“Henry, would you like to say anything?”
He blinked away the visual and paused. What the hell was he supposed to say? What is wrong with you people? Why would you willingly and blindly follow the rantings and ravings of a madman? He stepped up to the microphone. “Thank you for the warm welcome. My wife Tina and I are honored to be accepted into your family and we look forward to getting to know all of you. God has brought us to you and we are grateful for his divine wisdom and guidance.” With a wave, he returned to Tina’s side.
The crowd clapped, as did Elijah, who murmured, “That was lovely.” He gestured to a man sitting in the first row. “Mel, would you act as a guide and take Henry and Tina around to meet everyone? Show them the compound and then to their living quarters. We will all gather for a service this evening at eight to officially welcome the last members of our flock home.”
Chapter Ten
“Do you see the target?” Talia whispered to Hunter after Elijah left the platform to mingle with the others.
“Negative.”
“Neither do I.” And that troubled her. If Margaret wasn’t here, that could mean that something had happened to her. Margaret’s parents were already worried about their only daughter. She did not relish the idea of having to inform them that she was missing…possibly dead.
A man with thinning hair and wire-rimmed glasses approached them. He looked intimidated by Hunter’s height, but he pressed forward anyway. “Henry, Tina, I’m Mel. Welcome to the Keepers of the Light.”
“Thank you, Mel,” she murmured after Hunter greeted him.
“We’re glad to have you here. If you’ll come with me, I’ll show you around.”
He introduced them to several of the couples, including his wife Nadine. Then he led them down the path. They fell in step beside him, her hand firmly clasped in Hunter’s strong grip. Somehow, it’d become second nature to slip her hand in his. It’d been awkward at first and the contact was like touching an electrical wire, but now it just felt right. She craved his touch. If he was near, she wanted to be touching him. Not good. Not good at all.
“How long have you been with the Keepers of the Light?” Hunter asked Mel.
“About nine months. My wife and I were among the first of Elijah’s recruits.”
“Was it hard to make the adjustment to being cut off from the world?” Talia asked.
Mel thought for a minute and then shook his head. “Not really. There’s so much bad in the world. Violence. Drugs. Murder. Elijah preaches love and kindness. If you don’t know about the latest school shooting or the serial killer running loose in Florida, it can’t upset you. It’s the ideal way to live.”
That was one way to look at it, Talia supposed. But how naïve. Bad things happen, but so do good. You would never know if your favorite team won the Super Bowl or if your cousin had a baby. It was the grown-up equivalent of a child covering their ears and singing loudly so they didn’t have to listen to what their parents said…times a thousand.
“What did you do for a living before joining us?” Mel questioned.
“I was in private security,” Hunter answered. “That’s how I met Tina. Her father hired me as her bodyguard. He’s in the oil business.”
“How did you meet your wife,” Talia asked.
A fond smile tilted Mel’s lips. “She was a secretary at my company. Prettiest woman I’ve ever seen.” He stopped at another group and made introductions. Talia tried to commit names to faces but after so many, she gave up. Hopefully they wouldn’t be there long enough to need to remember everyone.
#
After retreating to his bungalow, Elijah punched in the code to his private lair, his mind on the new couple. Tina was a knockout. And knowing her worth…it was almost enough to have him change his plans. But he’d learned the hard way to not deviate. Therein lies trouble.
He wanted to hate Henry for being married to Tina, had even considered getting rid of him. But Elijah truly liked the man. He was competent and strong. A born leader.
When the elevator touched down to his secret underground chambers, he whipped the robes over his head, cursing his decision to wear the frock. He flipped on the light as he stripped off his shirt.
“What the—”
He stared at shock at the naked woman reclining on his bed. His king-sized bed with a silk comforter and one-thousand count Egyptian cotton, luxury sheets. The bed in his private domain. “Nadine, what the hell are you doing? Cover yourself.” He turned away, but not before he got an eyeful of her spectacular breasts. Who knew underneath the shapeless frocks she favored, she was stacked?
“Come to me, Elijah. I want you.”
