“I do,” she snapped back. “And I know that you’ll never hurt me again.”
“Really?” He tightened his grip on the wire in his hand.
Eli became a blur. He snatched Noah’s wrist and dug his fingers into the soft flesh. Crying out, Noah crumpled in pain and released the length of wire he held. It dropped on top of the pipe and Jenn’s missing scissors and various cans.
The same kinds of stuff she’d seen once in the basement of The Farm.
Suddenly, everything came clear for her. Time slowed for her. “Eli!” she cried. “Stop him! He’s making a bomb!”
Eli then twisted his brother’s arm to his back and forced him to the floor. Noah groaned as his face scraped the harsh, dirty cement.
“No more, Noah! Not one more blasted thing! It’s over!”
Kaylee rushed forward. A fast prayer leaped into her brain. Help Eli, please, Lord.
Immediately, Eli eased up on his grip. Noah gasped and swore loudly, but remained firmly pinned to the floor.
Keeping Noah’s arm in that painful, awkward position, Eli turned to her. “How did you know he was making a bomb?”
She gasped and glanced over the junk on the floor. “He was?”
“Yes. And I have a feeling he was reaching the most dangerous part.” Eli dragged his brother to standing, and then out of the shed, forcing him to the dark, wet asphalt halfway up the alley. With a horrified look behind her, Kaylee followed them out.
“I suspected something was wrong, then you called out,” he told her.
Kaylee backed away, taking small steps toward the candy store. “I shouted? I saw him moving his hand and just knew something was wrong. What did I say?”
“My name and something about a bomb. You don’t remember?”
She shook her head.
Bright lights flooded into the narrow alley between the center and the candy store. They cut across Noah’s face as Eli held him down. A moment later, Officer Reading trotted down toward them.
Eli grabbed his arm. “There’s some explosives in that shed! You’ll want to get the bomb squad in.”
Reading gaped at them. “What? Get out of here! Nearest place you can be is the far end of the park, okay?”
“They’re working in the candy store, too, tonight.”
“I’ll get them, don’t worry.” After speaking quickly into his shoulder mike, he pulled Noah up and stood him beside Eli. His head snapped back and forth. “Wow, you guys could be twins.”
“No,” Kaylee corrected, stepping closer, her heart racing from all that had happened. “Noah is thinner, weaker, paler.”
Noah spat out something garbled. An obscenity, most likely. Eli’s eyes narrowed and Kaylee could see he was looking at his brother through Kaylee’s eyes, seeing him as she did. Thinner, weaker, paler.
“Enough!” Officer Reading smacked handcuffs on him and quickly patted him down to ensure he wasn’t armed. “All right. You’ll have plenty of time to talk later. Let’s get out of here.”
Kaylee watched him lead Noah down the alley. Noah stumbled, but being bigger and stronger, Reading hauled him up. Silhouetted against the bright alley spotlights at the end of the cruiser’s light bar, the two men seemed to echo a feeling of total sadness.
She straightened just as Eli took her hand to hurry her down the alley. Incredible. She didn’t feel any hatred toward Noah. None at all.
They reached Noah as Reading was preparing to shove him into the cruiser. Kaylee stepped past Eli to face him. “Your days of murder and robbery and trying to kill me are over.”
Noah sneered. “And you think you’re smart figuring it all out, I bet.”
“You were at The Farm when it blew up, weren’t you?”
“I knew it wouldn’t be long before Eli conned you into coming. You’re easy to manipulate.”
She refused to rise to his insults. “And that’s how you managed to sneak into Canada. You followed the same route we took.”
“It wasn’t hard. You two were running for your lives making a trail as wide as a road.”
“Why did you break into the center? To clean up?”
“Why not?” He shrugged. “I could keep up with your schedule, shower, shave…”
“Try to kill me!”
“I’d rather you’d been fired for letting the water in, losing things, leaving the place a mess.” Noah laughed. “Then you’d be so depressed, you’d commit suicide.”
