Nathaniel Sewell's Blog, page 11

Lightning Bolts

She was like standing next to a lightning bolt,

If I’d made a move forward,

She’d have killed me,

But like any innocent child,

I wondered what white-hot felt like,

And so, her eyes melted me,

Blue, Green, Brown or Gray,

It’s all the same,

It was like being hit by a lightning bolt,

And I’ll never be the same.

NS

Amanita – Coming Soon…

Amanita – a novel        

by Nathaniel Sewell

From her childhood, redheaded Artemis Lamb has clairvoyant gifts to communicate with the souls lost in limbo. Tasked with a new medical malpractice file for a secretive hospital in Selene, Kentucky, a hospital where the plaintiff lawyer, Jerome Jenkins, swears opioid addict bodies are being artificially kept alive. Caduceus Re sends Artemis out to manage these high volume death cases; she’s their best investigator. But a clandestine organization, The Company, empowers her to seek the correct societal problem to sanction. Artemis Lamb is an assassin.

After Artemis arrives in Selene, she investigates Most High Cemetery. The cemetery swept of any roaming spirits. She’s lost, blind, and uncertain how to seek the truth. Her vision clears at the cemeteries’ tallest center monument at the intersection for the circular nine family plots guarded by seven iron gates as awaiting her is Satan. And Satan is not pleased Artemis has barged into its mass killing project spreading synthetic fentanyl and death cap mushrooms.

Satan baits Artemis with her dead lover Benjamin’s spirit. But Artemis realizes Satan wants something from her; otherwise she’d be dead. She discovers her dead lover has a child whose addict mother lay dying hooked to life support by Dr. Demetrius’ staff. He is the hospital’s medical director and obsessed with genetically experimenting with mycelia and mushrooms. Now her mission has gotten complicated, she has to figure out how to protect a little girl’s life, clean up the Demetrius brothers opioid mess, and satisfy Satan’s terms and conditions to free Benjamin’s spirit.

Amanita – Chapter 29

29

“I’ve never seen you let a case get this complicated,” Wylie said. He pointed over at Alan the Moon’s bartender whistling a tune and engaging his bar guests.

“What are we having?” Alan asked. He tapped his fingers on the marble bar top. “Welcome, Artemis’ guest.”

“I’ll try a Guinness,” Wylie said. He sat on a solid wooden stool next to Artemis. “This your joint?”

“It’s a good, quiet spot,” Artemis said. “I rarely get hit on, mostly local crowd.”

Alan had turned, he grabbed a branded Guinness pint glass and walked over to start the two-part pour method at the tap.

“I must pour Guinness with great care,” Alan said. He looked back over at Wylie. “It’s a process, you must be patient.”

“He’s serious about that?” Wylie said looking down the bar at Alan. “Understands the process, a good bartender, he’s a Brit?”

“Welsh, he’d correct you. Reason I come in here, remember my mother was Irish, she was an Olympian,” Artemis said. She shifted the half full glass back and forth over the bar top between her open palms. “It’s my home base, a place I can look forward to after a long trip into the unknown.”

After a minute, Wylie watched over the bar as Alan brought a full Guinness over, he set it in front of him and they all enjoyed watching the turbulent contents as if they were waiting for a scuba diver to emerge from being cascaded and surged up through a turbulent brownish-red sea into a calm foam.

“Perfection,” Alan said. He wiped off any foam residue and pointed the harp brand at Wylie. “Enjoy.”

Artemis leaned over and clinked Wylie’s Guinness.

“To good health,” Artemis said. She sat back after taking a healthy gulp. “I have a nasty mission before me. I rarely have other bodies to worry about, this time a child’s at risk, I don’t like it.”

“You’re serious about taking her in?” Wylie asked. He suspiciously looked over at Artemis as he sipped the Guinness. “She does not understand what you’re about.”

“I know,” Artemis said. “Like I said, it’s complicated. The attorney suing the hospital offered to help me out.”

Wylie acknowledge the comment.

“Small town America,” Wylie said. He shrugged. “But you’ve kept everything straight? I don’t have any surprises coming?”

“Good question,” Artemis said. “Thought I had this one figured out. I’d get it on a slow track, burn out his credit limit, get him desperate, plaintiffs beg for money, keep him burning down the road to settle.”

“That would be a good direction to a head,” Wylie said. He looked up at a silent television screen. “What changed?”

“A word,” Artemis said. “After I heard it, I went roaming about the hospital campus. I found what I was looking for, it was right there.”

“You don’t want this in a file?” Wylie asked. “Reason you had me cross Gandy for a Guinness.”

“Remember, I’ve got an FBI agent poking into our hospital,” Artemis said. She gripped the edge of the bar. “I don’t get the feeling Dr. Demetrius has been selling drugs out the back of the hospital, it’s something else.”

Wylie and Artemis quietly sat next to each other for several minutes. They both knew the active medical malpractice claim file down to every grammatical mistake, every misplaced comma. It was also a file seen by higher ups or worse.

“How’s the little girl doing?” Wylie asked.

“I have a tracking device on her,” Artemis said. “Best, I can tell she’s still alive, she doesn’t move around much.”

“You’re crafty,” Wylie said. He sighed. “Let me know if I can help, make a few calls.”

Artemis quickly turned her head over at Wylie. She looked past him over at another bar guest.

“Never considered that much, never done this. But maybe speed up the process?” Artemis said. “Without Jerome finding out, get her under my care and away from a problem.”

“You know something girl,” Wylie said. He stopped talking as he looked forward as what appeared as a restaurant cook approached them. The restaurant management had a seamstress stencil his name on his chef jacket. He was a fit middle-aged man with mischievous hazel eyes, and a white towel draped over his shoulder as he walked over from the bartenders alley. He grinned over at Artemis.

“Graced us with your presence?”

Artemis smiled, she reached over to shake the man’s moist hand. He had sweat dropping along his receding dishwater blond hair.

“You look like you came out of a hot sauna?” Artemis said. “Chef Mikey, this is my direct report Wylie.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Wylie said.

“As well,” Chef Mikey said.

“You sound from across the pond, London?” Wylie said. “Like the happy bartender over there.”

“True, that one’s Welsh, but you sound like,” Chef Mikey said. His cheeks puffed and crows-feet appeared beside his eyes as he grinned. “Not quite redneck? No disrespect.”

“North Carolina,” Wylie said. He winked at Artemis.

“Ah,” Chef Mikey said. “What can I get for ya? Artemis always gets my fish and chips, kinda boring if you ask me. I can make you Vindaloo, spicy if you can man-up?”

“Careful Wylie,” Artemis said. Wylie laughed and lifted his Guinness. “They mean hot.”

“How about giving us a few minutes,” Wylie said. He leaned back on the stool.

“All right then,” Chef Mikey said. He tapped the bar top, as he moved on down the bar checking in on other bar guests.

Artemis waited until he was out of earshot. She made sure the chef distracted the bartender. She whispered over at Wylie.

“We need to settle this file, quietly,” Artemis said. “It could take down the hospital.”

“I see, don’t want this in the file?” Wylie asked. He sipped the Guinness. “That’s good, once you write it down, it lives forever.”

“I know, but Jerome knows the entire town,” Artemis said. “He’ll eventually find out, that’s what I’m thinking.”

“You don’t have any evidence?” Wylie said. “Yet, right?”

“Not something I can easily get,” Artemis said.

“If I heard you,” Wylie said. He looked up at the British West Indies themed décor. “A word, and it was there in plain sight, this some kind of riddle.”

“It’ll make your skin crawl,” Artemis said.

“Ha, I’ve a strong stomach,” Wylie said.

“You ever done much gardening?” Artemis asked. She blankly stared back over at Wylie as new lunch guests came inside walking near the bar area. “Hospital has a strong green initiative.”

Wylie’s expression opened up, as if he’d seen a vision.

“What are you thinking?” Wylie asked. “We might be wise to engage the attorney, get in front of this mess.”

“That’s my thinking,” Artemis said.

“Tell you what,” Wylie said. “I’ll have a talk internally about my authority level, might be a big number?”

“If it gets out,” Artemis said. “I found the mess I need to manage. You’ll help me with Laina?”

“Absolutely,” Wylie said. He tightly gripped Artemis’ left forearm. “I’ll get her on a fast track with a call or two. But you be careful.”

End. Chapter 29.

