Cleansing

by Roy A. Teel, Jr.

  Jim turned around and asked, “You know them both?” She laughed and said, “Oh yeah…real personal like. I know them very well. Why?” Tony stood silent as Jim glared at him and said, “Really, Tony? Really? Your girl is flaunting your illegal activity in my fuckin’ face. Jesus Christ, man. I’m the goddamn Sheriff of LA County.” Tony just smiled and said, “And you have dipped your wick in a few of my girls over the years, Jim, so don’t play holier than thou with me. Tonya, what do you know about Pastor Hess?”

  “From what Hess has told me, he runs a nonprofit food pantry in connection with two or three churches. I think it’s called ‘Our Keepers.’ I know that Hess and Erick are close. I did a threesome with them a couple of times. They are freaks in bed…if you want to know.” Jim shook his head and said, “I don’t want to know. Where is his charity located?” “Arleta, I think…that’s why he comes all the way to the valley for sex. He doesn’t want anyone to know about it…I guess even men of God need to get off.” Tonya’s client was glaring at the three of them from the curtain opening. He finally said, “Hey…I paid for a dance, bitch, so why don’t you gab with your friends another time and get your ass in here and start dry humping me.”

  Jim was in street clothes with his back to the guy. He had his gun belt on with his shield clipped to it, but the guy couldn’t see any of it. The guy stepped out of the booth, and one of Tony’s bouncers stepped out from behind a wall that lined the private rooms. “So, what? You’re going to take my money, rip me off, and then bounce me? I’m calling the cops.” Jim turned around, and the guy’s eyes got huge.

  “I’m here. What’s your complaint?” “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just want my dance.” Jim walked over to the guy. He was unkempt with a large pot belly and smelled of liquor and pot. Jim leaned in close and asked, “Are you packing?” The guy froze. “No, Officer. No. Not at all.” “Where’s the pot?” The guy played stupid for a minute, and Jim pulled the radio off his hip to call for backup. “Okay, okay.” The guy reached into his jeans and pulled out a baggie of weed and handed it to him. Jim looked it over and said, “There’s less than an ounce here,” and he put it in his top pocket. “Now apologize to the lady and get your fat ass out of here. Tonya give this pig back his cash.” She took the money from her g-string and handed it to the guy. He took it and walked quietly toward the exit. Jim was just about to ask Tonya another question when he saw Hess and Erick wave the guy down.

  Jim looked at Tony and asked, “That guy a regular?” Tony shook his head and so did Tonya. He watched the three men talking and put his hand under his chin and said, “Interesting.” Tonya and Tony looked at each other as Jim said, “No time like the present to meet everyone.”

  Jim walked out from behind the curtain and up to the table where Erick and Hess were seated as the guy from the back walked out the door. “Good afternoon, Erick.” Hess and Erick looked up at the same time, and the look on both men’s faces said it all.

  It took a half hour, but sure enough, John called Chris and said, “You have a subpoena for Charlotte Watson at the sheriff’s station two blocks over. Call me when you have her.” John hung up, and Chris took off for the LA County Sheriff’s office. He showed his ID, and they printed off the document and handed it to him. Chris got back in his car and took off for Charlotte’s office. When he arrived, he walked in and asked for her, only to be told that she was gone for the day. He walked up the stairs to her office, and one of the other staff members asked if he needed help.

  “Yea…I need to speak to Charlotte Watson. Do you know where she is?” The young man just shook his head and told Chris that she had left about a half hour earlier, upset. Chris walked back out of the building past the large number of people seeking help. He plugged Charlotte’s name into his dash computer, and it came back with an address and her rap sheet. He took off for her residence in Boyle Heights.

  Arnold was staring into the operating room lights that were now on, and the Eagle was sitting next to him. The Eagle had put a white coat on over his clothes and asked, “So, Pastor Espanza, what do you know of Trinity Blood and the sacrifices of babies?” Arnold looked on with a shocked look on his face and said, “I know nothing about any of that.” The Eagle began to prepare his dental tools and drill bits, all the while reciting Psalm 26. The Eagle calmly restrained Arnold’s head with a leather strap and stepped on the pedal of the dental drill to make sure he had power. Arnold was trying to resist the restraints and was pleading to be released. “Oh now, Pastor, even if you are telling me the truth about not knowing anything about the child murders, you are guilty of child abduction, rape, and torture, and we both know that.”

