Robbie's Scheme

by Justin Haines

  They’re staying in the tallest tower of the stone castle.

  “The room has a lovely Victorian feel to it,” Robbie says as he continues to hold her hand and walk with her. He’s happy to let Jalen run ahead without them as long as Maya’s accompanying him. “But don’t worry, the beds are memory foam and modern. The top tower is always reserved for me. No one else will be in any of the rooms below in case we feel like exploring. We’ll have them take our luggage up and check the room out later. For now, we should thank everyone for coming and start introducing you.”

  Maya nods her head without answering, still fighting with her nausea to keep her breakfast down.

  “Oh, and just so you know, Teddy’s staying in the second tower. Plenty of distance between the two, so you should be able to steer clear of him.”

  At first, Maya appreciates Robbie’s message. She takes it as a kind gesture. But after a moment of walking together in silence, she begins to worry. What if Teddy doesn’t want her here and said something to Robbie? He still doesn’t know about the apartment break-in, so why else would he be concerned about the frosty relationship between Maya and Teddy?

  Emerging from the treeline, Teddy is again within sight of the couple. Maya watches as a row of women stop sunbathing on the shore of the lake and stand up to wave as Teddy walks past them. They’re all wearing matching skimpy white bikinis. It appears the white memo went out to everyone. It might just be in her head, but Maya thinks a few of the girls shoot her dirty looks after Teddy passes. Could he have spread a message that she isn’t welcome?

  “Are there a lot of people here?”

  “Yeah, Teddy makes it clear he expects every POTCH guide to come to celebrate my birthday.”

  “Guides?”

  Ralph never went into details of the hierarchy in POTCH, leaving Maya to wonder if he doesn’t consider it important or if she’s the first journalist learning about this title system. She’ll be sure to check in with him about it next time they’re able to connect.

  “Yeah. I’m very fortunate to spend so much time with Teddy directly, but he can’t be everywhere at once. So POTCH has guides and gurus beneath him.”

  “Why doesn’t he just have an assistant schedule time for him with everyone?”

  “We have hubs all over the world, sweetie. It would be impossible for Teddy to meet directly with everyone. So each hub city has its own gurus leading them. Beneath them, POTCH relies on our guides around the world to spread the message and support the gurus. Teddy wants all of them to come here for the week so they can return home with reinvigorated enthusiasm to spread his message.”

  With Teddy past the shore and near the building, a few women begin to lie back down. But to Maya’s horror, the ones who notice her and Robbie approaching remain on their feet and kick the others to stand. From her vantage point, it certainly doesn’t look like a soft reminder kick. The wind-up looks more like a soccer player, or someone delivering a punishment. Didn’t Robbie say everyone has to stand when he enters a room?

  She does her best to avoid making eye contact with any of the women as they walk past, and they all enthusiastically wave at Robbie. It’s almost an identical replication of their greeting for Teddy.

  “What title do you have? Guide or guru?”

  “Neither,” Robbie chuckles. “I don’t actively try to progress in the Church ranks and I never offer my guidance to newer members. My role is vaguer.”

  Maya tries to ignore the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that his answer causes. She tells herself to keep him talking about the Church, hoping to learn something new for whatever article she and Ralph get out of this.

  Approaching the doors to the log cabin, Robbie escorts Maya past a growing line of POTCH followers. With most of the people in the lines cheering and saluting Teddy, it’s difficult for Maya to navigate. Luckily, she keeps a tight grip on Robbie’s hand so they can’t be separated.

  “Should we be joining one of these lines?”

  Robbie laughs and keeps pulling Maya forward with the tight grip around her hand. “No, we’re good. They’re all here to check in with their hub cities so we know where everyone’s coming from. This is where they grab their badges for the rest of the week.”

  “Badges?”

  “Yeah, they’re different colors, and everyone wears them so we can recognize ranks. It makes it easier when entering rooms with new people. So many people attend these weeks now that it’s become impossible to actually know everyone. Even for Teddy.”

