Ellie didn’t tell her that she’d feel bad going back to her own, almost perfect life without making sure Beth was taken care of. She wanted the day to end on a good note.
When she made it to Jack and Pauline’s house, Jordan was already there, the family having a cocktail outside on the deck. Pauline got up to get her a glass, and Ellie followed her.
“Thanks so much for having me tonight. I have to ask though, is there any special occasion?”
They’d had dinners with Jack and Pauline before, usually on a weekend. It hadn’t occurred to Ellie until now that this exception might mean it was an anniversary or someone’s birthday.
Pauline gave her a surprised smile. “I was going to ask the same question—not that I mind. I just figured you both had a long day and were not in the mood for cooking.”
“More like a couple of such days. We’re really grateful,” Ellie said, wondering if there was something Jordan had yet to tell her.
“It’s no problem.” Pauline opened the fridge and took out a bottle of rosé wine, then she poured a glass for Ellie. “In fact, we love having you here. I know you’re both busy, but we’ve seen more of Jordan since she’s with you. It’s been a really good for her…and there are a lot of questions I want to ask, but I swear, I’m not going to.”
“We haven’t made any plans regarding kids yet—but we babysat for a friend once.”
Pauline laughed. “I’m sorry I’m this predictable. We’re just really happy for Jordan—for you both.”
Ellie thought that a little over twenty-four hours ago, she and Casey had been seeking cover behind that shed. Jordan’s idea had been the perfect one.
“I am very lucky,” she said before she picked up her glass, and they went back to join Jordan and Jack.
During dinner, everyone did their part to keep the conversation light, and later that night, Jordan joined her once more at the apartment. Maybe it was because of Ellie’s little meltdown the night before, or this was a sign of bigger changes to come. Either way, Ellie was glad for the time they had together after yet another turbulent few days. Kate wasn’t home. If she was honest, tonight, Ellie was grateful.
“I really enjoyed tonight,” she said.
Jordan sat on the couch, legs pulled up under her. “Me too.” She didn’t offer any further explanation.
“I had a nice conversation with Pauline in the kitchen. She was thinking we might have some announcement to make.”
“Hm.”
“I do feel kind of silly though, for losing it last night. I mean…It wasn’t even my gun.”
“It was still dangerous, and you held it together when you needed to. That’s all that counts.”
Jordan sat up straight, putting her feet on the floor. Ellie curled up beside her, lying back in Jordan’s lap.
“I’m glad you think so. I don’t even know why…There’s been a lot going on.”
“No kidding.”
Jordan’s hand gently brushing over her hair was almost hypnotic. If she closed her eyes, she might fall asleep—but that wasn’t Ellie’s intention. “I have the feeling that’s not all though…?”
Jordan was silent for a long moment, then she sighed. Another pause, before she said, “It’s about Kathryn.”
Of course it was. Ellie hated to be suspicious of people she didn’t know. She had enough information about Jordan’s birthmother to be cautious at the very best.
“What did she do?”
“Actually, it’s not something she did. I gave her money. Twice,” Jordan said with a tone so resigned Ellie sat back up.
“She asked you for money? When?”
“She didn’t ask for it, but when we met, she mentioned that she had trouble paying for her meds. It’s true, she takes a lot of them…I know because I went to look through her medicine cabinet today.”
“What?”
Jordan laughed wryly. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. I didn’t break in. She wasn’t home, but Jim was. I asked to use the bathroom.”
“Okay,” Ellie said, beginning to understand.
“Now I’m not sure if I’ve been stupid and fell for their scheme, or if thinking that would make me a horrible person…but it’s not even that important. I’m glad you’re okay. I’m glad the bullet didn’t come from your gun, because that’s something you grapple with, even when you have no choice.”
It might still happen, Ellie thought. Of course, Jordan knew it too.
“Did you ever…?”
“No. But I came close, too.”
