Cleansing

by Roy A. Teel, Jr.

  John stepped back as a deputy approached and said, “I’m a federal agent, and I’m here on federal business. There will be no touching me. Are we clear?” The deputy backed up and waited for Alan to make the next move. John’s imposing figure towered over all of the men in the room, and Alan said, “We have rules, Agent Swenson, and you are not above those rules.” John looked Alan straight in the eye and said, “I’m a federal agent here on federal business. All of this is my jurisdiction. If you want to keep being a smartass, I can make a call to the governor or better yet Washington, and we will see how fast you end up with your ass in a sling.” Spaulding backed away from John and said to Jim, “Who the fuck is this guy? He’s got dead fuckin’ eyes.”

  Jim said, “Don’t press him, Alan. Agent Swenson has a tremendous amount of pull in state and federal government. He could literally make you a jailer again in LA if you bust his balls.” Spaulding waived off his men and said, “Captain Rains will escort you from here.” Spaulding shook Jim’s hand and told him it was good to see him. He tried to stare down John but could not hold eye contact. Rains said, “I will escort you to the PHU, the Protective Housing Unit. This part of the prison is top secret and under heavy, heavy security.” John replied as he and Jim followed, “I know all about this unit, Captain. I know more about who’s in the unit and why than you ever will.” Rains looked at John and said, “I have no doubt, Agent Swenson. On that, I have no doubt.”

  They walked to Rains’ car and drove the whole of the prison until they reached PHU. Rains parked, and they were waved through. “This is a prison within a prison,” he said. They walked through several more security checkpoints until they were in front of unit 4A. There was a giant mural, some thirty feet wide, with an eagle with its talons out and an American flag for wings flying over the ocean with the words ‘Remember 9/11’ written under it. Jim looked at John and whispered, “This is way too fuckin’ creepy, man. Did they know the Eagle was coming?” John made no movement. He waited to be let into the unit. They passed through the final entrance to the PHU and stenciled above the entrance were the words, ‘Warning – No Warning Shots.’ Jim looked at Rains and asked, “If they run, you kill?” Rains nodded as the door opened, and the men entered.

  They followed Rains through a labyrinth of cells, all steel, all sealed off, and very quiet. Rains walked up to a door at the end of the hall and said, “Richards is in there. You will be watched by cameras as well as three duty officers.” The door opened, and there were two deputies inside on each side of the door. There was a small steel table with two chairs.

  John looked at Jim and said, “Take care of the guards.” Jim walked out of the room with Rains, and a few minutes later the two guards were ordered to stand outside the room. John pulled a small black box from his pocket, and with a few quick adjustments the cameras in the room were set to loop as soon as Richards was brought in. Jim walked back in and asked, “Do you want me in here?” John shook his head.

  Jim turned to leave when a rear door opened and Richards was brought in in full restraints. Richards saw him and said, “Officer Jim O’Brian. What the hell are you doing here?” Richards let out a laugh, and Jim looked at him and said, “Long time no see, Bruno. How they treating you?” The men shared a laugh, and Jim walked out.

  Richards sat across from John and looked long and hard into his eyes as the deputies were leaving. “Don’t you fuckin’ leave me in here…for God’s sake, don’t you fuckin’ leave me in here with this monster!” The steel door slammed as the Iron Eagle stared into the eyes of Bruno Richards, only Richards refused to stare back.

  Chapter Seven

  “Lisa is a good soldier for God.

  She will get us our next soul.”

  Jade called to Jessica several times, but there had been no response. She walked the corridors of the coroner’s building because Jessica wasn’t in her office. She had given up and stopped to use the bathroom before putting out a building wide APB when she heard crying coming from the end stall. Jade walked slowly back to the stall and knocked on the door. “Jess, are you in there?” “Um…yeah…I’m sorry. Did you need me for something?” Jade called her out, and Jessica came out with her face streaked by mascara and tears. “What the hell is going on?” Jessica walked over to one of the sinks and began to wash her face. “Nothing, Jade, nothing. Just a wash of really, really bad memories.” “Is this connected to that Arnest guy?” Jessica finished washing her face and dried it with some towels and then put her hands on the sink and looked hard into the mirror. Jade knew the signs all too well, and she said, “You were the girl in the story.”