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Amanita – Chapter 28

28

“Artemis?” The voice said from Artemis’ smartphone speaker.
“Yes,” Artemis said. She sat up on her hotel bed with two pillows stuffed behind her back. “Jerome?”
“Yes,” Jerome said. His voice was hesitant. “Been dealing with your request. Your statement, connection to the father has been greatly helpful, and I think well received by the court.”
“You don’t sound overly confident?” Artemis said. She held the smartphone closer in front of her mouth.
“You’re correct,” Jerome said. He coughed to clear his throat, but Artemis thought he was really simply delaying the inevitable news.
“I’m waiting,” Artemis said. “Laina?”
“Laina, yes,” Jerome said. “I went to visit her, part of my job as your counsel. She’s seems healthy, but she’s not in good spirits. Ah, another problem has emerged.”
“Spit it out,” Artemis said.
“First off, let me handle this,” Jerome said. “But, I learned the family has a connection to this Prophet character, I think they are under his spell, as it were.”
Artemis sprang off the bed. She started to search the room for her clothes, and considered if she’d need her weapons.
“Take me there,” Artemis said. “She needs to see my face, I need to assure her I’ve not abandoned her.”
“I’m not sure,” Jerome said.
“Jerome, that man’s out of his mind,” Artemis said. She paused. “Come pick me up. I’ll tell you something, in confidence, it’ll help you.”
“It might get hairy,” Jerome said.
“I’m a big girl,” Artemis said. “I’ll walk down to your office, I need to get out there.”
#
“How do people live out here?” Artemis asked.
“Not well,” Jerome said. He drove along a bending two lane road. “The coal jobs are almost gone, they refuse to move away.”
“Why are you here?” Artemis said. She tapped on the car door window with her right hand knuckles. “You’re talented enough to practice in a big city.”
“I guess it was my parents,” Jerome said. He tightly gripped the steering wheel. “They were missionaries, their chapel is not far from where we are headed. I think they instilled in me to focus on faith, family and the truth. I wish I had greedy bone in my body. It would have made paying for kids schooling a lot easier.”
“I understand,” Artemis said. “The mountains are beautiful, in a way, they’re magical.”
“So true,” Jerome said. He pointed out toward a mountain peak. “I used to hike up there, the view is amazing. But then pot came to town, and now, it’s worse. The forest has been infested with these evil characters.”
”How do you know God exists?” Artemis said.
“They write books about that question,” Jerome said. He drove the car farther along the narrow road, he turned left onto a gravel road toward a pie shaped clearing. “I’ve sensed pure evil, it’s a feeling you get, you know?”
“Oh, I know that feeling,” Artemis said.
“From my parents,” Jerome said. “God is revealed when we confront evil, gives us the power to stand up and protect those that cannot protect themselves.”
“How’s that show me God’s in the hood?” Artemis asked. She sniffled. “My allergies are coming back, Spring must be coming early.”
“You answered the question,” Jerome said. “Winter to Spring, from death to renewal, God is revealed each spring because we know a renewal is coming, we trust that with our fancy science, right?”
“You lost me,” Artemis said.
“It’s about trust, accepting the truth,” Jerome said. He stopped the car, and parked it about a quarter mile from a shotgun style house with a tin roof. “My father taught me about death, he told me in the hospital he’s watched a person die. Many times their eyes were open, they were in pain, pumped full of moriphine, at the instant they died, in their eyes they smiled at something they saw. Think about that, what did they see?”
“I appreciate you sharing,” Artemis said. She unclipped her seat belt. She looked out of the windshield toward the home. “Looks like we get to me this prophet.”
Jerome stared forward and grunted.
“It was inevitable,” Jerome said. He opened the car door.
As Artemis and Jerome walked across the gravel, and dirt she was startled by the large man standing near the front door. His face was an exact copy of Dr. Demetrius. But his black hair was slicked back, and he muscled and more athletic than his brother.
“I speak for the family,” he said, as he stood on the porch above the concrete stairs.
“And you would be?” Jerome asked. He kept moving forward, and toward the front screen door.
The large man placed his hand on Jerome’s shoulder.
“I am Prophet Higgs Boson,” he said.
“Take your hand, right now,” Jerome said. “Are you an attorney?”
“I am healer,” Prophet Higgs Boson said.
“Then the answers no,” Jerome said. He flicked Prophet Higgs Boson’s hand away. “I am, and I’m here on behalf of the court, and my client. Go sit on that porch swing, and stay out of my way, or I’ll call someone you don’t want to meet.”
Prophet Higgs Boson stepped back, and he looked down at Artemis.
“Your client?” Prophet Higgs Boson asked. He pointed over at Artemis.
“Yes,” Jerome said. “She does not need to respond to you.”
“Thank you,” Artemis said. She stepped out from behind Jerome. She stood motionless in front of Prophet Higgs Boson. She stared up into his dark eyes.
“Feisty,” Prophet Higgs Boson said.
“Nice ride,” Artemis said. She nudged over toward the black SUV parked nearby. “You?”
“My flock provides for me,” Prophet Higgs Boson said.
“Stay out here,” Jerome said. He knocked on the door, and turned the nob. He peaked inside past the door jam. “Hello, again. Artemis follow me please.”
Jerome and Artemis stood just past the modest homes front door. The ceiling painted smooth was abnormally low, and created a claustrophobic effect. Toward the back of the house appeared to be a kitchen, a potbelly stove was providing heat near the open back door. They had closed the door to prevent Prophet Higgs Boson from entering behind them.
“We’ll still get paid, right?” A scruffy middle-aged man said. He was wearing a rumpled red flannel shirt. “We’re havin’ to feed her.”
“We ain’t made a money,” a skinny woman in a wrinkled dress. “She ain’t our only responsibly.”
Artemis looked over at her. The woman was there, standing on the frayed tan linoleum, but her eyes told a different story. Her green eyes were unfocused, watery. Her once beautiful skin blotched with discolored acne.
“I’ll assure you the state will deposit your check,” Jerome said. He smiled kindly, and he gently leaned his shoulders forward. “Can you bring Laina for us? We just want to say hi, and then we’ll be on our way.”
The man waved for them down a side hallway.
“She don’t come out,” he said. “Help yourself.”
Artemis and Jerome entered a tiny bedroom. A barely covered the single south facing window. The single bed covered with a long forgotten sleeping bag. Artemis spotted Laina stuffed into the corner between the bed and the wall.
“Laina?” Jerome asked. He leaned down. “I brought Artemis.”
Artemis heard Profit Higgs Boson outside talking to someone. He was putting on his best act she thought. She leaned in next to Jerome.
“I wanted you to see my face,” Artemis said. She held her hand forward. “I’ll get you out of here.”
Laina held her legs against her chest. She stared forward.
“They goin’ to kill me,” Laina said, flatly. She stared forward, her gaze certain.
“Not on my watch,” Jerome said. “We’re watching.”
“That woman’s like my dead mother,” Laina said. She sniffled.
“Has any hurt you?” Artemis asked. She pushed forward to draw Laina’s gaze into her eyes. “I’m trying to adopt you, do you understand?”
“I ain’t leavin’ here, am I,” Laina asked.
“Not today,” Jerome said. “I’m working as fast as I can, I’m sorry. Artemis wants to take you in, keep that in mind, it’ll give you some hope.”
“I know that man outside,” Laina said.
“How so?” Jerome asked.
“Give stuff to my momma,” Laina said. “He knows my name.”
Artemis sat back on her legs, she squeezed her hips with her hands. She smiled over at Laina.
“For now,” Artemis said. “Stay low, out of the way, I’ll deal with that mess soon. Understand?”
“Better hurry,” Laina said. “I know he’s taken my friends, they just disappeared, it was him.”
Jerome glanced over at Artemis. He nodded it time for them to leave.
“Don’t you fret little lady,” Jerome said. “We’ll return.”
“Come over here,’ Artemis said. She held her arms open. “Give me hug.”
Jerome got up and turned his back as Laina crawled forward and tightly hugged Artemis.
“I’m always watching,” Artemis said. She whispered. “You’re never alone.”
“I’m scared,” Laina said. She began to whimper.
“I’ve been scared many times,” Artemis said. She held Laina closer. “My mother always told me it was okay to cry, it makes the fear drain out of you. She told me that’s why she always competed without fear, focus on the truth, so focus on the truth, I’m here.”
“My daddy loved you?” Laina asked.
“Yes, I loved him,” Artemis said. And Artemis allowed her brain to unlock her heart. “I love you, I’ll protect you with my life, understand?”
Laina whimpered as she nodded. She wiped her eyes across Artemis’ shoulder.
“Thank you,” Laina said.
Artemis released Laina, she closed her eyes and blew out a constant breath between her lips.
“Just stay down,” Artemis said. She turned toward Jerome and they left the bedroom gently closing the door behind them.
Outside on the porch the Prophet Higgs Boson was explaining the universe to the wiry little man from inside. They acknowledge Jerome and Artemis.
“Jerome, can you do me a favor?” Artemis asked. She touched Jerome’s forearm. “Walk to the car, and don’t look back.”
Jerome’s eyes understood the request. He just kept walking away. Artemis gave him a few seconds and marched over toward Prophet Higgs Boson. Before she reached him she heard Satan’s sarcastic voice within her mind.
“Artemis, he’s funny,” Satan said. “Let him talk.”
Artemis stopped, she then kept moving up onto the porch to face square with Prophet Higgs Boson.
“Do not fear,” Profit Higgs Boson said. He held his muscled arms wide. “I will provide for my lambs, the girl is safe with my flock.”
“I know your brother,” Artemis said. “He’s really into his mushrooms.”
Prophet Higgs Boson scowled at Artemis.
“He’s an arrogant fool,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. He crossed his arms. “He knows nothing, I am beyond him. My ministry will change the world, he is nothing.”
“I was sent here to clean up his mess,” Artemis said.
“Good,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. He reached forward to grip Artemis’ shoulder. “Do good works, join my flock.”
“Not really my thing,” Artemis said.
“You should try our mushrooms,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. He huffed. “My flock harvests them in forest, they are amazing, nothing my brother would understand, you’ll journey with me through the universe.”
“I’ve been told not to eat the mushrooms,” Artemis said.
“I see into the future,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. “I know the mind of God.”
“Look into my eyes,” Artemis said. She held her up at her face. “Look real deep into my eyes.”
Prophet Higgs Boson complied and vacuously looked at Artemis.
“The little girl inside, is mine,” Artemis said. “Do you understand?”
“Perhaps,” Prophet Higgs said.
“I can see into the future as well,” Artemis said. “If she’s touched, abused, if she should slip on a rock and die, guess what the future holds for you?”
“I only follow where God takes me,” Prophet Higgs Boson said, nervously. His gaze left Artemis and he suspiciously stared out toward the forest started and became dense with thicket and tall trees. “She has been delivered for a purpose, it’s God’s plan.”
Artemis shifted to follow his line of sight. There, at the forests edge stood the American Indian spirt warrior. He looked menacing, and he held his once sharp spear as if to launch it.
“You see that Indian?” Artemis said. “The one standing over there, looking at you.”
Prophet Higgs Boson ignored her question.
“I see what Satan reveals to me,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. But he flinched as Artemis heard the warrior scream over at Prophet Higgs Boson, and she saw the warrior try to throw the spear. It hurdled toward them, but harmlessly disappeared.
“I’ll tell you Satan’s plan for you, if she’s harmed,” Artemis said. She pushed in closer to Prophet Higgs Boson. That spirit that just tried to kill you will pale in comparison to me. I now know Satan’s plan for you, it’s clear to me, want to know what it is?”
“I do not fear Satan,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. He chuckled. “Satan is my God!”
“Thank you,” Artemis said.
“For what? You are a strange woman,” Prophet Higgs Boson said. “Women are only useful when obidient.”
“I have identified the mess I need to clean up,” Artemis said. She backed up and started to walk away. “It is now clear in my heart, in my mind.”
Prophet Higgs Boson quickly followed her toward the porch steps. He looked down at Artemis as she walked away.
“Tell me of this mess?” Prophet Higgs Boson asked. “What has my Lord Satan told you?”
“You,” Artemis said. She stared back over her shoulder at him. “You’re the mess I’ve been seeking. Remember my words about the girl, I’ll be back.”
“Artemis,” Satan said. It laughed from beyond the nearby mountains, across the tranquil streams. “So delightfully sinister, and cryptic, you’re learning.”
“Leave me alone,” Artemis said under her breath. She got back inside the car, and stared forward at Prophet Higgs Boson.
“Sorry,” Jerome said.
“Let’s get out of here,” Artemis said. “I need to travel back home, I’ve identified my task.”
“Very well,” Jerome said. “I’ll keep tabs on her.”
“Thank you,” Artemis said. “I’m going to recommend the claim management come from my boss going forward. I’ll encourage him to get up here, he prefers to talk about these matters face to fact.”
“I’ll welcome him,” Jerome said. “I just want to get these matters resolved, let these families heal.”

