Away From the Dark (The Light #2)

by Aleatha Romig

  “Dylan? He didn’t do it.”

  “He didn’t?”

  “He’s the one who gave me the medicine, but he didn’t hurt me. Brother Mark, who I got the feeling was on the Assembly at the Eastern Light, was the one who whipped me. It was Brother Elijah who hit me. Sister Mariam was the one who put the collar on me.”

  “What the hell? Whip? Hit? Collar? What?”

  Stella reached out and covered my hand with hers. “We both have long stories. Let’s find out about everyone first. I want to call my parents and let them know I’m all right. And Dina Rosemont and Bernard—”

  I stilled her list with another kiss. “I know I haven’t said it enough, but Stella Montgomery—”

  “I definitely like McAlister better,” she interrupted.

  “Stella M.,” I corrected myself. “You’re an amazing woman.” I ran my fingers through her hair. “So strong and brave. As we go through the next few months and try to undo what was done, I want to be the one there for you, the one to make your dreams come true.”

  She cupped my cheeks and her eyes glistened. “Waking up and having your brown eyes in front of me was my dream. You’ve already made it come true.” She leaned forward and our lips united. “I’m all yours, Jacoby McAlister. I don’t care what we need to go through to debrief or deprogram. What I feel for you isn’t programmed, it’s real, and I don’t want you to ever question that.”

  I grinned. “So now I’m the one who can’t question?”

  “I believe that was a question,” she said with a sparkle in her gorgeous eyes. “And as much as I want what you said, I want to be there for you too. It wasn’t fair to give you all the burdens. I want to be a team.”

  “I think I’d like that.”

  As I stood I thought of something else. “Did Richards get a warning call telling him about the mansion?”

  Her forehead furrowed. “No. I know he didn’t, because I had one of his phones. The other one didn’t ring until later.”

  “You had his phone? Did you try to call?”

  She shook her head. “I thought about it, but I didn’t want to jeopardize the FBI’s mission and mostly I couldn’t risk your life.”

  I was momentarily mute, imagining the hell she had been going through, and yet, with freedom in her grasp, her thoughts had been about me and the mission.

  “You never cease to amaze me. But if he didn’t get a call, why did he take you out of the mansion?”

  Stella shrugged. “It was after Brother Elijah attacked me. Dylan shot him.”

  What the hell?

  “And then he pulled me out of Father Gabriel’s office and said we had to get away. In all the commotion I must have dropped his phone. If someone called him, he never got it.”

  There were too many things in her last statement for me to even articulate a question.

  After a minute she added, “He did make a call, after the mansion blew. I tried to listen, but I couldn’t hear him very well. I think he spoke to someone named Joel or Noel . . . something like that.”

  Joel? The one on facial recognition. I had to wonder if he was Brother Timothy and Sister Lilith’s son. Were the Shadows made up of supposedly banished members of The Light? Ones Father Gabriel entrusted to hold important positions in the dark, supporting The Light’s activities?

  As I contemplated, I walked to the door and motioned for Special Agent Adler to come in. Turning toward Stella, I smiled. “Special Agent Adler, I’d like you to meet—”

  “Agent McAlister’s wife,” Stella interrupted. “I’m Stella Montgomery McAlister.”

  Agent Adler was shaking her hand. “Ma’am, it’s nice to meet you. You had us all very worried.” He tilted his head toward me. “This one in particular. I don’t think he’s slept in nearly two days.”

  “I don’t think he’s showered either,” she said with a grin.

  “I just spoke with the doctor,” Special Agent Adler said. “Now that they know your eyes are all right, you can be released. The FBI would like to put you both up with your own security detail for a few days. We can assure you each a secured hotel room with room service. Once you’ve rested, we’ll send you to Virginia. You both have a long debriefing ahead.”

  “Agent,” Stella said, “please tell the FBI thank you. If it’s all right with Agent McAlister, I’d just as soon save our government the additional charge. I believe one room is sufficient.”

  “You heard my wife,” I said with a grin.

  “Then it’s settled,” Adler said. “Oh, and another thing, that friend you mentioned on the phone, Mindy Rosemont, we’ve confirmed her identity as one of the women still on the Northern Light. It will take some time to get everyone to Anchorage.”

  Stella looked from Special Agent Adler back to me. “I want to see her. I want to help her. I tried talking to her after my memory came back, but she didn’t know me. Once her medication is gone, I want her to know we were looking for her.”

  Was she asking? For once I didn’t have the answer. Instead I looked back to my handler.

  “It’ll take some time,” Agent Adler said, “but I’m sure we can get that worked out. Also, we’ve contacted your parents. They’re on their way to Detroit as we speak.”

