Reunion in Death (In Death #14)(50)

He scooped up the twenty, tucked it into his c**k sheath. "Want you to remember I helped you out."

"Mook, how could I ever forget you?"

"Right." He looked around, through the smoky glass of the booth. Licked his lips. "Okay, right. Nothing coming down on me about this shit, right?"

"Not a thing."

"Well, see... I was going to tell the Feebs everything, total cooperation."

"Get to it, Mook. I have a life to get back to."

"I'm telling you. I was cooperating, and I was gonna name all the names. But I saw him outside, behind the barricades at the church when they started hauling bodies out. Man, that was some scene, right. You were there."

"Yeah, I was there.

"So... He looked at me."

Earnest now and just a little jazzed, he leaned in. "Scary guy, all pale and spooky. And me, I don't want to go out with no slurp of some poison. I could tell he knew I went in with the cops instead of following through on the promise. So I had to cover myself, didn't I? I just left him out of it. What's the big deal?"

"So, he's alive?"

"He was then." Mook shrugged his massive shoulders. "I never saw him again, and that was fine by me. I didn't know him," Mook insisted. "Swear on my dick."

"And that is a solemn oath."

"Yeah, it is." Pleased she understood, he nodded rapidly. "Only thing I ever heard was talk about how he used to be a real doctor, but they kicked him outta the club. And that he was f**king rich and f**king crazy."

"Give me a name."

"I didn't know him. That's solid, Dallas. Slave level wasn't allowed to speak to anyone over the rank of soldier."

"Need more."

"I don't got more. He was some old, crazy dude. Look liked a goddamn corpse. Skinny, sick-looking guy, come around and whisper with Munch time to time. Stare right through you so you got bone chills. Guys called him Doctor Doom. That's all I know about it. Come on, that's all I know about it. I want to get back to my game."

"Yeah, go back to your game." But she clamped a hand on his wrist as he started to rise. "If I find out you know more and aren't telling me, I'll pick you up, pull you in, and plunk you down in a locked room full of soft pillows, pastels, and moldy-oldy music."

His face hardened. "You're a cold bitch, Dallas."

"Bet your ass."

...

"Reverend Munch and the Church of Hereafter cult." Peabody was so impressed she forgot to kiss the sidewalk when they reached street level again. "Were you in on that?"

"Peripheral. Way peripheral. That was a federal op, and local law was just background. Two hundred and fifty people self-terminating because one mad monster preached that death was the ultimate experience." She shook her head. "Maybe it is, but we're all going to get there eventually anyway. Why rush it?"

"They said-people said not everyone in the cult was willing to go through to the end. But the soldier level forced them to drink. And there were kids. Little kids."

"Yeah, there were kids." She'd still been in uniform then, not quite a year out of the Academy. And it was one of the images that lived in the back of her brain. Always would. "Kids, and infants whose mothers fed them that shit in a bottle. Munch had vids taken of the ceremony. Part of his legacy. First and last time I ever saw a Feebie shed a tear. Some of them sobbed like babies."

She shook her head again, pushed the memory away. "We need to start searching for doctors who lost their licenses to practice, going back ten to twenty years to start. Mook said he was old, so let's assume, going by Mook's criteria, this guy was at least sixty during Reverend Munch's reign. Keep the search centered on men, Caucasian, sixty-five to eighty for now. Nearly all of Munch's people were located in New York. So we'll stick with the state's medical board."

Eve glanced at her watch. "I've got a meeting back at Central. Look, let's try this. Head down to the Canal Street Clinic, see if Louise knows anybody who fits this guy's ID, or if not, if she'll nudge some of her medical sources for a name. She's got good contacts, and it could save time."

But Eve hesitated. "You okay dealing with Louise?"

"Sure. I like her. I think it's really nice about her and Charles."

"Whatever. Call in with whatever you get, then take an hour to surveil Maureen Stibbs."

"Really? Thanks, Lieutenant."

"You can take whatever time you can squeeze out tomorrow on the Stibbs matter when I'm out, but current load is priority."

"Understood. Dallas, one thing, on a personal front. I just wondered if maybe my parents are getting on your nerves? It seemed like maybe you and my father were off each other the other night."

"No, they're fine. Everything's fine."

"Okay, but they're only going to be here a few more days. I'll keep them occupied as much as I can. I guess Dad was just sensing some of your stress over the case. He picks up on stuff like that, even when he's blocking. About the only thing that shakes him up is getting something from somebody without their permission. Anyway." She brightened up again. "I can catch the subway to the clinic. Maybe we'll get lucky with Louise."