by WL Knightly
She pulled her lips in tight and tried not to laugh. “I wouldn’t walk into the bar and say that to anyone. Could you imagine someone calling Justin a sissy? The place is anything but, and no one else really thinks anything about the name because the owner’s name is Sissy.”
He couldn’t believe anyone, much less a bunch of roughneck bikers, would hang out in a place with that kind of name, but he’d seen stranger things. “Noted. So, you’re asking me to a biker bar?” He remembered how uneasy he felt in the burger joint and wasn’t sure how she expected him to fit in. “It doesn’t seem like my kind of place, you know?”
“Everyone is welcome there.” She shrugged like it was no big deal and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Even men who don’t know what a sissy bar is.”
“Justin will for sure be there?” He wasn’t sure if he wanted him there or not. On the one hand, he would be likely to help in a bar fight, but on the other, Corey wouldn’t be able to mess around with Brandy.
She rubbed the back of his hair as if to put him at ease. “Justin always goes there on Fridays faithfully. He’s going to be there, and I’ll go ahead and warn you now. He’s way different once he’s been drinking. He’s actually kind of fun.”
“I guess I won’t be able to do this in there, will I?” He leaned forward and brought his mouth to hers for a much deeper kiss than before. His hands roamed her torso, cupping her breasts and touching all the places she’d let him touch before. He couldn’t wait until she lost the clothes, and he imagined how soft her skin was in those places.
She pulled away breathless. “I don’t see a reason why not. Justin will be busy with his women, so he won’t be bothered.”
“His women?” He laughed. “I didn’t realize that he was such a stud.”
“So, will you come?”
As much as he knew he shouldn’t let himself get too caught up in the temporary life and that there was so much other shit he needed to be thinking about, he liked the escape. He also knew he wanted her bad enough to take the chance. “Yes, I’ll be there. Send me the address.”
She made a squealing noise of excitement, and when she leaned in to kiss him again, he heard footsteps and the sound of the squeaking door behind them.
She pulled away in a hurry as Erma stormed in and gave them both a hard look. “You get my ammo yet or are you busy twiddling your dick?”
“Right on it,” he said with a chuckle, knowing he had no intention of letting her boss him around.
She gave a huff and stormed away.
“I’ll fill her in. It’s not like you’re a regular employee or anything. You don’t have to put up with that shit.”
“It’s fine, really, and don’t think I don’t know it. I just like blending in for a change.” He leaned in and gave her one last kiss and then pulled the cart to the door. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He walked out the door, wishing this level of the game could last forever, and then he wouldn’t have to worry about the killer or what he’d become.
Chapter 13
Darek
Lizzy stormed ahead of Darek as they headed out of the interrogation room. “He’s our man. I can feel it, Darek. He’s psycho, sure, but he’s the one. Now we have to see what his followers say.” She stopped at the end of the hall where Max and Darius stood whispering. “Are they in there?”
Darek stopped and looked up at Max, who gave him an exhausted look. “Yeah,” he said to answer Lizzy. “We separated them. They are identical twins.”
“Let me guess, Gemini?”
“You’ll have to ask them,” said Max, holding up his hand like he was about to give up. “I’m not getting anything but chittering noises, and frankly, it’s creeping me out.”
Lizzy shook her head and turned to Darek. “Let’s take this one first.” Darek nodded, and she opened the door and went inside.
Darek followed, and when he saw the woman, he understood why Max had said she was chittering. She clicked her teeth together like she was cold, but she also snickered like she knew a secret. She also sat with damp hair from the shower and the angry mark on her forehead where the mark of the serpent bearer had been carved.
Lizzy didn’t let it faze her. She took a chair and offered Darek the one beside her. “Good afternoon. I’m Special Agent McNamara, and this is Detective Blake. Could I get your full name, please?”
The chittering got a little louder. “Ophi calls me Castor,” the woman said with a soft, slick voice.
Lizzy jotted down the note. “Castor? And what is your given name?”
“That is the only name Ophi has given.”
Lizzy cleared her throat and leaned in. “Ophi has been taken into custody. He cooperated with us and said that you’d do the same to please him.”
She shook her head. “Ophi calls me Castor. That’s the only name that I go by.”
Darek decided to give it a shot. “Before Ophi named you Castor, who were you?”
The woman stared down at the table with the same cool smile on her face. She looked like she could jump across the table at any moment and chew their faces off. “I was no one,” she said.
“The other woman, she’s your sister, your twin?”
“Yes, we are special, says Ophi. I am Castor, and she is Pollux. Together we are Gemini.”
“Does Ophi have special followers who represent each sign?” Lizzy’s brows pinched together. “Is that how you choose your victims?”
“There are no victims, and all will come to follow Ophi home.” She lowered her head a little to her hands and clawed her forehead, ripping open the dried mark they’d carved there. When she did, a loud scream penetrated the walls from behind them. “My sister feels my pain. She screams for me.”
Lizzy turned her eyes to Darek, who felt a cold chill run down his back. “Are you saying she can feel your pain?”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “Ophi says we are special.”
“I’m sure you are,” said Lizzy. “The victims were special too. So, I need you to tell me who killed them. Was it you, your sister, Ophi?”
