Cleansing

by Roy A. Teel, Jr.

  Jim was talking with Hess and Erick when the AMBER Alert came in. The men’s cell phones also went off, and Jim looked at his phone and said, “Another missing child, just abducted from Reseda Park. Do either one of you have any ideas about this?” Both men sat stoic, and Jim asked Erick, “What’s the deal? In all of the years that I have known you, when I come to speak to you I can never shut you up. Now, you sit there with this dumbass solemn look on your face. You need to help me out here because I have never seen you this way. Your pal over here, Mr. Stevens, is about as much help as you. What happened to telling me to get right with God and to repent my sinful ways?”

  Erick looked on and said, “I just learned that I’m dying, Jim. I’ve been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, advanced pancreatic cancer. I have weeks, maybe a few months, before I will be called home by the Lord.” Jim sat back in his chair with a look of bewilderment on his face. “So…you’re dying?” Erick nodded. “And you called your buddy, Hess, here to comfort you?” Erick nodded again as did Hess.

  Jim sat for a second and then broke into laughter. “Well congratu-fuckin-lations. You’re going home, man. You get to get out of this shithole and go to heaven or hell or wherever it is you believe you go to after this life. Shit, man. I’d think you’d be shouting it from the rooftops. Think of all the cash you can raise from your congregation on bullshit fundraisers and ‘save our pastor’ promotions. Jesus! You have a built in audience of nearly a million people the world over who watch your damn Sunday sermons live. You have all of those bullshit self-help religious books out there, and your local congregation is nothing to sneeze at. Fuck, man, you’re going to be the richest motherfucker of all of us, and on top of that, you’ll be dead, so all that cash will go to your church and your personal family. Fuck. What the hell are you crying over?”

  Erick stood up and said, “I don’t appreciate your tone, Sheriff. It’s insulting and degrading to me and my ministry. I have told no one yet. I just got the second opinion from Dr. Charles Ritter at Northridge Hospital, so if you will excuse me I need to speak to my family and call an emergency board meeting of my church.” Jim laughed as Hess stood up as well. Jim said, “Whoa there, partner. You two aren’t going anywhere until you answer some questions for me. You both just received the AMBER Alert. You know that a child has been abducted. A four-month-old child. The same age as the victims in these ritualistic killings. I came to you to seek your guidance here. The killers leave Psalm 26 carved in stone on the hills around Malibu after they shove a steel rod up some kid’s ass and through the top of its skull. They eat the kid’s heart, and we think they bathe in or drink the kid’s blood. Now, what kind of sick fucks do that?”

  Hess and Erick were still standing but not responding. Jim got pissed and said, “Look, Erick, I understand that you’re in shock over the fact that you’re dying, but guess what? I don’t give a flying fuck. We’re all going to die, and now the race is on to try and find and save this new abduction victim before he ends up on the spit and feeding a group of sick ass bastards.” Erick said, “Jim, I have no idea who would do such a barbaric thing. It’s not a Christian group. I can tell you that. Let me talk to my family and board, and I will set aside time first thing in the morning to sit with you and go over the case file.”

  Jim looked at Hess and asked, “What about you? Do you have any idea what might be going on here?” Hess just shook his head. Jim said, “You have a follower of the serial killer and cult leader, Bruno Richards, in your employ. Is that correct?” Hess looked shocked and said, “I most certainly do not!” Jim put a cigarette in his mouth while pulling up Charlotte Watson’s rap sheet on his computer. He talked with the unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. “Charlotte Watson. She is your personal secretary according to a probation record. Is that still true?” Hess looked agitated, and Jim was loving it.

  “Yes. Ms. Watson is my secretary.” “You do know that she was part of the Richards’ Family, right?” Hess didn’t react. Jim said, “Mr. Stevens, the Richards Family, the cult that killed multiple men, women, and children in sacrificial manners to appease the lord. Your god!” Hess yelled out, “He’s my Lord. He’s your Lord. He’s the world’s Lord and savior. Ms. Watson had nothing to do with any of the killings. She was cleared in those matters. She was a young and impressionable kid when those things happened. She is a wonderful and righteous woman of faith now.” Jim bit down on the smoke and asked, “Well, all the same, I would like to talk to her about this case. Can you make that happen?” Hess didn’t get a chance to answer before Jim’s cell phone rang.

