Desperate Rescue Page 3

  “That’s an odd thing to say,” he answered with a soft smile. “Churches are famous for their healing.”

  She bristled at his little quip.

  “Don’t give up on church, Kaylee,” he said softly. “That’s like saying that Noah was right to form his cult, his own religion to suit himself. Don’t let him win.”

  Kaylee bit her lip. She wanted nothing to do with Noah, ever again. She didn’t want to think of him again, let alone face him. A shudder ran through her.

  Eli leaned forward slightly. “What did your parents do when you stayed in that cult?”

  “My parents are dead. My father worked on the oil rigs out in the Atlantic. One of them a few years back had an accident during a storm and he was swept overboard.”

  “I’m sorry. And your mother?”

  “She developed lung cancer. She’d worked in a restaurant for years, supplementing the income and trying to stave off boredom, only to have all the second-hand smoke kill her.”

  “So no one missed you?”

  “Only my aunt. But Trisha told me once that she wrote to her saying we were both fine and I’d seen the light and joined her group.” The very idea that Trisha had lied and not felt guilty about it cut deeply into her. “She told me it was for my own good and that I’d thank her some day.”

  She pulled herself together. “Trisha was all I had left. But now she’s gone, too.” Her voice cracked and she hated the show of weakness.

  Eli took her hand, as tenderly as his gaze held hers.

  “You can help Phoebe. She needs you. You can save another from Noah. I know it’ll be the hardest thing you’ll ever do, but you’re my last hope. You couldn’t save Trisha, but you can save my sister.”

  The armor she’d hardened crumbled as she stared in Eli’s handsome face.

  And found herself nodding.

  Two days later, exhilaration still surged through Eli. He’d spent the last seven years praying for this and while Kaylee had declined his invitation to lunch to discuss what needed to be done, she had agreed to go with him to the compound early Wednesday morning.

  So now, pulling into her driveway to pick her up, he smiled to himself again. Thank You, Lord.

  His smile wavered as another thought hit him. What would Phoebe say to him when they finally saw each other? That he was being selfish and jealous again? That any time Noah had something, Eli wanted it?

  Kaylee’s appearance at her door dissolved the worry. She turned to check the lock, then trotted down the single step toward his car, carrying a small knapsacklike purse. Today, she wore the same jacket she’d worn on Saturday, but her pants were lighter, probably thanks to the warmer weather. Her dark hair was pulled back into a loose, wavy ponytail, something he felt would slip away if a strong wind or hand slipped into it.

  A hand like his?

  No. He shoved away the notion in time for her to reach his car.

  As she opened the passenger door, she peered inside. “Are you expecting to be able to drive right up to the compound in this thing? It’s too low to the ground.”

  “We’ll go as far as possible, then walk in.”

  With a doubtful bite of her lip, she settled in beside him. Her knapsack remained in her tight grip. “We have to be careful. After what happened to Trisha, some of the locals are nervous about the compound.”

  “I imagine. They’re as valuable to the border patrol as the surveillance cameras. There have been some pretty unsavory characters sneaking over the border.” That was pretty much what his investigator reported. It was dangerous to live near the U.S.-Canadian border. Dangerous thanks to people like Noah.

  Anger built in Eli and he fought it with a quick silent prayer. Lord, take away my bitterness.

  “When Trisha died in that motel,” Kaylee whispered, interrupting his prayer, “I knew it was Noah, but he’d managed to convince the police that Trisha missed me so much she deliberately overdosed and did so away from The Farm to save them from getting into trouble.” She snapped her head over, her eyes hot. “He staged her murder to look like suicide! The police closed her file without another thought!”

  Eli held his breath. What other dangerous things was Noah doing with his flock?

  Keep Phoebe safe, Father. Use me to stop Noah.

  The highway narrowed to two lanes as it wound through small towns at the western edge of New Brunswick. The border with Maine lay half an hour ahead, but Eli couldn’t content himself with the passing scenery of quaint cottages, now closed for the season.

  He cleared his throat. “How did Trisha get involved with Noah?”

  “It wasn’t him initially,” she answered tersely. “It was another member. John Yale. Trisha was camping at Baxter State Park when she met John. He spent a lot of time talking to her.”

  John. So their second cousin still hung around. Eli hadn’t been able to confirm if he’d stayed on when Noah had moved his cult from Florida to rural Maine.

  “He’s an older man,” she continued. “But for his age, he sure can climb mountains.”

  The strong, wiry John had been a fixture at family get-togethers and, taking a liking to Noah, would dream alongside him of running big companies and changing the world.

