Initiations (Carpenter/Harding Book 5)

by Barbara Winkes

  “I heard. That’s odd indeed. What was that you said about the mystery witness?”

  Valerie shrugged. “I’ll know when you know, I guess. Roberts is still working out the finer details with him, and it’s all very recent as I understand.”

  “She said anything about Strickland? You talked to her today?”

  “No, not since last night. Okay, let’s do this.”

  They had arrived at the house.

  Mrs. Milner opened the door to them, looking somber.

  “I get her to eat meals,” she said, “but she’s not opening up much—other than the bare, ugly facts anyway.”

  “We’ll be as careful as we can,” Valerie assured her.

  “I hope you’ll be. You can stay in the kitchen. I’ll be in my office. Ariel,” she called. “The lady from the DA’s office is here to see you.”

  Ariel sat at the kitchen table, morosely staring into her glass of orange juice. However, her face lit up when she saw Jordan. “I didn’t know you were coming. Is Ellie here, too?”

  Jordan was aware of Valerie’s bemused gaze. She hadn’t expected this kind of welcome either.

  “No. She’s really busy at the moment, but she’ll come by later. I wanted to see how you’re doing?”

  “Like it’s all a bad dream, though I know it’s not.” She swallowed hard. “Did you find who killed my mom?”

  “No, not yet, but we’re close. For now, A.D.A. Esposito will have to ask you some more questions.”

  “Do I have to go to court? Ellie said there might be a chance I won’t have to.”

  “Well, I’m afraid Ellie doesn’t decide these things, but there is indeed a chance. We want to prepare for all possibilities though, and I need to hear the whole story from you.”

  Ariel gave her a look that was much too grown up for a thirteen-year-old.

  “How much time do you have?”

  * * * *

  Joseph was excited like never before in his life. He’d lived most of it under the radar, now, all of a sudden, he had become important to so many people: Jeremiah. Lilly. The lady from the FBI, and the new girl, an officer named Ellie, who was going to pose as Lilly’s sister in order to take down the last of the cult.

  The fact that Deborah and Nathan’s daughter was helping the authorities, complicated matters slightly. He didn’t want to lose his position to a teenager, not when he was so close to realizing all his plans.

  As it was, he still had a few aces up his sleeve. Ariel hadn’t seen Deborah’s murderer—he had.

  The story could still go many ways, but he had a bargaining chip with the FBI…Now he had one with Jeremiah too.

  * * * *

  Ellie was beyond nervous, and the helicopter ride was only a small part of it. Derek Henderson’s warnings rang clearly in her head—Bethany would do whatever it took to advance her career, and use whoever she wanted to. At least, that was one side of the story. She was also a woman trying to get ahead in a still male-dominated field, and, as far as Ellie could tell, she was dedicated. Dedicated to her job, to ending a woman-hating operation that had been going on for decades. She took risks. Ellie could relate to that. Defending Jordan’s ex in her mind felt very strange to her, but at least it was some sort of distraction.

  If Bethany trusted Joseph, she should too, right? He would try to contact Jeremiah, make him give up the exact location of where the remaining members of the Prophets were hiding out. They had to have driven all night to get anywhere near this area.

  Ellie had listened closely in the briefing, and she knew what she had to do, and what she was getting herself into. In fact, Bethany was right. This was a chance to prove herself even before the exam, and she’d do her best. She also remembered taking cover behind the shed with Casey, bullets flying. The women who had lost their lives because of the cult, and those who were still unable to escape its tight grip even though they were technically free.

  They could only hope that Jeremiah Deane and his people hadn’t made Lilah yet, and even then it would not be easy to get her out. Ellie had to be eyes and ears for the team waiting outside.

  A car was waiting for them, taking them to a hotel room where the command center was set up.

  “Remember,” Bethany said, “no going off script. Joseph is going to do most of the talking. You figure out where Lilah is, and what’s her condition. We do the rest.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Now let’s have Joseph talk to Jeremiah, and we’ll go from there.”

  Everyone waited in tense silence as Joseph made the call. He had insisted Jeremiah would answer if he heard from him—and the founder of the Prophets of Better Days did.

  “Brother Jeremiah, it’s Joseph. I need to talk to you,” he said. “Yes, I know. It’s awful, but I think the lawyers are doing an amazing job. I hear Daniel will be out on bail tomorrow at the latest.”

  Ellie cast a look at Bethany who shrugged. Joseph seemed to sell the bold-faced lie quite well, and that’s all that counted. After being caught red-handed with a car load of illegal weapons, bail for the leader of the local compound was very much uncertain.

  “Yes, that’s good news. He might have to lay low for a while, but that’s okay. I can pass on whatever you need, but…that’s not why I called you. It’s about Lilly.” He listened for a while. “I know she wants to stay with us. I met Lilly’s sister, and she hopes to see her just for a few minutes. Yes, I know we don’t do that, but this is different. If we let her talk to Lilly and convince her that she’s okay, she’ll walk away. Otherwise…I don’t know—no, not that I know of. I believe we can trust her. I’m aware. She’s not like Jennifer. Daniel made a lot of mistakes, but we can do better. I promise you. Okay, I’ll tell her.”

