“It’s fine, Megan,” Helen said. “She’s allowed to think as she does. Everyone please just remain calm.” Helen touched Megan’s arm, and the girl relaxed a little. Everyone did. Except me. Helen turned back to my mother. “How can we help you, ma’am?”
“I want my son. Billy Ballard. You’re keeping him at your brainwashing facility, and I want him back. Now.”
“Our ‘brainwashing facility’?” Megan asked, rolling her eyes.
Helen squeezed Megan’s arm again. “The Apex isn’t a brainwashing facility. It’s a working farm, and your son is there voluntarily with his wife. We can get a message to him to call you, but he’s currently on his honeymoon and won’t be back until tomorrow. I can—”
“Phone call? No, I want to see him,” Mom cut in.
“That’s not possible,” Helen said calmly.
“Because you’re holding him hostage! If not physically, then mentally! You filled his head with madness and turned him against his family.”
“No, you did that all on your own, lady,” Megan spewed. Mom’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, yeah. We know all about you, Mrs. Ballard. Your mood swings. Your neediness. Your lifetime of emotional blackmail to keep your son close because you chased your own daughter off. Helen’s just being nice. Your son could have called you anytime, and he didn’t even bother when he got married. The fact is he wants nothing to do with you. He’s done being sucked dry by the black hole that is you. He’s where he belongs now. With his real family. Now, get the fuck out of here before we call the police and have you arrested for trespassing.”
Mom just stood there, staring at the stone-faced Megan, trembling a little. “I-I-I know people. In the FBI. I-I’ll call them myself since my daughter won’t. I-I’ll go to the newspapers. I’ll—”
“The fuck you will,” Megan said, about to take a step toward my mother. Khairo and Dutch instantly went from level orange to red, ready to defend their allies.
“Mrs. Lange!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. All eyes moved my way, momentarily surprised by my voice. I walked toward the group. “It’s Gia’s cousin, Carol. We met a month ago? I-I think it’s time for you and your husband to leave.” I glared at my stepfather. “Don’t you agree, Mr. Lange?”
“You should listen to Carol, Mrs. Lange,” Helen said calmly. “I promise to pass on the message, I promise, if you leave immediately without further fuss. If you don’t, not only will I tell your son you came in and insulted not only us but him, but we will call the police and press charges against you and your husband for trespassing.”
“Please, Mrs. Lange,” I said, touching Mom’s arm, “let me walk you out to your car. Now.”
Mom glanced at me, still furious and breathing erratically, but when the corners of her mouth twitched, I knew she’d seen some clarity through the haze of fury and indignation. Khairo placed his hand on her shoulder too. “Come on, baby, I told you, this ain’t the way,” he whispered to Mom.
“They’re leaving,” I told Megan and Helen.
But Mom couldn’t let them get the last word. I’d learned it from her. Mom looked Helen square in the eyes. “I know your game, lady, but Billy already has a mother. No matter what you say or do, he will never be your child, you dried-up old bitch.” She glanced around the room. “You’ve all been brainwashed! This is a cult! All they want is your money! Get out while you still can!”
“That’s enough!” I hissed in her ear. “You’re making an idiot of yourself.”
“Five seconds,” Megan warned.
“They’re leaving. Come on,” I said, yanking on her sleeve. Khairo took her by the arm and literally turned her back toward the door. I mouthed, “It’s okay,” to Helen and followed Mom out.
Mom was about to open her mouth, but I hissed, “Not yet,” and her mouth shut. Their car was across the street, far enough away that the members couldn’t hear, but I knew some watched from the windows. Though I wanted to throttle her, I kept a pleasant smile on my face. “What the fuck were you thinking coming here?”
“I was thinking the longer my son and grandbaby stay with those whackadoos, the more danger they’re in,” she hissed back, “and that my daughter didn’t understand that fact. That the person I thought was here to help was dragging her heels for some unknown reason.”
