“I have no idea,” Aaron said, furrowing his brow, a look of complete confusion crossing his face.
“Well, I think it’s something like that. Just do that,” he advised, hoping he’d eased some of the fear.
“What if they want me to ride with them somewhere?” Aaron asked.
“Do not get inside a car. I don’t care what excuse you give. Shake ’em off. Don’t do it under any circumstance. Follow the rules. Drop to your knees and curl into a ball, slapping your head. Don’t get inside a car with them. Now, give me your left wrist.” Kreed took the wristwatch off the table and placed it on Aaron’s arm. “This monitors your vitals and has a GPS tracking device.”
In Kreed’s ear, Brown whispered, “He’s panicked. His heart rate’s through the roof.” Kreed glanced up at Aaron’s face.
Yeah, no news there. While he watched, Aaron began turning slightly pale. Kreed reached up and placed his palms on either side of the kid’s head.
“No. You need to stop this. Listen to me. It’s me against them. Stop overthinking. You’re safe. Get us in there, and we’ll know pretty quickly what we’re dealing with. Stop freaking yourself out. I’ve been in far worse situations and got everyone out alive. This right here is a piece of cake.” Kreed stepped closer to Aaron, willing him to understand his words. “You’re safe. I swear on my life.”
The silence was almost deafening while Kreed waited for some kind of response. Seconds passed and the tension began to lift as he slowly watched calm descend across his partner’s face.
“Somehow those scars on your arm make me feel better about the odds,” Aaron finally said. Neither moved away, and Kreed remained silent, staring deeply into Aaron’s eyes until he felt reasonably sure the kid had a hold of himself.
“You’re a smart guy. Assuming you make it past reception, make mental notes of everything. If any church staffer writes a note after something’s said, remember that conversation. If something starts an argument, focus and remember the finer details. We do reports every evening. Each member of the team will have different facts, find a different perspective. Connors will gather all the information and those reports go to Skinner for assessment. They’ll make sure you have whatever information they assimilate before you ever go back inside that place. Got it?” Kreed asked, taking a step backward when he heard Brown quietly tell him Aaron’s vitals were moving back to normal. “What are you thinking?”
“All this is gonna hold up in court? Don’t we need a search warrant?” Aaron asked.
“I’m glad you’re concerned about staying inside the law. It means you’re vested in the case. That’s all been taken care of. Skinner’s sister in-law’s a judge,” Kreed advised.
“Okay, I didn’t expect that.”
“Yeah, the file has been buried under a pile of paperwork, so by the time it becomes a public document, we’ll be done here. But right now, don’t second-guess any of that. We’re on a fact-finding mission. During the end-of-the-day reporting, we’ll talk about legalities if we get that far,” Kreed added.
“What if they ask me to do something illegal. Do I do it?”
“Yes. Since we’re monitoring everything, there’s nothing that’ll be held against you, if that’s what you’re asking. Generally, when you’re in the field like this, those are little tests to see how you’ll respond. Talk about God’s grace or just reiterate the kind of jargon they use, but do it. They’ll trust you more if they’re truly the ones behind this.” When no one raised another question, Kreed stepped back several steps and surveyed him. “You look good. I’d think you just came from church camp.”
“Thanks.” Aaron smoothed his hands down the front of his shirt, taking a deep breath. He abruptly pivoted on his heels, leaving Kreed standing alone in the kitchen. Once he heard him treading down the hall, he moved, following behind, walking slower toward Aaron’s room. He’d never worked with anyone so green before, and he had no idea where he stood. If this were Mitch, he’d already be headed over to the church by now. Trying to decide if he’d covered everything, Kreed said from the doorway, “Once you shut their system down, do your thing and stay quiet. Don’t talk too much or ask too many questions. It’ll tip ’em off that something’s not right.”
“Yeah, I got that. Outside of that anxiety attack I just had, I’m a big Five-O fan. I get what we’re trying to do,” Aaron said.