“You mean you’d kill me.”
“Your words, not mine.”
Kaylee shook her head. “I figured that was your plan. But Jenn was more understanding than you thought. And so you decided to trip me and have me fall into that creek.”
“It was swollen enough for you to drown, especially someone as weak as you.”
“Too bad I have found new strength.”
He leaned forward menacingly, his mouth twisting horribly. “You’ll never find peace after what you did for me.”
Eli cut between them. “You’re wrong. And your power is gone. Your cult has fled and dispersed.”
“Is that what you think? You don’t even know where they’ve gone.”
“Wrong. And I know how best to approach Phoebe,” Eli answered. “It’s time for the healing to begin, for all of them, starting with her.”
Kaylee took his arm, but continued to stare at Noah. “Yes. And I’m ready to heal, too. You killed John, as well as Trisha. John would never blow himself up, not even for you. But you needed him to die so we’d stop looking for you. You rigged that explosive to go off early, didn’t you?”
Noah turned away. “Pure speculation.”
“No, it’s not. I know you killed Trisha, but I’m ready to move past that, now.”
He discarded her words with a belligerent tone. “Trisha killed herself.”
She shivered and Eli drew her close. Reading took the cue to push Noah’s head down as he climbed into the backseat of the cruiser. Sirens yowled in the distance. “Go over to the park, now,” Reading yelled at them. “Now!”
After they’d crossed the street, Reading called out, “And stay there!” Then he hurried to the candy store.
Kaylee’s attention strayed toward the car. Noah twisted around and, through the back windshield, smirked at her. In the yellow of the streetlights, he looked as he had behind her house. But the smirk had an intensity that made her shiver.
She shook her head, disgusted.
Abruptly, she stopped and straightened. She’d stood up and faced Noah, without a single ounce of fear in her.
Amazement flooded through her. “I did it! I faced Noah! With the Lord’s help.”
From behind, Eli wrapped his arms around her. “It’s a great feeling, isn’t it?”
Tears burned her eyes and she blinked several times to clear her vision. Eli’s smiling face was close to her right. Her heart clenched as a word returned to her.
Itinerant. He was only here to find Noah, to stop him so he could fulfill his ultimate goal of freeing Phoebe.
That was done.
The tears sprang back into her eyes and she sniffed.
“Don’t.”
Twisting around, she blinked Eli back into focus. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t cry. I know what you’re thinking and it’s not going to happen.”
“You’re going to leave, aren’t you?”
“No!” He tightened his grip on her, yet shut his eyes and sighed. “I know. It’s all I’ve wanted for the last seven years. It’s finally coming true and I find myself not wanting to leave you. Because I love you. I love you more than I ever thought I could love another person.”
She pulled back enough to see his face. “You love me?” A laugh spilled from her mouth. “I love you, too. I’ve pushed it away now for days, not wanting to deal with it. Like you said, I’m a Jonah. I knew you would leave eventually. I knew you’d be gone once you found Noah or learned where Phoebe was. And I didn’t want to admit that I loved you if you were going to leave me.”
<
br /> He kissed her, then held her tight again. “I know how it feels. And I hate to think that I would ever leave you, even for a short time. But this is something I have to finish. I have to close this part of my life. I don’t…”
“Take me with you, then. We’ll find her together and we’ll get the best people to help us approach her.”
His eyes lit. Such beautiful blue eyes. “Are you sure? They may not be where we think they are. We may be chasing a wild goose. You need stability and you have a life here now.”
“We’ll be back. You need to do this and, in a way, so do I. I wouldn’t have gone with you yesterday, but today, I can. I want to go. God is giving us this opportunity to help Phoebe and the rest of them. It’s amazing how everything is turning out, isn’t it?”
“We’ll be back. I promise. We’ll fly down as soon as possible, then we’ll come back here.” He lifted his eyebrows questioningly. “When we get back, will you marry me, Kaylee? Right here?”
