Order of Truth

by Lisa Caviness

  She laughed. “Now this is juvenile. What exactly are we shaking on?”

  “Me vowing to do whatever I can to keep you safe.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not agreeing to that.” She shifted, crossing her legs. “Since you’re insisting on this teenaged contract, I have something to add. You will do whatever is in your power to keep me safe, but I will do the same for you, okay? I have the power to save your life, too, you know.”

  He raised his hands. “Far be it for me to second guess your badass abilities, especially after you started shooting while we were under fire. So, hell yeah, I’ll shake to that. I’m not all macho about having a girl save my life.” He grinned.

  They shook hands.

  With her hand still in his, Cody leaned in a gave her a featherlight kiss on her cheek. The contact setting his nerve endings on fire.

  They pulled apart for only a second, their eyes locked on each other.

  Bending his head, Cody met her halfway as their lips touched. He deepened the kiss and once again, she matched him with equal fervor.

  When they pulled apart, they caught their breath.

  A million emotions ricocheted inside her like a pinball machine on speed. “I’m afraid, Cody. I’m afraid for my family, the Alliance. And you. Things are happening, and one bullet could be the end of any one of us.” With those words her emotions tumbled over and tears she’d always held tight, began to spill.

  With the pad of his thumb, he wiped away her tears. “I won’t leave you,” he repeated.

  She nodded and inhaled. “I’m a blubbering idiot.” She lowered her head.

  He lifted her chin and stared into her watery eyes. “A beautiful blubbering idiot.” He leaned over and kissed her lips gently at first.

  They were so connected she couldn’t distinguish her heartbeat from his.

  “I missed you.” He mumbled when they came up for air.

  “I missed you, too.”

  He pulled her on top of him, and she felt like she’d returned home.

  “I want you.”

  Lila nodded and for at least one night, she let her emotions free.

  Chapter 29

  The next afternoon, Lila pulled open the heavy doors of the Fox Street Church and ambled into the sparsely populated building. The firm had been shut down while the police investigated Steve’s death. In the meantime, HTP employees filled text messages and private social media discussions with expression of grief, shock, and sadness. Three emotions that were her constant companions these days. But then the prickly sensation on her cheek reminded her of Cody’s whiskers brushing up against her last night. The memory of their passionate evening filled her with a new cluster of emotions. Joy, confusion, anger, and fear pulled her in all directions as if each emotion demanded her full attention.

  In the basement, she rounded the corner and met a buzz of voices emanating from the study room. When the session had concluded, Lila packed away supplies as the other teachers filed out of the room. After locking up the tutoring room, she darted upstairs, sank onto a cushioned pew, stared at the ornate paintings, and waited. She shifted her gaze and caught sight of Reid and Holly entering the church. While Reid settled across the aisle several rows behind her, Holly approached the candle stand and lit a votive. She stood in front of the rows of candles for a few seconds before sitting next to Reid. Adam remained outside while Cody sat one row behind her on the other side of the church.

  A shadow darkened Lila’s vision. She looked up and sucked in a breath. Willa Dickerson lumbered into the aisle and sat next to her. “Hello, Lila.”

  Lila eyed the cane, a dark wood one vastly different from the stick she’d used at the funeral. “Hello. Thanks for coming.”

  Glancing around the church, Lila spotted two women paused in front of the alter. When they moved aside, fragmented light shot through the stained-glass windows. The stillness of the room had been disrupted like a fluctuation in the time continuum. Lila shifted on the pew. Her friends were behind her and would jump into action if necessary.

  “Willa Dickerson. Do you remember me?” She held out a wrinkled hand.

  Lila shook the woman’s hand, then scrunched her forehead. “I remember you from Jack’s funeral, but should I have known you?” Tiny hairs rose on the back of Lila’s neck as she spotted a revolver in the woman’s purse. The fact that the Jennings and perhaps Steve, all possessed knowledge of the contents of Jack’s files, and were all dead, made her nervous. Could a gun already be trained on them? She eyed the two women now ambling down the side aisle almost parallel to her pew.