“Dragging my…” I had to slam my mouth shut and take a deep breath. “I’ve only been here twenty-four hours and already have several leads. Mother, I’m a hairsbreadth from being invited to the farm. All your histrionics have done is put the group on alert and given Billy another reason to hate you. They are going to twist what you said to make them appear sane. The victims of your insanity. Not to mention if he actually is in physical danger, you just increased that danger threefold.”
“What? I didn’t—”
“You just threatened a group of volatile people, possibly with criminal activities going on, with the police, FBI, and worse, the press. That is the last thing they want.”
“Then they’ll think Billy isn’t worth the trouble and kick him out,” Mom said.
“Yeah, so they kick him out. Because of you. He’s lost the people he loves, he has no job, he probably won’t see his wife and baby that much, and then what? He thanks you? No, there is a real chance he will either truly disappear, never speak to you or any of us again, or he’ll just kill himself. It’s not just about finding him, Mom. He is so lost in that place, so tangled, he’s probably barely Billy now. If we really want to save him, we have to extract him gently. Clip away their vines, not just yank him out. He has to see reason, see them for what they truly are, or we’ll never get him back. Not truly. I know you’re scared and frustrated and pissed off, but you need to take a step back and let me do my job. Go home.”
“But—”
“Go home. Now,” I hissed. She had to get out of my sight or I feared I’d slap her.
I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile for our audience, spun around, and walked back to The Temple as calmly as I could fake. A few people were watching through the windows but scattered as I got closer. Hopefully I could turn Mom’s spectacle into a positive. It certainly got people primed to talk about Billy.
The atmosphere was tense as I came inside. At first I chalked it up to Mom’s tirade, but when I saw Paul standing beside the scowling Megan looking as horrified as Helen did, I stopped walking and scanned the group. Most of the others’ expressions matched Megan’s. And all their gazes were directed at me.
My body immediately flicked into battle mode again.
Oh, fuck.
“It’s definitely her, yeah,” Dutch said from his position beside Helen. “I recognize her from the magazines at the grocery store. I knew I knew her from somewhere.”
Double fuck.
“What—” I started.
“Your name’s not Carol, is it?” Megan snapped. “Is it Iris?”
My mind became a furious whirlwind attempting to find a plausible lie, a way to salvage my cover, but no angle came to me. My cover was blown. I sighed and frowned. “I’m sorry. Yeah, I’m Iris Ballard, Billy Ballard’s sister.”
Paul and Helen stared at me as if I’d just killed their puppy, and the rest exchanged disbelieving glances. “Y-You lied to us?” Helen asked. “Why?”
“My brother,” I said with a sigh. “I was just looking for my brother.”
“Oh, now you care about him?” Megan spewed.
“Bu-But you didn’t have to lie,” Helen said.
“Okay, then where’s The Apex?” I countered. “Tell me.”
I scanned everyone, stopping on Helen. Megan stepped in front of her. “We’re not telling you a damn thing.”
“Exactly,” I said. I surveyed the whole group again, this time stopping on Paul. I smiled sadly. “I am sorry I lied to you all. I am. You all seem like very good people. I didn’t mean to hurt you any more than you’ve already been hurt.” Paul stared down at the floor. “Let me just get my purse and I’ll leave.”
The group parted a
s I walked to my chair and collected my purse. Thank God I already had the fork with Helen’s fingerprints on it. I just wished I’d had a gun as well. A small part of me expected at least one of them to attack me. I could sense the hostility in the air, but they only glared. Thank God. I stopped by the front door, trying to catch Helen’s eyes, but she kept them down. “Please take care of yourselves. And each other. I am sorry.”
“Get the fuck out,” Megan said with a sneer.
“Sorry.”
With my head hung, I walked out of The Temple back into the hot, humid evening. I sighed as I continued down the path. “Goddamn it.” I had no idea what I was going to do next. I couldn’t think. I still felt all their disappointment, their anger, their sadness at my betrayal, as if I’d absorbed them through my skin. I was more upset about that than the fact that I’d blown my cover. I hurt them, especially Helen and Paul. I may have pretended to be a cold-hearted bitch in general—okay, sometimes more than pretended—but as I did my walk of shame to my car, my soul hurt a little. A lot.