She pulled his head toward hers, grinning widely. Joy rushed through her. “I’ll marry you anywhere, but it would be extra special to marry you here.”
Officer Reading had already reached them as they were finishing their kiss. “Are you two done?”
They split quickly.
With a hint of a smug smile, Reading continued, “I need you two down at the station. I have another patrol car on the way to take you.”
Over his shoulder, Kaylee noticed the owners of the candy store hurrying away from the building, one of them throwing a curious look at the parked cruiser and at Noah.
Reading continued, “The bomb squad is on their way, too, but thankfully, from what I can see when I peeked in, something amazing has happened.”
“What do you mean?” Kaylee asked.
“You two confronted Nash before we got there. Normally, it would be a stupid idea, but this time it saved our lives. If Nash had been given another few minutes, he’d have armed that explosive and in the next second, he’d have killed everyone around him.”
Kaylee’s knees weakened. Eli grabbed her and kept her upright. A nauseous swell rolled through her stomach.
“But,” Reading added, leaning toward Eli as a serious frown creased his forehead, “I don’t ever want you to take the law into your own hands again. Do you hear me?”
“God was with us,” Eli said softly.
Reading remained stern. “Yeah, but we’re also told not to tempt Him. Let the police do their jobs next time.”
“He will.” Kaylee gripped Eli’s arm. She wasn’t about to let Eli play the superhero again.
They waited until the other police car arrived, which took them to the station. As they were leaving, Kaylee turned around to see if Reading’s cruiser was following them, but it remained parked by the gym. She could see Noah’s head bowed, his body slumped. From the back, he looked old and frail.
At the station, the other officer led them in. She stopped him. “I need to call my boss. She runs the gym. She should know what’s happened.”
“Give me her number and I’ll call her.”
Kaylee recited it, then the officer excused himself, leaving Eli and her alone in one of the small interrogation rooms.
The minutes ticked by. While she sat in one of the plastic chairs, Eli paced back and forth, his arms first crossed, then shoved deep into his pockets, then up to scrub his face.
“Eli?”
He stopped. “What’s wrong?”
“You. You’re wearing a rut in the floor. We’re just here to give a statement. It’s over.” She stood and laid her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it and massaging it absently. “One thing that’s good in all of this, is that Noah didn’t die. He’ll be able to stand trial.”
He took her hand and squeezed it back. “What Noah did to our family made it personal to me and yet I handled it all without losing my cool.”
“God intervened. Didn’t you say something about Him taking us to the end to show us how much we need Him and how much He can minister to us and how much He really loves us?”
Eli smiled, but the expression held sadness. “That’s good, sweetheart. But I’m realizing now that Noah made it even more personal when he tried to hurt you.”
“It doesn’t mean you don’t love your family any less, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“For years I wanted to kill him.”
“But you didn’t.”
“I wanted to and that’s just as bad.”
“And that’s the great thing about Jesus, isn’t it? He’ll forgive us and we can start again.” She cupped his jaw, tilting her head to stare into his eyes. “He forgave me and you should have heard the things I said and did.”
He turned his face and kissed her palm. “You’re good at witnessing, you know that?” He sighed. “And with Noah alive, he can’t be turned into a martyr by his cult.”
The door opened and in walked Reading. His face appeared pinched and dark. “I have some bad news. Something has happened to your brother.”
Eli shifted Kaylee behind him. “What is it?”
“He was conscious and rather belligerent one moment, in the back of the cruiser and the next minute, he collapsed and lost consciousness. We called the paramedics. They rushed him to the hospital, with two other officers.”
“How is he now?”
Reading shook his head. “He didn’t regain consciousness. His heart just stopped and they couldn’t revive him at the hospital. I’m sorry.”
“He’s killed himself?” Eli asked.
“We don’t know that.”
“Did the emergency-room doctor see any signs of poisoning? He was eating candy when we caught him.”
