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  She was right about that. In short time, the two of them demolished the appetizer.

  “Now for the main course!” Deirdre rubbed her chubby hands together in glee, making her numerous rings flash in the sunlight, including the large one proclaiming her Ezekiel’s wife.

  Deirdre must have noticed Sophia eyeing her rings. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Ezekiel will give you some baubles, too, if you please him.”

  It took a major effort, but somehow Sophia managed to keep from shuddering. She’d lived her entire life without any jewelry and figured she could continue to do so. In fact, very few women in COE wore any kind of adornment other than the choker proclaiming them to be married. The only one who did was Deidre.

  Before she could frame a suitable comment, the main course arrived. Some kind of painstakingly arranged pasta dish, with cut-up mushrooms and tomatoes and green peppers. Sophia didn’t recognize the protein that had been arranged in a neat circle on top. She stared, anxious to ask but even more afraid to eat.

  Again, Deidre must have correctly interpreted Sophia’s expression. “It’s shrimp, honey. Seafood from the ocean. We have it flown in every so often. Try it, it’s delicious. Seafood is another one of the perks you’ll enjoy living in the Chosen household.”

  “Perks,” Sophia repeated, picking up her fork and trying to summon the nerve to dig in. She watched as Deirdre ate, practically shoveling the food into her mouth as if she hadn’t eaten for days.

  Telling herself she needed to start slow, Sophia ate some of the pasta first. It was delicious, with just the right amount of garlic and oregano and some other seasoning she couldn’t quite identify.

  Encouraged, she stabbed one of the shrimp.

  “Don’t eat the tail,” Deirdre cautioned, pointing to a little pile she’d made on her bread plate.

  Though the sight nearly made Sophia gag, she opened her mouth and popped in the shrimp, holding the tail with her fingers and separating it with her teeth, the way she’d seen Deidre do.

  The taste wasn’t bad. Garlic and butter, maybe olive oil. The texture? Now that was another story. She wasn’t certain she liked it.

  Somehow she managed to eat most of her entrée, saving time by cutting off the tails with her fork and then chopping the shrimp up into tiny little pieces to mix with her pasta.

  Full, she pushed the plate away. “That was delicious,” she told Deirdre, smiling. “I’m stuffed. I can’t eat another bite.”

  Eyeing Sophia’s half-eaten plate, Deirdre pushed it back toward her. “You can and you will. You’re way too thin by far. Ezekiel prefers his women a bit plumper.”

  Staring, Sophia waited for the other woman to laugh and tell her she was only joking. Instead, Deirdre continued to eye her, expression unreadable. “Eat,” she ordered. “Hurry up, because I want dessert.”

  Disbelief warred with—surprisingly—fury, which Sophia managed to contain. She choked the rest of the food down, eating with methodical precision fueled by humiliation. This, she thought, was a hint of how her life would be if she went to live in Ezekiel’s household. She’d be the lowest woman on the totem pole and, as such, subject to all the various whims of every wife who’d come before her.

  Once she’d cleared her plate, she felt like she might vomit from too much food. Taking small sips of her water, she concentrated on keeping everything down.

  At that moment, the assistant brought out two huge pieces of chocolate cake. Deirdre clapped her hands together in delight. “That looks amazing.” Her voice trilled. “My compliments to the chef.”

  Eyeing the triple-layered monstrosity before her, Sophia wanted to cry. While she loved cake, especially chocolate, she didn’t think her stomach could hold another bite.

  Gamely, she picked up her fork and dug in. The cake tasted wonderful, the texture so light it melted in her mouth. But two bites were all she could manage, though this time she wasn’t foolish enough to push the plate away.

  Deirdre didn’t have the same problem, naturally. Watching her devour her dessert, Sophia had the oddest thought of asking if the other woman wanted hers. Because if she tried to eat the rest of it, Sophia knew she would lose her entire meal.

  “Is there a problem with your dessert?” Deirdre asked, brows raised.

