guys,” Edward finally spoke up, handing the papers to Julius. “It was about twelve at night when we saw him. There are—“
“Eddie, I know what I saw,” Wayne repeated, uncharacteristically aggressive. “You were there, too! Take a look at him in those photos…he even holds his left hand up all the time like Bishop Vilkin. Dude, look at his eyes, his beard, and the fact that Rasputin was Russian—and who did we happen to see in a Russian church…?”
There was an uncomfortable space of silence as Wayne left his rhetorical question to itself.
Julius, now having second thoughts, was shifting uncomfortably next to Edward. “I don’t know, Wayne…this guy lived a hundred years ago! And what would Lincoln, Nebraska have anything to do with a Russian mystic? And all those things you mentioned—for all we know, he could be some Rasputin-wannabe or admirer. Kind of like those Elvis impersonators.”
“But what about the Geiger readings,” Wayne protested, one of his hands arbitrarily pointing out.
“What about them,” Edward shot back after glancing at Julius. “You took those readings from that small door, not him.”
“Yeah, but that door has to have something to do with, with Bishop Vilkin, or whoever he is! It can’t be a coincidence that I got those negative readings and there was a guy standing there, in the dark, just hanging out, who just happened to look exactly like Grigori Rasputin!”
“Hey, what are you doing believing in something like this anyway,” Julius said. “Aren’t you Atheistic?”
Wayne blew out a sigh from the bench, vexed at having to explain himself to someone else—again! “Julius, we’ve had this conversation before…being an Atheist is not a belief or even a philosophy. It’s the simple state of not believing in any supernatural beings or an afterlife of any sort. This—“ He pointed at the copies in Julius’ hands. “—this crazy situation is more in the realm of the paranormal. And with the paranormal, there tends to be more logical explanations to how and why things happen…they’re just often mysterious or unexplained. I know enough about life to say that the universe is so big that there are things that happen in life we simply can’t explain or understand. No more than an ant cannot explain to me how a car works. But that doesn’t make humans gods just because we create and understand cars. Humans are the same way in the universe as that ant. We cannot explain many things, but does that mean any gods exist…?”
It was a tangential point in their conversation, but a very good one nevertheless. Neither Edward nor Julius responded to Wayne’s monologue. In fact, it remained quiet in the locker room for a while as they all thought on what was next.
“Look,” Edward said, “we all got to get going before the principal sends in the SWAT units after us. I suggest we forget all about this Rasputin bullshit and just be glad we got our pay from the church.” Edward deliberately focused his eyes on Wayne, yet seated on the bench. “We all drop it! Right here; right now! Talk to anyone else about this and they’ll start asking questions about this Bishop Vilkin and they’ll trace what we did at the church to us! Personally speaking, even if he is Rasputin resurrected, I don’t care. What does that have to do with me?”
Julius and Wayne traded looks.
“By the way,” Edward said, ignoring his partners’ apprehensive glances, “looks like we have another treasure opportunity…I’ll talk to you guys about it later.”
Edward flashed a look of warning toward Wayne, and, as far as Julius could tell one at him as well! Then he left the locker room.