  Arnold was breathing heavily and gasped the words, “I have been washed clean of those sins by the blood of Jesus Christ…I am a changed man.” The Eagle pressed the pedal on the drill and started drilling on Arnold’s teeth one at a time and talking over his screams. “So, how exactly does that whole cleansing thing work? Do you just pray for forgiveness every time you rape a child or adult, and then you’re washed clean after each session?” Arnold was screaming and blood and saliva were running down his face. The Eagle stopped and took a cold water sprayer and said, “Time to rinse and spit.” The Eagle lifted Arnold’s lips to expose the gums and teeth and shot the cold water into the holes that he had drilled.

  “You know that you’re not going to come out of this alive, right?” Arnold was screaming in pain and fear as the Eagle stood up and put the drill down. Arnold could see steel instruments on a dental tray in front of him, and the Eagle was repeating Psalm 26 over and over. “Okay…okay…please,” Arnold said through the blood and the pain and the swelling. “Okay to what?” asked the Eagle. “The cult, the cult. The Blood of Trinity Family. A cult’s responsible for these killings.”

  The Eagle left the tray of instruments in front of Arnold and turned on the cameras in the operating room. He sat on his stool and said, “Well then, you better tell me all about it while you can still talk.” Arnold started crying and thrashing as the Eagle sat and watched. “I can’t, I can’t. It will be a betrayal to the Lord.” The Eagle stood up and punched Arnold in the face, sending three teeth across the room. “I told you…not even God can save you now…start talking. You can discuss your so-called betrayal with God when I send you to meet him.”

  The Eagle grabbed a long twisted steel object off the table and drove it into one of Arnold’s drilled out teeth. He moved the instrument in and out with great force as Arnold tried to scream beneath the pressure and pain of the Eagle’s powerful hands. When the Eagle pulled the instrument from Arnold’s tooth, it had pulp and never fibers on it. He showed it to him and said as he shot cold water into the tooth, “It’s only going to get more and more painful, Pastor. You better start talking!”

  Jim sat down with Erick and Hess, and the two men sat silent for a few minutes. Jim broke the silence by saying, “Jesus Christ, Erick, this fuckin’ place is only blocks from your church. Aren’t you afraid that you’re going to get caught?” “These are my children, too, Jim. I come here to proselytize and spread the good news of the Lord. I come to save the souls of the lost.” Jim looked over at Hess and said, “I understand you’re a pastor as well. Are you two doing some tag team soul saving today?” Hess didn’t answer. Jim looked at Erick and said, “I have heard about you two and your soul saving efforts. If fucking these girls into a coma is soul saving, shit, where do I sign up?” Erick looked on, blushing. Hess just stared at Jim with a seething anger in his eyes.

  Jim laughed and said, “I don’t know you Pastor Hess, but given the look on your face you’re damned pissed off at me right now. Look, guys, I would love to talk about Jesus and the bible and salvation, but that’s not my job. Erick, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you to talk about your son, his church, and a rash of baby killings that are some kind of twisted sacrificial process from the best I can tell. What can you tell me about it?” Hess went to stand up, and Jim said, �
��Pastor, with all due respect, sit your ass back down, or I will slap a pair of handcuffs on you and have a group of deputies down here to raid the place and make sure your face and my friend Erick’s here are plastered all over the nightly news. You and I both know there is something illegal going on in here.” Hess sat back down, and Erick asked, “Can we go somewhere less public to have this conversation?”

  Jim laughed and said, “Abso-fuckin-lutely…follow me, gentlemen.” Jim got up and escorted the two men out of the club and to his car. “Please take a seat. We are going to my office to have a chat.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Think of the cash you can raise from

  ‘save our pastor’ promotions.”