  “WHAT?” “Sheriff, I’m sorry to bother you. It’s Chris Mantel. I need some advice.” Jim looked at Hess and Erick and told them to hang tight and then asked, “What’s up, kid? I have an interview going on.” “John sent me out to interview Charlotte Watson.” “Yeah, I know. Her boss is standing right in front of me.” “You have Hess Stevens in your office?” “I just said that, Chris. What do you want?” “Well, Ms. Watson and I have a personal history…I came out to talk to her, but before I could get anything out of her she bolted. John got a subpoena for her, but when I went to serve it, she was gone. Now I have John pissed off at me. I’m on my way to her home in Boyle Heights, but I know she won’ t be there.”

  Jim said impatiently, “What…the fuck…does any of this…have to do with me?” “I think she knows about the killings. I think it’s more than knows. I think she might be the ring leader.” Jim was staring hard at Hess who was staring back at him. “Really?” he said. “Listen, Chris, I have two gentlemen that I am holding up from some important business. Let me finish up with them, and I will call you back.”

  Jim hung up the phone and said, “Ms. Watson is on the run from the law.” Hess’s face dropped, and he said, “I don’t understand. On the run for what reason?” “That’s a hell of a question, Mr. Stevens. The FBI just issued a subpoena for her, and she ran before they could serve it. Do you have any idea why Ms. Watson would be on the run?” Hess shook his head slowly. “Why don’t I believe you, Mr. Stevens? Why do I think that you both know exactly why Ms. Watson is on the run?” Erick got a bolder tone in his voice and said, “Can we go, Sheriff? You have no reason to detain us. If it is Ms. Watson that the FBI wants to talk to then that is their business not ours. I don’t have any clue as to what you’re talking about. Do you, Hess?” Hess shook his head. “May we go?” Jim nodded his head and yelled at Erick as he walked out, “You and me, tomorrow morning, first thing. We are going to have a conversation about this mess.” Jim slammed his fist down on his desk and called Chris back.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “You sick, merciless, son of a bitch.

  You are going to hell!”

  Lisa Farmer had fallen asleep in the holding room of the Eagle’s lair. She was snoring lightly on the sofa, and the Eagle could see her on the monitor in his security center. He walked back in to see Arnold Espanza’s unrecognizable face. He’d removed his lips, and he could see down into his mouth and throat.

  “How do you know Lisa Farmer?” the Eagle asked. Espanza was difficult to understand as he said, “She’s the girlfriend…wife…of one of the pastors who rents space from me and my church.” “Did you know about her arrest last night?” Espanza tried to nod, but his head was restrained. “So, do you know why she was out in the middle of the night in just a nightgown, no undergarments, and a black sweatsuit hidden in the bushes near a park?” “She was going to see a friend.”

  The Eagle leaned in close to his face and said, “That’s a very, very strange way to dress when going to visit a friend. A friend who, coincidentally, just had a baby a few months ago.” “I didn’t know about the child. Lisa is a good kid. She has had some bad breaks. Erick has really helped her clean up her act.” The Eagle pulled an orange hospital tray over to him with several plastic bags of instruments used for manicures and pedicures. There were also needle-nosed pliers and razor blades. The Eagle reached up and increased th
e drip on the IV he had set on Arnold and injected some stimulant into it before asking if he knew Estelle Martinez, the woman that Lisa was going to visit. Arnold shook his head, staring at the contents of the orange tray.

  The Eagle pulled out a set of leather straps and bound Arnold from his feet up to his throat. Then he pulled out the pliers and said, “This is going to hurt. Is Erick Walton involved in these killings?” Arnold looked on with pleading eyes as the Eagle took a long razor sharp tool and incised the nail bed on his big toe. He screamed out in agony, and the Eagle ripped the nail straight out.

  “You sick, merciless, son of a bitch. I know you, Iron Eagle. You are going to hell!” The Eagle showed him the toenail and said, “You first. Answer my question.” Arnold said nothing, and the Eagle began ripping out nail after nail. The screaming was unbearable, so he put a pair of ear plugs in as he worked.

