Chapter 35
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FIVE
SYBIL
I need to rest a little until dawn and then I’ll get back on the road. That’s what I tell myself but I’m just starting to doze when there’s a tap on my window. A woman peers in, her long hair whipping in the wind. Fear instantly increases my pulse. I didn’t think anyone was out here.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
I roll the window down a couple of inches. “I’m fine. I just got caught in the storm and pulled over until it lets up. Am I blocking a road?”
She shakes her head with a smile. “You’re in my driveway.”
“Oh! I’m sorry. I’ll move—”
“No,” she interrupts. “The storm won’t pass for hours. Why don’t you come inside and wait it out?”
“That’s okay. I’ll be fine once the sun comes up.”
The wind blasts her again and she tucks her arms around herself. “You’ll run out your gas.”
“Am I in Illinois?” I ask, and she blinks.
“Yes, in Dunleigh. Are you sure you won’t come inside? It’s just me and my wife, Maya. I’m Jessi.”
She seems nice and maybe they can help me contact the press and police. I promised Troy I’d get somewhere safe first, and I’m out of the state, far from Hearth and Vine Farm. I’m so afraid of making the wrong decision when Troy will pay the price.
My hands tremble on the steering wheel. “I’m Sybil.”
Her voice is kind as she asks, “Are you in some kind of trouble, Sybil?”
Tears prick the corners of my eyes as I nod. She has no idea. “It’s a long story. I need to talk to the police but first, I want to contact a newspaper or news station in case they don’t help me or try to lock me up.”
She pauses for a moment before she responds and I’m sure I sound insane. “Okay, turn your car off and come in for some coffee. My wife’s brother works for the FBI. I’m sure she can reach out to him for help.”
FBI, not some small town cops. If they won’t help, I’m screwed anyway. Maybe luck landed me in the right place. I thank her, grab my bag, and follow her up the winding driveway to a two-story house.
A woman opens the front door for us, holding a robe closed around her. “What’s going on?” she asks Jessi. Then before she can answer, she looks at me. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” Where do I even start to explain?
They lead me into a small cozy living room as Jessi tells Maya, “She said she needs to talk to the police and the press.”
Maya raises her eyebrows, gestures for me to sit down, and takes a seat across from me. “What happened?”
The words pour out. “Governor Nolan tried to rape me, and I stabbed him, killed him and ran away. But they have Troy locked up and they’ll probably kill him when they find out.
I have to save him. The local cops are also members or they’re being paid off and they bring back anyone who escapes.
He’s going to die if I can’t get him out of there. ”
When I burst into tears, Jessi sits beside me. “It’s okay. Slow down. Start from the beginning. Who is Governor Nolan?”
They sit and listen as I tell them everything about the Guardians of His Natural Order, what they’ve done, and how I got away. At some point, Jessi brings me a hot cup of coffee while Maya asks questions.
“They chained you up?”
“When we worked, yes. Otherwise, we were in the cells. Please, we have to hurry.”
She nods at me. “I understand. Do you have any marks from the chains?”
As soon as I pull my pant leg up to show her my raw, scarred ankles, she picks up her phone. “I’m going to call my brother for help. I promise he’ll believe you.” I can’t blame her for having doubts up until then when my story sounds crazy even to me.
“I don’t care if they arrest me for killing Governor Nolan and stealing the car. Just as long as they save Troy. You don’t understand what they’ll do to him.”
The sun has barely scraped the horizon when Maya makes the call. It’s possible no one has discovered Governor Nolan’s dead yet, but it won’t be long. I know that help won’t come before that happens. Please let them believe Troy had nothing to do with it.
Following her brother’s directions, Maya and Jessi drive me to an FBI field office where Agent Lennon meets us. My stomach is in knots from the moment we cross back into Wisconsin again. Every second, it feels like I might be dragged back to Hearth and Vine Farm.
The next twenty-four hours are torture. I lose count of how many times I’ve told my story and begged for them to stop waiting and do something.
Again and again, I’m told that warrants are being obtained and a plan is being made.
The only reason things move as fast as they do is because the Guardians of His Natural Order were already on the FBI’s radar.
They were investigating the collective in Iowa when they suddenly moved to join us.
They know about the underage marriages and drug running.
The plate on the car I stole shows it belongs to one of those members they’ve been looking for.
The car, the scars on my ankles, and their past investigations are enough evidence for them to believe me.
Once I’ve signed the statement saying others are being held against their will, that Georgia was killed for leaving, and that the local cops are involved, things move more quickly. Especially because I’m confessing to a murder myself and telling them where they can find Governor Nolan’s body.
