“‘Before’?” Repeating the word, Jack smiled. “I promise you, Theodore. What we discuss between us stays with me. I won’t repeat it to anyone else in here. You have my word.”
The child’s expression remained fearful. “Not even Miss Rachel?”
“Not even her.”
Theodore held his gaze, clearly not certain if he could believe what Jack said.
“I’m your therapist,” Jack reassured him. “We’re not allowed to tell anyone what you say in private.” Unable to help himself, he glanced down at the bench. Of course, this made Theodore do the same.
“There’s nothing there,” Theodore whispered. “Me and a couple of the kids found the listening thing when we were playing a few weeks ago and broke it. Stomped it to pieces. So far, they haven’t replaced it.”
Jack let his relief show in his smile. “Thank you for letting me know. I think Benjamin believes it’s still there.”
“Oh.” Theodore nodded sagely, too wise for an eight-or nine-year-old. “He still won’t talk, huh?”
“I can’t discuss him with you,” Jack said promptly, secretly amused at how quickly the boy put him to the test. “You know that.”
Theodore’s sly smile told Jack he did. “I remember more than Christmas,” he said. “My parents gave me a birthday party once.”
This time Jack pretended not to understand. “In your family group here? I didn’t know we celebrated birthdays.”
“Not here.” Theodore swallowed, clearly fighting to hold on to his bravado. “Before they brought me here. At home. My parents invited other kids from somewhere—day care? And we had cake and balloons and lots of presents.”
“Day care?” Jack frowned, pretending not to understand the word.
Theodore shrugged. “I’m not sure what that is. I just remember it. I think it’s where I went when my mom and dad went to work.”
Thinking fast, Jack figured most kids were taught to memorize their address and phone number by the age of four. “Do you know your address and phone number?” he asked, glad he had his trusty therapist pad and pencil.
“Sure.” Theodore rattled off an address. “It’s 164 Oak Street, Fort Collins, Colorado.” He followed this with a phone number.
Careful to hide his growing elation, Jack jotted both of them down.
Finally proof. He’d need to be careful, but this could be investigated. If only he still had access to his cell phone.
Since there were still thirty minutes left in the “session,” Jack chatted with the boy about other things like snow and summer. As they wound down, Theodore grew wistful. “I miss them, you know,” he said. “I still don’t know why they sent me away.”
“Sent you away?” Chest aching, Jack swallowed. “Why do you think that?”
“That’s what Mr. Thomas told me. It’s the reason I live here now. My parents didn’t want me anymore.”
Chapter 14
“Welcome.” The voices were soft and loud, happy and monotone. Gazing around the semicircle of feminine faces, all of them Ezekiel’s wives, Sophia assessed which would be allies and which enemies. If she were staying, that is. Since she wasn’t, she didn’t intend to spend too much time worrying about who to befriend.
Sophia counted at least twenty women. Some were older, others appeared to be closer to Sophia’s age. One or two wouldn’t even look at her—they kept their heads down and their faces averted. All had painted their faces and wore brightly colored dresses. Some, the normal long length, others short. And yes, she saw lots of heels as high as the ones Sophia had crammed on her aching feet.
As she stood facing them, the women moved once more, almost in unison, as if by some hidden cue. Behind them, a set of open French doors revealed a large wooden deck outside, surrounded entirely by tall bushes. A fire blazed in a beautiful stone fire pit. Next to that, Sophia saw her duffel bag.
Unsure what was expected of her, she hesitated, wobbling slightly in the high-heeled shoes.
Again acting on some unseen signal, the women began to flow through the doors and out onto the deck. As they neared Sophia’s bag, each reached down and pulled out an article of clothing. Mystified, Sophia knew better than to protest.
“Come,” Deidre ordered, sailing toward the others, clearly expecting Sophia to follow. Of course, Sophia did.
