AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mueller was okay with you heading out with the injury?”
Derik shrugged and said, “I may have downplayed it a bit.”
“But are you actually okay?”
“I think so,” he said, getting to his feet. He gesturedfor her to follow him. “Come on. Let’s see.”
Morgan was slightly uncomfortable with this but got upanyway. She knew Derik wouldn’t put a case in jeopardy. If he was really hurt,there was no way he’d keep going.
So she followed him out of the waiting room and out intothe parking lot. Morgan felt like she was stuck in a loop, as she’d walkedthrough the same doors, out into the same parking lot, less than two hoursearlier. The day was coming to a close and she somehow felt that if they didn’tcatch their killer before the next day started, he’d get away. She had no factsor actual clues on which this was based; it was just a gut feeling that shecouldn’t ignore.
But with her and Derik starting to recapture some of thatold camaraderie that had once existed between them, she thought they had apretty good chance of capturing Samson even if he was done with his work.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Because of Derik’s head injury, Morgan elected to drive.She was surprised at how much she enjoyed it after having been locked away fora decade. There was an immense freedom in the act that she’d always overlookedand taken for granted—a much larger freedom than the one she’d felt whilesitting in the passenger seat earlier.
She drove to Derik’s fast-food restaurant of choice andthey both grabbed burgers and sodas. As they waited for the man at thedrive-thru window to hand them their late lunch, Derik spoke up from thepassenger seat.
“Wow…that was fast. Mueller must really want this thingknocked out.”
“What is it?” Morgan asked as she took the bag of food.She glanced over to Derik and saw that he was looking at something on hisphone.
“A complete list of all known cults in the area and thecrimes they’ve committed or been linked to.” He frowned as he thumbed through theemail. “It’s surprisingly brief.”
“How many?”
“Just four. And one is indeed the one you mentioned tome. The Rising Sun of Zion. But the only crimes I see them connected with arelittle acts of violence at the occasional protests and outside of churches.”
“Okay,” Morgan said as she pulled out of the drive-thrulane and into the first available parking space she could find. “What else ison the list?”
Derik scrolled down on his phone, his face furrowed inconcentration. “The second one is the Children of the Serpent. They’re a smallgroup that’s mainly focused on spreading their beliefs through social media.They haven’t been linked to any crimes, but they do have a history of harassmentand cyberbullying.”
“What’s their belief system?” Morgan asked, taking a biteof her burger.
“From what I can tell, they seem to be a mix of new agespirituality and conspiracy theories. They believe in things like reptilianoverlords and the Illuminati controlling the world.”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “Sounds like a bunch of winners.Who else?”
“Just two more. This one is a bit of a wildcard. Theycall themselves the Children of Orpheus. They’re a musical cult, believe it ornot. They claim to be devoted to the Greek god of music and poetry, but they’vebeen known to do some pretty bizarre things during their shows.”
“Like what?” Morgan asked, intrigued.
“Um…it says here, orgies on stage. So the few dings withthe police have all been related to public indecency. But here…this last one…thisone sounds more like what we’re looking for. The Order of the Black Star. They’rea bit more elusive but they’ve been tied to a few cases of arson and vandalism.There are also three cases of assault and one case of attempted murder.”
“Do we have a name for the murder attempt?” Morgan asked.She was a bit distracted by her burger, too, though. God, she’d missed a goodburger.
“We do. Randall Easterly. And because this is a list forjust the cults, I don’t have an address for him.”
“Do you have one for where the group meets?”
“I do.”
He wolfed down the last of his burger as he plugged theaddress into his phone. Using the maps app, he directed Morgan to the address. Morgancould tell within the first few turns that they were being led to the outskirtsof the city, on the opposite side of the river and the mines they’d explored earlierin the day.
“Hey,” Derik said. “Remember earlier when you made metell you about one of my most exciting work moments while you were out?”
“Yes, but I believe I referred to it as a case…not a workmoment.”
