“Pods? Do you mean children?”
Kaylie looked puzzled for a moment. “Yes.”
“Oh. Okay. So Adrian is the father of them all?”
“Yes, that’s it exactly. He is the Father, and Curtis is the Mother. All things have their opposite—the sun and the moon, the sky and the earth, fire and water, wind and soil. The Father and the Mother are the lifeblood of Eden. Adrian would do anything for Curtis.” She shuddered again. “Anything.”
“Were there other men in Eden besides Adrian?”
“Yes, but they had no liberties. Adrian was the one who came to the women. The men—there were four or five when I was there—are solely laborers, guards. Despite God’s great gift to the women, the divine ability to procreate, there were still a few things the men could be used for. It was a farm, and there are aspects to it that needed brute strength instead of delicacy. Plus, when the women were full of God’s gift, they couldn’t work in the fields, so the men took care of that, too.”
“Where did Doug fit in to all of this?”
She smiled. “Adrian brought him to the fold. He was good and kind and not like the others. He was special to Curtis, because he knew things from the outside no one had ever heard of. He knew his way around the weapons they had, too.”
Xander stopped writing. “What weapons?”
“Guns. Lots of them.”
“Handguns, rifles, shotguns?”
“M-4s, AR-15s mostly, though I haven’t been there in many years, so they may be using something different now. Curtis couldn’t take the chance of something bad happening to Eden. They are a peaceful group in her mind, but there is always room for misinterpretation. After Doug came, the men were also used for the patrols. Real security. Doug taught them the proper way to use the guns, how to load them and care for them, to take them apart and put them together with their eyes closed. He was very valuable to the group. Very valuable. So much so Curtis sometimes talked to him alone. It made Adrian very mad. He was very possessive of Curtis.”
“Why did you leave? Why did Doug take you, I should say?”
“Oh.” She blushed, a ripe red starting on her throat and rapidly moving upward. “Can he leave?”
Sam motioned with her head to Xander, who said, “It’s time to walk Thor, anyway. I’ll be back.”
When the door closed behind him, Kaylie visibly relaxed. “I had been injured, very badly. I was very small for my age, and the pod tore me apart. I thought they were done with me, and he must have, as well, because he came to the dark place I was left in and took me away. I don’t remember much. I was in a great deal of pain. I remember the pod coming, though. You’re a mother. You know how much that hurts, that huge thing forcing its way out from between your legs. You were a grown woman when it happened to you. I was still very small.”
These words were stated matter-of-factly, no hint of embarrassment. Sam swallowed and said, “I’ve heard. I’ve never experienced it, birth, that is. I had a cesarean. Twins. They were early, and the doctors wanted to be sure they would be okay, so they did the operation instead of letting me go into labor.”
“Twins! You are doubly blessed.”
She bowed her head, and Sam swallowed. “Yes, I was. Very blessed.”
“I wonder if I’d had twins if Curtis would have been happier with me. She seemed very disgusted that night. I never understood why.”
“How old were you when you had the baby?”
“Pod,” she said automatically. “Twelve, thirteen, I think. I’d been there for several years. It took twelve Reasonings to make a pod stay in me.”
“Reasonings?”
“The quarterly coupling. It was how the pods were made. The sacrosancts were much better at it than I was. They even claimed to enjoy it. I didn’t. At all. It was awful. Adrian was so huge, he’s a giant, and his... It was so big. I was never open enough for him. He didn’t care, just spread my legs and ripped me right apart. I was so glad it only happened four times a year. It took many weeks to heal.”
Sam wanted to kill this Adrian man who raped a young girl so many times she could discuss the awful reality of it almost nonchalantly. “And you and Doug?”
Kaylie jumped back on the couch. “Never! He wouldn’t ever do something like that to me. Force me. He was like a father to me, a real one, not a false God like Adrian or a weakling like the man who made me with my mother. She died when I was born, so there was something wrong with her, too. He couldn’t make anything with my stepmother, of course. She was so awful and mean I doubt he’d ever want to.”
