Kevin came out again, pulling on a jacket. “He’ll be out soon. I must leave now.”
“One question.” Mitch stopped him. “Where were you the day Sharon was murdered?”
Kevin looked a little stunned by the question. “At the city library,” he said. “I study by correspondence, but I head into the city to attend some lectures and study in the library.”
“I thought the people of Bountiful were encouraged to stay away from the city?”
“We are, but I have been allowed to attend due to my studies.”
“What are you studying?” Salvi asked.
“Teaching,” he replied with a smile. “I’m hoping to teach at the Children of Christ one day. After I gain my teaching degree, I plan to join the Children of Christ seminary and become a priest. I hope to one day travel the world and spread the word of God.”
Mitch and Salvi exchanged a look.
“When did you last see Sharon Gleamer?” Mitch asked him.
“Last Sunday at church.”
“Were you good friends?”
“Yes. Not as close as her and Tobias, but I would call her a friend. Yes, of course.”
Mitch nodded and Salvi gave him her card. “If there’s anything you think we should know, please give us a call.”
Kevin nodded, then grabbed a lunchbox off the table and left.
Within a few moments Tobias emerged wearing a thick blue robe. He looked terrible, his skin pasty, his eyes puffy and red.
“Tobias,” Salvi greeted him. “You don’t look so well.”
“No,” he said quietly rubbing his throat. “I think I’ve got the flu.”
“We need to ask you some more questions about Sharon,” Mitch said. “You weren’t entirely honest with us the other day, were you?”
Tobias looked at Mitch and his face seemed to pale even further. Salvi swore she saw his eyes pop a little in fear. Mitch could be intimidating when he wanted to be, and to someone like Tobias he could probably be terrifying.
“She was your girlfriend, wasn’t she?” Salvi said.
Tobias took a few steps away from them, averting his eyes. “It wasn’t like that. She wasn’t like that.”
“A witness saw you kissing her,” Mitch said. “That sounds like a girlfriend to me.”
Tobias quickly marked the sign of the cross as he looked at the floor.
“Did you want more than she was willing to give you, Tobias?” Mitch pushed. “Did you lose control and take it too far?”
“No!” Tobias raised his face. “No. It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?” Salvi asked him.
“What was she like?” Mitch asked. “She tease you?”
“No!” Tobias said, a glimmer of anger flashing across his face as he looked at Mitch. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
“You were seen kissing her, Tobias,” Salvi said. “Isn’t that against the Children of Christ teachings?”
“We… didn’t mean to–”
“Didn’t mean to what?” Mitch asked.
“We’re not like th-that,” Tobias fumbled. “We just…”
“Just what?” Mitch pushed again.
“We just…”
“Just what?” Mitch snapped. “Spit it out, Tobias!”
“It just happened!” Tobias blurted, tears bursting out and running down his face. He dropped suddenly to his knees and clasped his hands in prayer, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Mitch stepped forward, but Salvi held up her hand to keep him at bay. She crouched down and placed her hand gently on Tobias’ shoulder.
“What happened, Tobias?” she asked softly. “Tell me what happened?”
Tobias sobbed, hands still clenched together. “I-I loved her… I w-would never hurt her.”
“And she loved you?”
Tobias nodded, more tears spilling down his cheeks, as he rocked back and forth upon his knees. “We knew it was wrong… We tried so hard not to. It just happened… but we loved each other…”
“Tell me what happened,” Salvi said, her voice soft.
Tobias sniffed and wiped his face. “We’re going to hell,” he whispered. “I know it.”
“What happened, Tobias?” Salvi asked again. “You loved her, she loved you. Why do you think you’re going to hell?”
“We were weak… we gave into temptation… and n-now she’s dead.”
“You think she’s dead because you kissed her?” Mitch asked doubtfully.
Salvi shot him a look to keep quiet, then looked back at Tobias.
“You did more than kiss, didn’t you, Tobias?” she said, keeping her voice soft.
Tobias began sobbing again, the eighteen year-old looking very much like a small boy. “We’d been so good. We were strong in our faith… We would just hold hands, nothing more, but… I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I just wanted to spend all day with her. And she said she couldn’t stop thinking about me either. We tried not to. We tried… other things, to keep our bodies pure. But one night… We didn’t mean to… It just happened. We know it was wrong but…”
“What happened?” she asked again. When Tobias didn’t respond, she answered for him. “You had sex with Sharon, didn’t you?”
Tobias began to sob again, his face so red and distraught. Salvi squeezed his shoulder, trying to offer him support and ease the words out of him. Eventually he nodded. “Yes…” His voice was barely a whisper.
“Why do you think it was wrong?” Salvi asked.
“B-because God said–”
“Did Sharon sleep with you willingly?” she cut him off. “Did she give her consent?”
“Yes!” Tobias looked at her with his wet cheeks. “I would never hurt her! We were going to get married.”
“So why do you think what you did was wrong?” she asked.
