Chapter 10

Wednesday, September 19, 1979

I was awakened at 6:03 AM by someone pounding on the door of the RV. As I quickly put on some clothes, I awakened Missy who had been sleeping beside me, and told her to wake everyone and get them dressed.

When I opened the door, there was a big burly policeman standing there. I stepped outside and asked what I could do for him.

"I'm officer West. Is this your rig?"

"Yes sir. My family's anyway."

{Cindi, open the passenger side front door please. He's going to ask for the registration.}

"Could I see your title and registration please?"

"Certainly, officer." I opened the front door and then the glove box. I handed him the title and registration. He took them and started looking them over.

"Can I ask why you are questioning me, officer?"

"No... Why are you in town, young man?"

"We're here for Sam Mullet's funeral."

"What are you to Sam Mullet?"

"Nothing to Sam. We're friends of his daughter, Angie. We're trying to help her get through this. We didn't meet Mrs. Mullet until yesterday."

"Mr. Green, I have been instructed to ask you to leave town. I'd suggest you do so immediately."

"We'll be glad to leave right after the funeral, officer West."

"That's not good enough. My instructions are that you are to leave immediately."

{Are you guys following this?} I asked.

{Every word, } Bonnie told me.

"We just can't let Angie down like that, officer. Who is it that wants us out of town so badly?"

"That's not your concern, Mr. Green. If you don't leave town, I've been instructed to arrest you."

{I'm going to let him arrest me guys. I picked up the name, Clyde, when I asked who wanted us gone. I'll probably learn more in jail than I will anywhere else.}

{I don't like it, } Sharon said. {Let's just turn the bastard off and dispose of the body.}

{Easy, Kitten. You guys can come in, put everyone to sleep, and take me out at any time. I'll be perfectly safe.}

{Yeah, } Cindi said. {This guy was just ordered to arrest Mike. He's to make sure nothing happens to him.}

"Well, officer, I guess you'll just have to arrest me," I said, holding out my hands for him to put on the cuffs.

The Rogerson jail is pathetic. There is a waiting room, two offices, and two cells. When we got there, Officer West escorted me into the Chief's office. He left the handcuffs on me while he questioned me. Finally, I asked, "What am I under arrest for, Officer West?"

"Failure to obey the lawful order of a police officer," he said.

"Okay, so that has to be a misdemeanor. What is the fine?"

"We'll have to ask Judge Ryerson that, tomorrow morning."

"So, you're determined to keep me in your jail overnight?"

"That's they way it has to be, Mr. Green."

"Okay, then lock me up. I don't see any reason to drag this out."

When he put me in the cell, I almost wished I hadn't said that. It was primitive to say the least. {Are you guys with me?} I asked my wives.

{We are Mike. We're talking to Doris and Angie right now. I asked Doris if she knew a Clyde. She said as far as she knows there is no one in town by that name, } Bonnie told me.

{I'm not sure what's going on. Be careful. From what I can read from Officer West, Clyde doesn't want me at the funeral this afternoon. When you guys go, stay linked at all times.}

{Mike, I have a bad feeling, } Cindi told me. {Jude and I were talking about this Clyde. We scanned Adkins again, and learned a little more. When he met Clyde and looked at the girls, he felt this compulsion to bid on them. He has always been a slime ball and a money grubber, but he has never been into kinky sex or little girls before. We think Clyde is a telepath and we think he planted this extreme desire into Adkins and a lot of others.}

{You may be right Cindi, but why just some of the people? Why wouldn't he place the same compulsion in everyone?}

{Maybe he thinks Adkins has a corrupt mind to begin with and he's easier to work with. Maybe that's why he wants to be rid of you. He can't corrupt your mind. That could also be the reason he had Sam killed.}

{Why would he want to be rid of me, but not worry about you guys? You and Jude are far stronger than the rest of us.}

{Mike, } Jude said, {our theory isn't complete, and it is just a theory. We don't think Clyde can actually read minds.}

{Yeah, do you remember Sheila's group? They could read thoughts, but couldn't project. We believe he is the opposite. We think he can compel people to do things, but he can't read their actual thoughts. We do think he gets a feeling about whether the person is corruptible though, } Cindi told me.