He tossed a look over his shoulder to see her spread her legs and his control wavered. He slipped on his shirt and turned his back. “You’re married to Mel, Nadine. You took sacred vows in front of God.”
“But I want to be with you, Elijah.”
“I’ve taken a vow of celibacy, you know this. Yet you tempt me? You’re like Eve in the Garden of Eden. You’re trying to ruin me. That is cause for dismissal from our family.”
The silk comforter swooshed as she scrambled off the bed. “No, no, you can’t kick me out. I love you, Elijah. I want to be with you. I saw how you looked at the new woman. That wasn’t the look of a man who has forsaken the pleasures of the flesh. Let me be the woman to slake your baser needs.”
She rubbed her ample breasts against his back and damn if his body didn’t respond. He might pretend to be in front of his flock, but he was no saint. “Get out now and I will say nothing of this to Mel.” His voice was a croak.
He heard her sigh and then her touch was gone. He adjusted himself and turned in time to see her slip a brown polka dot dress over her head. Her ass was flabby and dimpled with cellulite, but not a deal-breaker. She was one of the few women who had not become pregnant. He wondered if good ol’ Mel was shooting blanks.
She refused to look at him as she scurried past him. A sudden thought struck, and horror clouded his vision. “Nadine?” His voice was low, lethal.
She turned to him. “Yes, Elijah?”
“How did you get down here?” No one knew about his underground lair. It was accessed through his private study which he’d outfitted with high-tech security. Rob and Clint had the code, but they didn’t know about this space. He had things in his study that he didn’t want others to access like cash needed to run the cult. But this space…it was his haven. There were things others couldn’t see…a cell phone, computers, television, porn! My God. What if she found his stash of videos and magazines? And what if she discovered the entrance to his secret tunnel? He used the passageway to leave the compound when he visited Miss Maxine’s in Denver. She could ruin him!
His face must’ve reflected his inner fury. Nadine averted her gaze. “Oh, don’t worry, Elijah, I won’t say a word to anyone about all this.” She waved a hand.
She knew. She knew everything. Hell, she had to have seen the television. The thing was seventy inches long. “I repeat, how did you get down here?”
Her gaze skittered away again. “I might’ve followed you once. I saw you entering the code into the door to your study and I memorized. I planned on hiding in there to seduce you but then you came in, didn’t even see me, and made a beeline to the bookcase.”
Damn, he should’ve added a code to the elevator, too. Another layer of security. He knew that. Carelessness caused mistakes. Rage burned through his system. She could unravel everything. He worked hard to keep his voice level. “How many times have you been down here?”
Owl-like eyes blinked at him. “This is the first time. I mean, I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw you speak in church months ago. You captivated me. Enchanted me. I think you put a spell on me. I knew we would be good together, Elijah. I hoped I’d get the chance to prove it to you.”
His mind raced. She needed to be eliminated. He couldn’t take the risk of her exposing him. He felt bad for her husband, Mel. He was a good guy. But thi
s was about self-preservation. Hell, he’d run over his own grandma to save his skin. He raked his gaze down her body, remembering what was hidden beneath the clothes. Might as well get some gratification out of it.
His lips curved into a seductive smile and Nadine’s pupils dilated. “I’ve changed my mind. I do want you, Nadine.”
“You do?” Her tone was breathless, hopeful. “Oh, Elijah.” She threw her arms around him and he fought the urge to backhand her across the room. Instead, he lifted the shapeless garment over her head and palmed her gargantuan breasts. She mewled with pleasure as he backed her to the bed and came down over her. He wasted no time on needless foreplay and entered her with a hard thrust. She screamed in pleasure and scratched his back. He didn’t know how Mel put up with her. The sounds she made were almost enough to make him lose his erection. He waited until he was at the edge, not even caring if she was there with him, then glided his hands to her neck, his thumbs pressing into her jugular. He’d never tried autoerotic asphyxiation, but he heard it could really intensify an orgasm. Too bad he wouldn’t get to experience the high himself.
