by Evans, Misty
Adam grabbed his head as if suffering from a migraine. “I never slept with her. Never.” He fell to his knees, still holding his head. “Not my baby. I never slept with her.”
Ronni sent Thomas a frown. Truth or delusional fiction?
During Adam’s outburst, the EMT had loaded a syringe. As Adam crouched on the floor, hands over his head, the guy moved in, nodding at Thomas and the officers to assist him.
Thomas got to Adam first, dropping to his knees behind the kid and pinning his arms down. In one swift move, the EMT unloaded the syringe of sedative into Adam’s shoulder.
Adam jerked hard, but Thomas held tight. Not for Adam’s sake, nor for the EMT’s. He did it for Ronni. She looked away, sadness evident in her face, her body language.
A few seconds later, Adam began to puddle on the floor. “I didn’t…kill…her.” His eyes turned glassy. He reached for Ronni, and even though he’d called her a whore, she took his hand.
The rest of his words slurred together as the drug won the battle. Adam’s fingers slowly released Ronni’s hand, but she knelt beside him and held on. Her sad gaze lifted from Adam’s face to Thomas’s and emotion kicked low in his solar plexus.
“We’ll take him to the west wing of the hospital, stabilize him,” the EMT said to Ronni and the officers. “I’ll notify you as soon as he’s cognizant and making sense.”
The second EMT entered the room. “Body’s in the ambulance. Police have bagged and tagged some evidence. What about this guy?”
Protocol was discussed. An agreement was reached. One of the EMTs would ride in the back of the cruiser with Adam to keep an eye on his vitals. The other would accompany Kristine’s body to the hospital where she would be officially declared dead.
Thomas helped secure Adam’s limp body in the car. Everyone at the farm stood in shocked silence. Melanie and Jacob exited the house and watched from the porch. More cops arrived, as did Cooper and the NSA gal, Bianca Marx. Lance, as a person of interest, was placed in one of the cruisers.
“I’m going with Adam,” Ronni said. Her voice was dull, her face a mask of indifference.
“You can’t help him right now.” Thomas gently rubbed her arm. “We need to debrief Cooper and see what he wants us to do. In private. Away from Jacob and Melly.”
“But Adam…” Her voice trailed off. She took a few steps away and paced back, nodding. “You’re right. I can’t help him right now. I have a job to do.”
She looked so destroyed Thomas wanted to pull her into his arms. Protocol demanded he didn’t. Not in front of all these witnesses. Not in front of Cooper.
Crime scene investigators arrived and entered the house. Jacob and Melanie were banned from going back inside, much to Melly’s dismay. “I live here.” Her voice was high and nearly hysterical as she got in an officer’s face. “What am I supposed to do for clothing? I need my purse and my personal effects.”
Cooper moseyed over to Thomas and Ronni, Bianca following, but watching the show on the porch. Cooper glanced around at the various buildings. “Got a secure place we can talk?”
“Your car,” Thomas said.
He wanted to take Ronni’s hand, but he didn’t. He could hardly stand the forlorn look on her face. He touched her arm as he passed her and led the way to Coop’s SUV.
Thomas sat Ronni up front with Coop, took a seat behind them. Bianca climbed in. “Boy, she’s a piece of work.” She cocked her chin toward Melly.
“She’s actually a nice person.” Ronni stared out the windshield. “She tries hard to be everyone’s friend, and she takes care of a lot of people.”
Bianca sent Thomas a look that said she questioned Ronni’s judgment. He had to agree with Bianca.
“What happened?” Cooper asked.
He knew the general low down from the cops, so Thomas gave him a brief sitrep about what had transpired with Ronni’s adventure in town, the discovery of Kristine’s body, and the showdown between Lance and Adam. Cooper glanced Ronni’s way. “Find anything at the salon?”
She shook her head. “It appears to be just a hair and nail salon, but I discovered Jacob and Melanie are having an affair.”
Thomas laughed. “No way. She’s in love with Adam.”
Cooper shrugged. “Is that significant? This woman and Jacob?”
