Jason Deas - Benny James 02 - Pushed (16 page)

As they ate, Benny sipped on his Bud. Ted had finished his and drank two more twelve ounce cans.

Toward the end of the meal, Benny said, “Let me tell you the two things I’m confused about in this case.”

“OK. I’m sure they’re the same two things the FBI is confused about.”

“One,” Benny started, “there seems to be absolutely no information about Brother Jim. No pictures, nobody knows him, he’s like a ghost.”

“That’s the way the Reverend wanted him to be. Have you had the privilege of meeting with your client at his office?”

“No. The Reverend was going to fly me there, and there was a problem with his plane, so we just met on the plane.”

“I’ve been there and it’s creepy. If I was classifying it, I would put it in the category of a compound. The word cult would be right there too.”

“I’ve watched his church on television and it looks normal,” Benny said.

“The day to day operations of that place are a far cry from the show they put on for the television cameras. Make up a reason to go there. It will change your way of thinking. There’s almost a military presence surrounding the property. And don’t get me started on the employees.”

“Tell me.”

“One word—zombies.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“I’m not. They all wear the same uniforms that reminded me of…”

“Roman soldiers?”

“No.”

“The twelve disciples?”

“No. They were more like Star Trek meets roller derby.”

“Really? I will definitely make up a reason to visit. Did you get to see Brother Jim’s room?”

“Jessica did.” Ted tilted his head back and finished another beer.

“Great! That means I’m going to have to get her to tell me about it or get the Reverend to let me take a look myself.”

“He wasn’t happy about it and pitched a fit.”

Switching gears, Benny said, “The other mystery is the girl who got away. What happened to her?”

Ted got up and walked to the refrigerator. He opened it, pulled out a beer, and drank what Benny thought to be more than half before sitting back down.

“The local police really screwed that one up,” Ted said. “They questioned her for hours. She was very detailed in her statements and they had no reason to believe she was making anything up. A few days later, they had some follow up questions for her and went to the address she had given them after failing to get her on the phone, and it was an empty apartment.”

“Maybe she’s a liar.”

“Maybe she’s scared,” Ted said. “Jessica wouldn’t tell me much of what she saw in Brother Jim’s room, but she said it was absolutely filled with snakes braided out of all kinds of different materials.”

Benny’s eyes sparked as he remembered the snake on Stephanie Mitchell’s dresser and the ones Robert told him about.

“The girl who got away, Beth, did say something that makes me want to believe that she is telling the truth,” Ted said.

“What?”

“Well, not only did she say in her statement that Brother Jim told her who he was, she also said he kept repeating a statement over and over again as he tried to pull her to the edge of the bridge and toss her over. She said he was saying, ‘Damn the snakes, damn the serpent. Damn the snakes, damn the serpent.’”

Chapter 23

Benny decided to get his business with Jessica out of the way. He gave her a call upon leaving Ted’s house. Ted had given him her number after reminding him of his pinky swear. Benny reassured Ted he was a man of his word. Before leaving, Ted begged Benny to go buy him a six-pack and Benny reminded him that he had promised not to go out and buy more.

“Just this once!” Ted had pleaded.

“I’m a man of my word,” Benny reminded. He flashed his pinky in Ted’s face. “I didn’t pinky swear, but I’m still good for that promise.”

“You are a man of your word,” Ted finally conceded.

“Now, this may be semantics, but I promised not to go back out and buy you more beer, right?”

“Right.”

“I think I may have one more of those tall boy Budweiser’s in the car.”

“Really?” Ted’s eyes lit up.

“Let me look.”

Benny walked to the car with Ted on his heels, knowing the whole time he did have another beer, bought just for this very reason. He reached in the car, grabbed it, and handed it to Ted.

“Run yourself a relaxing tub, drink this, and go to bed. You have to work tomorrow morning.”

“You’re the best, Benny.”

Ted grabbed the beer and headed for the house. Benny stopped him.

“Ted!” Ted turned. “And do what I asked. Cut your damn grass!”

Ted popped the top on the beer and turned around laughing.

