Revenge of the Three (Hand of God) (7 page)

Chapter 17

    
I slept so hard my head was full of weird and crazy dreams, most of which involved the Ghost in some incarnation. In one dream, the Bishop was sitting there watching as the Ghost tortured me by swirling around me so I couldn’t move. The Bishop was sipping on tea saying something like:

             
“Now Charlie my good friend, don’t resist, that will only piss him off.” Even from the Abyss that weirdo still haunts me. Thankfully before any more weird dreams could continue, a noise startled me awake. I shot upright and looked around the dark room. There were footsteps coming from the living room. I stepped out of my bed and headed that way as quietly as I could. Sticking my head through the door, I saw Maria standing next to the couch, looking around.

             
“Maria? What are you doing here? It’s almost 3 am.” She’d never just showed up at my apartment before, and I knew I’d locked the door, so I had no clue how she got in.

             
“Charlie, I couldn’t sleep. I had to see you.”

             
“What’s wrong?” As she moved closer, I saw she was only wearing a tank top and some very short shorts.

             
“I don’t know, I just need to be close to you.” She placed her hand on my chest and ran it down the front of my shirt. I had on a t-shirt and boxers. Her touch sent tingles up my spine. I hadn’t had much experience with girls. It’s not that I didn’t like girls, but with my calling, I just never had much time for them. Not to mention, I was never comfortable being close to girls. In college, there were a few times I’d gone on dates to try and blend in. If things went to third base or further I would freak out. It must be the sociopath in me and the fear of getting close to someone. For some reason, I wasn’t feeling that way with Maria. Being close to her felt natural; it felt good.

             
She reached down and tugged at the bottom of my shirt, pulling it up over my head. I wasn’t sure what to do as she began to kiss my chest and run her hands along my shoulders. Her lips and hands were soft, and smooth. I never had goose bumps before, but she was giving them to me at that moment. She took my hand and put it against her chest as she looked up at me. Her brown eyes almost glowed in the dim light. She reached down and pulled off her tank top, letting it fall to the floor. Her breasts were firm and full as I cupped them with my hands. Her nipples hardened as I massaged them with my thumbs.

             
She pulled my head down to her chest, placing my face between her breasts. I put my mouth over her nipple and began kissing and licking. She let out a sigh as I sucked on it gently, even carefully nibbling it and tugging at it with my teeth. Her sighs became moans as I worked my way to the other one, kissing and nibbling on that nipple as well while massaging the other breast firmly but gently. As I looked up at her, there was hunger in her eyes like I’d never seen before; in anyone. I wondered if that was how I looked when I was about to kill. Whatever that look was, I realized at that moment, Maria was the most beautiful being I had ever seen.

             
She then reached for my boxers and slid her hand inside, taking me in her hands. I had to catch my breath as her fingers wrapped around me, stroking me slowly. In college a few girls had touched me like that, but with very little reaction from me. It had felt weird and awkward at the time. Perhaps it was allowing myself to be vulnerable. This time, it didn’t feel vulnerable at all, it felt amazing. Her fingers worked their way up and down as her eyes remained locked on mine. With her other hand, she slid my boxers all the way off, and cupped my balls in her other hand. I thought I was going to explode right there, but I held it in. She would work her hands on me, building me up until I couldn’t hold it anymore, and then would back off bringing me back down. She repeated this over and over.

             
I leaned down and we kissed and she kept working her hands on me. I could barely breathe as we kissed deeply while I held her face in my hands. The whole thing felt so surreal, it was as if I was sitting outside myself just watching this take place. Even had I wanted to stop, there was no way I could have. Truth is, I don’t know if I wanted this to stop. I had never experienced such a thing. My life had been full of violence and pain, my only rush had come from killing.

             
As we kissed, I slid her shorts off and reached behind her, squeezing her cheeks tightly. They were soft and firm like the rest of her. As I held her, she jumped up, wrapping her legs around my waist. We stood like that, kissing as her arms were wrapped around my shoulders, and legs around my waist. Both my hands were on her ass, pressing her close to me. In that one moment, I wasn’t just myself. We were one flesh, one heartbeat, one being. Whatever it was, before I could overthink it, I turned and carried her to the bedroom.

Chapter 18

I woke up to find Maria getting dressed. I had no clue what had just happened, other than
she and I having sexual experiences that I never knew existed. We had gone beyond the point of complete exhaustion before falling asleep.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Home,” she said as she pulled her shorts up, keeping her back to me.

“What, um, happened last night? What was this?”

“I don’t know. I don’t wanna talk about it.” She pulled her shirt on then turned around. “See you at work later,” she said before leaving. It was baffling to say the least. It served as a good reminder to me as to why I had avoided getting involved with women in the first place. Looking at my clock I saw it was about seven in the morning. I decided to get up and get dressed myself. I realized I was incredibly hungry as I finished dressing. There had to be some bagels in my near future. As I slipped on my shoes, I opened the door and found Maria standing there as if she were about to knock.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Why are there cops all over outside?”

