Jacob said, “It wasn’t a clean killing, Fernie. They took part of Enoch with them.”
She had nothing to say to that.
They backed their way out of the sealing wing to the main hallway. The three of them searched the carpet again.
“Here,” Fernie said. “Is this blood?”
It was, indeed. Specks, already turning black.
“Look,” Stephen Paul said. He bent over something.
A piece of tissue, ground into a partial footprint. It must have caught up between the treads of one of the murderer’s feet as he fled the Celestial Room. The prints led further down the hallway. There was a stairwell back there, as well as offices used by Brother Joseph and his counselors from the Quorum of the Twelve. Had they fled the temple, then?
And then he realized something. The sealing was only the second highest ordinance performed in the temple. There was a room dedicated to the second anointing, and any lower ordinances might also be performed in that room. It was down this hallway, beneath the spire of the temple.
He turned to the others. “The Holy of Holies.”
Chapter Twenty-Three:
Eliza did not follow meekly as the men dragged the two women down the hallway, but kicked and fought every step of the way. She cried out for Jacob, all the while fearing they had killed him in the Celestial Room.
They pulled her into a room and threw her to the floor. It was dim inside and her eyes adjusted slowly, even as she struggled to catch her breath. She didn’t know where she was.
There was an altar in the middle of the room and her first thought was that it looked like pictures she had seen of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. The ark was carved wood, possibly cedar, with two gold-winged cherubim on top. The ceiling was higher than in the Terrestial Room, maybe seventy, eighty feet high. She guessed she was beneath the temple spire. Men in temple robes crowded the room.
Two other figures sat among them. Brother Joseph and her father.
The prophet sat with his hands tightly bound in front of him and his cane at his feet. A red welt raised on the side of his head and his face looked gray. They had gagged Abraham Christianson with duct tape. He looked at her with a dark expression. Was it defiance? Defeat?
“Father.”
There was another member of the Quorum in the room. Elder Kimball. Taylor Junior and Gideon’s father. Her would-be father-in-law. He stood next to the altar, prepared to officiate the wedding.
“I should have known,” she said. “All of this, everything. It’s all your doing.” She fixed Elder Kimball with a look of scorn. “Where is your pathetic son, then?”
“Son?” Confusion in his voice.
It was a tone of voice she had not expected. It matched the bewildered look on his face. No triumph, no confidence. “Yes, Taylor Junior. Where is he?”
He licked his lips. “Ah, Taylor Junior.” He made a sideways glance to the prophet, then looked away quickly. “You see, he’s not here.”
Gideon chuckled. “You thought you were going to marry Taylor Junior? That’s funny. No, you’re not marrying Taylor Junior. You’ll be marrying my father’s other son.”
“Gideon,” said Elder Kimball. “Son. This is too hasty. It’s not time, yet.”
Gideon cut him off. “Be quiet, old man.” A hint of violence colored his voice.
Elder Kimball blinked hard, but did not speak again.
Eliza stared at Gideon in growing horror. “You’re the one who killed Amanda. You cut her throat. You are the murderer.”
“It’s not murder to cut down the enemies of God. The blood of the wicked must justify the souls of the righteous.”
“And what? You’ll kill the prophet, too?”
He looked shocked at the idea. “Why would I do that? The prophet always obeys the Lord’s will.” He turned to Aaron Young. “Bring her to the altar. And my mother.” This last bit he said with a sneer.
Aaron Young dragged Eliza to the altar and forced her to her knees. They brought Charity to the altar and stood her to one side. It was she who would stand as witness for Gideon’s character.
During this conversation and while they’d forced the two women to the front, the Lost Boys passed around a goblet, from which they drank deeply. When they’d finished, they handed it to Gideon, who took a wine bottle and filled the goblet a second time, then passed it back among the men.
Gideon knelt across from Eliza on the opposite side of the altar. Elder Kimball took his place to one side, uncertain, looking now to his son for his cues.