End. Chapter 28. 

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Amanita – Chapter 27

27

“I’m brilliant, it’s a fact,” Dr. Demetrius said. He glanced over at Artemis as he pulled out a rectangular plastic tray. He shook the tray covered across the top with wobbly mushroom caps.

“I guess we all need some self confidence,” Artemis said.

“It’s how I manage the humidity, temperature, C02, with just the right environment,” Dr. Demetrius said, proudly. ”Did you know that I can create a structure for human organs.”

“Why keep people on life support?” Artemis asked without looking into Dr. Demetrius’ eyes. “Appears a harsh protocol.”

“Oh, the staff takes every precaution, we do try to keep them alive, after we tried to save them,” Dr. Demetrius said. He kept inspecting his mushrooms. “I’ll say it, but never admit it. I think it’s just my greedy hospital employer. They squeeze out every dollar from Medicaid. It’s obvious, they file claims for more money based on the time the patient stays. It’s the government system. I try to ignore them. I’ll never say that in the open, or in front of a lawyer.”

“How does this thing feed?” Artemis said. “I read some papers, it needs a tree, or other waste to feed?”

“You mean like a big compost pile?” Dr. Demetrius asked. He slipped on another clean pair of latex gloves. “That’s kind of how it works in the forest. Mycelia need the rot, they have enzymes that break it all down, animal dies in the forest, it’s slowly consumed, in a way.”

“You have a compost pile?” Artemis asked. The acid from her stomach licked behind her throat.

“We do, think about it. Leaves, twigs, fall from the trees, die off from the trees, winter comes, come back in the spring, where did the leaves go?” Dr. Demetrius asked. He pointed at another tray. “See those, cordyceps, from them, we think cancer drugs. They are a strange fungi, alien like, they have a parasitic existence. I feed them insects, grasshoppers, the mycelia literally take over the insect. It’s quite startling first time you see it. They eat the insect from the inside out, maybe a way to kill cancer cells inside the body, don’t know yet.”

“You’re the hospitals medical director,” Artemis said. “How are you going to answer for the death cases, overdoses, and then the bodies are cremated, how’s that the standard?”

Dr. Demetrius pondered Artemis’ questions. He moved about the laboratory and appeared to simply inspect the trays covered with a cheesecloth like material spread over a variety of mushrooms. He was careful, surgical like as he dug beneath into the mycelia networks.

“Not me, DEA, look it up,” Dr. Demetrius said. “Passive toxicity, addict dies, the body is a host – it’s toxic, breathe in stray particles, someone gets sick, or worse. So, the hospital took an absolute position.”

“But the families?” Artemis said. “They were denied the right to a proper goodbye, burial.”

“We have to treat, you know this,” Dr. Demetrius said. He plucked off some mushrooms, and dropped them into a biohazard container. “Bad ones, so, what if one of these deceased patients, their addiction leads to a virus, or worse. We can’t see it, you can’t see it, its viral. The unsuspecting population starts getting sick, they trace it back here, and then what?”

“I show up,” Artemis said.

“Exactly,” Dr. Demetrius said. He walked between the rows of trays for mushrooms, and mycelia. “They are all different. It’s an endless harvest.”

“It sounds harsh, we have to respond to the claims,” Artemis said. She crossed her arms and made an effort not to touch any laboratory surface.

“It is, I don’t like it, but, we have an epidemic here,” Dr. Demetrius said. “By simply breathing a body becomes infected. In truth, most of this is not science, it’s ignorance from the DEA. But, we had to take extreme measures. Besides, I rarely see any family show up after an addict dies, unless there might be some money at the end of a dead persons rainbow?”

Artemis was cautious not to bring up Laina, or the information she had gotten from Dr. Langendorpher. She was uncertain how to approach Dr. Demetrius. He was quite smart, elusive, and Artemis thought potentially lethal.

“Local lawyer seems up front,” Artemis said. She strolled along the laboratory aisle between storage stacks behind Dr. Demetrius, with what she presumed inside were all mushrooms.

“I know Jerome, he does have ethics,” Dr. Demetrius said. He snipped off the tops of mushrooms with sharp shears he had retrieved from within sterilized packaging. He stared over at Artemis. “Small town, my dear. Besides we don’t have attractive redheads roaming our streets, perhaps you come over to my place for dinner?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Artemis said. She avoided looking at Dr. Demetrius.

“Pity,” Dr. Demetrius said. “I’m an amazing chef. As you might imagine my mushroom receipts are to die for. Besides, I like you Artemis, you’re interesting.”

“I’m just a claim handler,” Artemis said.

Dr. Demetrius stopped shearing the mushrooms. He looked back over at Artemis, again with a smirk.

“You are not like any insurance talking head we’ve had up here before,” Dr. Demetrius said. He dropped the shears into a sealed bin. “You’re military, it’s in your eyes.”

“Sorry?” Artemis said.

“You’re not a fat, pale stale male, and like I said, you’re military trained, it’s obvious,” Dr. Demetrius said. He waved for Artemis to follow him. “It’s about money, I get it. It’s rather a sad journey, money cannot really solve the worlds problems, but money invested, targeted, ah, then we can help vast populations live better lives.”

“World’s problems?” Artemis said. She noticed they walked away from the lab, and down a long, well lit corridor toward double doors with round porthole windows at about her eye level. “That’s an opened ended statement.”

Dr. Demetrius pushed back the right side door, and put on a long overcoat with the hospital emblem on the right breast pocket. He handed a similar one to Artemis.

“Earth is over-populated, plastic is clogging up the oceans, killing innocent wildlife,” Dr. Demetrius said. He pointed over toward a tall storage facility. “But I’ve developed a temporary solution, it’s how I keep this hospital open, let me show you.”

“I see now,” Artemis said. She walked outside with Dr. Demetrius. The active commercial facility did not smell of diesel or natural gas. She turned to focus on the busy loading dock, and workers swiftly moving different sized wooden containers from storage spaces on to electric powered forklifts that were driven over toward open shipping containers. “Gene and Loretta didn’t want me to see this place, why?”

“Stupidity, never mind them,” Dr. Demetrius said. “What you’re seeing is just freeze dried mycelia. They are produced for a vast array of commercial uses. Our clients can grow them, they just need to add some water, so forth. Once they take root, they provide a reusable, clean, resource for study.”

“The reason they didn’t want the reinsurance company aware?” Artemis asked. “What’s the deal.”

“Greed,” Dr. Demetrius said. “Think greed. My creation can replace plastic containers. Think about the size of that market?”

Artemis tried to focus on every detail she saw, the tall storage units were upward to about twenty-feet, all stacked full with pallets of plastic wrapped boxes. The workers covered in germ free suits, each face hidden behind safety goggles.

“Billions,” Artemis said. “Why the germ suits?”

“Hospital is a not for profit,” Dr. Demetrius said. “But they do know how to make money. The suits are to minimize contamination. It’s unlikely, but we don’t want to spread candida auris. It gets inside the hospital, nasty fungus, but just being safe out here, good risk management.”

“I take it this gets a lot of attention?” Artemis said.

“Oh yes, my employer is like big pharma,” Dr. Demetrius said. “Once they suck in enough money, they’ll suddenly start sharing my patents with the world.”

“Who your clients?” Artemis said. “Can’t be just anyone at this point, given all the secrecy.”

“Ah, good question, we are just testing with distribution companies for container manufacturing, we don’t disclose,” Dr. Demetrius said. He waved over at the foreman. “For now, our pharmaceutical friends, its an easy platform for drug investigations. Bio companies for creating human organs, like ears, livers. The mycelia are clean, as if like stem cells. Eventually, into the meatless market, really quite limitless.”

“You’re your own company inside the hospital,” Artemis said. “You turn a healthy profit?”

“That’s why they leave me alone,” Dr. Demetrius said. He stuffed his hands into the coat pockets. “Science, the art of medicine is about discovery, curiosity, and seeking the truth, not money.”

“That’s all you care about?” Artemis asked.

“Next time, bring your FBI friend. I’ll show him whatever he wants,” Dr. Demetrius said. “They don’t need to fly over us with a drone.”

Artemis turned toward Dr. Demetrius.

“He’s not hard to notice,” Artemis said. She looked past Dr. Demetrius, and then back at him. “Neither am I in a small town like this, guess it’s a good place to hide in plain sight?”

“You’re holding out,” Dr. Demetrius said. He winked. “I’m standing right here, it’s just you and me.”

Artemis was certain he wanted her to take his bait. She reserved her thoughts about Laina, and her mother’s whereabouts for another time. It would be the obvious first questions.

“You’ve a twin?” Artemis asked.

Dr. Demetrius grinned without showing his teeth. But his dark eyes told Artemis he welcomed the question.

“He’s lost his mind, drug addict,” Dr. Demetrius said. He held his hands behind him. “Calls himself Prophet Higgs Boson, you know, the god particle. How creative. He is profoundly disturbed, that’s who the FBI should investigate.”

“You’ve been out in the forest?” Artemis asked.

“No, I don’t communicate with drug addicts,” Dr. Demetrius said. “He’s dangerous, I suspect. I don’t know, but he’s a functioning drug user and dealer. Opioids, heroine and the rest, wasting his life, wasting other lives.”

“Then you don’t speak anymore?” Artemis asked.

“Never, it’s been years,” Dr. Demetrius said. He stared down at the smooth concrete slab. “He’s the reason for all the high-security. He is very smart, like me. We constantly scan the hospital campus for his girls, of course, some come inside in an ambulance. Like that little girl’s mother.”

“I know you know that. Some might think you two are working together?” Artemis said. She placed her hands on her narrow hips. “He gets them hooked, hospital takes them in for addiction treatment. You both get paid coming and going.”

“Fair question, Artemis. But, I took an oath. I take that oath to heart. I do try to heal,” Dr. Demetrius said. He squished his lips together. He pointed over at Artemis. “At first, I wasn’t sure about you. I find business people, lawyers, boring, at best. Just a collection of greedy boxes of hair, but you seem different.”