  Abruptly, the phone call ended.

  “What?” Bethany asked tersely. “Do you have the location?”

  “Not yet.”

  “What the—you told us you were certain he’d tell you!”

  “And he will,” Joseph said, his tone calm and matter-of-fact. “I had to be careful. We all know what’s going to happen if he suspects something. They’re going to greet us with gunfire. It’s tricky as it is, but I think he understands the only way to stay under the radar is to let her in. I don’t think they know Lilly is with the FBI. If they think Ellie is the only family member looking for her, they’ll want to see her, and take it from there.”

  “How do you even know they’re anywhere near?” Ellie could understand Bethany’s frustration with his attitude, but apparently, they needed him.

  “Believe me, when you grow up with these people, you learn to read them. The brothers have lots of property in the area, and not even I know all of it. You already know that they’re not too fond of the government and paperwork, so it’s a too wide area, and you wouldn’t find records of all of it anyway. Whatever they do, the brothers will always come out unscathed, because they have their scapegoats, like Raphael. They will rebuild, unless we stop them.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “We wait,” Joseph said cheerfully. “Jeremiah will talk this over with whoever’s with him, and get back to me. Let him come to us. He’s always fondest of taking in women from the outside and ‘guiding’ them.”

  Ellie’s stomach lurched a bit at that, but more than ever she could see the importance of acting in the moment, and fast.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jordan was once more in awe of the girl’s incredible strength. While she could relate to growing up in an unsafe environment, she’d never faced the threats that had been everyday reality for Ariel.

  The brothers and their sons had the right to discipline children at any time, for any reason. They had, like the grown women, to follow a strict behavioral code, and then there was always the dreaded idea of marriage hanging over their heads.

  Ariel confirmed that she had seen young women show up one day, stay with them for a while and then disappear. When she asked questions, her mother had warned her. It wasn’t until a few wee
ks ago that she had entrusted her with her decision to leave. Deborah had stressed that she couldn’t tell anyone, not even her friends, not even Nathan’s other wives who were barely older than Ariel.

  The case against the men they had arrested was airtight. The guns, the systematic abuse of women and children, they wouldn’t get out of that so easily. The department psychiatrist, Dr. Burns, had been talking to some of them, and the conversations continued. She would be able to testify that many of them were traumatized. Sadly, most of them insisted that their husbands were innocent.

  There was still no sight of Ellie, but Jordan assumed she’d see her later tonight. Maybe they could celebrate—continue to celebrate—their decision. Not that it was going to happen overnight. If she wanted to get a good price for the house, she’d still have to invest a little, and, of course, find that realtor.

  It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d walked into Darby’s agency, not knowing she was sitting down with a murderer to discuss her future living arrangements. She’d been off her game, too distracted with whatever else had been going on in her life, but perhaps that wasn’t enough of an explanation. His cover had been damn good.

  When she made time for a coffee between the continued paperwork and checked her phone, she found a text message from Kathryn.

  “I am so grateful to have you in my life again. Thank you.”

  Jordan sighed. They were establishing the guidelines of their new relationship, and she was well aware she had to remain cautious. She was about to get back to her work when the lieutenant came hasting into the room.

  “Carpenter, my office.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She followed him, wondering if this had anything to do with Bethany or the fact that she hadn’t checked in at all today. For some reason, everyone seemed to think that Jordan could be of help when it came to her.

  To her surprise, Derek and Maria Doss joined them a moment later.

  “Henderson, Carpenter, I need you to go to the Men’s Correctional Center. Raphael Deane was found dead in his cell. Doss, you handle the communication with the FBI and the family’s lawyers.”

  “I’m on it,” she said, obviously glad to leave.

  “Dr. Roberts isn’t back?” Jordan asked, surprised, even as she was still taking in the news. Derek gave her a look she vaguely interpreted her as “told you so.”

  “Dr. Roberts is not in the building, but Agent Russo will catch up with you. For now, this is our jurisdiction.”

  “All right. Let’s find out what happened.”

  Derek didn’t object to her driving. Jordan could tell that he had something on his mind.

  “Whatever you want to say, say it. I’m not happy with this either. It’s…odd.”

  “I don’t think you want to hear this.”

  “I’m not going to defend her, I swear. Esposito hinted that there was another possible witness, someone they’re shielding for now. This is getting murkier by the minute.”

  “Tell me about it,” he said. “Kate told me Roberts pulled Ellie out of roll call this morning. She didn’t know what it was about, but with Strickland still missing, I think we can guess.”

  “Damn it!”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.”

  “No, I mean…” Jordan shook her head. “Bethany. I swear, I don’t understand her. I…I don’t even know what to say to this. So Ellie has been working on this case pretty much from the beginning, and she deserves some credit, but this is—”

  “Reckless?” Derek finished her sentence. “I agree. But I’ll bet you she has an explanation.”

  “She better. I can’t believe this.”

