Chapter 22
22
CHANDLER
M y stomach twisted and tightened with anticipation as the above overpass doused the truck’s cab in shadows. At the four-way stop, I inhaled a full breath and held it before releasing it slowly through pursed lips. Two miles west, I turned the wheel, directing the truck down an unmarked gravel road. A quarter of a mile down, the front gates and stretching high fences guarding a seemingly never-ending cluster of dome homes became clear.
Stopping several feet from the gate, I surveyed the fence, wondering if it was there to ensure others stayed out or to keep his followers inside.
Based on what Ellie shared the night before, it might be a little bit of both. As she compiled her own suspect list, she cleared up a few misconceptions Alec and I had derived based off her stories.
Seemed not everyone was subjected to learning about sex by watching their parents; that was specific to Ellie at Jacob’s request. Other kids who weren’t selected as a child to be the bride of the leader lived a relatively normal life. Well, as normal as any kid in a cult could.
All children were taught the devil and US government were evil and out to hurt them. Of course, they were also taught about eternal damnation and the differences between heaven and hell. As they grew older, the boys and girls were split for school. The boys were taught they were the providers, the workers, and commanders of their homes. The girls, well, that wasn’t much different than what I had already surmised from Ellie’s way of thinking. They were taught they should be submissive in every way, their bodies not their own after marriage, and to never question a man.
What did surprise me was to find out some of the couples swapped. Which made me wonder if couples were drawn here to live a swinger-type lifestyle. I’d asked Ellie how it was wrong for me to be in a relationship with her, in her father’s eyes, since she was still “married” to Jacob, but those who swapped spouses weren’t condemned to damnation.
She couldn’t explain it, but it seemed that, based on what she remembered, if the man offered his wife to another, then it was okay because it would make him happy.
Fucked. Up.
I didn’t have the courage to ask her if Jacob swapped her during her time, but she alluded to being a commodity and also being used as one. That was when Alec had wrapped an arm around my neck in a choke hold to keep me from storming The Church guns blazing.
Two men, each holding an assault rifle and another sidearm on their hips, moved to stand in the middle of the gate. Resentment and hate pinched both their features.
Seemed like someone warned them that I’d be coming by.
Awesome. This should go well.
Broken fragments of gray rock crunched under my polished dress shoes, dust already collecting on the shiny toes, with each cautious step I took toward the two men. Hands casually slack at my side, I kept them in clear view as I rounded the hood of the truck and leaned my ass against the grill. Tilting my face to the clear blue sky and warm morning sun, I smiled. Yesterday it snowed and spit ice; today it was a pleasant forty-nine degrees, the breeze calm and pleasant.
“Nice day, isn’t it?” I said in way of greeting. With the warmer temperature, I left the FBI jacket folded in the passenger seat.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here,” one of the guards shouted through the bars. Disdain dripped from his tone. “Leave before we make you.”
“I need to speak to Jacob.” I laid both hands on top of my thighs, still keeping them in clear view so they didn’t get trigger-happy and fill me full of those large rounds. “I need to ask him a few questions about some missing women.”
“Everyone here is accounted for.”
The nontalkative guard shot the other an unsure glance. That was the confirmation I needed. Some of the victims must have come from here. Either taken from inside the compound or maybe on their way home when they realized how fucked-up it was behind the fence.
“I need to talk to Jacob,” I stated with authority.
“Not going to happen.”
I shrugged. “Okay. He’s too busy doing….” I squinted and glanced down the length of the fence. “What does he do, actually?”
“He leads us, like his father before he passed.” I nodded. “We won’t help the federal government find reasons to infiltrate our community. Leave.”
“Those are great guns. Where did you get them?” I asked, nodding toward the ARs in their hands.
“They’re legal, and we have our LTC. That’s all you need to know.”
“That’s not what I asked. How did you get them? Hell, how do you get anything inside this compound?”
“The men provide for the females,” the one who hadn’t spoken stated.
“Does everyone have access to the vehicles to get supplies?” I picked at my nails, acting as nonchalant as possible. When I didn’t get an answer, I glanced up, both brows high on my forehead as I waited for a response.
“No. That’s a privilege.”
Hmm, so maybe only the long-term members had the freedom to go into town. Which would narrow down the suspects list of those inside The Church. Only those with access to a car or truck could be the killer.
Time for a different tactic, even if it left a bad taste in my mouth bringing her into the conversation.
“Did you know Ellie?” The two shared a look. The name her father used yesterday sparked in my mind. “Elizabeth, Jacob’s….” I couldn’t bring myself to say “wife.”
“She was a disgrace to how we live and what Jacob provided. She’s not welcome until she repents and begs for his forgiveness.”