“What’s your brother doing out in the forest?” Artemis said.

“You’re holding out on me, again,” Dr. Demetrius said. He quizzically studied Artemis’ face. “I know I’m an arrogant ass, but my work is for humanity. My name will be on those patents well after I’m gone, they are my legacy.”

Artemis kept her gaze right back at Dr. Demetrius. She sensed he was being truthful. And for the first time, he was not over cautiously and evasive.

“He’s, into demonic worship,” Artemis said. She stopped. She crossed her arms. “Tell you what, I’ll take you up on your offer. I’ll come back with my FBI friend, take a tour, and why don’t we all go out into the forest to visit your brother.”

“He’s dangerous, he’s hated me after I refused to share with him,” Dr. Demetrius said. He looked downward. “He’ll kill me on sight. I have no question about that, or his intentions.”

“You’ll be safe,” Artemis said, flatly. “I’m well trained for these sort of, ah, trips.”

“Oh, I see. I’m not afraid of death,” Dr. Demetrius said, matter of factly. “I’ve been in death’s presence, many times. My DNR has simple instructions, after, I’ll be wrapped in mushrooms, and ethically buried near newly planted oak trees leading up to the hospitals front doors.”

“I’ll protect you,” Artemis said. “We’ll go during daylight, you’ll have the FBI, Agent Beaky as well.”

“I have a bad feeling about my brother, you know he hates my mother for leaving us at birth, strange thinking,” Dr. Demetrius said. “He has no ethics, no higher calling. I’ll almost guarantee you he knew you were out there, he monitors everything. Keeps the local police in his pocket.”

“I believe you,” Artemis said. She backed away. “I’ll be in contact.”

“And you meant to say, mission, right?” Dr. Demetrius said. He backed away from Artemis, and started to walk toward the double doors. “Don’t edit your words, makes you appear weak.”

End. Chapter 27.

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Amanita – Chapter 26

26

“They’re brothers,” Artemis said. She gripped the warm coffee mug. “He was wearing a demonic mask, now it makes sense.”
“Well now,” Agent Beaky said. He watched a lady at a nearby table stabbing her fork into her bland breakfast. “How on earth did you find this out?”
Artemis pondered the situation for several minutes. She thought about the fact Satan had revealed itself to her. And most importantly, a little girl’s life was in danger. She needed to get Agent Beaky’s help.
“You’re right,” Artemis said. “I’m clairvoyant, but, I have stronger than normal abilities. And I’m ambidextrous.”
Agent Beaky had been in the FBI for many years. He could see Artemis’ expression was clear, and focused. It was the reflection from here eyes. His instincts told him she was quite powerful, and well-trained.
“I suspected,” Agent Beaky said. He pushed his coffee mug forward. “Military? Kill with either hand?”
“Recruited me from college, the company,” Artemis said. “My scores where off the charts, plus, I was a loner. I was perfect for what they wanted to train me to do, they loaned me to the military. I get files assigned that are related to medical malpractice. But they point me at a societal problem, I clean up the mess.”
“The company?” Agent Beaky said. He gripped his nose, and looked down at the table top. “My clearance is not up there, not sure what you are allowed to tell me.”
“I just don’t lie well,” Artemis said. “It’s against my inner code. These people are dangerous. I can’t manage this alone. They’re the worst kind of criminal.”
“All right,” Agent Beaky said. “Where did you learn about, I guess we’ll call them going forward the Demetrius brothers?”
Artemis leaned forward and kept her gaze on Agent Beaky. She could smell fresh coffee brewing nearby. She paused as a man trudged past them for a second helping of starch and cholesterol. 
“I went hiking back up into the mountains,” Artemis said.
“Alone?” Agent Beaky asked. “Now that takes some stones.”
“I’m well-trained; I’m not scared,” Artemis said. She gave Agent Beaky a death like stare. “I can communicate and see dead humans, and animals lost in limbo, you know, trapped spirits. I’ve been able since I was a kid.”
Agent Beaky coughed with his fist over his mouth. He leaned in closer to Artemis.
“Let me guess,” Agent Beaky said. “Murdered?”
“Yes,” Artemis said. “And little girls were hiding behind them, that hospital over there has pure evil roaming inside it.”
Agent Beaky’s jaw line clenched down, and from his throat he almost growled. He paused. 
“From the beginning, before I drove into Selene,” Agent Beaky said. “I was tasked with protecting Jerome, and his family. It was the reason I wear this FBI jacket, it’s in part as a warning sign, not to mess with Jerome.”
“Yeah,” Artemis said. “You did seem to be a walking, talking cliché, what do you have for me?”
“Interesting development,” Agent Beaky said. He pointed upward toward the hotel breakfast area ceiling. “Got me a drone, hovered outside of eyesight, took some film and pictures behind the hospital.”
“Trucks?” Artemis asked.
“There you go,” Agent Beaky said. “We watched them load box after box into unmarked shipping containers, or smaller box trucks. They appear to move the cargo constantly, without any worries.”
“They sound efficient,” Artemis said. “And rather greedy, right?”
“They are,” Agent Beaky said. He huffed. “They are all suited up with what looked like hazmat suits, nice, clean and none of the workers stopped to be lazy about, all on point, all with a prearranged purpose.”
“What’s in the boxes?” Artemis asked.
“We can’t tell,” Agent Beaky said. “We’re told by an insider, mushrooms and freeze dried things they called, ah, sorry.”
Agent Beaky started to pat down his pockets in search of his smartphone that he had set on the breakfast table in front of him.
“Mycelia?” Artemis asked. She pushed the smartphone back over toward  Agent Beaky. “This what you’re looking for?”
“Oh, thanks, can’t function without these things,” Agent Beaky said. He shrugged. “Ah, yes, I do believe that’s what they said.”
“I Googled it,” Artemis said. “I think that’s what we saw that night, out there, when they fed that lamb to the tree. They have a monster out there, they feed woman and children to it, I’m certain of it.”
“Is that what you were told,” Agent Beaky said. “By, those unfortunate ones?”
“Yes, but then they ran away,” Artemis said.
“What now, a boogie man?” Agent Beaky asked.
“You can say that,” Artemis said. “Worse than any boogie man I’ve ever come across.”
Agent Beaky sat back. His blue eyes held their gaze as he contemplated Artemis’ statement.
“Well now,” Agent Beaky said. “Where’s this going?”
Artemis leaned her head back, she looked up, and ruefully shook her head. She opened her hands and arms.
“It was Satan,” Artemis said, coldly. “I hope you don’t think me a fool, and need to get me in a psych ward. It knows what I just told you, no reason to hide that anymore.”
Agent Beaky appeared as if he’d been stung in the neck by a colony of bumble bees. He curiously looked back over at Artemis. He started to speak, but then he stopped.
“I’m not sure,” Agent Beaky said. He stammered as his lips pursed. “You’re certain?”
“I’m certain, I’ve seen demons, you know that sort of thing,” Artemis said. “When I first arrived here, I went out to a local cemetery. I figured I would see what I might see. After all in my line of work, the dead only speak the truth.”
“All right,” Agent Beaky said, hesitantly. “I ah, suppose.”
“They have nothing more to hide,” Artemis said. “It’s one of my investigation techniques. If a serious death case is filed, they send me out. I clean up messes.”
“Same as the company?” Agent Beaky asked. “If I may ask, as it were.”
“No,” Artemis said. “I was imbedded years ago, healthcare, they watch it quite closely. I’ll leave it at that for our purposes.”
“Bloody hell, I think you’re serious,” Agent Beaky said. “Don’t mind saying I feel a bit wobbly, never, never thought.”
“Nor did I,” Artemis said.
“Why you?” Agent Beaky asked.
“I don’t know, Satan just appeared, made a big show for me,” Artemis said. She pushed the coffee mug in a small semi-circle pattern. “First time I was scared. But then I realized, it wanted something.”
“What did it look like?” Agent Beaky asked. He hunched down, looked side to side and the normal everyday hotel activity. 
“Oh, I stood there crying waiting to be killed,” Artemis said. “It changed forms, big snake, black blob, and then this handsome man. It just toyed with me. But it was real, I pinched my cheek to be sure I wasn’t seeing things.”
They sat across from each other for a few minutes. They heard the busy guest traffic eating breakfast, people discussing important business, or the rat-ta-tat from them trudging their suitcases across the square tiled floor and over toward the checkout counter.
“Demonic rituals,” Agent Beaky said. “Makes sense, sacrifices, woman and children.”
“No, boys or men,” Artemis said. “Little girls, woman from the group, they said they were chosen at random.”
“Satan,” Agent Beaky said in a whispered tone. “You’re certain, sorry, my mind’s in a cloud.”
Artemis considered her next moves.
“Our friend, Virgil,” Artemis said.
“Ah yes, he’s a sad man,” Agent Beaky said. “Drinker.”
“He’s more than a convenient guide,” Artemis said. “When I was out there, before we went up into the mountain. I saw an American Indian, he was a spirit, dressed in full on warrior mode, paint, the whole deal. It was following a living white stag.”
“You don’t say,” Agent Beaky said. He sipped his coffee. The coffee cup tremored, and brown liquid oozed over the sides. “Sorry, I’m just a bit off my game.”
“I’m not sure what to think,” Artemis said. She flipped her napkin over to Agent Beaky. “But the women told me he communicates with the warrior. Virgil’s sad because he cannot protect the forest. He and the American Indian must have a sort of spirit connection, if that makes sense?”
“Well, I’m learning quite a mouth-full,” Agent Beaky said. “I thought I was just the lead man in for a drug bust, protect the informant.”
“I need your help,” Artemis said. She leaned back across the table. “The little girl, Laina, she’s been taken away from me. I think she’s in danger, they know her connection to me.”
Agent Beaky looked back over at the hotel’s front glass doors as guests walked inside and out of the front lobby. A valet helped an older lady outside.
“Well, you bent one over me this morning,” Agent Beak said. “Not sure what I’ll write, or say, for that matter in my report.”
“I’ve concluded,” Artemis said. She slowly blew a long breath through her mouth. “If Satan wants me dead, I’d be dead. It wants something else, not sure what.”
“Ha, that’s a pisser,” Agent Beaky said. “I’ll need to ponder this, give me a few days. And, another thing.”
“Yes?” Artemis said.
“Be careful with them,” Agent Beaky said. “Clearly, these boys are dangerous. Might I tag along, next time?”
“They don’t scare me, but Satan scares me,” Artemis said. “Sure, I don’t think you’ll see anything.”
“Even so,” Agent Beaky said. “What about Jerome’s claim, and your other work?”
“I care about the girl, she’s my prime-one going forward,” Artemis said. She glossed her hands across the table top. “This has gotten way past any medical malpractice file. I’ll likely bring in my boss to manage it.”
“I’ll say,” Agent Beaky said. “What’s the next move?”
“I think go back to the source,” Artemis said.

