Jason Deas - Benny James 02 - Pushed (11 page)

As he dug, he found a conch shell. The shell was long and incredibly sharp at the end. It was the length of a pen or pencil and Jim slid it into his bathing suit pocket. Jim dunked his head under and listened. He heard a different world and somehow felt comforted by all that he did not know and understand.

With his head back out of the water, Jim stood and felt the waves coming in and breaking against his chest. He had never felt such happiness in his entire life—he was intoxicated with the ocean and fell back, closing his eyes, as he plunged under and felt himself covered by the waves and the gently crashing water.

Jim soon learned about the tide and how the ocean’s strength could carry a person from one place to another. He looked back to the beach house and found it was not there. He had been pulled down the beach a good ways. Jim waded back against the water. As he neared the beach in front of the cottage, he heard voices. He immediately stopped and crouched down to where his head was barely visible above the water. As the voices neared, he discovered it was a couple. They stopped directly in front of him on the beach, and he noticed they were holding hands. The girl was laughing, and the boy’s hands were on her back and travelling toward her backside. His heart rate began to increase. The female giggled again as the male whispered something into her ear. As soon as her laugh was released, the man’s mouth covered hers and she melted into him.

Jim’s breathing became audible as he huffed and puffed. His fists clenched as one of the man’s hands slid under the woman’s shirt and disappeared. The man groped her and Jim stood up out of the water. He pulled the conch shell out of his pocket and gripped it like one would a knife.

Ever so quietly, Jim crept toward them as his fury grew. He froze and dropped down as the man pulled his hand out from the woman’s shirt and looked out over the ocean. He was not looking at Jim, but right over him. The lover said something into the woman’s ear and she giggled again with her pleasure.

Jim couldn’t believe what he saw next. The man took his hand and unzipped the woman’s pants. The man pulled the flaps of her jeans apart and slid his hand down and in between her legs. Jim waited for her to scream in protest, but she just moaned aloud with pleasure. The two lovers dropped to the sandy beach floor and Jim exploded.

Gripping the conch shell like a dagger and running toward them, he screamed, “Let the wicked burn in hell.” Unfamiliar with the ways of the ocean, he tripped and fell. The conch shell, which had been his weapon, fell from his hand and when he emerged from the water, the couple had vanished.

Jim tried to regain the mental peace the ocean had given him, but decided it was ruined. All of a sudden, he was tired. He remembered the bed he had seen in the beach house and the mound of covers and mountain of pillows. He imagined himself under all of it as he walked toward the beach house.

He trudged across the sand as his energy had seemed to dissipate with the lovers. He wondered what would have happened if they had not heard him and if he had not fallen and dropped the sharp conch shell.
Was I going to kill them or just scare them off
, he mused.

Back on the beach house porch, Jim stripped and hung the wet clothing over the porch railing. He entered the house and locked the door behind him. He thought about taking a quick shower, but he was too tired and just wanted to crawl under the covers and go to sleep.

He walked into the bedroom and shut the door. There was a lamp on the bedside table, and he turned it on before turning off the overhead light. The bed looked amazing—like sleeping in a cloud. Jim pulled back the covers. The book of maps was on his pillow.

Chapter 17

Reverend Jim’s private jet waited for Benny at the Palm Beach International Airport. The airport was under heightened security for reasons a police officer would not explain. The officer asked him to wait as Reverend Jim’s airplane was being examined. Benny chalked it up to terrorist threats or something of the sort. As a former lawman, he was happy to comply, and to err on the side of caution.

As Benny sat in a waiting area, his cell phone rang. He answered it before it had a chance to finish the Led Zeppelin guitar riff. He had always liked a phone to ring like a phone, but when he heard you could get it to ring with Led Zeppelin, he changed his mind about the silliness of ringtones. 

“Hello.”

“I’m so sorry about the delay,” Reverend Jim said.

Benny looked around with surprise. He thought that Reverend Jim was not making the trip, but waiting for him back in Mississippi.

“You’re here?” Benny looked at his luggage.
So much for packing an overnight bag.