“I don’t have any details yet. The other officers haven’t returned. There’ll be an autopsy and an inquiry; you can count on it.” He lifted his brows, looking grim. “But you’re right. It does look like suicide. I remember thinking that he looked a weird shade of green. I’ve seen some drug overdoses before, but nothing like that.”
Kaylee waited for the surge of some emotion. But all that came was a deep sadness. “He’ll never stand trial for killing Trisha.”
Eli turned to look at her. “He’ll be judged eventually, as we all will.”
She peered up at him, taking the step closer to allow him to draw her into his arms. “Still, I don’t want Trisha to be remembered as the one who committed suicide. It’s not simply a matter of justice. It’s her memory I don’t want to be tarnished.”
Reading shook his head, his face full of determination. “There’ll still be an investigation into her death, I promise you. I can’t promise what the outcome will be, but I’ll do my best to make sure you’re heard.”
Tears watered her eyes. “Thank you.”
But she couldn’t help but wonder how much they’d listen to her now, when they didn’t listen before. With Noah dead and Phoebe still to be found, what proof did she have?
TWENTY-ONE
Tallahassee’s brilliant sunshine blinded Eli. He and Kaylee had decided to fly down, and now, walking out of the airport with Roger, his investigator, he searched for his sunglasses. The moment he located them in his pocket, he fumbled and dropped them. Kaylee stooped to retrieve them.
“It’s going to be all right,” she whispered. “She’s already been told of Noah’s death. And it’s had time to sink in. The only other women with her right now are Janice and Tina.”
“Are you sure? The photo didn’t show their faces.”
“I know who they are by their shapes. It’s good for us.”
“Why?”
“Remember I told you about that woman who picked the lamb’s-quarter? That was Janice. Noah punished her. I think she began to be disillusioned after that.”
“And the other woman?”
“A couple of years ago, Tina became pregnant. She lost the baby. He was stillborn, poor thing. Tina nearly died herself. These two women weren’t as adamant in following Noah after what happened to them. Not like some of the group.�
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“Like Phoebe?”
“I know what you’re getting at. But Phoebe has also got the truth about Noah now staring her in the face. The police down here showed her a copy of the autopsy and the proof that he killed himself.” She offered him an encouraging smile. “Have a little faith, okay?”
They had reached Roger’s car. Across the trunk, Eli returned the smile. “Thanks. I wish we’d have checked Noah’s mouth before he climbed into the cruiser.”
“The candy was covered with the poison. He’d planned it. He must have had it in his pocket all week. And with all those wrappers around, we wouldn’t have been surprised to see one shoved in his mouth. You couldn’t have known he was prepared like that.”
“No, but still—”
She plowed on. “He had enough poison in that shed to kill the entire cult. I thank God that he hadn’t headed south with the rest of them. He could have killed them all.”
Roger unlocked the passenger door for them. “You should be thankful he didn’t try to poison either of you. He had plenty of opportunity. I have the exit counselor meeting us near the campground. She’ll help you deal with this.”
Kaylee watched Eli nod in gratitude. The drive into the campground was long and they had to pick up the exit counselor halfway there. In the quiet of the backseat, she watched Eli drop his head and close his eyes.
He was praying.
Lord, listen to his prayers. Give him the right words. All for Your glory, Lord.
After they registered and drove into the small tent and trailer park, she caught Eli’s eyes.
He swallowed. She repeated her prayer. Roger consulted the campground map and turned left into the tenting area. Huge oak trees, so different than the ones she’d grown up with, along with slender palms, graced the grounds, giving the area an exotic Edenlike feel.
Roger stopped the car at one of the empty campsites. Everyone climbed out. Immediately, Eli’s gaze, followed by hers, fell on a small dome tent across the road. A woman emerged from it.
Phoebe. Kaylee froze and so did Eli.
“Phoebe?” Both she and Eli spoke at the same time.
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