“Okay, well then, let me say that I don’t want you to do anything you’ve seen on that show. Just be normal.” Kreed watched as he slipped his phone in the front pocket on his slacks and picked up a file folder.
“I was joking with the Five-O reference,” Aaron said cheekily.
Kreed pushed away from the doorframe and lifted a fist for a quick knuckle bump as Aaron came closer. “Go make me proud.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Aaron said, the corners of his mouth curling into a smirk. He lifted his fist, bumping Kreed’s knuckles as he slid by. Brown barked out a laugh in his ear. Great.
“I’m not that old. You’re not funny. And shut the fuck up, Brown. You got ’em laughing at the bureau, Stuart,” Kreed said, trailing behind as they walked toward the front door. “I’ll be listening in the other room. And Connors says you got this.”
Aaron got to the entryway and stopped. He took a deep breath and dropped his chin on his chest. As much as Kreed wanted to hover, he gave the kid room. This was a big boy move, one that took some cojones to pull off.
“You got this,” he whispered.
“If I fuck this up, I’m sorry,” Aaron said, still looking down.
“Well, don’t do that either,” Kreed teased. He reached up and shoved Aaron between the shoulder blades toward the front door.
“Go get ’em.” That was about all the encouragement Kreed had to offer as he metaphorically pushed Aaron out of the nest. He’d been Sally Sunshine for as long as he could. Now Aaron just needed to get his ass over there. Kreed stepped around the entry wall, back into the main part of the house and waited. When he didn’t hear the front door open, he peeked around the corner. Aaron stood close to the door but hadn’t opened it. Kreed moved back, hiding behind the wall and called out, “Gotta get started in order to fail…”
Several seconds passed again and Kreed came back around the corner. Aaron still hadn’t moved. “What’s wrong?”
“Dude, chill, you’re pushing too much,” Aaron shot back. Kreed figured it was an attempt to divert, to keep Aaron from walking out the door by starting a fight.
“Connors says to buck the fuck up and get out the door. And you know, I kinda gotta agree. Reset the alarm.” Kreed ducked back out of the way, and even then, Aaron still didn’t move right away. Kreed dropped his forehead on the wall and closed his eyes. Everything hinged on Aaron and he was having cold feet. His head shot up when the door opened and the alarm beeped. Hallelujah! The code was reset and the front door shut with a hard slam. Kreed looked around the corner knowing there was a fifty-fifty chance Aaron hadn’t actually left. When he saw he was gone, Kreed pumped his fist in the air, celebrating his victory before he quickly spun on his feet.
“He’s gone,” Kreed said out loud, heading toward the surveillance room.
“I’m concerned,” Connors answered in his ear.
“Nah, he’s got this,” Kreed replied, not exactly certain of that, but it was the best they had right now. He went for the study window, lifting the blind a hair to see Aaron walking up the front walkway to the church. He took a seat behind the monitor, checking everything from his end.
“He’s in,” Connors said.
“I see that, Poindexter,” Kreed said, and Brown’s soft chuckle came through. Kreed moved to the monitor, the feed coming from the front of Aaron’s shirt. Like he’d done several times already, he reached for his weapon and palmed the pistol, checking the barrel. His bad feeling was escalating and they were officially game on now.
Chapter 14
Aaron’s heart pounded so hard he thought it might beat right out of his chest as he pulled the
front doors of the church offices open. He barely felt the soothing heated air of the lobby entrance greeting him, mainly because he hadn’t even registered it was cold outside. He’d been too nervous as he walked across the street to think of anything other than how many different ways he could fuck up this whole operation.
Taking a deep breath, Aaron stepped inside the large white marble entrance hall and saw a single desk sitting to the side about midway across the room. He started for the receptionist, taking in all of his surroundings as he made his way across the marble floor. A large mural ran the length of one wall. His eyes followed the painting up to the intricately etched carvings on the ceiling and over the columns and arches. He kept his eyes up, feigning interest as he looked over the entire length of the church foyer while trying to calm the pounding of his heart.