  Jessica looked into the mirror as if there were answers in the reflection. She nodded slowly as a tear ran down her face. “Why lie to me, Jessica? I know your life. I know your past. Why didn’t you tell me that it was you?” Jade waited for a response. “There are some memories that are better left buried, Jade. You don’t know what it’s like. You have no fuckin’ idea what it’s like to allow strange men and women to use your body for their satisfaction. To be a human toilet, a receptacle for their semen, piss, shit, spit, or anything else they decide they want to put in you. I lived five years on those streets. I survived by being the hooker that any person could do anything with and to. If there is a way to have sex, I have done it. Threesome, four, five, six, eight, ten men and up all at the same time. I have been the favor at more bizarre sex parties than I care to remember. I did it because others wouldn’t. I did it because it made me a valuable commodity on the street and kept me in demand. I was paid handsomely to allow my body to be used by people with no questions asked. But seeing that guy again…seeing that FREAK…took me back to a dark place that I thought I had escaped.”

  Jade walked over and put her hands on Jessica’s shoulders, “You’re right. I have no idea what you went through or the things that you have endured. But they’re in the past. You’re safe and with me. And John, Jim, Sara, and Barbara truly love and care for you.” Jessica dried her eyes and said, “I know that, but there are moments like this one that remind me that I’m only one slip, error, or disagreement from being back in that life again. A life that I swore when I first met Jim that I loved. A life that in its own way, at that time, I did love. Because in those moments, I was the center of attention no matter how cruel, and I was also in control a lot of the time.”

  Jade walked into a stall and said, “Did I tell you that I had sex with John, Sara, and Gail Hoffman after Steve died?” There was a moment of silence, and Jessica said, “NO! You never mentioned it. Was it good? I bet John’s HUGE!” Jade laughed and said, “Yes…it was great, and John is HUGE! But it wasn’t about that. It was about an intimacy that I had never experienced. It was a lovely intimate night that will never happen again. I do have the memories, though, and they will be with me for the rest of my life.”

  Jade walked out and started to wash her hands. “So, how does you getting off on a sexual fantasy help me?” Jade was drying her hands and said, “It doesn’t directly. It’s just a reminder to you that life moves pretty fast, and good and bad things happen. Did I tell you that my husband and his children from another marriage died in the LA fires several years ago?” Jessica shook her head slowly. “Well, they were. I didn’t know for several weeks, and when I found out, I found out by doing the autopsy on my husband.” Jessica froze. “Bad shit happens to us in life, Jessica. We have to learn from it and move on. We are women. We will always be subordinate to men. It’s just a fact of life. We can only hope that we get lucky enough to find men like John Swenson and Jim O’Brian who will love us for who we are and listen to and respect us. Outside of that, there is nothing we can do to change the past. All we can do is learn from it.”

  Jessica stood up straight and said, “I had no idea you had been through so much. I guess we are kindred spirits.” Jade nodded and asked, “There is more about Arnest, isn’t there?” Jessica nodded. “What is it?” “He’s a really, really good speaker. V
ery, very convincing. He confessed to me one night after he had finished with me that he used to be a follower of Bruno Richards. He told me that he lived with the family in the Simi Valley Mountains near Box Canyon in the sixties and early seventies.” Jade looked at her with a confused look on her face. “Was he involved in any of the killings?” Jessica got a strange look on her face. “I didn’t even know who Richards was. I had to ask around. When I did learn, it scared the hell out of me. One night when we were finished, he was talking about the family and told me that he was working with a new movement, a movement of peace and cleansing. He said that they were working to usher in the second coming of Jesus, and that I needed to get right with God.”

  Jade looked at Jessica and said, “We need to share this with John and Jim.” She nodded, and Jade pulled her cell phone from her smock and called John’s cell. She got voicemail and left a message that he needed to call her as soon as he got her message, and that she might have a lead in the baby killings. Jade hugged Jessica and said, “All we can do is wait for John’s call. Now, we have to get back to the grim job that I have and you assist me in.” Jessica nodded as they walked out and headed for the autopsy room.