“I decided to go see a member of my congregation this morning, who watches the show from Key West, and now the authorities are saying there was something suspicious about our flight path. They are questioning my pilot and searching the plane.”

“Even if you went off your flight path by a hair,” Benny said, “you can’t pick anything up in mid-air unless you have a high tech military plane or something of the sort.”

“Just the way the world is today,” Reverend Jim responded. “It sounds like it’s going to be another hour or so until they’re finished. They will not let me off the plane, but I have asked and been granted permission to have you come on board. We can just sit here and talk while they finish what they need to finish.”

“Fine,” Benny answered. “How do I make my way on board?”

“An escort will meet you.”

“Where?”

“Just stay where you are.” Reverend Jim hung up before Benny could respond.

Benny hit end on his phone and stuck it back in his pocket. He watched the masses of people walking by as he wondered who might be his escort. A huge Hawaiian dude came walking toward him and Benny started to stand up as a girl jumped into the massive Hawaiian’s arms.  From right behind the loving couple emerged an African American woman.

She walked straight to Benny and said, “Get up.”

“Excuse me?” Benny said, thinking his incredulity would slow her attitude down.

“I said, get yo’ ass outta that chair and follow me.”

“That’s what I thought you said.” Benny hopped up, amused by the situation and the character that stood before him.

“Let’s go.”

“Wait, I think I’m going to need to see some identification,” Benny said slyly.

“Oh, hell no. No you didn’t.”

“I did,” Benny said, standing his ground. “The airport is on a high caution level, and I think the airport authorities would appreciate my caution—and you should too.”

The lady looked at Benny like she was trying to decide which way to kill him. She stood still for a moment, fighting the urge to tell him where to put his stupid mouth. She finally pulled her ID out of her pocket and held it in front of Benny. Instead of just taking a quick glance at it and being satisfied, Benny took it from her and studied the document.

“How do you pronounce your name?” Benny asked.

“Ms. Crenshaw.”

“I was asking about the first name,” Benny said, being a smartass.

“You don’t get to call me by my first name.”

“Of course,” Benny said, handing her back the document. “Take me to my leader.”

Ms. Crenshaw cracked a smile and asked, “You just a smartass, huh?”

“I’m afraid so, Ms. Crenshaw. I don’t mean any harm or disrespect. This place is just kind of tense today, and I thought I would break up some of the hardness with humor.”

“It ain’t workin’.”

“I see that,” Benny said.

“Now, do you have any more questions or are you ready to go to your fancy dancy little airplane?”

“It’s not my airplane.”

“Tell that to somebody who cares,” she said, turning and walking away. She didn’t even look back to see if Benny was following.

Benny hurried beside her and asked, “Do you mind if we make a quick stop at the duty free shop?”

“Is that supposed to be another one of your jokes?”

“Yes.”

“You still ain’t funny.”

“I thought I would give it one more try,” Benny said.

“If this was the Gong Show, you’d be gone.”

“That was a great show, wasn’t it?”

“Hilarious,” Ms. Crenshaw said, deadpan.

When they made it to the security checkpoint, Ms. Crenshaw led Benny past all the other waiting travelers and to the front of the line. She directed Benny to go ahead. As Benny was putting his shoes on the conveyor belt and loosening his belt, she said to the TSA agent on duty, “I heard a strange beep inside his shirt. You better give him the works.” She caught Benny’s eye and gave him a subtle wink. Benny could have sworn her lip tried to crinkle into a smile, which she smothered.

A TSA agent pulled Benny to the side and gave him the business. He searched and did everything all over Benny’s body short of tickling his insides. When the agent was finished, he instructed Benny to put his shoes and belt back on and told him he was free to go.

Ms. Crenshaw waited for Benny and pretended she had not been watching as Benny strolled up to her.

“Did you enjoy the show?” Benny asked.

“The airport is on a high caution level, and I think the airport authorities would appreciate my caution—and you should too.”

“I’m the one who said that just a few minutes ago.”

“And it bears repeating. Thank you for your wisdom, Mr. James.”