  Eli gripped the steering wheel. Noah had always wanted power and control. Even as a child, he’d bullied and ruled their home. “So John recruited her there?”

  Kaylee nodded. “Pretty much. Trisha was always an idealist. I told her once that she’d probably love to see the world blown up because then her ideals would be justified. We had a huge fight and didn’t talk for weeks.”

  “We’re you both living at home then?”

  “Yes.” She toyed with the straps of her knapsack. “In Nova Scotia.”

  “Did your parents always live there? How did you end up in the middle of New Brunswick?”

  “My father worked on the oil platforms. He met my mother in Halifax and settled there. I took some college courses in agriculture and management and was close to securing a job up here at a local potato-processing plant.”

  He glanced over at her. “And you lost all chances when Noah kept you?”

  “I’d been gone for two years and there wasn’t much fight left in me. Plus, I’m still malnourished. That was Noah’s way of gaining control over people. Hold back just enough food to ensure you’re always hungry.”

  Eli’s already firm grip on the steering wheel tightened until his knuckles ached.

  Kaylee looked as if she could barely stand discussing this. Still, she said, “I came to the point where I just got used to the gnawing hunger. Everyone around me was the same way and they didn’t complain.”

  He felt the uneasy pause.

  “Certainly not in front of Phoebe or Noah.”

  He was at a loss at what to say. Finally, he murmured, “Doing without can make us better people.”

  “What good is doing without food?” She pulled up on her knapsack as she snapped, “It destroys the body and you’re certainly not any better for it.”

  Guide my words, Lord, he prayed swiftly. “Have you asked your pastor about that?”

  “I told you, Pastor Paul is not my pastor. I went to the church in Riverline because Lois asked me to and I owed her for helping me settle in. That’s all.”

  He swallowed. “When bad things happen to Christians, we try to remember that our time here is miniscule compared to eternity in Heaven.”

  “Yeah, if you’re good.”

  Eli shook his head. “No! You’re saved by faith, not by works.” He hadn’t expected to witness to Kaylee and pulled a face as he tried to concentrate on his driving. And where they were going. “Do you like Lois’s church?”

  She took her time answering. “Yes. The people there are wonderful. They’re kind and considerate.”

  “They’re doing God’s work—not for salvation, but because they love Him.” He felt his tight grip on the wheel relax, hoping to give good answers without his full attention. “I wish I could take back all the awful thi
ngs my brother did to you. You didn’t suffer any permanent damage, did you?”

  “Physically, no.”

  He knew what she meant. “Emotionally, you’re strong, too. You’re here today, aren’t you?”

  She twisted around in the seat and pinned him with a steady stare. “Were you kids raised in the church?”

  “Mostly. I don’t know the reasons for the breaks we took from church. Mom and Dad didn’t discuss it. All I know is that Phoebe loved church and would become withdrawn when she couldn’t go. Being the youngest and the church having some great kids’ programs, she had all the fun. Our parents felt that Noah and I should sit through the regular service. We were treated as though we were the same age, even though he’s eighteen months older than I am.”

  Noah bullied everyone. It wasn’t until he started his cult that his parents saw that. By then, he’d taken Phoebe and hurt them all.

  As if reading his mind, she asked, “How long have you been looking for Phoebe?”

  “Actively? Five years,” he answered.

  “Searching must have been hard for you,” she murmured. “But in all honesty, Eli, it’s not going to be easy to talk to her.”

  The forest deepened and the quiet road narrowed. The sun retreated behind a bank of thick clouds and the brilliant fall leaves mutated into dark, ominous clumps.

  “Then just get me in,” he finally said.

  “I won’t be welcomed, you know. Noah was the only one who wanted me there. He called me Deborah, the prophetess. I was to reveal knowledge that he’d been secretly feeding me.” Despite her derisive tone, her voice quivered. “I could barely handle it.”

  “But you did.”

  “It was either that or he’d kill Trisha.” Her voice shook. “So I ended up doing as he said.”

  Eli glanced at her. He should pull over, take her and hug her. Tell her it’s over; she’s safe from Noah.

  But was she? The border crossing had just appeared ahead of them. There was no turning around now. They were headed right back into the very danger from which she’d escaped.

  He was as cruel as his brother was.

  The border guard checked their identification and asked some basic questions that Eli answered just as briefly.

  The whole time, Kaylee remained silent, probably thinking of the last time that she’d crossed the border, having escaped from the compound. Trisha had paid for Kaylee’s freedom with her life.

  And now he was taking Kaylee right back into that den of evil.

  The guard handed back their identification and wished them a pleasant day.

  Eli drove into the United States. Within minutes, they reached the main highway that ran parallel to the international border. A few moments later, he pulled into a small, rural service station.