“What cops
, where?” As I spoke, two guys came walking up. It was the same Fed and Texas Ranger who had visited a few days ago.

“Pastor Charlie,” The Ranger said.

“He’s not here.”

“Very funny.” There were several uniformed officers standing behind the two of them.

“Can I help you with something?”

“You can put our hands behind your back and turn around slowly.” Now this wasn’t at all how I had planned my morning.

“Am I under arrest?”

“You are
, indeed. We found a bunch of dead Mexicans in a warehouse. Your fingerprints were all over the place, including the bodies. No telling how they died though.” The FBI Agent, Jenkins then spoke up.

“It looks like a biological attack of some sort. But you already knew that didn’t you?”

“Yeah, you’re right.  I keep my anthrax stash under my mattress—oomph!” The Ranger punched me in the stomach before I could finish.

“You really think you’re funny?” Jenkins continued. “Their means of death is similar to that little church in Palau, same as the dead house of Satanists in El Paso, where your fingerprints were also found.” This was sounding more serious than I had thought. I had gotten sloppy. “But we know you didn’t use any standard weapons and no way you did it with your bare hands. We’ll know in a few days after all the tests come back. But since it appears to be a bio weapon attack, you’re not being charged with murder. You’re being charged with acts of terrorism. Under the Patriot act, we can hold you until we know for sure.”

The two uniformed officers stepped up and placed the handcuffs on me and took me by the arms. I didn’t bother to resist, that would only complicate things further. Still, this was not a good situation. If it was just jail, that was one thing. Since they are invoking the patriot act, no telling where they will take me. I had never worked in government, but I’d heard stories about “suspected terrorists” who just disappeared. Once they had the cuffs on me, they walked me out to a big, black Suburban where I climbed into the back. Maria stood speechless as I walked by her. I wasn’t even sure what to say myself. They were determined to pin some kind of killings on me. Oddly enough of all the people I’d killed, most of what they had on me were people I didn’t even kill. The only exception was the Mexicans, but they had it coming.

As the Suburban began to move, I sat there wondering where they were taking me and what my next move would be. Ranger O’Brien sat in the back with me. His only purpose seemed to be trying to piss me off.

“Yep Charlie. Looks like we got you good this time. Don’t’ worry, rape isn’t as prominent in Federal prison. We keep the crazy ones like you locked up in solitary most of the time. You’ll have plenty of time to jerk yourself off and stare at the ceiling while reading your little Bible. Though your right hand won’t be as good as that sweet brown piece of ass back at your place. But I’m sure I could keep her warm for you in the meantime.

While I wanted to rip out his
Adam’s apple and feed it to him, I kept my cool. I didn’t want him to see that he got to me. I tuned him out as he rambled and decided to imagine holding him down while slicing away the fat from his big belly as he screamed like a little girl. I might even feed the fat to him before I kill him just for my own fun. The zombie treatment would be too good for this asshole. For now I needed to play it cool though. Whether it be here or in prison, when the time was right, I’d make my move. Besides, the Ghost wasn’t going to stop just because I was locked up. They’d either figure out it wasn’t me, or think that I had a partner.

The Suburban came to a stop and we sat for a
while, finally the door swung up en and they came and pulled me out. When I stepped outside, I saw we were outside the Del Rio Federal building.

“Looks like we’re home
, buddy,” O’Brien said as he took me by the arm and walked me inside. This place wasn’t my home, and I bit my lip as we stepped into the cold, concrete building that could end up being my tomb.

Chapter 19

Maria went back to her house
, still in disbelief. The past twenty four hours were almost a blur. Why had she even gone to see Charlie last night, and then slept with him? Then he gets arrested for murder of a group of Mexicans and that church they saw on TV. He was at the funeral home with her when it happened. How could he have done that? He was always so quiet and gentle. She couldn’t imagine him harming anyone. As she pulled into her driveway she parked and placed her head into her hands. The world seemed to be spinning Ever since Charlie had left for El Paso, she hadn’t felt like herself.

She went into her house and undressed as she headed straight to the shower. As the warm water poured over her, she tried to clear her mind and take in the events of the previous night.
Why would I sleep with Charlie?
I care about him, but do I love him? We’ve never been like that.
Turning off the water, she stepped out, toweled off and began getting dressed. Her morning ritual of preparing for the day would help clear her mind. It still worried her. She had always been in control of herself. She always took pride in not being a “crazy chick.” She never blamed hormones for erratic behavior, and always kept herself together.

Maria didn’t have time for emotions most of the time. She kept them in check so she could do what needed to be done. This time it was hard
, though. Watching Charlie being dragged away in handcuffs was bad enough. The fact that they had the FBI, Texas Rangers and enough uniformed cops there to take down a small army made it much worse. Why would they need so much firepower, just to pick up Charlie? It made her wonder what he was really doing in El Paso. Charlie had always been a private person and she always respected his privacy. Now, she wished she’d asked more questions. Was Charlie really a murderer? He didn’t seem the type, but, then, Dahmer or Bundy probably didn’t, either.

