Sweet Illusions (Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series Book 4)

by Jeanette Lewis

  Would she ever find what she’d had with Ben again? Part of her knew heartbreak would eventually heal—people suffered terrible losses and survived, and she could too. But another part of her refused to believe she could find something so special again. Because if it was so special, didn’t that make it rare? And if it wasn’t rare, didn’t that mean it wasn’t special?

  “You okay?” Sam asked.

  She nodded. “Kind of sad, but I’m glad you’re here.”

  He threw her a small smile, and even in the dim light from the dash, she could tell the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “Are you okay? You’re acing weird.”

  He fumbled at the radio. “I’m fine.”

  They’d gone another forty minutes when Sam pulled off the freeway and into a truck stop. “Bathroom,” he said quickly in answer to her questioning look. But instead of pulling into a space at the front of the store, he steered the little car to the back, where the light was dim and only a handful of big rigs were parked on the huge asphalt pad.

  Eva sat up straighter. “Why are we coming back here?” Darts of uncertainty shivered down her spine.

  “Cameras,” Sam said. He parked the car and turned off the engine.

  Had he been shoplifting again? “Why do we need to stay away from cameras?” Eva demanded.

  He swallowed hard, and a second later, her door flew open. Eva gasped as a huge hand clamped like iron around her bicep. Sam’s eyes filled with tears as he reached over and unlocked her seat belt so the hand could drag her from the car.

  “Wait! Stop!” Eva struggled, but she was no match for the man’s brute strength. She gasped in pain as he wrenched her arms back, pinning them together with one meaty hand wrapped around both of her wrists. The other hand came up to clamp over her mouth and the scream building inside died instantly.

  “That’s better. Much better.”

  Eva’s blood turned to ice water at the sound of the lazy drawl. Jessemyinth stepped forward, his thick lips split into a wide grin. Behind him lurked the hulking shape of another huge man. The man’s face was partially hidden in shadow, but Eva was certain she’d never seen him before. Did the prophet’s family have bodyguards?

  The hand over her face made it hard to breathe. Eva twisted her head, trying to get air, but the hand followed, remaining firmly clamped over her mouth and most of her nose. Her knees began to buckle.

  “I’ll tell him to let you go if you promise not to scream,” Jessie said.

  Eva nodded, and a second later the hand dropped. She gulped in a huge breath, her eyes darting wildly among the men: Jessemyinth, his two bodyguards—one of whom still held her arms pinioned—and Sam, who stood unrestrained, his eyes on the ground.

  “Sam,” she whispered as the realization struck. “You planned this … with him?”

  “Seranyevah, you need to come home,” he said quietly, in a voice that sounded as plaintive and unsure as it had when he was a boy. “The end will be here soon and your place is with us.”

  “Aw, how sweet.” Jessie’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Poor little brother needs his big sister and what does she do?” He stepped closer and she could smell the sour stink of chewing tobacco on his breath. “She runs off and leaves him. Well, the game’s up and little brother is right. It’s time to come home, Sister Seranyevah.”

  “It’s Eva now,” she snapped.

  She didn’t see his hand pull back, didn’t see anything until the whip-crack sound of his palm across her cheek, followed by the blaze of pain. Sam let out a small gasp as her head whipped to the side, then back into place, like a doll with elastic running down the core of its body. She tasted blood where she’d bitten her tongue and glared at Jessie, not bothering to hide her disdain.

  He chuckled softly. “Don’t make this so fun or I might be tempted to let you live.”

  “What? No!” Sam broke in. “You said you’d bring her home safely. You promised!”

  Jessie’s eyes glinted in the dim light. “You were always too trusting, Sambium. It’s embarrassing, really.” He jerked his head toward the shadow that still stood behind him. “Take care of him and let’s go.”

  It happened in an instant. The man holding Eva picked her up as the other bodyguard rushed at Sam. Eva twisted and fought, but the man tightened his grip, running with her as if she’d been a child. A black SUV was parked several feet away. Right before they shoved her inside, Eva heard Sam cry out; then a single gunshot echoed through the night. Eva’s cheek connected with the doorframe of the car and everything went dark.

