“Brother Alden, may I speak with you a moment?”
Alden turned at the soft, respectful tone and words. Ben Hamilton had returned to the compound with a new reverence and appreciation of their ways. Alden had planned to take his wife, Lucy, away from him for a short time, just to reinforce his message of never questioning his authority. However, Ben had come back from his sanctuary trip much earlier than he had planned, bearing a gift. A lost lamb—the young woman who had escaped—had returned to the fold. Returning the runaway had earned Ben special privileges—Alden had allowed Lucy to see to her husband’s needs immediately. Ben had been appropriately appreciative ever since.
Wiping his bloodied hands on a cloth, he asked, “What brings you here, my brother?”
“I have a special favor to ask.”
That so startled Alden, he stared at the man for several seconds. His followers weren’t granted favors. He allowed them the occasional special privilege because he was a good and benevolent leader. However, to have a member ask for a favor? He wasn’t sure anyone had ever done that before. If someone had, he was almost certain the punishment had been severe and just. Did this man think Alden had gone soft because he’d rewarded him for finding the girl? If so, the man was about to learn the hard way that rewards can be revoked as quickly as they are given.
Knowing that if he revealed his thoughts, Ben would back down, Alden kept his expression bland. “What favor might that be?”
“I would like to be involved in the training of our new female members.”
Now he was even more intrigued. Ben had never indicated an interest in the grueling lessons that each new female must go through. Not only did it take a great amount of time and energy; it was also not for the faint of heart. Few members knew exactly what went on inside the training facility. The women, once they had completed their instruction, never remembered the methods he had used to tame them. The pain-filled training was stopped almost immediately as soon as they pledged their obedience and loyalty, and afterward, they never acted as though they knew what had happened.
Somewhat gruesome tactics had to be used to bring the women to the understanding of their purpose in the community. As leader, Alden oversaw all of the training. He had studied the human psyche extensively, but even better, he had a special gift of reaching inside a young girl’s mind and getting her to react exactly as he needed.
Alden knew his gifts were special and that few had them. However, he couldn’t deny the thought that sharing the enjoyment with others might well increase his own pleasure. Tabitha certainly enjoyed it when he allowed her to assist. Why deprive Ben, if his proclivities led him to the same type of pleasure?
Still, was Ben up to the task of the more “vigorous” type of teaching? “And exactly what kind of training would you like to do with them?” Alden asked.
“Showing them around the community … helping them understand how fortunate they are to have been chosen to live here in Tranquillity, with you as their leader.” His smile brightened as he added, “Lucy would like to help, too.”
Ah, just as he’d thought. The man had no idea that the lesson plan included much more than a hospitality tour of their new home. When Ben had arrived in Tranquillity, he’d endured a few of the milder lessons himself. Perhaps he thought that was all that was involved. Little did he know that creating perfection in women was a time-intensive and laborious endeavor. But so very worthwhile.
Ben’s wife, Lucy, had endured three months of intensive training herself before she’d been ready to meet her new husband. About three years ago, Alden had spotted the bright-haired Lucy at a mall in Seattle. And now Lucy didn’t remember her former life, nor did she remember the training it had taken to help her forget that life.
Feeling quite kindly toward Ben, since without his knowing it, he had reinforced to Alden how very successful and brilliant his training really was, he said, “In a day or two, I’ll allow you and Lucy to take one of the girls and show her around Tranquillity.”
“Thank you, Brother Alden. This is an area I’ve been interested in for many years.”
Alden dismissed him by turning away. He might be feeling kindly toward the man, but he was still the leader and, as such, had to be kept separate. Fraternizing with the members was not acceptable.
A pain-filled moan from the room behind him was a reminder that he still had another responsibility to handle. Finding his son a wife. Once that was done, the community would be at peace for another year. He could stay home with Tabitha and get back to doing what he did best: leading his people.
Honor could feel waves of tension bouncing off Seth. She sat quietly beside him in the taxi, wishing she could come up with something remotely encouraging. She had nothing. The news that the young woman who’d gone missing yesterday had been found dead had stunned everyone. Though remote, the possibility still existed that she’d been taken by the same person who’d abducted the other girls. And if that was so, had he killed them, too?
They were taking a much-needed break. Until Jared confirmed that Missy and Karen had visited some kind of social or support group at their school, Seth’s theory was nothing but a vague hope that they were on to something.
Honor had made a quick call to Anna’s mother, but had come up empty. Mrs. Bradford had no knowledge of Anna going to any kind of social meeting at her new school. And though that poked a hole in their theory, she refused to let it destroy what she felt was finally a thread. Anna hadn’t fit the profile in other ways either, but everyone still felt that her disappearance was related.
While they waited for word from Jared, she and Seth needed to get away and Honor had the perfect solution. If he would go along with it, that is. Whether he would admit it or not, he needed some downtime. Learning about the girl’s death had floored everyone, but it had devastated Seth.