Nadine’s eyes widened as he upped the pressure, her hands leaving his ass to claw at his hands, trying to pry him off. He saw the moment she understood what was happening. She tried shaking her head, but he’d cut off her oxygen. It took longer than he thought, but the minute life left her body, he came in a blinding climax. He shouted long and loud, the force stealing all the air from his body.
Drained, he rolled off her and flopped on his back, his forearm covering his eyes. He tried to control his ragged breathing. He’d never come so hard in his life, and that included the time he’d spent with identical twins who performed acrobatics in the circus. Man, they were bendy.
He’d definitely add this to his repertoire…but wait. The whole premise was to cut off your own oxygen, wasn’t it? He remembered reading about some actor who died attempting it. So that meant that what just happened wasn’t autoerotic asphyxiation. No, his high came from taking the life of someone else. Huh. He got off on plain old murder. Who knew?
It wasn’t the first time he’d killed, but it was the first time he’d done so up close and personal.
When his breathing leveled out, he realized he had a serious problem. He needed to dispose of the body. He couldn’t just load her into his car and dump her in the nearest lake. She had a husband. She was part of his close-knit community. She’d be missed. There would be no way to explain her escape, especially since everyone in the community saw her earlier in the evening. Plus, he preached about his high-tech, impenetrable security.
He needed to make her death look like a suicide.
After cleaning himself up, he slid the dress over Nadine’s nude body and then he dragged her off the bed by her feet. She hit the floor with a sickening thud, but he kept going until he had her stuffed into the elevator. Once the lift stopped, he listened for any sound coming from his study. Nadine’s stunt made him excessively paranoid.
He detected no sounds, so he shoved the bookcase aside, picked up one of Nadine’s arms and hauled her into the middle of the room. Rob and Clint both carried cells so he could reach them when he needed them. He texted both men and a few minutes later, they arrived together.
“What is it, Elijah?” Clint asked. He allowed them to call him by his name…well, his fake name…when they were alone. Otherwise, everyone called him Lightkeeper. Corny as hell, but hey, it worked.
“What happened to Nadine?” Clint asked when he saw her sprawled on the floor.
“She told me she needed to talk. She said she needed spiritual guidance. Suddenly, she had some kind of seizure, started grabbing her neck. Her eyes even rolled back in her head,” he added for effect. At least, that’s how he pictured a seizure. He’d never actually seen anyone in the throes of one. “I tried to assist her, but before I could do anything, her breathing stopped. She was dead.”
“Do you want me to get Mel?” Rob asked, his nose wrinkling when he spotted the corpse.
“No. I found Nadine in my private study, uninvited.” He narrowed his eyes. “Do either of you know how she obtained the code?” He did…she got it from him. But it was always good to keep the minions on their toes.
“No idea.”
“I sure as hell didn’t give it to her,” Rob added.
He pretended to scrutinize them and then nodded. “Very well. I don’t want the others to know she discovered the code, or that she was in my private study. Take her body and make it look like a suicide. Leave her hanging in her room.”
Both men grumbled as they moved to do his bidding. “You take the feet, I’ll take the arms,” Rob instructed Clint.
“Here.” Elijah tossed them a wool blanket so they could cover her up. “It goes without saying to not let anyone see you, especially Mel.”
Chapter Eleven
Hunter absorbed the information and catalogued the surroundings as Mel guided them on a detailed tour of the grounds. Mel was a kind man, soft-spoken and intelligent. Hunter wondered how he’d been suckered into joining a cult.
Talia’s hand was clasped firmly in his and the contact felt good. He’d even threaded their fingers together. She was getting used to touching him.
“This is the dining hall. Breakfast and lunch are informal, ranging from cereal to sandwiches. You can even pick up items to fix meals in your cabin. We all make the effort to share dinners together.”
“How does that work?” Talia asked. “Do we each bring a dish?”
“No, we are lucky to have the services of an executive chef. Several of the women and men assist with cooking duties. They prepare the meals, according to Elijah’s wishes.”
