Shadow of Death, page 12
Amy hoped they’d eventually find the body of the “minister” Mateus. It would help to get a jump-start on the men.
But Peggy shook her head, frowning. “When we met...he just went by Mateus. We never called him Father Mateus, but Martin was introduced to us as Brother Martin. We just... I don’t know. I guess it sounds stupid. Oh, my God, now everything about this sounds stupid. We were stupid. Horribly stupid. I hope Bret sees it. I never thought...in a thousand years, I never thought anyone would hurt my son! When I saw he would have killed Brian, it was as if something in my mind exploded, and... I never believed he would shoot me for that matter. But he did it to escape! Martin wanted others to sacrifice, but he just wanted to escape! How could I have been so blind?” she asked a little desperately.
“We all want something better—we all want to believe,” Amy murmured.
“I never saw the hypocrisy,” Peggy murmured. “I will help you now, in any way. I mean, I don’t know much, but they talked about the fact they had saved others. Bret and I hadn’t been with the assembly that long. Others might know more about anything that went on before. I know how stupid I sound now, and it may be hard to believe this, but it was the most loving group of people. Polite, kind, courteous... We would go to the cliff and sing, listen to scripture... Oh, God. I guess scripture can be interpreted in many ways.” She tried to sit up, but the pain was too much and she fell back, saying, “Please believe me. We were there. We fell for the words told to us. We believed the young woman had begged for help—”
“What?”
“We were told she had come to Mateus, knowing the Apocalypse was coming, and she knew how grossly she had sinned and begged him to save her soul.”
“By being stabbed through the heart?”
Peggy shook her head. “I—I didn’t know what he was going to do, but...even if I had realized then what he was doing, I would have believed in his love for his fellow man. I didn’t see... I honestly didn’t see anything until Martin threatened to shoot Brian. And I am humiliated to say this, but if I would have known then—realized then—how horrible it all was, I think I would have been afraid to protest—even before Martin and others showed they were armed.”
Amy produced a card. “Fear can be powerful,” Amy told her. “And I don’t know exactly what charges will be filed, but I’m sure the DA will acknowledge the fact you’re trying to cooperate. And I will call your sister. If you can give me her contact information, I will make sure we reach her.”
“Thank you, thank you!”
Peggy accepted Amy’s card and the pen and notepad Amy handed her. She jotted down her sister’s name and phone number and handed the little pad back to Amy.
“Thank you,” she said again.
The doctor was standing in the doorway. Amy knew she needed to leave so the patient could rest.
“I’ll check up on you and keep you informed,” Amy told her. She glanced toward the doorway and smiled. “Your doctor told me you should make a full recovery.”
“I’m grateful,” she said softly.
Amy smiled and left the room. She thanked the doctor again and looked for the agent sent to keep guard over the woman.
As Andy Mason had promised, a man was in a chair by the door. They acknowledged one another, and Amy headed on out while dialing Hunter as she did so.
He answered her immediately—just saying her name.
“Amy.”
“Are you at headquarters? Andy told me you were with Brian.”
“No, we’re not at headquarters. Yes, I am with Brian.”
And that was why he was speaking so carefully.
“I just saw Peggy Johnston,” Amy said. “You can tell Brian his mother is going to make a full recovery. She’ll just need a little time.”
“Thank God,” Hunter murmured. She heard him talking to the boy. “This is my friend, Amy. She’s at the hospital. She saw your mom. She’s going to be fine when she’s had a bit of a chance to recover.”
Amy heard a soft sob, and Hunter was quiet for a minute. She winced and worried about the connection he must have been feeling with Brian Johnston.
She knew when he was a child Hunter had come upon the body of a woman who had questioned the head of a cult. He had to feel Brian’s pain.
“Hunter? I’m going to head back in now. I have a little information. Apparently, that cliff was their church. Peggy didn’t know anything about Mateus or Martin—other than when they had met, they had both seemed to offer nothing but love and kindness toward others.”
“Heard that story before,” Hunter murmured. “Anyway, agents have corralled several of the participants in today’s almost-sacrifice. We’ll get something from someone.”
“Right. So—why aren’t you back at the office?”
“Because Brian is helping me explore the area.”
“I see.” She didn’t really see at all.
“Brian is helping me. He thinks he may know where they might have hidden Mateus. The, uh, man you shot who was going to kill the girl.”
“Oh,” she said. She still didn’t really see. How might the boy know? Of course, she knew she had killed the man.
And his body had disappeared.
“We’re looking for his body,” he said very quietly. “We’ll head straight back when we leave here,” Hunter told her.
“Right. Of course. All right, I’m going in now, so I’ll be there.”
He didn’t reply. Amy thought she had lost the connection. She frowned, and said, “Hunter?”
He was still there. When he spoke, his voice was taut and his words were hard.
“Amy, I’ll call you back. I think we might have found a body. In fact, I’m afraid we might have found several bodies.”
8
How the hell long had these killers been at it? Was there one leader jerking around the rest, or were several people handling the puppet strings of mind manipulation to kill, then disposing of some bodies in mud pits and others here—deep in a crevice of the cliffs where it was going to be a master engineering feat for medical examiners to begin to evaluate the dead?