Steady, confident footsteps drew my gaze past the guards. The man approaching was forty-ish, wearing soft flowing pants and a matching loose shirt, his hands gently clasped in front of him in a genial appearance. At the gate he gave me a slow once-over. A cocky vibe rolled off him, and the way the other two looked to him in reverence pointed to one thing.
This fucker was Jacob. He looked as excited to see me as I was to see him.
A growl of rage grew in my chest as I took in the scrawny prick. His long blond hair floated on the soft breeze, a mask of serenity hiding the evil man I knew lurked inside. The bastard thought he was present-day Jesus, or hell, maybe even God himself. He warped the minds of his followers one manipulation, one lie at a time, and now he had all this at his fingertips.
But I had the one thing he wanted most.
“Thank you for greeting our guest,” Jacob said to the two guards. One even blushed at the leader’s attention. I fought an eye roll. “I’ll handle this from here. He’s clearly confused on what he hopes to accomplish by harassing my most loyal guards.”
He motioned for one of them to hand over his rifle, which he slung on his back, and then turned to me, staying a foot behind the closed gate.
Wonderful. Now the leader of the crazies had a weapon. This was a terrible idea.
“How is my wife?” His conniving smile raked at my frayed nerves. “I hear you’re enjoying the best parts of her. Which I don’t mind, just need something in return. What have you come to give me for access to what’s mine?”
I clenched my teeth so hard the muscles along my jaw cramped. This was why I left my guns in the truck. Even so, the urge to jab the pocketknife I always had on me into his jugular was overwhelming. He said that on purpose to throw me off course. Getting me riled up so I wouldn’t ask the right questions, or possibly throwing me off his trail. What serial killer would be obsessed with wanting a woman to come home if he was open to sharing her?
Fuck him. He had no idea that his menial mind games wouldn’t work on someone like me. Someone with my training and who grew up with parents just as conniving and manipulative wasn’t susceptible to this shit like his followers.
After calming the urge to kill the bastard, I cleared my throat and looked him dead in the eye. “What do you know about the women missing from your compound?”
“What missing women? All of our followers are here.” He waved behind him toward the expansive community. “Those who choose to leave, to step back into the world where evil and hate are prevalent, they are not my community nor my concern.”
“Who behind the gate has access to a vehicle?” I asked.
Jacob’s grin widened to a full sinister smile. “Bring my wife to me and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Not a chance.”
He shrugged. “Even though more women will die? On your watch, no less?” I held in a tight breath, trying my best to not let his words hit home. The fucker was good at reading people, I’d give him that. “Bring me Elizabeth, just for a few hours, and I’ll give you full access to the compound. You can ask any questions, look into any house or building, while she is with me.”
I shook my head, anger at myself sweeping over me. This was a dead end. I would need to gather the information a different way. Hopefully the DMV check Alec said he’d run would narrow down who behind the gate had access to the vehicles that went to Waco for the compound supplies.
“You’ll never lay a hand on her again. And she’s not your wife.” Putting my back to him was a terrible idea, but I needed the appearance of dismissal, to show him I didn’t give a fuck how important he thought he was. “One day she might be mine though. Ellie Peters. That has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Oh, and you can believe I’ll take her back to DC with me. Far, far away from here.” I looked over my shoulder. “Far away from you.”
The rattle of the metal gate was like the ring of victory in my ears. The bastard was falling for my goading. I was always good at pushing the assholes into showing their hands.
A bar gripped between each hand, Jacob pressed his face between the two. “You will not take my wife. She is mine.”
I tilted my head one way and then the other like I was considering his statement. “That’s for me and her to decide. Nothing to do with you.”
“You can’t give her what she needs.”
“And what’s that?” Damn, this asshole is off his rocker. The overwhelming need to destroy this compound from the inside out ballooned in my chest. If only there was notable criminal activity, something that would circumvent the religious statute they used to keep the authorities at bay.
“Me. I’m her husband, her world. This is her home, always has been and always will be.” My ears perked up at the word “home,” but it didn’t hold the edge of wrath that I would expect the unsub to have. “She’s safe here with me.”
I shook my head. “She doesn’t want you, doesn’t want this oppressive life you forced her into. Leave her alone. And stop having your brainwashed followers harass her.”
“Or what?” He held his arms out wide. “You can’t get inside here. Not without her. So tell me, Agent Peters, which is more important to you, catching this killer or having my wife?”
“Are you saying the man I’m after is behind those gates?” Excitement raced through my heart, making it thunder against my chest. Did he just slip up? Does he know who murdered all those women and wants Ellie?
He shrugged. “You’ll have to bring her back to find out for sure, won’t you?”
“Bastard.” I took a menacing step toward him, causing him to back away from the gate and swing the gun around.
He flexed his hands around the grip. “Bring her home and all this will stop.”
