Heart & Sincerity

15/ Meetings

Alice sat in the lobby waiting for her son. He had called to tell her he was running late, but would be there very soon. It was already late. He has told Betty she needed time to clear her head so she would go find a quiet place.

"Alice, I'm sorry for my tardiness." Charles walked in with his brief case. He gestured for her to follow him to a private room. "I was collecting the last bit of evidence from the last town and was on my way here when I ran into a man in the hall." He shut the door behind her. She went to go take a seat. "I helped clean him up before he took off. He didn't say much though. I believe his only words to me were along the lines of pizza." Charles walked to his desk and put the brief case down. "But enough about that, you said Polly invited you to the Farm?"

"Yes, she'll be stopping by in a few days."

"Perfect," Charles unlocked his brief case. "In here I have information on what to expect. These farmies can be very unaware to what's going on. If they give you anything suspicious do not take it. Try to build relationships though. It's our best shot at getting around."

"What exactly am I supposed to do there?"

"At first just blend in. You're a broken soul looking for healing. That's what these people are looking for. It will draw the attention of Edgar at some point. You specifically have to get close to him, gain his trust, get him to believe you're under his mind control." Charles took sketches out of his briefcase and pushed it aside. "This is what Edgar looks like. This is a Newton's cradle he keeps in his therapy room. If you ever see this be aware that he is going to start one of his sessions."

"Cut me open?" Alice furrowed her eyebrows.

"No, just his therapeutic practice. He flicks one of those balls and will begin talking to you. It's how he starts manipulating you into trusting his purpose. He gets you to focus on his voice, but the sound of the balls crashing against each other drowns your surroundings out."

"I'm going to have to sit through one of these sessions at some point and convince him I'm a damsel in distress?"

"In simple terms, yes. My partner and I will train you for that. This guy is serious though. If you don't know what you're walking into he will have full control."

"My God, what if Polly already started these sessions?"

"Relax. You said she hasn't met Edgar yet."

"I don't know if I'm ready to go to this place."

"Don't worry. If you are or feel like you're in danger you will be able to get through to me and I will get you help. I will not have you go in there and get seriously hurt."

"What about Polly? Or even Jason and the others for that matter?"

"When the time comes my team and I will intervene. We have invested too much of our time into this case and we will take them down."

"So that's it? We're really doing this?"

"We are," Charles nodded. "I'm really depending on you. No pressure."

"I think I can handle it. Believe me, I've been through some things."

***

FP walked into his trailer and found the boys on the couch. They turned to look at him. He grabbed a slice of pizza from the box.

"What happened to you?" Joaquin noticed the bandage sticking out of his shirt.

"Life," FP bit into the pizza. He tossed his flannel to the side. "I see you boys finally listened." He said, referring to the tv.

"Eyes and ears, sir." Fangs nodded with a proud smile. "At your service."

"Don't you three have your own parents to bother?" FP bantered.

"We're the three sons you never had." Sweet Pea hooked his arms around their shoulders.

"I already have one of each. I'll pass." FP smirked. He genuinely did care about these boys' well being. They were among the handful of young Serpents he led.

The door flew open and their heads turned to look at Penny.

"Okay, now you really do have to go." FP directed at the boys.

"Shucks, am I late for the pizza party?"

The three teenage boys listened to FP and walked out. Sweet Pea picked up the pizza boxes on his way out. He also turned off the tv for him.

"So did you make the drop?"

FP held the pizza with his teeth. He grabbed the wad of money from his pocket, having already taken his cut out before handing it to her.

"There, happy?" He rolled his eyes.

"The hell did you do?" Penny grabbed it and noticed his arm.

"Don't act like you care," FP scoffed. "Just take the money and go."

"Whatever," Penny said, not caring much anyway. "That's it for now. You'll get a call for your next shipment to handle." She turned her back to him and left the trailer.

FP flopped down on the couch and stared into space. He couldn't find a way to put an end to this. It's all he wanted to turn his life around.