Sacred Flesh (21 page)

“I don’t feel so good,” Glenn says clutching his chest.

“Maybe it’s time for you to go,” he says reaching for a pillow.

“Well, it’s about time you got back.”

“Give me a break, you wouldn’t believe what I went through,” Stacy Hanson says.

“I thought about calling,” Melody says as they stand together near the baggage claim of the airport, Stacy having just arrived from her long flight from Europe. Melody, looking twenty one years older and perhaps a little bit more wiser than her younger self, nevertheless still determined and full of energy. Though her ties to the
Elite
have faded over the years, she still feels a deep connection since it was she who gave birth to Eric, the child they told her was from the sacred DNA.

“No, that wouldn’t have done any good,” Stacy tells her.

“So-?” She looks at her with a question on her face.

“I have it don’t worry. But it was close the police were closing in fast. I knew they would just as I knew Winham would take the bait. I left him an empty box, can you believe it? The dim light that he is he never opened it, just took it with him, what a fool. They nailed him in the hallway. I was hiding in the janitor’s closet I heard the whole thing. It was all I could do to keep from laughing.”

“You think he spilled the beans on you?” Melody asks.

“Oh yeah, but he has no proof to offer them. I’m sure he’s pissed, that big light bulb of his must’ve went off at some point. He must’ve figured out I was using him as much as he was using me. It’s kind of funny in a sad sort of way,” Stacy says.

“Why did you go to London?”

“To throw everyone off, Think about it, there he is sitting in jail, the cops have an empty box and the buyers, Rome as it were, are left wondering what the hell happened with their contact in jail and the sample missing, they have nothing.”

“You’re a genius,” she says.

“Thanks, but I wouldn’t go that far. You have the cash I assume,” Stacy says.

“Yes, it’s all right here,” Melody says holding up her red purse.

“Put that down. We need to go somewhere else. I don’t like doing this in public it looks like some kind of a drug deal – what’s wrong?” she says noticing Melody’s bulging eyes, quickly she turns around to see two young punks with hooded jackets and protruding through their front pockets what appears to be handguns.

“He’s missing, been captured, there was a shootout,” Belo says while sitting in the downstairs church office where unofficial meetings are held.

“Was he killed? Have we heard anything?” Antone, the younger assistant assigned to help the old man, asks softly.

“No, as far as we know he’s still alive. He’s been captured perhaps for ransom although we haven’t heard anything yet.”

“That must be it, why else?”

“It’s the
Elite
it has to be them,” Belo says.

“Why would they take him? Why wouldn’t they just kill him?” Antone asks.

“Yes, why wouldn’t they is a very good question indeed but odd as it may sound that’s not our biggest problem right now.”

“Why is that?” he asks.

“Our contact was taken by the police in London. We believe he had acquired the sample box.”

“The one we were prepared to buy from him?”

“Yes, it is very important that we get that sample tested per our good friend Glenn lying to us although we had doubts for a long time, we heard of the chance that the true sacred sample was out there somewhere still we thought we’d cloned the Sacred Flesh of our Lord but good old Glenn says no, not so. So now, we need to know for certain whose DNA our clone has if it’s not from our Lord then so be it but that grave fact must
never
reach the public. We recover our clone and in a few years place him as our new Pope. The very flesh of our Lord among us,” Belo says bowing his head.

“But.”

“Yes, I know not actually from our Lord but it’s too late to start over. We’ve been working on this for over twenty one years. We are so very close, think of the faithful, what this will mean to them, how it will restore everyone’s faith! I’m not going so far as to say world peace will break out but think of the power. If He the known son of Christ tells nations to put down their arms and stop fighting how many will say no we’re not listening to you. Yes, there will be some unbelievers of course but there will also be believers, more devout believers that will insist their governments listen to the son of Christ. The influence will be as never before and just think of the money this will bring in. We cannot let it all slip away from us now! We get the sample and destroy it. There can never be a threat to our new Pope. We can’t let it be known that he isn’t real, no one can ever be in a position to challenge his authority.”

“Now if we only knew where our clone is and where the sample may be,” Antone says.

“That’s all we have to do and we’ll be fine,” he says.

“I know someone who can help us,” Eric says as they sit in their hotel room having just ordered dinner via room service.

“Who is going to help us and how are we going to find Tom Hanson’s daughter in Boston? Where would we start looking? I’m thinking we should just wait until she comes back to her father.” Roland says.

“Yes, but then it could be too late, what if she doesn’t have the sample by then?” Eric asks.

“This is all too screwed up, What if we never find the sample? I’m not spending the rest of my life looking for this thing.” Roland states.

“My aunt used to work for the FBI. She could help us, maybe,” Eric says while sitting down at the table next to the television.

“She lives in Boston?”

“The last I heard she was living just outside Boston. She’s retired now but I’m sure she could do something for us. I have a phone number for her but I haven’t seen her for a long while though. She and my mother don’t always get along.”

“You see your mother?” Roland asks.

“Yeah, at times over the years,” Eric says.

“I never did. They wouldn’t say why I couldn’t.”

“I can’t believe how crazy all this is, we don’t even know our own parents. We were both raised as if we were cloned from the flesh of our Lord, both raised to take the lead of a world church and now to discover that’s all false. Instead, we’re from the DNA of Jim Dunbar a microbiology professor.”

“Our Father who art in science,” Roland says.