There wasn’t much time to consider the implications, the ringing of a cell phone jolting her out of her thoughts. It was Jordan’s.
“I’m sorry. I think I have to take that.”
“It’s okay.” Ellie didn’t assume that Bethany would call at this time of day if it wasn’t work-related. At least that’s what she hoped.
Jordan listened for a moment, before she said, “We’ll be there.”
“We as in you and me?” Ellie asked, perplexed, when she had ended the call. “Where?”
“The place where she’s going to meet Agent Strickland.”
Ellie didn’t need any more time than the two seconds it took to grab her keys. “Let’s go.”
* * * *
Jordan was surprised to learn that Strickland had actually made it off the compound, and she assumed the young agent had enough information for the case—most likely, multiple cases—to go forward. Going back in would be too dangerous, especially under the circumstances. What she saw at the address Bethany had given her, worried Jordan. It looked like a family home from the outside, a two-car garage, a wrap-around porch with a swing in the front.
Russo was with them. He let Jordan and Ellie in, and they followed him upstairs to a spacious office space. At the table, Bethany sat with Agent Strickland. They were talking in hushed tones.
Jordan was struck by the young agent’s transformation. She looked tired, older, an impression only enhanced by the shapeless, greyish clothing mandatory for women living with the Prophets of Better Days.
“Agent Strickland has done amazing work,” Bethany said, nearly glowing with excitement. “We have plans of the building. Now it’s only a matter of time.”
“It’s as terrible as anyone can imagine.” Lilah Strickland shuddered as she addressed Jordan and Ellie. “Actually, it’s so much worse than I imagined. You wouldn’t believe this is going on right under our noses. They teach the kids the absolute minimum to pass tests, but frankly, I’d be surprised if all of those kids were registered at all. They start working on the farm at a young age, and they tell the boys that they can rise in the hierarchy if they marry early, even become one of the Prophets one day…they consider girls to be of age at fourteen. I have spoken to a number of engaged, or already pregnant teenagers, and the older women…” She shook her head. “You can imagine.”
Jordan could, after seeing what only two weeks in that place had done to Lilah. She could tell from Ellie’s troubled gaze that she was having similar thoughts.
“You have documentation?” she asked softly.
“Most of it,” Lilah said. “It’s pretty damning on its own, but there are several things happening right now. They are wrapping up another big gun purchase. Everyone is already tense, because of what happened with Raphael and Seth. Both of them wanted back in the brothers’ good graces, but the achieved just the opposite with drawing attention to the family. In any case, they’ll move all the children into the school area on that day so they’ll be safe. On that day, you’ll get all those assholes, and the gun sellers too.”
“Sounds like a win win,” Bethany said. “They won’t see us coming.”
“Yeah,” Strickland agreed tiredly. “I’ll have to go soon. I befriended a woman who helped me—she thinks I’m just going out to have a drink and a cigarette,” she said, laughing wryly. “This place is insane. I look forward to putting most of them into prison for a long time. The women—they’ll be free for the first time in their liv
es, but sadly, not even all of them will see it that way, that’s how conditioned they are from a young age.”
“Wait, you’re not going back in?”
“I don’t have a choice. If I disappear now, they know something’s up.”
Jordan looked to Bethany in disbelief, but she didn’t get any help from her.
“The woman you were talking about, how do you know you can trust her? If she’s as conditioned as the others, this might be a trap.”
“I think I can trust my judgment, Detective. It’s not without risk, but I know that if I can hold out for just a few more days, I can give you a lot more. Meanwhile, your idea paid off. Here’s some additional reading material.”
She put a USB key on the table.
“Jennifer Beaumont’s book. Happy reading.”
When confronted with expectant looks, Lilah Strickland said, “Once I knew where to look, it wasn’t all that hard. Remember, Jennifer used a box from that store to send the bracelet to her mother. Nathan Deane owns the company, but it’s his wife, daughter and other girls on the compound who produce most of the merchandise they sell on the internet. My friend knew where she hid it. She’s been living in fear ever since. If we do this right, so many women and children will have a future.”