Before calling Jessica, Benny called Rachael to let her know he was going to be a little later than he originally thought. He had to leave a voicemail, since her show was about to go on the air. He knew she wouldn’t mind. He would just have to figure out how to tell her about whom he was meeting and decided to figure that out later.

Dialing Jessica’s number, Benny formulated a plan.

“Special Agent Flynn,” she answered, all business.

“Special Agent Flynn, I would like to request a meeting with you tonight.”

“Who is this and how did you get my number?”

“I thought you might like to follow me around some, since I somehow seemed to lose you this morning.”

“Benny James. That was a dirty, dirty trick you pulled this morning. You and your little friend are lucky I’m not going to have him arrested for interfering with a law enforcement officer.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I’m sure you don’t. Where were you all day?”

“I’ll tell you if you’ll meet me in person.”

“Where and when?”

“Do you know where the Juno Beach Pier is?”

“I think so. North of West Palm Beach before you get to Jupiter.”

“That’s it,” Benny said. “Can you be there in thirty minutes?”

“Yes, but isn’t the pier closed by now?”

“I guess you’re right. I’ll meet you under the pier in thirty minutes.”

Benny hung up the phone and tried to decide whether he should buy a cup of coffee or a bottle of wine. He settled on the coffee, a six-pack of Corona, and a pack of spicy cinnamon gum. He also had to buy a bottle opener. Benny thought the wine might send the wrong signal, and he just wanted information, not trouble.

Before filling the large coffee cup, he filled it with ice and a couple of packets or real sugar. By the time he made it to the car, the coffee was cool enough to drink and he slammed it back. Benny popped a piece of the gum in his mouth as he pulled out of the overly lit convenience store lot.

Driving toward the pier with the windows down and the air conditioner on low, Benny inhaled the Florida night air and tried to think of a better smell—he couldn’t. Although he loved Florida, the days could sometimes be too brutal for him if the wind wasn’t blowing. His thoughts slipped away for a moment to his houseboat and the Sleepy Cove Marina. One could get a sunburn there too, just as easily, but on the lake it seemed a bit easier to find a cool shady spot to spend a lazy, quiet afternoon.

The Trans Am pulled into the lot by the pier. Benny could tell that Jessica would still be a few more minutes, because he had not received a message through his phone that her car was within the undesired range.

Leaving his shoes in the car and grabbing the six-pack, Benny headed toward the pier. Low lights lined the pier and a sign stated the pier was open twenty-four hours. Benny had hoped to meet with Jessica under the pier in a mysterious, dark setting he thought might intimidate her. It worked on some people.

Benny anticipated the plan still might work if there were not too many people fishing. He didn’t want the possibility of the coming conversation being overheard. Catching an older fellow with fishing gear in hand, Benny excused himself and apologized for bothering him.

“I’m so sorry to bother you, but do a lot of people fish on the pier at this time of night?”

“A good bit, yeah.”

“What do you catch?”

“At this time, with the low tide, we’re usually all out at the end of the pier trying for Kingfish, Snook, Bluefish, and Macks. Pier goes out damn near a thousand feet, so low tide still ain’t a bad time to fish.”

“Thanks,” Benny said.

“You meeting a lady under the pier?” the old man asked.

“How did you know?”

“Most men out here with a sixer of fancy beer and minty breath ain’t walking around alone.”

“You’re pretty sharp.”

“These wrinkles on my face weren’t free,” the old man joked. “I earned every one.”

“Good luck tonight,” Benny said.

“I think you might need it more than me,” the old guy said, turning his head to look up the beach. “If that’s the girl you’re waiting on, she’s way out of your league.” The old man slapped Benny on the back laughing, and walked toward the pier, still chuckling to himself.

It was Jessica and she was not dressed for work. Benny’s heart dipped in his chest and for a second he felt something quite unusual for him— a small case of nerves. Jessica too had left her shoes in her car. Her hair, which was usually pulled into a tight ponytail blew freely with the ocean breeze. She had traded the suit for a pair of jean shorts with a few rips in just the right places and a white baby doll t-shirt. The logo on the baby doll t-shirt read “Red Stripe” with a sentence under the main logo proclaiming it to be “A Lager Beer Brewed in Jamaica.”

