“It was a slip of the tongue. I don’t mean to make light of what you two—”
“We’re not talking about this openly.” Constantine shut him down. “Where were you taking her?”
“To go see Dave, sir. He’ll want to be the one to interview her.”
“I’ll join you.” Constantine squeezed me gently.
Francis took us over to a man who reminded me of Steve Jobs with his glasses and white hair. He lit up when he saw us. “We got both of you?”
“Maybe,” I warned him. “I only came to see what exactly was going on.”
Dave, the director, nodded. “Totally understandable. Well, today we’re just doing some reenactments of the Sinister Minister’s original abductions. When he would go to bus stops and find young, beautiful women and kidnap them. The ones that he’d end up calling the Mothers.” His eyes lit up far too much for me to be comfortable.
“I know the story.” I looked at the ground uncomfortably.
“Yes, I’m sure you do.” He waved his arm toward a trailer. “Why don’t we go inside and have a more private talk?”
I pulled myself from Constantine, but not too far, and together, we went inside the trailer. We were offered water and muffins, but we declined.
“Now yours and Constantine’s roles are slightly different in this,” Dave started once we sat down. “Firstly, we want to interview you. I have a list of questions, but also want to give you the opportunity to tell your truth.”
“You want to exploit us,” I clarified.
“Exploit?” The man laughed as if that were incredulous. “We are going to pay you.”
“Neither of us needs your money.” Constantine sighed lazily. He leaned back and crossed his legs and put his arm over my shoulder. “We want to know why you’re really here.”
“What do you mean?” Dave shook his head. “The Sinister Minister was one of the country’s most monstrous cult leaders and child sex traffickers. People want to hear that story. His victims should be heard. You should be heard.”
“Who else have you reached out to? Have you gotten permission from the other victim’s families?” I asked quickly.
“How?” Dave laughed. “The only records we have are from the Sinister Minister himself, and they only have first names. All of his victims, except the final ones, were cremated by the Church. There’s no way to find any family.”
“How did you find me?” My eyes began to blur. “And Kansas? How did you find him?”
Dave laughed and patted his thighs. “Pure stroke of luck. I was digging through records Shelley Vale has and there was a police record about two children who emerged from the woods and told a fantastical story about a church and the Family. They were put into foster care, as they couldn’t find their parents. It named you two.”
“I’ve changed my mind. I want to go.” I stood quickly, and Constantine joined me.
“I’ll take you home,” he said.
“Wait!” Dave threw up his hand. “Don’t you want to know what else I found?”
I turned my head and glared. “What?”
“I found your parents.”
Rule 26 - Eisley
Stay away from anyone making a film.
“What?”I froze. My biological parents? He found them?
“What do you want, piggy?” Constantine snarled.
“Piggy?” Dave stood up and put his hands on his hips.
“Yeah.” Constantine pulled out his pocket knife and flicked it open. He pressed the tip to the director’s chin. “You don’t think I won’t stick you like one for pulling this shit? If you got information to share, you better fucking share it.”