  Before Maya can ask any more questions, Robbie holds the door to the cabin open for her to pass through. Again, Maya’s surprised by the scene waiting for them. Rustic leather couches and wooden chairs decorate the walls of the cavernous lobby. They’re all different shades of brown with white cushions, matching the log walls of the luxurious cabin. The furniture and cushions all look impossibly clean and pristine, not unlike Robbie.

  But none of this is what Maya notices as she steps into the log cabin. The sight of a group of children running around and playing is what surprises her and captures her attention.

  “I thought this was a party?”

  “It’s a celebration. Teddy invites all POTCH followers, including the families.” Robbie notices the mixture of concern and surprise on Maya’s face, and he wraps his arms back around her. “Don’t worry, there’s a strict curfew for the children, and they won’t be staying in rooms anywhere near ours.”

  Maya nods and decides that makes sense, even if it’s unlike how she imagined a cult’s weeklong party. Trying to ignore the children running around her, she notices that some of the men occupying leather armchairs in the far corner of the lobby look distinctly familiar, and she points them out to Robbie.

  “Hey, is that?”

  “Yeah,” Robbie interrupts. “POTCH has a few high-profile members. For the sake of their careers, we try to keep their membership quiet. But their presence here can do wonders for recruitment with any followers still on the fence about fully committing themselves to the Church.”

  “How come you’re not more excited? So many people are here to celebrate you.” Maya asks, attempting to move the conversation away from new potential members. She doesn’t care who else Teddy’s tricking into listening to him; nothing can make her join that list.

  “Well, we know it’s all about me, but Teddy doesn’t broadcast that to everyone. Most of the lower and newer members think today’s a generic celebration to kick off the week. Then, tomorrow starts a few days of POTCH classes before a big party for Teddy’s birthday ends the week.”

  “So, what are we doing tomorrow?”

  Maya realizes the concern must be evident in her voice because Robbie offers a reassuring smile in response.

  “What? Don’t you want to participate in any classes? We could set you up with a success plan and you could learn more about our mission statement.”

  Maya dreads the thought of POTCH indoctrination and thinks Robbie might be joking. Rather than scream or run away, the journalist in her has a sick fascination with the Church, and Maya decides she wouldn’t mind sitting through a few courses to fill in the POTCH details for her future expose.

  “What kind of classes?” Maya asks hesitantly.

  Now it’s Robbie’s turn to be confused. Her gut was right in thinking his comment was a joke. As it turns out, he didn’t expect Maya to actually be receptive to the idea.

  “Um, I can see if there’s any space in introductory courses or a career planning session.”

  “She needs to sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Teddy says as he appears out of nowhere.

  “Seriously?” Maya asks.

  “It’s standard protocol. Everyone else in this resort already has but Rob is vouching for you. For the record, I think it’s a mistake.”

  “Is that the only thing I’m allowed to put on the record this week?”

  “See, Rob. She’s thinking like a journalist. I told you that bringing her is a mistake.”

  “Jale
n,” Maya calls out as she looks around the resort’s lobby. She locates him talking to a couple of the bellhops near the elevator. “Did you sign one of Teddy’s NDAs?”

  Looking around nervously, Jalen walks over to them so the rest of the lobby doesn’t hear them shouting. Watching his shoulders slump down, Maya braces herself for an answer she isn’t going to like.

  “Yeah, Theo makes everyone sign them before they can come up for the week.”

  “Well, I’m not signing one,” Maya says as she crosses her arms and stares Teddy down. She doesn’t care what peer pressure or other tactics Teddy tries; she’s not signing anything he puts in front of her. “So, you can either pay for the helicopter to give me a solo flight back to the city, or we can get on with this celebration.”

  Robbie steps between Maya and Teddy and raises his arms to keep them separated. “She doesn’t need to sit in on any of the classes. She’s only here for two days. The time will be all about celebrating, not learning.”