Benny held up the six-pack of Corona and said, “I hope you like beer from Mexico as well.”

Jessica glanced down at her shirt and laughed. “It doesn’t really make up for the hundred dollar bottle of champagne I bought you and your girlfriend, but I suppose it’s a start.”

“I thought the FBI bought that?”

“Yeah, but it was on my expense report. How would you explain that one to your boss or the taxpayers if you were in my shoes?”

“Just say you were trying to win the influence of a very important person.”

“Get over yourself,” Jessica said, as Benny fumbled with the bottle opener and the Corona. “You wouldn’t make a very good bartender,” she added.

Benny finally managed to pop the top off two beers and handed Jessica a bottle. “Why don’t we start over,” he proposed. “Our first try at this
was
a bit awkward.”

Taking the bottle from Benny, she clinked glass with him and said, “Cheers. OK, we’ll start over out here where your girlfriend can’t find us and interrupt.”

“That’s not really what I intended.”

“But, it is a plus.” She took a deep drink from the bottle of Corona. “You didn’t buy a lime?”

“They didn’t have one at the gas station.” All of a sudden, Benny wondered why he hadn’t received a signal that Jessica’s car was near. It was set to text him when the vehicle was within one hundred yards of his vehicle. “Did you drive the ugly Crown Vic over here?”

“You mean the one with the tracking device on it?” she said with a look Benny did not know how to interpret.

“I guess we’re even.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Ditto.”

“Where did you go today?”

“Bradenton Beach and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.”

“And you met Robert, I’m guessing?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Did you get anything out of him?”

“Maybe one little nugget.”

“Care to share?”

“I’d rather not at this point, but if I feel it’s pertinent, I’ll let you know.”

“That’s real sweet,” Jessica said, finishing off her beer. “See if you can open another one of those beers in the next five minutes,” she teased.

Benny finished his as well and opened two more, this time with no trouble at all.

“You might just have a bartending career in your future.” There was a pause in the conversation and Benny got caught taking a long look at her legs. When his eyes made their way up to her thigh, she said, “I’m guessing you didn’t ask me to meet you out here for a couple of drinks. What do you need?”

Benny pulled his eyes up to hers and her look told him he had been caught and she liked it.

“Have you been to Reverend Jim’s place in Mississippi?” Benny already knew the answer but was not going to give that information away.

“I have.”

“Is it just me or do you feel when you’re trying to find Brother Jim that you’re chasing a ghost?”

“He hasn’t left much of a trail, that’s for sure. But I can assure you he’s not a ghost. I can’t give you his birth certificate, social security number, and all that, but you can take my word that he’s out there somewhere and very real.”

“Did you get to go through Brother Jim’s room?”

“I did. It was my detail.”

“What did you find?”

“That information is going to cost you,” Jessica said with a sly grin on her face.

She started walking away from the pier toward a dark area of the beach that did not have any people near for as far as the eye could see. She chugged her beer and asked Benny for one more. Benny followed suit and finished his as well, sticking the empties back into the sleeves of the six-pack holder. He opened the last two and they drank as they walked. Benny was dying to ask what the information was going to cost him, but he didn’t want to show his trepidation by asking. Although any man would fall over himself to make out with, or sleep with Jessica, Benny was not willing to betray Rachael for a piece of information.

Out of eyesight from the pier, Jessica sat down on the sand, facing the ocean. Benny sat down as well, close enough to smell her perfume, and they both dug their feet into the sand.

“Are you scared of the ocean at night?” Jessica asked.

“No.” Benny thought it was a strange question.

Jessica slid closer to Benny and pulled her knees up to her chest. Benny could not keep his eyes from slipping away from the ocean and back to her legs. She noticed him looking again and bent her leg out to rest against his.

“I don’t mind if you touch it. I know you want to.”

“Wanting to do something and doing it are two different things.”

“Fine,” Jessica said, pulling her leg back. “But if you want to know what I found in Brother Jim’s room, you are going to go swimming with me.”