“Because God said–”
“God created Adam and Eve,” she interrupted him. “He created them for a purpose. He wanted them to fall in love and bring children into this world. How could that be wrong?”
“But we made a vow,” Tobias said. “We were weak and we broke that vow. We let the devil possess us!”
“Above all, love each other deeply,” she said, “because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8.”
Tobias’ wet face looked at her, surprised. Mitch did too.
“Hatred stirs up conflict,” she continued, “but love covers over all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12.”
Tobias wiped his face as though trying to get a clearer look at her.
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. John 4:8.” She smiled at Tobias. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Tobias. You fell in love. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“But we broke our vows…” he said quietly. “We let the devil take hold. We–”
“You did nothing wrong,” she said firmly, feeling her jaw tighten as she did. “The person who killed Sharon did.”
Tobias stared at her a moment, before he broke down crying again. “Who would do that to her?”
“I don’t know, Tobias,” she said, feeling her heart racing in her chest and echoing in her ears as she watched the distraught boy. She saw the guilt that plagued him, saw the torment. She took his chin and brought his face up to look him in the eyes. “But I promise you, I’m going to find him.”
Tobias stared back at her for a moment before he curled over in a sob again.
“Get off your knees,” she said, as she pulled him to his feet then sat him down on the couch. She glanced back at Mitch and saw his eyes burning with curiosity at hers. She looked back at Tobias as Mitch stepped forward.
“Tobias,” he said, “we heard you and Sharon used to go to the SlingShot station. Did you go into the city at all?”
Tobias looked up at him and wiped his face. “Why?”
“Because it was forbidden, wasn’t it?”
Tobias shrugged and averted his eyes again. “We went in there with Kevin.”
“Why?”
“How many times did you go in?”
“A few times. We didn’t like it there.”
“But you were seen going to the SlingShot more than a few times,” Salvi said.
“Sharon and I would go to the café at the station.” He dropped his eyes to the ground in shame. “We didn’t want anyone in town to see us holding hands.”
“That’s all?” Salvi asked, noticing his eyes wouldn’t lift from the ground.
He shrugged. “We sometimes played arcade games too.” He looked up at her. “Not the online games. They’re banned from the Bountiful station. They’re sinful …” He began to sob again. “They’re so very sinful.” Salvi and Mitch exchanged a glance.
Salvi sighed. “Someone will be around soon with a warrant to take a DNA sample from you.”
Tobias looked up at her frightened. “Why?”
“Don’t worry. This can rule you out as a suspect in her murder.”
“B-But we fornicated?”
“How long ago?” Salvi asked.
Tobias thought for a moment. “F-five days ago.”
Salvi smiled. “You’ll be fine, Tobias.” She stood from the couch, walked into the kitchen, poured a glass of water and brought it back to him. “Is there anyone I can call for you? Your parents? Your roommate, Kevin?”
Tobias took the glass and shook his head adamantly. “No one can know about this. Please!”
“It’s alright. They don’t have to,” Salvi told him.
“You won’t tell anyone?” His eyes were wide and childlike.
“No one in town needs to know,” she reassured him.
“Except my preacher,” he said, looking down at his glass. “I’ll have to confess it to hi–”
“It’s none of the preacher’s goddamn business!” Salvi snapped, the hardness of her voice making Tobias look up at her. “What happened between you and Sharon can stay between you and Sharon. It’s nobody’s business but yours. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” And with that Salvi walked out the door.
Chapter Four
Wretched Souls
Salvi sat in the Raider and waited for Mitch to join her. He did so, staring at her curiously, but before he could speak, his iPort beeped. He read the message and sighed.
“Shit,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s Ford. We can’t get out to the Solme Complex until tomorrow morning. Attis Solme had to leave on business. He’ll be back later tonight.”
Salvi sighed heavily and turned to view the road ahead again. “So much for the golden forty-eight hours, huh?”
“Sounds like he’s trying to stall us.”
“Or he just had business to attend to.”
Mitch shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Forty-eight hours or forty-eight days, we’ll get him.”
“Let’s go pay the preacher another visit,” she suggested.
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Mitch sat silent and still, those dark green eyes analyzing her.
“The attack on Sharon was about control and punishment,” Salvi said. “She was obviously a virgin who gave into temptation. Someone found out and they punished her for that. Who else would punish her? Maybe she’d already confessed it to Vowker.”
Mitch shrugged, still staring at her.
“Someone carved the word ‘pure’ into her belly,” Salvi said. “The preacher used that exact same word describing her.”
“Tobias said it too. He said they were trying to keep their bodies pure.”
“Vowker knew Sharon and Tobias were growing close, that’s why he counseled them. The preacher, the man whose job it is to guide the flock, to keep these Children of Christ true to their vows, true to this very town, found out his two star members of the youth corps had disobeyed him. Disobeyed Christ. So maybe he punished them for that. He punished Sharon by doing what he did, and he punished Tobias by leaving him behind with his good old-fashioned Christian guilt.”