  Lisa Farmer was lying on her stomach while Erick grunted and sweated over her in the early afternoon sun. She was nude from the waist down, and Erick had ordered her to remove her underwear and to lube her ass. She did as ordered. He was talking as he pounded away, “This is pleasing unto the Lord, Lisa. There is no possibility of children. That’s why this is the only way I will make love to you.” He was grunting and sweating as Lisa bit the sheet on the bed and gripped it in her fists, tears running down her face, not making a sound.

  Arnest had driven Emily Swan’s remains to his mortuary in Arleta. He backed the car into the stall entrance to the home and ordered the men to take the body to the morgue and put her in cold storage. “Be gentle with that child. She was a pleasing offering to the Lord our God.” The two men nodded as they gently took the small casket-shaped box inside. Arnest sat down in his office and picked up the phone and dialed a number. “Voice mail. Shit.” He waited for the tone and said, “I have done as you have asked and retrieved the remains of Emily Swan. She is here with me in my home. Let me know how you want me to handle her final resting place as her parents are to arrive soon, and I will need direction from you.” He hung up the phone and poured a glass of water with some lemon from a pitcher on the desk. He took a drink and said, “Now, that’s refreshment. Thank you, Lord, for these gifts that I am receiving.” Arnest reclined back in his chair, waiting for the phone call that would give him further instruction. He had shared the message with Lisa earlier in the day through his body language. She had her orders. He said, “Lisa is a good soldier for God. She will get us our next soul.” He reclined and relaxed, sipping the lemon water and waiting.

  The Eagle sat silent, staring at Richards who refused to make eye contact. He hung his jacket on the back of the chair then removed two packets of instruments from his arms and rolled them out onto the table. Richards looked over and saw what the Eagle had unfurled and screamed in terror.

  Chapter Eight

  “Not enough to stop the killing,

  Jim, not enough to stop it.”

  Jim was standing outside the interrogation room. A couple of the other guards were going for a smoke break and invited him to join them. They stepped out a side door off the interrogation room where they could still hear Richards screaming. Jim asked, “Doesn’t that bother you?” One of the guards let out a laugh. “Are you kidding? That crazy fuck spends half his day yelling at the air, calling out to invisible people, all kinds of nutty ass shit. He’s just pissed off because we left him with an FBI agent. He hates the feds.” Jim laughed and lit a cigarette and said, “Well…I remember him from when he was tried and convicted. I was with the Marshal’s service in those days. I remember the one or two times I ran into him he was talking weird as shit.” The two guards laughed and were enthralled by the fact that Jim had been there from the start. They smoked and asked him all kinds of things about the now senile and psycho old man.

  Devonwood Park was bustling with mothers and children. Every piece of playground equipment was in use, and the toddlers and little ones were basking in the sun and playing in the sand boxes. It was a little oasis in Panorama City that the LAPD had beefed up patrols in to run out the gangs and drug dealers to allow the area kids a place to play. Estelle Martinez had gotten off work early and had taken her two children to the park for some play time. She had just let her older son, Brandon, take off for the little kid swings and was taking Tina, her six-month-old, out of the stroller when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. “Estelle, is that you?” She looked around for the familiar voice and saw Lisa Farmer walking across Woodman Avenue and into the park. As Lisa approached, Estelle waved wildly and ran with Tina in her arms to hug her.

  “Lisa Farmer, how are you? My God, girl, I haven’t seen you in years.” The two women walked back to where Estelle had been sitting, and she called out to Brandon to come and see Lisa. He ran over and gave Lisa a huge hug and said, “I thought I would not ever see you again.” She laughed at his slight lisp and said, “I have been away with some friends, but I could never stay away from you.” He got a big smile on his face just as an ice cream truck pulled up in front of the park. Lisa could wait. Ice cream couldn’t. And with the dollar bill that Estelle gave him, he took off for the truck, yelling what he wanted.