“What happened to Enoch?” she asked. She almost suffocated on the words as they came out of her mouth. “Please, you didn’t hurt my brother. You wouldn’t kill him.”
“Come, Eliza. Your cooperation is the only thing keeping your father alive.” He hesitated. “And Enoch. Nobody will get hurt. Can we continue?”
“You’re lying. There’s blood on your robes. It’s Enoch’s, isn’t it?” She thought she was going to be sick.
A cough from behind her. Eliza looked back at her father. He gave her another shake of the head. Keep quiet.
Yes, quiet. And she would obey. Because Eliza had a secret of her own to play out. Manuel and Eduardo had given her a wire to tape to her breastbone. She’d had to take it off when putting on the sheet for the initiatory, afraid that Fernie or someone would see what she was carrying. But nobody had touched her clothes when she’d returned and she’d taped it back in place. She’d thought only to prove to the agents that she was being forced into marriage. They had much more reason to come now. What had they heard? More than enough.
With any luck, the FBI agents had picked up on the struggles in the Terrestial Room and even now were on their way here. That had been what? Ten minutes ago? If only she knew where in the temple they had taken her. She could tell them.
“Underneath the temple spire,” she whispered.
Gideon turned toward her. “What did you say?”
“This isn’t a sealing room, is it?” she asked him. “Why did you bring me here? What room is this? It has an oak door with a sunstone.” She glanced up. “It looks like we’re under the spire.”
“Be quiet.” Gideon looked at Elder Kimball. “Father?”
Elder Kimball cleared his throat. He addressed his son in a voice that began shakily, but gained strength as he continued. “Brother Kimball, do you take Sister Christianson by the right hand and receive her unto yourself to be your lawfully wedded wife, for time and all eternity, with a covenant and promise that you will observe and keep all the laws, rites, and ordinances pertaining to this holy order of matrimony in the new and everlasting covenant; and this you do in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses of your own free will and choice?
Gideon bowed his head and said, “Yes.”
“Sister Christianson, do you take Brother Kimball by the right hand and give yourself to him to be his lawfully wedded wife, and receive him to be your lawfully wedded husband, for time and all eternity, with a covenant and promise that you will observe and keep all the laws, rites, and ordinances pertaining to this holy order of matrimony in the new and everlasting covenant; and this you do in the presence of God, angels, and these witnesses of your own free will and choice?”
Eliza said nothing.
Gideon turned to one of the Lost Boys. “Israel, if she doesn’t say yes in three seconds, cut Abraham Christianson’s throat.”
She blurted the word at once. “Yes.”
A sham. It had no authority.
Elder Kimball said, “By virtue of the holy priesthood and the authority vested in me, I pronounce you, Brother Kimball and Sister Christianson, legally and lawfully husband and wife for time and all eternity; and I seal upon you the blessings of the holy resurrection, with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed in glory, immortality, and eternal lives.
“I seal upon you the blessings of kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, and exaltations, with all the blessin
gs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and say unto you: be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, that you may have joy and rejoicing in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“All these blessings, together with all the blessings appertaining unto the new and everlasting covenant, I seal upon you by virtue of the holy priesthood, through your faithfulness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
Gideon sprang to his feet. A strange glow lit his face. “It is done.”
“What now?” Elder Kimball asked.
“Now?” Gideon looked down at his new bride, still trembling on her knees. “Now I will consummate my marriage with my beautiful wife.”
Elder Kimball stared at his son with horror. “Here? Now?”
“Are you deaf, old man? Yes, here. That way everyone will know.”
“You’re insane.”
Eliza flailed as Gideon and two of the outcasts grabbed her hands and legs and threw her on top of the altar.
#
Fernie, Stephen Paul, and Jacob ran down the hallway toward the Holy of Holies. Jacob could see the door and he was certain, now, that he would find the murderers inside with his sister.
“Hold it right there.” It was a hard voice that left no argument.