  The problem was, she knew what Ellie would say, and Bethany was probably well aware of the dynamics at play. She didn’t want to interfere with Ellie’s career in any way because she was worried—they had made that clear between them. However, she could have an opinion on Bethany’s actions, and she didn’t like them.

  “Well, whatever it is, she’ll check in eventually,” Derek said. “And she always gets lucky in those situations.”

  “No. I can’t even think about this right now.”

  They had a job to do, so did the FBI, so did Ellie. Jordan couldn’t let herself get distracted by the thought that Ellie’s fate depended on luck rather than skills, Bethany’s and hers. She’d have that talk with Bethany later.

  * * * *

  “We found him like this, called the police right away. I touched his neck to check for a pulse, but of course there was none.”

  Jordan could easily tell how the guard had come to this assessment. The front of Raphael Deane’s prison suit was drenched in blood.

  She took a closer look, seeing that the suit was torn open at least an inch and a half. She winced at the thought that someone had managed to get an object with a blade this wide on the inside.

  “Any witnesses?”

  “You might want to talk to Eddie Peck. He shared a cell with him, but wasn’t there when it happened. Most inmates were in the courtyard, but a couple might have heard something. You can see them right now.”

  “We would appreciate that, thank you. Give us a moment, please?”

  “Of course.”

  It was a tight space for her, Derek and the medical examiner. Jonathan Darby would spend the rest of his days in a space like this, and so would her biological father for being responsible for the cold-blooded murder of a cop. They both knew who they had to thank for that.

  She suppressed a shudder, taking a closer look.

  “Multiple stab wounds,” the ME explained. “He was still warm when they found him.”

  “Somebody was angry at him.”

  Jordan couldn’t imagine that the cult members, some of them in custody, a few of them on the run, had a way of realizing a plan like this. Or had they planned for this all along? Paid someone?

  She left the cell to find the guard who had waited a few steps away from the door.

  “We are going to speak to any possible witnesses in a second. I need to know who else works on this floor, and who came to visit Raphael recently.”

  “I can tell you that,” the guard said stiffly. “Since he was transferred here, no one ever came to visit him except the public defender. Kid always seemed terrified, so I don’t think you’ll find anything there. Deane kept under the radar. Most of my colleagues were either watching the yard, or in another wing. I told you, we already found you the ones who most likely saw something, if anyone did at all.”

  “Yes, that was quick, thank you. Are you aware of any fights Deane might have gotten into? Groups he ran with?”

  “Lady…Detective,” he corrected himself quickly. “I’m sorry. Deane was one of the most unspectacular inmates I’ve ever met. See what Peck and the two others have to say.”

  “We will, thanks,” Derek said.

  As they walked down the long corridors where the inmates were now under lockdown, Jordan remembered something she had successfully suppressed until now. Darby was behind one of those doors. Still blaming her, still fantasizing about her.

  It was about time she got rid of the house and moved on with her life, but first they had to finish up these interviews—while Ellie was doing God knows what for Bethany.

  * * * *

  The call came two hours later. Ellie already had regrets about having agreed to this assignment in the first place. Bethany wasn’t her supervisor. If Sergeant Bristol was so happy about the turn of events was yet to be determined—he had already reminded her in no uncertain terms, not too long ago, of her role in the department. There was still a gap between where she was, and where she wanted to be, but Bethany didn’t seem to mind. Most of all, she was uncomfortable with the awkward atmosphere in the room, something that seemed to have little to do with the high profile of this case. A lot was on the line for everyone in this room—and Lilah Strickland whose cover could be blown any moment.

  Joseph maintained the same calm and optimistic attitude, and maybe he had to, maybe
it was the only thing to keep him sane after spending most of his life in an insane environment.

  “Thank you so much, Jeremiah,” he finally said. “I truly believe this is the right thing to do. She will understand the virtue of our way of life. She has to hear it from Lilly herself that the press, and the cops, are all lying. Yes, she’s here right now. Okay.”

  In an unexpected turn of events, he held the phone out to Ellie.

  Bethany nodded, and so she took it.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “I understand you are Lilly’s sister.”

  “That’s true. I’ve been hearing a lot in the news lately, and I am worried about her. I want to talk to her.”

  “How did you meet Joseph?”

  For long, excruciating seconds, Ellie’s mind was blank, then she answered, proud to keep her voice level. “I’m a clerk at the courthouse, and I approached him. I don’t know if what the people are saying about you is true. All I want is to see for myself if Lilly is safe with you. If you can’t do that, I might have to go to the police after all.”

  That earned her laughter from Jeremiah.

  “And tell them what, young lady? That you spoke to me on the phone? That’s not going to do anything. I am aware though, that many lies have been told about us recently. I invite you to come visit for a few days, and talk to Lilly. You’ll see that she is doing great.”

  “I would appreciate that,” Ellie said, taking a deep breath. “I just really want her to be okay.”

  “Give the phone to Joseph, and we’ll arrange the details.”

  She did as told, and Joseph finished the call within a minute, this time with directions from Jeremiah.

  “Well done,” Bethany said.

  Ellie didn’t feel much relieved. The hardest part was yet to come.

  Chapter Sixteen