Her Guardian

by Sharon Dunn

  She appreciated the rescue. When they stepped on to the elevator, the man with the briefcase didn’t follow them. As the doors closed, he leaned forward, studying Julia intently as his eyes grew wide.

  Once the doors slid shut, Julia said, “Thanks, that guy was kind of creepy.”

  Gavin watched the numbers on the elevator panel. “No problem.”

  The door slid open, and they rounded the corner to where a man in a suit stood outside a conference-room door.

  Julia quickened her pace. “That’s him. That’s Mr. Fleming.”

  The lawyer’s eyes brightened as they approached. He held his hands up toward Julia and embraced her in a hug. “Julia, good to see you again.”

  A woman dressed in a simple navy suit emerged from the room. She held out a hand. “You must be Gavin Shane. I’m Victoria Fleming. Roy and I are partners in life and in the law firm.” She turned toward Julia and offered her open arms. Victoria was more than just an expert on prosecuting cult members. It was her kindness that had gotten Julia through the depositions.

  Gavin said, “Julia is not to leave this room for any reason until I am back here to get her. In fact, when I am on my way back, I’ll give you a call and then knock three times. If I stand outside the door and wait, I’ll call too much attention to this room.”

  “We know what we’re up against.” Roy tugged on his suit jacket. “I’m sure Julia is going to need a break, but we’re going to get through as much of this as we can.”

  Gavin nodded. The lawyers ushered Julia into the room. Tension squeezed Gavin’s chest as the door closed. He’d feel better when he could be in the room with her, but it would be dereliction of duty not to walk the hotel and get familiar with the layout.

  It took him twenty minutes to put Julia’s overnight bag in her room and to check into the room next to hers. The hotel had alarms on all the outside doors. After eleven o’clock, people without card keys could only come and go by the front entrance. He checked both parking lots for anything out of the ordinary. When he came back inside, the man with the yellow briefcase passed him in the lobby.

  Gavin had wanted to pound the guy into the ground when he’d so overtly come on to Julia at the elevator. The flush in her cheeks and her obvious embarrassment was a reminder of her inexperience in dealing with men.

  As he moved through the lobby, Gavin felt the weight of the man’s gaze on his back. He headed up the stairs. He went up a few steps then turned so he could survey the lobby, feigning nonchalance. The man was gone.

  Gavin took the stairs to the third floor, phoning the Flemings on the way up. He knocked on the door three times, then a lock clicked and the door opened.

  Julia sat in a chair pushed away from the conference table. She held a string of beads in her lap. Her expression warmed when he entered the room.

  Victoria leaned close to Gavin and whispered, “Julia has the answers to our questions down pat. Now we’re taking her through the mock cross. We go through possible lines of questioning the defense might use.”

  Roy paced in front of Julia. The friendly demeanor Gavin had picked up on earlier was gone. Roy’s posture was stiff, his chin tilted. He had taken on the role of the no-holds-barred defense attorney.

  “So.” Roy stopped his pacing and leaned toward Julia. “You said at first all the doors were locked, but later Elijah would leave them open. In fact, the previous witness has testified that he heard a conversation between you and Mr. True in which he told you you could leave the compound. Is that correct?”

  Julia clutched the beads in her hand. “You don’t understand.”

  Roy shot back. “Answer the question.”

  “Yes, that is what Elijah said, but he didn’t mean it. It was a game he played. Sometimes the doors were locked and sometimes they weren’t.”

  “So you are saying you didn’t want to leave? Maybe you had started to like it there? After all, you stayed for seven years.”

  “No, don’t you understand? Elijah didn’t have to lock the doors after a while because the locks were inside my head. I knew if I tried to run, he’d catch me and put me in that dark place.” Her hand trembled as she brought it up to her face. “Even if I got into town, there were cult members who lived there who would tell Elijah.” Julia drew in a ragged breath. “I started to believe that there was no place I could go where he wouldn’t find me.”