Hunter drew Brian away from the crevice in the cliff as quickly as he could. He looked at the boy’s face and saw he appeared to be in shock.
“Were you here before, Brian?” he asked.
Brian shook his head, pointing back toward the path. “My dad pointed over here...saying it was where God would recover those who had been helped. And I figured that...if God would find souls there, then...”
He turned away, falling to his knees on the ground, his hands on his face. He was sobbing. “I swear, they’re not bad! My parents aren’t bad people. They...they’re...not bad!”
They weren’t necessarily bad people. Hunter knew far too many truly decent human beings who had fallen into cults, into a manner of mind control. First, a leader just needed to seek out the disenfranchised, those feeling a little lost by casual cruelty found in society. Friendship, love, and kindness were all offered. Equality was a given. Then bit by bit, it became obvious the love was offered with greater fervor to those who worked the hardest, who shouted the leader’s name the loudest, who obeyed without question. For those who dared to disagree...
Jonestown. One example of what could happen.
And here...this. Not the death of cult members, per se. Unless they chose to leave or disobey, Hunter imagined. Or maybe, in the end, all were intended to die in a strange pact before the “End of Days” fell upon them. Convincing others to murder on such a scale as a way to save the souls of sinners was beyond heinous.
He set his arm around Brian. The Voltaire quote kept ceaselessly running through his mind.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
And atrocities were certainly being committed.
“Brian,” he said, hunkering down by the boy. “No kid should ever have to see something like this, and I am so sorry. I believe you and your parents were swept into something that...well...that was cruel and evil at the utmost, but they didn’t know that.” In truth, he had no idea just what Brian’s parents had thought or known. But the boy had suffered enough traumas for one day.
He’d hung up on Amy, but not before telling her to reach Andy Mason and warn him they were going to need a small army to begin to remove the bodies pressed down into the deep crevice in the rocks. He thought Mateus, whoever he might really be, had to be the last broken and twisted form stuffed down the opening. But below him were another five or six individuals. He’d wanted to get Brian away, but in the bit of time he’d had to glance downward, he’d gathered they were in various stages of decomposition. The crevice, like the mud pits, had been a disposal ground for some time.
“Brian, come on, let’s get back to the trail. We’ll meet up with a few of my coworkers, and then I’ll get you back to headquarters.”
Brian nodded, allowing Hunter to help him to his feet and lead him back to the trail. By the time he did so, he saw another group of agents had been sent out and were hurrying up to meet him. He pointed out the crevice and warned they were probably going to need a fair amount of equipment to begin to extract the dead. The team leader nodded and assured him they were going to make the assessment. The medical examiners and personnel were on the way, and they could handle the situation from there.
Grateful, Hunter got Brian down from the cliffs and to his car. The boy hadn’t spoken again.
Hunter knew he probably was too close to the situation, but then again who could understand what this kid was feeling better than him?
Brian had stopped sobbing and sat in the passenger’s seat staring straight ahead.
“You’re going to be all right,” Hunter told him quietly.
Brian didn’t look his way. He winced. “My folks...” He broke off and turned to Hunter. “Will I get to see them again?”
“I’m sure you’ll get to see them again. I’m not a lawyer, Brian. I’m not sure what happens now. I believe there will be charges. The good news is your mom is going to be okay, and I believe they are good people swept up into something bad. But you saw that right away, Brian. You were wise for your years. I know you’re going to be strong—you’re going to help them. And in the end, it’s going to be okay.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am sure.”
“How?” the boy whispered.
“Because I’ve been where you are,” Hunter said. “Almost exactly where you are. And I’m okay. Trust in us, please. The head man out here—Andy Mason—will see to it you’re taken care of, and we’ll hope your Aunt Violet will help out.”
“She probably hates us all with good reason.”
“You’d be surprised how forgiving people can be.”
In truth, he had no idea. He could only hope Brian’s Aunt Violet was a forgiving soul, and hoped she did love the boy. Otherwise...
Foster parents often got a bad rap. But if Andy Mason said he knew a good woman with children’s services, then whatever happened, Brian would be okay.
He turned to Brian. “Hey, it was horrible, I’m sorry you saw what we saw. But you were a tremendous help today. We will be able to trace people, to put a stop to a lot of horrible things because of you.”
Brian looked at him hopefully.
Hunter tousled his hair.
“I don’t know how everything will work out yet, Brian. But you’re a pretty amazing kid. And you’re going to be all right.”
They were almost at the local headquarters.
When Hunter had parked, Brian looked worriedly at the building.
“It’s okay. I promise,” Hunter said. And he believed his promise. Andy Mason ran a tight ship, and he was a man good for his word.
He set his hand on Brian’s shoulder and led the way in. Andy himself was there to greet them as soon as they entered along with a woman who was perhaps in her midthirties with a quick, friendly smile, bright green eyes, and a professional demeanor.
