White Heat. Brenda Novak

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      Warming to his role, Ethan stepped forward, once again feeling invincible in their worship. “And although it greatly pains me, I must broach another part of this issue. When we decided to accept Courtney, we decided to protect her from discovery and removal.”

      “I remember,” Roger Lamkin shouted from the back.

      “We sheltered her from the parents who’d been so unkind to her.” Ethan shook his head. “And now she will betray us, put us at risk. I have no idea what details of our lifestyle she might twist, but she could cause problems for us. I have made this a matter of much thought and prayer and it has been revealed to me that we are to stick with what we told her parents initially. Courtney was never here. The Lord would rather have us maintain that as the truth than to admit a lie that would cause the innocent among us to suffer.”

      “The Lord will protect us.”

      “He has shown us how to protect ourselves,” Ethan added, wanting to drive that point home.

      “We only lied to make her free!” someone else called out. “We only lied to protect her. For the greater good of truth and freedom.”

      “And in that we are justified.” He rubbed his hands together. “As we are justified, according to His word, in this—if outsiders come to call, you will say nothing of Courtney. You will come directly to me, and I will handle all inquiries. Do you understand?”

      “Yes, Holy One,” they cried.

      Cupping a hand around his ear, he spoke louder. “What did you say?”

      “Yes, Holy One!”

      The unified response satisfied him. “Good. Now, go on about your work and don’t worry. All is well.”

      “All is well,” they echoed. “Praise be to God.”

      Bartholomew came up behind him as the crowd dispersed. “You have led them in the right way,” he murmured.

      Ethan turned to study his friend’s haggard face. He had bags under his eyes and a gray tinge to his skin that made Ethan suspect he wasn’t entirely well. But Bartholomew wouldn’t go back to bed even if ordered to do so. He was on guard, waiting for this latest problem to blow up or blow over. “It’s the only way.”

      “We’ll be fine so long as we’re consistent. She came to a meeting here. That is all we admit. We never saw her after that. We cannot undermine our credibility by changing our story. The Lord will protect us if we hold our tongue on all else.”

      The belligerence on Courtney’s face during their argument flitted through Ethan’s mind. He was shocked that she’d tried to blackmail him. Or had he been hallucinating about that, too? That was what really frightened him. Maybe she’d posed no threat and he’d killed her, anyway…. “Another scandal so soon after what happened with Martha is regrettable.”

      “All will be well,” Bartholomew said. “Leave it to me.”

      “I’ve left Martha to you, and it’s been weeks,” he complained to deflect attention from his own mistake.

      “I’m working on it. I know she’s in Willcox.”

      “If you know she’s in Willcox, why haven’t you been able to bring her back?”

      He lowered his voice. “She’s not exactly listed in the phone book, Ethan. But I’ll find her. I have two men there as we speak.”

      “Not with the mark—”

      “Of course not! Do you think I’d send men so easily identified as belonging to us?”

      “No. You’re too smart for that.”

      “Thanks be to God I have never let you down. And I don’t plan to start now.”

      “But by the time you recover her, the damage will be done.”

      “The damage was done the moment she escaped and opened her big mouth. What more can she say now that she’s told the world we tried to kill her?”

      “She knows details about the way we worship that I’d rather she didn’t share. What we do here is sacred. I won’t throw pearls before swine, won’t hold our beliefs up for the world to judge.”

      “She’s probably already told. But we’ll get her back, and it won’t be too late. It’s never too late to punish the deserving.”

      Ethan watched the crowd disperse. “I can’t believe she slipped through the hands of two hundred people.”

      Bart lowered his voice. “She had to have help, as I said from the beginning.”

      “Who helped her?”

      “That’s what I want to know. And I won’t be satisfied until I find out.”

      They’d called in at least two dozen people who’d been there that night, but all denied any knowledge of what had occurred.

      “Once the fuss dies down, we’ll quietly reclaim her,” Bart said. “It’ll be safer then.”

      With a sniff, Ethan nodded. It was going to be another hot day. After last night, he’d rather not be wandering around. And he didn’t want to be so close to Bart. Sometimes his head of security made him feel…strange. “Cancel my meetings this morning and send me three women,” he said. Then he searched his pockets for the meth he’d put there and hurried to the Enlightenment Hall, where the privacy of his room awaited. He wanted to get high and experiment with the women who were always so eager to please him.

      But it was only an hour later that a knock on his door interrupted them.

      “Holy One!” a breathless voice called from the hallway.

      Ethan was pretty sure it was his housekeeper, Sister Maxine, but the sound came to him as if through a synthesizer. It took several seconds for him to realize he hadn’t imagined it, and even longer to bring the response swimming around in his head to his lips.

      “Yes?” He’d had the women tie him to the bed so he couldn’t move. He didn’t want to leave the room, anyway. He’d been fantasizing about a most erotic encounter, one that didn’t include women at all.

      “Holy One!” The second call came with enough urgency that his companions sat up.

      “What is it?” he managed to ask.

      “Courtney’s mother is at the gate!”

      Rachel stood just inside the entrance of Portal’s store/café with Nate at her side, waiting for someone who worked in the restaurant portion of the establishment to seat them. They wouldn’t have any trouble getting a table. The place was almost empty. Apparently, even birders avoided this part of America at the height of the summer.

      “You’re quiet today. You okay?” Nate asked.

      “I’m fine,” she replied, but she already felt tired and dusty. She’d had only a few hours’ sleep and had to settle for a rudimentary bath. With such a limited СКАЧАТЬ