“I don’t know yet,” Ronni answered. “My gut says the two of them are up to something more than an affair.”
“Oh, man, this is good.” Thomas shook his head in disbelief. “Jacob’s an undercover cop with the LAPD.”
Cooper voiced surprised. “What’s he doing here?”
“Same thing we are.”
Ronni slumped in her seat and stared at a clump of people who’d gathered around Jacob and Melanie. “I don’t trust him.”
“That makes two of us.”
Cooper drummed a thumb on the steering wheel. “Just because he’s involved with Melanie doesn’t mean he isn’t doing his job.”
“In three days, we’ve found nothing to indicate Adam was stockpiling weapons, running guns, or planning any kind of attack on federal agents.” Ronni shifted, glancing over the seat at Thomas. “Nothing. And Jacob’s been here how long?”
“He didn’t say exactly, but I gathered it’s been a year or more.”
“And he hasn’t discovered anything either?”
His gut pinged. That’s it. That’s what had been bothering him for the past day. “He hasn’t found anything, but continues to play undercover cop. Why?”
Bianca brought out a tablet, tapped a few keys. “I’ll look into his supposed undercover operation and see what I can find. Meanwhile,”—she set the tablet down, brought out a file—“I was combing through some previous satellite surveillance and found something interesting from three weeks ago. Looks like the farm received some kind of shipment in the early morning hours of August ninth.”
Thomas took a black and white photo she handed him. The satellite image was grainy due to the fact it had been taken at night, but the white delivery truck stood out like a neon sign. He passed the first photo to Ronni and accepted a second. “This looks like the far west side of the property. But there are no roads back there.”
“There’s a path,” Ronni said, “to the honey house. I took it yesterday morning.”
Yesterday. The honey house. Thomas tried to keep the grin off his face.
“The satellite is used by immigration to monitor illegal activity crossing the border,” Bianca said. “As you can see by the time stamp, the photos were taken shortly before one a.m., but since immigration zooms in on the border between one and five a.m., the satellite was redirected before the truck was unloaded. What do you think was inside?”
Thomas eyed the photos. The ghost-white shadows of two men could be seen. One had to be the driver, but who was the other? “Beekeeping supplies?”
He was being sarcastic and Ronni chuckled. “Adam told me a lot about the bees and the honey. He said Lance goes into town and buys his supplies.”
Cooper continued drumming the steering wheel. “Plenty of weapons or drugs could be delivered in that type of truck on a back road in the dead of night.”
“Lance doesn’t strike me as the type,” Thomas reluctantly admitted.
Ronni examined one of the photos. A bead of sweat traced down the side of her neck and Thomas wanted to follow its trail. “Jacob does.”
“So now we’re casting more aspersions on the undercover cop?” Bianca asked.
The challenge to Ronni’s judgment made Thomas urge to defend her. For the second time that day. “Pretty much.” He glanced out the windshield—anything to get his eyes off Ronni’s neck—and saw the subject of their discussion eyeballing him from the front yard.
Thomas fanned himself with the photograph in his hand. The SUV was an oven. “I suggest we leave no rock unturned. Never know what might crawl out. What about that gal in the hospital? Did she ever regain consciousness?”
Cooper started the car, turned on the AC, and booted the
fan up to high. “She did, but says she doesn’t remember anything about guns or teargas. Says she was angry over Adam asking her to leave when she wouldn’t lay off the booze, so she might have made shit up.”
“Great,” Ronni said. “Yet another dead end with false information.”
The air felt amazing. Thomas leaned toward the vent.
“False information?” Cooper asked.
Ronni sighed. “Seems like I have more false information than truth.”
He appeared unperturbed. “That’s why we needed eyes inside the cult. Don’t ever rely on paper reports for proof.”
Ronni nodded, and Cooper nailed her with a heavy look. “So who killed the woman, Agent Punto?”
Thomas could see her go on the defensive. “Lance had the most motive.”
His partner still had a blind spot for her brother. “Melanie claims it was Lance, too, but she threw credibility Adam’s way when I talked to her. The way Adam has been acting, we can’t rule him out.”
