Soul Mate (The Mating Series) (33 page)

“This guy is a nut job
,” I said

“Read this post
,” Cho said.

Jimmy and I huddled around the computer screen. I
read two or three lines into the post when Jimmy said, “This is our guy.”

“How do you know
?” I asked.

“I read it.” I gawked at Jimmy.
The post was at least fifteen paragraphs long. “I can read fast,” Jimmy said.

“I’d say.” I took the computer from Cho
, and sat with it in my lap, reading. I took my time. I felt both men staring, in anticipation.
I didn’t take the Asian speed reading course. Quit looking at me.
Their stares slowed my reading.

Th
e post spoke about the Anti-Christ. “A child will be born to a whore, fathered by an inferior race. This will be the antichrist.” It was religious fanaticism.  I didn’t understand how Jimmy knew that it was our killer. I continued to read the post of the mentally disturbed man. It wasn’t until the last paragraph that I understood. “It is our job as God’s servants to cleanse the city of these women. The whores who walk the street must be stopped. We must do what we can to stop this child from being brought into our world. God has called upon me. He’s told me to stop this child of Satan from being conceived.” It fit, but it seemed to be a stretch to say the religious fanatic was our killer.

“There are tons of these people out there. How do you know it’s our guy?” I asked.

“Look at the date of this post.” Jimmy pointed. It was posted on September 15
th
. “That was the night of my first vision.”

“He mentions the Holy Covenant of the
Apostle Church, the protests of prostitution programs, and Indianapolis in many of his posts,” Cho said. “This is our guy or guys…people. I can’t tell how many are involved.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The writing styles are different. Here the writer used more sophisticated words, the spelling and grammar is correct.” Cho clicked on another post. “In this post the writing is so crude you can’t follow the line of reasoning.” He pressed his finger to the screen.

I browsed the posts. There were over two hundred posts spanning
over four years. In the last six months, the posts increased. They appear to be on an agenda to stop the antichrist. I would have laughed, but I knew these people were serious about their belief.

Cho lit a cigaret
te and gazed at the ceiling, deep in thought, as Jimmy and I read the posts. “I’ll have to get this place fumigated when he leaves. The smell of his cigarettes has permeated everything.” Jimmy murmured. Cho got up and went outside. He had a vacant look in his eyes. It concerned me.

“Is he alright?” I asked.

“He gets like that when he’s thinking,” he said. “It’s nothing.” Jimmy continued to scan the posts. “Cho worked in the hate crimes division of the Cook County Prosecutor’s office. It was his first job out of law school.” Jimmy blinked, clearing his vision. “He takes this stuff personal.” He clicked on another post. “He takes any discrimination personal.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Cho was in junior high when we moved to the Midwest. He had a rougher time with the move than Jin or I did. We lived in a predominantly Korean community in California. In Chicago, Cho went to public school. We were the only Asians of any kind in our neighborhood. Jin is a girl and beautiful so she had no problems fitting in, but Cho was in the middle of puberty and awkward. He was tormented by his classmates,” Jimmy said. “College seemed better for him. He met Stephanie and seemed happy. When he asked her to marry him, her family suddenly had problems with his Korean heritage. They were worried about having bi-racial grandchildren.” Jimmy pointed to the computer. “Assholes like this really hit a chord with Cho.”

“What about you? Have you been discriminated against?” I asked.

“Not really. When we moved, I was little and cute, everyone loved me. I’m sure that was hard for Cho too. He went through hell while I got all the attention,” Jimmy said. “I’ve been called names on occasion, but I let it roll off.”

I went to check on Cho. I felt bad for him. Cho leaned over the
balcony railing gazing at the night. I put my hand on his back. “You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah
,” Cho said. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

“Jimmy said these hate groups bother you.”

“It’s not just that,” Cho said. “Cassie, you and Jimmy…” Cho searched for words.

“Me and Jimmy?” I probed.

“God, I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a jerk.” Cho rubbed his temples.

“Say it Cho.”

“Cassie you aren’t pregnant are you?” Cho asked. “I mean, you and Jimmy are careful right?”

“I’
m not pregnant.” I laughed.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I said.

Cho turned to me and took my hands. “Kiddo, I like you. I think
you’re great for Jimmy, but you guys can’t be together.”

I pulled my hands away
, and took a step back. “What are you saying?”

“Please don’t take it the wrong way.” Cho pulled me back to him.

“You’re buying into this prophecy crap.”

“
I’m not, but…” Cho said. “Remember how convinced Jimmy was that this was personal?”

“Yeah, but I don’t get what you’re saying.”

“I don’t know how to explain it,” Cho said. “I read that post. It described you and Jimmy. They know you’re together, they know about Jimmy’s abilities, he’s Korean, and you’re Caucasian. You two fit into their sick prophecy, like it or not.”

I burst out laughing.
“And you’re worried I’m carrying the antichrist?”

“I don’t want this situation to get worse
,” Cho said.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t even know how long this relationship will last
, and we haven’t even discussed kids,” I said.

“Accidents happen
,” Cho said. “Especially when you are…”

“Doing it like bunnies?” I asked.

“Exactly.” Cho put his arm around me. “I know these types of groups. They won’t stop until they’re stopped by the authorities.”