He was playing me. It was there in his too-confident voice, in the shine of victory in his gaze. He already knew I wouldn’t find anything behind those fences even if I brought her to him. If he thought for a moment that someone in his community was guilty, he’d cover up the evidence. Hell, if it was him, he’d ensure I wouldn’t find a speck of evidence. Because if I did, that would be enough to bring the weight of the FBI on their heads, disrupting the utopic fucked-up-ness he’d created.
“Why do you care so much?” I asked, hoping to draw more information out of him. I was grasping at straws, sure, but in my gut, I knew this place was a dead end. “And why didn’t you demand her to return to the compound when she was with the police chief? She mentioned you didn’t start harassing her until after she left Swann.”
A sly grin tugged at his thin lips. It was the kind of smile someone gave when they had a dirty little secret and was about to disrupt someone’s world.
“What would you say if I said we had an agreement of sorts?”
I huffed. “That bastard wouldn’t negotiate with you.” But even I knew my words held no weight. Of course Swann would negotiate with this bastard if it got him what he wanted—Ellie.
“Wouldn’t he, though?” Fuck, nothing made sense. He talked in circles to confuse me. “He has attachment issues with my wife, I will admit that. And I’d hate to see her hurt at his hands. Which will happen if someone doesn’t… intervene.”
“So now you’re pointing me in the direction of him as the killer?” I scoffed. “You take me for a damn fool.”
“Or killing two birds with one stone.”
“How so?”
“When you find out I’m telling the truth about Chief Swann’s obsession with my wife and how depraved he really is, well, then you’ll believe me when I say you can have unrestricted access to the compound if you bring my wife to me.”
“I think you’re playing me.”
“Think what you want.” He considered me for a moment. “Ask him what he offered me in exchange for uninterrupted access to my wife. You know I’m always willing to share if it benefits the community. Go ask the chief yourself and see how he responds. If you need to press him for the truth, tell him I kept the evidence and still enjoy the gifts he sent.” The gate rattled as he shoved off. “Don’t come back without my wife, or I’ll shoot you the moment you step on to my property.”
Turning, he gracefully shuffled away.
With no other way to release the inferno of rage about to erupt, I jammed both middle fingers in the air and shook them at his retreating back.
Fucker.
Once inside the truck, I detonated. “Fuck,” I bellowed and slammed a tight fist against the steering wheel over and over again. Chest heaving, breaths quick and shallow, I glared at the gate, making a promise to myself that one way or another, I’d make this man pay for what he did to Ellie. I just had to bide my time until the moment was right.
But now I had another man to find and question.
The cop working the front desk at the police station said Swann was at the diner, and then Sally told me he went to the clinic to get his nose checked. That one made me pause as I turned for the door and ask what was wrong with his nose. And now, as I drove toward the small makeshift clinic, I couldn’t hide my smile as I recounted the story Sally had told me. The bastard deserved what he got and worse, if you ask me. Which he would receive by my hand the moment I was done interrogating him.
Brett held many of the characteristics detailed in the profile, except the menial job. Which honestly didn’t fit Jacob or Brett. Jacob thought highly of himself and convinced others to see him that way too. And Brett, well a badge gave many wrong men a sense of self-worth when it was never earned.
I thumped my thumb on the steering wheel as I flipped the turn signal. Not that it mattered considering I hadn’t seen another car or truck in a while.
In the clinic parking lot, I pulled beside Brett’s cruiser and parked. The bright red handprint along the edge of the door made me smirk as I passed by.
No doubt he was pissed having to admit he had his ass handed to him.
I tugged the glass door, but the empty waiting room had me pulling up short. Not even a receptionist greeted me from the front desk when I approached. I opened my mouth to call out when arguing male voices floated down the hall, snapping my lips closed. The voices grew louder by the second. Ignoring the “Employees Only” sign, I shoved through the side door and stalked down the hall.
The voices grew as I stalked down the short hall of exam rooms. One door was partially open, and two male voices poured through the slight opening.
“You have no idea what she wants,” a voice that sounded similar to Brett’s said.
“She belongs with me,” Brett said. “You should know that. You saw us together.”
“She’s not yours, brother.”
“I know how she likes it, what she wants. Me, not you, and sure as fuck not that gay FBI fucker.” I held a breath and dared an inch closer to not miss a single word. “Once I get rid of him and the Ranger, she won’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Someone made sure of that,” the man said with a sigh.
As I continued to listen to their back-and-forth, I sorted through the conversation and how it pertained to the case. Yes, Brett wanted Ellie to be his again, to be under his unrelenting control, but was he the unsub? My gut tensed, telling me off, but was that because Brett and Jacob were both master manipulators or because I was suspicious of the wrong men?
“I—” Brett cut himself off abruptly. By their low whispers, I knew I was caught. The exam room door swung open and the barrel of a gun came out first, ready to sweep down the hall.