As soon as she’d made her way to Deirdre’s side, the first woman lifted her arm high, waving one of Sophia’s dresses. Then, with great ceremony, she tossed the blouse into the fire.
All the other women quietly cheered.
Not sure what to think, other than that maybe they’d all lost their minds, Sophia glanced at Deirdre. Wearing the fixed, grim smile she always wore, Deirdre nodded. “Continue,” she ordered.
And then, one by one, each woman burned an article of Sophia’s clothing. Heart sinking, Sophia realized they’d systematically destroyed every garment she owned.
When all had taken their turn, Deirdre marched over to the duffel bag and inspected it, probably to make sure it had been emptied. She pulled from inside Sophia’s favorite sleep shirt, a well-worn and faded garment that Sophia loved.
Since she had a pretty good idea what Deirdre meant to do to it, Sophia worked hard to keep her expression impassive. Even when Deirdre tossed it into the fire.
“Your old life is now behind you,” Deirdre intoned. “Start forward into the new.”
“Start forward into the new,” all the other women chanted. Some of them appeared bored, while one or two had a rapt countenance that Sophia found really disturbing. The rest—a vast majority—watched Sophia, as if hoping for some kind of exciting reaction.
Of course, Sophia knew better. She kept a pleasantly vacant expression on her face.
As her clothing burned and they all watched silently, Sophia wondered what would happen next. Deirdre had forced her to spend the day primping and being made to look like someone she wasn’t. Surely all of that hadn’t been just for this little ceremony.
Her feet were aching and, while she longed to remove the torturous shoes, her instinct told her Deirdre wouldn’t be nearly as forgiving in front of this group of women.
Since they’d harped about her new life, Sophia wondered if they were about to bring her some new clothing to replace the stuff they’d destroyed. Not that she cared, but if they didn’t, that meant she’d be stuck wearing this dress for a while. At least until she could get Rachel to loan her something.
Assuming she even got to go home.
Someone nudged her elbow. Deidre, holding out her hand. Bracing herself, Sophia took it. As she did, she realized all of the women had formed a large circle, clasping each other’s hands. Another wife stood on Sophia’s other side, clearly waiting for Sophia to complete the link.
Apprehension building, Sophia slid her fingers into hers.
And then, just when she thought things could not get any stranger, they all began to sing. Since she had no idea of the words, Sophia didn’t even attempt to follow along. She listened.
Though the melody was reminiscent of a hymn, the words were anything but.
“Sisters we are, united in hope. True to each other, until our last breath. Vowing to fight, stay strong and stay true. Keeping hold of our hearts, united together until our death.”
While Sophia puzzled over this, she realized what they sang was a quiet battle cry. Stunned, she tried to process this.
She must have let some of the shock she felt slip through to her face, because Deirdre hugged her. “Tonight, we will swear an oath to each other,” she said in Sophia’s ear. “We promise to always help one another, no matter the circumstances, no matter the cost.”
The others finished singing and now watched her, listening.
“If you have a question, ask it,” Deirdre said, her smile genuine.
; Sophia nodded. “Why?” she asked. “Why is such a thing necessary? What can happen in that house?” She shivered. “Is it really that bad?”
Several of the women grimaced, more than a few nodded, and one or two looked down.
“You remember I mentioned beatings?” Deirdre asked. “Well, there are actually worse things than that. Enalia, come forward.”
Enalia, a petite, dark-haired girl who’d been one of the downcast women, moved toward them. She didn’t raise her face until the very last moment. When she did, Sophia took an involuntary step back and gasped.
A network of scars crisscrossed one of Enalia’s cheeks. Angry mutilations that hadn’t healed well.
Immediately ashamed of her reaction, Sophia’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m so, so sorry.” She hugged the other woman. “What happened to you?”
“Ezekiel.” Though Enalia spoke in a flat voice, the hatred in her eyes revealed her true emotion. “He finds pleasure in hurting others.”
Immediately, Sophia’s gaze flew to Deirdre. “Is that...is that true?”
