Chapter Five
Sheriff Walker stepped forward. “What is your name?” he asked the driver.
The blond spoke first. “This doesn’t concern you, Sheriff,” he said.
Travis’s expression didn’t change. “The three of you need to come to the sheriff’s department and provide statements about the fire and how it started.”
“We don’t know how it started,” the round-faced man said. “That has nothing to do with us.”
“I also want to know why the three of you left a group of women and children to make their way out of the area on foot,” Travis said.
The blond man moved closer. He was taller than the others, not large, but imposing. “We left a man in charge of the women and children,” he said. “Joshua was bringing them in the truck.” He looked around. “Where is Joshua?”
“The man who was with the women and children ran back into the woods,” Rand said.
The blond shifted his attention to Rand. “Who are you?” It wasn’t a question as much as a demand.
“I’m one of the volunteers who helped save those women and children you abandoned,” Rand said.
The man glared at him but addressed the sheriff. “You need to talk to Joshua. I can’t help you.” He turned away, and the others started to follow him.
“Before you leave, I need your names and contact information,” the sheriff said.
The blond man nodded to the round-faced man. He pulled a small case from his pocket and handed the sheriff a business card. “That’s the name of our attorney,” he said. “You can contact him.”
The three walked away. Travis pocketed the card and glanced over as his brother, Sergeant Gage Walker, joined the group. “The car is registered to something called the Vine, LLC,” he said.
Travis turned to Chris. She had remained silent since the men had approached, pale and still. “What do you know about this?” he asked.
She swallowed hard. “The blond man is named Jedediah,” she said. “I don’t know his last name. He works for a man named Edmund Harrison, though most people know him as the Exalted. He leads the Vine. I don’t know the other two, but they’re probably part of the Exalted’s inner circle—the ones charged with keeping order within the group.”
“What is the Vine?” Gage asked. “Some kind of vineyard or something?”
Chris shook her head. “The Vine is, well, I guess you’d say it’s a cult. A kind of religion, but not exactly. Edmund Harrison is the leader, the Exalted.”
“What’s your connection to the group?” Travis asked.
She stared at the ground. “My mother and father were members—a long time ago. My father died, and after that...” She paused. Rand could sense her struggling to control her emotions. Her shoulders drew inward, and she clenched her hands tightly. But after a long moment, she lifted her head. “My mother broke with the group when I was twelve. I haven’t seen or heard from them since.”
She was lying. Rand was sure of it. She had seen Jedediah on the trail last Saturday and had recognized him. And he had recognized her.
“What was all that about a wedding?” Ryan asked. “And why did he call you by that other name—Lisa or something?”
“Elita.” She blew out a breath. “It’s a long story.”
“I’d like you to come to my office and tell me about it,” Travis said. “If it turns out they were responsible for that fire, or the death of anyone in it, I need to know as much about them as possible.”
“I’ll come with you,” Rand said.
Chris turned to him, and he braced himself for her to tell him to back off, that this was none of his business. “You don’t have to do this alone,” he said softly. Whatever was behind this, the encounter had clearly shaken her. He wanted to be there to lend her strength. To take away a little of her fear.
She nodded. “All right.”
“We can go now,” Travis said. “I want to get your statement before Jedidiah and the others have a chance to get too far away.”
“They won’t go far,” Chris said. “Not until they have me. I’m the reason they’re here.”
Eighteen years ago
“W E ’ VE COME TODAY to reveal that Elita has been selected for an amazing honor.”
Elita had been trying to teach herself to knit by following the illustrations in a library book when the two women and one man had knocked on the door of the travel trailer where she and her mother and father lived, on the edge of an apple grove owned by the Vine. The trailer was old—hot in the summer and cold in the winter, and when it rained, the roof over Elita’s bunk bed leaked—but they had lived here since Elita was five years old, and she was nine now.
She hadn’t been called Elita when they’d first moved here. She had been Christine Elizabeth back then. But one day, not long after they had arrived, her father had announced they were all taking new names. Her new name was Elita. “It means ‘the chosen one,’” he told her. “The Exalted himself named you. It’s a very special honor.”
