Eleven (Brandon Fisher FBI Series)

Chapter 39 & 40

Chapter 39

WE FOLLOWED BEHIND AMANDA'S KIA for about thirty minutes. She led us north outside of the city to the east and pulled into the parking lot of a country church. Boards were on the windows, and a padlock secured an outside basement door.

I turned to Paige. "We should have called in and let Jack and Zach know where—"

Amanda rapped her knuckles on the driver side window. Paige put her window down a sliver.

"Don't worry it's a friend's building. I know it doesn't look like much, but Bingham brought me here all the time as a little girl. It used to be glorious at one time." When Paige and I didn't move, Amanda said, "It will only take a minute. Call it in if you like. I watch them cop shows."

Paige reached over and put a hand on my forearm. I knew Amanda had noticed the action. I wondered if Amanda picked up on the underlying connection between us.

"All right we have a few minutes," I said.

We got out of the car and followed Amanda to the basement door. She pulled a key out of her jacket and slipped it into the padlock.

"You said a friend's place. Is it Bingham's?" Paige asked the question, even though we knew Bingham didn't show any properties registered in his name except the one in Salt Lick, Kentucky. Paige glanced at me as if to say, we should have called in.

And we should have, but we were wrapped up in a heated conversation about what last night meant and where it would go from here. For a good portion of the drive, we weren't even speaking to each other.

Amanda smiled at us. "Not sure what that matters." She pulled the lock off and swung the door open. "If you want to follow behind me." She phrased it more as a directive than an invitation.

I wasn't looking forward to descending into the basement of an abandoned church. With this case, the two married together too well—the isolated burials and the religious connotation.

"You said Bingham brought you here when you were young?" Paige took the stairs slowly with well-placed hands on the walls for balance.

A few steps down, my heart sped up and my breathing became labored. The smell of dirt filled the air transporting me straight to the burial chambers in Salt Lick.

Amanda opened another door at the base of the stairs and flicked on a light. "Lance also had a fond place in his heart for this place. He said this is where he really learned about God and became enlightened."

I pulled my cell from its holder and brought up the messaging screen. Jack and Zachery needed to be notified of where we were. We were careless and stupid for not calling it in.

"Enlightened?" Paige pulled from Amanda's statement.

"Yes. It's when you know what God has planned for you. You realize where you fit in and what differences you can make in this world. In a sense, you were enlightened when you chose to become FBI as I mentioned a bit at the college."

I had only a few more steps to text the words I needed to before it would have Amanda's attention. I pushed a few keys but working in a hurry my thumb was too large for the small keys.

"What about you?" Amanda looked around Paige to me.

I quickly tucked the phone behind my back. "About me?"

"Why did you become an agent?"

"To make a difference."

"You could do that being a police officer, a teacher, or many other things. That answer is very vague." Amanda kept walking into the basement but faced us.