Authors: Angella Graff
“Deal,” Stella said.
Ben hung up without saying goodbye and quickly pulled up the internet on his phone. He grabbed the first airline that came up and after going through the seemingly endless loop of the automated system, he was on with a live person who was able to book him a flight that left at six pm. It wasn’t ideal, but it was going to get him to San Francisco that night, and that would have to be good enough.
True to her word, Stella showed up just as Ben had confirmed his flight, and she got out of the car, her heels clicking on the pavement as she hurried over. She looked a little frazzled, her hair having fallen out of her neat bun, and fell in waves around her shoulders and back.
Her cheeks were somewhat pink from rushing across the busy parking lot and when she reached Ben, she was slightly out of breath. “I got the credit card reports back,” she said, pulling out her cell phone. “They were uploaded to my email address, and we found the cards were last used this morning in a small town in Washington called Kelton. It’s also the place where we have the latest documented information of cult activity.”
Ben frowned and took a step back. “What do you mean cult activity? Like devil worshipers?”
Stella let out a small laugh. “Sometimes, but usually it’s a bunch of hippies preaching free love and energy healing. Sometimes it’s polygamists, sometimes it’s the more dangerous drink-my-special-juice types of cults. There are a couple of government agencies who keep tabs on those sorts of things, and occasionally we get red flags if things start to look like they’re going to go south.”
“Why didn’t I know about this?” Ben asked.
“Because it tends to be associated with missing persons, not dead bodies. It’s only the really insane ones, where everyone lights themselves on fire, or drinks poison that you’d hear about it, and it’s the agency’s job to stop that before it gets there,” Stella answered with a shrug.
Ben sighed and scratched the back of his head. “So what? This Shawn kid started a cult?”
“No idea,” Stella said, “but I spoke with the Kelton County Sheriff Department and they were able to confirm a young man matching his description traveling with one other person who also fit the description of a man who went missing a few days ago from a hospital in San Francisco,” Stella said. “I don’t remember his name, but it’s in the email somewhere. Anyway, it’s at least worth checking out. Cults are responsible for a lot of missing people, and if we get to them in time, we’ll have a few less homicide cases in your inbox.”
Ben let out a breath. “Okay, let’s go inside and see what we can find. My flight leaves at six, so I have a few hours before I need to jet over to the airport.”
Stella smiled and led the way inside. Back at her desk, Ben took a seat off to the side and Stella fired up the computer. “I’m going to print out the emails I have available with all of the information on them and you can take them back to your office. I’m not sure that I can go any further on this case with you, but I’ll back you if you want to get a team together to check this place out.”
“I might,” Ben said as he thought about his sister, and what might possibly be going on. “These cults, they’re all into that brainwashing stuff, aren’t they?”
“Some are,” Stella said with a shrug. “Why?”
“Well,” Ben said and he hesitated. “Things have been a little weird since I got on this case. This Mark character who works with my sister has some ridiculous ideas about what is going on with the John Doe, the doctor, Asclepius, is a little off, and I got this phone call telling me something’s happened to my sister. I’m getting a little nervous that if this is cult activity, these two clowns may be involved and dragging my sister along with them.”
Stella let out a breath, her chin on her hand, elbow resting on the desk, and she was looking at Ben with half-lidded eyes. “I wish I had more experience with cult activity and cult members to give you some sort of warning signs, but anything I know, I’ve learned from internet browsing.”
Ben smiled a half-smile and nodded. “I know what you mean. Either way, I’m going to check this out and I’ll be in touch if I need help with a team. You’re right about needing to move quickly on it, if I can get this John Doe out of there as quickly as possible, we may be able to close up my homicide cases as well.”
“Oh,” Stella said, holding up her hand. She threw open her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper with a state seal stamped on the bottom. “This is for Mark, by the way.”
Ben grabbed it and squinted at the writing. It looked like some sort of custody order. “What is this?”
“Mark petitioned for the release of John Doe into his custody once John Doe was given a medical release. He was denied twice, so I called in a favor.”
Ben felt his face grow hot. “Why? Why would you do that?”
Stella folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I realize he seems a little off to you, but he checked out.”
“You don’t think it’s weird that he wants custody of some comatose homeless guy?”
“The guy was suffering stigmata wounds, Ben,” she said with a shrug. “If you look into the legal history of the Catholic Church, you’ll see that this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. They probably think the guy’s a saint or something. Either way, they’re able to financially care for the guy, and it takes responsibility off of the state for the medical bills. It’s hard to say no, and unless you can give me a reason why Mark shouldn’t have custody of this guy, I’m for it.”
“What if he’s mixed up in the cult?” Ben countered, feeling frustrated and helpless in the situation. He wasn’t quite sure why he was so determined to keep John Doe away from Mark, but something about it made him uneasy.
“Look, I really doubt it. The guy’s a total fob, without any sort of criminal history, and a long history with the church.”
You have no idea how long he claims,
Ben thought, but he kept that to himself. “What’s a fob?” he asked instead.