“What should we do?” I asked.

“I’m calling that cop tomorrow,” Cho said. “I think he’s our best bet.” I shivered. Cho pulled me tighter to warm me up. Cho was warm and comforting to me. “In the meantime maybe you and Peter Cottontail should cool it.” I giggled.

“What’s going on out here?” Jimmy asked
, suspiciously.

“Cho thinks we are trying to make the
antichrist.” I laughed.

“Na
,” Jimmy said, “Cho’s kid would be the antichrist, not mine.”

“It’s a real concern.” Cho said
, flipping a cigarette butt off the veranda.

“We’
re good candidates,” Jimmy said. “If you buy into that shit, but I don’t.”

“It doesn’t matter what we believe, it’s what
they
believe,” Cho said.

“What do you suggest we do?” Jimmy asked.

“Talk to the cops,” Cho said.

“No way!” Jimmy
shook his head. “At least one of them belongs to that Church.”

“Jimmy, I don’t like Skinner, but we don’t know if the whole
church is part of this hate group or just a few members,” I said. “Janice Henley is a bitch, but I don’t think she’d have anything to do with killing people.”

“
Cassie has a good point. We don’t know who’s involved and who isn’t,” Cho said. “I want to talk to Detective King and let him follow up on this.”

“
Me too,” I said.

Cho and I agreed to call Ben. We spent the rest of the evening in silence until we went to bed. The next day,
Ben arrived at the condo around noon. Jimmy declined to meet with him. He chose to sit in the living room playing X-box. The audio from the video game became annoying as we spoke to Ben. We went over everything that happened since I spoke to Ben last.

“I understand why you think this grou
p may have targeted the victims and you personally, but I need more proof than this,” Ben said.

“This is a hate group
,” Cho said. “Did you read that blog?”

“
I’ll never get a warrant on this,” Ben said. “If you got a plate number that would be something to go on.”

Cho
’s cell phone rang. He excused himself to answer. I could tell by Cho’s demeanor, it was his lady friend again. I heard him tell Jimmy to turn the volume down. Jimmy turned it up.
Brat!
I never realized how childish he could be before.

“Do you really think this is connected?” Ben asked.

“I do. Something doesn’t add up with that church,” I said. “We called because we need you to investigate it.”

“These unsolved cases are definitely something
I’ll look into.” Ben said holding a copy of the file Mary left. “Why didn’t you tell me about the e-mail and file on Wednesday?”

“
I’m having a hard time trusting people right now.” I said, flippantly.

“When will you understand you can trust me?” Ben said. “You have made this case twice as hard by keeping secrets.” Ben leaned in close and put his hand on mine. “I don’t get it. You have nothing to hide, but you act guilty as hell.” Cho entered the room.
He glared at me. I pulled away from Ben. Cho seemed irritable after he returned. He replied to Ben in clipped sentences and sighed a lot. I had nothing more to discuss. We ended the meeting. Ben assured me that he would investigate my claims. I didn’t feel hopeful.

CHAPTER 16

For five days straight Jimmy played X-box and practically ignored us. Jimmy had cabin fever and began shutting down. When he wasn’t playing his game, he slept all day. He almost stopped eating and started looking lean
. If I spoke to Jimmy, he’d either answer in a word or two or sigh and shrug. I felt like a nagging girlfriend.

The more removed Jimmy became, the moodier Cho
acted. Cho attempted to work on his caseload from Indianapolis. It wore on him. He spent several hours a day on the phone, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Many times I heard him yelling at someone over the phone. Cho’s moods became darker with the stress. When I tried to talk to him, he acted annoyed with me. He’d cut me down with his eyes when I asked questions. He burned through cartons of cigarettes.

I haven’t lived with anyone (a living person) since I was eighteen
. I wanted to be in my own apartment, and talk to Mom. Cho’s incisive smoking and moods, and Jimmy’s X-box put me over the edge.
I have to get the hell out of this place!
I tromped out of the guest room and headed for the front door.

Cho grabbed my arm.
“Where are you going?”

“Out
,” I said. “I can’t stand being here.”

“You can’t leave
,” he said. “What if the SUV comes back?”

“At this point
, I’ll take my chances Cho.”

Cho’s temper flared.
He poked me hard on the shoulder. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Cho was always louder than Jimmy, but now he yelled. I shouldn’t leave the condo, but I had to.

“For days, Jimmy has done nothing but play that
damn game and you’ve done nothing but sit on the terrace and smoke,” I said. “I can’t take it anymore. I have to get out of here, before I explode.” I grabbed my purse and keys. I stepped in front of Jimmy, glued to the television.

“What are you doing?” Jimmy asked.

“I’m going home.”

Jimmy paused the game. I noticed he didn’t shut the system off. “Cassie, stay.”

“Jimmy, I’m tired of being ignored. I need to get out of here for a while. I’ll be back.”

“Cho go with her.” Jimmy
barked.

Cho shrugged and gave a stubborn look. He motioned to the door. “You’re on your own Cassie. If you leave don’t expect me to
chase after you, and Jimmy can’t.” He poked me in the shoulder. “Keep that in mind.” I grabbed my shoulder.
Ouch!
He needs to stop poking me before I punch him.