Jason Deas - Benny James 02 - Pushed (23 page)

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it’s good.”

“OK. We’ll call Beth and see if we can get this straightened out.”

Benny hung up his cell and turned to Red. “I need you to come through for me buddy.”

“Anything.”

“I need you to call Beth and tell her to meet you. You tell her you have some super secret information about me.”

“What that be?”

“The what doesn’t matter. What matters is getting her to meet you. I’ll take over from there.”

“I see,” Red said. “I get the bad news lady to come and Bendy get answer from her.”

“You got it, buddy.” Benny told Red what to say before he dialed her number. He told Red where to tell her to meet and what time as well.

Red used Benny’s cell phone to dial Beth’s number. Beth answered on the first ring.

“Red need to tell you the bad news,” Red said without any introduction or hello.

“Who is this? Red?”

“That what I say. I need tell you something now.”

“OK. Tell me.”

“I tell your face.”

“I’m in Florida, Red.”

“Red in Florida, too. I tell your face under Juno Beach Pier at midnight.”

“Are you telling me to meet you under the Juno Beach Pier at midnight?”

“That what I say.”

“OK.”

Red handed the cell phone to Benny and Benny hung up.

“You did awesome, buddy.”

“Red know.”

Benny pushed the gas down a little harder. He was already doing eighty, but did not want Beth to get to the pier before they did. Benny wanted time to hide and make sure she didn’t have anybody else with her. If he got pulled over, he planned to pull the “do you know who I am” card. Benny didn’t like to use the lifeline and rarely did.

Benny and Red made excellent time and arrived without any speeding tickets or confrontations with the law. As they sped along, Benny gave Red directions. All Red had to do was lure her down to the pier, make a little small talk while Benny made sure they were alone, and then Benny would take over.

A storm brewed out at sea and the waves destroyed the sand castles on the beach. The usual handful of midnight fisherman had decided to play poker or sleep this one out as the pier was empty. A crescent moon hid behind dark angry clouds and Benny thought the conditions were perfect for his trap.

“She be so mad,” Red tried to whisper to Benny as they got out of the car.

“Who?”

“Lady ocean. You said you happy I call her a she. If she a she, then she a lady.”

“Can we focus here, Red?”

“Go ahead. Red focus.”

“Go and stand near the pier, but be careful of the water. Those waves are stronger than you could imagine.”

“How you know what Red can imagine?”

Benny didn’t usually get annoyed with Red, but knew timing was of the essence. “Just do it, please.”

Red walked toward the pier. Benny slipped off to watch the parking lot from a vantage point where he could see the cars coming from both directions. He would be able to tell if two cars came together, and he would be able to see how many people arrived in the cars.

Red walked around the pier, stood under the pier, and walked around it some more as he waited. He mostly stood in one spot and stared at the water. He marveled at its power. Benny was right, he thought, he had not imagined water could be so strong.

Benny spotted a car he hoped to be Beth’s. The vehicle travelled alone. Benny could not see another car anywhere in the distance. Benny clenched his fists, hoping it was her. As the car neared the entrance to the Juno Beach Pier parking lot it slowed. Benny clenched harder. It turned into the lot and Benny pumped his fist with joy. When a woman emerged from the car, Benny smiled. He knew it must be Beth. He scanned the area and was sure she was alone. Like a predator, he crept toward her, hiding in the shadows.

Beth walked casually across the beach as her hair blew across her face. She pulled off her shoes halfway to the pier and set them down next to a trashcan where she would be able to find them later with ease. Red had seen her approaching and had waved to her without a care in the world. As Benny crept closer out of view, he witnessed this and smiled proudly at Red’s nerve. Benny didn’t know if it really was Red’s ability to perform under stressful conditions, or his inability to understand the gravity of the situation at hand.

“Hi,” Beth said, as she neared Red.

“You like her?” Red asked, ignoring her greeting.

“Who?”

“Lady ocean.”

“Yes, I do,” Beth said, remembering how strange Red could be. “You said on the phone you had something to tell me about Benny.”

