The White Carnation (37 page)

Rob listened closely to Calvin's instructions. This man was familiar with infiltrating enemy territory and rescuing people in similar situations. He'd done it successfully before, and Rob begged every deity he could name that Calvin's plan would succeed this time as well.

Closing his eyes, Rob pictured Faye standing in the doorway when he'd driven away. He'd known she hadn't wanted to be alone, and he'd never forgive himself for leaving her. By God, he'd rescue her, and once he did, he'd spend the rest of his life atoning for his actions. He hoped those bastards were treating her well; if they harmed a hair on her head, he'd tear them apart. To hell with their Miranda rights. When they'd taken her, they'd lost them all. This was war, and the Geneva Convention rules didn't apply either as far as he was concerned.

Going to bed without her, waking up alone, left an emptiness in him that only she could fill. He patted the talisman in his pocket. He would put the ring and the woman together as soon as he could, but his heart ached at the thought that it might not be tonight. Jimmy had carried something into that stable.

Rob hadn't recognized the girl with the ponytail standing with Mary. He just knew she wasn't Faye, and he had to pray that the woman he loved was inside that barn, because if she wasn't, he didn't know what he'd do. He couldn't lose her—not now, not ever.

• • •

Jimmy and a half-dozen men arrived just after supper. He resembled the old Jimmy, dressed in military gear, carrying a weapon she thought might be an AK-47. He came over to her in the common room where she sat reading her rules of conduct with Mary, Ruth, and Elisa. Amalie and her foursome hadn't joined them for supper, and Faye had no idea where they were.

He smiled down at them as if he expected them to be pleased to see him.

“It's nice to see my family getting along so well.” He bent and placed a chaste kiss on each of their cheeks, and Faye did her best to accept the kiss as the others did. She had no desire to feel the butt of that gun against her head.

“We've decided to leave tonight instead of tomorrow. Peter took his family this afternoon, and we'll follow in a few hours. The enemy has finally made their move. Mother Kate will see you settled. You've got a few hours to pack and rest before we go. Stay dressed.”

Faye's heart pounded. No! They couldn't leave yet. She hadn't figured out how to leave a message, a clue to where they were going. She'd read through the manifesto, searched for some mention of the Promised Land and mountains, but so far she'd found nothing useful. If they left here, how would Rob ever find her? Her thoughts must have shown on her face because Jimmy burst out laughing.

“Seriously, Faye? Did you really think he'd come for you? Did you think he'd put it together? They're not even looking for you in the right state. You think I didn't see the file you dropped on the floor? We're north of Nashua, New Hampshire. Right now, your precious ex-fiancé is getting ready to storm a horse farm outside of Slocum, and the minute they cross the perimeter, all hell's going to break loose. We've prepared a reception for them, our first strike in the battle to reclaim what should be rightfully ours. They'll be lucky to find enough pieces of him and the others to bury.”

She saw the truth and the mania in his eyes.

“No one lives in Slocum, wife. No one has since April, when you showed up there again,” he said, turning to Mary, who cast her gaze to the floor. “We don't need it anymore. The Promised Land is waiting for us. In a couple of years, it'll be prime real estate again. Sleep well, my mares.”

He yanked Faye to her feet, jerking the manacle on her ankle, making her cry out. He pulled her to him for a cruel, punishing kiss. When he pushed her away hard, she had to grab the edge of the table to keep from falling. Ruth, Mary, and Elisa steadied her, avoiding eye contact with either her or Jimmy, but she knew they were as shaken as she was. Jimmy turned and walked out of the communal hall laughing. Faye fought to keep the nausea in check.

Mother Kate hurried into the room.

“Quickly, ladies. No time to waste. You need to get some sleep.” She released the shackles and escorted them back to their stalls. “Ten minutes to lights out.”

Faye lay on the bed, unable to sleep. Jimmy's last words had broken her. His men had planted bombs in Slocum and on those farms. People would die tonight. How many of those deaths were because of her? Visions of Rob lying dismembered among the debris filled her with pain and despair. Even if she did manage to get away someday, what would be the point? Rob would be dead soon, might already be, since she didn't know at what time the raid was planned. He'd never see the child she carried. She sat up suddenly. What would happen to her and the child if he or she turned out to have red hair? Tears filled her eyes. Rob would never know how much she loved him.