“And what if they’re on to you?”
She caught Ellie’s thoughtful look. For sure, she wasn’t making this decision, but Jordan had a bad feeling about it.
“I am doing my job,” Strickland said briskly. “I understand it’s a matter of interdepartmental courtesy that you and Officer Harding are here, just so you have a heads-up for what’s to come. I strongly suggest that you leave the rest to me and my supervisors.”
Much to her credit, Bethany didn’t gloat.
“I agree. We have a lot of work to do now, go through the material Lilah gave us,” she said. “Then there’s the book. We’ll prepare a joined operation over the next few days, so when she gives us the go ahead, we can go in and catch those bastards in the act. Their lawyers will twist and deny the facts best they can, so the illegal gun sales are a bonus for us. People are a bit more sensitive these days.”
“The sale will happen on Monday, no later than seven PM.”
“How are you going to contact us?” Ellie asked. “I assume they monitor your communication.”
“I’ll send you Deborah,” Lilah said. “I want her and the kids out first.”
“We’ll make it happen,” Bethany assured her. “We’ll make it all happen.”
Chapter Eleven
Back at home, Ellie brewed a pot of tea, and they sat at the kitchen table, both of them still absorbing what they’d heard and seen. Jordan felt apprehensive at the thought of diving even deeper into the world of the Prophets of Better Days, from the view of the women trapped on the inside. Ellie looked pensive.
“I hope Lilah makes it out safely. That’s a lot of responsibility, sending her back in there.”
“Strickland’s cover is still intact. She knows what she’s doing, and Bethany does too.”
“I imagine she thought the same thing when she was exchanging messages with a serial killer, offering up her girlfriend as bait!”
Derek overheard the last part of Ellie and Jordan’s conversation when he and Kate returned to the apartment. Even if he hadn’t, Jennifer Beaumont’s book was open on Ellie’s tablet: Imprisoned. Given the task at hand, Jordan had no desire to discuss Bethany’s competence with Derek.
“Jesus, not this again. And keep it down. People are asleep in this building,” she said, not bothering to hide her exasperation.
“You have to go to her supervisor over this. Someday soon, she’s going to get someone killed, and it might be Agent Strickland.”
“Come on, don’t be melodramatic.” Jordan tried, but she couldn’t help the feeling that Derek had a point. He didn’t like Bethany, but even taking that fact out of the equation, she knew there was a high risk.
“I can’t interfere with any of this now. It’s not just Bethany—Russo and Strickland agreed as well. They have some material, but catching the good brothers trying to amass enough guns for the zombie acopalypse will shut them down for good. There are rumors Jeremiah and John might be present. This is going to be big.”
He shook his head, exasperated. “Wow. I can’t believe the things you’re ready to excuse with this woman.”
“Hold on a second.” Ellie who stood leaning against the counter, had followed the conversation silently until now. “I was there. It’s true what Jordan says.”
“Yes, you were there, and I wonder about that too. What kind of game is she playing?”
“There’s no game,” Jordan said. “They’re all doing their job. Would I prefer Strickland had wrapped this up before she left? Sure. But it’s not my call, and it’s not yours.”
“You feel good about this?” Unfortunately, he knew her well enough.
“No. There’s nothing we can do about it now. They’re going to set something up—we’ll see if they need us or not.”
He scoffed. “What do you think?”
“I think I’m tired, and I don’t want to discuss this with you any longer. I have a book to read too.”
“That’s unbelievable,” he said, turning on his heel the moment Kate returned from the shower. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Derek told her. “Bye.”
“I guess that means no staying over,” she said with a sigh. “All right, what is this about? I heard you arguing from the shower.”
Jordan glanced at Ellie, imploring her silently not to tell the truth—not yet, in any case. Kate would be interested in the book—she had been the first officer to talk to Jennifer Beaumont’s mother about her missing daughter.