  Stella’s face suddenly paled.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I wanted to speak to my mom. It’s Dylan”—her eyes filled with panic—“he mentioned that she’s been calling him every week. If she knows I’m all right, she might try to call him. Then he’ll know the medicine didn’t work.”

  “I’ll call your mother’s cell phone right away,” Adler said. “Don’t worry. No one will know your location.”

  “The Shadows?” I asked, not wanting to know the answer.

  “I’ll personally screen the agents protecting the two of you.”

  I reached for Stella’s hand and nodded. “We’ll be all right.”

  She nodded. “Since I dropped Dylan’s phone at the mansion and it likely blew up, I doubt my mother could reach him. Dylan said the Shadows are everywhere. Does that mean they’re in the FBI?”

  I took a deep breath. I’d promised her truth, but at this moment I didn’t want to be truthful. I wanted to make her feel safe. Nevertheless, she deserved honesty. “We believe that it was a member of the Shadows who tipped off Richards. If that’s the case, the call came from within the FBI.”

  Agent Adler shook his head. “That hasn’t been confirmed. We’re investigating. But like I said, we’ll keep your location undisclosed.”

  “My parents?”

  I squeezed Stella’s hand. “Sorry, Agent. I can testify that she never stops asking questions.”

  Agent Adler grinned. “We’re happy you’re both safe. Let me get you a phone.”

  “Thank you,” Stella said, her cheeks pink and her eyes down.

  I reached for her chin. When our eyes met, I said, “I’m looking forward to a lifetime of them.”

  CHAPTER 40

  Jacoby McAlister

  Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation

  Two months post-raid:

  CONFIDENTIAL FINAL REPORT: THE LIGHT

  Following Agent Jacoby McAlister’s final debriefing, his forty-one-month-long infiltration of The Light officially concluded. The results of his investigation include:

  The Light, a religious, tax-exempt organization, has allegedly been discovered to be a front for illegal activities. The activities identified by A-Jacoby McAlister were divided among three campuses. On the three campuses a total of 1,070 followers were identified. These followers include men, women, and children. At the Northern Light, located in northern Alaska, was a fully functional pharmaceutical production plant, capable of creating various knock-off drugs. These medications were transported to the Western Light, located in northern Montana, where they were packaged and then transported to Canada under the cover of Preserve the Light preserves. Once out of the United States, distribution and logistics occurred via unidentified members of the extension of The
Light known as the Shadows.

  The Eastern Light, located in Highland Heights, Michigan, served primarily as the point of entry for new followers, both voluntary and involuntary. Women abducted for The Light were brought through this campus and transported to the other campuses. Along with the acquisition of new followers, a small production plant was also located on the Eastern Light. This plant produced illegal substances that were then transported out of the United States via the cover of Preserve the Light preserves.

  Alleged charges uncovered during this mission into The Light include: multiple counts of first-degree murder, felony murder, human trafficking, kidnapping, sexual assault, physical and psychological assault, drug manufacturing, drug possession, drug trafficking, and labor code violations.

  Gabriel Clark, aka Father Gabriel and Garrison Clarkson, as well as the twelve members of his Commission, are being held without bond in various high-security facilities throughout the United States. Due to his association with the current threat of the organization referring to itself as the Shadows, Gabriel Clark is currently incarcerated at ADX Florence, near Florence, Colorado. This facility is a supermax prison for male inmates with extreme limitations on communication with outside sources.

  Thirty-three members of The Light’s Assembly were interrogated individually by the FBI. Through hours of questioning, the level of knowledge into the illegal activity of The Light was determined. The level of knowledge and roles in activities varied. Twenty-two members were determined to have extensive knowledge and were unwilling to testify on behalf of the state. Those members are currently incarcerated awaiting trial. The remaining eleven Assembly members are undergoing voluntary debriefing and deprogramming as state’s witnesses. Due to the alleged danger posed by the Shadows, the eleven members will enter witness protection until time of trials.

  Wives: Of the eleven Assemblymen to cooperate, ten of their wives under The Light have volunteered to accompany their husbands into witness protection. It has been determined that none of the Assemblymen’s wives held a significant level of knowledge regarding the inner workings and operations. The wives of the uncooperative or deceased Assemblymen agreed to undergo deprogramming. Those whose true identities could be determined have been reunited with family outside The Light, if family could be found. Even after discontinuing the memory-suppressing medication, three Assembly wives have yet to know their true identities. The FBI is still working with the Kidnappings and Missing Persons department in this endeavor.

  Nine of the twelve Commissioners’ wives have been determined to have knowledge of illegal activity and to have participated in various illegal activities. These nine women have been charged with crimes, resulting in their incarceration. The other three Commission wives have undergone deprogramming and have voluntarily been reunited with their families outside of The Light.

  The three physicians, one at each campus, are also incarcerated and awaiting trial for various felony charges.