“Fresh off the boat,” Stella said with a little laugh. “It’s something us first generation immigrants use to describe people new to America. He’s probably a good guy, and you’re probably just being a little over protective.”
Ben let out a small sigh. There was no way he was going to be able to tell her about Mark’s claim, or about Greg’s slip into multiple personality disorder, or about the claim that his sister was now being possessed by ancient Greek gods who were still roaming the earth in a form of incorporeal consciousness.
“Well if I find anything suspicious I’m going to file charges against him and have this power of attorney revoked,” Ben vowed.
“If you do find something suspicious I should hope you would,” Stella said. She got up, walked to her printer and picked up the stack of papers. “Take these with you and make sure you don’t skip anything. We don’t know what information will be most prevalent, especially when dealing with a possible cult scenario. I’ve put a red flag on Thompson’s credit card, so it won’t be declined, but it will immediately notify both myself and your department of usage.”
“Good,” Ben said as he slipped the papers into an empty file that was lying on Stella’s desk. He checked his watch and saw he still had a couple of hours before he had to be on a plane. “Got time to grab a cup of coffee with me before I have to take off?”
Stella smiled at him and crossed her arms. “Only if it’s a date.”
“Wouldn’t that be unprofessional?”
“Wouldn’t that be interesting if that mattered?” It was her sleepy wink that won Ben over in that moment.
~*~
Ben didn’t enjoy flying much, nor did he enjoy any version of airport food and drink. The liquor was overpriced, the food was stale and fried, and the company was dreary and a little depressing. Still, having a glass of wine in the airport bar with Stella before he was set for take-off wasn’t the worst thing.
The pair had stopped by his hotel so he could grab his bags before taking off, and Stella spent a few minutes poking around the small room. “Not bad for one of the cheap-o places.”
Ben shrugged as he shoved his discarded sleep shirt into his bag. “No roaches, no bedbug bites, so it was good enough for me.”
“Bed comfortable?” she asked, pressing down on the mattress.
“Why do you ask?”
Stella gave him a little wink and a shrug. “Oh just wondering. Pity we don’t have more time.”
Ben blushed and did his best to keep his libido in check. It had been a very long time since he’d been even remotely intimate with a woman, and he was really starting to like Stella. “Uh yeah,” was all he could manage.
She let out a peal of laughter and shook her head. “More incentive to travel up your way.”
It was one of those moments where Ben knew if he kissed her that would be it. End game. They would end up in bed, he would miss his flight, and while it was all overly appealing, the thought of his sister in danger was enough to keep his desires in check.
Stella seemed to pout a little as Ben checked out of the room, but she didn’t press the issue much. By the time they got to the bar, the tension between the two of them had faded enough to be considered tolerable, and though Stella made it a point to touch his arm and hand every so often, the mood between them was relaxed.
“So did you mean what you said?” Ben asked after his second glass of wine. “You really ever plan to visit?”
“Depends on if your place has enough space for one more,” Stella said with a sly wink. “Think you can handle a house guest?”
“Well, I’ll have to hide my extensive porn collection, but other than that, I think we’d be okay,” Ben joked.
Stella let out a little giggle, her cheeks a bit pink from the wine, and she reached, her warm fingers lying across the back of his hand. “You know, I heard you were a real douche, Detective Stanford, but I’m starting to think people have a really poor judge of character.”
“Most do,” Ben said, “but they’re right sometimes. I can be a real douche. I just… I don’t know, I seem to like you, I guess.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said slowly.
“Do,” Ben replied in the same, low voice.
Stella licked her lips and stared at him, her eyes almost seeming to glow. She blinked a few times and then broke their stare. “So did you mean the invite?”
“Look, I don’t say things I don’t mean,” Ben said in a serious tone. “That’s why everyone thinks I’m such an ass most of the time. I don’t like to play games, and I get tired of people who do. I’m not very tactful, so if you wake up in the morning and ask me if you look like a goddess, I’m probably going to say no.”
Stella seemed a little surprised at his honesty, but smiled. “I gotcha.”
“If that scares you off, better to do it now,” Ben said, feeling like he may have crossed a line with her. Stella may have been a detective, but she was also a woman, and Ben knew damn well women liked to be complimented no matter what they looked like. One of the reasons he failed so often at being a “good” boyfriend.
“It doesn’t,” Stella said. “I’m just not used to being talked to that way. But it’s okay,” she added, waving her hand, “I kind of like it.”
“Sadist,” he said playfully.
“I can be,” she answered in a tone Ben couldn’t decipher as honest or joking. “Keep in touch, won’t you?”
Ben looked at his watch and realized that he’d either missed the first boarding call, or he was about to hear it. Luckily the line for security was very small, so he slapped some cash onto the table and hopped down from the bar stool.
Stella followed him to the short line where only an elderly couple stood ahead of him. He set his bag down at his feet and turned to look at her. She looked pretty right then, her hair a little bit of a mess, and her lips pale and dry, but it meant her outside beauty was natural, and Ben rather liked that about her.