{Okay, that kind of makes sense, but it still doesn't answer why he wants rid of me, but not you.}

{We just don't think he believes women can be of any danger to him.}

{Awh, give me a break. What makes you think that?}

{It fits a pattern, Mike, } Jude told me. {He has probably abused women all of his life. He would plant a compulsion to have sex with him, and they would line up to do it. It could be that his father was a strong figure he couldn't control and his mother was a weak sister who he could manipulate at will.}

{That's all conjecture though. We'll probably have to scan him to find out.}

{We hope to do that today, Mike. We're sure he's going to be at the funeral. We know what he looks like from scanning Adkins.}

{You should probably scan everyone there, } I told them.

{We are. Bonnie, Sharon and Missy are going to scan everyone but Clyde. Jude and I are going to do him.}

{Just be careful. We have no idea what this guy is capable of.}

{Will do, Daddy Boss. What are you going to do?}

{I'm going to sit right here, unless you need me. I don't think Clyde will show up at the funeral if I'm there. I can get Officer West to let me out anytime I want, by just reversing the compulsion Clyde laid on him, so I'm not too concerned. I don't want to tip my hand unless I have to though.}

{Stay linked with us, Mike. That way we can tell you everything we learn as we learn it.}

{Will do. I love you Cindi. I love every one of you.}

I think everyone in town was at the funeral, plus quite a few from out of town. Cindi and Jude stayed outside until almost time for the service to start, hoping to see Clyde, but he didn't show. They had just taken their seats when he came through the door.

I was watching through Cindi's eyes when she spotted him. All of the seats in the back of the church were full, so he had to come down near the front. {That's him Mike, } Cindi said.

{Got him, Sweety. Let him get settled in his seat, then scan him.}

When Clyde was seated and had picked up a hymn book, Cindi gently slipped into his mind. Jude and I were closely linked with her when she went in. We had only been in his mind a few seconds when he attacked.

Cindi almost panicked. {Help guys!} she almost screamed mentally.

Jude and I were already closely linked with her, so the cry for help was toward the rest of the family. Missy, Sharon and Bonnie came into the link and helped me support Cindi's efforts to protect her mind from this maniac.

We would push him back, then he'd renew his attack, each time seemed stronger than the time before. At first he was trying to get Cindi to kill her sister/wives, and then kill herself. Then he started concentrating all of his efforts into trying to get her to kill herself.

I hadn't noticed that Jude had slipped away from the rest of us until I heard her ask, {Mike, I know where the girls are, and I know who killed Sam. Can I turn this monster off now?}

{If you can, do it, Love, } I answered.

All of a sudden, the pressure stopped. Cindi's body slumped, so Missy put her arm around her to support her. Clyde slumped forward and fell out of his seat. The people around him gasped and the service was stopped. Someone called the paramedics, but we knew they were far too late.

{Are you okay, Cindi?} I asked.

{I'll live. Mike, that was bad. I'm not sure I could have stood up to him if it wasn't for you guys.}

{That's what we're here for, Honey. We'll always be here for you. We all love you very much.}

{I know, Mike. I almost panicked when he struck the first time. I never in my life felt anything that strong. If I hadn't loved you all so much, I might have started trying to kill all of you.}

{But you didn't, Little Love. That means you were stronger than he was.}

{He was only strong in the one way, } Jude said. {He was concentrating on Cindi, so I was able to read him like a book. He could force his will on others and he had an ability that let him know who he could force. That was it though.}

{Jude, where are the girls?}

{They're in a farm house outside of town. Clyde, who's last name was Drexler, compelled the farmer and his wife to keep them captive. He left them with instructions to kill anyone who came close to the house, or to kill the girls if they couldn't kill the person who was trying to get in.}

{We'll have to be careful when we go get them, } I said. {Who killed Sam?}

{Mike, that was Officer West. Clyde compelled him to kill Sam, then compelled him to forget he had done it. I don't think he has any idea he was used as a weapon.}

{He doesn't Jude. I did a deep scan on him and he is just as baffled as everyone else is about who killed Sam.}

{Mike, what do we do about him? Technically, he is a killer, } Bonnie asked.

{No, Bonnie, he isn't a killer. Jude had it exactly right. He was a weapon. He had no volition when he pulled the trigger. Clyde was the killer.}