Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Nelly
“You want to do what? With who? No.”
Well, at least Carl didn’t fire me on the spot. Can he get me fired? Probably. He has enough pull with the powers-that-be.
“These local cowboys are the only people actively working against the Kinship cult. They want to work with us. They have maps. They know where everything is. They have more information than I’ve been able to get out of the sister-wives. They have information that I want, Special Agent.”
Carl looks out at the landscape as we drive along the highway.
Ranch land for miles, until the mountains jut up like a knife, without much in the way of foothills.
Not at all like my home in Appalachia with its evergreen hills, rolling forests, and winding roads.
A grid? What’s a grid? Montana is beautiful in its own way, but I miss the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I want to go back there for an extended break when this assignment is over.
“Good work, Nelly.”
Um, did I hear that correctly?
“Thanks, I think?”
“Now, I’m going to have to warn you. When we meet with the Wiley Gang, they’re going to recognize me.”
“How? What did you do, Carl?”
He sighs.
“Carl? You’d better explain exactly what that means, or I’m calling the whole assignment off.”
He scoffs. “You do not have the power to do that, Agent.”
I dig my phone out of my bag and unlock the screen. I’ll call the Bureau right now and tell him you have a conflict of interest, and then we’re both completely fucked.”
“OK, OK!” Carl exclaims, laughing. It’s weird. This is the first belly laugh I’ve heard from him. “I’ll tell you.”
“Good!” I chirp with a smile and put my phone back in my bag. “What in the ever-loving honey-nut fuck is going on, Agent Williams?”
Finally, he explains everything.
“Wiley, Jake, and Ennis are my nephews. I used to work at that ranch. After I retired from the Bureau, I took a job at the family ranch, cooking and cleaning. My wife died before my retirement, and I didn’t feel like traveling alone.
That wasn’t part of the plan. So I figured, I might as well spend my golden years close to family.
Well, as luck would have it, that goddamn Kinship cult moved in next door and turned everything I love about my life upside down.
I wanted to help, and I did, for a while.
But I knew I had the training and skills to do something bigger.
I still had connections high up in the Department of Defense, and I was hesitant to pull on that thread.
But pull I did. One thing led to another, and now, I’m here.
You’re here. And my nephews are out there putting their asses on the line while I sit in an SUV and do nothing.
So, you want to know if we can work with these local yokels?
I fucking am these local yokels. Let’s fucking go, Agent. ”
What in the world did Williams just tell me?
“Wait a minute. You got yourself assigned to a case that involved a cult in your hometown? A cult that, from what Jake tells me, has repeatedly fucked with their family? There’s no way the department let that slip by.”
“They didn’t,” Carl says. “They know. But I also had to sign a dozen forms stating that I would not contact my nephews for any reason while on this assignment. I would not let them see me or know I’m here. I had to cut them off completely to take this on.”
The things he sacrificed to be here. My god. “You realize this means your contract goes out the window. Forget having me fired. Your ass is grass, Special Agent.”
“Meanwhile, I’m sitting around with my thumb up my butt.
I pulled that thread so I could do something good.
Something important. Well, here’s my chance.
We’re doing this our way, whether the department likes it or not.
I’ll have to talk to them and tell them everything if they’re going to agree to work with me. They may not trust me after this.”
“Oh, they’ll agree to work with us. Jake and I have an agreement. I’m going on a date with him.”
“A date? That’s all he wants is a date?”
“What do you mean, that’s all? That’s a pretty big deal for me!”
“Of course it is,” Carl placates, humoring me. “Wait, why is it a big deal?”
“Because I don’t want to catch feelings for a guy I’m messing around with!”
Carl pivots toward me. “You and my nephew?”
“It’s not a thing. But it’s kind of a thing.”
He heaves a heavy, fatherly sigh and leans over, resting his head on the steering wheel.
“Hey,” I say. “You’re the puppet master here, Special Agent.”
“I know. And if I know my nephew, he’s already fallen in love.”
Fallen in love. Those words are still ringing in my ears as I attach my gold hoops to my earlobes. I dab on a bit of red lipstick, and I’m ready for my date.
I fling open my bedroom door, and a mousy little thing at the end of the hall jumps.
At first, I think it might be Georgeanne, my runaway prisoner, but it’s someone else entirely.
The young woman stares at me, agape.
No, I decide. I don’t need to get to know one more person in this town. I move past her as she stares at me, and go to Joaquin’s desk.
“No one warned me we had company,” I say, feeling her uncomfortable gaze on me. Joaquin agreed he was supposed to let me know. After my run-in with Georgeanne, I can’t risk anyone else seeing me.