  “Mercy, mercy. Oh, Goddamn you. Mercy!” Arnold cried. “Watson. Charlotte Watson. She is the leader of the group. She ministers to her flock along with a man named F. E. Arnest.” The Eagle put down the tools and asked, “The funeral home owner?” “Yes. He was part of the Richards Family along with Watson in the early seventies.” The Eagle asked, “Watson and Arnest are not working alone. Who is helping them?” “I don’t know. I swear I don’t know any more than that.” The Eagle looked him in the eye and said, “Why is it that I still don’t believe you’re telling me everything that you know?” “I am. I swear to the God I praise and worship in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and all that is holy. I know no more.” The Eagle never flinched and continued ripping out the rest of Arnold’s toenails.

  Arnest was sitting at his desk when he heard the bell ring at the delivery entrance to the funeral home. He looked at his watch, and it was half past eight p.m. He was alone in the home and walked slowly to the entrance and looked through the peephole then opened the door. His senses were first assaulted by the screaming of a young child and then the smell of a soiled diaper. “You couldn’t change the diaper so the thing would be quiet?” Charlotte Watson walked through the door and into the funeral parlor with Ezra in her arms. “It’s a bit hard to do when you’re dodging police and the FBI. You should try it some time.”

  She placed the screaming child on one of the embalming tables and took off the diaper. She picked up Ezra and carried him over to a stainless steel industrial sink with a long hose attached to it and asked F.E. to warm the water, so she could wash the child. He did as asked, and after a few minutes, she was able to clean the child to get rid of the smell and then wrapped him in a cloth used for embalming. “That’s not going to last very long,” said Arnest. “It makes no difference, F. E. We are going to sacrifice him tonight. Have you notified the others?” Arnest looked down the hall toward his office and said, “Follow me.” Charlotte bent over to pick up Ezra, and he said, “No…leave that thing on the embalming table. Put some towels or something around it or…” He handed Charlotte a roll of duct tape and continued, “Tape it to the table, so it doesn’t roll off and die prematurely. Put some gauze on its skin. The tape will tear that young flesh apart, and we need it perfect. Come to my office when you’re done”

  Charlotte taped Ezra to the table and put a small amount of gauze over his mouth to hush the screaming while allowing him to breathe. She walked down the hall and into Arnest’s office and sat down. “My word, F. E., I have had a hell of a day. The FBI has a subpoena out for me. Chris Mantel showed up at my office while Hess was out.” Arnest looked at her and asked, “What did Christopher Mantel want? Why would he even be talking to you?” “Because he’s an FBI agent, temporary from the ID he showed me. He’s leaving to train in Virginia in a few weeks. He started giving me the third degree, and I threw him out of my office.” “And then what?” She looked at Arnest like he had three heads.

  “AND THEN WHAT? I got the hell out of there. I don’t want to answer questions about this. He was asking about the killings.” He got a thoughtful look on his thin, gaunt face and hit speed dial.

  “Hello?” “Pastor Erick, it’s F.E. and Charlotte. We have a problem.” “I have problems, too, Arnest. What is it?” “The FBI has subpoenaed Charlotte for questioning. It will most likely turn into a warrant by tonight. She has brought us a sacrifice. I believe we should get it done tonight to send a pleasing odor before the Lord. It’s only a matter of time before they figure out what we are doing, and the infidels, sinners, blasphemers, and Godless whores will wipe us out before we can usher in the glory of the Lord.”

  There were a few moments of silence, and Erick said, “Tonight is not a good night for the sacrifice. You will need to feed the child and treat it well. We won’t be able to get things ready until tomorrow night.” Arnest was angry, and Charlotte could see it in his face and hear it in his voice. While he spoke calmly, he also spoke firmly, “That is unacceptable, Pastor. The great day of our Lord is near, and we must be in obedience to Him. He demands a blood sacrifice, and he demands it tonight.” “The Lord will wait a day, F. E. I have prayed, and he will allow a day. Care for the child, Ezra.” Charlotte and Arnest looked at each other with shocked looks on their faces. “How do you know the child’s name, Pastor? We have not spoken of it. Did the Lord tell you?”

