“Kaylee, I wish I could change the past, but I can’t. You have to move forward.”
Run. Leave. Go away. The urge to flee surged over her like a tidal wave. Leave now while you still have a chance to prevent what could happen.
She peeled free of his arms, giving him a push to put a few feet between them. “Easy for you to say!”
“Kaylee, wait!”
She stilled, but couldn’t lift her gaze to his.
“Look at me,” he said, the tone strong, full of command and confidence, yet strangely gentle.
She wound her gaze up his frame. Again, she saw only compassion in his eyes as he spoke. “I need you. Phoebe needs you. If she stays there, what’ll happen to her? Or the other women in the group?”
She bit her lip and with her index fingers, wiped a few errant tears from under her eyes. While she was at The Farm, one of the women got married, with Noah officiating, of course, and she became pregnant. The baby was stillborn and they nearly lost the mother, too, because she had no prenatal care. Tiny Phoebe wouldn’t survive if she got sick.
A knot formed in her throat as the attendant asked them if he could fill the tank. After Eli nodded, they moved away. “But what I did in there…What I said, and…and what I started to believe—”
“Don’t think about that.”
Her lips thinned as she formed a grim expression. Did he think she could just drop a thought like it was an unwanted bread crust or scrap of trash? He had no idea of the lies she’d been forced to say.
And yet, a voice within her asked, can you disappoint Eli? Or risk Phoebe?
Phoebe was Noah’s most ardent follower, a voice inside reminded her. Think of the blow it would be to the group.
Kaylee swallowed. But Phoebe didn’t have to be there, she argued internally.
Eli walked around the car, stopping only to thrust a few bills out at the attendant. “Let’s go.”
“I’m no good to you. Take me home.”
After the young man left, he said, “We don’t have time. We need to get to the compound. They go shopping on Wednesdays, remember?”
She blinked. “Yes, but how did you know that?”
“Remember, I have a very good investigator. He knows Noah nearly as well as I do.”
She frowned. “Knowing your brother doesn’t mean you know the cult’s schedule.”
Their gazes locked across the roof of the car. The hairs on her neck danced. Panic threatened again.
“Trust me, Kaylee. I’ve done my homework.”
She narrowed her eyes. Finally, he went on, “Only the trustworthy women and one man to help were allowed to leave the compound. Noah used to tell everyone it was for safety and spiritual reasons. Should the end come, only being in the compound would save them, like being in the ark when the rains came.”
He knew so much. “But you don’t know if Phoebe is going to be one of those that leave. Yes, Noah would trust her, but she could just as easily stay.”
“That’s where faith comes in. Let’s go.” He climbed into the car before she could reply.
They drove past a small picnic site, turned and then bumped over a culvert onto the next side road, heading east. She peered up at the low hanging branches that scraped the roof. The car dipped into a long rut, splashing mud over the bracken ferns that clawed their way onto the path. Like a drowning victim clinging to a lifeline, she gripped her knapsack.
“Hang in there,” Eli said softly.
“The last time I was here, I was fleeing for my life.”
He winced. Kaylee checked her grim satisfaction. She’d meant her words to be harsh. Noah was dangerous and Eli’s faith wasn’t going to help them. Nor would she trust her life to a God who’d allowed Trisha to die.
When Eli slowed down, his eyes alert, on the lookout for any visible activity, she searched for another subject to calm herself. “What do you do for a living?”
“When Phoebe went missing, I sold my business and devoted my time to finding her.”
“Why did it take you so long?”
“Halfway through my search, I took some psychology courses and negotiation training. I actually got a short-term job working for a local police station.”
The road straightened out and both of them fell back into silence. With the car crawling along the dirt road, Kaylee spent the time digesting his words.
Itinerant. Nothing to tie him down.
With her father gone so much when he was alive, her mother found herself doing many things to stave off boredom, both Kaylee and Trisha had learned to appreciate security and stability.
Eli, a wanderer and one who could just hand over his life to the Lord. It was easy to understand how Lois could do that—she was a widow in the winter of her years—but how could he?
She stole a fast look at him. His handsome chiseled profile could lure a woman in. Under other circumstances, she might even have considered dating him.
No. She reined in that thought. He was a driven man who defined himself by his one noble goal—saving his sister. And once he’d achieved his aim, he’d be gone like a shot. He was one of those who were only in a person’s life for a season—in this case, a short one.
The car bumped over some rocks, jarring her to the present situation. “We’re getting close. I remember tripping over those rocks and some of the women would complain that they should be removed. Noah disagreed.”
The tips of the rocks scraped the undercarriage, a terrible grating noise. “Of course. They serve as a natural early warning system.” He slowed down even further, obviously trying to avoid any more detection. Branches scoured the doors, issuing more surreal screeches as they scratched the paint.
Kaylee nodded. Eli certainly knew his brother. She leaned forward, staring down at the road ahead. “Stop.”
Eli stopped.
“No fresh wheel tracks, and it rained last night. No one’s left the compound today.” She paused, wracking her brain for a possible reason. “Up ahead, past those blackberry bushes, is a turnaround point. You’d better take advantage of it.”
He maneuvered the car until it was safely facing the way they’d come. They climbed out as quietly as they could before Kaylee leaned over, her voice dropping. “After the next bend, you can see the compound. But they can also see you.”
“Then we’ll move off the path now.” He headed into the thicket.
She held her breath, hating the anxiety growing in her again. “Setback city, here we come,” she muttered.
Eli held back a branch for her. She heard him chuckle softly. “What may seem like a setback could be a test.”
She stepped past the branch, tossing him a cool look as she slipped past. “And all your setbacks? There were bound to have been some. Did you call them tests?”
“Yes. The investigator couldn’t find anything for years. It wasn’t until CNN reported on you that we got a lead. I was so grateful for it.” His voice cracked as he peered through the bushes ahead of them.
Unexpectedly, tears sprang into her eyes.
A bird called behind them.
Are You there, Lord?
Eli held up his hand. “I see it. Get down.”
She knelt and, with a preparatory breath, looked up. Chain-link fencing, topped with barbed wire, encircled the overgrown old farmhouse and the two outbuildings