  Willa leaned on her cane. “Yes, you should.”

  Blowing out a sigh, Lila wanted to scream. “Ms. Dickerson, with all due respect, I don’t remember you. What I know is you used some voodoo or hypnosis trick during the funeral. I don’t enjoy being played with. How are you connected to Lance Sinclair and The Order?” Although Lila already had a loose grasp of the woman’s connection to The Order, she wanted to hear from Mrs. Dickerson.

  The woman tapped her cane on the floor as she maintained an intense lock on Lila’s eyes. “I assure you there are no games here. Think.”

  “I presume you know that you could be in danger. I saw a weapon in your purse. Either you’re here to use it on me, which I doubt because you likely would have already, or you’re concerned about your own safety.”

  “Very astute.”

  “Mrs. Dickerson, how do you know me?” Lila asked, clamping her hands together. Anxiety and frustration washed over her. Apparently, she should know this woman, yet even though a slight whisper of something percolated just below the surface, she couldn’t grasp the memory.

  “Call me Willa.” The woman stared at a point on the floor then lifted her head. “I knew this day would come. I will tell you what I know.” She looked up, a sheen of tears in her eyes. “My husband Edgar was a member of The Order. When The Order was no more than a group of men getting together to play cards, Edgar’s older brother joined. He talked up the group like they were the next best thing this side of the ocean. Edgar worked as a bellman at one of the most prestigious hotels in the Washington, DC, area. He was a simple man who performed his job with pride, but when Edgar met Russell and learned of an opportunity, he got excited.”

  Lila shifted and side-eyed Cody, relieved he sat near.

  “Russell Sinclair spoke to Edgar about joining the group,” Willa continued. “Seems he wanted him on his team. As a bellman, Edgar could get into rooms at the hotel and would be one of the first to know when dignitaries arrived in town. Russell wanted to up his station in life so rubbing elbows with the rich and famous was a priority.”

  “You knew Russell Sinclair?” Lila said.

  “I knew the bastard.” She winced and crossed herself. “I’m a nurse. I came to Babylon Hall as a young woman. Edgar was fifteen years older.” She smiled. “The hotel was on the way to the hospital. I walked by every day. That’s how I met my Edgar.” Willa folded her hands in her lap and smiled, in an apparent happy memory of her husband.

  “Did you know Mary, Russell’s wife?” Lila asked.

  “Yes, I helped deliver her babies. Poor thing. She was young, too, and Russell treated her poorly, as if she were a piece of property. Once she’d completed her life as a childbearing woman, Russell had no use for her.”

  Lila pictured Lance with his newborn in the video message played at the Veridian benefit. He sat with a smug expression as he spewed lies about wanting to help other children. Lance was all about himself, but Lila’s thoughts landed on the unseen mother of his child. Delphine and Lance always made a curious couple in her opinion. They were only seen at public events, making a show of how genuine their relationship was. Now that Delphine had delivered their child would Lance go the way of his grandfather? “How much do you know about Lance?”

  “I’ve met him twice, and I’m sure he doesn’t remember me. I represent the old days. Plus, I wasn’t really on board with what The Order stood for. Edgar got wrapped u
p in being accepted into the group. He didn’t consider that they were headed down a dark path.” Shaking her head, she leaned on her cane and balled a fist against her heart. “He sold our house, and we moved into one of the cottages at Babylon Hall.”

  Lila still had many questions, but Willa’s tearful expression made her remain quiet. Perhaps the woman needed to speak about her experiences.

  “I hated living there. Fortunately, for me, since I came with a skill, they never made me commit to their silly doctrine. I cared for the people living at the estate, but most of the time I watched over Mary. By her second miscarriage, her mental state was dubious at best. Poor woman had been through so much.”

  “Did you know Jack Struthers?”