“Were there other girls like you, Kaylie?” Sam asked, carefully.
“Like me? Not that I know of. But I was kept underground most of the time, in the dark, and only summoned for the Reasonings when it was the right time. I didn’t get to be with the other people of Eden except for on the special days. I was their special secret. Curtis educated me herself, in private.”
“So you don’t know if there were other girls that they kidnapped?”
Her eyes grew big and round. “Are there others? Others like me? I thought I heard something once, before I left. They were talking about Elsa, who was one of the older sacrosancts. She hadn’t given a pod in quite a while, and so they were going to bring someone new to the sacrosancts.”
You lose one, you replace one.
“May I ask, what happened to your...pod?”
Kaylie’s eyes grew distant again, her voice desolate. “She went away. Curtis told me she was taken for reincarnation right away because she was so perfect, and they buried the shell in the cornfield. I was too sick to find her then.”
Xander came back in the door, Thor moving quietly by his master’s side. He raised an eyebrow at Sam, and tapped his wrist. She took the hint.
“Kaylie, I know there is so much more to your story you need to share with me, but I think it’s time we call my friends at the FBI. They’re going to be very happy to hear you’re okay.”
“I can’t stay here?”
“No, honey, you can’t. There are too many people who need to talk to you. I have a very good friend who has been a part of your case since the beginning, and he’s going to be overjoyed to talk to you. So let’s give him a call, and they’ll get you hooked right up.”
She nodded, shrinking back into a ball in the corner of the sofa. “If you say it’s best, then okay. But I don’t want to see my parents. They can’t know I’m alive. It’s better that way.”
Sam wasn’t about to let that nasty old hag anywhere near Kaylie. She debated for a moment telling Kaylie about her father’s death, then decided to leave it alone. There was enough going on in the poor girl’s head without any additional horrors.
“Just my friend at the FBI,” Sam said. “We can deal with all that later. Drink your tea, I’ll be right back.”
“Doug was right about you.”
That stopped her. “What?”
“Doug said I could trust you to do the right thing. That you wouldn’t let me be victimized. You would know the people who could keep me safe.”
“I appreciate that he trusted me with you. Kaylie, did Doug ever say how he knew me? Why he would come to me to investigate his murder?”
“You’re a very wise woman. The papers said so. Doug knew you were trustworthy. He knew you lost your pods, that you’d understand why it was so important to help us.”
A chill went down Sam’s spine. The idea that someone had been watching her from afar, paying attention to her private life, upset her. And that Doug Matcliff had chosen her by reputation alone was even worse. She didn’t want to be known. She wanted to work behind the scenes.
She changed the subject.
“Kaylie, do you know Henry Matcliff?”
She smiled, a sweet, gentle look, completely at odds with the situation. “Of course. That’
s me.”
“Excuse me?”
“It was the only way to keep me safe. Doug raised me as a boy. We knew they’d be looking for a man and a girl, a daughter. Me being a son made more sense. I didn’t start growing my hair until last year, when I left.”
“Left? To go where?”
She just shook her head, eyes downcast. Her lips tightened into a thin line. Sam got the sense she’d said more than she wanted.
Kaylie had shared all she was willing to. For now.
Chapter
40
SAM WENT INTO the kitchen with her cell phone and called Baldwin. He answered on the first ring.
“Kaylie Rousch is here in my house.”
“I know. Xander called me. I’m already here, waiting outside. Think she’s up for company? Xander said she’s a little leery of men.”
“Yes, but you’re going to have to be careful, she’s very reticent. In my professional opinion, the girl’s suffering from severe PTSD, and God knows what else. She was repeatedly raped, forced into all sorts of things at a very young age. She assured me there was nothing physical between her and Doug Matcliff, but I’m not sure I believe her. And she’s mentioned a man named Adrian who seems to be the sledgehammer, for lack of a better term, and this Curtis woman, the cult leader, was—is—clearly mad. Kaylie suggested Adrian is responsible for the current spate of attacks, so there’s a partial name ID for you.”