  “We need gas,” he told her.

  Kaylee peered warily around her. When she caught his eye, she explained, “I know what you’re thinking. It’s over. There’s no way that Noah can hurt me again. Still…” She offered him a watery smile.

  He found his heart pounding at her small smile. “I won’t let my brother hurt you again. We’re doing the right thing here, reaching out to Phoebe. I know if I can just talk to her…”

  Except he didn’t know. He was just hoping…hoping for a miracle.

  He glanced again at Kaylee’s face. Tears flowed down her cheeks and he felt his heart clench suddenly.

  “I—I’m sorry,” she stuttered out, while swiping her face with the back of her hand. “I don’t think I can do this, Eli. I’m not just scared of Noah. But also of myself.”

  Wariness prickled the hairs on his neck. “What do you mean?”

  “There’s something you should know.”

  THREE

  Kaylee wished she could wipe away the alarm growing in Eli’s expression. But he deserved to know the truth. Something she hadn’t told a soul and had barely begun to acknowledge herself.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She gnawed on her lower lip. “Going back there…I mean, it’s not going to be easy. You have no idea…” She couldn’t form the right words.

  Eli reached across the console and took her hand. His palm felt warm and comforting on her cold skin and she wished she could cling to him.

  No. He was a stranger, a brother of the man who’d killed her sister. As much as he, right this minute, offered warmth and comfort, she knew she’d have to be crazy to be swayed by his charisma. One forceful Nash was enough for any lifetime.

  “Talk to me, Kaylee. Tell me what’s going on.” His voice turned smooth, soothing her raw nerves. She liked the way he said her name.

  “Noah convinced everyone I was a prophetess,” she whispered. “And, yes, he threatened me with terrible things to get me to say what he wanted. But it wasn’t completely like that, not toward the end.”

  “I don’t understand—”

  She pulled back her hand, unable to focus on her thoughts while he held it. A tendril of her hair had worked loose. When it dropped against her cheek, she hastily tucked it over her ear and was glad for the distraction. “At first, some of the women asked Noah to kick me out because I was so adamant about being there against my will and they were tired of listening to me. But Noah refused. He was insane and power-hungry. To him, I must have represented the secular world and he wanted to be able to control it. I think he also must have thought that if he managed to tame me, it would send a message of dominance to the rest of his cult.”

  Eli’s blue eyes snared hers. Deep within them she saw uneasiness. “How did he manage to convince you to stay?”

  “His threats grew. At first I refused to listen to them, because they were vague and full of innuendos. Then they got specific that one day. And later, his threats against Trisha became too real. One day, she got hurt outside. A board fell on her from the top of the woodshed. Noah looked at me and I knew he’d staged it to show me he meant business. So I shut up. I was scared.”

  She paused, wondering why she was rehashing all the pain with this man, Noah Nash’s brother, of all people. But then, a second later, the rest poured out of her as if a plug had been pulled from a sink full of bitter, dirty water. “The months of semistarvation, of cold, browbeating captivity. There came a point where I just did what he said, period. I’d been taken to the lowest point in my life.”

  She struggled in vain against the tears and the humiliation that she’d just let loose with all her fears and pain. “Before I escaped, though, I’d actually started to believe what I was prophesizing.” Shame added to the burn in her cheeks.

  Through a swim of tears, she spied Eli climbing out of the car and walking around the front. He opened her door and tugged her to standing. Beyond, the gas attendant chose that moment to step out of the store.

  Eli ignored him to pull her close. For a brief, delicious moment, she felt important, cared for. For that time, she didn’t care who he was. He was what she wanted. Strong arms wrapped around her, protecting her. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

  “It’s all right.”

  “Noah had started to make sense. The way he was interpreting things that had happened around us, the past and even what the Bible said. He’d started to really sound right.”

  Eli tightened his grip on her.

  She cried for a while longer. “I don’t want to go back there. I know what happened to me. I had started to believe some of the things he was saying. Then one day, Trisha left me alone in the kitchen. The back door was there and the yard was empty. I made this split-second decision to escape. I…I think it was just as possible that I would have stayed there. I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to risk getting trapped again.”

  He stiffened but held her tight. She felt his shoulders drop slightly. “I won’t let anything happen to you. I won’t let anyone hurt you or take you.”

  “What about Phoebe? What if Noah hurts her to get even?”

  His mouth thinned and he tightened his jaw. “We just have to trust that she won’t end up lik
e your sister. That’s all we can do.”

  “The day after I escaped, Trisha was found dead in that motel close to the border. It could happen—”

  “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.”