  “Of course not,” Sophia answered, attempting to sound cheerful. “My stomach is so full, I think I’m going to take this home with me and eat it later.”

  “Eat it. Now.”

  What the...? “No.” Sophia crossed her arms. “I’m full. If I try to force this down, I’ll get sick. It won’t be pretty. And that’s not the way to honor an amazing meal like this.”

  At first, judging from the speculation in Deirdre’s gaze, Sophia thought the first wife might slap her. Instead the older woman stared at her, considering.

  “You’ve got spunk,” Deirdre finally said, surprising her. “That could be good or bad, depending on how you use it. You’ll need to be careful, though. Ezekiel will enjoy beating that right out of you.”

  The matter-of-fact way she spoke made Sophia briefly doubt her own ears. “Did you say...?”

  “Yes.” Deirdre nodded. “I did. And that’s the least of it, I promise you.”

  Horrified, Sophia could only stare. Beatings? Could it even get any worse? Or was the older woman trying to scare her. Suddenly she knew she didn’t want to find out.

  Before, while she’d been serious when she’d talked with Jack about wanting to escape, she hadn’t gone so far as to make actual plans. Now she realized that was exactly what she’d have to do. She thought of Jack and the way he’d been dragged off to see Ezekiel. Hopefully he’d only been given a verbal reprimand, but in view of Deirdre’s mention of beatings, she couldn’t be sure. If he’d been hurt because of her, she didn’t know how she’d live with herself.

  Rachel would know. She couldn’t wait to see Rachel after school let out for the day to find out how Jack had weathered the meeting.

  Though she kept her face expressionless while Deirdre eyed her, her insides were a mess. In view of the definite possibility that she was being watched and listened to, she’d have to use Rachel as a go-between, asking her to deliver messages to Jack. They’d all have to be very careful. Life in COE had suddenly become dangerous.

  Chapter 12

  After school let out, Jack went for a walk. Despite himself, he couldn’t help watching for Sophia. It was early yet and no doubt she was still at the clinic; a place he’d avoid like the plague from now on. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he saw her out, as well, but for right now, it seemed best to avoid her entirely. Hopefully she’d understand.

  He saw quite clearly that he’d been a fool. Ezekiel had no intention of ever letting Sophia leave COE. In less than two weeks’ time, he’d make sure she’d be marrying him and taking her place among the numerous women in his harem.

  Acknowledging that fact made Jack want to punch something. As long as he lived, he’d never forget that moment when she’d gazed into his eyes and softly asked him to make love to her.

  And for the rest of his life, he’d regret not taking her up on it.

  He loved her. Damn, he loved her. Once again proving he’d become a consummate idiot, he’d fallen in love with another man’s woman. And it hurt like hell.

  Though the best course of action would be to focus on the real reason he was there—trying to find the Bartlett boy—he knew he’d do whatever he could to help Sophia escape.

  Resolved, he pushed away the constant ache inside him and rehashed his meetings with the three children. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Theodore had told him about his dreams. Before he’d left, the Bartlett family had given him a copy of a sketch for reference. They’d hired an artist to do a rendition of what their son Ryan would probably look like now at the age of seven. Their desperate hope had moved him.
Five years had gone by and they’d never given up.

  But he’d studied Rachel’s entire class and not a single boy resembled the sketch that he’d left behind with his wallet in his hotel room. For the first time since coming inside the cult, he wondered if the Bartlett family might have gotten it wrong. Maybe their son wasn’t inside COE. Perhaps someone else had abducted him.

  Either way, the possibility remained that some of these children had been brought there from outside. Whether this had been done illegally or not, remained to be seen.

  At the rate this therapy thing was going, it could take months to learn anything truly useful. He didn’t have that long. While he’d let the Bartletts know it would take a month or so if he managed to infiltrate the cult, now that he was there, he realized it could take much longer.

  There had to be another way. Mentally, he ran through his options. Thomas knew all the answers. Therefore, he needed to cozy up to him. But how?