End. Chapter 26.

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Amanita – Chapter 25

25

Artemis foraged deep into the thick forest. She climbed up the steep mountain sides as the darkness was unmasked by her night vision glasses. Her Glock 9mm holstered to her side. A ballistic knife strapped to her right thigh. Her boots splattered with brown mud.

After she finally relocated the tall tree, and the ritualistic sight. She knelt down, and allowed her breathing to slow, and her warm skin to accept the cold air. As she appeared to release steam from her body.

And as she expected from Satan’s warning, she sensed she was not alone; she was being followed. She stood up, inspected the darkness between the tall oak trees, and the wavy silhouettes cast by the full moon’s glow and altered by a consistent breeze. She stopped walking, unconcerned with her hiking boots stepping on tree limbs, or pine cones as she turned around to inspect where she sensed them. She heard wild animals hunting for prey, and an owl’s gravely hoot.

“If want to talk,” Artemis said. She gripped the weapon handle. “Show yourself, now, if not, if your living, I’ll kill you on first sight. I promise I won’t miss.”
From behind the dense thicket, and the fat and skinny tree trunks, spirit women started to appear. They then started to float like pale light clouds from all directions from within the darkness and converged next to a spirit. They gathered together near her. Artemis thought in life she had been strikingly beautiful.
“Leave this place,” she said. Her eyes black. She was motionless as the others existed behind her. “This is not a place for the living.”
“I don’t think so,” Artemis said. She stepped forward. “Who were you? All of you?”
The spirit woman rushed toward Artemis. She screeched at Artemis. But Artemis, just stood her ground, as the spirit woman made her pass.
“I’m not easily scared,” Artemis said. “Who are you?”
“Leave this place,” she said, she growled, she hissed.
Artemis took her hand off her gun. She realized there was movement behind them, soft words being exchanged barely above a whisper.
“Why here?” Artemis asked her. She stepped closer to them. “Who are you?”
The spirit women began to gather closer together. They started to communicate with the chosen woman. She returned to face in front of Artemis.
“This is a place for death,” she said. “I told you, I warned you, this is not a place for the living.”
“I’ve seen a ritual here, under that tree,” Artemis said. She pointed over at the sight, she looked up into the massive tulip poplar. “Sacrificed a lamb, I think it was chosen on purpose, my last name is Lamb. Satan’s idea, it sent me. What was your name in life?”
They all looked closely over at Artemis. She sensed they had accepted that her statement was the truth as one of them whispered to the chosen leader.
“Lilith, was my given name,” she said.
And Artemis started to notice the spirit women were starting to back away and they stood closer, and closer together. She saw a tiny spirit girl peak out from behind them. The women tried to encourage the young spirit girls to hide, but they who were revealed as they peaked out from behind bushes and limestone outcropping.
“Sacrificing children?” Artemis asked, haltingly. She resisted her inner emotions, she focused on her training. “A child?”
“Little girls are his favorite,” Lilith said, wistfully. “Or one of us were chosen, we never knew when, if we ate the wrong mushroom it was all over.”
“Is this the Prophet Higgs Boson?” Artemis said. “He’s who you refer to, right?”
“Yes,” Lilith said. She pointed over at the Tulip Poplar. “The tree will die, it must be fed, it’s what beneath that is worshipped.”
“What needs to be fed?” Artemis asked. She stared over at the other women. “You were all killed, how can this be?”
Lilith looked coldly forward at nothing.
“I was an addict, all I yearned for was to get high,” Lilith said. “I lost my family. I lived on streets, in the woods, until he found me.”
Another of the women floated forward next to Lilith.
“Satan sent you?” she said. “Why? We try to hide. We don’t bother anyone, please leave us alone.”
“Yes,” Artemis said. “I don’t know why, who were you?”
“It hates you,” she said. “I was Jezebel, I was a prostitute, I gave myself to the master.”
“I’m aware Satan hates me,” Artemis said. “It decided to torture me, I don’t know why.”
“Your truthful,” Lilith said. She floated forward to focus her black eyes on Artemis. She sniffed near Artemis. “I can sense your spirit, you live for truth.”
“Satan hates the truth,” Jezebel said. “It takes one of us, one by one, it only takes one of us at a time. It leaves the children alone, they are innocents. It cannot touch them.”
“You can’t go on?” Artemis asked.
“To Hell, our only path, we prayed to Satan” Lilith said. “We are all trapped. We did bad things, and now we pay.”
“The children warn us,” Jezebel said. She looked up to search the sky that sparkled from light billions of years old. “When it comes, they can sense the evil one.”
Artemis stepped back and she looked over at the tree. She could see the soft surface covered with mushrooms were something nasty lived beneath.
“What does this have to do with a hospital?” Artemis asked her self. “How did you get addicted?”
“Don’t eat the mushrooms,” Lilith said. She blankly stared at Artemis.
“I hear you,” Artemis said. And then she heard the muscled white stag emerge from the forest, it was followed close behind by the American Indian spirit. “I don’t understand what’s going on, this just a bad dream.”
“The white stag,” Lilith said. “It protects the forest.”
Jezebel pointed over at the warrior spirit.
“The warrior caught Prophet Higgs Boson murdering a girl who ran from him,” Jezebel said. She held her hand up in a sign of peace. “The prophet is afraid of the warrior, he ran away leaving her on the forest floor. He left her heart next to her.”
“She was not sacrificed to the mycelia,” Lilith said. “You talked to her?”
“How do you know that?” Artemis asked.
The women looked at each other.
“We hide in your world, we exist in the light, a light most cannot see,” Jezebel said. “But you can see into our world.”
“Our spirits communicate,” Lilith said. “We’ve been watching you, we know who you really are.”
“I’m sorry,” Artemis said. She sensed they understood her work, her passion for her duty. “I don’t hate, they hurt innocent people.”
“Yes, you don’t hate,” Jezebel said. She tried to place her hand on Artemis chest, but it waved through Artemis. “You are like the warrior, but you’re alive.”
Artemis looked beside the white stag. The warrior was painted for battle, his spear garlanded with white feathers.
“I don’t understand him,” Artemis said.
“I do. The warrior prayed at death to always roam the forest to protect it from mankind,” Lilith said. “He now waits for the Prophet, he sometimes appeared at ceremonies and chased us away.”
“You could all see him?” Artemis said.
“We were high, it wanted us to see him,” Lilith said. “He tried to help us.”
“Lilly Ann,” Artemis said. She looked down at the hard ground, the swirled dormant grass. “She ran for her life.”
“The warrior tried to protect her body, but it’s a spirit, like us, it’s not in your world,” Jezebel said. “It sent the stag to find Virgil.”
“Virgil?” Artemis said. She stepped back.
“Virgil tries to protect the forest, too,” Lilith said. “He’s afraid, he’s gotten too old, so he drinks to hide his pain.”
Jezebel floated toward the tree. She pointed down.
“It’s the mycelia, it must die,” Jezebel said. She pointed back over at the tree. “It’s alive, he created it.”
“The prophet?” Artemis asked.
“No, Dr. Demetrius,” Lilith said. She hesitated and looked up into the trees. The spirit girls started to moan.

“We have to go, sisters, prepare.”
“They are twin brothers,” Jezebel said. She started to pick up her pace. “Identical to the other. You will find your answer with them.”

And then with great haste the spirit women all disappeared with the spirit children crying and screaming back into the darkness like fog gliding across a nighttime ocean. And the forest began to feel colder, it seemed harder to Artemis. The stag huffed, and stomped back between the trees, and up a hill. The warrior remained behind, it’s spear pushed toward Artemis, and then it turned and left.

From behind Artemis an all to familiar voice.

“Oh, look at you,” Satan said. The handsome man strolled with a certainty only from knowing how all things end. “All decked out in your inner badass, don’t shoot me, or, don’t stab me with that thing. It looks nasty.”
“Having fun?” Artemis asked. She closed her eyes. She opened her eyes. She pinched her cheek.
“Oh, I’m real,” Satan said. “This is not a dream. Beside, I can visit you in your dreams, if you like?”
“What do you want?” Artemis said. “Leave those women alone, you could allow them to beg for mercy?”
“Naw, as these humans say,” Satan said. “That would ruin my fun. The little girls can go on to the big guy when they figure it out. But those women, they made a bargain. I don’t let souls out of my contracts.”
“Then why show them to me?” Artemis asked.
“Remember what I told you?” Satan asked. It chuckled as it strolled around Artemis. “Think, what did I tell you from the beginning of our play?”
Artemis’ mind swirled with thoughts and evidence. But then she rolled her memory back in time. She stared up into the darkness at the tree limbs barely revealed by the full moon. And she thought about what would be the simplest, and yet the most complicated answer to Satan’s riddle.
“Greed,” Artemis said.
“Greed it is,” Satan said. It clapped, slowly, rhythmically. “Good Artemis, you’re learning.”
“Brothers?” Artemis said, lowly. “That’s the connection.”
“Yes, you win a prize,” Satan said. It smiled at Artemis, but with dead, cold eyes. “It’s right in front of you, but you don’t see, yet.”
“They’re in cult, so what,” Artemis said. “I’ll tip off Agent Beaky, he’ll handle this mess. I think the malpractice part is becoming obvious, and criminal.”
“Oh, come on,” Satan said, amusingly. “That’s way to simple. Think, think, greed? It’s my favorite sin, but then, there is an emotion. It leads to all the other sins. I want to teach you that emotion, it’s my pin prick into your soul.”
Before Artemis responded to Satan. It disappeared into the air. And Artemis was left surrounded in the darkness with the four legged animals, spiders, and snakes. She adjusted her night vision glasses, and she began to hike back out from the woods. She needed to find Agent Beaky.

End. Chapter 25.