“A father we never knew, some old man making confessions telling us he may or may not have destroyed the Sacred Flesh sample. We’ve both been mislead, both of our lives have been a false pursuit, of what power? power for who, us? No, we’re not the ones seeking the power it’s the people behind all this, the people who lead us down this path who took away our youth, a youth we’ll never get back, they own us big time and I say after we destroy the sample we find those people and make them pay.” Eric says.

“Listen, I’m not real happy here myself the more I think about what has happened to us but I don’t know if revenge is the answer. What if we do find them, what if I go back to the people who raised me believing all this stuff? Whatever we do to them it won’t bring our lost youth back it won’t make up for everything they did to us. So, what’s the point? We need to get rid of the sample and then I guess we go find figure out what kind of lives we are going to live, at least they’ll be our lives and not controlled by others,” Roland says.

“I don’t know, there are times revenge sounds good. Yeah, I know it won’t bring back what we’ve lost. Since we’re not the Sons of Christ I feel a kind of release, a huge burden off my back, don’t you. I don’t have to be so perfect or anything now. I can be myself whoever that may be. You know what we should do after all this is visit every strip club in America, every bar, something, we should live, do you know what I mean?” Eric says.

“Yeah, I know what you’re saying and that could be fun, but after all this is done and over with we need some kind of game plan. I can’t just go back to where I was what am I going to do? Who’s going to hire someone who’s spent all their life preparing to become Pope? There’s not a lot of call for that, so I’ll have no money and no place to live, nothing. But anyway, let’s work on one problem at a time, right now a sample is out there somewhere which may or may not be sacred.”

“And if it is sacred and falls into the wrong hands then here we go again,” Eric says.

“Other children may be raised believing that they are from the Sacred Flesh mislead all through childhood just as we were. I don’t want that to happen to anyone. Life is so short and we been lead down a false path for twenty one years for nothing, no one should have to go though that,” Roland says.

“And think if it
is
Sacred and it is cloned then—.”

“I don’t want to think about that kind of trouble besides it just doesn’t seem right to mess with stuff like that.”

“No, it’s playing God, a game no one wins,” Eric says. “What’s wrong?” He says noticing that Roland has suddenly lost color to his face and begins lending over on the table.

“I don’t know. I don’t feel so good,” Roland says.

“There is something I have to tell you,” Melody says standing in the living room of her sister the former FBI agent.

“What a surprise sis, I haven’t heard from you for so long. I’m happy that you called I’ve been wondering what you’ve been up to. Here, please sit down,” Jill says motioning to the white couch against the wall.

“I know. I know it’s been awhile and I’m sorry about that,” Melody says while sitting down.

“So, what’s wrong Melody? You look a little worried. Want some tea?”

“I was robbed yesterday at the airport,” Melody tells her.

“Robbed?” Jill asks.

“Yeah, they took my purse, I had everything in it.”

“So, Mel that happens every day. Were you hurt?”

“No, they didn’t touch us.”

“Us?”

“Yes, I was with someone you might say I was conducting some business.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Jill says with a serious look.

“I knew you wouldn’t but I have no choice but to ask you for help.”

“Because—?”

“Remember all that clone stuff from twenty one years ago?” Melody says.

“Oh no, you’re not still mixed up with those people are you? Didn’t we talk about this if I remember correctly for hours,” Jill asks.

“No, I’m not exactly mixed up with them but you see the boy I gave birth to is a young man now and has been groomed to assume the throne of the
Elite
world church since he is from the Sacred DNA of Christ.”

“I told you I don’t believe in that stuff. Those people are nuts, you of all people should realize that,” Jill says.

“Well, the thing is there may be some doubt as if my son really was cloned from the Sacred DNA or just ordinary flesh,” Melody tells her.

“This sounds like a game show. You sure you don’t want some tea?”

“No, it’s quite serious Jill. If he is to assume the throne then there can be no lingering doubt about the DNA he was cloned from.”

“And?”

“And upon hearing that there remained a DNA sample out there I wanted to find it and destroy it so that there could never be any doubt that my son is the true leader of the new world church,” Melody says.

“New world church? You’re starting to worry me Mel. Tell me this though, why do you care so much? I thought you told me you didn’t have anything to do them anymore.”

“He’s my son,” Melody tells her.

“Your son? You’ve hardly even seen him those people raised him to believe he is the son of Christ not the son of you.”

“But he is my son too. I carried him for nine months. I supplied the female side of the biological equation,” Melody says.

“Okay, so he is yours but how do you know there aren’t ten, twenty, or a hundred samples out there. Who’s to stop someone from saying ‘oh here I have one too’?” Jill says.

“I have a pretty good source.”

“Really who?”

“Jim Dunbar. He contracted me recently, he was looking for my son and we started talking and he told me there was one more sample, one that was never tested, one that could throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. I couldn’t just let that happen. My son has spent twenty one year’s being groomed for this I’m not about to just sit by and watch it all fall apart.”

“You’re such a good mother,” Jill says.

“I do what I can. Now will you help me find the missing sample?” Melody asks.

“I don’t know it sounds like, oh hang on, one second,” Jill says reaching for her ringing phone. “Hello, oh it’s you, this is really turning into quite a day,” pulling the phone away from her ear she looks at Melody, “Hey mom, would you like to talk to your son?”

“Jim you don’t look so good,” his wife tells him.

“At least I’m consistent, I don’t feel so good either,” he says while struggling to walk across the room.

“You should lay down.”