She thought it was strange to suddenly have a new name, but she knew better than to argue, and over time, she got used to being Elita instead of Christine.
The woman who spoke, Helen, was older than Elita’s mom. She had long brown hair almost to her waist, the strands glinting with silver, and pale blue eyes. She oversaw the Sunday school Elita attended, and whenever she smiled at Elita, the little girl felt warm and happy.
The other woman, Sarai, was older and sour-faced. She taught the younger children and carried a switch when she walked between the rows of students, and didn’t hesitate to pop them on the back of the hand if they gave a wrong answer to her questions. Elita didn’t like her, and she avoided looking at her now.
But the man—Jedediah—was the one who really frightened her. The way he watched everyone, especially the girls, made her feel sick to her stomach. He was supposed to be one of the holiest among them, serving as the Exalted’s right hand. But to her, he seemed evil.
Elita’s mother—whom everyone called Lana now, though she had been born Amy—came and stood behind Elita, resting both hands on her shoulders. “This is a surprise,” she said. “Why would Elita be singled out for an honor?”
“She has found favor with the Exalted,” Helen said. She smiled at Elita, but this time the little girl didn’t feel warm or happy. She felt cold and scared. Like Jedediah, the Exalted frightened her. Not because he was mean or creepy, but because everyone acted afraid of him, and there were a lot of rules about how to behave around him. Not just anyone could speak to the Exalted. And her mother had told her once that the best way to behave around the Exalted was to pretend to be invisible. Elita hadn’t understood what she meant. People couldn’t be invisible.
Mom’s hands tightened on her shoulders. “What is this great honor?” she asked.
“The Exalted has chosen Elita to be his bride.” Helen said the words with a breathless awe, her cheeks flushed and eyes alight.
Elita’s mother gasped. “She’s only nine years old.”
“It isn’t to happen right away,” Helen said. “There will be years for her to prepare. But when she has reached maturity, there will be a grand wedding.”
Her father moved in to stand beside them. He patted Elita’s shoulder and smiled when she looked up at him. “This is indeed an honor,” he said. “Thank the Exalted for us.”
“But the Exalted is already married,” Elita said. She had seen his wife, Miracle, seated beside him at the ceremonies. And they had children—four of them, all blond like Miracle.
“Yes.” Helen turned to Elita, no longer smiling. “The Exalted has chosen you as his second wife.”
Her mother’s fingers were digging into Elita’s shoulders now. “That is indeed a great honor,” she said carefully. “But Elita is so young. Surely there are other, more suitable women...”
“He has chosen Elita,” Jedediah said, his voice overly loud in the small space. Harsh. “How dare you question his choice.”
“I meant no disrespect,” Mom said, and bowed her head. But Elita could feel her trembling.
“Of course she doesn’t,” her father said. “And it’s good that Elita has been chosen now. She will have years to learn all she will need to know for such an honored position.”
“Of course,” Helen said. She smiled at Elita once more. “We have much to do to prepare you for your future role.”
“What does she need to do?” Mom asked.
“I will instruct her myself,” Helen said. “I will teach her all she needs to know to be a fitting bride for our Exalted leader.” She took a step back. “I’m sure you are both in awe. I will leave you to ponder your good fortune.”
She and Sarai turned and left, but Jedediah stayed behind. He fixed them with a hard gaze. “Don’t think you’re going to get out of this,” he said. “Remember what happened to Elim.”
As soon as the door closed behind him, Elita’s mother sank to her knees. Elita sat beside her. “Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked.
Her mother pulled her close and stroked her hair. “I won’t let anyone hurt you,” she whispered.
“They’re not going to hurt her,” her father said. “This is a great honor.”
“She’s a child,” her mother said, her expression fierce. “And if she does decide to marry one day, she should be free to make her own choice. The idea of her being married off to some old man who already has one wife—it’s positively medieval.”
“The Old Testament kings all had many wives,” her father said.
