Page 83 of Chasing Lynda

I smile, amused by his uncertainty. “If that’s how you want to interpret it, sure. But remember that you said that, not me. My official doctrine is that I’m the incarnation of the Light in the physical world. As the only man who’s reached the highest level of enlightenment, my word is the word of the Light. I pave the way my followers need to walk to reach enlightenment.”

He takes another gulp, draining his glass and refilling it straight away. “I understand that, Aaron. But what you just said, basically is that to reach enlightenment a woman has to let you fuck her—”

I laugh. “That’s why I like you. You don’t sugar coat the truth. I think ‘union with the Light and Enlightenment Ceremony’ are the terms we should use. If you think about it, my new doctrine is nothing but the natural evolution of Harold’s teaching. If anything, it gives a message of hope that no matter how low you’ve sunk, there’s a possibility of redemption.”

He nods. “Right. But however you call what happened, Aaron ... I urge you to be careful. This would be all fine and dandy but by eliminating the women’s ‘mission,’ you’re taking away something that gave the inner circle men a feeling of power. If you keep all the women that need redemption to yourself—”

I scoff. “Really? The video that got us arrested was shot exactly during one of the ‘mission’ meetings. We need to clean up our image if we want to survive and thrive.” I don’t even need to mention that it was Lynda who filmed us. “You know Andy, you should understand how lucky you are that I was infatuated with my wife and that your services to our church are invaluable. Because right now, I’m not sure I like the message you’re trying to convey.”

He has the good sense to squirm under my glare and I continue. “The inner circle men should be more than satisfied by their standing in our community. After all, our influence is what gave them promotions at work and more power than they know what to do with. They all have wives last time I checked.”

My deputy isn’t easily convinced. “I know that. But you took away a huge outlet for their ... mundane urges by ending Harold’s mission. Do you think they’ll watch while you fuck all their daughters or any new woman in the community who hopes to elevate their status on the chance of carrying an enlightened child? I don’t know if they’ll support that. Maybe you want to consider that suggestion to allow ‘spiritual marriages’ for the inner circle members? That could appease them.”

I laugh. “Appease them? No, Andy. Like I said, they get a lot of perks by being members of the inner circle of this church. I won’t sanction anything that could put our community under media scrutiny again. So polygamy is off the table. I couldn’t care less if they stray from their marriages, but they have to do it discreetly and outside our community. Also, no more roofies. If they want to fuck someone, they better get their consent. They can divorce their wives, I have no problem with that or they share them with each other, as long as the women agree to it. If they stay under the radar, I don’t care what they do. Fuck, tell them to go out clubbing. God knows getting laid in a college town is even too easy.”

Andy’s posture is tense as he nods. “Very well, I’ll relay your decision.”

And then it hits me. “Andy, is all this talk about mission a cry for help? I’ve been so wrapped up in my own grief over Lynda’s disappearance and her death, that I forgot that your wife left you last year.”

He doesn’t answer but I know I struck a nerve by the way he tightens his grip on his glass. “I think we both need to find suitable wives, Andy. It isn’t ideal that the heads of our church are single men. I can only play the distraught widower for so long, after all.” I look at him, willing to make a concession to keep him happy; his support is too important to risk losing it. “Is there any woman in the community that caught your eye? Age or marital status are irrelevant, we’ll find a way to make it work.”

He shakes his head. “No, there isn’t anyone.”

I sigh. “I don’t blame you. Winthrop’s daughters and Lynda were the prettiest girls in the community. Girls like Delaney are ok to take the edge off, but let’s face it, they aren’t wife material.”

He doesn’t answer, so I consider the situation for a moment, before making a decision. “We should look for brides outside the church. Shell Cove isn’t the right place either. Bridgeport is full of attractive women and we just need to get out there to meet them. We need to get boots on the ground there anyway, now that the new church is almost ready.” I rub my hands together, excited by the endless possibilities of a new hunting ground. If our new wives will also bring important connections, it’s definitely a plus, but not a deal breaker. It’s settled, the new church will be the venue for some really high profile weddings!”

Andy nods. “Sure, Bridgeport sounds good. Have you thought about making an announcement to the community to inform them of Lynda’s death?”

I debate it for a second. “No. That was why I was annoyed by your ex-wife’s stupid obituary. I already had every slut in the compound trying to get in my pants, including Delaney. If word gets out that I’m in the market for a new wife, every unwed woman in the community will circle around me like sharks who smell blood in the water. I don’t have time to deal with gold diggers who want to marry the head of the church. I’ll make the announcement once I find the next Mrs. Aaron Lawrence. In the meantime, we’ll keep quiet. Make sure Kirk knows not to talk about it.”

My deputy agrees. “What if they identify that last body? We know it must be Lynda and the police have been very good at keeping the information private. But if it gets out, after all the appeals we launched last year when Lynda was missing, the press would be all over the news.”

I shrug, pouring myself a new drink. “We’ll cross that bridge in due course.”

19.

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