  “No, she didn’t tell me she was leaving,” Ben’s mother said. She wore a light pink robe over her pajamas and a pair of flip-flops. Her eyebrows were drawn together in concern.

  “And nothing besides the note?” Ben’s gaze shot to the counter again, where Eva’s note sat alongside the rent money. It was a stupid question. He’d been the first one in the apartment when his mother had unlocked it; he knew there was nothing besides the note. The sight of Eva’s thin, finely shaped handwriting made his heart clench.

  “Why would she leave half her things behind?” he demanded, shooting a glance at the three neatly taped boxes that sat in the living room.

  His mother spread her hands helplessly.

  “He had a small car,” Miss Lucille said from her spot near the open door. She wore a teal pantsuit and leopard-print heels and had been out walking her dog when she’d seen Eva and a young man with long dark hair loading boxes into a small maroon car. Ben had no doubt the young man was Sam.

  He ground his teeth. “So there wasn’t room in the car for everything. Then why didn’t she tell you she’d be back for it?” Even as he said the words, he knew the answer. Eva wasn’t coming back for her things, not ever. His heart sank.

  Eva groaned as she opened her eyes. The throbbing in her head was made worse by the motion of the car and her position, lying in the back seat with her head …

  She struggled upright, yanking her head from Jessie’s lap.

  “You can stay there if you want,” he snickered. “It’s rather exciting.”

  “Where’s Sam?” Eva’s eyes darted wildly around the car. The two thugs sat in the front, leaving her in the back with Jessie. Sam was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s my brother?”

  “You know, I think the Family is getting too big,” Jessie said in a conversational tone. “When I’m the prophet, I’m going to cull the dead weight. In fact, I’ve already started.” He gave her a mocking look. “Your brother was always a useless eater.”

  Her stomach heaved as she heard the words, heard the echo of the gunshot. She wouldn’t believe it. Sam couldn’t be dead. She didn’t remember a world without Sam; it wasn’t possible. Eva squeezed her eyes shut as tears threatened to overwhelm her. She couldn’t let Jessie see her cry.

  “Poor, dumb Sambium,” Jessie said, and his voice took on a high-pitched mocking tone. “‘All I want is to bring her home. Will you help me bring my sister home, Jessie?’”

  “So you …”

  His teeth flashed in the darkness. “He said he knew where you were, so I gave him the car and some money to go and bring you back.”

  She swallowed hard against the panic building in her chest. “So why didn’t you wait for him to bring me home, since that’s what he’d intended?”

  “He was taking too long,” Jessie said casually. “I started to think he’d change his mind.”

  She blinked back more tears. Had Sam changed his mind? He’d seemed genuinely excited to find their father. Had it been an act?

  And if he had changed his mind, was that why he’d waited to meet Jessie until they were so far from Indigo Bay? Jessie had been one of the arsonists involved in the elementary school fire all those years ago. Sam knew what he was capable of. By taking Eva to the truck stop, had he been trying to protect Indigo Bay … or was Jessie in charge the whole time and Sam had merely done what he was told? And what about Mrs. England?

  Her blood chilled and she ducke
d her head, finally allowing tears to stream down her cheeks. “I trusted him,” she said weakly, adding a choked note of dismay in her voice. “I promised the Savannah Aid Society we’d never tell. They worked so hard to find me a place at their shelter.”

  From the corner of her eye, she caught Jessie’s grin, like a Cheshire cat. “Then you’re as stupid as your brother,” he said bluntly. “He was working for me, not you.”

  Eva allowed herself a small moment of relief. Jessie didn’t know where she’d been or how she’d gotten there, and he was too arrogant to admit Sam may not have told him everything. Indigo Bay was safe and at least in that one thing, there would be victory. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Home, of course.” Jessie thumped the back of the driver’s seat with his fist. “Kurum, hurry it up. I don’t want to take all night.”

  The SUV picked up speed and fear licked through Eva like a grass fire. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the only chance she had.