“Are you trying to make jokes now, because you’re not very good at it either.”

“Then that makes two of us,” Ms. Crenshaw said, turning and walking away from him again.

Benny followed her down an escalator and through what felt like a mile of hallways and up another escalator. Ms. Crenshaw pulled a key from her belt and opened an unmarked door and held it open for Benny to walk through first.

“You’re so kind,” Benny said.

“Not really,” she shut the door and walked past him again.

They walked down a stairwell and out a door and suddenly they were on the tarmac.

Reverend Jim’s plane sat about fifty yards away. Ms. Crenshaw pointed to it. “Think you can find your way from here without causing any trouble?”

“It was a pleasure getting to know you,” Benny grinned.

“Wish I could say the same.” Ms. Crenshaw walked away, leaving Benny alone on the hot tarmac.

Benny had met some characters in his life, but Ms. Crenshaw was an entirely new breed of different. He had no idea what to think about her.
Was she kidding? Was she serious? A little bit of both?
Whatever it was, Benny liked her—she was unique to say the least.

Benny walked toward the sleek business jet.
Good money in the preaching business,
he thought as he watched Reverend Jim standing in the open doorway. He climbed up the metal stairs as Reverend Jim smiled and welcomed him on board.

The two men sat in comfortable chairs at a mahogany table worthy of any corporate boardroom. A young lady emerged from the small galley and offered to get the two men drinks. Reverend Jim ordered for both, ordering Benny a Jack and Coke and himself an orange juice.

“Orange juice would be fine with me too,” Benny said.

“I am not offended by the occasional drink, Mr. James. It is the third and fourth drink that invites the devil inside. I myself have a drink to calm my nerves every once in a while, and I am certain your experience at this airport has frayed your nerves a bit.”

“It was definitely a strange experience.”

The drinks arrived and Reverend Jim took his and introduced Benny. “This is my assistant, Elizabeth.”

Benny nodded, said he was pleased to meet her and took his drink. She disappeared as the two men sipped their drinks. Benny could have sworn he smelled vodka and wondered if Reverend Jim was having a screwdriver.

Benny studied the Reverend. Something about him looked haggard, worried, or just plain beaten down. Benny’s mother had hated when people told her she looked tired and she made him promise to never tell people they looked tired—she claimed it was a terrible insult. In his head, Benny asked his mother for forgiveness as he asked, “Are you OK? You look tired. Are you getting any sleep?”

“I’m worried about my boy,” Reverend Jim answered.

“I’m going to find him.”

“He has done terrible, terrible things.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“But, I’m afraid it is. He looks to me for guidance, and I have always taught him that sin was the enemy. I know he has taken it too far, and I just want to get him back before he does any more harm.”

“I will find him.” 

“Give it to me straight. What do you have?”

“I need more time,” Benny began. “I’ve made contact with a former colleague of mine at the FBI. The case file is almost empty.”

“Empty?”

“Well, empty for an FBI file. They have three murders and one attempted murder. For each murder, they have all the usual crime scene analysis, interviews, and things like that, which basically in my opinion add up to nothing. The attempted murder file is the most interesting.”

“How so?”

“How can I put this?”

“Just say it.”

“OK. Nobody wants to say it, since it is the only scrap of evidence that is supposedly worth a darn, but something about it doesn’t seem right.”

“Why?”

“Do you mind if I speak very directly for a moment? I know your nerves are shot and you’re at your wit’s end, but if we’re going to find your son, we’re going to have to be very honest with one another.”

“Please do.”

“For starters, the FBI does not like to admit when it is wrong.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I, for one, think they were duped by this supposed witness who got away. From what I read of the other three files, the perpetrator in this case does not make mistakes. The only way he makes mistakes is if he wants to. Maybe he wanted her to get away, and maybe he didn’t. Maybe she isn’t fully telling the truth or she’s making the whole thing up entirely.”

“I see,” Reverend Jim said finishing his drink. He pushed a button under the table and Elizabeth appeared again. “Could you please get us another drink my dear?” Elizabeth took the order and disappeared.