  Erick got back to the church with the children at four thirty p.m. He got them out of the vans and watched as the excitement continued with the little ones as he walked over to the main office to speak with Arnold. The office door was open, but both his office and his secretary’s office were dark. He turned on the light to find a sticky note on Arnold’s door in his secretary’s handwriting, telling him that Arnold had taken Lisa home. He walked back to his own office down the hall and called Lisa’s cell phone, but there was no answer. “What the hell is going on here? She has been gone all night. Arnold took her home, and I still can’t reach her.” Erick slammed the phone down, and as he did, it rang.

  “Hello?” “Erick, it’s Charlotte Watson. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Erick was looking around his desk and Lisa’s, which was right next to his, for anything to tell him what was going on. “Oh, hello Charlotte. To what do I owe this unwelcome call?” There was a moment of silence, and she said, “I’m trying to reach your father. No one knows where he is, and he’s not answering his cell phone. I thought perhaps you had spoken to him.” Erick was impatient as he answered her. “No, Charlotte, I have not spoken to my father. He left a message on my cell phone earlier today, but I have not had the chance to call him back. What do you want with him?” “Church business.” There was a half cough half laugh on the other end of the line after she said it, and Erick said, “Really? You don’t have a damn thing to do with my father’s church as I recall. In fact, I’m pretty certain that he threw you out of the church before I left because of crazy ass Bruno’s shit.”

  “You don’t have to be foul mouthed about it, Erick. The Lord is always listening to us. You of all people as a leader of a flock of your own should be more careful about the language you use.” “You are the last person to give anyone a lecture on language or morality. Did my old man not pay you for his hump this month?” “You will never understand the inner workings of the Lord, Erick, that’s why you are where you are in life. Your pride and ego are overwhelming your sense of duty to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.” “Goodbye, Charlotte.”

  Erick went to hang up when he heard her yelling loudly in the background, “Cleansing, Erick. You need a cleansing in the blood of our savior for the end is near, and you know that it’s true.” He put the phone back up to his ear and said, “The only person who needs a cleansing in the blood of Christ is you. Now, don’t call me again. I’m sure my old man will contact you when he’s ready for another one of your freaky mountain midnight bonfires.” “Don’t condemn what you don’t understand, Erick. God is listening.”

  Erick hung up and headed for his car. He whispered to himself as he walked down the corridor of the church past the nursery to the parking lot, “God is always listening, Charlotte, and he knows your deeds, and you will burn for them.”

  Maria Estonia was bent over in pain in the church nursery. She had ten children to look after and could barely move. Her pregnant belly was heaving as she tried to stand up, but instead she threw up on the floor, and several children slipped in it. She cried out as loudly as she could for help, but no one was around. She looked at the clock on the wall. It was ten to five.

  “The parents will start coming in ten minutes. Lord, give me the strength to make it and keep Jesus alive, Lord.” She was half bent over, half crouching, when there was a sudden rush of water down her legs.

  Erick was passing the nursery when he heard Maria’s light whimpers, and he stopped in the hallway and turned back to see her pressed against a corner wall and a countertop, trying to hold herself up. He ran into the room without looking and hit the vomit and embryonic fluid on the floor and went sliding across the room until he hit the wall with his feet and fell violently back onto the concrete. He shook his head while calling out for someone to call 911.

  Chris called John to let him know that Charlotte was gone. Chris was talking but could tell that John was distracted. “John, are you there? Did you hear what I said?” “Yes, Chris, I heard you.” Chris heard a gurgling noise in the background and what sounded like weeping. “Hey, John, is everything okay?” “Absolutely. Better than okay.” Chris heard the sound of a steel door closing and asked, “Where are you?” “I just finished up some business related to the child murders. I’m on my way back to the office.”

  “Why do you think that Ms. Watson has flown the coop?” Chris looked out the windshield of his car and said, “I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling.” “Really?” “Yeah. I think she knows a lot more about what’s going on in these murders than she would let on.” There was a moment of silence, and Chris heard another door click.