Maturity and experience had given her insight into reading Seth, skills she hadn’t had when they were together before. Though he didn’t say it and maybe hadn’t even admitted it to himself, Honor had seen the desolation and terror in his eyes. He was doing what family members and loved ones of missing victims do: imagining the worst. Going to places in his mind he didn’t want to go but couldn’t prevent himself from visiting. What hell was Kelli going through and would they find her in time? Seth might not admit to it, but he needed a respite from those thoughts.
She was about to make a suggestion she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t regret. However, there were several reasons she thought it was a good idea. She just hoped to hell her libido wasn’t secretly involved in the decision making. With Seth, it was hard to tell. Mentally shaking her head, Honor took the plunge. “I’d like to go see my mom. Would you come with me?”
He shot her an incredulous look. “Are you serious?”
“Just because we’re not standing in front of a board or reviewing files doesn’t mean we won’t be thinking about this case. She’s only an hour away and I need some downtime.”
He shook his head. “That’s not why I’m surprised. I agree that a couple of days away might clear our heads.”
“Then what?”
“I’m just surprised you’d want me to meet your mother.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because of what I did to you.”
Oh hell, she was in so much trouble, because once again, she had the overpowering desire to hug him. “I’m not saying my mom’s going to open her arms wide in welcome the minute she sees you, but she’s been through a lot of things. My dad worked on several missions he wasn’t able to talk about.”
“So does that mean you understand why I did what I did?”
She wasn’t ready to have this discussion. The hurt and pain were still there, and she wasn’t sure they would ever go away. However, she had to give him this. “I do understand why you felt you had to do what you did.”
“But you can’t forgive me. Right?”
“Let’s not go there right now. Okay?”
He nodded stiffly and turned his
face to the taxi’s window.
Honor held back a sigh. Part of her wished she could tell him that she had forgiven him. Problem was, she didn’t know if that was possible. Understanding why he’d done something wasn’t the same as forgiving him or believing he had done the right thing. He had made a decision for her that had monumentally affected her life.
“So do you want to go with me?” And because she hated seeing that dark, grim look come over his face, she added teasingly, “My mom’s apple pie is out of this world.”
His mouth tilted in a half smile, but his eyes remained serious. “Sounds great. Thanks.”
The taxi pulled up to the front entrance of the hotel. Seth got out and then held out his hand to her. That one small act stopped her cold as something flickered in her mind. The hand, almost twice as large as hers, darkly tanned, with a sprinkling of black hair and blue veins, looked so strong, so capable. Lethal when necessary, but it had only ever been infinitely tender with her, giving her incredible pleasure.
Blaming her odd thoughts on mental exhaustion, Honor took his hand. After a couple of days of sleep and a few of her mom’s home-cooked meals, both she and Seth would get back on the trail. Dwelling on her past with Seth would get her nowhere other than on a path toward a broken heart. And that was one place she’d sworn she would never go again.
Tranquillity
Darkness and light became one interminable time span of nothingness. In the deepest recesses of her mind, Anna knew she was drugged. Reality was blurred, leading to confusion, nightmares that never seemed to end. Pain existed, but with the drugs, she could almost not acknowledge its existence. Where she hurt and why, she didn’t know. The aches were there, but her blurred mind refused to summon the will to find its location.
The man she’d thought would be her savior had betrayed her. That much she remembered. One moment she had been enjoying her first hot meal in days, and the next, she’d been draped over a mountainous shoulder, being carried somewhere. Her instincts had told her to fight, but her weak limbs had ignored the order.
The dimness receded, and as her thoughts became more coherent, questions clamored in her head. How long had she been here? Were her eyes open or closed? What had they done to her while she was unconscious? Her body ached, but once again, she couldn’t locate the pain, nor could she acknowledge it as distinctly painful. It was just there, hovering.
The man who’d brought her back … he’d said his name was Ben. She had tried to ask him questions. Once she’d realized that shouting and then begging wouldn’t sway him, she had tried to get information. His answers had been infuriatingly vague. They were a community of believers, living in harmony with nature. When asked what that belief was, he couldn’t say exactly.
The more questions she’d asked, the less accommodating he had been. Finally he’d threatened to knock her out to shut her up. Since staying awake and alert had been imperative, she’d kept her mouth closed. Not that it had done her a lot of good. The moment she’d been carried inside the giant gate, two men had grabbed her and a needle had been jabbed into a vein in her arm.
From the brief, uninformative conversation she’d had with Ben, she now understood that she was in some sort of commune. She and the other girls had been abducted. What these creeps planned to do with them was something she didn’t dare contemplate. Best thing she could do was concentrate on escaping again. And this time, she would make it stick.
Distant voices reached her ears. With the darkness surrounding her, she couldn’t tell if she was in a large room and the people speaking were in another part of the room or if she was closed up in a small room and the people were outside. Shuffling sounds came closer. Anna tensed. Was she about to get her questions answered? The terror she’d been able to hold at bay leaped forward like a rabid animal, tearing viciously into her façade of bravery. Her tough inner talk disintegrated, and once again she was a terrified young girl wanting to be held in her mother’s arms and told it had all been just a bad dream.