“The Exalted is not an Old Testament king. And I can’t believe you’re going along with this.”
Her father’s expression sagged, and he looked away. “I don’t see that we have any choice,” he said. “No one goes against the Exalted’s decrees.”
“When we came here, it was because the Vine offered a better way of life—one full of cooperation and peace and contributing positive things to the world. No one ever said anything about marrying off children.”
“She’s not going to marry him right away,” her father said. “The wedding will be years away, and anything could happen before then.”
“We could leave,” her mother said.
“We can’t leave.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice, as if Elita wasn’t sitting right there between them. “You heard what Jedediah said—about Elim.”
“Who’s Elim?” Elita asked.
“Just...someone who used to belong to the Vine,” her mother said.
“What happened to him?” Elita asked.
“He went away,” her father said. “But we aren’t going anywhere.” He sounded almost angry. Elita leaned against her mom, trying to make herself smaller.
“We’re going to take care of Elita,” her mother said. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to look after her.” Her mother sounded angry, too, and Elita felt like crying. Whatever was going on was Jedediah’s fault. And maybe the Exalted’s fault too. Though she would never say that out loud. Everyone—even kids like her—knew that you didn’t say anything bad about the Exalted. She didn’t know what would happen to her if she did, but she was pretty sure it would be terrible.
“M Y PARENTS JOINED the Vine when I was five.” Chris was calmer now, seated next to Rand in an interview room at the sheriff’s department, several hours after the confrontation in the woods. Travis and Gage Walker sat across from them—looking as relaxed as two uniformed lawmen could, she thought. She ran a hand through her bright blue hair. “They met some members at the ice-cream shop they owned in town and liked what they had to say and ended up selling everything and moving into a mobile home on some land the Vine owned. Or maybe the group was squatting on the land. I don’t really know. Anyway, things were fine until the year I turned nine.”
When she didn’t continue, Travis prodded her. “What happened when you were nine?”
“One of the women who was close to the Exalted, came to my parents and told them that the Exalted had decided that I would be his second wife.”
“When you were nine ?” Rand didn’t try to hide his shock.
She nodded. “The wedding wasn’t going to take place until I was older. My dad told me it wouldn’t happen until I was all grown up, and by then I would be looking forward to it. He went along with the idea that I’d been chosen for a great honor, but my mom didn’t feel that way. I remember they argued about it.”
The old sadness returned as she remembered the tense atmosphere in her family in the days after the announcement. “I had to take classes from a woman named Helen. Things like etiquette, and I had to memorize a lot of the Exalted’s sayings. They were like proverbs, I guess. And I had to learn to sew and cook and read poetry. I was just a kid, and I thought a lot of it was dumb and boring, yet it didn’t really feel dangerous or anything. But my mom really didn’t like me taking the classes. My dad thought they wouldn’t hurt anything, so they fought about that too.” She sighed. “Things went along like that until I turned twelve. Then Jedediah and Helen showed up one evening and announced that the wedding would take place in a couple of weeks.”
“When you were twelve,” Rand clarified.
“Yes.” She swallowed, recalling the details of that day. Details these people didn’t need to hear. No one spoke, waiting. She could feel their eyes on her, especially Rand’s. It was as if everyone in the room was holding their breath in anticipation of her next words. “My father died the day after that announcement was made. My mother said he tried to convince the Exalted that I was too young. The official story was that Dad died from eating poisonous mushrooms, but my mom and I always believed he was killed for getting in the way of something the Exalted wanted.”
She studied her hands on the table, fingers laced together, reliving those awful days.
“You think someone in the group murdered your father?” Travis asked.
“Yes. But we don’t have any proof, and my mom was too afraid to say anything. A few days later, she and I ran away.”
“No one came after you?” Gage asked.
“They came looking for us,” Chris said. “We knew they would. For years, we kept bags packed, and we would move every time we saw anyone we recognized from the Vine. Then, for a long time, we didn’t see anyone. I thought we had gotten away.” She glanced at Rand. “Until I saw Jedediah on the trail that day. I knew he recognized me, and it would be only a matter of time.”