Honestly, it wasn’t like he didn’t sneak around all of the time, because he did. He was also very used to hiding. So that couldn’t be the reason for all this anxiety coursing through him. So what the hell… I mean heck… Was the problem? He waited for the lightning bolt to strike for his bad-word slip in a so-called place of worship. Luckily, it never did.
“Can I help you?” an older woman with a deep Southern accent asked.
“I’m here—” His voice broke while saying those two words. He stopped talking, cleared his throat, and after a second, he tried again. “It’s so cold. I wish I had my inhaler.”
Okay, where had that come from? Way to improvise, asshole. Inhaler? Really? Way too stereotypical. Exactly what Kreed warned him not to do.
The woman smiled at him and lifted a finger while she answered the phone. To the direct right of the desk stood a white marble statue, and Aaron moved to the side, getting closer to read the name on the bottom. Pastor Gerald Albert Helps. Aaron’s eyes shot up to look at the guy’s face. A laugh bubbled up, and he had to fight the urge to let it out. Surely if they were going to pay homage to the founder of this extreme right-winged fundamentalist Baptist Church, they would do it with him looking a bit younger, because the guy’s image carved into this statue looked eighty-five years old if he were a day. Oh, man, that was funny. He hoped Kreed was getting a good look at this.
“I’m sorry, son. How can I help you?”
“I’m here for an interview for the IT position,” Aaron answered, schooling his features before turning back to face the woman.
“Hmm. They didn’t tell me they had any interviews today. Who are you interviewin’ with?” she asked. Her voice never changed, just very sweet and very Southern.
“His name was hard to pronounce,” Aaron said, hedging on that one. Who knew if Thomas Hasselbeck went by Tom or Thomas or if the information in his notes were even correct?
“Well, he’s not here this week. That’s the problem. I don’t know why he would’ve scheduled an interview when he knew he was on vacation. He took Christmas break off after the big celebration. You should have been here. Were you here?” she asked with a dreamy expression plastered on her face.
“No, ma’am,” he said, shaking his head. “I stayed with my church family back home for Christmas. Let me check my email to make sure I got the date right.” Aaron reached for his phone in the front pocket of his slacks.
“Let me call our pastor’s office. They’ll know what to do.” She dialed and spoke to someone on the other end as he slid his finger across the screen. He worked quickly, giving the proper command to launch the shutdown.
“Pastor Helps’s secretary is on her way over. We only have one person here in the IT department, and he’s not in a position of authority, but we regularly can’t seem to find him anyway. She’ll be right with you, though,” the receptionist explained. Aaron glanced over to see her smiling sweetly before looking down at her computer. He’d been dismissed as she went back to typing away. Aaron took a step or two back and waited. One thing he noticed as being a little weird—the front lobby was void of crosses or any real references to or artifacts about a place of worship. The sound of high-heeled shoes clicking on the marble floor grew louder, drawing his attention to the back of the room. Right before the person came into view around the corner, the receptionist gave a very frustrated, “Pooh!”
Aaron stood there a little shocked. This place just got weirder and weirder. The woman came around the corner, wearing a tight-fitting leopard print dress. She had long, bleached blond hair and wore a pair of black patent leather stripper shoes. Her stride reminded him of a model on the catwalk with over-exaggerated steps as she moved forward.
“What’s wrong, Stella?” the woman said as she stopped by the desk first.
“I was just finishing the list of new email addresses and the system kicked me out. Now I can’t log back in.”
So it begins…
Aaron looked down, studying the pattern in the polished marble, kicking at the floor with the tip of his shoe. That had worked faster than he’d even hoped for.
“You know what to do. Restart your computer. It should be fine.” The woman dismissed Stella’s concerns and turned toward him. “Hi, I’m Julie, Pastor Helps’s assistant.” She came around the desk, her bright red lips lifting into a giant smile, which, technically, was the only similarity between Julie and Stella.
