Chapter 16

Akron, Ohio

Martha picked up the cattle prod and shoved it at Rhonda's face, but a well-placed kick from Shawn sent it flying across the room.

In the control room Paul Brown was screaming, "GO! GO! Let's get those people out of there. NOW! Jim, you are in charge. Stay here and coordinate. Jamie, TC, let's go!"

The remaining members of the inner circle started to surround the three women. Since Paul Smith was tied up, they ignored him and started to close in on the women. Shawn and Rhonda turned back to back in an effort to protect each other.

A man's hand reached out of the circle toward Shawn's neck. Sweeping her left arm to the side forced the hand to become errant, and then using the momentum of the sweep, Shawn followed with a well-placed kick to the man's chest. He flew out of the circle and crumpled to the floor.

One of the men of the group pulled a mace off the wall and started swinging it as he approached the women. "You cannot be our sisters if you stand with the sinners. You must be given the same treatment as them if this is what you want."

"We are not who you think we are," said Rhonda. "I am an investigator for the Southern Baptist Convention, and Shawn is with the Akron Police. You are not in too much trouble yet, but if you keep this up, you will all go to prison for a long time."

"Traitor," cried the group in unison. At that point the man threw the mace at the girls. Shawn reached behind her and pulled Rhonda to the floor with her. The mace continued on and hit a petite blond member of the inner circle in the head. A sickening crack filled the room as the girl fell back to the floor with blood gushing from her forehead.

The man who threw the mace charged. Shawn pushed Rhonda under the altar with one foot and rolled to her shoulder as she brought her other foot into the man's groin. He turned white and fell on Shawn.

Martha retrieved the knife from Bill, and brought it in an arc toward Shawn. About half way through the arc, a hand reached out and grabbed Martha's wrist and twisted in the opposite direction. Martha let out a scream as she felt her arm come out of its socket. The knife fell to the floor as Rhonda let Martha fall to her knees.

As Rhonda helped Shawn from under the withering man, the rest of the group converged on the helpless girls and started pounding on them with their fists. At the same time, one member of the group found the cane pole Janet was using, and started flogging a screaming Vivian until she passed out from the pain.

Suddenly the chamber door blew to pieces as men in black uniforms filled the room. After a brief scuffle the members of the inner circle were subdued and handcuffed. Bill Burton and Martha were pushed to one side. Shawn and Rhonda untied Vivian and Paul Smith and helped Paul stand. Vivian remained on the altar.

Jamie pushed forward to announce, "You are all under arrest for false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit murder. You have the right to remain silent. If you waive that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to council. If you cannot afford council, one will be appointed to you by the State of Ohio. Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you? Please answer aloud!"

Paul stepped from behind Jamie and handed Shawn and Rhonda robes that he had found in the outer chambers. "God, you women are incredible. I couldn't do what you have done. My hat is off to you."

Jamie turned her attention to Vivian's hand. "We need to get the paramedics in here now! She is losing a lot of blood."

Shawn turned to Paul Smith. "Paul, where is Heather Burton and Sally Brown? I know you people have her."

"I don't know what you are talking about. Last time I heard anything about Heather, she was screwing some rich inventor. I have no idea who Sally Brown is."

"Look, Paul, Rhonda and I just risked our lives to save you and Vivian. You owe me the truth."

"I owe you a lot more than the truth, but I am telling the truth. I have no idea where she is."

Paul Brown stepped next to Shawn. "Are you trying to tell us that after you talked about killing Heather several times tonight that you don't know that she is kidnapped along with my niece?"

"Kidnapped? Heather is kidnapped? My God, no! We were talking about a spiritual death when we were talking about killing her. There is no way Vivian or I would be part of any killing. You know, like when people of the Jewish faith tear their clothing when they disown one of their own family and say to me, that person is dead?"

"You're saying this was only make believe?"

"Well, it's not that simple, but yes, her death was to be symbolic, but I don't believe our deaths were to be. I've never seen a ceremony get this far out of hand. An occasional orgy is one thing, but killing is something else. Excuse me, I have to see to my wife."