  Please help me, Ben.

  Ben drove home from Eva’s empty apartment, only half listening to the muted voices coming through the radio on the dash. The world had tilted and would never be the same again. His chance to apologize to Eva was gone. He’d never thought she’d simply leave, with no word, no goodbye, no chance to put things right between them. The realization he’d had in Miss Caroline’s seemed a million hours ago and a million hours too late. He’d blown it.

  He was almost to the parking lot of his apartment building when the words “homicide” and “maroon car” jumped out of the radio, making his heart slam. He jammed his foot on the brake and cranked up the volume, listening hard for the repeat message.

  Finally it came. “Possible homicide reported at Wrens truck stop near mile marker twenty-seven,” the dispatcher said in a calm, clear voice. “Maroon 1996 Nissan Sentra. Units Seven and Twelve are responding.”

  Ben spun the wheel of the police cruiser with one hand while the other hit the lights and sirens. He floored it.

  Chapter 12

  It was beginning to get light when the SUV reached the Compound. One of the bodyguards, named Hadanish, got out to open the gate, and Jessie’s hand closed around Eva’s arm, cutting off any thought of escape. As if she could run right now anyway. Except for one quick stop for gas, they’d driven straight through the night and she was stiff and numb from sitting for so long. The men had taken turns driving or dozing on the long drive, but sleep was impossible for Eva.

  The Compound was quiet, and no lights shone in any of the buildings. Eva wondered if any of them knew what was happening, if anyone cared. Were they all peacefully asleep with nothing more serious on their minds than what they’d have for breakfast? Or were they cowering in fear? There would have been no official communication from Jessie, she knew that. But the grapevine had always run strong; it wasn’t impossible to think they knew he’d gone to find her.

  Did her mother know?

  She swallowed the brief flash of hope at the thought. Even if she knew, her mother could do nothing.

  Kurum steered the SUV down the road behind the barracks where most of the children lived, heading for the far side of the Compound and the gate guarding the inner sanctum. They reached it and Hadanish once again got out to open the gate, then close it after the SUV pulled through.

  Eva had never been inside the inner sanctum. She knew better than anyone that it was reserved only for the prophet’s blood family … and whoever else they chose. Her mother had disappeared behind the black steel gate many years ago and had never once sent for her children to join her.

  The fence surrounding the inner sanctum stood over ten feet tall, made from rock panels topped with razor wire. As a child, Eva had been taught the extra security was intended to protect the prophet and his family from the outside world, but now, she realized it was as much a protection from other members of the Family as from outsiders. Even in the dim light, she could see the buildings were much more solidly constructed than what the rest of the Family had—actual brick and siding instead of the plywood used in the outside Compound. The tires against the road sounded different as well, and looking out, she saw it was smooth poured asphalt instead of rocks and gravel.

  Her mind jumped among scenes from her childhood like a fragmented nightmare—the hunger, the dirt, the flies, freezing at night, and sweltering during the day. The adults leaving the Compound to work long hours at odd jobs, then turning every penny over to the elders. They were told the money was used for the betterment of the group.

  Obviously, that policy depended on which group you were talking about.

  They stopped in front of a large, red brick house with a porch framed by white columns. Jessie threw open the door and gave Eva a sinister smile. “Come on, my grandfather is waiting to pass judgment on you.”

  Her legs shook, but she set her jaw as she climbed out of the SUV and followed him up the steps to the black painted front door.

  After seeing Indigo Bay and especially the beautiful homes along Seaside Boulevard, the inside of the prophet’s house didn’t seem so special to Eva. But to the average member of the Family, it would see unimaginably luxurious with plush carpets, electric lights in every room, and comfortable furnishings. Eva caught sight of a full kitchen, and through another door a bathroom with an actual bathtub and a white porcelain toilet. Bitterly, she thought of the cold water showers and the stink of the outhouses in the regular Compound.