  Gavin lurched out of his seat, but Victoria stopped him.

  Victoria piped up, “Julia, we’re sorry to have to put you through this. You know they will do everything to make it look as though you aren’t a reliable witness because of your psychological state. Are you prepared for that?”

  “I know,” Julia said resolutely.

  “If this line of questioning went on too long at some point, we would object on the grounds that it’s immaterial to the murder. But it is important that the jury sees that you can hold up to the badgering, and it works in our favor because it reveals to the jury what a monster Elijah could be.”

  Julia pulled a purple bead from the bag and put it on the wire.

  Roy’s posture softened. “You holding up okay?”

  Julia straightened in her chair. “I know that we have to do this. I want Elijah put away.” Her lower lip quivered.

  Victoria flipped through a pile of papers. “Let’s move on to your testimony about the murder. That’s where they are really going to start to tear you apart. Just stick to the story you gave in the deposition.”

  Standing to one side of Julia, Roy resumed his arrogant posture, lacing his fingers together behind his back. “Let’s move on to the night of the murder.”

  Julia cast a glance toward Gavin. The look on her face made him want to rush over to her and take her in his arms.

  “So, you said you heard Marlena Kenyon and Elijah arguing.”

  “Yes.”

  “What were they arguing about?”

  “Elijah told Marlena that it was time he chose a husband for me, but that is not really what the argument was about. Any time he got worked up, he brought up the marriage thing. Earlier that day, one of the cult members in town said he saw guys who looked like FBI. Elijah was paranoid about being arrested. He was tense and angry all that day. When he got that way, he wanted to control everyone and everything.”

  “So you heard them arguing, but you didn’t witness the actual murder?”

  Julia’s eyes lost focus for a moment, but she recovered. “I’d been sent to my room. I heard it. It had to be Elijah. There was no one else in the house.”

  Roy tapped his finger on his chin. “So you didn’t actually see him strike her.”

  “I heard the fight. He locked me in the room. I knew how to jimmy the lock…but—but I couldn’t get out there fast enough. When I came out, I saw Elijah holding the hammer…and—Marlena on the floor.”

  Roy leaned toward Julia until he was invading her space. “What was your relationship with Marlena Kenyon?”

  “She was my friend. She was like a mom to me.” Julia looked directly at Roy and spoke with confidence.

  “So are you saying that the previous witness has lied? He said that you wanted Marlena out of the way. That, in fact, you wanted to be Elijah’s wife. Weren’t all the other women married by the time they were sixteen? You wanted Elijah. That is why your marriage to another man was delayed.”

  Julia spoke rapidly without taking a breath. “No, that’s not true. I wasn’t jealous of her. Marlena was my friend. Marlena protected me. She didn’t want me to go through what she had been through.”

  “Marlena was your friend and yet, on the night she died, you ran away. Was she still breathing when you got out of there?”

  “No…I mean, I didn’t touch her, but I could see she was dead.” She opened her mouth as if to say more, but could only shake her head.

  Gavin’s arm muscles tensed. Julia seemed to be unraveling before his eyes. Victoria patted his arm, indicating that he needed to stay put. He summoned every ounce of strength he had not t
o rush over to her.

  Julia forged ahead. “Elijah ran out of the house, and I heard him telling everyone that I had killed her. I…I…I wanted to help her. I couldn’t get the door unlocked fast enough…” As though she were trying to find the strength to continue, Julia bent her head so her hair fell over her face.

  Gavin’s hands curled into fists. How long did they have to put her through this?

  Roy hovered over her. “You say that Elijah was the only one in the house, so it had to be him, but there was another person in the house that night.”

  Julia lifted her head. A fierceness entered her eyes. “I would never do anything to hurt Marlena. I’m not the one on trial.”

  “Yet you ran away as fast as you could.”

  Gavin rose from his chair. “Maybe we should stop now.”

  “We have to do this, Gavin.” Julia’s voice was paper thin as she stared at the carpet.