The three stopped short and turned. It was the younger of the two FBI agents. Eduardo. He stood against one wall, gun drawn. He wore a headset, held in place by a nylon band. There was a microphone and he spoke into it now. “Come back upstairs. I’ve got three of them.”
Relief flooded through Jacob to see Eduardo instead of one of the Lost Boys. “They’ve taken my sister. She’s just down this hall. Hurry. Please, we have to stop them.”
The man watched Jacob, warily. “What’s the blood?” He didn’t lower the gun, but used it to gesture at Jacob’s clothing.
Jacob looked at the stains on his temple clothes. “My brother’s.” His throat was tight. “We got there too late. Please, you have to help. My sister is in there.”
Stephen Paul said, “He’s telling the truth. We need your help.”
Eduardo looked from Jacob, to Stephen Paul, and then Fernie. He nodded. “Yes, of course. Eliza is wearing a wire, so we’ve heard some of it. They’re forcing her into marriage. Ugly situation.” He lowered the gun.
“Yes, behind that door.” Jacob pointed. “In the Holy of Holies.”
“I don’t understand,” Fernie said. “Who is this? What are the Mexicans doing in here?”
Jacob said, “He’s FBI. They’re here to help.”
Manuel arrived a moment later, carrying his own gun. Eduardo held a hand to stop his partner, who arrived in a rush. It took a few seconds to get everyone on the same page.
“How many are we talking?” Manuel asked Jacob, voice low.
“At least three,” Jacob whispered back. “Possibly more. They have a knife. Maybe a gun.”
“Did you call for backup?” Manuel asked Eduardo.
“No signal.”
“Bad cell coverage on this side of town,” Jacob said.
Manuel said, “Yeah, we thought we were coming in here to rescue an unwilling bride, not face down a bunch of armed men.”
“And my sister is in there. Be careful.”
A nod, and then they advanced toward the Holy of Holies. Nobody spoke. They stopped in front of the door. “Stand back, all of you,” Manuel whispered.
They stood outside the door, the FBI agents with weapons drawn and the other three standing two steps back. Eduardo and Manuel nodded at each other and then burst through the door.
Chapter Twenty-Four:
The two FBI agents held their guns steady.
Jacob couldn’t see well into the dim light of the room, but there were numerous shapes inside.
“Step away from the girl!” Manuel shouted. “All of you get back.”
When they did not get the hoped-for response, Eduardo and Manuel stepped carefully into the room with their guns held at the ready. Jacob could see now that there were a good dozen men in the room. Too many for two agents, armed or no.
He gestured to Stephen Paul and they followed the agents into the Holy of Holies.
His eyes adjusted to the dim light. Eliza sprawled across the altar in the middle of the room. Israel Young stood to one side. Elder Kimball stood on the other side, next to his wife, Charity, her eyes puffy from crying. Gideon Kimball crouched over Eliza, pinning her wrists.
Most of the others in the room were also Lost Boys, but there were two others sitting on the benches, bound. The only two not in temple robes. Father and Brother Joseph.
“You,” Manuel said in a calm voice. He gestured with his gun at Gideon. “Let go of the girl. I will shoot.”
Gideon hesitated, then nodded. He released her hands and stepped back.
Eliza stumbled from the altar. She looked shaken. And in that moment, Jacob saw Gideon shift slightly to his right. His hands did not move. His right leg twitched, as if stepping on something that Jacob could not see.
Light blossomed overhead like the sun. It drowned out the dim bulbs of the chandelier and radiated heat. Jacob threw up his arm to shield his eyes.
“The angel!” someone cried. The Lost Boys rose to their feet.
Other voices joined. “The angel. The angel has come.” The room erupted. Cries, movement.
Jacob did not think for a moment that the light came from an angel. He had seen that shift in Gideon’s posture. The man had done this, and the first cry of, “angel!” had come from him as well. Jacob was certain of it.
A gun discharged. A second shot. And then Jacob’s eyes adjusted enough that he could see Gideon and Israel fighting with the two FBI agents. The guns pointed at the ceiling. Some Lost Boys moved to help, even as others stared slack-jawed at the light on the ceiling.