Swallowing hard, Deirdre nodded. “All of us have been marked in some way. I was lucky—he stopped when I had his son. That is why I advised you to get with child if you could. While I was pregnant was when he took his second wife, Cassandra.”
A tall, slender woman with a single, long gray braid strode up. “He branded me,” she said, both her eyes and her voice dull. As if she’d checked out mentally long ago, leaving only the shell of her body to finish out her life. She turned slowly and lifted her skirt, exposing a horrid scar on her right buttock in the shape of an E. When she turned back around to face Sophia, a tear rolled down one perfect cheek.
Again, Sophia hugged her. She struggled to find the right words, but in the end realized there were none.
“He’s branded more than one woman,” Deirdre said. “As well as various forms of mutilation and torture. He even cut out poor Hallie’s tongue.”
A curvy redheaded woman who must have been Hallie nodded vigorously. She moved her fingers in some kind of sign language. When she stopped, Deirdre nodded. “She says it was all very painful and degrading.”
Degrading. Now that word perfectly summed all this up.
“Don’t any of you ever fight back?” Sophia asked. “Surely there has to be something you can do. What about the others—Thomas or some of Ezekiel’s sons? Surely they can’t be aware? Why would they allow this to happen?”
“Wife number four tried,” Deirdre said, the corners of her mouth turning down in remembrance. “Ezekiel killed her, then burned her body and scattered her ashes to the wind. That was the first time he publicly punished one of his women. Of course, he lied about the reason, so no one would know the truth about what he’d done.” Deirdre took a deep breath. “Oh, and Thomas is aware. He simply chooses to look the other way.”
“We have no allies but each other.” Enalia’s eyes flashed. “Now that there are so many of us, we try to look out for the newer ones.”
“Are you able to stop him?” Sophia swallowed. “You don’t let him hurt them anymore, right?”
Deirdre and some of the other women shared a long glance. “We do what we can,” the first wife said. “But there are definitely limits.”
Sophia shivered. “That’s horrible.” Though she knew they’d think her revulsion and fear was for herself, in reality she didn’t plan to be there to experience any of Ezekiel’s twisted tortures. No, she worried for them. Why hadn’t any of them ever tried to leave? She thought of wife number four and realized some of them might have, and ended up paying the ultimate price.
Though this bonding ceremony or whatever it was might be interesting, she still didn’t trust them enough to reveal her own truth.
“It’s time to take the oath,” Deirdre declared. “You can never speak of this again, unless Ezekiel takes another new wife after you.”
Surprised, Sophia nodded. “Is that likely?”
Most of the women let out a collective groan.
“Yes,” Deirdre said, the disgust in her face answer enough. “Now kneel, Sophia.”
“Okay.” Sophia did as the older woman asked. One by one, each woman came to kneel with her, pledging to always have her back. To each, she pledged the same. When Hallie’s turn came, she used her fingers to sign the oath and Deirdre repeated it out loud for her.
Finally the last of the wives had taken their turn. Knees aching, Sophia was allowed to stand.
“You may return to your dwelling now,” Deirdre said.
Sophia thought of her clothing, now ashes. What would she wear? As she opened her mouth to ask, Deirdre handed her a duffel bag, similar to Sophia’s but brand new and red.
“There’s new clothing in here,” Deirdre told her. “Everything you will need to start your new life. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow for the bridal dress fitting.”
Her wedding date kept creeping closer. Time continued to march on, way too fast. Accepting the bag and finding it heavier than she’d expected, Sophia managed to nod. “Thank you,” she said. She turned to face the others, finding them watching her with varying degrees of both sadness and pity. She looked for malice, like what she’d once thought she’d seen in Deirdre’s eyes, but saw none.
“Thank you all,” she repeated, her eyes filling with tears. Deirdre took her arm and led her out.