  “I’m with Gavin. I think we need a break.” Victoria pushed file folders to one side.

  Roy offered Julia a sideways hug when she got out of her chair and whispered a reassurance in her ear. “Let’s break for a couple of hours. I’m sure Julia would like to get something to eat.”

  Gavin strode over to Julia. “Come on,” he spoke gently. “Let’s go get some air.”

  Once outside the room, Julia placed her hand on the wall. She was really shaken up. “That was harder than I thought it was going to be. My legs are wobbly.”

  “I’ll help you get to the hotel room.” Gavin wrapped his arms around her narrow waist. “This helps with the cover that we’re husband and wife.” He tried to keep his tone light.

  Julia bent her head. In this light, her red hair took on a coppery tone.

  “I didn’t like watching that,” Gavin said. Seeing her ripped to pieces by the questioning tore at his insides.

  She leaned against him as they walked. “I need to be prepared, or it will just be worse when Elijah’s lawyers get me on the stand.”

  “I know.” It was still hard to see her raked over the coals, even if it was for a good reason.

  She slowed her pace. “Do you think there was something more I could have done?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She stopped, pulled free of his grasp and turned to face him. She looked up at him as her eyes glazed. “To save Marlena. All those questions make me play that night over and over in my mind. Maybe if I had done something different. Maybe if I hadn’t let Elijah lock me in the room in the first place.”

  Now that he had a greater understanding of all that she had been through, he wished he could lift the anguish from her and carry it himself. “Don’t play the maybe game. You have no reason to feel guilty. You did everything you knew to do at the time.” He touched his palm to her cheek.

  “I want to believe that.” She collapsed into his arms, nestling her face against his chest. He held her. Several people passed by them on the balcony outside her room. He could hear the sound of people splashing in the pool several floors below.

  Standing out in the open like this made them vulnerable. He waited for her to recover before suggesting that they go into the hotel room.

  They ate a meal ordered from room service. Then while Julia napped, Gavin paced to keep his energy up. He splashed water on his face and made a cup of coffee. Julia slept curled up on the covers, her red hair falling over her face.

  By the time he finished his coffee, Julia was awake and ready to go.

  He phoned the Flemings to let them know they were ready to get started. He closed his phone and addressed her. “They’ll be at the conference room in ten minutes.”

  As they left the room, Gavin fell in behind Julia. They were getting used to walking in tandem. Julia seemed less bothered by his proximity.

  The floor where the conference room was was empty. Gavin checked his watch; it was the dinner hour for most people.

  “Quiet up here,” said Julia.

  “It certainly is.” A voice behind them caused both of them to pivot.

  Gavin gripped Julia’s arm above the elbow, prepared to whisk her away or push her to the floor and cover her if he needed to.

  The man with the yellow briefcase stood behind them.

  Gavin planted his feet shoulder width apart. The gun in his holster pressed against his ribs. “Who are you?”

  “Relax, man. I’m a reporter with the Montana Tribune.”

  Gavin’s hands curled into fists. Like knowing he was dealing with the press was supposed to make him relax.

  “The red hair is a nice touch, but that angelic face with the big blue eyes is hard to forget. Her face was everywhere two years ago.” The reporter took a step toward Julia. “I’d just like to ask Ms. Randel a few questions.”

  Gavin stepped between Julia and the man. “She’s not answering questions. You’re not going to do a story on her.”

  “It’s a little late for that. She’s already in the evening edition that came out an hour ago. Julia Randel is news. I would like to do a follow-up story and get her perspective on the upcoming trial.”

  “I’m not talking to anyone.” Julia’s voice sounded forceful, strong.

  “Please go.” Gavin narrowed his eyes and took on a stance that told the man there was no room for negotiation.

  The man held his hands up, palms out. “Fine. I offered. She could have given me her take on all this.” He walked backwards toward the stairs.