Ronni gave him the stink eye.
Cooper saw it. “The cop I spoke to said they found the possible murder weapon—a Walther .22—in Adam’s nightstand. It had been recently fired and not cleaned.”
Her body stilled. She didn’t even appear to breathe. “Thomas and I searched his room yesterday. There was no handgun in his nightstand or anywhere else. There was a rifle under his bed.”
“No mention of a rifle,” Cooper said. “He could have had the handgun on him, or hidden it somewhere you didn’t check.”
She visibly swallowed, looked away. Seconds passed.
The house was a monstrosity. Lots of hidey holes. But…
Thomas handed Bianca her photos. “The kill was too clean for Adam. Premeditated. You didn’t see him before he was tranquilized, Coop, but I’d bet my movie collection Adam couldn’t have pulled it off. He was a mess. Confused, shaking, he couldn’t even fend off Lance when the guy attacked him. The killer did use a small caliber pistol, and he knew exactly where to aim it. I found a pillow with a bullet hole and burn marks. He smothered the sound with a pillow. Too calculated for Adam’s state of mind.”
Relief eased the lines around Ronni’s mouth. She gave him a quick little smile.
Yeah, he was gone. He’d stand up for Adam again if it landed him that smile.
Cooper met Thomas’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Why would the gun be in Adam’s nightstand?”
Thomas grabbed a wild idea circulating in his head. “Lance might be setting him up.”
Ronni warmed to the idea. “Lance was jealous that Kristine was pregnant with Adam’s child.” She brainstormed out loud, explaining the twisted love triangle to Cooper and Bianca. “So maybe Lance’s way of evening things was to shoot her and make it look like Adam did it.”
“Except,” Thomas interjected, “Lance claims he’s never owned, or fired, a gun. He could be lying, but bottom line, if he was jealous and angry enough to kill someone, why not kill Adam?”
Bianca returned her photos to her briefcase. “I’ll do a background check on him as well.”
“If he killed Adam, though,” Ronni countered, as if she hadn’t heard Bianca, “who would he blame? He needed to get rid of Adam without getting caught, and he felt betrayed by Kristine. Maybe he couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Adam’s child every day, so he killed Kristine, killing her unborn child at the same time, and made Adam the scapegoat.”
It was a decent theory. “Why did Adam claim the baby wasn’t his?”
Ronni lifted her brows. “Nothing Adam said can be taken as truth.”
“Valid point.”
Cooper shifted the car into drive. “Both Adam and Lance will be tested for gunshot residue, and we’ll see if any fingerprints turn up on the weapon. Meanwhile, you two hang out tonight and keep an eye on things. The cops will be interviewing everyone, including you guys. See what you can find.”
Thomas had the feeling they were going to find plenty.
Chapter Thirty-three
The night and the farm were filled with nervous energy.
The house was dark and still cordoned off by police tape, but the interviews were over and the officials gone. The CSI techs had done their thing and everyone had been told to stay away from the house until further notice.
Melanie had been forced to take the last room available in the women’s quarters, her personal stuff left in the house. She’d busied herself borrowing clothing and toiletries from the other women, and was dragged into their various groups to tell her side of the story along the way.
Lance had not returned. Paige was staying with Belinda as usual. No one had told the girl what had happened, but Ronni figured Paige was smart enough to figure most of it out on her own. Especially if she’d overheard even a tenth of what was being said.
Ronni had received a lot of reserved looks from the others. No one seemed to know what to say to her. Thomas had left her to keep tabs on Jacob—he didn’t like the guy any more than she did, and they both had the feeling he was hiding more than his true identity.
Thomas wanted to interview some of the men about Lance. See if he could come up with anything indicating Lance might be the murderer. Meanwhile, Ronni stayed out of sight in the chapel, alone with her thoughts. Her brain was on overdrive, trying to work through the suspects, their possible motives, and the past day’s timeline. She needed a dry erase board or bulletin board to collect all the facts.