“Got it. Did you get anything that might give a clue where Eden is now?”
“Not yet. I didn’t want to push her too hard until you were here to guide things.”
“Okay. I’m coming to the door now.”
“Before you come in, just a heads-up. She’s a bizarre mix of child and adult, sane and insane. Her language vacillates between complete frankness and paranoid obfuscation, and she’s not all there, if you catch my drift. She’s very, very intelligent, though. But the things she’s telling me—Baldwin, we have to find this cult and stop them. Now. If they have Rachel Stevens, if they’re the ones who have been kidnapping these girls all these years, the poor things are undergoing some horrible treatment. I can’t even imagine how Kaylie stayed even partially together. Doug Matcliff must have really helped her.”
“I hear you. Ring-a-ding,” he said, and her doorbell rang.
She heard Kaylie’s high-pitched voice react from the living room, then Xander’s deeper voice telling her this was their FBI friend and not to worry.
Sam hoped they were telling Kaylie the truth. There was more going on here, currents running through the house that unsettled her.
She opened the door and Baldwin came in. He’d changed into jeans and a white button-down—the tie gone, the collar open, the sleeves rolled up. He looked casual and friendly, not at all like a cop, and she nodded her approval. Their best approach with Kaylie was going to be the relaxed one. Letting her set the tone, the pace and the rules.
With any luck, after an hour with Baldwin, they’d have every detail they’d need to find Rachel Stevens, and then lock up these horrible people for good.
Sam bolted the front door, then went to the back to double-check it was also secure. Thor was curled up on his plush dog bed, watching her actions with curiosity. Even with her precautions, she wanted him keeping an eye out, so she knelt by him, scratched his ears and said softly, “Thor, achtung.” Pay attention.
She could have sworn he nodded. She dropped a quick kiss on his snout and went to the living room, satisfied they were covered for the time being.
Baldwin was waiting for her in the hallway. She smiled and gestured for him to let her go first.
Kaylie was staring into the fireplace with a distant look on her face when Sam returned. But she focused and brightened immediately. A friendly face was welcome, clearly.
“Kaylie, this is my friend John Baldwin. I promise you can trust him. He and my very best friend in the world are going to be married. I wouldn’t let her near him if I didn’t think he was awesome. All right?”
Kaylie looked at Baldwin with open curiosity. Sam wondered what she was thinking. Baldwin was very handsome, which opened many doors, and closed a few, as well. But he radiated intelligence and compassion, and Kaylie visibly relaxed.
“Hello, sir.”
“Hello, Kaylie. I have to say, it is wonderful to meet you after all these years. I’m sorry we didn’t know you had survived your kidnapping.”
“Do you have a gun?” Her eyes were wide, guileless. A child’s question.
That startled a little laugh out of him. “I do, but I don’t have it on me.”
“Good. I don’t like guns. I suppose you want to know what happened.”
“Why don’t we get to know each other a little first? How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Where were you born?”
“Bethesda, Maryland.”
“Who are your parents?”
“Clive and Maureen Rousch. Dr. Owens acted strangely about them before. Is my father still alive?”
“Your father, unfortunately, has passed away. But your mother will be happy to know you’re okay.”
She had that distant look again. “I thought so. He didn’t look well when I looked in the window. And Maureen will not be happy when she finds out. Please don’t tell her.”
“Why not?”
“They both hated me. It was easier for them when I was gone. They didn’t have to deal with my constant crying and attention-seeking. I was a bad child, and it was better for them without me.”
Baldwin’s brow furrowed for a moment. These were words Kaylie had been fed, probably by Curtis Lott, but he kept on. “I have to ask, Kaylie. Can you show me your birthmark?”
