“She went out to visit them. She wasn’t interested in joining. She just wanted to make up for some of the bad treatment they’d received.”
“What did that bad treatment include?”
“From what I could gather, it was just your basic antagonism—heckling, throwing rocks, spray-painting unflattering messages on their tents. Jesus Freak, Remember Jonestown—that sort of thing.”
“So she stepped in, trying to do a good deed.”
“Right. She struck up a friendship with Ethan and his cronies, whatever he calls them.”
“Spiritual Guides.” Which were more like the blind leading the blind, in Nate’s opinion.
“Yeah, that’s it. They invited her up for dinner and various celebrations. The last time she visited was the night before they bugged out.”
“And?” Surely this had to be leading somewhere…
“She woke up the next morning in her own bed. Her car was in the drive, but not where she normally parked it. And she doesn’t remember driving home.”
“Had she been drinking?”
“She’d had a little, so she chalked it up to that and purposely ignored a few other signs that things weren’t quite right. She was afraid that if she made any accusations, the community would turn on her and say, ‘I told you so.’”
“But…”
“A few weeks later she learned she was pregnant.”
Nate came to a dead standstill and lowered his voice. A family of five had just parked and was heading for the door. “You’re saying the two are related? You’re saying she was, you know, forced?”
“She suspected it.”
“And the baby wasn’t her husband’s.”
“She wasn’t married, Nate. According to her, she hadn’t slept with a man in two years.”
The way Ethan had been holding Rachel while they danced leaped into Nate’s mind. “They must’ve given her something, a roofie or another drug.”
“That’s what she believes. She says it’s the only way to explain what happened to her.”
Nate’s hand tightened on the phone. “Did she have the baby? If so, we might be able to do some DNA testing and prove that—”
“No baby,” Milt interrupted. “By the time she realized she was pregnant, she’d met the man she ended up marrying and was too afraid to tell him about the baby. She thought he wouldn’t understand how it had happened. Even she didn’t understand. So she acted to protect the relationship.”
“You mean, she ended the pregnancy.”
“Yes.”
A hard lump formed in the pit of Nathan’s stomach as he realized what this could mean for Rachel. “Is there any chance she could be making this up?”
“From all indications, she’s reliable.”
Nate dropped his head in his hand. “Rachel’s up there, Milt,” he said. “She’s up there without me.”
“She’s a good agent. Smart. She’ll be fine.”
Sometimes even the best agents didn’t make it. The fact that Milt seemed to discount Nate’s concern made him angry. He was tempted to tell his boss that if anything happened to Rachel, he’d personally make him pay for sending her down here. But he knew that was irrational. He was blaming Milt for Rachel’s being in jeopardy, but it had been Rachel’s decision all along.
A flutter of movement caught his attention. It was Abby. She’d come out of the restaurant and was hugging the pillar not far away, watching him.
Knowing that anything that shot out of his mouth right now would not be something he’d want her to read on his lips, he told Milt he’d check in later and disconnected without an explanation. Then he stalked back and forth, waiting for the adrenaline to subside. But it didn’t seem to decrease and, a moment later, Abby clutched his arm.
Startled that she’d approach him so boldly, he glanced down, and she let go so she could use her hands to communicate.
“I don’t understand.” Too impatient to manage social niceties just now, he tried to shrug her off. He didn’t want to deal with her, not after what he’d just found out from Milt. For all Rachel’s talk of sleeping with beach bums, she had very little sexual experience. He couldn’t imagine how being raped by Ethan, and maybe other members of the cult, would affect her. Couldn’t imagine how her sensitive heart would be able to recover.
But Abby was undeterred by his gruffness. He was struggling to make sense of what she was trying to tell him when the door opened behind them and her grandfather stepped out.
“I thought you might be here,” he said. “Come on, your grandmother’s looking for you.”
Shaking her head to let him know she wasn’t ready to go in, she made the same signs as before and beckoned for him to translate.
“What is it?” Nate asked.
“Abby says she shouldn’t be there.”
Obviously, she was talking about Rachel and Paradise.
Nate didn’t bother pretending he didn’t know where Rachel was. “I’d like to go after her, but I can’t,” he explained. He had to give Rachel time to convince the Covenanters to accept her, had to trust Rachel’s ability to take care of herself. That was what she’d asked him to do. Besides, he’d destroy everything they’d set up so far—could cost Martha her life—if he jumped in too soon.
The girl looked confused. She signed again, then nudged Chaske to translate.
“She says, ‘If you don’t go now, you don’t love her as much as I thought.’”
Love was a powerful word. He cared about Rachel. But…did he love her? He was almost afraid to ask himself that. “You can’t judge a relationship by a diamond ring,” he said. Abby had no idea that was a charade.
“She says the ring has nothing to do with it,” Chaske said.
“Then what does?” Nathan demanded. What did a young girl know about love? About a fake marriage?
Abby responded instantly, and Chaske passed on her message. “‘The way you look at her,’” he said, then he drew his granddaughter back inside, leaving Nate staring after them.
24
Rachel sat across from Ethan; Bartholomew stood at the door. She’d been in the Covenanters’ Enlightenment Hall a few times now, but never in this particular room, which was small and intimate, paneled in dark wood and furnished with bookshelves and an elegant desk. She guessed it was Ethan’s private office, perhaps where he wrote his sermons. A photograph of him and his twelve Spiritual Guides hung on the wall but noticeably absent was a picture of Christ. As far as she was concerned, this church talked a good talk but seemed to be uncertain about whom they really worshipped.