by Cindi Myers
“That’s right,” Metwater said. He smiled and beckoned toward Sophie. “Come here, child. Don’t be shy.”
Sophie flushed and walked very slowly, head down, to the side of the bed where Metwater sat. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “You’re happy here, aren’t you?” he asked, his lips practically brushing the girl’s cheek.
She stood frozen, avoiding his eyes.
“Of course she’s happy.” Phoenix stroked her daughter’s hand. “You love it here, don’t you, dear?”
Sophie nodded, though she still didn’t look up. Carmen swallowed the sour taste in her mouth. She had to fight to keep from ordering Metwater to take his hands off the girl. The muscles bunched along Jake’s jaw as he glared at the Prophet.
Metwater met the glare with a challenging look of his own. “Your mother and sister are well cared for here,” he said. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”
Carmen wasn’t so sure about that. She couldn’t decide whether Daniel Metwater or Jake Lohmiller was likely to cause the most trouble.
Jake glared at Metwater. “Get your hands off my sister,” he said, and there was no mistaking the menace behind his words.
“Sophie doesn’t mind, does she?” Metwater snuggled the girl closer.
“Get your hands off her, or I’ll break them off!”
“Jake!” Phoenix grabbed his arm. “That’s no way to talk to a holy man.”
“There’s nothing holy about the way he’s holding Sophie.”
Phoenix sent her daughter a worried look. “Maybe Sophie should leave us now,” she said.
Metwater unwrapped his arms from around the girl. “You may go now, daughter,” he said.
Sophie ran from the room without looking at any of them. A moment later, the door to the motor home slammed behind her.
Phoenix turned to Jake. “Now look what you’ve done,” she said.
“What I’ve done?” Jake stood. “This charlatan has pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. Can’t you see this is no place for a child? This is no place for you.”
“Enough.” Metwater clapped his hands together. “You may not come into my home and insult me this way.”
Jake took a step toward the Prophet, fists clenched. Carmen had seen enough. She moved forward and took his arm. “Come with me,” she said softly. “We’ll figure something out.”
“You’re not welcome in my home or my Family’s home,” Metwater said. “Leave, and don’t come back.”
The guard stepped forward and took Jake’s other arm. His muscles tensed beneath Carmen’s hand, but she held on, even as he shook off the guard. “I’m leaving,” he said. “But this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me.”
Chapter Three
Jake wrenched from Carmen’s grasp and stalked out of the room. She started after him, but Metwater’s voice stopped her. “How do you know this man?” he asked.
“I don’t,” she said. “He approached me while we were out gathering fruit. He told me he was Phoenix’s son and that he wanted to see her. Then Sophie ran up and told us her mother had collapsed.”
“It was just too much sun,” Phoenix protested. “I’m fine.” She looked to Metwater. “Jake always did have a hot temper, but he doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s a good boy. He was just worried about me, that’s all.”
Metwater kept his gaze fixed on Carmen. He had dark, piercing eyes that dared you to blink first. “I don’t want you associating with him,” he said. “He strikes me as dangerous.”
Carmen nodded. Not that she was agreeing with Metwater, but she was anxious to get out of the motor home and find Jake before he caused any more trouble.
“You may go now,” Metwater said.
She ground her teeth together. Reminding him she didn’t need his permission to walk away wouldn’t fit with her cover of the new, meek disciple. She kept her head down until she was out of the RV, then looked around for Jake.
She spotted him with Starfall and another woman, Sarah, outside a lean-to that served as the camp’s communal kitchen. “We were just telling Soldier Boy here that we could use a man like him around,” Starfall said. She gave Jake an appreciative once-over.
“Your Prophet doesn’t agree,” Jake said.
“He doesn’t like people who disagree with him,” Sarah said. When the others looked at her, she flushed. “But it’s his camp, so I guess he gets to make the rules.”
“Phoenix never let on she had a good-looking son like you,” Starfall said, looking Jake up and down.
“She doesn’t talk about her past,” Sarah said. “Most people here don’t.”
“They don’t,” Starfall agreed. She turned to Carmen. “For instance, we don’t know anything about Carmen here, except that she heard the Prophet at a rally in Grand Junction and fell in love with his teachings.”
“There’s nothing to know,” Carmen said. She touched Jake’s arm. “Where is Sophie?”
“I don’t know.” He frowned. “I need to find her.”
“She’s probably at Phoenix’s trailer,” Starfall said. “You know teenagers. They’re always in a snit about something.”
“I’ll take you there,” Carmen said.
Jake followed her away from the two women. When they were out of earshot, Carmen said, “We have to hurry. Metwater will send someone to make sure you left camp, and Starfall will probably tell them where you went.”
“Does everyone here do what Metwater tells them to do?” he asked.
“That’s part of the deal when you join up with his Family,” she said. “You turn over all your worldly goods to him and agree to live by his rules.”
“You did that?” he asked.
“No. I’m still on probation. I get to hang around for a couple of weeks and decide if this is what I really want.”