  And then it dawned on him. COE. Ostensibly he’d been brought inside the compound to join the cult. Since his arrival, not one single person had spoken to him about their beliefs, invited him to any kind of religious service or given him COE reading material.

  He would seek Thomas out as his spiritual guide. Ask to be allowed to spend time with him, maybe flatter the other man’s ego some.

  Resolve quickening his steps, he made a sharp left turn and headed toward Thomas’s house.

  Arriving at the door, he pressed the buzzer. At first, there was no response, which indicated to him that Thomas wasn’t used to receiving visitors in the middle of the workday. He buzzed again and a moment later an irritated voice responded. “Who is it and what do you want?”

  Hmm. No cameras, then. He filed that information away for future knowledge. Giving his name and expressing his need to speak with Thomas, he waited.

  After a moment the voice said he could enter and the gate clicked open.

  Mentally rehearsing his words, Jack was just about to open the door when Thomas stepped outside, arms crossed, sunglasses hiding his eyes, he waited for Jack to approach him.

  “What do you need?” Thomas asked, his tone simultaneously annoyed and bored. “I’m in the middle of working on financials.”

  Financials? Another interesting tidbit.

  Arranging his expression into something he hoped look humbled, Jack bowed his head. “I’ve been here a couple of weeks now,” he began. “And I’m thinking you were waiting as a sort of test of my resolve.”

  As he’d hoped, Thomas took the bait. “Waiting for what?”

  “To see if I was ready to learn,” Jack said enthusiastically. “I’ve observed and I’ve listened, and I feel like I’m making a difference. I’m ready to go all in.”

  Slowly, Thomas nodded. “I see.”

  Did he? Just in case he didn’t, Jack continued, “Where do I go to get your book, your bible or whatever it’s called? And I’d like to attend worship services, if you have them.”

  Thomas reared back, his expression shocked. “If we have them? Don’t tell me your roommate never invited you to attend service at the Sanctuary? Or offered to loan you his Volumes of Choice?”

  Crud. The last thing he wanted was to get Phillip into some kind of trouble. “He might have mentioned it, sir,” he lied. “But I didn’t feel ready. I do now. And I’d really like you to teach me.”

  “Me?” Now the older man regarded Jack as if he thought he might have lost his mind. “I’m not a spiritual teacher.”

  “You’re Chosen, right?” Jack had heard that word bandied about often enough to use it with a fair amount of confidence. “And one of Children of Eternity’s leaders. What better way to lead than by example?”

  He could see the wheels turning inside Thomas’s mind.

  “I really admire you, sir,” Jack continued. “After all, you came to me and saw my need. You chose me to become one of you. I’m truly Chosen. Because of you, I’ll be among those ready for eternity. Please, don’t turn me away now.”

  Thomas simply eyed him silently. Jack stared right back, imploring.

  Finally, Thomas sighed. “Fine. We’ll schedule a few learning sessions. It’ll have to be during the day, so you’ll have to work your therapy with the children around our meeting. I’m thinking three times a week at first, for one hour each time.”

  Since that was so much more than Jack had even hoped for, he nodded eagerly. “When can we start?”

  “How about tomorrow?”

  “Perfect.” Jack wanted to high-five the other man, but didn’t, of course.

  “Wait here one second.” Thomas turned and went inside. When he returned a moment later he held a small, paperback book. The pages were rimmed in gold leaf. “Take this home tonight and study it,” he said. “It’s yours. A gift from me.”

  Accepting the gift with the appropriate amount of reverence, Jack saw the words Volumes of Choice emblazoned on the cover. The Children of Eternity’s bible. Which, as far as he’d been able to ascertain, had nothing to do with that of any other religion. Supposedly, Ezekiel, as the Anointed One, had been given the words from some divine source. The book was a source of speculation, as no one outside of COE had ever seen a copy.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll begin reading it immediately.”

  Thomas smiled. “Good.”

