Forty Six:
They arrived at a large church, where Theodora stopped and stared up at the beautiful architecture. "They don't make buildings like this anymore."
Malcolm's hand fell away from hers as he itched his nose, "Unfortunately, no."
She sighed, rushing to catch up with the others inside. "Why are we here?" Malcolm's voice echoed from behind.
"After the '90s, gangs and police made a deal that churches are safe spaces. Cops like Gil negotiated truces between them, saved a lot of lives."
Gil knelt at the front of the church, standing to his feet as they all stood behind him. Silently the man shuffled into a pew, Theodora followed Malcolm forward and sat down next to him. Glancing back she found Gil just behind them with Dani and JT rows back.
A clean cut man appeared from the shadows, along with a group of other men. He closed his eyes and recited a prayer before unbuttoning his blazer, finding himself seated next to to Gil.
"Saulo."
"Lieutenant Arroyo."
They all watched the two greet each other, the church unbelievably tense.
"I can only imagine we are here to pay our respects for the late Desir." Saulo sighed.
Gil only turned his head at the other man, "Did you do it?" There was a pause, "If you ordered Desir killed, they'll come for you. You lose men and product. Let me stop them."
"I am a legitimate business man, Gil. Off the record, though... none of my people were responsible. You want Estimé."
Dani rolled her eyes, leaning forward towards Gil's ear. "He's lying. Xavier Estimé was in Desir's camp. They were friends."
Theodora nudged Malcolm, "The friend theory may just check out whether Dani likes it or not."
Saulo glanced back at her, "Friends become enemies overnight in this business."
"He's nonviolent. You know, like you." The women retorted. She turned to Gil, "Estimé doesn't even move product."
"I don't know who your girl is, but she's working off stale intel. Estimè was Desir's number two. With a bullet. Now he's number one."
"That's not true. If you didn't order the hit, who did?"
"Powell." Gil warned.
Malcolm glanced down to his other side, brows furrowing. Theodora watching silently, "What are you doing?"
He reached his hand out towards the pew, then jumped up with wide eyes.
"Malcolm." Theodora exclaimed, "What—"
Men drew their guns, pointing them at him. His hands were spread in front of him, "I-I thought I saw a bug." He sputtered, "I hate bugs."
He sat down, eyes glued to the ground. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know." He mumbled.
"You need to sleep, Mal."
"Who's your man?" Saulo glanced at Malcolm, snickering under his breath.
"That's Bright, our profiler." Gil replied.
Malcolm took a deep breath, turning on the pew so he faced Saulo. "Desir's tongue was cut out. Why would someone do that?"
"People are superstitious."
"But not you." Theodora squinted at him, no longer remaining silent. "You're a religious man, catholic? You blessed yourself before you sat down."
"Some cultures believe you remove a part of the body after death, you trap the soul inside it forever." The man replied staring at her.
"Damning them to walk the earth." Malcolm added.
Saulo gave a small smile, "That's how you know I have nothing to do with this. Quite the pair, both of you."
Something buzzed in her pocket, and Theodora slipped her phone out to reveal an unknown number. "Excuse me." She told them standing up, rushing from the building.
"Hello?"
"Theodora? Yes, hello, it's Edrisa."
"Edrisa?" She questioned, how do you have my number?
"I finally got the results back on your mother's bones. And... I—"
About time.
"What is it? I've started planning a burial—"
"It's not your mother."
Theodora froze, "What?"
"It's not Jay Fletcher. I believe it's a young woman who resembled her, Anne Dawson."
"Annie?" Theodora questioned, "No, that was my mom's old friend. She moved to Europe somewhere—"
They did look similar. Her father always joked that they were the same person.
"I know this is hard to hear, Theodora."
"This doesn't make any sense. How... why was my mother's name thrown out to the public? Who decided it was my mother? Is this why Gil refused to let me know details of the case?"
"I'm still working on it. I just thought you should know."
Theodora shook her head, this made no sense.
"You're telling me that the body that was found, that has been believed to be my mother is not actually her?" You're also telling me that I bawled in a random women's burial site in the middle of the woods?
"Yes."
Then what did Malcolm's father mean when he implied that he killed her? Did he even know that a body had been recovered?
"Gil doesn't know that I've told you. He's been keeping it all under wraps."
She felt numb, lost for words. Just when she thought she knew something, that that door could finally be locked it gets kicked back open with even more questions.
"She's still out there?" Theodora muttered, more to herself than to Edrisa. "Lost. Dead somewhere?"
The phone line went dead and she was left staring down as the screen went black.
What the hell was she supposed to do with this information? This was somehow worse than being told that they had found her mother's body, because at least then Theodora believed her to be found. She was going to have a talk with Gil when this drug bust was done, and he'd answer all of her questions no matter how long it took.
Theodora jammed her phone back into her pocket, that numb feeling spreading throughout her body. She'd also go have a long conversation with Dr Whitly, without Malcolm this time.
"I'm going to find you." She whispered, at the sky. "No matter what, I'm gonna bring you home, mom."