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Amanita – Chapter 24

24

“You should have hired me, like I told you, too,” Jerome said, angrily. “Or at least another local attorney.”
“What can I do now?” Artemis asked. She sat outside the courthouse on a metal park bench. “I thought one of my company firms could handle a simple case.”
“Lexington lawyers are not welcome here,” Jerome said. “You should know that, always, always get a local. They know the judges, the staff.”
Jerome Jenkins sat down next to her. He stuffed his smartphone into his jacket. They had watched a distant relative emerge from no where, and the family law judge had allowed her to take Laina away in a four door sedan with a faulty muffler. Laina had despondently looked away from Artemis as she got into the car’s back seat. She didn’t look for Artemis out the back window as the car drove away.
“I should have known better,” Artemis said. She wiped her cold face, the bench seat was unforgiving.
“Am I hired?” Jerome asked. He patted Artemis on the shoulder. “I’ll give you the family rate. I’ll keep this quiet, you’ll need a local. And besides, I’m the only real game in town, you need me.”
“Yes,” Artemis said. She stared forward. “Help me.”
“I’ll track her down,” Jerome said.
Artemis pulled out her smartphone, she handed it over to Jerome. He quizzically looked over at Artemis, and down at the smartphone screen.
“She’s wearing a GPS watch,” Artemis said. She looked over at Jerome. “I can track her with that smartphone.”
Jerome pressed on the screen.
“I see,” Jerome said. “Smart.”
“I told her to never take if off,” Artemis said. “Never, ever take it off.”
Jerome handed the smartphone back over to Artemis. He crossed his long legs. He coughed with his fist in front of his mouth. He stretched his arm along the bench back.
“They’ll take it,” Jerome said. He sighed. “It’ll get pawned off by sundown, you know that?”
“I do,” Artemis said. “Thought I’d show some easy candy, bait them away for searching her.”
“What’s so special about this kid?” Jerome asked. He watched the nearby street traffic move up and down Main Street. “Not that all children aren’t’ special, but, just asking, you know what I’m wondering, the, why her?”
Artemis took back the smartphone. She gripped it tightly like it was a talisman with magical powers that would lead her back to Benjamin and protect Laina.
“I’ve only loved one man,” Artemis said. She stared down at the smartphone. “Other than my father, but, Benjamin was his name, Laina’s his daughter. Some how, I ended up here, in part, because of you.”
“You’re joking,” Jerome said.
“No,” Artemis said. She glanced over at Jerome. “I’m quite serious. She’s his daughter. I don’t even know what to think.”
Jerome sat contemplating life for several moments. He tapped his shoe on the concrete sidewalk, and acknowledged several local business people that strolled past them.
“Life has so many turns,” Jerome said. “I wonder sometimes if it’s all so random, or not. If there’s something beyond us, and I’m just playing my part in a cosmic play.”
Artemis looked back over at Jerome.
“I know, it’s all to random,” Artemis said. “How’d I end up coming here, sorry, but, it’s in the middle of no where, you know?”
“No offense taken,” Jerome said. He smiled. “I know, it’s way to quiet for most, but I love it here. My kids grew up in this Mayberry, it’s my little spot in heaven.”
“Do you think heaven really exists?” Artemis asked.
“I doubt it,” Jerome said. He shrugged. “But, that’s why we have hope, right? It’s that tiny nugget in our minds that God’s out there, waiting for us.”
“I’ve never been a true believer, but, I think I want to,” Artemis said. She held up her hands. “But lately, I’ve begun to wonder, my life has gotten really strange.”
And Artemis heard Satan’s chuckle. Satan whispered to Artemis from beyond her, and nearby her all at the same time.
“Strange?” Satan asked. It heartily laughed. “That’s all you got for dear, sweet, Jerome?”
“You know this hospital’s dirty?” Jerome said. He was completely unaware that Satan was communicating with Artemis.
“I do,” Artemis said. She closed her eyes hoping that her madness would simply evaporate from within her mind. “They are a difficult client.”
“Well, I guess I’m in an ethical dilemma,” Jerome said. “Helping you, and I’m about to file my suit. You all will deny my claim, right?”
“Yes, you know that, but the staff here does help a lot of these people,” Artemis said. She nudged over at the modest street traffic. She pointed at people walking and talking in different directions near the court house steps. “And you need some evidence, don’t you?”
“They do,” Jerome said. “Majority of the staff are just good honest, folks, but then, we have something else, don’t we?”
Satan hummed a minstrel tune.
“Oh, you humans are so much fun,” Satan said. It was as if Satan had sat between Artemis and Jerome. “Ethics? What nonsense, you humans worry about what? Begging like sheep for better points with the big guy? Or, better what? Come stay with me for eternity, we’ll never discuss ethics.”
“What if you put the hospital out of business?” Artemis asked. “You’d not be so popular, would you?”
“I’ll give you that,” Jerome said. He pointed at her. “Are you okay, you just seem, well, distracted?”
“Sorry, stressed, you know,” Artemis said. She crossed her arms. “To many voices going in my head.”
“I bet,” Jerome said.
“Oh, Artemis,” Satan said. “Jerome’s one of those, you know, true believers. He’ll really go find Laina, protect her, and still go after Dr. Demetrius. He should have angelic wings, like I used to have, but, they took those away from me after my coup attempt. Actually, I have others that lost wings with me. It was not my best moment in eternity.”
Artemis rubbed her eyes, she sucked in a cold breath.
“I’ll play this straight,” Artemis said. She tried to act like she’d heard nothing from within her mind. “They have electronic record keeping that’s way to clean, you know that.”
“I do,” Jerome said. “But, I also have families with questions, and loved ones they never got to say goodbye.”
“Oh how sweet,” Satan said. “He’s so nice, yuck!”
“Laina has a tracking device on her,” Artemis said.
“Well now,” Satan said. “Aren’t you showing your cards, as the human cliché, my, my, you are such a trusting soul with this one, you don’t trust anyone.”
“Where?” Jerome asked.
“It’s military grade,” Artemis said. “I stuck it on her lower back, she’ll never know it’s there, it’s almost invisible.”
“What?” Satan said to Artemis. “You’re giving up real intel, you must really trust this human, I might pass-out.”
“Seriously?” Jerome asked.
“Yes,” Artemis said.
“You kind of scare me,” Jerome said. He squinted his eyes as a wrinkled emerged. “My instincts are nagging me about you, you’ve seen real action?”
“I love that child,” Artemis said. She stared back over at Jerome. “She’s all I have as a connection to what really matters to me. I loved Benjamin. I’ll not fail him.”
“I understand,” Jerome said. “I’ve an amazing wife of over thirty years, I love her and my children with my own life.”
“I don’t think he does understand,” Satan said. “Maybe give him a hint, you know, what you’re really about.”
Artemis gave Jerome a death like face, revealing the face of a hired killer, the dead eyes of an assassin.
“The company hired me to deal with these messes,” Artemis said. “Protect the house, my boss and I talk in code. We both know this is a nasty case, only going to get worse.”
“We have a serious drug problem,” Jerome said. He avoided eye contact with Artemis. “We have an epidemic, partly from the hospital, and now out there in the county.”
“I’ll find the source,” Artemis said.
Jerome shifted away from Artemis. He looked away from her. He paused, he nodded. He held his breath, and looked back over at Artemis.
“The company?” Jerome said. “That’s not the language of a medical malpractice claim manager.”
“They,” Artemis said. She was blank faced. “Are who they are, and yes, I’m well trained. If I have to, I’ll deal with them my way. Sometimes our clients need a helpful nudge.”
Satan laughed, and its voice almost spasmed with hate.
“Oh, that’s so true,” Satan said. “I know this. I’ve tried to scare you, you just beg me for the kill shot. Oh, if Jerome only knew what you’re capable of, Benjamin understood. You have such an honest inner self, I hate that about you. But, you’ll scare Jerome, just saying in your ear.”
“Can you tell me about,” Jerome said. “The company?”
Artemis stuffed her arms into he coat pockets.
“Let me put it this way,” Artemis said. “They are not evil, but they are careful, cautious with their assets and resources.”
“Okay, I guess,” Jerome said. “You did just hire me, I guess. What you tell me goes no further.”
“Dr. Demetrius has been a problem, I don’t think that’s a big secret here,” Artemis said. “We think he’s dangerous, I’m here to clean up his mess.”
“You’re not a claim manager?” Jerome said with a certainty that only comes from experience. “I’m just the lawyer doing his job.”
Artemis thought about the fact she had discovered from Benjamin what love meant, and what love felt like. Her parents had left her all alone after their accident. So, from the pain she had learned to seal off that feeling, and she had learned to navigate life on her own terms. She had her mother’s Olympic athletic body, her honesty, and her father’s curious mind. At at her heart their fire still eternally burned within her soul. But then, she had come across Benjamin, and her journey had been altered.
“I don’t work that way,” Artemis said, blankly. “I think you’re an honest man, you’ll help me get Laina back.”
“I’ll get her back,” Jerome said. “I promise.”
“Well, well, Artemis,” Satan said. “You’re opening up today, what should I do next? Oh, the humanity.”
“I believe in the truth, the fact,” Artemis said. “The company operates from facts, not innuendo, just cold facts.”
“You’re way ahead of me,” Jerome said. “Right?”
“It’s my job,” Artemis said. “I know the facts are emerging, Dr. Demetrius can’t help himself. He’s digging his own grave for me, but, he’s got a connection with this prophet. I need to figure these two out, they’re a problem.”
“I’ll do my part, I have to look after my clients interests first,” Jerome said. He tapped his lips with his forefinger. “I don’t go hiking in the forest anymore, if that helps.”
“Good, it’s a bit scary out there,” Artemis said. She shifted forward, and got up off the park bench. “But, I cannot control this little girl situation, this is not my world, she’s special to me. I’ll help get this case closed, you help me with her.”
“You weren’t just some Army medic?” Jerome asked. He gulped. “I’m just asking, no offense intended.”
“No, I’m good at it,” Artemis said. She stared down at Jerome. “Like I said, I’m well trained. I’m ambidextrous.”
“We thought so,” Jerome said. He gulped. “Agent Beaky thinks you’re a clairvoyant? See things we can’t see…”
“I have talents, like anyone,” Artemis said. “What’s the next steps for Laina? I’m afraid she’s been noticed by Dr. Demetrius, she was inside that hospital all alone.”
“That’s interesting,” Jerome said. “But I’ll play this straight, I’ll figure her out.”
“Sorry, this has gotten complicated,” Artemis said.
“One thing I would expect,” Jerome said. “They’ll work with us, if, and only if, you’re prepared to adopt her?”
Artemis had expected the question. For the second time in her life she was prepared to let another human being inside her world, a place where her work was her sanctuary. But she had decided to take another risk, and love someone without reason.
“Yes,” Artemis said, flatly. She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’ll take her in.”
“You know, you go cold and hot, snap of a finger,” Jerome said. He crinkled his face. “They’ll do a serious background study, you sure?”
“Oh, I see,” Artemis said. She cleared her eyes. “That’s easy, the company will take care of that part.”
“I’ll do my best,” Jerome said. He held out his right hand. Artemis shook it. “Deal, please help clean up my home.”
“I will, my boss Wylie approves this, he’ll help me,” Artemis said. She shifted back. “Let me know what I need to do. I need to go find this prophet, goes by Prophet Higgs Boson.”
“He is a dangerous character, weirdo thinks he’s in league with God,” Jerome said. “I don’t know where he lives, but he’s become a local menace. Be careful.”
“I’ll find him,” Artemis said. She started to walk away, but then she stopped and walked back over toward Jerome. “If she’s abused, in any manner, tell me?”
“Of course,” Jerome said. He quizzically looked up at Artemis. “I’ll get her out of there, first thing.”
“She’s personal, obviously,” Artemis said. She scanned the area. All she saw was a quiet town going about the day. “If they so much as touch a hair on her head, I’ll kill them. I’ll kill all of them.”
“I believe you,” Jerome said.
“Good, sorry,” Artemis said. She wanted to take back her words, but she was certain Jerome was the only honest man living amongst snakes. “Don’t mean to scare you. I just need us to understand each other.”
Artemis turned and walked away, and moved down the street past the casual traffic and a few shoppers and on toward her hotel. She noticed Jerome did not move until she had disappeared from his line of sight. Along her path, just past a red brick building corner, Satan sat on a bench whittling, and smoking a joint.
“The humans seem okay with pot, now,” Satan said. “Odd smell, but this body seems to like the chill feeling. I’m being groovy.”
“Why do you whisper in my ear?” Artemis asked. “It’s annoying, and you make me question my own sanity.”
“It’s what I do,” Satan said. “Besides, you scared poor Jerome, you went all assassin at him, quite touching.”
“He’ll protect her, I’ll protect him, the town. He understands now, I needed to make him an asset,” Artemis said. She stood still, and stared down at Satan. “You’ll leave her alone?”
“I don’t make those promises,” Satan said. “You know that, but I do know pot is nothing compared to opioids, fentanyl. I wonder, oh, how oh, would Prophet Higgs Boson make his money?”
“I suspected, I’ll expect my FBI contact to reappear,” Artemis said. “Just leave the girl alone, please?”
“Not up to me anymore, remember my favorite sin?” Satan asked. “You’ve invited other parties to our play, you’ll see.”
“I don’t understand,” Artemis said.
“You will,” Satan said. “Go back out into the forest, at night, go all alone, use your talent. You don’t need Virgil to guide you. There you’ll find answers. You’re welcome.”
It snapped its dirty fingernails, and dissolved into the afternoon air. If left behind the wood, and a smoldering joint.

