Chapter Six #3
“Hey,” she said. “Thanks for finding this. You’ve given me the edge,” she stated.
“I saw on the sign that Wednesday is the next time the church would have been used for prayer meetings. He was hoping that it wasn’t found until then, so he could have a big head start. Then, I’d be behind him for this one.”
It was his pleasure.
They all wanted Elizabeth to be on top of this one, even if they’d thought the idea was crazy when she brought it up. Clearly, she knew what she was doing.
“It’s an interesting scene.”
Oh, she bet.
Now, she was curious.
As they walked, she had three Marines behind her. Johnny was carrying more weapons than should be legal, and that was exactly how she liked her Marines when playing these games.
Armed.
On top of that, all three had their heads on the swivel, looking for trouble.
She only hoped that if they tackled her, no one would get hurt. Her shoulder was killing her, and she needed some ice and a BIG FAT MARGARITA.
“Tell me about it.”
Dex broke it down.
“This is the fifth church we hit. That glass window caught my attention. You said that Jesus was off the cross—or your notes did.”
She let him talk.
“We ran into the pastor, and the back door was left open after the fact.”
She knew the visual.
“Like the tomb door had been left ajar. He’s telling a story, and I don’t like it so far.”
Dex was curious.
“What is he telling you other than he’s batshit insane?” he asked. “Because this is all cuckoo. That’s the most normal part. Wait until you see the inside.”
That was easy.
“He thinks of himself as God’s son, God being his father. He put his faith and trust in him, and he taught and trained him. As far as he’s concerned, he’s unstoppable. He thinks this is all ordained and ingrained in him.”
Well, that didn’t sound good.
“Jesus H. Christ, you need a vacation from the crazy. It’s like they’re drawn to you.”
She snorted.
“Yeah, well, I tell everyone I’m blessed and cursed all at once. I have a beautiful life, but I walk through blood like it’s an Olympic sport.”
He was glad he wasn’t her.
This had to be one hell of a burden to carry. The pressure alone had to be crushing. That made his heart hurt for his friend. How long could someone hold up under that kind of stress?
At the door, they headed in, and that’s when she took in the scene. Not so much the remains, but everything else. As she snapped on gloves, she looked around.
“Is that the minister?” she asked.
Dex nodded.
There was a man standing over by Quinn, and she needed to talk to him.
“Yep, and he’s freaked the fuck out,” he stated.
Well, he should be. That would be the appropriate response from walking into your church and seeing remains.
Skeletal or fleshy ones.
Heading that way, she hugged Quinn.
“Hey, stranger. Ready to move out West?” she asked, teasing him.
He was amused.
“I mean, do I get my partner back if I do?” he joked. “I miss Kane. It’s pretty horrible having to work with Dex on cases. He should be sitting his ass in his office. I can’t slack anymore with him up my ass.”
The captain rolled his eyes.
“Imagine me being so thrilled to be ordered to go back to working the field by Jack, all because she keeps stealing my cops,” he stated. “Trust and believe, I’m not happy myself. Don’t steal Quinn, too.”
She laughed.
“I’ll try,” she stated. “But I do like stressing you and Jack out,” she joked.
After the pleasantries, she focused on the man who was watching her.
“Are you the pastor of this church?” she asked, already knowing the answer to that, but she wanted an introduction. MATE was recording, and she wanted her people back in Damascus to get everything without her having to take time to make notes.
She missed having a research monkey doing all her note dirty work.
He nodded.
“Yes, I’m Jim Evans,” he said, shaking her hand, and then looking down at the glove.
“It’s okay. They’re clean. I haven’t touched anything yet,” she stated.
He looked relieved.
Continuing, Elizabeth apologized.
“We’re sorry for bursting in here, and making a spectacle. I’m Elizabeth Blackhawk,” she said, introducing herself. “I’ll be handling this scene.”
He was to the point.
“I know who you are. I saw you on the news and heard about you. You’re all over it.”
Well, she wasn’t shocked.
That was for damn sure.
When wasn’t she all over the goddamn news? That was a better question.
Instead of going there, she needed to ask him some questions.
“Looking around, Jim, what’s out of place?” she asked. “Can you give me some insight since you spend time here and I don’t?”
He did as she asked.
When he saw the hymnal board on the wall, the one that tells what songs would be played for the service, he pointed.
“That.”
Glancing over, Elizabeth stared at the black felt with the white letters on it. As she read it over, she was trying to figure out what was wrong.
‘Mathew seven: nine-eleven.’
Now, she was curious.
“What was there?” she asked, curiously.
He told her.