  Once he left Thomas’s, he went home. Not only did he want to make himself familiar with their sacred book, but he needed to come up with some well-framed questions that might give him more insight into what COE might be doing as far as bringing people in from the outside. Here, he had an unusual advantage, since he was—as far as he knew—the only adult member brought into the fold from there.

  But he really needed to skillfully turn the focus on the children. As a “therapist,” that should be relatively easy to do.

  Phillip breezed in, showered and stopped by Jack’s room to inform him he wouldn’t be home tonight. “Rachel and I are going out.”

  “Great.” Jack smiled. “I’m curious. What do you do around here when you go out on a date?”

  “We walk, maybe go hear some music. Someone is always playing an instrument or singing down at the center park—you know, where we had the cookout—when the weather is nice. There are benches or we spread a blanket on the grass and have a picnic. Some girls like to visit the flower gardens while others enjoy the barn. The possibilities are endless.”

  Jack nodded, thinking of Sophia and how much she loved the farm animals. As soon as he did, he pushed the thought away.

  “What kind of things did you do?” Phillip asked, expression curious. “Before, when you lived outside?”

  “Mostly we’d go out to eat at a restaurant and maybe go see a movie.” Realizing Phillip would have no frame of reference for either of those things, Jack continued, “Sometimes we also go to listen to music or attend a sporting event, like a baseball game.”

  “You need to read that book, brother.” Phillip pointed to the Volumes of Choice in Jack’s hands. “Though I’m really not sure what movies or baseball games are, those two are specifically mentioned by name as forbidden.”

  “Oh.” Hoping he appeared properly chastised, Jack hung his head. “I didn’t know. I just got this from Thomas today and have been paging through it.”

  “It’s okay.” Phillip stepped inside and cuffed Jack lightly on the shoulder. “You’re here now. Away from all that. You’ll be among the true Chosen before you know it.”

  Jack wondered if Phillip realized how ominous that phrase sounded.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Is there anywhere you recommend I start?”

  Phillip chucked. “In the beginning,” he answered.

  With that, he left.

  Interesting. Jack took a deep breath and continued to page through the book, scanning. The first part appea
red to be a history of how Ezekiel had become the First Chosen, the Anointed One. He read a few pages and then skipped ahead. Read a few more and did the same. After a while, he started skimming. The more he read, the worse he felt for all of the people he’d come to consider his friends.

  He needed fresh air. Aware he couldn’t walk around the compound now because he might run into Sophia, he headed for the fence and the forest. There, even though he was only yards outside the boundaries, he felt free.

  Leaving his small house, he took the Volumes of Choice with him. From this day forward, he planned to take the book with him wherever he went so he could at least give the appearance of trying to begin his journey toward becoming a devout and truly Chosen.

  All the way to the boundary, he felt like his skin had been stretched too tight. Nervous. He guessed finding out that someone seemed to be watching his every move could make him that way, and he sure didn’t like it.

  Actually he didn’t like any of this. If his entire future wasn’t dependent of solving this case, he’d grab Sophia and cut his losses now and get out.

  But he hadn’t gotten this far by being a quitter. And something was off with those kids. Even if none of them turned out to be the Bartletts’ son, he had to find out what had happened to them. Somewhere, maybe they all had parents who were still desperately searching for them.

  The sound of dried leaves crunching underfoot alerted him to the fact that he was no longer alone.

  “I thought I’d find you here.” Sophia’s voice.

  Though his heart skipped a beat, he steeled his resolve. “You can’t be here,” he said. “Seriously.”

  “But then, I am.” She sounded supremely unconcerned as she moved closer to him. “Rachel told me you were okay.”

  “I’m fine.” Keeping his distance proved more difficult than he’d thought, especially when every fiber of his being ached to touch her. “However I’ve been warned by no less than the Anointed One himself to stay away from you.”

  Just like that, her exuberance vanished. Part of him hated to be the one to snuff out the joy in her eyes.