  The envelope Agent McAlister had been given from a Commissioner (Brother Michael) at the Western Light contained a sequence of numbers as well as a pass-phrase. After diligent work by the FBI cyber division, overseas accounts were discovered and accessed. Until the information in the envelope was decoded, the financial side of The Light had been the missing link in McAlister’s investigation. The contents of the accounts uncovered a large portion of The Light’s allegedly illegally obtained wealth.

  Dylan Richards is still at large. Cybertracking has identified him as the heir apparent to the operation of the Shadows, now referred to in their communications as the leader, Brother David. It is currently believed that Richards is outside the United States.

  After tedious searches, most of the followers on all three campuses have been identified. While it is impossible to account for all followers, one female follower from the Northern Light is currently misplaced. Mary, aka Mindy Rosemont, was identified while on the Northern Light campus. However, when the followers were later cataloged at the Anchorage FBI field office it was discovered that she was not among the female followers. This turn of events is currently under review by an internal subcommittee.

  As the bureau’s key witness, A-McAlister will enter the witness protection program until the time of Gabriel Clark’s trial, as will his wife Stella McAlister.

  EPILOGUE

  David

  “I want confirmation as soon as you have it,” I said, my grip on the phone growing tighter by the second. From the way Agent Fisher was stumbling over his words, he knew from my tone that I wasn’t playing around. “He needs to pay the ultimate price for his deceit.”

  My blood boiled.

  Agent Jacoby McAlister, fucking Jacob Adams.

  I’d had that motherfucker in my grasp. I should have killed him in the basement of the mansion. If I had, The Light would still be making the money we needed for operations. Hell, if I’d killed him then, Gabriel would still be free. I gritted my teeth. If I’d killed him, he wouldn’t be at Quantico, married to Stella.

  Damn her. Damn him.

  At least I had a connection—a Shadow—at Quantico. Now if he’d stop stuttering and do his damn duty.

  “Brother David, I-I have the necessary clearance. I’ll learn where Agent and Mrs. McAlister are assigned.”

  Mrs. McAlister. The name made the hairs on my arm bristle.

  “When you do, tell me. Don’t, I repeat, do not, proceed on your own. I want the last thing that asshole remembers is that he fucked with the wrong organization. And I want him to know he didn’t stop us or any of our plans. He may have slowed us down a little, but The Light is everywhere.”

  “Yes, Brother.”

  I didn’t wait for the phone to disconnect before I hit the red button and sent it flying across the room. As it collided with the wall, Stacy jumped. She shook her head, and with a sassy grin looked in my direction.

  “I’m going to guess that wasn’t the news you wanted?”

  I ran my hand along the scuff of my jaw before extending it in her direction. Without hesitation she stood from the couch where she’d been reading and came to me. I pulled her onto my lap and cupped her chin. “You don’t need to worry. I’ve got you now. I don’t want her.”

  Stacy smiled. “I’m not worried. But it is strange how this all worked out. Who would’ve thought me and you and the Shadows? I mean I’d never even heard of them and I remember when you were my best friend’s boyfriend.”

  I wrapped my arms around her waist. If I didn’t think about it too much, I could imagine she was Stella. They looked that similar. That was the reason she’d been brought to me. It was a peace offering from the idiot who’d let the FBI task force exist without his knowledge. He’d heard about Stella and for some reason thought Mindy was her.

  Too bad for him it wasn’t enough to stop his banishment.

  “Your best friend?” I asked with a smirk.

  She shook her head, her long, blonde hair moving slowly over her slender shoulders. “Not anymore. Now that I remember, I remember how she didn’t help me, how she was part of the chosen—”

  I touched her lips. “Baby, that’s the past. Look at you now. Fuck the chosen. Most of them are in prison. You’re the wife of the leader of the Shadows. And soon, very soon, she and that agent will pay.”

  “If you say so, David.”

  “I do. No one stops The Light.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to everyone who has worked to make The Light series a reality. Thank you for believing in my crazy world with twists and turns on every page. To my agent, Danielle Egan-Miller, your support has been invaluable. To my PR representative, Danielle Sanchez from Inkslinger, thank you for having faith in this series long before the world ever had the chance to read about it. To my betas and early readers, thank you for loving these characters enough to encourage me. To the wonderful editors and cover artists at Thomas and Mercer, thank you for seeing the potential in our story and helping to make it the best it could be. Most importantly, thank
you to my readers. It is because of you that I can live my dream.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2015 Erin Hession Photography

  Aleatha Romig is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author whose work includes Into the Light as well as the twisty, darkly romantic series Consequences, which has graced more than half a million e-readers, Tales from the Dark Side, and Infidelity. Aleatha was born, raised, and educated in Indiana, where she reared three children of her own. She lives with her husband just south of Indianapolis.