However, maybe I can get information from her, since I did learn that both of the men who live here have been helping women escape the cult. “You’re a sister? A cousin in from out of town?” I ask her.
“I’m Jasmyn. I’m a friend, I guess.”
“You guess?”
“Well, we just met, and I’m helping him with the cats,” Jasmyn replies.
“Cats, huh? He does like his strays, apparently,” I joke.
Jasmyn laughs. “Yeah, I guess I’m kind of a mess. I was working in the barn all morning before, um…”
Before what? I take in her dirty overalls, the state of her fingernails. What I say next, I know I shouldn’t, but I let it fly because I’m irritated at Joaquin.
“Oh, that must be why I smell manure.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t worry, honey, I didn’t think you were here to interview for a position as his new administrative assistant.”
The young woman sits up straight. “You can put your claws away now. I’m not interested in your boyfriend. I’m just here because he said he needed help.” Seems I’ve kicked a hornet’s nest with that comment.
She thinks Joaquin and I are an item. “Ma’am, you are mistaken,” I tell her.
Her laugh indicates she doesn’t believe me. “I am?”
“Me and Joaquin! Are you fucking nuts?”
She replies, “I just met both of you. You walk in here looking like that, acting like you own the place. It’s not nuts to jump to that conclusion.”
“Looking like what?” I say, a little too loudly. I glance down at my top, and I don’t see any boobs falling out of place. “Slut shaming, are we?”
“No! You look like you’re about to go on a date or something. And you look like…his type.”
The truth is, I don’t know Joaquin all that well. “The man doesn’t have a type. Not that I’ve seen. In fact, I was starting to think he might be a eunuch.”
“Be serious. Look at you.”
I have to remind myself that women like her are the reason I’m on this assignment. I’m here to help. Maybe I can get information from her. If I play nice. I change my tone a bit. “I’ll take that as a compliment because, as a matter of fact, I do have a date. But not with Joaquin.”
“Oh.”
I look into her eyes, and I see the same haunted look that I’ve seen on so many women.
“Why are you so concerned about me having a thing for Joaquin, anyway?”
“No reason.”
“Uh-huh.”’
“We just met an hour ago.”
“OK, sweetie.”
“I’m here to help him with the cats,” Jasmyn says. “If they ever show up.”
“I’ll just bet you are,” I tease.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“If you don’t know, then you are definitely not ready to take on that man.”
“Apparently, there are whole worlds I don’t know about.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m 28. I think.”
“You think?”
“It’s a long story.”
I sigh. “I see you’ve got a ring on your finger. And how old is your husband?”
Jasmyn replies, “Fifty-five.”
“Well, shit. Let me guess. You’re the number five sister-wife.”
“How did you know that?”
“Wild guess.”
It’s not normal for a fifth wife to have a ring. The men are too tight with their money. I wonder about this.
After a pause, Jasmyn asks, “You’re not going to tell them you saw me, are you?”
I shake my head. “If you’re here to escape, you picked the wrong safe house. God, what is with these guys and the damsels in distress?”
“I’m not a damsel in distress!”
“OK, OK. Calm down.”
“Just please pretend you never saw me,” Jasmyn pleads.
“Trust me. If I know anything about those kooks, that guy is so busy feeding 47 kids that he’s not even going to notice you’re gone.”
“Just promise me.”
This girl is a lot.
“I pinky promise. Are we done here? I have to go be with sane people.”
“Gladly.”
I load my pistol, and the girl’s got more questions.
“What are you doing with that?” Jasmyn asks.
“What? You never went on a date to the gun range?”
“I…”
And I’m out.
As I breeze through the kitchen, I realize that Joaquin has been in there, listening to the entire conversation.
“Eunuch? Really?” he grumbles as he stalks behind me toward the back door.
“I was doing you a favor, fuck boy.” I don’t pause on my way out.
When a black Mercedes pulls up instead of Jake’s truck, I pause at first.
The back window rolls down, and sure enough, it’s Jake.
“Are you coming, Blondie?”
I slide in as he holds the door open for me.
“What’s all this about?”
“I want to show you a nice night in Bozeman, and I don’t have anything but a shitty farm truck.”
Oh god.
I don’t need this guy to start throwing money around for me. I don’t know his situation.
If it were anyone else renting a fancy car and hiring a driver, I’d think it was a Wall Street bro trying to impress me.
But coming from Jake, it’s different.
He wanted to do something extra nice for me because he respects me. He thinks I’m worth it.
Showing me respect, showing me what he thinks of me is exactly the kind of thing that could make me — not fall for him — but definitely sit up and take notice.