“It was the Chosen. Ophi has many who help him cleanse. There is a cleansing coming soon. It’s going to be big. You’ll see. Then Ophi will take us all home.”
Darek could tell by the tone of certainty in her voice that she truly believed it, and he also thought that there was no way they’d get them to confess their real names or tell anything that would give up Ophi for who he really was.
“Do you have anything you want to confess or tell us before we have you taken to lock up?”
“I want to see my sister.”
“No, that’s not going to happen. We won’t keep the two of you together.” Not only was it so they couldn’t do a switch, but the last thing any of them needed was for the women to conspire together.
The woman’s face lit up with anger. “I want to see my sister!” She reached down and clawed at her face again. This time, the scream from the other side of the wall was much louder. Blood splattered the table with the quick action, and Lizzy backed her chair up.
Darek called in the officer to restrain her so she couldn’t do any more self-harm. “Take her to her cell. We’ll go and see her sister now.”
They waited until the woman was taken back, kicking and screaming, and the commotion on the other side of the wall grew louder too.
“What the fuck is going on? Are we in the goddamned Twilight Zone?”
Max walked into the room once the woman was gone. “Is she creepy or what? I bet her sister isn’t any prettier.”
“Apparently, they share some kind of connection. She clawed herself, and the sister felt it. We could hear her screaming on the other side of the wall.”
Max looked at Lizzy, who nodded to confirm. “Damn.”
“Well,” said Lizzy. “We assume she felt it. There’s no way of really knowing, and I don’t think we should entertain such things when we go in to talk to her.”
“Right, I say we don’t mention it, and let he
r lead us.” He hadn’t witnessed anything like it and hoped the sister wasn’t even crazier.
He took a deep breath as Lizzy walked down to the door. He joined her, holding it open as she entered.
The woman in this room did look identical to the other, but her mannerisms were much different. Instead of the chittering and smirking, she looked paranoid and panted like a dog.
“Hello, I’m Special Agent McNamara, and this is Detective Blake. We were just in with your sister.” Darek expected the woman to ask if they hurt her since she supposedly felt the pain, but she didn’t mention it. Instead, she fought against her chains, and they made a loud rattling sound before she belted out a scream so loud that it hurt his ears.
Darek was done with the bullshit. He slammed his hand down on the table in front of her and leaned in. “You do that again, and I’m going to have to put you in a mouth guard.” Darek looked at Lizzy, who didn’t look at all pleased with his aggression.
“As I was saying, we spoke with your sister, and we’re hoping that you will be cooperative with us like Ophi was. He’s been taken into custody and has given us some information regarding his plans. I was hoping that you could elaborate on that a bit and perhaps tell your side of the story.”
Darek tried not to huff, but he couldn’t see why Lizzy thought the woman would do anything but act like a beaten dog.
Lizzy sat up a little taller in her chair. “I’d like to start with your full name.”
The woman kept her face toward the table but lifted her eyes. “Pollux.”
“I heard you had a different name before that,” said Lizzy. “Do you care to confirm what your sister said?”
The woman shook her head slowly from side to side.
Lizzy forced a smile. “I need a verbal response, please. Head shaking is not going to count.”
“No. I do not care to confirm what my sister said.”
“She seemed very worried about you. She said that she’s had concerns since the two of you began following Ophi and that she’s ready to talk so you two could go home and have your own life back.”
The woman looked nervous, and then she looked away. Darek knew that when her hand came up, she was wiping a tear. Lizzy was making some progress.
“I’m going to help you and your sister, Pollux. Things don’t have to be this way. And it’s never too late to do the right thing.”
“We haven’t done anything but come in here with him. We shouldn’t be held.” The tears flowed a bit more freely as she seemed to be in a much more normal state of emotion.
“We already know he isn’t who he claims to be, and this kind of wild stunt he had you two pull for him? What’s in it for the two of you but a lifetime behind bars? We’re talking murder, Pollux.”
“My name’s Madison.”
Darek could almost hear Lizzy sigh, but she remained composed, knowing that she would soon have them all talking.
“What’s your sister’s name, Madison?”
“Natalie.” Her voice was weak when she gave up the name, and then she looked up at Lizzy. “Can we go home now? Our parents are going to be looking for us. Ophi said that it wouldn’t take long to get your attention.”
“Why are you trying to get our attention?”
Suddenly, she closed her eyes tight and shook her head. “I can’t say more. He’ll kill me; he’s crazy.”
“No,” said Lizzy. “You’re with us now, and we have him locked up. He can’t hurt you.”
Terror sent the girl back into the panting state, and she sank down in her chair. “I want to go home. I want to go home. I want to go home.” She began rocking back and forth, and Darek knew that it was done. They weren’t going to get more out of her.
But Lizzy tried. “You can’t go home until you tell me the truth, Madison.”
The girl slowly raised her head. “My name is Pollux.”
Darek got up and signaled for the guards, who took the girl away quietly aside from the incessant panting.
“I almost had her.”
“Well, at least you know that side is there.”
“Did you hear her? She said their parents would worry. She’s what, twenty at the oldest?”