At the front gate, Deirdre eyed her up and down. “If you want any food, I’ll be picking some up later at the place we had lunch. Probably around dark. You can meet me there if you’d like. I’ll get extra.”
Surprised, Sophia nodded. “Thank you.”
“I’ll watch for you.” Looking around quickly, Deirdre reached out and squeezed Sophia’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to spring so much on you at once, but I wanted to get to know you before I gave you your new reality. You seem like you have a strong spine, girl. You’ll need it, that’s for sure.”
And then the gate buzzed open. Sophia stepped through and it clanged closed after her. On the other side, Deirdre had already turned away. Sophia watched for a moment until she’d vanished from sight and then took a deep breath and began the walk home.
The sun had barely begun to set. Since she was meeting Jack soon, she thought she might take Deirdre up on that offer of food later. After all, it had certainly been delicious. For now, she’d go home and think about everything she’d learned. Maybe some of the women she’d met might want to leave COE with her. But could she risk asking them?
* * *
Jack couldn’t wait to see Sophia. As soon as school let out, he took off, deciding he’d jog around the perimeter of the compound before heading to their meeting place in the woods outside the fence. He didn’t want to take a chance of being discovered. Not now, not when he was so damn close to the truth.
Despite the run—and he made two laps around the entire compound—when he finally climbed over the fence and walked into the woods, he was still early. The sun had barely begun to make its way toward the horizon. With birdsong as background music coming from the treetops, he walked into the little clearing and took a seat on the fallen log. Sophia should be getting off work fairly soon. The thought of seeing her again had his heart skipping a beat. He whiled away the time making plans for their new life in the outside world.
Eventually, he heard the rustling in the underbrush, letting him know she’d arrived. Jumping to his feet, he caught his breath at the first sight of her. As she rushed forward, he caught her in his arms and twirled her around, feeling complete now that she was there.
They clung to each other, neither willing to move. As he held her close, he thought he could do this every day for the rest of his life.
Until reluctantly, they broke apart.
“What a day,” they both began at exactly the same moment.
He laughed, she laughed. �
�You go first,” she said. “I’m still trying to process my news.”
“Me, too.” He told her everything, starting with viewing the three children’s records and the discrepancies in them. When he finished relaying the conversation he’d had with Theodore, her amazing eyes went wide.
“That’s unreal.”
“It’s a genuine breakthrough,” he said, not bothering to keep the excitement from his voice. “The question is, where do I go from here? This information makes it pretty clear this boy at least came from outside. He believes, because that’s what Thomas told him, that his parents didn’t want him anymore, but I doubt the truth of that. He even remembers Christmas and his birthday. And I know you don’t celebrate either of those things in COE, do you?”
Sophia shook her head. “No.” She frowned. “I don’t even know what they are, though I can guess about the second one. Celebrating one’s birthday sounds like fun. But that first word...” Her frown deepened. “It’s vaguely familiar to me. I don’t know where, but I’ve heard it before.” She shook her head, as if clearing her mind. “Christmas. It has a happy sound.”
“Do you think you might possibly have memories, too?” He watched her closely. “Let me give you some more related words. Christmas tree, decorations, lights, tinsel, presents, caroling. Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. The three wise men and the little shepherd boy. Snow and shopping and ‘Joy to the World.’”
She listened to each word, clearly concentrating. Waiting, he made sure to contain his rising hopeful excitement. If someone like her, an adult, could recall a life before COE, then that could mean the cult had been abducting children for a very long time.
“I can’t remember,” she said. “They sound familiar, but I can’t be sure if it’s only because I want them to be.”
Struggling to contain his disappointment, he took her in his arms. “Maybe it’ll come to you,” he told her. “Now tell me about your day.”
Snuggling into his side, she sighed. “I’m not sure where to start. It began with me getting fired from my job at the clinic. Dr. Drew said Ezekiel doesn’t let his wives work. Deirdre had told me that, as well, but I thought I could stay until after the wedding.”
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