“That is a good thing since my specialty is burnt toast,” Talia remarked, and Hunter smiled at her. He wasn’t an Iron Chef, but he knew his way around a kitchen. He’d love to whip her up a gourmet meal.
Mel pointed out the laundry facilities, a building that was used as a workshop, one that housed arts and crafts, a music hall, a greenhouse where they grew many of the vegetables that were used for meal preparations and the cabins of the other members.
“I thought Elijah only accepted couples into the Keepers of the Light,” Hunter remarked.
“He does,” Mel confirmed.
“Are Rob and Clint not married? I didn’t see their wives.” He actually didn’t look for Clint’s wife. He was only interested in Rob’s wife, Margaret.
“Brother Clint’s wife was there. Sister Joan. Lovely woman. Brother Rob’s wife, Sister Margaret, has been under the weather.”
Damn, he felt ridiculous calling the other members of the flock by titles, but had to remember to add them. He felt like he was in Catholic school, calling a grown woman Sister Margaret.
“Oh, I hope it’s not serious,” Talia fretted.
Mel shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not sure, really. She hasn’t been well for a couple of weeks.”
Alarm bells rang in Hunter’s head. What would happen if she needed medical care? Would Elijah allow her to leave the compound to seek treatment? “Has she seen a doctor?”
“Brother Phillip came to us from a medical practice. If Sister Margaret’s condition was serious, I’m sure he would be called to examine her.”
“What if it’s something Brother Phillip couldn’t diagnose or treat? Would she be taken to a hospital?”
Mel shrugged. “The issue hasn’t come up before.”
“Which bungalow is she in?” Talia asked. “I will make sure to stop by and see if she needs anything.”
Mel pointed the cabin out…just as Rob disappeared inside, closing the door behind him.
Mel indicated the cabins of several other members. They were nearing the end of the path when he said, “This is the house I share with my wife, Nadine. And this last one is your new residence. Sister Janet has prepared it for your arrival.”
Hunter eyed the structure. The building was constructed of the same materials as the other cabins: wood with a metal roof. It looked
like something you’d rent with your buddies for a weekend of fishing and drinking.
“Thank you for the tour.” Hunter shook Mel’s hand.
“If you have any questions, please ask. Being here has been a blessing and I know you’ll love it as much as the rest of us.” Mel regarded his watch. “I’ll stop by to walk you to the sermon tonight so you don’t get lost.”
“Great. Appreciate it.” Not. Hunter was not looking forward to another boring lecture from the loquacious Lightkeeper.
Mel bid them goodbye and headed to his cabin. Talia opened the door to the space they’d be calling home for a few days. Hopefully not longer than that. As soon as they could talk to Margaret and convince her to leave with them, the op would be over. He wouldn’t be Talia’s fake husband anymore. The thought depressed him.
The inside was one open room with a large bed, a sitting area and a kitchenette against one wall. A door off to the side was most likely the bathroom. At least they had the luxury of indoor plumbing. If they’d had to use a pit toilet, he’d be forgoing food and water for the duration of their stay. Those things were nasty.
“It’s…”
“Quaint?” Hunter guessed.
“I was thinking more along the lines of intimate,” she muttered. “Not much privacy.”
“Yeah, it’s—"
“No!”
Hunter’s eyes snapped to Talia’s and then he was rushing outside with Talia on his heels.
“No! No! No!” Mel came stumbling out of his cabin backwards, his hands gripping his face.
Hunter rushed to him and caught him just as he collapsed. He maneuvered him to the ground. Was he having a heart attack? “Mel, what is it? Are you okay? Are you having chest pains?”
Tremors shook Mel’s body. Hunter was just about to break protocol and grab his hidden cell to call 911 when Mel pointed to his cabin with a shaking finger.
“Stay with him,” Hunter instructed Talia. He stood and reached for his weapon before remembering he wasn’t carrying one. He pushed the door to Mel’s cabin open and stopped in his tracks. He wasn’t surprised when Talia crashed into his back. He should’ve known better than to expect she’d follow his orders.
Total Surrender (COBRA Securities Book 11) Page 8