  “That’s because her soul is vanquished,” Teddy snaps. “I warned you about her, Rob. She can’t take any classes because it’s too late for her. Don’t let her vanquish you too. Your progress has been so impressive.”

  “It’s two days, Teddy. I’ll take intensive courses for the rest of the week until your birthday. After she leaves, I’m all yours. I’ll be a model student.”

  “Will you commit to a lockdown?”

  Robbie glances back at Maya; the frown on his face makes her heart sink.

  “Yes, one week of no communication with the outside world. A full spiritual cleansing.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Maya interrupts.

  “This is what this week is all about it,” Teddy says as he pushes his way past Robbie. “If you don’t like it, I suggest you leave.”

  He’s barely an inch from Maya’s face now and she’s not a fan. She still hasn’t broken eye contact with him, not daring to let him feel the satisfaction of a victory, but his rancid breath has her body begging to recoil. Even in this tense moment, Maya wonders if a POTCH retreat comes with soap or toothpaste. Teddy could certainly benefit from the introduction.

  “Hey, it’s two days and it’s my birthday,” Robbie says as he slides back in between them, forcing them both to take a small step back, a welcome reprieve for Maya’s nostrils. “Jalen, help me get this celebration started.”

  Before Maya can argue any further, the room is drowning in music with a deep bass pumping. Following Jalen’s lead in the center of the room, people start jumping up from the couches and armchairs and push them to the edges of the lobby. The entire log cabin quickly turns into one giant dance floor as all the POTCH members join Jalen in dancing. The quick organization and reaction are different from anything Maya’s seen in person before; it’s as if the Church is comprised of professional choreographers.

  Everyone seems to know their role in the celebration. The families all stay to the edges of the group, doing some strange uncoordinated children’s dance. For the kids less interested in dancing, the parents start building pillow forts from the discarded couches.

  Meanwhile, the sunbathing girls come running inside and form a circle around Teddy. They’re performing a significantly more erotic dance than the families. Maya can’t believe her eyes as the girls seemingly fight each other for positioning closer to Teddy. She’s busy backing as far away as fast as she can.

  “Come on,” Robbie says as he grabs Maya’s hand to halt her retreat. “Let’s help the bellhops take the luggage upstairs. I changed my mind; we can check out our room then rejoin the party after we catch our breath. It was a long flight.”

  “No,” she says as she finds her nerve and pulls Robbie in for a kiss. “We came here for a party in your honor. Let’s not disappear now that it’s starting.”

  “It’s not really starting,” Robbie assures her. “The music will play while we wait for everyone to check-in. Then, Teddy always gives a welcome speech to kick off the week. I think you’ll have more fun exploring the castle tower than hearing Teddy talk. We can come back down after.”

  Maya wants to have fun for Robbie, but the prospect of listening to a long speech from Teddy is only slightly more appealing than lighting her hair on fire. Robbie’s warm smile gives her confidence as she follows him out of the room.

  Turning the corner, the cabin’s wooden floors suddenly turn into stone. The stone extends up the walls and is instantly cooler than the cabin. They follow the winding path up toward their room. Still wanting to learn more for her article, Maya tries to dive back into her questions once the music becomes muffled by the stone.

  “Does Teddy force all of these people to come for the entire week?”

  Robbie gives Maya a funny look, making her feel nervous about the question. She can’t have him shut down this early into the retreat, so she tries to hide her panic and sound more casual. Like a normal person’s curiosity instead of a reporter’s line of questioning.

  “I mean, it must be so exciting to have so many people celebrate you for so long.”

  “Well, today’s all about me. Teddy’s birthday is at the end of the week, so he’ll start to steal some focus from me tomorrow.”

  More answers that Maya already knows. She’s glad she didn’t let Ralph talk her into wearing a wire for this basic information. She doesn’t feel comfortable recording Robbie and Teddy for two full days without them finding out, so she’ll be picking her spots carefully instead.