“Yeah, and the sister must have heard those chains rattling around before she’d scream. She had to do something to make it more interesting, I guess.”
Max walked into the room. “I was listening in and looked up those names. Castor and Pollux are the names of the Gemini twins. But they are men, so I guess Ophi couldn’t find any identical twin men to initiate into his fold.”
“Just two wild little girls. Let’s see if we can search for twins Natalie and Madison, last name unknown.”
Lizzy looked disgusted. “He’s a monster this one, abusing little girls like that. What kind of animal does something like carve into girls’ foreheads and use them for a grand entrance?”
“We’ve seen worse,” he reminded.
“Yeah, and that’s exactly why I think that asshole is responsible. He’s already confessed to having others do his dirty work, so I guess it’s safe to assume that he is like a cult leader. With all the talk of Barnard’s star and the homeland, I think he really believes that he’s a supreme being next to the rest of us. Which means he’s going to have little regard for human life, and that fits our guy.”
“Yeah, it makes sense.” He wasn’t going to argue. Darek had realized that even if this nut wasn’t the killer, he had created a pretty huge distraction.
Chapter 14
Corey
Corey pulled up to The Sissy Bar and shook his head. The sign had a big buxom blonde on the back of a motorcycle with her man in front and the name in pink neon. He knew he better not laugh too hard and hoped that the crowd was going to accept him, even though he didn’t own a stitch of leather.
He had agreed to meet Brandy there instead of making the obvious entrance together, and when he walked inside hoping to find her quickly, he got a few stares. He kept his head down and tried to act natural. He saw Justin at the bar with a lady on each arm, both brunettes and both very attractive, but he kept walking with hopes of finding Brandy and talking to her first.
With his luck, she had already left with someone else. He let out a long breath and kept his chin up as he looked around.
He was glad he’d kept it casual, but he still didn’t fit in. He looked around at the others who were all in their riding gear and boots. The women, no matter what they wore, were all showing cleavage, even if they didn’t have perfect figures or tiny waistlines, and he knew better than to stare too long at any of them.
He walked to the back of the room where a crowd was gathered around a couple of pool tables, and Brandy was wielding a cue stick and working the crowd. “You know I don’t know anything about playing pool. I just watch it.” She held out her hands like she didn’t know what to do.
“Yeah, right,” said one of the men at the other table. “You’re a little shark, Brandy. I’m putting my money on her.” The crowd around her laughed, and she made her shot and sank two balls.
“Come on now, you know I can’t sink no three in a row.” She walked over, took her beer off the table, and turned it up as they cheered her on.
Corey walked over and watched, and she kept right on with her show until she sank the eight ball. The crowd around her laughed and cheered her on, and when she was done, hugs were given all around. She made her way around the room, stopping when she got to him.
“Well, hey there, handsome.” She stood in front of him and looked him up and down.
“Hey, I didn’t expect to find you in the middle of a game.”
“Game nothing. I was showing off.” The others who were still paying attention laughed, but for the most part, things had gone quiet.
Corey could see the other men give him the evil eye, and a few were looking down their noses at him while they downed their beers and cracked their knuckles.
He leaned in closer. “I’m not sure I should be here.” He had tried to ke
ep his voice low but apparently not low enough.
A man dressed in a black shirt with an eagle on the front and the American flag behind it stood up from his bar stool and crossed his arms. “Maybe you don’t belong here,” he said.
Brandy turned and gave him a pointed look. “Don’t start, Pete. Sit down and finish your beer.”
“Well, he’s the one saying he shouldn’t be here, like he’s too good for the rest of us. So, maybe I’ll do him the honor of tossing him out on his ass.” A few of the man’s buddies laughed. They had all seemed to enjoy Brandy’s company and attention until she noticed Corey.
He opened his mouth to speak, and Brandy shook her head. “Ignore them. They’re just drunk.”
“I’m not drunk, little lady. I’m as sober as a stone, and I think this guy is trying to offend us by coming in here where we gathered and disturbing the party with his complaints. Maybe I should give him something to complain about, is all I’m saying.” He elbowed his friend, and the man shook his head and laughed. “Buddy, if you know what’s good for you, I’d leave now while you can still walk.”
The others belted a laugh. Brandy squared her shoulders. “He’s my friend. I invited him.”
“Well, I think you could do better. Like me, for instance. You know you were into it, at least before this yuppie bastard came around. If you want to date a man like that, maybe you should meet him down at the shopping mall. I’ll show you how a real man could treat you.” He high-fived a few of his friends, and they all joined in and laughed at first, but then the laughter died as Corey stepped up to the man.
“If you have a problem with me, then let’s settle it here and now.” His fists were tight at his side, and his chest was puffed up as he stared down his nose at the other man. The others all oohed and made sounds like a bunch of playground bullies, but he wasn’t about to be that same tortured kid anymore.
“I wish you both would stop. Nobody has to fight.”
The man stepped back and pointed his finger at Corey. “This pussy mother fucker thinks he can come into our bar and flirt with our women. I don’t think so.” As he spun around to swing with a sucker punch, Corey dodged the blow and grabbed the man’s arm, and in one swift movement, he had him on his knees.
