Page 5 of Dead Evil
When Ronan, Jude, and Fitz arrived at the Salem Police Station, Cisco was in a closed door meeting with Salem’s mayor. Ronan wondered if the meeting was about Paranormal Phantasmagoria or about something related to Robert Oliveri and his many crimes.
The shit had truly hit the fan when word of the former police officer’s criminal enterprise broke a few weeks ago. Cisco stood tall against questions of police brutality, and how to regain the public’s trust. It hadn’t been easy, but he’d weathered the storm. And that wasafterRonan and the other detectives had accused Cisco of being the killer. Needless to say, it hadn’t been an easy summer.
“Thanks for your time, Cisco,” the mayor said, as she opened the door and walked out of his office. “Good to see you, Fitz.”
“You too, Mayor.” Fitzgibbon shook her hand. Ronan and Jude followed suit.
“Come in, guys!” Cisco called from his office, sounding tired.
Ronan wondered if he was tired from being kept up by Marisol, his newborn daughter, or tired from whatever the hell this meeting was about. He took a seat in the chief’s office and waited to find out.
“Thanks for coming on such short notice.” Cisco rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “I got a message last night from the Boston field office of the FBI. Apparently, Paranormal Phantasmagoria is squarely in the bullseye of King of Deliverance.”
“Who or what is King of Deliverance?” Ronan asked, suddenly having a very bad feeling about this meeting.
“It’s a Christian Fundamentalist megachurch who believe the Bible should be followed literally. You know, eye for an eye, and that sort of thing. They discourage belief in science in general, but especially when it comes to the Big Bang or the theory of evolution, going so far as saying science is the gift of Satan. Over time, this church has become nearly militant in its beliefs against vaccines, immigration, women working or having the right to vote, and lastly LGBTQIA+ people.”
“In short, they’re racist, sexist, homophobic, white nationalist hate mongers?” Fitz asked.
“That’s it in a nutshell,” Cisco said with a sigh. “They’re planning a large protest in Salem. A permit was pulled six months ago, shortly after PP announced it was coming to Salem. As an FYI, when King of Deliverance protested the pride parade in Kansas City two months ago, nearly half a million members showed up with bear spray and police batons.”
“I’m afraid to ask what happened at the parade.” Jude wore a worried look as he spoke.
“Nearly a hundred people were hospitalized. Some were in respiratory distress from the chemicals in the bear spray. Others had been trampled when the attack started and the crowd rushed to get away. More had been physically assaulted by church members, and had bumps and bruises. A few had broken bones. Thankfully there were no deaths.”
“Jesus,” Ronan muttered. What the hell was wrong with people? Why couldn’t they live and let live?
“What do you need us to do?” Fitzgibbon asked, all business.
“Keep your eyes and ears open,” Cisco said. “Reach out to your contacts and see if this hornet’s nest is stirring anything up. I’ll be in close touch with the FBI. They’re going to send agents to monitor the situation. The mayor was just here telling me she’d reached out to the governor, who will have the Massachusetts National Guard on standby should things go sideways, which I have a feeling they will.”
“We had a meeting this morning about West Side Magick’s role in Paranormal Phantasmagoria,” Ronan began, “Ten talked about wanting Everly to meet and make connections with other psychic kids. My biggest fear had been people looking to take advantage of her gift. What you just told us makes my worries for Everly feel like child’s play.” Ronan felt like the world had just spun off its axis. He took a deep breath to help calm his racing heart. It didn’t help. “How the hell do we keep our families and our city safe from these people?”
“First of all, I’m mobilizing the entire Salem Police Department to beef up security,” Cisco began. “We’ve reached out to other local police departments and the Massachusetts State Police to send any available officers to help out from noon on Friday through Sunday when the con ends. These officers will all be out in force. I’ll request the National Guard as the last resort, if need be.”
“I understand what you’re saying, Cisco, but this is supposed to be a family event. Are we going to have heavily armed members of law enforcement all over the area and on the convention floor?” Jude sounded appalled.
“Yes and no,” Cisco agreed. “We’re going to set up a perimeter around the convention center and shut down city streets within a three block radius. Only people with tickets to the events will be allowed inside the perimeter, which will include the arena’sunderground parking garage. We’ll urge people coming to the con to take public transportation, just like we do during the lead-up to Halloween. Thankfully, we have a lot of practice with crowd control. We’re not going to have heavily armed police on the convention floor. There will be officers in street clothes with concealed weapons inside the building ready to respond if trouble breaks out.”
“I assume you want us on that detail?” Fitz asked.
“Yes,” Cisco agreed. “Obviously the safety of your families is paramount, but I want you to keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble. I assume Ten and the other psychics will be doing the same thing?”
Ronan sighed and turned to Jude. “Remember when it was announced that PP was leaving New Orleans for Salem?”
“Cope lost his mind. He was so excited.” Jude smiled briefly. “He’d loved attending when he lived in NOLA and was so excited for the convention to be here in his back yard.”
“Same with Ten,” Ronan agreed. “He’d mentioned attending a few years back when we were working as private detectives, but we didn’t have the time or the money to make the trip. This opportunity was going to be huge for all the psychics. A chance to get their talent in front of bigger crowds and now they’ll all be looking over their shoulders for right-wing nutjobs who want to cause harm to them and our city.”
“I hear where you’re coming from,” Cisco said. “This con is a huge opportunity for Salem as well, in terms of tourists coming here to spend money. This is especially important in light of the Oliveri case. I’ve been trying to earn back public trust for the SPD. I think it’s been working in small measures, but it would beso easy to take giant steps backward if Kingdom of Deliverance provokes an unwarranted police response.”
“That’s what these groups do,” Jude muttered. “They stir everyone up. Where before people would have been content to let the convention take over the city for three days, now they’ll be out in full force marching, protesting, and rabble rousing, all in the name of God.”
“We’ll do everything in our power to make sure the con is safe for all who are attending,” Fitz said, getting to his feet. “Let me know if you want us to speak at a press conference to reassure people the city is safe.”
Cisco shook his head. “Ordinarily, I’d be on board with that plan and would have suggested that very thing, but all we’d be doing is putting a public face on the department and bullseyes on your backs. The last thing I want is to put you and your families any more in the line of fire than they already are.”
As much as Ronan loved a good press conference with him standing at center stage, keeping Ten and the kids safe was much more important. He had a feeling the Kingdom of Deliverance was already well versed in all of their families. “We need to beat them at their own game.”