I reached my car and unlocked it when I heard, “Hey! Wait!”
I spun around and found Megan running toward me. My first instinct was to check her hands for weapons, and thankfully I didn’t find any. She just wore a smirk and narrowed eyes. I still remained on my physical guard. A catfight was possible. Megan stopped a few feet away and folded her arms across her chest. “You’re pretty good, you know that? You barely set off my bullshit radar. I can usually sniff out a bullshitter and user within a minute.”
“As can I,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Nice to see you clothed this time.”
“Is it really? I saw the gleam in your eye. You were tempted.”
“You are excellent at your job,” I conceded with a smirk. “I respect your skills. I do. If you used your mind nearly as much as your body, you might have gotten farther in life than whoring yourself for some second-rate David Koresh wannabe.”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” she said with a sneer.
“Right, darling. Just keep telling yourself that. I’m sure you desperately wanted to sleep with every man and apparently some of the women who walked through that door because you were attracted to them all. It had nothing to do with the fact that Mathias told you to be nice to the new recruits to keep them coming back. You are aware that’s what you were doing and why, right?”
She just glared at me, seething, nostrils flaring. “If you’re so smart, then how did you not know a serial killer was coming to kill your husband? You know, the husband you cheated on?”
I rolled my eyes. As if I hadn’t heard that one already. “It is too fucking hot out here to keep trading insults for hours. You came out here for a reason. Can we get to it?”
She sized me up, her chin jutting out in defiance. “Why are you here? Really?”
“I told you. I just came to make sure my brother was okay. To see him. To talk to him. To make sure he knows what he’s doing and the consequences of his decisions. That is it.”
“And you’re here all on your own?”
“I’m not here as part of some FBI sting, no.”
“You’d have to tell me if you were,” she said.
That was a myth perpetuated by the movies, one nobody in law enforcement wants to snuff out for this very reason. “I’m not. As far as I know, the FBI and local law enforcement don’t give two shits about your little cult. Of course, that can change at any time. Like say I don’t get to see my brother or God forbid something happens to either one of us? Although I have to ask myself, why all the secrecy and concern if your group has nothing to hide?” Megan’s scowl grew. I sighed. “Look, I have been on the road for weeks. I haven’t seen my dog or my home in all that time. I have a book to write, and I’m staying with my mother, which is as enjoyable as you can imagine. I want to go home. But I can’t do that until I physically see my brother and make sure your group is really what he wants. Facilitate that and you will never see or hear from me again, because quite frankly, you and your little group are beneath my attention,” I lied. “I see my brother, I leave. Simple as that. But tell your guru I am not a patient woman, and I do have the FBI on speed dial.” I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, wrote down my cell number, and handed it to her. She went to take it, but I held on and caught her eyes. “You are better than this. You all are.”
With that sneer still affixed, she tugged harder on the paper. “And here I thought we were beneath you.”
I let the paper go. “Tell Mathias I’m waiting.” With a nod, I got into my car. Megan stood in the middle of the road, watching me leave to make sure I really did.
I got around the corner out of sight before pulling over. With a shaking breath, I rested my head on the steering wheel. “Fuck. Fuck!” I hit the wheel and sat up again. Everything had just become a clusterfuck. One of two things would occur. If there was something seriously illegal happening in the group they could just pull up stakes, disappearing with my brother along for the ride, or Mathias would just obliterate the group to cover his tracks. Either way, Billy was gone and in real danger. In the other option, Mathias would agree to my terms and let me see Billy, I’d go in with evidence of their evil ways, and Billy would leave with me. My cynical side favored the former option. Nothing I discovered about Mathias pointed to him forming the group to help promote peace on Earth and goodwill toward men. My original plan had me sneaking in to see Billy with Mathias none the wiser. I would have had time. I was out of it now.
