Lucifer's Apostles

Lucifer's Apostles Episode 32

Snake went to visit Steph at 3:30 that afternoon. He knocked on her front door and waited. He half expected to be bowled over by the big canine pet. When Steph opened the door, the pooch was nowhere in sight. She invited Snake inside the small living area and offered him a seat on the sofa. He could see no dog dish or anything in the room that suggested the rottweiler was ever there. “You shouldn’t just let anybody into your flat, you know. I could be a murderer or a thief”, Snake said to her.

“You don’t look like anyone too dangerous to me. You have very trusting eyes”, Steph told him. “Anyway, how do you know I don’t have a massive Rottweiler in the bedroom waiting to pounce?”.

That was precisely what Snake was afraid of, “Do you?” Snake asked.

Stephanie shook her head and laughed, “In this tiny flat, I doubt it. The owners don’t allow pets, not even a budgerigar. I snuck my girlfriend’s dog up here the other day. I was petrified they’d catch me. Would you like something to drink? I don’t have much”.

“I’m okay, thanks for asking. You were going to give me a flyer. Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your sister? I’m sorry, her name has slipped my memory”.

Steph stood up from the chair she had sat in and entered the small kitchen. There was a pile of flyers on the cupboard. She returned with one and handed it to Snake before answering, “Her name is Sally, fire away”.

Snake asked numerous questions that he would typically ask if someone came into his office looking for somebody. He managed a surprisingly high number of cases like this. Steph told him that Sally was a loner. Even as twins, they were not close. Sally was seeing somebody last year for around six weeks, nothing serious. Her high school sweetheart had broken her heart the year after school finished. He wanted to see the world, and regrettably, for Sally, she was not in his plans. The two sisters had lived around the corner from each other for two years and seen each other on their birthday, Christmas, their mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day.

Growing up through their childhood, they both had their friends, neither wanting the other to play with them. There was no jealousy. Sally did not like company from an early age. She would play with other children at school and stay in her room once the school day concluded. Their mother’s name was Wilma. She was heartbroken that Sally had taken off. Snake asked if Sally had ever done anything like this before, to which she answered no.

Standing, Snake asked her if she found out any more information to give him a call. He handed her a business card. It simply said Southern Palms Private Investigators. Everyone thought he was on a sensitive case worth a large amount of money. The truth could never be revealed, or he would spend the rest of his days in a cell. He was still weighing up his options about what he might do with Sally.

It would be Maria tonight, and then Nadia’s stay of execution would be finished. He knew that Ruby would pressure him into making her look like there was no damage on Sally’s face. He had learnt his make-up skills by watching his mother. She had worked in a funeral parlour, and Snake would go to be with her after primary school classes had finished. His mother, Iris, could not afford a babysitter. Snake learnt all the tricks undertakers use to make a deceased body look presentable. By the time he was halfway through high school, his mother had changed her vocation back to the one she had before. She was a nurse in the emergency ward until the day she died.

He drove back to the house. Jacko greeted him by telling him that Maria was set for tonight. He lied, saying that when he had uncuffed one of her legs, she had kicked out at him violently. He told Snake that she had not learnt her lesson with the stun gun. He had to constrain her and then shock her until she passed out. She was still breathing. He checked that she had a pulse, like Snake had taught him. She was alive.

Marcus Cornelius was finally installing the barred gates that went on the inside of the doors. They had arrived on Friday, but he only had time to install them today. It would have saved Melissa’s life if he had. The wooden door would remain on the outside half of the door frame. The inside barred doors looked like the ones used in lockups on television.

When Marcus was finished, the wooden doors could stay open through the daytime. It would let air circulate. Hopefully, the hostages would not feel so claustrophobic. The biggest bonus was that they would no longer need to wear the chains, although they would remain seated when anyone entered their room. That had been the main reason for the chains. Marcus was worried someone would hide behind the door when someone was entering. Maria would be the only one to remain in chains.

Tommy came out of the office. He saw Snake before turning around and going back in. Three seconds later, he returned with a piece of paper. It was from Shannon. It had a phone number, “She wants you to ring her first chance you get. She has a name for you to pick up tomorrow”.

***

Louise excused herself from the room and passed Owen O’Donnell in the corridor. He looked at her dismissively, like she had been dirt on his shoe. There was no love lost between the two.

She exited through the back door before lighting a cigarette while ringing Ruby. There was no hello. It was just “Yes” from Ruby’s end. Louise told her about them getting the DNA sample that would have tied Melissa to the case. “Which Melissa? We have two at the house”, Ruby enquired.

“Melissa Westbrook, isn’t she the one that was strangled last night? Please don’t tell me it’s Tipsy”, Louise said in surprise. To her relief, Ruby confirmed that Melissa Westbrook had been killed. “There might be a problem. Tank Dodge wants me to look into Nigel Tarver’s family”.

“There will only be a problem if you find something. I am quite sure you will not”, Ruby told her.

“I wasn’t going to let that happen. If I did, they would find out I’m also into Satanism”, Louise said.

“You are not into Satanism, Louise. For a genius, you say the dumbest things at times. You worship Satan. There is a difference between being interested in him to giving your whole life to him”. Louise did not enjoy being labelled a genius, although it was better than being called dumb. The High Priestesses’ reign at the top was ending. She would be there to take over when it did. Louise was only playing along with this stupid ritual until it all played out. Did she think they were bringing Satan, Lilith, and an army of fallen angels and demons back into the world? Not a chance. Why would they want to come to Australia?

After it failed and Ruby looked like the i***t she was, Louise would push her to the back and take the reins. There would be many changes, no more acolytes and disciples. Women would lead the revolution as it was meant to be. Religions had women serve males from the beginning of time. Governments tried to make it look like they cared, but women continued to be pushed down every chance that men had. Where were the female leaders of the superpower countries? Britain had two leaders, Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May. The United States, Russia, and China have never had a female leader.

Satan’s quest back into the world would revolve around female supremacy. As God had cast him away, women had been cast away by man. All anyone had to do was look at the Catholic church to see how many women could become Pope. Muslim women were not allowed to pray in most mosques. When they did, it was in a separate prayer area. How many women were mentioned in the bible compared to their male counterparts? In Satan’s name, the vanquished will rise and become the world’s superpower. None of this drizzle that Bronwyn Atwater had discovered. She had even told Ruby that was how Nazi Germany had begun. Satan and Lilith had inhabited Hitler and Eva Braun.

The men of her church would bow to her. She knew that as well as she knew the sun would rise in the morning. Ned was proof of her belief. Ruby had that chance in her hand. Louise had convinced her to take the power from Paul Willoughby. She took the leadership off him, and then what? Nothing except this stupid ritual that could get many people in high positions in trouble.

If it were up to her, Tank Dodge would be murdered, while his lover, Katie Phillip,s would be taken to be sacrificed. Katie was a little older than the others but had the physical attributes. Another perfect candidate would be Lisa Blythe. The remainder of the task force would be too busy looking for them both to have any chance of getting close to the ritual. She knew Ned would say it would make them more determined. The death of Peter Hogan had slowed them. Even if Katie were to go and Tank remained, his quest for the case would be blown. He would believe that he was more determined, which would lead to mistakes. The High Priestess had called her dumb. She would make not only Tank Dodge look dumb but Ruby as well.