  While she’s gathering this information inside the retreat, Ralph is setting up a position on the main road near the resort’s front entrance. He’ll be camping out there with his camera for the rest of the day. After that, he’ll start rotating between the edges of the retreat and hanging around bars in the nearest town. He usually finds that the caterers and resort staff blowing off some steam after work are the best sources to tell him more about the crazy cult visitors they’re dealing with at work.

  Unbeknownst to either of them, Ralph won’t be alone in canvassing the local bars for information this year.

  Up the road from where Ralph’s camping out in his car, John’s also setting up a camp for the week. Unlike Ralph, he has an entire team with him, meaning he can remain in a comfortable cabin and doesn’t need to personally be on the road watching the resort’s entrance.

  While he’s staying warm in the cabin that the FBI’s renting for the week, his cameras pointing at the hotel’s front door outnumber Ralph by several multiples. Plus, John has a drone flying overhead to watch whatever events POTCH holds by the lakeshore.

  A couple of his agents will be hitting the bars to learn the latest POTCH gossip, but it’s hardly what John’s banking on for his investigation. He also outnumbers Maya with the number of agents he has inside the retreat, thanks to agents posing as hotel employees. Most are assigned to Robbie’s tower and will be keeping their ears open for the next week. While POTCH is partying, they’ll be watching, ready to report back.

  John thinks it’s a longshot to monitor the POTCH retreat in relation to Robbie’s Ponzi scheme, but his team has talked him into following the lead. Maya wasn’t the only potential witness to try pushing them in this direction, and several field agents have filed reports insisting they have some sketchy involvement in the whole thing.

  Despite not believing in a nefarious connection between POTCH and the Ponzi scheme, John’s content to follow this lead to shut a few people up and make them happy. Pete’s wife recently gave birth to twin boys, so he volunteered to stay in the city with his family and investigate Merry Men’s operations during Robbie’s absence.

  There were no arguments from John. From his point of view, this should be an easy week relaxing in a cabin.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After several assurances from Robbie that Teddy’s speech is over, Maya agrees to descend their tower and return to the log cabin.

  In the short time they’ve been upstairs, the space has changed entirely. Most of the rustic furniture has disappeared and two ma
keshift stages are constructed in their place. Robbie leads her past the one sitting at the front of the room.

  Working their way through the crowd, Maya’s happy to see so many smiling and friendly faces. It extinguishes her fear that all POTCH followers are like Teddy. Most excitingly, the families appear to have disappeared. As far as she can tell, there isn’t a child left in sight. They must either be outside or up in their rooms. Either way, the lobby, which looks more like a giant dancefloor than a hotel, belongs to the adults now.

  It doesn’t take long for them to find Jalen in the center of the crowd, dancing with a trio of bikini-clad women as the loud house music vibrates the walls of the cabin. Taking her lead from the POTCH followers, Maya starts dancing against Robbie.

  With Robbie and his two left feet shuffling beside her, she admires Jalen’s dance moves. He appears to be one of the rare men who enjoys dancing and can also carry a beat.

  “Having fun?” Maya teasingly asks Jalen as he spins one of the girls.

  “I’ll be having a better time once the bellhop’s shift ends in an hour.”

  Confused, Maya turns to Robbie for answers. Finding out that Jalen’s gay, his rhythm suddenly makes a lot more sense. Jealousy quickly overcomes her, and she bumps one of the girls away from Jalen so he can spin her. Unfortunately, he spins her right back to Robbie in time for him to step on her foot. As if her new heels weren’t causing enough pain.

  Suddenly, before the song’s concluded, the music cuts off. The silence stops the partygoers middance as confusion engulfs the room. After a few seconds of watching the now silent speakers, everyone’s attention shifts to Theo and Robbie in the center of the room. Feeling the many eyes also falling on her, Maya isn’t sure what to do. Like all of them, she doesn’t know why the music stopped.

  But the silence doesn’t last long. The hotel’s elevators all open at once and a stream of professional dancers file into the party. More come cascading out of the stairwell, all decorated in matching white outfits.