  Jessie led the way to a closed door at the far end of a large living room. He knocked, and after a few moments, the door opened from the inside. So far he’d kept his hands off her, but now, Jessie wrapped one hand around Eva’s wrist and pulled her inside. “No talking,” he hissed under his breath as they entered.

  The room was all blue and gold. Thick navy blue carpet covered the floor, and the walls were painted a lighter shade of blue and hung with paintings in gold frames showing various doomsday scenarios on Earth—tidal waves, volcanoes, meteor showers—all presided over by a hulking blue planet dominating the sky.

  Father Neezrahiah sat on a throne-like chair at the head of the room. The seat and back were padded with blue velvet and the arms had been painted gold. Flanking him were his sons—Jessie’s father and his brother, the man who had taken Eva’s mother away. The rest of the room was bare of furniture, but filled with men, women, and children, kneeling silently in orderly rows. Eva scanned the group for her mother, but couldn’t find her among the bowed heads. Was this a regular prayer meeting, or had they assembled because of her?

  “Jessemyinth.” Father Neezrahiah raised his head and beckoned them forward. He was older than Eva remembered and his features seemed to have shrunk, all except for his long, hooked nose. Under his thick white eyebrows, his eyes glittered, calculating and mean.

  Still keeping his grip on her arm, Jessie dragged Eva to the front of the room, and they stood silently under the gaze of the prophet. Eva was shaking, and once, she took a breath to speak, but Jessie’s hand clamped around her arm so tightly she gasped and stayed silent.

  Finally, after what seemed an interminable wait, Father Neezrahiah spoke. “It is a grievous thing to desert one’s faith,” he said. His voice was faint, but carried clearly through the deadly silent room. “I am sure you must have had reasons for what you have done. You must think about these reasons and be prepared to offer them.”

  Eva’s mind whirled, rapidly forming her defense. But before she could speak, the prophet continued. “We must hope when you reach the other side, our gods will give you mercy.” He tipped his head toward one of the paintings on the wall, this one depicting tall, long-limbed aliens striding along a fiery landscape. Within the flames writhed crowds of wailing people, and the aliens were stooping to gather a few into their spindly arms.

  They meant to kill her. Her knees went weak as the realization hit, and she would have fallen except for Jessie’s iron grip on her arm. He tittered.

  “I-I want to speak to m-my mother,” Eva finally gasped.


  The road zoomed by, the white dotted line becoming a solid blur as Ben kept the accelerator pressed to the floor. It was late. The freeway was not crowded and his lights and sirens were enough to get most motorists to pull out of his way. He dodged around the few who did not move quickly enough with muttered curses, his eyes darting toward exit signs and mile markers. How much farther did he have to go?

  The radio on his dash squawked, and he was reaching to turn it down when the gravelly voice of Chief Nielsen stopped his hand. “Andrews! What are you doing?”

  He grabbed the microphone. “Responding to a call, sir.”

  “A call outside your jurisdiction. Get back here immediately.”

  Ben clenched his teeth. “I can’t, sir. I believe the call involves Eva.”

  There was a pause, and Ben knew the chief was trying to remember who Eva was. He didn’t get involved in the personal lives of his officers.

  Ben decided not to take any chances. “She’s my girlfriend, sir,” he said in a rush. “She lives and works in Indigo Bay and I believe she was kidnapped. Jefferson County is investigating a homicide involving a car matching the description of the one she left in.”

  “They’ve thrown a homicide code?” the chief asked sharply.

  Ben’s throat burned. “Yes, sir.”

  “I’m sending backup.”

  The radio clicked off and Ben swallowed hard, beating back the fear clogging his mind. The speedometer hovered around one-ten; he couldn’t afford to get distracted by emotion now.

  A few minutes later, the truck stop came into view. Ben hurtled off the freeway and screeched to a halt next to a police car from Jefferson County. Dozens of emergency vehicles were already there, surrounding the little maroon car, which was bathed in the swirling red lights of the emergency vehicles and swarming with personnel. A crowd of spectators stood outside the circle, staring at the chaos, and Ben’s heart stuttered when he saw the blanket-draped figure lying on the ground near the trunk of the car.