“No! That’s nasty. You’re a nasty, nasty man.”
The walls went right back up. She pulled her legs up onto the sofa and curled into a little ball and started to rock, crooning to herself.
Baldwin nodded. “Okay, Kaylie, fair enough. Would you be willing to show Sam?”
“No, no, no, no.”
“All right, that’s fine. We can come back to that. Stay with me, honey. Do you remember what happened the day you were taken?”
She stopped rocking. “Yes.”
He waited for her to continue, then nodded and sat back in his chair, relaxing his arm over the back. Open. Unguarded. Exactly her physical opposite. “Okay, Kaylie. Tell me this. Do you know where you were kept? Before Doug saved you?”
“We were on a farm out in the country. I woke up there and never left until the day Doug took me out, and I was very sick, so I couldn’t tell you exactly where we were. Doug said it was northern Virginia.”
“Did you move around at all? Did the group move from place to place? Or did they stay in one spot?”
“One spot.”
“Did they ever talk about moving to other places?”
“Not to me. But Doug said that they were careful to stay one step ahead of the law. Like we were doing, staying one step ahead of Adrian and Curtis.”
“Tell me about them.”
“How do you describe the moon and the stars?” She shook her head hard and tapped her palm to the side of her head, almost as if she were trying to dislodge water from her ear after swimming. Her voice was suddenly adult again, lucid, a bit abashed. “I’m sorry. That’s something she would say. Adrian is very big, very tall and muscular and mean. He had something wrong with him, and Curtis used it against him. She exploits weakness. It’s her best tool. ‘Learn what the weak points are, my girl, and then you’ll always be able to make them do your bidding.’ She liked to teach me things about people.”
“What was wrong with Adrian?”
“Doug told me his mother dropped him on his head when he was a baby, and she felt so guilty about it she committed suicide. He was le
ft alone a lot. His values became warped. Curtis liked that. She liked giving him presents.”
“Presents?”
“People to kill. He liked it. A lot. He told me once, when we were...when he was touching me. He told me how he liked to squeeze the life out of people. He said Curtis had shown him a past life during a ceremony, when he ate the wafer of life with her, and he was descended from a great anaconda snake. He lived in the water and ate things much bigger than he was. He enjoyed it so much. He wanted to squeeze the life out of me, but Curtis said no.”
“Did he do everything Curtis asked?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ever act on his impulses outside her view?”
She scratched her nose. “Do you mean did he use me outside of the Reasonings? No. He was much too dedicated to her to disobey. But when he did come, he didn’t hold back.”
“Did anyone else? Use you, I mean.”
She shook her head quickly. Too quickly.
Baldwin stepped carefully now. “Is Adrian a threat to us?”
“Yes. He’s a threat to everyone he comes in contact with. Whether he plans to kill you, I don’t know. He only kills who Curtis tells him to. I am definitely a target.” She hesitated a moment. “You are a grave threat to the life they lead. I would not be surprised if you are all targets. Elimination is one of Adrian’s favorite pastimes.”
Baldwin glanced at Sam, nodded at Xander, who went off to check the doors and weapons for what seemed to be the hundredth time. They’d already done everything they could to make the house secure, but hearing Kaylie’s words sent another shiver through Sam. Of course this freak of nature would be after them. They were severely screwing with his world.
Baldwin continued. “All right. You mentioned the wafer of life. What was that?”
Kaylie settled on the couch, more comfortable with this line of questioning. “It’s the great truth. It was gifted to Curtis and she was the only one who was allowed to bestow the gift on the people of Eden. Sometimes everyone took a wafer, and they danced all night naked under the stars. Sometimes it was just one person, and he or she would disappear into Curtis’s chambers for a week and a day, for a Seasoning. Only the very special were chosen for the Seasonings. Doug did it once. He said he thought she gave him some sort of LSD. It took hours and hours to wear off and he saw all sorts of weird things.”
When Shadows Fall Page 20