“Hi, I’m Josiah Smith,” Aaron said, taking her hand, giving her that delicate handhold he’d been taught at a very young age to give women. The one that every female he knew absolutely hated receiving in today’s business world. Julie didn’t seem to mind at all. Her smile even got a little brighter. “I have an interview with Mr. Hasselbeck. I checked my email while I was waiting and he told me to come today. Maybe he’s coming in?” Aaron offered, thinking that might be about the worst thing that could happen at this point.
“Why don’t you come back with me while we sort this out? I know they’re shorthanded in that department. He’s always looking for someone. I can give him a call,” Julie said, turning to walk back toward the hall she’d come from. “Come this way, and, Stella, let me know if it gives you any more trouble.”
Aaron followed a few steps behind, trying to casually turn this way or that, hoping he looked interested in the artwork along the way. Many of the office doors along the hall were closed, but Aaron tried to capture the name-plates as he walked by, in case Connors needed that bit of information. The corridor was long, and from what he could see, only a few people were working. He heard several exasperated sighs as they passed by open doors. The triggers must be working, systematically logging them off.
“Julie, are you having problems getting on?” a man behind a desk asked as they passed by his office.
“I wasn’t. No,” she said loudly and never stopped her pace. “You can see why Thomas may have scheduled this during his downtime. We aren’t very computer literate around here. He’s always got his hands full with us.” She opened the door to the pastor’s suite of offices and extended a hand. He did what every well-mannered man should do, he reached back to take the door, letting her walk in first. She seemed to like that move. Her smile lit up her face as she moved forward. “Thank you!”
“Julie, I can’t get on.” An older gruff voice came from an office just to the side of her desk. He hoped he’d turned enough and stayed in a decent position to give Kreed and Connors a good layout of this area. He pivoted slowly, seeing two offices and an exit door, the window of which showed it led out to the street they were staying on. He turned his body slowly to make sure they got that shot.
“Have a seat right here. I need to go help him.” Julie pointed to a chair at the end of her desk.
“Pastor Helps, there must have been a hiccup in the system. Restart it like Thomas says to do,” she explained as she disappeared inside the office where a disgusted grumbling could be heard.
“I don’t know why we need these things. They never work right.” That sounded like his very own grandfather talking. The generational gap was alive and present in this place, for sure.
“Give it time to reboot and I’ll be back. I have
to call Thomas anyway.” Julie came out of the office a little frazzled, rolling her eyes dramatically, but her smile was still bright.
“Let me get him on the phone. What was your name again?” she asked, taking her seat while picking up her phone. She didn’t wait for his answer as she began dialing. The high of moments ago began to fade. Aaron hadn’t anticipated the Hasselbeck guy might live close enough to just come on over. He had to remind himself that even if the guy did show up, all that meant was he was back to his original game plan. It would still take a while to figure out what was going on. Aaron was the only one who knew how to quickly override and restore the system. Still, even with that knowledge, he found himself mentally crossing his fingers, hoping Thomas didn’t answer.
“Hello, Thomas, it’s Julie. I have a couple of things to talk with you about. Call me when you get a minute,” she said, that bright smile faltering as she stared at her own monitor. “I got voice mail.” She placed the phone back in the cradle as three things happened simultaneously. First, the pastor barked he couldn’t log on and he had a deadline to meet. He needed to email Deacon Silas Burns. Aaron prayed the bureau caught that little jewel of information. Second, Julie’s phone lines began to light up, and third, the main office door opened.
“The whole place’s down, and I can’t find Jeb,” someone said.
Aaron supposed Jeb was the IT guy they’d mentioned earlier. Aaron weighed his best options. He wasn’t supposed to act overeager, so was now a good time to offer his help? Hell, he didn’t know. On instinct alone, he finally said out loud, “I could take a look. I have my master’s in information technology from New Hope University in Oklahoma.”
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