Jacob looked for Eliza. There she was, helping Charity untie the hands of Brother Joseph and Abraham Christianson. He grabbed Stephen Paul and together they forced a path through the Lost Boys toward the fight over the guns.
And then the mob fell upon Jacob. A pair of hands seized his wrist. It was a weak grip and he jerked back his free arm and smashed his assailant in the face with his elbow. He tripped over a leg. Someone else grabbed him.
He turned to lash out at this new attacker.
“Jacob, it’s me.”
Brother Joseph. The prophet had gained his feet. He had taken Jacob’s arm with duct-taped hands. Jacob blinked, only slowly recognizing the prophet through the noise and the lights.
“The cane, Jacob. Take it.”
Brother Joseph’s cane. It was solid oak and topped with a brass handle in the shape of a beehive. Jacob saw it now for what it was. Not a historical artifact or a family heirloom. Nor a staff for an old man. A weapon. He took it.
Jacob brained the first man who tried to stand against him. Another came forward, but he smashed this man in the nose with the brass beehive. Stephen Paul regained his feet and together they cleared a path toward the main knot of fighting that surrounded the FBI agents.
And then everything went dark. Someone had cut the lights. Shouts. Confusion. Cries of dismay that the angel had abandoned them. Only gradually did Jacob regain his vision from the light that trickled into the room from the hallway.
Far from turning the battle against them, the loss of the light ended it. It was over even before Charity Kimball found the dimmer switch on the ground and turned the chandelier back on.
Manuel and Eduardo forced men to their bellies. Stephen Paul pushed another down and Jacob’s father and the prophet bound a man’s hands with his own temple sash.
Eduardo bled from one shoulder. Jacob looked down to see fresh blood sprayed across his own clothes. The recipient of one of his blows with the cane lay on the floor, clutching his nose. Blood streamed down his face.
There was no sign of Gideon and Israel among the men on the floor. Jacob looked frantically for his sister. She, too, was gone.
“They’ve taken Eliza,” he said. He rushe
d into the hallway and looked each way. No sign of the two men or his sister. They’d fled during the confusion.
“My husband is gone, too,” Charity Kimball said.
Jacob looked around for Elder Kimball and saw that she was right. How many others had slipped away?
While the FBI agents finished binding the Lost Boys with their temple sashes, Stephen Paul propped his brother Aaron against the altar. “Where did they take her?”
The man shook his head with a glazed expression. “Taken who?”
Jacob looked from face to face among the Lost Boys. They all wore the same vacant expression. There was a wine goblet overturned by the altar and Jacob blinked in surprise. They had been drinking. They looked drunk, or even drugged. No wonder the battle had ended so quickly once their “angel” abandoned them.
Stephen Paul tried again. “Gideon and Israel. Where did they go?”
“They left the temple,” someone said.
Jacob found the man who had spoken. “How?”
“The desert. We always come and go through the desert. Witch’s Warts.”
#
Eliza didn’t stop struggling even as Israel and Gideon bound her hands behind her back with her temple veil and her feet with the sashes from the men’s temple robes. She kept struggling as they carried her through the halls of the temple. But they were too strong.
They ran into Elder Kimball just before they reached the back door. He stared at Gideon but shrank against the wall.
“Elder Kimball,” she pleaded as her two captors rushed past. “Help me.”
But he did nothing.
Now outside, Israel carried her over his shoulder as they made their way into the maze of sandstone fins and hoodoos stretching beyond the temple. They hit Witch’s Warts at an angle, doubled back on their own trail twice and crossed through the narrow gap where they had discovered Amanda’s body last week. She could still see the stones that had held the tarp in place and the disturbed sand, only partially smoothed over by the rain.
At first she thought the two men were lost. She could feel the hesitation in Israel’s body as she rode over his shoulder. He was following Gideon, and perhaps the other man was similarly confused.
Righteous - 01 - The Righteous Page 24