Jake looked around them. Women and children were everywhere, along with a handful of men. Everyone was young and attractive. “I don’t get it,” he said. “What do people see in this kind of life?”
“They’re unhappy and looking for something,” she said. “Some meaning or purpose. They want to be part of a special group and feel special themselves. Metwater promises that.”
His eyes, as intense as the Prophet’s, met hers, but with a warmth she had never found in Metwater’s gaze. “What does he get out of it?” he asked.
“All their property, for one thing, though for most of them that’s just a little cash and maybe a vehicle. A lot of adoration and ego strokes. Power.”
“And nothing he’s doing is against the law?”
She shrugged. “As long as the people involved are competent adults and they hand over everything willingly, there’s not a lot we can do.”
“Which brings me back to my original question,” he said. “Why are you here?”
She glanced around, as much to buy time to formulate her answer as to make sure they couldn’t be overheard. “There are a lot of women and children here. We want to make sure there’s no abuse involved.”
He stiffened. “Have there been reports of abuse? Rumors?”
“No.” She pressed her lips together. “It just seems the potential is there. We wanted to be sure.”
“We being what organization? Child Protective Services?”
“No. The CPS is satisfied that everything is fine here.” He had already pegged her as a cop—her refusal to acknowledge that hadn’t changed his mind. Maybe it was better to let him know she had real authority behind her. “I work for the Ranger Brigade.”
He considered this. “That’s a federal group, right? Multi-agency take force working on public lands? I think I read something in the paper about you. But there can’t be many people out here. Is there much crime?”
“You might be surprised. People think they can get away with a lot when there aren’t many people around to
watch.”
“But you’re watching,” he said. “What crimes do you think Daniel Metwater and his bunch are committing?”
“Why should I tell you? I don’t know anything about you.”
“You know my name. You know I’m a veteran.”
“What have you been doing since you were discharged from the Army?” she asked.
“I’ve been looking for my mother and my sister. And I just want to protect them. If you know something about Daniel Metwater that bears on that, please tell me.”
The man was either an Emmy-worthy actor, or he was being straight with her. He had already had the chance to blow her cover and hadn’t done so, and his concern for his mother and sister was genuine. Maybe he could even help her in some way, if she gave him a little more information.
“He hasn’t done anything that we can link directly to him,” she said. “But he attracts the kind of people who bring trouble. A couple of weeks ago, we arrested a serial killer who was one of his hangers-on. Not a follower, exactly, but someone who visited the camp often and was close to Metwater. There have been other incidents around the camp.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t even be talking about this. I’m on really thin legal ground here. The local DA has asked us to back off. Metwater’s lawyers have accused us of targeting the group and harassing Metwater and his followers.”
“But you’re federal, right? You don’t have to comply with the DA’s orders?”
“Right. But we’re trying to keep things low-key. I’m here to compile a census of the group and to make sure everything is above-board.” Not exactly a dangerous undercover mission.
“And he was really harboring a serial killer?” He shook his head. “All the more reason to get Sophie and my mother out of here.”
They had reached the turquoise and white vintage travel trailer Sophie shared with her mother. “I don’t think your mother and sister are in any danger,” Carmen said.
“You saw the way Metwater held Sophie. The guy’s a creep.”
“Yes. It was...unsettling. But as free as he is with the women in camp, I’ve never seen him make any kind of unhealthy gesture toward the children. And that includes Sophie. He refers to all the children as his own. And I’m watching him very closely.”
Jake looked over the trailer. “So this is where they live?”
“It’s really very comfortable inside,” Carmen said. “I’m sure Sophie will be happy you came after her.”
She started to turn away, but he touched her arm. “Will you come with me?”
The request surprised her. “I would have thought you wanted to see your sister alone.”
He grimaced. “Until a few moments ago, we hadn’t seen each other in four years. The last time I saw her she was just a little kid. Now...” He shrugged. “I’m not sure I know what to say to her. It might be less awkward with you along.”
This was the first chink in his armor he had shown, and it touched her. “All right.” Maybe hearing what he had to say to his sister would help her figure him out.
Jake knocked on the door, but there was no answer. “Sophie, it’s me, Jake,” he called. “Can I come in?”
The door opened, and Sophie peered out at them, her expression wary. “What do you want?” she asked.
“I just want to see you,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”
She looked past him to Carmen. “All right,” she said and held the door open wider.
The little trailer was crowded but neat, despite Sophie’s schoolbooks scattered across the dinette table and the kitchen counter covered with jars of dried herbs, a bowl of the wild raspberries they had picked that morning and a tin can filled with purple and yellow wildflowers. “Are you okay?” Jake sat on a small sofa next to his sister.
“Sure.” She shrugged. “I’m just worried about Mom.”
“Has she fainted like this before?” Carmen asked.
“A couple of times—” Sophie worried her lower lip between her teeth “—that I know about. And she’s been tired a lot lately.”
“When was the last time she saw a doctor?” Carmen asked.