“The songs from last night. I didn’t change them. It was ‘Great is the faithfulness’, ‘Precious Lord’, ‘Take My Hand’, and ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God’.”
So, the church hits.
So far, she was tracking it. Nothing about that made her feel off, or gave her too much. Maybe that wasn’t the clue. Instead, she dug deeper.
Not far away, Quinn and Dex were watching her work.
“Paraphrase that Bible verse for me. What does it say?” she asked.
He did.
“It’s about how a good father acknowledges that God wants him to give good gifts to their children. It’s an odd choice for a scripture. I've never done a sermon on that.”
Oh, well, she knew why.
Devon was giving her a message, and she got it loud and clear.
For now, she wanted some time to work this scene, and without an audience—mainly, anyone who wasn’t cop.
“Thanks, Jim. You can head outside. I need to deal with the remains,” she stated.
He was curious.
“Maybe I should stay. It’s my church, and I’m protective of it. Someone came here and defiled it. That’s disgusting and gross.”
Yeah, well, this dude was both of those things.
Trust.
And.
Believe.
Instead of going there, she glanced over at security.
“Johnny, can you escort Jim out for me?” she asked, having the Marine take the man by the arm to do just that.
The topic was closed as far as she was concerned.
Oh, she was sure Jim wasn’t happy, but that wasn’t her problem. It wasn’t like she was going to loot the place or throw a kegger.
How could she possibly disrespect a church more than Devon already had?
When he was gone, she pointed.
“Okay, that’s a message for me,” she said.
Then, she knew she needed help.
Tapping her vest, MATE appeared.
“Yes, Mother.”
Quinn took a step back as the hologram was right in front of him.
“Woah,” he said. “What is that?” he asked as Dex just laughed.
Elizabeth introduced her.
“This is MATE. She’s my assistant,” she admitted. “She keeps me on track.”
Yeah, he could see that, but he meant more like WHAT was she?
“You have a hologram that follows you around?” he asked. “Not a normal human as an assistant?”
MATE went there.
She didn’t need Elizabeth to explain her. She was fully aware that the humans got confused easily.
“I am Zen,” she admitted, holding out her hand.
When he went to shake it, she chortled since his fingers went right through hers.
“Silly humans, tricks are for AI computers. You can’t touch me.”
He blinked.
“I don’t know how I feel about this,” he admitted. “She’s not here, but she is.”
Elizabeth shrugged.
“You get accustomed to it, especially when she tells you she’s planning to possess your children and take over the world with their bodies. I suggest you ignore most of it. We taught her some bad habits, apparently.”
Dex laughed.
Oh, he’d come face-to-face with MATE before.
“This should tell you how much the FBI gets in tax dollars,” he joked. “We will NEVER see this kind of thing in our lifetimes.”
Yeah, except MATE was a special project from one of her husband’s companies, and she was VERY expensive.
And she’d better be the gift that kept on giving because Elizabeth needed help, not bullshittery and assholery.
It was time to get to work.
“MATE, I need the whole area scanned and uploaded for Ethan. He’s going to want to see this, and I don’t have a research monkey here to take notes. Keep recording on my vest, but also get the whole area, please.”
At her feet, an actual hologram of a monkey appeared, and it danced around with a notebook and pen.
Elizabeth wasn’t having it.
“NOT what I meant.”
MATE was trying to cheer her mother up. She was worried about her and didn’t like any of this.
Not.
At.
All.
At her words, the monkey disappeared, and MATE moved through the room, doing what Elizabeth asked.
“Okay, so the scripture is going to be related to him. He was under his father’s tutelage,” she stated. “I think.”
Dex didn’t like how that sounded.
“You think?”
She was honest.
“While I can profile, since I’ve been doing this a long time, I’m down a profiler. I didn’t want to bring Callista here. The more people seen with me, the more dangerous it is for them.”
Oh, boy.
“Well, I appreciate that,” Quinn stated.
She wasn’t shocked. Who wanted their loved ones playing this kind of a game?
“The hymns were all about fathers and relationships with them, if my memory serves me right. Heavenly ones, and earthly ones.”
Dex was curious.
“Where is this nut’s father?” he asked.
She wished alive so she could stick her boot up his ass and put a bullet in his head for creating a monster, but that was neither here nor there.
“Fortunately, he’s dead. He passed from illness, but he was the original killer, who taught Devon Slater how to play this game. I’m going to say daddy dearest had a boner about me, at some point, and it tainted him to the point he wanted me made miserable.”
Quinn was curious.
“How many cold cases do you have? Maybe you ran up against him, and he slipped away?”
She shook her head.