  A long silence ensued as Willa closed her eyes. Lila thought she’d fallen asleep until the woman’s eyes fluttered open. “Mr. Struthers called for Edgar, but he’d passed on by then. He even came to my house. I understood how ruthless The Order was and I didn’t open the door. Jack said he found some information about The Order and wanted to speak to Edgar. Guess he didn’t know my Edgar was no longer with us. Took me a few months to get the nerve to call him back. He came to my house again and he appeared trustworthy, so I told him what I knew. I was thrilled that perhaps he could finally bring The Order to justice.” She sighed and shook her head. “Mr. Struthers was a decent man. I’m sorry he lost his life trying to do the right thing.”

  “Jack was special.” Lila shifted. “How did he find Edgar?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “My grandmother was Vivian Sinclair. What do you know about her?”

  The old woman stared ahead, both hands resting on the apex of her cane. “I helped deliver Vivian. In many ways she was worse than her father. Amazing how people can get sucked into such a twisted ideology.” She cast her gaze downward. “After Russell died, Ivan contacted many of his father’s closest friends and confidants, at least the ones he knew about. As I’m sure you know Russell separated his children, choosing to focus on developing Vivian as the Grand Commander. I remember the day he sent Ivan away.” Her voice trailed off for a few seconds. “Although Edgar only held a cursory position on the perimeter of the controlling council, he’d received a call from Ivan. They had several conversations and a couple of times Ivan paid for Edgar’s travels to meet him. My husband never told me what those conversations entailed. However, weeks before he died, he made me promise to deliver a box to you. Edgar’s involvement in The Order meant I was involved. They made me do a lot of things I’m not proud of.” With shaky hands, she reached into her purse and drew out a small black box. She held the box in her lap.

  Once again Lila scanned the church for trouble. Not seeing anything alarming, she focused on the box in Willa’s lap.

  “What else did they ask you to do?” Lila said, her voice soft.

  Willa shook her head and pulled a tissue from the pocket of her gray sweater. Tears pooled at the edges of her eyes. “Not now.”

  “You mentioned Garvin Jennings. Do you know a Morris Beak?”

  Willa’s face blanched, and she used her right thumb to rub the space between her left thumb and forefinger. “Garvin and Morris were Edgar’s friends. Women were not allowed to know much about The Order back then, and Edgar kept his friends at arm’s length from me, but I got to know Garvin pretty well. His wife, Sheila had a miscarriage, too. Poor thing. They never had any children. Garvin was an attorney and a smart man. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why he’d get involved in something like this. But Morris Beak.” She shook her head. “The two men were complete opposites. Mr. Beak was in finance or banking. Very intense. He was a young man when Edgar and I still lived at the compound. They put him through school. In those days, a lot of the young men were granted scholarships. In return, they were expected to use their expertise for the good of The Order. The scholarships garnered loyalty.”

  “I guess that’s one way,” Lila said.

  “Morris Beak was as loyal as they come. He came along toward the end of Russell’s life but quickly gained favor. Last I heard he moved his allegiance to Ivan. By default, I assume he honors Lance as his boss, although Beak is an old man now.” She pursed her lips and shook her head.

  “What else do you know about Beak?” Lila forced herself to slow down.

  Willa grew quiet, then said, “There were rumors. He’s a very dangerous man. Get as far away from Morris Beak and anything related to The Order and Lance Sinclair as you can.”

  Lila chose her next few questions with care. As an attorney, she’d learned the art of deposing a witness. “Did you and Edgar have family in the area?”

  “My parents died a year after Edgar and I married. Went one after the other. I have a sister, but she’s been gone now close to ten years. Edgar and I have a daughter.” Her face brightened. “She lives in Iowa with her family. She’s a nurse, too. Her husband is a good man, and of course, I’m over the moon about my grandchildren, two girls and a boy. I hope to be there this Thanksgiving, if I make it that far.” She pursed her lips.

  Willa was right to be concerned for her life.

  “Sounds like you and your daughter have a special relationship.” A stab to her heart reminded her she would never know the special feeling of a mother-daughter relationship. “You must miss your husband. How long has he been gone?” Lila hoped to keep her talking for as long as possible. They needed answers, and Willa represented their only hope.