  “Did you press her about the murders?” John asked. “I wanted to get into it, but she freaked, and I called you. Now I have a worthless subpoena and no witness.” John laughed. “You pulled her rap sheet. You know where she lives. You’re a damn federal agent, Chris. Start using your head. Get out there and do your job. Find her. I have to be honest, based on your skills so far I don’t think you will make it a day at Quantico.” Chris got angry and said, “I will make an excellent agent, Agent Swenson. I have had no training. I’m doing the best that I can.” John laughed on the other end of the line and said, “This is trial by fire, Chris. What you are doing now is not taught at the academy. You either have the instincts or you don’t. Now, put your logic hat on and go over the conversation. Go to the most obvious place that you think you will find her. For crying out loud, you do know this woman, right?”

  “Better than you can imagine.” “Then get to it. I have some things to finish up. Call me when you have her or some idea where she is.” John hung up the line, and Chris continued on to Boyle Heights.

  One of the children’s parents found Maria and Erick and called 911. Within minutes, the two were being treated. One of the EMTs was working on Erick and asked if he wanted to go to the hospital. He said no and told them to focus on Maria and her unborn child.

  It was nearing seven, and the lake at Reseda Park was calm. There were a few older kids playing on gym equipment and some adults playing baseball. Iris Rosenberg was sitting and pushing a stroller in front of her while trying to calm down her crying four-month-old son, Ezra. Her husband, Ken, was playing softball with his company’s team. Iris was enjoying the evening air when a fight broke out not ten feet from her. Shots rang out, and everyone ran for cover. She pushed Ezra’s stroller under the bleachers and fell flat on her stomach where she’d been sitting as the fighting and gun fire continued.

  She stayed on the ground until she heard the sound of police cars and ambulances driving into the park. She looked up to see three kids lying on the ground. There were several black and Mexican kids running in different directions. The police pulled in and formed a blockade around the area and called for hands in the air. Iris looked on as one of the Mexican kids raised a weapon in the direction of officers and gun fire erupted. She watched in horror as the kid’s chest was blown open, blood splattering everywhere as his body was riddled with bullets. The whole group of witnesses were off to the side, and Iris was frazzled by the goings on. She turned to see Ezra’s stroller under the bleachers and ran over to get him. She pulled the stroller back and reached in for the child, but the stroller was empty. Ezra was gone.
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  Erick and Hess sat silent in Jim’s office while he was out giving orders to some of his commanders. He walked back in and sat down at his desk and said, “So…how the fuck are you, Erick? I haven’t seen or spoken to you in a very long time.” Erick was sober faced, and a tear ran down the side of his cheek. Jim walked over to the window, lit a cigarette, sat down on a stool, and said, “Jesus, Erick. This is nothing to cry over. I just want to talk.” Jim blew the smoke out the window as the two men sat silent. He took a few more deep drags then stubbed it out and asked, “Do either one of you know anything about the ritualistic killings of young children that have been going on?”

  Arnest was sitting as his desk when his phone rang. He had a small group of customers in his office that he was assisting with funeral plans and took the call, speaking in cryptic terms. “I see. Good. Very good. Why don’t you drop the package off here at my office later this evening, and I will make sure that it gets to the proper party?” He hung up the phone and went back to his work with the grieving family.

  An AMBER Alert was issued within ten minutes of Ezra’s disappearance. The West Valley office of the LAPD had officers on scene with search and rescue checking the lake along with K9 units that were searching for any scent of the child. Iris and her husband were beside themselves as the questions flew at them. Iris didn’t answer. She just screamed Ezra’s name over and over, but her cries and pleas fell on deaf ears.

  The foyer of the Eagle’s lair was lit brightly by the early evening sun. The Eagle had stepped into the foyer to take a breath after his long conversation with Pastor Arnold Espanza. He grabbed a bottle of water from the wet bar and sat down on the open patio, looking out over the sea. He had just taken a sip of his water when his phone buzzed and beeped with the AMBER Alert. He pressed the message button and read the report. He took a few more sips of the water then stood up and put on the mask of the Iron Eagle and walked back in to talk to Arnold about this latest alert and what, if anything, he knew of it.