Maria
decided she needed to find out just what was going on with Charlie. The first thing to do was to talk to that Ranger who had arrested Charlie. He was disgusting, but she felt like she could get him to fill her in at least. She looked through her purse and found his business card and dialed the number. He picked up on the fourth ring.

“Ranger O’Brien?” She said.

“Yes Ma’am.”

“This is Maria Salazar. I was there this morning when you arrested Charlie Sims.”

“Yes, I remember.”

“I was wondering if I could talk to you about him. I have no idea what is going on.”

“Well, it’s still an open investigation. But we could use a statement from you anyway. Can you be at the Federal building in an hour?

“Yes, that’s fine.” She hung up and headed to her car. It would only take twenty minutes or so to get there, so she figured she’d stop and eat something on the way. There was a Starbucks nearby,
so she hit the drive through and grabbed a frozen hazelnut latte and a bagel. With something finally in her stomach, as well as some caffeine, she felt like she was ready to take on whatever O’Brien threw at her today. She also had to brace herself for whatever she found out about her good friend.

Once at the Federal building, she walked to the lobby and checked in. After a few minutes, Ranger O’Brien came out and walked her to a small office. There, Agent Jenkins was also waiting.

“Hello Ms. Salazar,” Jenkins said.

“Hi.” She looked around. “So what’s going on with Charlie?”

“Well miss, your friend Charlie is in a lot of trouble. You remember all those people who died at the Alamodome a few years ago in San Antonio?”

“Yes, Charlie said he knew people there.”

Jenkins then went on to explain how the church members in Palau, Mexico died in a similar fashion. They had no link to Charlie on that one. However, they found three dead Mexicans, all of which had cartel ties, dead in a warehouse. They had Charlie’s fingerprints all over them, and they also died in a mysterious manner. Then there were the dead Satanists in El Paso, also with Charlie’s prints at the scene.”

             
“Wait a minute,” Maria objected. “Satanists?”

             
“That’s what they called themselves. Not Wiccan, or pagans or anything else, but full-fledged Satanists. The main guy, Armando Gutierrez has been involved with that scene for a long time. There was another set of prints we couldn’t identify. Someone who was probably with Charlie. Any idea who that might be?”

             
She thought for a moment about Charlie’s friend “Dennis” who was supposedly in trouble.

             
“He said his friend from college, Dennis, was in trouble. Said he had to go to El Paso to help him out of whatever jam he was in,” she said.

             
“Did he say anything else? What kind of trouble?”

             
“No, he didn’t say. Look, I’ve known Charlie for a few years. He’s harmless. He would never hurt anyone. I don’t know if he’s even capable.”

             
“You never actually know someone,” Jenkins said. “I’ve been at this job for twenty years. I’ve caught mass murderers, serial killers, terrorists, you name it. Every time, their friends and family said they weren’t capable.”

             
“Charlie would always say things are never what they seem,” she said.

             
“Charlie was probably warning you about himself.”

             
“So, now what happens?”

             
“Well, it’s still an ongoing case. Since we are working under the Patriot act, we have enough to hold him while we continue the investigation. Do you know anything else about this Dennis fellow? Have you met him?”

             
“He came by once, but all I know is his first name.”

             
“Could you describe him to a sketch artist?”

             
“I think so.”

             
“Great, I’ll have our artist meet with you. Thank you for your help Maria. I’m just glad we got him before he hurt someone else.” He stood, straightened his tie and stepped out of the office. As she sat, waiting on the sketch artist, she kept wondering how much of what Charlie had told her was true. Was everything he said a lie? Something in her mind spoke to her. It wasn’t a random thought, it was an audible voice, as if someone were literally inside her head. It was the same voice that told her to go see Charlie the night before. Her head hurt every time it spoke.

             
Maria, everything Charlie told you is a lie. Charlie is a lie. He will be destroyed.

             
As the voice spoke, she closed her eyes and a tear ran down her cheek. Something deep inside her told her the voice she was hearing was right, and that voice was not going anywhere any time soon.

Chapter 20

             
They stuck me in a holding cell somewhere at least three floors below ground level. I never knew there was a Federal prison here in Del Rio, but I suppose technically there wasn’t. This place was off the grid. The cell was dark, cold, and smelled like piss. I sat on the canvas bunk bed and glanced that the stainless steel toilet attached to the wall. Fortunately, I didn’t have a cell mate. It was just me alone.

             
I looked around at some of the other cells, but didn’t see anyone else. I didn’t know if this was a temporary holding area, or a long term housing for people like me. Being so deep below the ground in a cage was another form of being buried alive. I tried not to laugh at the irony. After all of the things I’d done to people over the years, I supposed this would be a suitable way for me to meet my end; kind of like being in the abyss before the Abyss. I sure wasn’t expecting Lucifer or anyone else to show up here. They had me locked away tight. Before I could think too hard, I lay down on the bunk and dozed off.

             
I don’t know how long I’d been asleep when a guard came by and shoved a plastic tray through the little door in my cell.