“He can’t force you to marry someone,” Travis said.
“The law may say he can’t, but the Vine makes their own laws,” she said.
“Have you found out anything more about these people?” Rand asked the sheriff. “Do they have any kind of criminal record?”
“We contacted the lawyer on the business card we were given,” Travis said. “He declined to identify any of the principals in the Vine, LLC. We’ll run a check on Edmund Harrison.”
“Can you charge them in connection with the fire?” Rand asked.
“The fire appears to have started from a lightning strike. We haven’t located the man you and others saw running away, back toward camp. No one else was harmed. Right now they haven’t broken any laws.”
“No one within the group will give evidence against them,” Chris said. “They’re either true believers who can’t imagine the Exalted would ever do anything wrong or they’re too afraid to speak out. And Harrison and those closest to him are careful.”
“Have they made any specific threats to you?” Travis asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing more than what you heard, and that was more of a statement than a threat.”
“That they would begin the wedding preparations today,” Rand said. “But they can’t force you to marry someone against your will.”
“They believe they can.” She hugged her arms across the chest. “They might try to kidnap me or drug me or threaten me. I don’t know. I don’t want to find out.”
“If they do threaten you or try to force you to come with them, contact me.” Travis handed her a business card. “Until then, there’s not a lot we can do.”
“I understand.” She shoved back her chair. “If that’s all, I’d like to go home now.”
W HEN SHE STOOD , Rand rose also and followed her out. On the sidewalk, she turned to face him. “Thanks for the moral support, but I’m fine,” she said. “I’ve dealt with these people most of my life. I know how to take care of myself.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked.
“That’s none of your business.” She turned and started walking away.
She was right, but he followed her anyway. “Don’t let them frighten you away.”
“You don’t know anything about it,” she said, and kept walking.
“I know that you were strong enough to get away from them once,” he said. “They may not like it, but it gives you the upper hand. You could expose them for what they really are and maybe save others.”
“I just want them to leave me alone.”
“I want that too. But I want more. I want to stop them from ruining other lives.”
She halted alongside her Subaru, keys in hand. He stopped, too, five feet away, giving her space but hoping she would listen. “Why do you even care?” she asked.
“Because I like you. And I don’t want you to leave when we’ve just met.”
She shook her head and opened the driver’s-side door of the car. “Sorry to disappoint you,” she said.
“And because I didn’t do enough to help my sister.”
She stilled, holding her position for a long, breathless moment, until at last she lifted her head and met his gaze. “You mean, you couldn’t persuade her to leave,” she said. “But that was her decision to make, if she was an adult.”
“I should have dragged her away from them when I had the chance,” he said. “I’ll never get over that regret, but I can help others now.”
“You can’t make someone leave that lifestyle unless they want to,” she said.
“I should have at least tried.” His face was flushed, his breathing ragged. “We tried for two years to persuade her to leave, but she wouldn’t. And then we found out she had committed suicide.” He could say the words now without the stabbing pain they had once caused, but the hurt would never completely go away.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her previous anger replaced by softness.
“So am I. And I’m sorry there was nothing we could do to stop that cult from ensnaring others. But I’ll do anything I can to help you stop the Vine.”
“What do you think we could do?”
“I don’t know. But if they’re really going to stay around here until you go with them, that gives us a little time to find out what else they’ve been up to. And if they do come after you, we’ll stop them.”
“I’m not sure they can be stopped,” she said. “They have a lot of money, and that gives them power.”
“Does that give them power over you?”
She didn’t hesitate in her reply. “No.”
“And they don’t have any power over me.” He moved closer until he was standing right in front of her. “Together, maybe we can find a way to stop them from hurting anyone else.”
“All right.” She slid into the car. “I need time to think. And to talk to my mom. She might know or remember something that can help us.”
“Call me,” he said.
She nodded and started the engine.
He stepped back and watched her leave, his stomach in knots. It was easy to make bold declarations about stopping these people, but all the talk in the world hadn’t saved his sister.