The paramedics had slipped through the crowd and were bringing Vivian back to consciousness. One of them turned to Paul Smith. "Your wife has a concussion, and severe abrasions on her body. That will heal. I am afraid that she may have some trouble with her hand, however. That knife did a pretty good job of screwing it up. We'll know more after the doctors see her at the hospital."

"She can't go to the hospital!" said Bill Burton from across the room. "It is against the will of God."

Rhonda suddenly turned and strode across the room. "You sick bastard! You lost your moral authority when you started going off the deep end. The Baptist church will take over this church and try to make it right, but you will have nothing to say about it."

"You slut! You and that evil black beast!" he said pointing to Jamie. "You are going to go to hell. Her for violating a place of racial purity, and you for being an agent of the devil. Vivian is still a member of the inner circle. No doctor can touch her body. Only I can administer the healing touch."

Rhonda turned and started to walk away from Burton's words. A sudden look of disgust came over her face as she turned back to the raging minister. "Fuck you, you asshole!" With that, she kicked Bill Burton in the nuts.

Jamie covered her smile by turning to the commandos. "Search this place for any sign of Heather and Sally." After finding her control, she turned back to the miserable minister, knelt to the floor, and whispered in Burton's ear. "If Sally is hurt in any way and I find out you are involved, I will hurt you so bad that you will look upon that kick as a pleasant experience."

Burton's eyes showed fear as he stared at the wrong end of Jamie's Glock. Jamie saw this. "What you are looking at, asshole, is the standard hand weapon of choice for most of the armies of Europe. In 1960, the Austrian Army took bids on a new hand weapon. The Lugers they were using were second rate, and had a horrible misfire rate.

"One of the companies that was allowed to bid was a company that had never manufactured anything more dangerous than a knife. They were allowed to bid, however, because they had a perfect record in dealing with the Austrian Army. In the 10 years they had worked with the Army, they were never late on a shipment, and they had an unbelievable 100% satisfaction rating. They never made mistakes.

"Mr. Glock, the owner of the company refused to let his engineers look at any other weapon. They were to start from scratch.

"The end result is the most dependable 9 millimeter weapon in the world. It has 25% fewer parts than any other automatic pistol, and I can group a 17-shell clip in a two-inch circle at 50 feet.

"You know what else, you bigoted piece of horse shit? The safeties on this weapon are automatic. Soooooooooo, I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn off the safety if I get a reason to shoot your Nazi ass."

The room was dead silent as Jamie finished her history lesson.

Rhonda started to come back to Burton, but Jamie stepped between them and again whispered in his ear, "If you were smart, you would tell us where Heather and Sally are before I forget to step between you and Rhonda. You didn't really treat her like a lady. I would be pissed if I were her."

Catching the drift of Jamie's words, Rhonda picked up the cattle prod that Shawn had kicked away and pointed it at Burton. He cowered into a ball.

Rhonda continued to press her advantage. "I am going to burn your eyes out, then, I'm gonna burn your balls off. You're mine now. WHERE ARE THOSE WOMEN?!!"

Burton continued to cower in a ball. "I want my lawyer. You can't treat me like this my church will come to my side. You are agents of the devil. You are doing his will."

"You don't get it do you Burton," Paul Brown said. "You don't have a church, and if anything happens to Sally, you won't have a life either. Jim?" Paul asked into the air. "Are those paddy wagons here yet? Good. Get this scum out of here and transport them downtown."

Shawn stood beside Paul and put her arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry I couldn't find your niece. She has to be somewhere. We'll find her."

Rhonda walked to the other side of Paul and reached out her hand. "I guess you're Billy? I'm sorry about your niece. I pray you find her safe."

"Actually, I'm Paul Brown, and we can use all the help God can give us. Thanks. You two look exhausted. Rhonda, do you have a place to stay?"

"No, I didn't get a chance to find anywhere."

"Yes she does!" exclaimed Shawn. "She is staying with Hobo and I until she goes back home to Oklahoma. We have the extra room."

"Thank you, Shawn. Let's just hope I have a home to go to. Once the Convention finds out what I have done, I may be out on the streets."