  Gavin waited until the man slipped out of view before glancing around for a newspaper dispenser. He put in three quarters and pulled out the evening edition.

  Julia had moved to the conference-room door.

  He flipped through the newspaper. At least she wasn’t front-page news.

  “The door is still locked.” She spoke louder to be heard across the empty floor. “The Flemings must have been delayed.”

  Gavin made his way across the carpet, still scanning the newspaper. Her story was on page eight, along with a photograph of him and Julia standing outside her hotel room. The quality of the picture indicated it had been taken with a telephoto lens. The article itself speculated why two high-powered lawyers who specialized in prosecuting cult members were at the same hotel as Julia Randel. The rest of the article was a recap of the events that had led up to the trial—Julia’s captivity, escape and the filing of murder and kidnapping charges against Elijah.

  Gavin gritted his teeth. It was enough damage. The Tribune was a big newspaper with statewide distribution. The cult members would get wind of it, if they hadn’t already. Now he was mad. They couldn’t stay in the hotel. They were going to have to change venues to finish the trial prep. The hot springs were still safe, but if someone followed the Flemings as they came and went, that sanctuary would be comprised. They’d have to find a whole new place—not an easy task with the trial only weeks away.

  A group of people shuffled through the open area outside the conference rooms. Gavin looked up as the people cleared away. His heart stopped. The area outside the door where Julia had been standing a second ago was empty.

  TEN

  Still stirred up about the news story, Julia turned her attention to her purse to pull out her beads. A group of people walked by, blocking her view of Gavin. Movement erupted from behind a nearby coat rack. Terror spread through Julia as two men lurched toward her.

  One shoved a gun into her side. “Any noise and you’re dead.”

  Her purse fell to the ground, but she managed to hold on to the bag of beads and conceal them in her fist. The men steered her away from the people, around a corner to a service elevator.

  Gripping her forearm, one of the men pushed the elevator button and waited. The gun still pressed into her ribs. With her hands behind her, she allowed a few beads to fall to the carpet.

  The elevator doors opened. They pushed her inside and shoved a pillowcase over her head. Her heart pounded erratically. Fabric pressed against her mouth as she struggled for breath.

  One of the men pressed his fingerna
ils into her arm. She could smell him, a blend of dirt and sweat that repulsed her. The elevator came to a stop, and she was pushed forward. The floor beneath was smooth. Even through the pillowcase, the air felt thicker down here, more humid. They must be close to a laundry room or kitchen. Her hand gripped the bag of beads.

  “Let’s get this done quickly. Elijah said no hesitation.” The gravelly voice sent chills through Julia.

  She waited for the moment when the men’s footsteps and voices drowned out other sounds before dropping two more beads. Would it be enough to let Gavin know what direction they had taken her?

  Gavin felt as though he had been punched in the stomach.

  The Flemings, who had just emerged from the stairwell, must have read the panic on his face.

  Victoria raced to his side. “What is it?”

  “Call security now.” He didn’t have time to wait for hotel cops to show up. The followers weren’t going to toy with them or try to negotiate. They were going to kill Julia. All they needed was the right location. He had ten minutes tops before Julia would lose her life.

  Roy had already taken out his phone.

  Gavin ran over to the last place he had seen Julia standing. He scanned the area. “What floor did you guys come from?”

  “The fifth floor.” Victoria massaged her temples and shook her head. “This is terrible.”

  That meant they hadn’t taken the stairwell going up. The Flemings would have spotted them. His gaze darted around the open area. The elevator was across from the conference-room door. He would have spotted the followers if they had taken her that way. Gavin stepped toward the coat rack. Julia’s purse lay open on the carpet, and a service elevator was just beyond that.

  Something by the elevator caught his eye. He ran over and picked it up. A single glass bead.

  Thank you, Julia.

  Her ability to think fast under pressure never ceased to amaze him.

  Victoria came around the coat rack. “Roy is going to stay until security comes. Can I help?”