“Just work,” Ellie said.
Kate looked doubtful. “Are you okay? I want to be sure I’m not walking into something tomorrow…”
“It will be fine.” Jordan got up and snatched Ellie’s tablet from the table.
“Didn’t I hear something about Agent Strickland?”
“We talked about her earlier, wondered how she might be doing.”
“Okay then.” Kate yawned. “I’m going to bed.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Jordan said quickly. Ellie nodded. They were both curious and apprehensive about what Jennifer Beaumont had planned to reveal in her tell-all. It had to be something so dangerous to the Prophets of Better Days cult that one of them gave the order to murder her. If they were lucky, she had named names too.
* * * *
Beaumont’s writing was clear and concise, engaging even though she dealt with disturbing numbers and facts. It was even more chilling to know she would not live to see the men committing these crimes arrested.
Jordan noticed that Ellie had stopped reading. She didn’t blame her. It was the stuff of nightmares, and God knew they both had enough of that already. She couldn’t help spare a thought on Darby who claimed he’d been teaching morals to the woman he’d murdered. Or Josh Ward who had teamed up with Ellie’s kidnapper, hoping to exploit the situation. Misogynists. Killers. It turned out the Prophets had men like that in their midst, unrepentant abusers who thought they had the right.
“That’s really bad,” Ellie said somberly, leaning back against the headboard. “You were worried about Lilah earlier.”
“It’s a high when you’re getting this close. I hope she won’t be careless.”
“I didn’t think she was. Like you said, all we can do now is wait.”
“Yeah. That’s what I don’t like.”
Ellie put the tablet aside and turned off the light, wrapping her arms around Jordan.
“It will be okay, all of it. I promise.”
How could she argue with that?
* * * *
The feeling of foreboding didn’t go away, and Derek’s sullen mood didn’t help. Lilah’s information, as well as Beaumont’s writings did help to piece together the motive for Seth Deane’s shooting spree. Apparently, a group of men left the compound on a r
egular basis. The fact that they asserted complete ownership of their wife and children didn’t seem to count. They wanted more, drunken binges, sex with random strangers. This was a part the brothers didn’t approve of, and married Seth had known it. By attacking Fiona Grayson, he had wanted to prove himself as a soldier of their group, but all he’d achieved was to draw more attention to the cult.
Jordan had to admit Lilah Strickland was right in one thing—it was unbelievable that the Brothers had managed to stay under the radar for so long, under the guise of a religious community, a handful of entitled-feeling men creating a dystopian world just barely out of the city. In fact, it took years of planning, purchasing real estate, upholding a tight hierarchy through intimidation.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call your judgment into question.” It had taken him nearly the whole day, but Derek had finally come to that conclusion.
“That’s okay.”
“This case is messed up, and a lot of people already got hurt. I will admit I have a hard time trusting her.”
“Bethany isn’t the only one who signed off on this, and Strickland knows what she’s in for. She wanted the weapons deal to go down, and the children out of the way. As much as I didn’t like her going back, that was something we could all agree on.”
“I guess. You’re coming over tonight?” he asked. “Night Shift or D&T?”
After last night’s meeting and reading time, the mere mention nearly made her yawn. “None of the above. I haven’t been to my house in three days or so. I need to make sure no one stole the bills from my mailbox.”
He chuckled. “I think you’ll be safe. Have a good night.”
One of them had surely overreacted, Jordan thought as she drove through the city, finally taking the exit that would take her to her neighborhood. In her case, it might be that she’d never forgiven herself for not catching on with Darby’s intentions right away…but her instincts had been right on the money, warning her that there was something strange about the always present son of an ex-cop, or the rich and entitled children of a murdered businessman. She wasn’t exaggerating. While she had to let Bethany and the other agents do their jobs, it didn’t mean that she had to like it.
Initiations (Carpenter/Harding Book 5) Page 11