"Rhonda, the last thing you have to worry about is finding a job," said Jamie. "In fact, my guess is someone in this room will be trying to get you to change employers regardless of whether you want to go back home or not. In fact, I know some people in the FBI that would be interested in you."

"That's right," added Paul. "You just relax, and we will talk about your future in a few days."

"I don't know what to say," said Rhonda as she fought back a tear. "Thank you."

"Shawn?" asked Paul. "Where is your car?"

"It's at home, TC brought me here. I guess he can take me home."

"We need him here to tie up some loose ends," replied Paul. "Here, take my Suburban. It's in the side parking lot. Your purse is still in the finance office. I'll send someone to get it for you."

"We can pick it up on the way out. I want to check on Hobo before we go home. Is that OK Rhonda?"

"Sure, I want to meet this superman of yours, anyway."

Amish Country, Ohio

As the BMW pulled to the freeway exit ramp and turned south on the old state highway, the skies opened to a torrential downpour. Janet jammed the foot feed as the powerful V8 super charged engine screamed in eager anticipation of top speeds on the winding roads that made up rural Ohio. The car seemed to come alive as the suspension compensated for the lateral forces generated through the tight turns. Plums of water flew from the sides of the car as it accelerated through the rain storm. Janet could feel the great power of first rate German engineering in her hands create an euphoria that was almost orgasmic.

Zack on the other hand felt anything but exalted. "Slow this devil machine down! Are you trying to kill us?"

"Come on Zack. I can feel the power go through my body. This is the way driving was meant to be!"

"You keep this up, and power is not the only thing we are going to feel going through our bodies. You are trying to kill us!"

"That reminds me of a joke, Zack. What is the last thing that goes through a bug's mind when he hits a windshield?"

"How am I supposed to know that?"

"His ass! Get it? His ass!"

"I'm too scared to laugh. Slow down and I will laugh at your jokes!"

"Oh, you are such a kill joy," replied Janet as she lowered the speed to just a little dangerous.

Behind the BMW, the Dodge SUV was laboring to keep up. Jack was discussing the ancestry of the BMW driver in less than flattering terms. "God damn idiot has a death wish. Holy shit! I spent time on the race circuit, and I can't keep up. That Beamer is just too much car."

"There they are, Jack," said Jen as they rounded a sharp turn. "Back off! Oh! My God! Look out!"

On the road ahead was the reflection triangle of a slow moving vehicle. Jack slammed on the breaks and turned the wheel to the left as he barley missed the Amish family in their buggy. The horse pulling the buggy started to bolt, but the buggy driver's firm hand and soft words calmed the frightened animal.

The SUV pulled into the bar ditch and hit a large puddle of standing water left over from the downpour. Jack fought with the truck as it started to turn into a slide that would end up with the unstable vehicle rolling and possibly seriously injuring it occupants.

From the back of his mind came the words of his father from when he was learning to drive. "Son, if you get into a slide, turn the car into the direction of the slide. The car should straighten out, and then slowly get back to where you need to be.

"Already ahead of you, Dad," he said to the memory. "That was some ride! Want to try it again?"

"Fuck you!" came the reply from everyone in the car.

Back in the BMW, Janet was trying to calm Zack down. "I'm sorry I scared you. I just love to drive on these kinds of roads in this car. This car is the only thing my husband bought that I liked before he died. How could a loser like him pick out such a car?"

"I don't see you turning in his 10 million bucks," replied Zack "If you are unhappy with that, I will be glad to take some of it off your hands. Where is this place supposed to be anyway? Brother Bill said about 15 miles south of the freeway."

"Another 10 miles, Zack. What do you know about these guys we are to meet, and what are we meeting them for?"

"All I know is that Brother Bill told us to meet these guys and to help them out with some ritual. I don't know anything else. Brother Bill told me they would explain what we were to do. I have a feeling that it has something to do with Heather, but I'm not sure."

Dreamland / Outside Akron

The peaceful tropical breeze blew through the open window of the thatch building, but it was too humid to relieve any of the sweat that was forming on the man's body. His nakedness did little to lessen the burden of the Central American heat. He looked back on the strangeness of his relationship with the woman he had been obligated to marry since her birth in his 12^th year.