.” Jericho turned from the safe, a handgun pointed at Benjamin.
“You’ll take a cut now and leave or you’ll die, right here, right now.” Judy froze staring at Jericho, then back at Benjamin. He annoyed the shit out of her and she wanted to kill him half the time, but more in a sexual tension sort of way, not literally.
“Well, well, well. The good doctor took a note from my page. Finally got yourself a weapon. Hope you know how to use it.”
“Don’t test me, Benjamin. I don’t give a shit if you’re dead or alive. I don’t need you any longer. We’ll get a few more kids, make our notes, and sell this shit.”
“Without me,” he frowned. He stared at Judy, hoping she’d come to his defense, although he wasn’t sure why he believed she would. They’d been lovers on and off for years. Contentious, arguing, bickering lovers and then not lovers. There was no in between for them.
“Paul, maybe we’re moving too fast here,” she said softly.
“Nope. I warned you two I wasn’t going to put up with this shit. I’m done. You need me and my abilities. I’d like to remind you both that I don’t need you. Even without those damn notebooks that John lost, I can do this without the two of you.”
“Need I remind you that this belongs to me,” snapped Judy.
“No, it belonged to your father and he’s dead. And need I remind you, he didn’t give two fucks about you. I only knew about you because I was there the night you were born. The night he stole you from your mother, hoping he’d have one off-spring that would follow in his footsteps.”
“Shut up,” she said glaring at him.
“You know it’s true,” he said calmly. “It doesn’t matter. He’s dead. We’ve perfected the infamous pink powder or dust or whatever the hell you call it. We can help others create savants, even those who are imperfect.”
“Give me my money,” said Benjamin. “I’m outta here. Good luck with getting this shit out of the country and not being found. You might know science and medicine but neither of you know a damn thing about hiding in foreign countries, disappearing from the world, and erasing your entire existence.”
“Yes, yes, we all know that you’re the elusive CIA operative capable of losing anyone,” smirked Jericho.
“I wasn’t CIA,” he growled. “My role was black ops and you know it. You have no idea what I’m capable of and what I can do. Just give me my fucking money.”
Jericho handed him an envelope filled with cash. He didn’t need to count it. He’d find them if it wasn’t the right amount. They thought they could escape him but they couldn’t. Not if they cheated him.
“Just for your information, what you’re doing to these kids is disgusting. I was in it for the money. That’s all.” He looked at Judy, glancing up and down her still lithe body. “I didn’t want anything else. Nothing.”
“Leave, Benjamin. We don’t need you and we’re smarter than you think. We won’t be caught.”
He stood there for a moment just staring at the two of them. There was so much on the tip of his tongue but he chose not to let loose. Instead, he opened the door, then turned back.
“You’d better hurry if you’re going to meet your next victim. Hope you can figure out if he’s real or not. Without me, it’s doubtful.”
Benjamin left the building, never looking back. As he drove away in his car, he thought about turning around and blowing the entire place sky high. Instead, he stared at the cash and nodded to himself. It was enough to carry him for quite a while.
He’d only gone to work for Jericho because of Judy. They’d been in love, out of love, and back in love for almost thirty years. In his line of work it was difficult forming long-term relationships. She was different. She didn’t care where he was, what he was doing or what country he was in.
When they were together, the sex was explosive but so were the arguments.
It seemed to never end. But today he noticed something different.
She was sitting too close to Jericho, aligning with him, siding with his argument points.
He suspected it for a while but today confirmed it. They were lovers as well.
When his phone signaled a messaged, he stared at it then pulled over to the side of the road.
He was still on the thread of the dark web site they’d created to find children.
Judy had responded to a potentially overwhelmed single father this morning and now he was replying, placing a photo of himself for easy identification when they met.
“Holy fuck,” he muttered staring at the photo. He should turn around and tell them. He could just call and tell them.
He slammed his hand against the steering wheel several times, for the first time in his life, unsure of his next move. He looked up, staring at where he was. It was just another small town in south Louisiana and he was parked directly in front of a small Catholic church.
Slowly he pulled into the parking lot and walked inside.
“What are you doing, asshole,” he whispered to himself. Pulling the huge oak door, he immediately felt the overwhelming calm of the interior of the church.
Quiet pews, stained glass windows depicting the twelves stations of the cross, and a simple, elegant dais and altar where the priest would stand.
He slid into an empty pew about half-way up the aisle and took his seat. Lowering his head, he clasped his hands together and for the first time in years, he prayed.
“I will never be forgiven for this,” he whispered.
“It can’t be that bad,” said a man walking toward him.
He looked familiar but not someone he could place in his life. His hair was a brilliant silver and white, his full beard the same color. His eyes seemed to glow with an amber liquid and there was this sense of peace around him.
“Oh, sorry Father,” he said standing.
“No, no, no, just sit son,” said the man smiling at him. “I’m not the parish priest. I’m just a man who attends services on a regular basis. You seem upset about something.”
“It’s complicated, sir.”
“It always is son.”
“I’ve done some horrible things in my life. Recently, some things that I know I will never be forgiven for. Nor should I be.”
“I see,” he said nodding. “Well, we’re taught that all things can be forgiven. I’d like to believe that’s true.”
“I’m not sure about that, sir. I used to be proud of the work that I did. Proud of the things I was doing, the service I rendered. I lost that somewhere in the last few years.”
“Is there nothing that you can do for redemption? Perhaps make amends in some way?” asked the man.
Benjamin looked up at the man’s face and stared at him, absorbing the words. Then he lowered his head again, clasping his hands in front of him. When he looked up to speak, the man was gone.
“Hello?” He stood, turning left and right, looking behind him. Staring at the massive wooden crucifix above the altar, he swallowed back the emotions raging through his body.
“Redemption it is.”