  “I miss him terribly. Other than the questionable decision to follow Russell Sinclair, Edgar was a great husband and father. He died of cancer a year ago. One day he was here and the next gone.” She patted glistening tears from her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Willa.” Lila nodded toward the object in Willa’s hand. “That box, what does it mean?”

  “This box has been sitting inside a drawer ever since Edgar asked me to make the delivery. On his deathbed and he was still thinking about Order business.” She sniffed. “I don’t know what the contents means,” she handed the box to Lila, “but be careful.”

  “Garvin Jennings gave me a similar box.” Lila opened the lid and wasn’t shocked to see an emerald plate inside. She quickly spotted the letters pz pu on the plate.

  Willa eyed the emerald and shook her head. With sad eyes she said, “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is. He and Sheila were killed moments after he handed me the box.”

  She nodded. “Months before Edgar died, he made me promise to deliver this box if he couldn’t. He made this request with tears in his eyes. I believe he knew of the danger. Two weeks ago, I got a letter delivered to my home. It didn’t come in the mail.” Once again, she reached inside her purse, but this time, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Lila.

  Lila opened the folded paper. The note read:

  Now is the time for your mission. Deliver the box to Lila Caldwell. You have three weeks from the date of receipt to carry out this assignment. It is imperative she receive this box. Once you make the delivery, beware. There may be others wishing you harm.

  Hugo Castille

  Heart thumping wildly, Lila reread the note. Why her? And why now? “Who is Hugo Castille?”

  Willa shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Can I keep this note?”

  “Yes, take it. I don’t know anything else other than what’s inside that note. If Edgar hadn’t pressed me to do this, I would have taken my chances. I hate being a messenger for The Order, but my family could be in danger.”

  “I understand, and I think you did the right thing.” Lila dropped the paper inside her bag. She sensed Willa’s fear and was concerned for her safety as well. “You’ve done your job. Can you visit your daughter earlier than planned?”

  Willa shook her head. “I won’t put them in jeopardy. I hope that the potential for danger eases in a few weeks, so I can make that visit. If I sense a threat, I won’t go.” Turning to Lila, she placed a hand on her arm. “For some reason, you hold the key.”

/>   “The key to what?”

  Willa glanced at the emerald stone in Lila’s hand. “That’s obviously a clue. Whoever compelled me to deliver this message must want you to figure it out. Think, child. Your memories are there, just under the surface. Use them.” The woman expelled a heavy sigh as her shoulder slumped. “I’m tired. It’s time I go home.”

  Lila hesitated, but rationalized she’d get better cooperation under Willa’s terms. “How did you get here? Can I take you home?”

  The woman shook her head and smiled weakly. “I’ll be okay. If not, I’ve lived a good and long life. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but I hope I’ve made my peace.” She stared ahead at the altar and made the sign of the cross.

  “Please, be careful,” Lila said.

  With the aid of her cane and Lila’s assistance, she stood. “Think.” She tapped the cane three times.

  “You tapped your cane at the funeral.” Lila pinched her eyebrows. “I started to remember…I think. Did you hypnotize me?” She looked at the woman.

  “No. I know nothing about hypnosis. During my time at Babylon Hall, a large part of my nursing duties involved caring for babies, children, and pregnant women. Most of the women chose to have their babies on the property. Rhythmic sounds can help with anxiety and pain management during labor. I started thumping a stick on the floor during the process of childbirth or to help a colicky baby. Newborns like the sound of heartbeats but the tapping was close enough. It didn’t help everyone. I sensed tension in you during the funeral. I thought it might help.”

  Lila stared at her. “There are memories I can’t quit grasp now. What do you know about me?”

  “I’m tired now. We’ll talk again later.” Willa stepped forward, then stopped. “Be dauntless.” She ran her wrinkled hand over Lila’s arm, then ambled out of the church.