A strange sound echoed through the stable. She looked around, listened, but the sound wasn't repeated.

Faye coughed. The stall was filling with smoke.

The stable is on fire! We're not leaving—we're all going to die. He's releasing us.
She relaxed, feeling strangely calm. Smoke inhalation would kill her before the flames reached her.

She lovingly cradled her tiny, barely visible baby bump.
I'd have loved you with all my heart.
Maybe we'll get a second chance someday.

Breathing seemed more difficult, although the smoke didn't burn as she'd expected it to. The bolt slid back, and her prison door opened, but in her lethargy she couldn't move. Jimmy had come back for her? No! She wanted to die with the others. She wanted to be with Rob.

“It's okay, Faye. I've got you.”

That isn't Jimmy's voice.

Everything went black.

• • •

“Come on, girl. Time to wake up. They didn't give you that much gas.”

“Dr. Chong, go away and let me sleep,” Faye mumbled.
Dr. Chong! What the hell?
Her eyes flew open. She was on a hospital stretcher surrounded by curtains.

“Blood pressure's good,” the doctor said and smiled down at her. “How do you feel?”

Déjà vu
flooded her as Faye struggled to make sense of her surroundings. “Fine, I feel fine. Where am I?”

“In the ER at Mount Auburn. We brought you in about two hours ago.”

“I had the strangest dream.” Faye stared at the doctor, realized the woman was wearing what appeared to be army gear, and screwed up her face. “Or did I?”

The curtain parted, and Rob entered, his face covered in black and green camouflage paint, his smile a white slash against the dark makeup.

“I didn't think I'd be able to keep you out of here once you heard her voice.” Dr. Chong chuckled.

“No, ma'am.” He reached for Faye, pulling her into his arms.

“That's my cue to exit,” Dr. Chong said. “You've got twenty minutes, Detective. No more. She needs rest.”

The doctor stepped through the opening in the curtains and closed them behind her, giving them as much privacy as possible considering the circumstances.

“I thought I'd never see you again,” Rob said softly as he bent his head and captured her lips.

Faye returned the kiss hungrily, desperately, pouring all of her pent-up emotions into her response. When Rob ended the kiss and pulled away, his eyes shining with unshed tears, the last thing she expected was his laughter.

“Oops. I guess I should have removed the camo paint first, but I couldn't wait to see you. It's a nice look, very avant-garde. Maybe you can start a new fashion trend, but believe me, the
Little House on the Prairie
dress has to go, and I won't even mention the unmentionables. Victoria's Secrets are safe.”

She pouted. “But I made it myself.” At the look of horror on Rob's face, she chuckled. “I'm not that attached to it. I did make it, and it'll be a great Halloween costume if I ever want to relive the worst time of my life.”

He reached for some tissues in the box beside the bed and gently wiped her face. “It's not that bad … On you, it looks great.”

She touched the side of his face, his stubble rough against her palm. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “I thought you were dead. Jimmy said they'd set a trap for you …”

Her sobs intensified, and Rob sat on the edge of the bed holding her tightly. The strong, steady beat of his heart reassured her. He was alive, and so was she. Sniffling, she raised her head.

“It's not over, is it?”

“No, but the harvest is. We'll get them and put an end to whatever this is once and for all. You're safe.”

“For now,” she said, shivering. “What if he comes after me, after Mary, Ruth, and Elisa? They're here, too, right? And the babies—Ruth's twins?”

“They're here, all of them. The doctors are just checking them over. Jimmy won't come after you, Faye. He and three of his men are dead. I'll take you down to the morgue, and you can see for yourself. This monster won't haunt your dreams again.”

“But the Harvester is still out there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jimmy's not the Harvester. That job belongs to someone they call the Prophet. Those people are convinced that killing these women and the others is acceptable—honorable even. They're releasing them for rebirth. He has to be stopped. They all have to be stopped.”