  Lisa sat down next to Tina and said, “My goodness. Brandon has grown so much since the last time I saw him.” Estelle nodded and said, “It’s been two years, Lisa. You haven’t babysat for him for nearly two years. You look radiant. What are you doing now?” Lisa told her about the church she was involved in and the pastor that she had married. “I’m a pastor’s wife. Can you believe it?” Estelle had a disapproving look on her face. “Aren’t you a bit young to be a pastor’s wife? And does he know about the issues you have had in your life?” “He saved me from that life. He took me off the streets and gave me food and clothing. He helped me through the blood of Christ to receive salvation, and now I work with him and the rest of his church to spread the good news.” Estelle shook her head. “Honey, you have always been an easy mark for men. You are very beautiful, and, for your age, you know how to sell it. But you are not that bright when it comes to people taking advantage of you. Are you sure about this guy and his church?” Lisa nodded and started to ramble on and on about Erick and the whole movement.

  After a few minutes, she turned her attention to Tina. “And who is this little bundle of joy.” Estelle looked on and said, “This little bundle is the result of too much vodka and unprotected sex.” “Oh, Estelle, what happened?” “Let’s just say that I went to a party with a few friends and had a few too many, and Tina, here, is the result.” Lisa frowned and asked, “Is the father in her life?” Estelle shook her head. “I don’t even know who the father is. It was a crazy night with a lot of men. I have no idea who the father is. Hell, girl, I didn’t even know half the men who were fucking me. I was just having a good time…and then this.” Estelle pointed to Tina.

  “If you’re unhappy with the situation, why not put her up for adoption?” Estelle got tears in her eyes and said, “Why should Tina be punished because I did something foolish? I’m her mother, and I have done a lot of growing up since that night.” Tina was chomping on a cookie that she had all over her face and hands. She was smiling, and her jet black hair and brown eyes were set off by her pale skin.

  Lisa looked around the park at all of the children playing and said, “I want to have a baby some day, but Erick says that he doesn’t want to bring a child into the world. He claims the end is near, and Jesus is going to return.” Estelle laughed and said, “I’m a Catholic, sweetheart. We’ve been waiting for that for a long, long time. All the fear mongering to keep us under control. There’s no second coming coming any time soon.” Lisa had a dejected look on her
face, and she squirmed a little. Estelle looked at her and asked if she was okay. “Oh, I’m okay. Just a little sore. Erick doesn’t want children, and he doesn’t believe in birth control, so I take it up the ass two to three times a day.” Estelle laughed and said, “Honey, given the things you did when you hooked, I’m surprised that your ass even shuts anymore. He is right, though. It’s a one hundred percent way not to have a baby. But if it’s hurting you, why don’t you tell him?” Lisa got a serious look on her face, and Estelle ended the questions.

  Lisa stood up and asked, “So, do you still live down the street with your dad?” “Yeah. My father passed away last year and left me his house and a nice life insurance policy to take care of Brandon. We have a great life. I’m really thankful for my father. He made it so I work if I want to, and we have enough through his trust to pay the bills and have some extra.” Lisa smiled and told her that was nice. “Well, it was really good seeing you again, Estelle. I have to get back to the church. We have an evening meal to prepare for our church family.” “Where is your church?” “Well, it’s not our church. It’s the First Baptist Church of Arleta. Erick rents space there, and we have a kitchen and feeding hall a few buildings down. You should come by some time and meet Erick and the family. The congregation is small but growing, and you are always welcome. I will even take care of Tina and Brandon for you if you want to take some classes or go to a service.” Lisa handed Estelle a brochure about the church, then they hugged, and she headed back to the church.

  The Eagle had removed a small vial from the black belt that he had around his arms. He took out a twenty-three gauge needle and slowly twisted it onto the end of a syringe. Richards watched as the Eagle filled the syringe with a bluish-colored liquid. He stood up and grabbed Richards by the head and drove the needle directly into his carotid artery. “There. That will go directly into your brain and save us a lot of time.” Richards shouted obscenities and then calmed down. The Eagle stared into his eyes, and suddenly Bruno sat up and said, “What did you give me?” “Something to clear the cobwebs. What’s your name?” “Bruno Richards.” “What year is it?” Richards looked at the Eagle and said, “I have no idea. What year is it?”