“She doesn’t believe in doctors,” Sophie said.
“I’ll talk to her and see what I can find out,” Carmen said.
Sophie brightened. “That would be great. She won’t say anything to me ’cause, you know, I’m just a kid.”
“Did that guy, Metwater, upset you?” Jake asked.
Her expression clouded once more. “You upset me. Going all caveman and arguing over me like I was, I don’t know, a dog or something. It was embarrassing.”
Jake looked at Carmen, desperation in his eyes. “I wasn’t trying to embarrass you,” he said. “I didn’t like the way he was holding you. I didn’t think you liked it, either.”
“I don’t like him because he keeps saying he’s my father now and stuff like that.”
“He hasn’t ever, like, touched you, um, inappropriately, has he?” The tips of Jake’s ears were red, but he marshaled on. “You know what I’m talking about, right?”
“Yes, I know.” Sophie looked miserable. “And he hasn’t done anything like that. I’d call him on it if he did. I’m not afraid of him like some of the people around here.”
“Why are they afraid of him?” Carmen asked.
“Well, maybe afraid isn’t the right word. Mom is just in awe of him and thinks he really is this holy man. And he has those bodyguards he orders around to enforce his rules, so I guess that makes some people nervous.”
“What kind of rules?” Jake asked.
“Oh, just stuff like you’re not supposed to have guns in camp, and we don’t eat meat on Mondays and Fridays—stuff like that. It’s no big deal.”
“What did Mom mean when she said Metwater had saved her life?” Jake asked.
“He got her off heroin. I thought you knew that.”
“I wasn’t sure she was off,” Jake said.
“She is.” Sophie looked around. “I mean, where is she going to score drugs out here? Anyway, the Prophet got her to quit, and he gave her her new name.” She looked at Carmen. “She was Anna before. Now she’s Phoenix. You know, that mythical bird that rose from the ashes. Mom loves that kind of thing.”
“I take it Grandma and Grandpa don’t know where you are,” Jake said.
Sophie’s eyes widened. “No, and you can’t tell them.”
“Why not?”
“Because the court awarded them custody of me, back when Mom was still doing drugs—right after you left to join the military.”
Jake scowled. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”
“I don’t know. I guess because you and Mom argued before you went away, and she figured you would side with Grandma and Grandpa against her.”
“She was probably right,” he said. “If you were with Grandma and Grandpa now, you’d be living in a real house and going to school and having friends your own age.”
“And where would Mom be? If you make me go live with Grandma and Grandpa, she’ll be all alone.”
“Sophie, it isn’t your job to look after Mom,” he said. “She’s supposed to look after you.”
“She’s doing that. We’re fine here.”
“Except you’re hiding from our grandparents.”
Sophie pushed her lips out in a pout. “I don’t want to live with them. I want to stay with Mom.”
“Then she should go to court and get legal custody of you. I could even help you with that.”
Sophie looked skeptical. “Mom would never do that. She hates lawyers and cops and people like that.”
“A lot of times people like that are on your side,” he said. “Don’t ever be afraid to go to the police if you need help.” His gaze met Carmen’s over the top of Sophie’s head and a warm thrill ran through her. She really didn’t want to like this g
uy as much as she was starting to—not when she still had so many unanswered questions about him.
“Promise me you won’t tell Grandma and Grandpa we’re here,” Sophie said.
Jake looked stubborn. “Mom is breaking the law by keeping you here with her,” he said.
“You don’t understand!” Sophie’s face twisted, the picture of teenage angst. “Mom needs me.”
Carmen put a steadying hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Your brother is just trying to understand the situation.” She gave Jake a hard look. He needed to tone it down and stop putting Sophie on the defensive. “He wants what’s best for you and your mom.”
“Of course I do.” His smile looked a little forced, but Carmen appreciated that he was trying. “I want you both safe and happy.”
“We’re safe and happy here.”
Jake opened his mouth as if to argue but wisely thought better of it. Instead, he stood. “I’ll come back to see you as soon as I can,” he said.
“Promise?” Sophie’s eyes were shiny, as if she was holding back tears. “You won’t leave us again, will you?”
“No, I won’t leave.” He gave her a last, desperate look before leaving.
“Will you be all right here by yourself?” Carmen asked Sophie. “You can come stay with me if you like.” The tent she had brought with her wasn’t that big, but she would make room for the girl.
“Mom will be back soon.” Sophie smoothed her hand over the seat cushion. “She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?”
“We’ll make sure of it.” Carmen gave the girl’s shoulder another reassuring squeeze. She was so young and trying to be so strong. Carmen wanted to pull her into her arms and hold her tight, but she sensed Sophie would resist. After all, Carmen was a stranger to her, and the life she had led so far had probably taught her not to trust strangers. She wasn’t even sure she could trust her brother.
“Will you talk to Jake?” Sophie asked. “Convince him that Mom and I are fine here. We don’t want to go back to Grandma and Grandpa.”
“Why don’t you want to go back to them?” Carmen asked.