“Brian, right?” she said, greeting the boy. “We’ve already located and spoken with your Aunt Violet, and she’s going to be here pretty soon. And Assistant Director in charge here, Andy Mason, has already arranged you’ll get to see your mom tonight. Oh, I’m sorry! I’m Belinda Montgomery, and I’m here just for you, to help you with anything you need.” She flashed Hunter a quick smile, assuring him she was the real thing and was telling the truth.
“You found Aunt Violet,” he said. “Great. And she—”
“She’s on her way here,” Andy said. “Belinda has a pack of computer games and other things to occupy Brian while we work out some kinks. You’ll be able to speak with Violet when she arrives. She’s anxious to meet you—the agent who saved her sister and nephew.”
“Well, that’s nice. I’m just sorry we’ll meet due to her sister being shot,” Hunter said. “I’ll be glad to speak with her. Amy is here, right?” he asked.
Andy nodded. “Conference room three,” he said, looking at Hunter with a slight indication of his head toward Brian.
He didn’t want the kid to know his father was in there being grilled, as many suspects and/or witnesses referred to an interrogation.
“Brian—”
“I’ll be fine—Ms. Montgomery seems very nice,” Brian said.
“Well, thank you!” Belinda Montgomery said. “You don’t know me yet, but I promise I’ll try to live up to that opinion!” She smiled and ushered Brian off. She told him she’d set up a game system in one of the conference rooms, and she was ready to beat the pants off him in something called Wicked Wanda Wars. He grinned and assured her he’d beat her instead.
“I’m thinking the kid has had enough already,” Andy said.
“Thanks,” Hunter murmured. “I’ll join Amy, if I may.”
“Sure. I know how you must feel, though. Don’t leap across the table to throttle the father, huh?”
“I will be the height of professionalism,” Hunter said.
“I don’t know about that. Just don’t throttle our witness in there.”
A witness who had brought a child to a murder scene.
But no. It might take some effort, but he’d been at this game a while. He wasn’t going to throttle anyone.
He entered the room, and found Amy and Bret Johnston were in there alone seated across from one another. Bret Johnston was not in handcuffs. He was under arrest and would be held in a federal facility until he was arraigned and faced trial for accessory to attempted murder. But Hunter was certain the man hadn’t had to be told his cooperation was something a judge would take into consideration.
They also had to worry as well about his safety, and the safety of his wife and child, and that of the others who were scooped up from the cliffs.
They’d learned cult leaders could be vindictive. And with this group, the priest or shaman or whatever name he used, Mateus had already convinced his flock murder was a holy thing if they were taking on the sins of those being murdered.
That would come later.
He pulled out a chair and took the seat next to Amy and stared at Bret Johnston.
Johnston looked at him nervously, looked back at Amy, and swallowed hard. “I am telling Special Agent Larson everything that I know!” he swore.
Amy looked at Hunter. “Problem is, he doesn’t know much.”
“We thought... All right, all right, so it started with Brian,” Johnston said.
He was not going to leap across the table and throttle the man. He had promised.
“Brian?” he repeated, and he knew the sound of his voice was like a cannon. “Don’t even try to blame participation in a heinous murder on an eleven-year-old boy!” he said. His words were tense as he leaned forward. “That is one great kid, and you...”
He sat back. Apparently, Johnston hadn’t asked for an attorney. He didn’t want to be the straw that broke the camel’s back and have Johnston suddenly deciding not to talk.
“No, no, no!” Johnston said quickly, glancing at Amy. “At school. Some of the kids were being jerks to him. Bullying is a big problem these days, and Brian... Well, he could just let anything slough off his shoulders, but I was worried. We were at a festival and we met Mateus. He was great! There was one of those water-shooting booths—and as we watched, we saw Mateus lose on purpose, letting Brian win. He talked to us after, and we wound up talking about kids, and how cruel they could be. He mentioned our church was great and casually said he was a minister himself at his own nondenominational church. He said his flock was amazing. The kids were homeschooled, and all learned to be good to one another because they had so many activities. And we met people, and they did have all sorts of fun activities. Mateus knew how to be around kids of all ages. We took Brian out of public school and started up ourselves. Mateus was fantastic in the way he taught the kids about the cliffs, about God’s beauty in nature, and how kindness was the greatest thing asked of us. Then...” He paused, wincing. “We’d all been through so much—the whole world, I guess, with disease ravaging the planet. When he told us there were signs, there had been signs already, and the black horse of the Apocalypse came to him each night...we believed.”
“Were you involved with any of the murders at the pits by the river?” Amy asked quietly. “Trying to save sinners?”
Hunter didn’t think an Oscar-winning actor could have pulled off Bret Johnston’s look of stunned confusion.
“What? Oh! Right, yes, I mean no! No, no, no! I heard about it on the news, but... Oh, God, no! This was the first that we saw anyone about to be hurt—hurt, yeah, sorry, brutally murdered—but we really did believe she needed to be saved. It wasn’t just what she did for a living... I mean, she didn’t have to. Her father is richer than Midas, but she wanted to put herself through school, and that was a sin of pride. Mateus said she defiled her heart, mind, and body. But with the End of Days so close and coming on, she had realized her ways. She had come to him.” He shook his head. “He made us believe!” he whispered.