Sighing at this shit of a day, I gripped the middle of the gun, twisted the barrel the opposite direction of where I stood, and pressed on Swann’s wrist. He let out a very feminine shriek and relaxed his hold on the weapon. Following through, I twisted his arm behind his back and tugged it high, inflicting significant pain.
I moved the confiscated gun and tucked it against my lower back for safekeeping. The other man in the room didn’t move as I wrangled the unruly and cursing Swann, but his gaze tracked my every move. The resemblance was there, the nose and cunning eyes, but Brett’s brother didn’t have the same rage and hate burning behind his.
No, this man was calm, collected, and in control.
“Agent Peters,” the brother said. The room was so small it only took him two steps to be close. “What brings you to the clinic?”
“Let me go, you motherfucking piece of shit.” Brett bucked in my hold, but I held my ground barely moving.
“I came to ask him a few questions about the case.”
Brett’s brother nodded. “I’m Ryan Swann, by the way. The town EMT, medic, and go-between for real medical help.”
“Knock it off,” I growled in Brett’s ear before shoving him across the room. Once he’d regained his footing, he squatted low, preparing to rush me. I rolled my eyes, withdrew his own gun from my lower back, and leveled the barrel at his head. “Stay.” Turning my attention back to the better Swann, I smiled. “I see you patched him up okay.” I angled my head toward the pouting man, who was glaring at me even though I had a gun pointed to his head.
“Yeah, I can do the basics, have the supplies here. Antibiotics, any type of compound breaks that need to be reset, things like that I have to send people to Waco for. Since I’m not a licensed doctor, there’s only so much I can do.”
A defeated look caused his features to droop, making pity for the man calm some of my anger. This guy was doing the best he could with the shit situation. Ellie mentioned one day when she was cleaning the house that Ryan had left for undergrad but didn’t get to finish because his dad died. Tough luck.
“Why are you questioning my little brother?” I couldn’t mask my shock. This guy looked years younger than Brett. The surprise must have shown on my face, because Ryan chuckled. “Drinking, poor decisions, and being an all-around asshole will age you quick, it seems.”
I smiled wide. “So it seems. And to answer your initial question, I can’t tell you. It’s regarding the case.”
Ryan whistled, and Brett huffed in annoyance. “How’s that going, by the way? I know a few of the details from overhearing my brother talk on the phone. How terrible.”
“Sorry, I can’t discuss an active case.” Unless you were just shy of five foot five, spunky, and broken like me. Then I’d tell you every damn detail. “Is there somewhere he and I can talk, or do we need to take it down to the station?”
Ryan waved a hand, indicating the small room. “Here is fine. But try to keep him from yelling and disrupting anyone who might come in.”
After the door shut behind him, I lowered Brett’s gun and tucked it into my waistband for quick access if needed.
Arms crossed over his chest, shoulder pressed against the far wall, Brett glared as best he could around the tape and gauze.
“I’m not your killer, if that’s what you’re here to ask,” he said, his voice nasally from what was stuffed up his nose to stop the bleeding. “Sure, I want Ellie back with me. It’s where she belongs, where she’s safe. But I’m not out getting my rocks off doing that shit to women who aren’t willing. I’m not the sick son of a bitch who tortures women, then kills them.”
“I’m not convinced.” I said that, yet I believed him. There was still more I needed to know, such as what he traded with Jacob to have access to Ellie those couple of years.
The asshole shrugged like we were talking about the weather. “Not my problem you’re terrible at your job. Am I seriously the best suspect you have?” He scoffed.
“Where were you the night the recent victim was taken from a bar in Waco?”
Brett huffed. “Drunk, at home, sleeping off a hangover—one of those three. Doesn’t matter which night you’re asking about, that would be what I was doing.” He nodded to the door. “Just ask my brother.”
“Your brother is your alibi?” I shook my head. “If you’re drunk or hungover most of the time, when do you work?”
“As little as possible. I’m the chief, which means I’m allotted certain exceptions.”
I shook my head. “You mean having the officers who report to you do all the work.”
“Yep.” He stood tall and dusted off his hands in a signal that the conversation was through. But he wasn’t going anywhere. I wasn’t anywhere close done with this guy. “Speaking of which, I gotta run, seeing as my girlfriend’s apartment was set on fire last night. Need to figure out who did that, and shouldn’t you be following up on real suspects?”
When he attempted to open the door, I slammed a palm to the center, shutting it once again.
“You’re not going anywhere until I say so. Sit your ass down and listen the fuck up. I need some damn answers, and we’re not leaving until I have everything I need. And for clarification purposes, for the last time she is not your girlfriend now nor ever will be.”
With a disconcerted harrumph he slumped down into the single chair in the room.
Time to ask the hard questions.