A dull light appeared above her and a soft, whispery female voice said, “You’re awake.”
Anna blinked, but was unable to see anything other than the dark outline of a body. “Who are you?”
“My name is Lucy.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in Tranquillity.”
Anna almost laughed, but humor, even the sarcastic kind, escaped her. Besides, pissing this woman off by laughing at her wouldn’t accomplish anything.
“Why am I here?”
“To serve.”
That didn’t sound good. “Serve who?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“We?”
Though she couldn’t see Lucy’s face, Anna felt the hesitation in her body. Afraid the woman would just go away without giving her more information, Anna went on to another question—hopefully one less threatening. “Would it be possible for me to go to the bathroom?”
“Why?”
Surprised at such a stupid question, Anna couldn’t help but say, “The obvious, of course. I need to pee.”
“But you have a catheter attached.”
Anna’s entire body jerked at that information. Who had dared do something so intimate and invasive? If she were in a hospital, it would be different. But this wasn’t a hospital, and she sure as hell wasn’t a patient.
“Who did that … put a catheter in me?”
“I did … with Tabitha’s guidance.”
Now, that was a name she recognized. Tabitha, the bitch who’d been instrumental in her abduction.
Tired of the cat-and-mouse questioning, Anna went for broke. “Can I sit up? Get some water? Food? See something besides this damn lightbulb?”
“I’ll check. We’ve been given special permission to assist in your training, but I don’t know what’s allowed yet.”
“Training?”
“Yes.”
“Training for what?”
“To be what you need to be.”
“I’m quite happy being me; I don’t need to be anyone else.”
A gasp was the only answer Lucy gave. Obviously, that was a foreign concept to this woman.
Footsteps that sounded like they belonged to a heavy man came closer. “Is she awake?”
Anna recognized Ben’s voice. The asshole who’d returned her to this psycho place. “Get away from me, you bastard.”
Lucy gasped above her, and then Anna felt a small, painful pinch on the inside of her arm.
“Dammit, that hurt,” she snapped.
“You cannot talk to my Ben like that.”
Laughter sprang to her mouth before she could control it. Lucy had acted like such a sweet, shy creature, but here she was defending a man who was almost twice Anna’s size.
“That’s okay, Lucy,” Ben said. “She’ll be mad until she understands that we’re only here to help her.”
“You pretty much pissed on your chance to help me. Your kind of help I can do without.”
“Lucy, turn on all the overhead lights so Anna can see we’re not the evil people she apparently thinks we are.”
Biting her lip, Anna said nothing. Being able to see was too important to risk him changing his mind if she pissed him off. If she was going to get out of here, she had to know as much as she could about this place. Being able to see seemed like the best place to start.
Lights flickered on above her. Anna blinked at the brightness, her eyes watering. She looked around, unsurprised that she was in a small room with no furniture. Instead of being chained, as she had been before, she was lying on a bed and her arms and legs were tied to it. She glanced down, relieved to see that she was at least covered by some kind of nightgown.
Ben stood beside the bed, an odd smile of encouragement on his face. She found his attitude so weird that she barely paid attention to the woman she sensed coming closer.
“Is that better?” Lucy asked.
Anna turned her attention to the woman now standing beside Ben and swallowed a gasp. Tall, slen
der, and stunningly beautiful, Lucy gazed adoringly at Ben as if he were her god.
Ben, who had to be almost twice her age, said, “My Lucy asked you a question. You must answer her.”
“Yes, it’s better.” Figuring she needed to stay on their good side, at least for the time being, she added, “Thanks.”
Ben nodded. “You’re going to fit in just fine. Once you go through training, like Lucy did, you’ll be much happier.”
“Training?”
His smile bright but his eyes oddly vacant, Ben nodded eagerly. “Perfection training. My Lucy is perfect and someday soon, you’ll be just like her.”
What the hell?
eighteen
Sarasota, Florida
Seth stood in the driveway of the two-story, plantation-style home that belonged to Honor’s mother. Why had he come here when he could have just as easily hopped a plane and been at his own home in less than an hour? He shot a glance at the woman at his side and mentally shrugged. No point in asking himself that question. Downtime with Honor trumped being by himself by a million miles, even if that included a firm dressing down from her mother.
“Don’t be nervous.” Honor winked. “I’m almost positive she won’t shoot you.”
“Shooting would be kinder than what I would imagine she’d rather do.”
Grabbing his hand, she pulled him with her to the front door. “I think you’re overestimating my mom’s revenge quotient.” She flashed a bright smile back at him and added, “My brother, on the other hand, would find several creative ways to punish you. Thankfully, Nick’s not here.”
Seth was grateful for that, too. Going head to head with a marine was not his idea of relaxation, especially when he wasn’t so sure he didn’t deserve a thrashing for breaking Honor’s heart.
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