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“I just don’t…I don’t know why Mueller would do that toyou. I guarantee the rest of his little team pushed him to do it.”
“You’re part of that little team, are you not?”
“Notice I’ve been here in the time someone made thatdecision.” He sighed, but Morgan could tell he was growing irritated with thesituation. “Let me call him. Let me talk to him. I bet I could sway him.”
“No, don’t do th—”
“How sure are you about this cult theory?”
“I don’t know yet, but it feels right,” Morgan said. “Whatabout you? What do you think about it?”
Derik leaned back against the wall, rubbing his chinthoughtfully. “It’s definitely possible. Cults always seem to operate under theradar until something big happens. And if Samson is part of a group, then therecould be more out there just like him.”
“Exactly my thoughts.”
Cults have been known to operate like that, with oneperson acting as the ‘chosen one’ or whatever they call it, and othersfollowing blindly in his footsteps.”
“So how do we find them?” Morgan asked.
“Well, there’s always the internet,” Derik said with asmirk.
Morgan rolled her eyes. “I don’t have time to siftthrough conspiracy theories and crackpot websites. And I hate that I can’t recallany of the names Kimmy talked about.”
“Well, if you’d get out of here and let me call Mueller,I think he can patch me through to records. Someone can hop on the database andgive us a few names within minutes.”
“Fine,” she said. “But if I find out you called and gavehim some sob story about me…”
“Nope, I intend to tell him how much of a pain in my assyou’re already being. I’m hoping it’ll trigger some nostalgia for him.”
The smile that came to her face was genuine and took herby surprise. “You won’t call him in front of me?”
“Can you keep quiet and not interject or correct me whileI talk?”
She shook her head. “Probably not.”
“Exactly,” Derik said, pointing to the door. “I’ll meetyou in the downstairs waiting area when I’m done.”
Morgan smirked, once again feeling a strange delight thatshe and Derik were slowly starting to find their footing again. They truly hadbeen a great duo, and it made her embarrassed to realize how badly she’dhandled the situation when Mueller had called to take her off of the case.
To bide her time after leaving the room, she took thestairs to the waiting area and grabbed a snack cake from a vending machine. Shetook a seat on the far side of the room, away from the other three people who sat,tired and anxious to hear about their family members or loved ones. Morgan onceagain found the comfort of her past, bringing to mind memories of waiting roomswhen her mother had been sick.
She also thought of Kimmy Byers again, doing her best tothink of some of the other cults she’d mentioned. In Morgan’s defense, shesometimes didn’t pay much attention to what Kimmy said because once she gotgoing, she started to sound nuts.
She’d nearly finished off her snack when Derik camearound the corner and entered the waiting room. He walked over and ploppedhimself down almost comically into the chair beside her. The wrapping was gonefrom his head, now replaced with a simple but very bulky bandage that took upmost of the left side of his brow.
“Well,” he said, “I’ll say this. Mueller is pissed offabout you hanging up on him. I didn’t tell him you trashed the phone, though.”
“Thanks, I guess.”
“I told him your theory and also told him I thought itwould be a smart play to keep you on the case. I got him to agree but I thinkit’s only because he knows you have the badge and the gun. If someone higher upgot wind of how quickly he’d pulled you after making the decision to put you onthe case, it would look bad for him.”
“Makes sense.”
“He did say he’s not comfortable with you having asidearm, though. So I’ve been tasked with keeping a close eye on you.”
Morgan nodded, biting back a smile. “And there you goagain…believing in me when no one else does.”
“I know. I’m pretty great. Anyway, Mueller also hasRecords and Research assembling a collection of known, active cults in thearea. While we wait for that to come through, I’d like to grab something toeat. And maybe switch out this ridiculous bandage. This thing itches likecrazy.”