End. Chapter 24.

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Amanita – Chapter 23

23

“Tell me about these death cases.”
“I’m not sure what you’re asking me,” Dr. Demetrius said, dismissively. “It’s a hospital, people are born, we heal most, but we have to deal, manage if you will, death.”
“Yes,” Gene said. His puffy hands typed on his iPad without looking over at Artemis. “We have the EHR’s all in line, up to date, what’s missing in your mind, Ms. Lamb?”
“They appear way to clean,” Artemis said. She stared directly at Gene. “What would a plaintiff lawyer conclude?”
“We follow national standards,” Gene said. He looked up, he shrugged. “They’ve got nothing but here-say, good luck with that, right Dr. Demetrius?”
“True, I do appreciate the enterprise being in line with the national record keeping push,” Artemis said. She leaned back, she glanced over at Dr. Demetrius. “But, it appears to me most had addiction issues, you know, opioids, so forth, I’ve read it’s an epidemic here?”
Dr. Demetrius unbuttoned his lab coat. He pushed his elbows forward across the conference table.
“Blame it on us Greeks?” Dr. Demetrius said. He smirked.
“I don’t understand?” Artemis said.
“You know anything about Greek myth?” Dr. Demetrius asked while steadily holding his gaze at Artemis. “I love your short, red hair, you look like you could have been a warrior goddess.”
Artemis sensed his unwelcome advance, it was not lost on her. It was in Dr. Demetrius’ dark eyes. She looked back over at Gene who had simply ignored the comment.
“Let’s be professional,” Artemis said, calmly.
stared directly at Dr. Demetrius. “Right? Go on.”
“I meant no offense,” Dr. Demetrius said, smugly. “Besides, I’m just stating the obvious, you’re hot, so forgive me for being honest.”
“Let’s keep moving this along,” Gene said. “Greek myth?”
Artemis pointed her gaze over toward Gene to encourage Dr. Demetrius to continue with his comments. She pursed her lips and decided to let the creepy comment pass along into history.
“Story of Adonis, it was written that he was a beautiful young man,” Dr. Demetrius said. He smiled as he opened his arms. “Loved by Aphrodite and Prosperone, but he had a rather unfortunate accident with a wild boar, it killed him. He bled out from a horn impact into his thigh. It was simply hemorrhagic shock.”
“So?” Gene asked.
“Exsanguination,” Artemis said. “He died in minutes.”
“Yes, very good, Artemis. In fact, some scholars think the goddess Artemis, yes her, took him out as spite with Aphrodite,” Dr. Demetrius said. He playfully hummed. “But then, thanks to Zeus, Adonis moved from the living, to the dead in Hades, and then, back to the living.”
“I’m not a goddess,” Artemis said.
“But you understand life, and death,” Dr. Demetrius said. “It has been offered that Aphrodite’s tears after Adonis’ death created the poppy plant, the Greek’s used the poppy plant for a variety of purposes from antiquity.”
“I’m clueless?” Gene asked. He searched Artemis for ideas, and then over at Dr. Demetrius. “Where are we going?”
“In other words, the opioid crisis has been a problem for thousands of years,” Dr. Demetrius said. He waved Gene away. “People have pain, physicians prescribe for example, fentanyl, its used in anesthesia without negative outcomes. But, then when it’s used in the wrong way, we end up with addicts coming to our facility usually inside an emergency transport.”
“I understand now,” Gene said. He tapped his hand on the conference table. He looked over at Artemis. “We have to help them either way, you understand? They are God’s children.”
“Thus, all the additional ICU beds?” Artemis asked.
“It’s the logical move,” Dr. Demetrius said. He sat back. “We cannot just add beds, for certain services without government approval, it’s nonsense to me.”
“It’s how we manage healthcare, we need a certificate of need,” Gene said. He scratched his head. “I don’t make up the rules, community standards. The state must approve our services from a needs assessment, it’s a formal process.”
“I get it, I know,” Artemis said. She paused for several moments staring down at her iPad. The screen was dark having timed out fifteen minutes earlier.
“What are you thinking about?” Gene asked.
Dr. Demetrius leaned his head on his hand right hand like a bored teenager stuck in a civics class.
“I’m not sure how it looks,” Artemis said. “The hospital gets paid for care either way. Prescribing, pain meds, in a way, gets the patient hooked. And then treating them as addicts, when they return, might expose us, easy avenue for an attorney to make a case. I know you both follow what I’m saying.”
“It’s all about the data, we can support our services,” Gene said. His lazy eye ogled over at a former CEO’s portrait. “We make a healthy profit, for our, not for profit.”
“Should I work for free?” Dr. Demetrius asked. “My research has taken great steps forward. I’d hate to move on, I like it here. But, I’ll not be a part of this political game.”
“This is my job,” Artemis said. She closed her iPad. “I have to consider the medical facts, the outcomes, against what a lawyer might plead in a court of law.”
“This is about money,” Dr. Demetrius said.
“It is,” Artemis said.
“Ms. Lamb,” Gene said. He coughed. “If we don’t make a profit, we go out of business. Dr. Demetrius cannot advance science, healthcare, without those resources. All we do is react to what is happening in society, and yet, we are to blame?”
“I’m not saying, or expressing that,” Artemis said. She wondered how Gene had actually finished college, and gotten into an accredited law school. “You know that, but, we have a nasty claim to defend. I think he’s just fishing, for now. He keeps bringing up the trucks?”
“I see,” Dr. Demetrius said. He tapped his hands on the table. “Have you not taken Artemis over to our processing facility?”
“Ah, no, she has not,” Gene said. “I don’t see how that’s relevant to these medical malpractice claims.”
“But, it’s part of your facility,” Artemis said. “That, by the way, we reinsure above your tiny self insured retention.”
Gene scowled over at Artemis. He pressed his left ear lope with his thumb and forefinger.
“Let it go,” Dr. Demetrius said. He pushed his hand downward like a televangelist managing his hypnotized flock.
“It’s top secret,” Gene said. “I don’t care if the locals wonder. I just don’t want to invite outside interests. They’ll get a sniff to our work, a lot of money is at stake.”
“The world will know, eventually, my patents are being, well, approved,” Dr. Demetrius said. “You know that?”
“Tell her,” Gene said. “I cannot stop you.”
Dr. Demetrius grinned over at Artemis.
“Do you know what the largest organism in the world is? Dr. Demetrius asked as he excitedly looked back over at Artemis. “It’s quite impressive.”
“No clue,” Gene said. “She’ll have not had a clue, that’s been, until now, our secret.”
Artemis remained quiet, and allowed them to talk. It was a technique learned from Wylie and claim management 101. Get the client or plaintiff talking, and then, shut up, and just listen.
“I’ve told you this,” Dr. Demetrius said over at Gene.
“Well, I must have forgotten,” Gene said. He shook his head. He glanced over at Artemis. “Why are we going down this rabbit hole?”
“It’s my work,” Dr. Demetrius said. “You all make a lot of money, while, I’m saving the planet. One plant at a time.”
“Those plants might be misunderstood,” Gene said. “I’m just saying, I’m not judging. I’ll leave that to the master, to God the father.”
“Why?” Artemis asked.
It was the best question, and the simplest question. Dr. Demetrius and Gene instantly locked onto Artemis.
“Tell her,” Gene said, dismissively. “She’ll keep quiet.”
“I know,” Dr. Demetrius said. His wide toothed movie star smile was his poker tell. “Part of the Amanita genus, my mushrooms, but it’s really the mycelia. It’s not the mushrooms, they are her fruit, it’s the mother ship, underneath that matters.”
“You lost me,” Artemis said.
“For example, in Oregon, a state in this country,” Dr. Demetrius said. “A mycelia has grown under the ground, better than two thousand miles in diameter, deep within a dense forest. It feeds off the trees, and the rot, quite amazing.”
Artemis realized that Satan was nearby her. It was as if something, or someone was clapping their hands together in a joyful manner, almost childlike in her mind.
“GMOs, legal products,” Gene said. He pointed at Dr. Demetrius. “We are selling samples, its an active online business that the system has kept secret. It’s non-public, only invited bio-technology, universities, mind you. We have been accounting for the revenue as medically related, for now. But, in time, we’ll need to make an announcement.”
“It’s amazing,” Dr. Demetrius said. “I can hardly sleep, I’m discovering a whole universe.”
“Genetically modified organisms?” Artemis said. Her eyes started to look down at the table and move back and forth as she processed the information. “Mycelia?”
“Exactly,” Dr. Demetrius said. “How do you feed the world, enrich the Earth’s soil? The answer, I believe, mycelia, the mushrooms are my darlings fruit, it’s that simple, it’s laughable that we walk over them, all under our feet.”
“To be clear, these are safe mushrooms, and,” Gene said. He sort of focused his lazy eyeball over at Artemis. “This has absolutely nothing to do with a malpractice claim, right?”
Artemis acknowledged Gene’s comment.
“The trucks do breed questions,” Artemis said. “That’s all I’m saying, it’s obvious.”
“We know,” Dr. Demetrius said. “But, it’s none of their business. The staff are kept quiet, otherwise, they’ll be unemployed. It’s not a good place to be unemployed.”
“Jobs are tough to come by, here,” Gene said, sinisterly.
“I gather that,” Artemis said. “What else should I know about, you know, your research? Hospital might get state visitors, take a look at your licenses, if you’re not careful.”
“Dr. Demetrius,” Gene said. “Remember her role?”
“I know, I know, but she’s so cute,” Dr. Demetrius said. He looked over at Gene, and then over at Artemis. “I have invented a mycelia that can be planted and used to build safe, mind you, safe, mushroom crops. And used in a vast variety of methods.”
“Not the magic mushrooms,” Gene said. “Or, what do you call them?”
“Oh, death caps is the trade name, and others, again, they are part of the Amanita genus,” Dr. Demetrius said. He sat up straight, and wiggled on the conference room chair. “Amanita phalloides, again, from the Amanita genus, quite poisonous, in fact they resemble edible mushrooms, but they are deadly.”
“Got it,” Artemis said. She stared over at Dr. Demetrius with an open, accepting face ignoring his suggestive comment. “Go on.”
“Penicillin was an accident, as I’ve pointed out,” Dr. Demetrius said. “But, if my theories are correct, and I’m certain they are, the mycelia are the root to a God like solution, if you’ll excuse my nonsense.”
“Of course,” Artemis said. “You should know, I’m a non-believer.”
“Me too,” Dr. Demetrius said. He winked at Artemis.
“We’ve had some, shall I put it,” Gene said. He wiped his sweaty face with a handkerchief. “Break ins, we have a nearby group that worships magic mushrooms. A weird guy calls himself, Prophet Higgs Boson, has followers, the reason we’ve kept the lab secret, and for the most part in a locked down area.”
“Oh, the mycelia amaze me,” Dr. Demetrius said. He gazed up at the conference room ceiling like a curious newborn. “They are under everything, they live beneath the soil like a vast network feeding off the dead, the trees.”
“As you can see,” Gene said. “It’s not related to those claims, we’ll talk soon, once you have a plan?”
“Correct,” Artemis said.
Gene got up quickly after he closed his iPad. And he hurried Dr. Demetrius out of the conference room.
“Another visit to my lab?” Dr. Demetrius said to Artemis as he stood at the doorway. “You’ll love what I have discovered.”
“Time to go,” Gene said. He patted Dr. Demetrius on his shoulder. “Let’s keep moving.”
“I’ll take you up on that,” Artemis said. “Maybe next week, or sooner.”
Artemis sat alone in the conference room. She heard outside the fancy door the normal, everyday hospital activity. There was a shrill sounding ambulance alarm three floors down at where she was certain was the the emergency department. She contemplated the show she and Agent Beaky had seen in the forest. It was what lurked underneath the ground, it was that fact that she was certain Prophet Higgs Boson and Dr. Demetrius had as a connection. And it was in Dr. Demetrius’ expression after the name came out of Gene’s mouth, Prophet Higgs Boson. He would never have ignored such a comment about his research, in particular, protecting his mushrooms and his sacred mycelia. It was the reason the Company had sent her. It was what Wylie was never told about her real work. She had been sanctioned to kill. The question Artemis had to answer, was her kill to be only Dr. Demetrius, or this Prophet Higgs Boson, or was it both?