Mitch continued to study her for a moment in silence. “Don’t look now, Salvi,” he said, “but you’re showing emotion. And it might just be clouding your vision.”
“I’m stating the facts,” she said. “How can that be clouding my vision?”
“He’s a preacher. It’s his job to counsel the flock. Preachers also generally tend to be non-violent types. Occasionally child molesters and perverts, but not killers.”
“You’re defending him?”
“They abstain outside of marriage. That’s what they do.”
“So?”
“So, it’s their choice, Salvi. They chose that religion, they choose to live by those rules. Who are we to tell them they’re wrong?”
“They are wrong. They punish people for having normal human tendencies. They try to control bodies that aren’t theirs to control.”
“It’s their belief system. What do you care? Why does it bother you so much?”
She turned back to look out the windscreen. “A young woman with her whole life ahead of her was brutally murdered. I want to find her killer and fuck up the rest of his life too.”
“Yeah. So do I,” he said, studying her again.
“Then, what?!” she snapped.
“Why is this case getting you so wound up?”
“Why does every case get you wound up?”
“Because I wear my heart on my sleeve apparently,” he told her.
“Well, oops, mine just slipped out a little.”
Mitch stared at her again for a moment, then, deciding not to argue, turned back and set the Raider in motion.
“Why aren’t you taking me to the preacher?” she asked, as they passed the church and Mitch kept driving.
“We’re going somewhere else first.”
“Where?”
He didn’t answer. They appeared to be heading out of town, before eventually he pulled up at the Bountiful SlingShot station.
“Why aren’t we going to the preacher?” she asked again.
“I’m not taking you to the preacher like that. We’ve got enough reports to sign off.”
“I can handle myself,” she said. “Remember? I’m the emotionless one.”
“Not today, you’re not,” he said, getting out and closing the door.
Salvi followed. “Are you telling me you don’t want to get this guy? You of all people?”
“Yeah, I want to get this guy,” he said moving up to her and lowering his voice, “but I want to get the right guy, Salvi! Not go on some witch hunt for the preacher.”
“No, you just want to pin this on one of those Serenes or Subjugates! How are you any different to me?”
Mitch threw her a dark look, then grabbed her arm and ushered her up the platform to a row of stores. She snatched her arm back, but followed him, if for nothing else but curiosity about the SlingShot station. They passed the arcade Tobias had referred to, then the café. Mitch entered and led her to an empty booth at the back.
She glared at him as she sat down. “You grab my arm like that again, I’ll break yours.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “What are you drinking?”
Salvi folded her arms and looked away. The café was brightly lit and smelled of incense. A mellow Christian tune sounded from a speaker somewhere, the singer preaching about “giving yourself to Him”. Mitch walked to the counter and after a discussion with the server, he came back with two shots of whiskey.
“They serve alcohol here?”
“Don’t Christians love their wine? The blood of Christ and all that,” Mitch said with a smirk. He downed one of the shots and slid the other in front of her.
“You trying to turn me into a drunk like you?” she said.
“You need to relax, Salvi. Take the shot and calm down.”
“I am calm.”
“Yeah? That’s what bothers me.
If this is you calm, I’d hate to see you fired up.”
Salvi glared at him and he glanced around the café, then looked back at her.
“You going to drink that?” he asked.
She stared at him. He stared back, then reached out and downed her shot too.
“Are you calm now?” he asked her.
“Are you?”
“How did you know those Bible verses?” he asked.
Salvi stared back but didn’t answer.
“Were you raised in a Christian religion?” he asked.
“You’re going to interrogate me now?”
Mitch shrugged. “If you’ve got some beef with these religious folks, then maybe you shouldn’t come with me to talk to the preacher.”
“If I have some beef? What, like the beef you have with the former criminals dwelling out there in the Solme Complex? You’re the last person who should be accusing me of prejudice.”
“Salvi, I haven’t seen you like this before. In nearly four whole months of working together you’ve been one long flatline. Now, just like that,” he clicked his fingers, “we suddenly have a pulse and it’s racing.”
“So you said before.” Salvi took a deep breath and centered herself. “Look, I felt sorry for the kid, that’s all it was.”
“How do you know those Bible passages?”
“What business is it of yours?”
Mitch stared back at her.
“Have I ever asked you about your girlfriend?” she said.
“No.”
“No, I haven’t, because I don’t pry. You should follow my lead on that.”
“No, you haven’t asked me about my dead girlfriend because you don’t know what to say or how to deal with it.”
“What?” She furrowed her brow.
“I don’t know much about you, Salvi, but I know this. You wear this mask. You don’t deal with emotion, so you don’t go near the death of my girlfriend because you don’t know how to handle it. Or me. Or my emotions. Just like you don’t know how to handle whatever emotions that preacher has stirred up in you now.”
“Remember last night at the hub when you demanded I stop analyzing you? Well, ditto. Stop analyzing me now.”
He shrugged. “Can’t help it. Comes with the job. It’s my job to know how people tick. And I’d like to know how my partner ticks.”
The Subjugate Page 8