Poor Adam. He’s scared and alone.
Again.
Thomas thought she had blinders on when it came to her brother, but Ronni didn’t believe deep down inside that Adam was a murderer any more than she believed he’d been planning an attack on federal agents. Adam was the product of unfortunate circumstances and would never be able to shed the trappings of the past. A past he’d barely survived.
His future didn’t look bright either. Even if he hadn’t killed Kristine and her unborn child—he doesn’t have it in him—Adam faced a life of challenges with his health, his relationships, and the federal government always looking over his shoulder, waiting for him to screw up.
I have to find the real killer and make this right.
She made her way to the pulpit, remembering her first day inside the chapel. Paige looking up at her with those big, round eyes. The child was now motherless and her father was under suspicion of murder.
Losing your mother at such a young age was a horrific experience, Ronni knew. It had affected her entire life, and she so often thought of Danielle and wished she were still alive. A girl shouldn’t have to grow up without her mother.
Adam had lost both of his parents before he even knew them. Paige might have lost both of hers too.
I have to make this right for her.
Ronni paced the stage, touched the pulpit, and bowed her head. I know it’s been a while, God, or whoever’s out there and helped me save Adam before, but please do it again. I need help. Or a sign. Or…something.
She opened her eyes and waited. No burst of inspiration hit. No aha idea. Just one nagging sensation she couldn’t shake. One she couldn’t quite name. She headed for the women’s quarters.
Melanie was in the common room, telling her story of the discovery of Kristine’s body for the hundredth time. While she reveled in her drama with the other women, Ronni found the room Melanie was now staying in. It had two single beds, so Ronni laid down on one and waited for her.
An hour later, Melanie bustled into the room with a stack of clothes over one arm and a new toothbrush and toothpaste tube in her hands. She pulled up short and smiled a fake smile at Ronni. “What are you doing here?”
“Sharing your room.” Ronni sat up. “I have nowhere else to stay either, remember?”
“But, uh…” It was the first time Ronni had seen Melanie at a loss for words. “I assumed with Adam gone, you wouldn’t want to stay here.”
“Why not?”
Melanie’s smile dipped and she managed to wrinkle her forehead at the same time. “Your brother
killed Kristine. Your presence here is a little…awkward…don’t you think?”
“We don’t know who murdered Kristine. Not yet. And you said Lance did it.”
“Did I?”
She’d told Thomas that.
Setting her armful of clothes on the bed across from Ronni, she offered another smile. This one full of pity. “They found the gun in Adam’s nightstand, Roanna.”
“They found a gun. We don’t know if that’s the gun that killed Kristine.”
And anyone could have placed that gun in there.
Melanie sat next to her and patted her hand, that patient and pitiful smile still on her face. As if she was speaking to Paige instead of Ronni. “I know this is horrible for you. Just horrible. And I want you to know that we all feel the same way. No one here at Heaven’s Gate can believe Adam would take a life, especially not one of his followers.”
He didn’t.
“But.” She squeezed Ronni’s hand. “You must prepare yourself for the possibility it’s true. If so—and it looks likely—your presence here will not be well received.”
Was Melanie trying to get rid of her? “But this is my home now.”
One brow lifted. “Even if Adam’s not here?”
Ronni played her part. It wasn’t entirely a lie. “In a few short days, I’ve come to love it here. I don’t want to leave.”
The smile disappeared and a small crease divided Melanie’s forehead. She dropped Ronni’s hand and rose, making work of sorting the donated clothes. “I see.”
Why was Melanie so fired up for Ronni to leave? “I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable to have me here.” Her acting skills were getting a workout. “You’ve been so kind to me, I would hate to cause you trouble.”
“Trouble has already been caused, hasn’t it?” Melanie sighed a burdened sigh, as if she needed to save the whole world and Ronni was a pesky bug buzzing in her ear. “We’ll do what we always do and make the best of things. The farm will go on, and we’ll just have to see how things work out with you.”
“Hopefully, Adam will be back before you know it. The organic farm operations and iChurch business can continue again.”