I’m not under arrest while they wait to see whether my story checks out. Right now, I’m detained as a witness at their field office. I know they’re going into the farm soon, but they won’t tell me anything.
Maya and Jessi stay by my side, and such kindness from two strangers keeps a lump in my throat while we wait. And wait. Just under forty-eight hours after I left Troy, I get the news.
They have him and he’s alive.
Maya accompanies me when Agent Lennon drives us to the hospital where Troy is being treated. All we know is that he’s alive, but badly injured. They had two days to torture him, and I’m terrified of what we’re going to find when we arrive.
Agent Lennon escorts us up to the third floor of a large hospital.
“Sinful!” My head jerks up and I clutch Maya’s arm at the sound of a screech. “You worthless corrupting bitch!”
More people step out of nearby doorways, and I realize quite a few of the women and children from the cult have been brought here.
Multiple security guards watch the hallway, and one starts toward her to intervene.
Agent Lennon steps in front of me before she can get close while a string of obscenities fly out of her mouth.
Maya puts her arm around me and asks, “Who is she? One of the leaders?”
“No, she was my mother.” Was, because I’ll never see her as family again. Some bridges beg for a match. “She brought me there, gave me to them and allowed everything that happened to me.”
A nurse approaches and Agent Lennon speaks to her for a moment, then sends me and Maya with her while he instructs another officer to cuff the woman who gave birth to me. The nurse leads us down an intersecting hallway toward Troy’s room.
“What’s wrong with him? How is he?” I ask.
She pauses outside his door. “He’s badly beaten. Broken ribs and a broken leg on his left side. His right wrist is also fractured. Thankfully, there are no internal injuries. He doesn’t look good, but he’s going to recover.”
“Do you want me to go in with you?” Maya asks, and I shake my head.
The heavy door clicks shut behind me, swallowing the hum of the hallway.
My chest tightens, and a strangled sob forces its way from my throat as I take in the wreckage of the man I love.
His face is a canvas of swollen purple and blue, making him almost unrecognizable.
He’s shirtless, his left side covered in thick tape.
One leg is elevated and concealed by a heavy cast.
“Troy,” I whisper, my voice cracking.
His eyelids flutter open revealing a glassy stare, but when he sees me, a faint smile tilts his lips. His right wrist is wrapped in a splint and resting over his heart, but he reaches for me with his good arm and whispers, “Sybil.” His raspy weak voice is the best thing I’ve ever heard.
I cross the room in two strides. “Don't move. You’ll hurt yourself.” Tears spill down my face. He reaches out and brushes them away.
“Don’t cry. I’m okay. You did it, sweetheart. We’re free.”
I’m terrified of hurting him, but I need to be closer, to assure myself that he’s really alive.
Mindful of the cast and bandages on his left side, I ease myself onto the right side of the mattress, moving as if he may shatter into glass.
A tear slips out of the corner of his eye as I run my fingers lightly through his hair.
“Are you in pain? Do you want me to get the nurse?”
“No, I’m not hurting. All I need is this.” His voice is thick and his words slur a little, but he reaches to catch my hand in his again. “Just you.”
“I’m right here.”
“You saved me. I knew you could do it,” he murmurs, his chest rising and falling in shallow, careful breaths. “You saved my life. My brave girl.”
My sobs won’t stop. “We did it. I couldn’t have gotten anywhere without you. I wouldn’t even have been able to put the car in gear.”
He utters a short, likely painful chuckle, and I lightly touch his poor swollen lips. “Shh, just rest and get better.”
With a smile on his face, he falls asleep, and I lie beside him until a nurse comes in and asks me to move. I sit by his bed and later, a cot is brought in so I can stay with him.
No charges are going to be brought against me for killing Nolan or taking the car. Troy’s too medicated over the next few days to fully grasp what’s happening, but I watch it all on TV from his hospital room.
The raid of Hearth and Vine Farm is national news. I can’t tear my eyes away from the twenty-four-hour news channels as they keep giving updates. Georgia’s grave is located, Keeper and all the governors are arrested, and many more members are detained.
Troy opens his eyes and looks over at me. “Did they just mention Officer Douglas?”
“Yes. He was arrested too.”
In his pained grin, I see the boy who once chased me through the berry fields, and the man who told me he was stealing from right under their noses. “They really got all of them.”
“They did.” It’s going to be a huge undertaking to sort out who’ll face charges. There will be years of trials ahead of us, but I’m not worried about any of that right now.
All I care about is the man beside me and the future we’re going to have together.