  There was a faint laugh on the other end of the line. “No. The AMBER Alert that was sent out when the child was grabbed had his name and age on it. Do you have that technology, Arnest?” Arnest was blushing, and Charlotte let out a little laugh, which got her a dirty look. “I’m sorry, Pastor. I wasn’t thinking.” “Look, I’m calling a special meeting of the board at nine p.m. tonight, and then the secondary family board after. I want you there. Charlotte, stay off the streets. If the FBI gets ahold of you, the great day of the Lord will be compromised. We have no others to get us children. You are the link between the second coming and its failure.”

  Arnest spoke up and said, “There is another that I have who can do the work of the Lord. She tried last night and failed, but I can have someone speak to her, and she will not slip up again.” There was a moment of silence, and Erick said, “Jesus Emmanuel Estonia was born this evening, and he will be delivered to us. We will need to sacrifice Ezra, and after that Jesus will be the ultimate sacrifice to the Lord, and the terrible Day of Judgment shall thunder down upon mankind, and we shall be caught up in the sky with the Lord in the rapture, and the heavenly host shall sing hallelujah.”

  The line went dead, and Arnest could hear Ezra screaming from the morgue and said to Charlotte, “Go do something with that thing. Find some food and feed it. Buy it diapers, a bassinet, anything, just shut it up.” Charlotte laughed and said, “You will have to do that F. E. I am underground for now. I will make you a list of the things we need, and you will have to go get them.” Arnest slammed his bony arm down on the desk but didn’t say another word.

  Erick’s cell phone rang, and he answered it and listened for a moment then asked, “What do you want, Father?” Little Erick sat on a kitchen chair in the home he shared with Lisa and a few others in his congregation, listening to his father. “I’m sick, son. Sick unto death. I have but weeks to live. I just learned the news today.” Erick had a cold expression on his face but mustered up a little sympathy. “I’m sorry, Father. The church will be lost without you.” “Erick, I need you back here with your church family. Let us end this feud here and now. I want you to take over the church. I have been praying a lot about our falling out, and the Lord has shown me a way that we can make your ideas and my own work together in this congregation.”

  Little Erick sat staring out the window of his small home as darkness fell. “And how is it that we are to accomplish this, Father? I have prayed hard on this as well, and the Lord has told me the opposite.” “The great day of the Lord is coming any day, and you know that, son. We need to set aside our arguments and do what is best for the flock. We are the leaders of men, and as their shepherds, we are responsible if even one is lost. I need you to come to the ch
urch tonight at nine for an emergency board meeting.”

  The Eagle had gotten all the information that he could out of Arnold, so he emasculated him without stopping the bleeding. He knew enough about the main players in the cult that this was a mass manipulation, so he turned his attention to Lisa Farmer sleeping in the holding room.

  When he opened the door, she roused when he walked in and asked, “Where am I? Who are you?” The Eagle said nothing. He took her hand and raised her off the couch. Lisa looked on with fear and dread in her eyes as she followed the silent giant out into the operating room where Arnold’s body laid.

  Lisa recognized him right away and began screaming uncontrollably. She was pulling and tearing at the Eagle’s iron grip on her arm, but he was unmoved. He pulled a pair of zip ties from a shelf and tied her hands and feet. Lisa was now sitting in a chair across from Arnold’s body, heaving deep breaths. She cried out, “Who are you, and what have you done to Pastor Espanza?” The Eagle was releasing the leather straps and removing the body from the table when Lisa tried to stand and fell face first onto the white concrete floor.

  “You would be better off staying still, Ms. Farmer. You are only going to hurt yourself. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to take care of Mr. Espanza.”

  The Eagle threw the body over his shoulder and carried it out to the incinerator. He threw it into the oven, closed the steel doors, and started it. Lisa was rolling on the ground in the operating room when she heard the sound of the incinerator start. The Eagle appeared in the doorway and picked her up off the floor and put her back on the chair. He pulled off the bloody sheets on the gurney and put new ones on as Lisa watched. When he was finished, he lifted Lisa off the chair and placed her on the gurney. He removed the zip ties and restrained her with the same bloody leather straps.