End. Chapter 23.

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Amanita – Chapter 22

22

“I’m not sure how to say this?”

“Dear lady,” Agent Beaky said. He glanced over at Jerome Jenkins. “Best way, just say it.”

“I’m curious why I’m even here? Or better, why you two are in my office,” Jerome Jenkins asked. He sat behind his office desk staring over at Artemis and then over at Agent Beaky. “What am I to make of you two?”

Artemis sucked in a deep, reflective breath. She held the breath for several heart beats and blew it back out down toward the dark red and blue Persian pattern rug.

“She, called me,” Agent Beaky said. “I’m inclined to respond to the invitation.”

“I need your help,” Artemis said. “Both of you.”

“What?” Jerome asked. “Never had a medical malpractice talking head ask me for help.”

“Well then,” Agent Beaky said. He wiggled on the office chair. “I’ll not be to proud, sing away.”

“I have to be careful, I’m under an NDA,” Artemis said. “They have cameras every where, I’m always being watched.”

And Artemis heard Satan whispering in her mind. “Yes,” Satan said. “You are always being watched, go ahead, tell them your little secret. Things will get even funnier.”

“Spit it out,” Jerome said. He crossed his arms. “I have work to do, I don’t get paid a salary.”

Artemis acknowledged Jerome’s comment. She sat forward with her elbows on her knees.

“It’s always the addict,” Artemis said. “Fentanyl, you know, opioids.”

Agent Beaky and Jerome Jenkins stared at each other for several moments. And they nodded at each other as if a bright light had been switched on to reveal a hidden truth.

“I think I know where you’re headed,” Jerome said. He leaned forward on to his desk top. “Let’s play a little game, I’ll ask you questions, Artemis, and you can say yes, no or maybe, cool?”

“Yeah,” Artemis said. Her tongue glided across her front teeth. “Ask what you want, I’ll try this way.”

“Good,” Jerome said. He tapped his forefinger over his lips. “No one cares about a dead addict?”

“I would say, yes,” Artemis said. “That’s true for the most part.”

“It would be a good idea to add,” Jerome said. “I don’t know, several new ICU beds? For those in need, poor addict.”

“Yeah,” Artemis said. “It would be important to keep your options open.”

“Let me see now,” Agent Beaky said. He leaned over onto Jerome’s desk. “Not losing out on any government money, as it were, crying shame not to offer services.”

Artemis looked over at Agent Beaky. She simply nodded.

“Smart criminal,” Jerome said. He sighed. “Makes the evidence disappear, right?”

“Easy now,” Agent Beaky said. “I’ll not look the other way for what I’m getting the hint.”

“I know,” Artemis said.

“They don’t just ship off mushrooms?” Jerome asked.

“No,” Artemis said.

“Mushrooms need rich soil,” Jerome said. “They need good place to grow, moisture, fertilizer?”

“Careful,” Agent Beaky said.

“Yeah,” Artemis said.

Jerome pushed back from his desk. He pondered what Artemis said, and what she had not said. He stared up at his office ceiling.

“Medical records,” Jerome said. “They don’t always tell the story, just snippets, points and dates in time, right?”

“Yes,” Artemis said.

“But, they do provide proof let’s say,” Jerome said. “A human being existed, and was in fact within a hospital?”

“Yes,” Artemis said.

“I guess, it’s about Narcissus’ weak spot?” Jerome asked.

“Pardon?” Agent Beaky asked Jerome.

“Wait for it,” Jerome said, reassuringly.

“Yes,” Artemis said.

“You got inside this narcissist’s inner sanctum?” Jerome asked.

“Yes,” Artemis said.

“Sloppy,” Agent Beaky said. “If I follow, not a good move, or, perhaps another game’s a foot?”

“Not easy to get any useful proof?” Jerome asked. “Hard to get inside without a warning shot from a local.”

“Yes,” Artemis said. She pondered for several moments staring over at Jerome and back over at Agent Beaky. And Satan whispered in her mind. “Go ahead,” Satan said. “Offer the bait, it will make this so much more fun.”

“Artemis,” Jerome said. “I’m a man of my word, we are dancing with the devil, and more likely, murder.”

“I’ll keep me cool,” Agent Beaky said.

“The little girl,” Artemis said. “Her name, Laina Lynn, I have to turn her over to child protective services.”

“Wait,” Jerome said. “Mother was, Ruth Lynn?”

“Yes,” Artemis said. “I decided to help her out, let’s say, I had a physician check her out.”

“Little girl?” Agent Beaky said. He sighed.

“She’s still alive?” Jerome asked. “Right?”

“Yes,” Artemis said.

Jerome sat back, swiveled back and forth with his office chair staring up at the ceiling. He stopped and pushed forward.

“You have a confidential claim file?” Jerome asked.

“A connection to our show out in the forest?” Agent Beaky said.

“You know that,” Artemis said. She looked over at Agent Beaky. “I think so, better, I know so.”

“We have little lab rat?” Jerome asked.

“Yes,” Artemis said. “The real rat left behind some experiments with the little innocent rat.”

“I know what to do, this conversation ends,” Jerome said. “Where’s this girl?”

“With me, for now,” Artemis said. “But soon, I have a court hearing, I’ll need a lawyer?”

And Artemis heard Satan laughing, and chuckling. “Oh, Artemis.”

End. Chapter 22.

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