I pulled my cellphone out of my purse. I needed to talk to the sheriff post-fucking-haste and pray he had something for me. I had two voicemails and a text from Luke. “Nice 2 hear ur voice 2day. Miss u. Im just a call away if u need ur person.” I shouldn’t have read that before listening to the messages. I had no reason to feel guilty reading those words, but of course I did. While he was thinking of me, missing me even, I was dry-humping a confused kid. If the roles were reversed and I found out he’d been kissing some woman under any circumstance, it would hurt me like a motherfucker. Of course for all I knew, he could have had a different woman in his bed every night during the past six weeks. We weren’t a couple. I wasn’t even sure I wanted us to be. Yet it felt as if I’d cheated on him. “No. No,” I said to myself as I deleted the text. Not the time, not the place. More important things to figure out. Thank God.
One voice message was from my agent, Miranda, about another offer, but I saved that one for later. Or never. The second was from the very person I wanted to hear from. “Hey, Iris, it’s Sheriff Hancock. Can you call me ASAP? There’s something I need to talk to you about. I’m at home until seven. The number is 555-5672. Call me as soon as you get this. Bye.”
I immediately dialed the number. “Hello?” Mrs. Hancock asked on the other end.
“Hi. It’s Iris Ballard.”
“Oh good. Hi! Been waiting by the phone for your call. He’s in the bathroom right now, but…Tim! It’s Iris!”
I’m fairly sure she brought him the phone in the bathroom. “Oh, thank Christ. Hey. Hi,” he said.
“Hi. What’s up? Your message sounded important. Did you finish my prints?”
“I did.”
“Well, is it possible for me to stop by and pick up the files? I also have another print I need like yesterday.” He was quiet for several seconds. “Sheriff?”
“Do you…do you have any plans for tonight?”
Okay, I was not expecting that. “Uh…why?”
“Look, I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. This is an election year and my opponent has the backing of several business leaders.”
Oh, I did not like where the conversation was going. “Okay…”
“There’s a Chamber of Commerce mixer tonight over at the country club starting at seven. Amanda pointed out it might be beneficial if I brought you as a guest.”
And trotted me around like a show pony. Amanda Hancock was no fool. It would certainly help his campaign to have the obvious support of
the hometown hero. “Did she now?”
“It’s just a cocktail party. You won’t have to give a speech or anything. You won’t even have to stay the whole time. I think…it would really help me out, Iris. And I can give you the reports and get your new items. I’ll run them first thing in the morning.”
Oh, fuck. I could read between the lines. A favor for a favor. It was why I really hated asking for favors. “Okay. Yeah. Fine. Whatever. I’ll be there by seven.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate this, Iris.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Cocktail parties aren’t really my forte, but I’ll try to be on my best behavior.”
“I know you won’t let me down. Thanks for this, Iris. See you soon.”
I hung up and rested my head on the wheel again. Another party? More socializing? I was beginning to miss my hermit years something fierce. Cultists and captains of industry all on one night. And if who I thought would be there that night was there? Give me the damn cultists any day of the year.
Chapter 9
I instantly regretted saying yes to Hancock the moment I hung up. The sense of dread and annoyance grew as I had to put on the outfit I wore on Shelly Monroe’s show, fix my makeup, curl my hair, and pull on my pantyhose. It had been the day from hell almost from start to finish, and all I wanted to do was eat ice cream and read a book in my nice, quiet bedroom. Alone. I was so done with people, yet I found myself driving to the country club to suck up to a bunch of rich assholes. But if he were there…I grabbed the steering wheel. Tight. I could be civil. I would be civil. Hancock had always gone out of his way for me—hell, he was still doing it; I could be nice for an hour. Even with him. That or I’d just sucker-punch the fucker the second I saw him.
My phone rang as I pulled up the driveway of the two-story, white-columned country club. A wave of memories flooded back. Most good. All of Paul’s school dances were held there. At the last one, we slipped away to the sixteenth hole and made love under the stars. That was the last time I was there. As I said, good memories.
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