“Hey, relax. Dr. Chong will have my hide if you get all worked up. Trevor and I will debrief you in a few hours. It's still the middle of the night, and you need some sleep. I've got another ten minutes, and I want to spend them holding you.”

“I can live with that.” She snuggled into his shoulder. “I'm glad Jimmy's dead and you're not. How come you weren't blown to bits like he said you'd be?”

“Because I'm smarter than he was. When we realized Slocum was a trap, we sent in the bomb squad, and they dismantled all the explosives and arrested the half-dozen guys left there to watch the place.” He kissed her temple.

“But how did you know? Jimmy was so sure the Prophet had outsmarted you.”

“He did for a while, but we found the mole and baited a trap of our own. If I'd known who he was the day you disappeared, I'd have killed the son of a bitch with my bare hands, and if I had, we might never have found you. Trevor is a hell of an agent.”

“I thought it might be Tom.”

“It wasn't, although I'll probably be buying the guy coffee and donuts until he retires. I said some pretty nasty things when I thought it might be him.”

“So, who was the leak?”

“There were several actually, but the biggest problem was the one man Tom had never trusted: Pierce.”

She frowned. “The FBI liaison was the mole?” He nodded. “Don't they vet their operatives?”

“They do, and so do we. We found a dispatch clerk, an evidence clerk, and a 9-1-1 operator who have a hell of a lot of explaining to do. So far, no one's talking. Whoever this Prophet is, he's convinced these people he's the second coming. Look at Pierce. The guy's a decorated war hero, and he committed murder and rape and betrayed his oath to the FBI and this country ... The son of a bitch has disappeared, but there's an all-points bulletin out on him. He's finished. When I get my hands on the bastard, he'll wish he'd died in that rescue attempt, too. We don't know who killed the Williamsons, Lucy Green, or Eloise Colchester. It could've been Jimmy …”

“No. Jimmy didn't kill anyone. He was very clear on that. It wasn't his job. Who's Eloise Colchester?”

“She's the girl from the Fotomat. It turns out she was Jimmy's sister.”

She gasped. “He let them kill his own sister?”

“Looks that way.”

“She must've violated some rule,” Faye said and frowned, snuggling deeper into his arms. “They're insane, Rob, and far more dangerous than we suspected. They plan to detonate bombs, maybe even nuclear ones. They seem to think they're part of God's greater plan—modern-day survivors of God's wrath. Mother Kate talked about the Great Burning …”

“Mother Kate would be the bitch in black?”

Faye nodded.

“She's dead. Cyanide capsule in her teeth.”

Faye shuddered. Mother's release wouldn't have been a pretty sight. “How did you get us out? I remember smoke.”

“That was sleeping gas. Dr. Chong put together something that would knock you all out but wouldn't hurt the pregnant women or the babies. Trevor put a locator on Pierce a couple of days ago when the man's information didn't match the satellite reports Trevor was getting from Langley. By tracking Pierce, they realized he didn't go to Slocum each day, but to New Hampshire. We fed him false information and then helicoptered to the New Boston Air Force Station and staged our rescue from there.

“We watched and waited until everyone was inside except the four on the roof. Sharpshooters had to take them out; it was the only way we'd be able to carry you out safely. I can tell you my heart almost stopped beating when we saw how few heat signatures there were. I carried you out myself. Believe me, finding you in that stall was the best thing I'd seen in four days. We brought you to a triage area where Dr. Chong checked you all and then transported you here. We've sedated the cult members until we decide what to do with them. There are some excellent deprogrammers out there, but …”

“I don't know that they'll adapt. Some of those younger women have never seen the outside world. They have no education. They trusted the Prophet to show them the way. It's sad.”

He kissed her hair. “It's always sad when the strong take advantage of the weak like that.”

She hiccupped. “When I saw Jimmy in the cabin, I was terrified, but thoughts of you and the fact you'd be back soon kept me going, gave me the courage to keep him talking—well, at least until he used the scopolamine again.”