“He know you follow him.”

“Oh?”

“He follow you back.”

“What do you mean?”

“Turn around.”

Beth’s face filled with confusion, but she did what Red instructed. Benny was standing behind her. Beth’s first instinct told her to run, but Benny had been in this situation before and moved close to her, putting his hand lightly on her shoulder.

“Don’t even think about running. Red is really fast.” Benny felt Beth’s body relax as she resigned to being caught.

“I didn’t expect to find you here,” Beth said.

“But you
have
been looking for me.”

“In a way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on you,” Beth said.

“So, tell me, what is the difference between looking for me and keeping tabs on me?”

“I never meant to make contact with you.”

“I don’t really understand.”

“You don’t have to.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong. I
do
have to understand. That’s what I’m getting paid to do, and even if I weren’t, I would still want to understand whatever it is we have going on here.”

“Well, I’m not talking,” Beth said folding her arms across her chest.

“That’s fine. Red, would you please go to the car and get my phone? I have FBI agent Jessica Flynn’s number in there. We’ll get her to straighten this out.”

“Sure, Bendy.”

“Wait!” Beth said. “Is that really necessary?”

“It’s up to you. Let me tell you a little something about myself. I have the ability to forget all kinds of horrible things if I can get what I’m looking for. Red, do you remember how I forgot about that one man who killed the other man because he gave me what I wanted?”

“Yep.”

“Is the one man who killed the other man in jail?”

“Nope. He tell Bendy what Bendy need to know and nobody ever know he do something bad.”

Benny looked back at Beth. “I’m going to make the same deal with you as I did a murderer. You tell me what I need to know and you walk away like we never met. We do this the hard way and I have a feeling you’re going to prison for the rest of your life. Tell me I’m wrong.”

Beth looked at Red. “Did he really do that for that guy?”

“Yep. Bendy not say lies.”

“So what’s it gonna be, Beth? Either you start talking, or I start dialing.”

Beth thought for a second or two and said, “I’ll talk. You better not be lying to me. If I spill, you promise me again that I walk away from here and never hear from you or anybody again about this case.”

“I can only promise for myself,” Benny said. “But, I will pretend as if we never met, and if you’re smart, and change your life, nobody is ever going to catch up with you. They’ll be happy to close the case when they get their man.”

“OK,” Beth said as she started to cry. “It started out innocently.” Beth sniffed and wiped away tears as she tried to compose herself enough to tell her story. “I was Reverend Jim’s wife’s assistant. Her name was Nadine. I was very close to her and I’ve always believed in the church and all it stood for and strived to be. If women could be considered disciples, I would have been a disciple.

“When Nadine died, a part of the church died with her. Little Jim was fairly normal at first. As he grew older, he missed having a mother and Reverend Jim tried to compensate in the wrong ways. He gave Jim the title of Brother, which in our church has great spiritual meaning. Brother Jim didn’t deserve it, and he knew it. What’s more—he didn’t want the title.

“He hated his father and didn’t want anything to do with the church. The stricter Reverend Jim became, the more Brother Jim rebelled. Brother Jim hated his father so much that he killed himself by drinking antifreeze and tried to frame his father as his murderer.”

“Wait,” Benny said stopping her. “Brother Jim is dead?”

“He’s been dead for three years. Reverend Jim covered up the suicide and acted as though Brother Jim had gone into some sort of spiritual hiding. He touted it in his sermons as the ultimate sacrifice and little by little he began to take on the attributes which he invented for his dead son.”

“Oh my God,” Benny said.

Beth continued. “After Nadine’s death and his son’s birth, Reverend Jim kept me around as his assistant. Right before his son died, when they were having lots of trouble, he turned to me for comfort.”

“What do you mean by comfort?”

“You know what I mean.”

“OK, now I do. Didn’t he feel this went against his beliefs?”

“I think it is where the break began.”

“And what made the break continue?”

“The death of his son, of course. I found him. He didn’t think it through very well if he was trying to set his father up for murder. Brother Jim left the container of antifreeze next to his bed. What murderer would leave it like that? He was out of his head and not thinking straight, obviously.”

