“I will, Sheriff.” Ryan ended the call and looked at Thomas.
“What the hell do you mean, poison?” he asked.
“MMAS was a ruthless organization that brooked absolutely no disobedience or failure,” Thomas said. “They were known for embedding poison capsules under the skin, usually next to the carotid artery. Then they would implant a chemically-enhanced hypnotic suggestion. Upon hearing or seeing a certain phrase, the victim would slap at the neck, popping the capsule. The poison would enter the bloodstream, killing the victim almost immediately.”
“Oh my God,” Ryan said. “We’re still looking for Ginger’s brother, Jeremy. That means they may have done the same thing to him.”
“I doubt that, Sheriff,” Thomas said.
“What makes you say that?” Ryan asked.
“To MMAS and those who followed, men aren’t even considered human beings,” Thomas said. “To them, men are little more than chattel property, worth less than your farm animals. Some would be useful for breeding or sexual entertainment, and others might be good as providers, but nothing more. Chances are, they wouldn’t even trouble themselves with this Jeremy character.”
“That’s monstrous,” Marvin said, shocked.
“Yes, they are best described as monsters. Of the worst kind,” Thomas said. “Do you still have their phones?” he asked Ryan.
“Yes, we do,” Ryan said.
“Can you get them here, please?”
“Of course,” Ryan said. He picked his phone up and called Ray, who answered on the second ring.
“Hale,” Ray said.
“Ray, this is Sheriff Caldwell. Do you still have the cell phones we got from Trudy Higgins and Ginger Rodgers?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. They’re turned off at the moment, but they’re on chargers,” Ray said.
“I need you to bring those to my office if you would. Also, bring the photos we found at Ginger’s if you would please. We have a federal agent here who’s interested in the case,” Ryan said.
“On my way,” Ray said. Ryan ended the call.
“I hope like hell you’re not just yanking our chain, Agent Jackson,” Ryan said. A couple minutes later, Ray came into the office with two cell phones and the folder containing the photos they found at Ginger’s. Ryan introduced him after he put everything on the desk. The first thing he did was hand Thomas the folder.
“These are the pictures you found at Ms. Rodgers’ business?” Thomas asked.
“Yes,” Ray said. “The first few show what they did to Commissioner Higgins. I don’t know where the others were taken or when.” Thomas looked through the photos with no emotion on his face. Apparently, he had seen this all before. When he finished, he handed the folder back.
“Yes, that looks like standard fare for MMAS,” Thomas said. “You also have video?”
“Yes, we do. Hours of it. Disgusting stuff,” Ray said. Thomas nodded his head.
“Interesting,” he finally said. “Let’s see what you got on the phones,” Thomas added after a few moments. Ray opened up each phone, and the first thing he noticed was a new message had come in since the last time he had the phones on.
“Go ahead, open it up, and show it to us,” Ryan instructed. Ray opened the text message and showed it to them: “Your services are no longer required.”
The message came from “AG.” Ray opened the other phone and found it had the same message from the same sender. Both messages had been sent Thursday morning.
“Damn,” Ryan said. “Think you can get a fix on the phone used to send those messages?” he asked Ray.
“Don’t waste your time,” Thomas said. “Chances are the phone or phones used to send those messages are already destroyed. That’s their M.O.” Just then, Ryan’s desk phone rang. He saw the call was from the women’s jail.
“Caldwell,” he said after answering the call, which he put on speaker so everyone could hear.
“Sheriff, this is Deputy Alexander,” Ruby said. “We need you to come down here and take a look at something. Right now.”
“On our way, Deputy. Thanks,” Ryan said before ending the call. He dialed the forensics lab and spoke to Dr. Childress.
“I need you to meet me at the women’s holding area right now,” Ryan said.
“Okay, Sheriff. I’ll be there as soon as I clean up,” the medical examiner said.
“Bring the phones. You’re going to want to see this,” Thomas said.
“I’ll take the folders back and meet you there,” Ray said. Ryan nodded his head, and they all left his office. They got to the women’s jail, where Deputy Alexander met them.
“You’ve got to see this, Sheriff,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” By then, Ray met them, and they all went to the room where Trudy and Ginger were sitting. They each had a small bandage on the side of their neck. Sitting on the table in front of them on a paper towel were two tiny barbed gelatinous capsules.
“What the hell are those?” Ryan asked.
“We found them right next to their carotid artery, just like you said,” the female doctor said. Ryan reached out to the table, but Thomas stopped him.
“Don’t touch them,” he said. “They break very easily. You have the phones?”
“Yes, right here,” Ryan said, pulling out the two evidence bags containing the phones. Thomas opened one of them and prepared to show it to Trudy.
“Watch this,” he whispered. “Mrs. Higgins, you received an important message I think you should see,” he told Trudy, holding the phone so she could see the message. As soon as she read it, she slapped the side of her neck where the bandage was as though swatting at a mosquito. She apparently thought nothing of it.
Everyone else looked at her in shock. If she had seen that message with the capsule still in her neck, she would be dead. Thomas repeated the action with Ginger, who reacted the same way.
“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Ginger asked as she looked up at everyone.
“Why did you slap your neck?” Ryan asked.
“Did I? I don’t know. I just did, I guess,” she said, confused. “What are those things?” she asked, pointing at the two capsules on the table.
“Poison capsules,” Thomas said. The two women looked at him, shocked.
“No. You’re lying,” Trudy said. “That’s just a sexist male lie. The sisterhood looks after one another.”
“Until you’re no longer of any use,” Thomas said. “So, how long were you a contractor for MMAS?” he asked Ginger.
“Say nothing!” Trudy barked. “Our lawyer said not to talk to anyone without him present.”
“A male lawyer. Interesting. Wonder what the sisterhood would say about that,” Thomas said.
“He’s useful. For the time being,” Trudy said. Thomas nodded his head and turned to Ruby.
“Could you contact their lawyer, please? Tell him what happened and let him know Special Agent Jackson with the federal Homefront Security Task Force needs to speak with his clients — immediately,” he said.
“Of course,” Ruby said after seeing Ryan nod his head in approval. She left the room, and Ryan turned to Dr. Childress.
“Could you take these back to your lab, catalog, and analyze them, please? Be very, very careful,” Ryan said.
“I’ll get right on it,” Dr. Childress said, picking the paper towel up as carefully as he could. A minute or two after he left, Ruby came back into the room.
“Mr. Callender is on his way,” she told them. “He should be here in about five or ten minutes.”