“So what did you do after you found him dead?”

“I called Reverend Jim and when he saw his son he went crazy. He tore up the room screaming and breaking everything in sight. He kept yelling something about snakes and serpents. I was terrified.”

“So, what happened to the body? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“We buried the body together. I was in love. Hard to explain, I know, but he is a very powerful man and he had that power over me as well.”

“Where is the body buried?”

“Right behind the building that houses his study. There is even a marker. It says ‘Beloved.’ Nobody questions him. He didn’t have to try to hide anything. Everybody that works there believes everything he says. If he said the sky was yellow polka dots, they would all believe it to be the truth. Nobody goes on that piece of the property besides him anyway.”

“So, Reverend Jim’s personality continued to break?”

“Yes. To me. To the congregation he was the same person, but to me and in solitude he started to show pieces of Brother Jim and he figured that Brother Jim owed him.”

“Brother Jim owed him?” Benny asked.

“Yeah. He owed him.”

Red had been silent the whole time and Benny didn’t know he had been paying attention until Red said, “I tell you Bendy, Reverend Jim be confuse with Trinity.”

“Oh my God, Red. Do you know what you just said?”

“Yep. Reverend Jim be sick and think he God and Jesus.”

“I think you’re right.”

“You’re both right,” Beth said. “His personality split is just that way. Sometimes he is Reverend Jim and thinks of himself as God, and at other times he is Brother Jim and thinks of himself as his son.”

“I had a case like this before,” Benny said. “Has it reached the point where he doesn’t remember when the split happens?”

Beth nodded her head in confirmation. “He comes home disoriented and I have to clean up after him.”

“Why did he hire me?”

“Good question,” Beth said. “I confronted him after the first murder. Reverend Jim knew it was happening, but wanted to ignore it. I still loved him at that point and for some reason I wanted to protect him. I suggested hiring you.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to protect him. I loved him.” She began to cry once again. “I knew if we hired you, we would know if anybody was getting close to figuring out what was going on. It was my decision to hire you and Reverend Jim agreed. He thought the idea was genius. You have been solving cases nobody could solve for years and we felt if we had you in our back pocket, we would know when the gig was up. Does that make sense?”

“Most of it,” Benny said, trying to process all the information. “Everything makes sense except one thing. Why did you go to the police? Why did you go to the police as the girl who got away?”

“Another good question. I thought I could keep Reverend Jim out of harm’s way with my testimony. I thought the information would keep authorities running in circles for years. I knew Brother Jim was dead, so of course they would never catch him. They would be forever chasing a ghost.”

“And while they were doing that you thought you could change Reverend Jim back to the man he used to be?”

“How did you know?”

“Just a guess. Is there anything else we need to know before we let you slip away?”

“If it’s not too late.”

“What?” Benny said, sensing alarm. “If what’s not too late?”

“Reverend Jim had recently been collecting pictures of your friend.”

“Which one of my friends?”

“Rachael.”

Chapter 32

Benny and Red started running at the same moment. Benny had left his phone in the vehicle. Once at the car, Benny grabbed the phone and dialed Rachael’s number—it went straight to voicemail, which meant it was turned off or dead. Benny rushed out of the lot and headed to the hotel. On the way, he left messages with Ted and Jessica. Dirk actually answered his phone, although it was one in the morning.

“Hey asshole,” Dirk answered.

“I know we have had an up and down relationship,” Benny said, “but I need your help, and I will pay whatever you ask.”

“What do you need?”

“I need to find my friend Rachael.”

“Rachael Martin?”

“Yes. Have you seen her?”

“Yes, and she is fine. Whew! That is one good looking lady.”

“That’s not what I meant. When you put the tracking device on my car, did you happen to put one on hers too?”

“Maybe. Don’t get mad at me again. Sometimes I can’t help myself. I thought you might sometimes be with her, and I just forgot to tell you about that one. She had not rented a car when I did yours, but as soon as she did, I put one on hers too.”