by Fiona Wilde
“Thanks,” Karen said, tucking the phone in her pocket. “But don’t worry. We’ll drive carefully and be home by dark.”
“Well, if the roads get bad, don’t be afraid to stop. And if you get delayed, give me a call. Since that whole business with Jake, it makes me nervous to see folks go out.”
“I can understand that,” Ann Marie chimed in. “But we can’t just hide here, Clay. There are a lot of good seminars and workshops at the agricultural center. I don’t want to miss out on them because of some spirit of paranoia.”
“I needed to hear that,” Clay replied. “But still, I’ll feel better when I see you two drive back in this evening.”
“That makes two of us.” Jake had walked in, and nodded to Lynette. “Forgive me for not knocking, but I didn’t want to wake the baby.”
“Thanks,” said Lynette, glancing down at the child, who’d fallen back asleep in her lap.
“The weather’s pretty bad today,” Jake repeated.
“I know, but we’ll be fine.” Ann Marie said. “Really, guys, we know how to drive, so stop worrying, OK?”
“I’ve already gotten that speech,” said Clay. “I think they’re trying to tell us something.”
“Which is to get out of my kitchen and get to work so they can get to town,” Lynette said with a laugh. “All of you, scoot! The longer it takes to get started the longer everything will take.”
***
“I don’t want to use the cell phone to call her,” Ann Marie said as they approached town. “I’m pretty sure the guys go over the bill and if they checked the numbers, they would know.”
“That means we’ll need to find a land line,” Karen tucked the phone into her pocket. “I’m sure there’s one at the agricultural center.”
There was, but the women didn’t call right away. As it turned out, Karen enjoyed the workshops as much as she pretended she would, and for the first time felt she could be as successful a crafter as she was a cop.
At around mid-morning, they asked to borrow the agricultural center’s phone. Ann Marie’s hands were shaking as she picked up the receiver.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Karen asked.
Ann Marie nodded, took a deep breath and dialed. A housekeeper picked up on the second ring.
“Fales’ residence,” she said.
“Hi, Gladys, it’s me, Ann Marie. Is my mother or father there?” There was a pause, and Ann Marie knew it was from surprise. No one, not even the housekeeper, was expecting to hear from the prodigal daughter.
“Hold on. I’ll check and see if she’s in.”
Karen, who was listening in, crooked an eyebrow at her friend. “Are they always that formal?” she whispered.
Ann Marie mouthed, “yes,” and waited. The minutes ticked by, and when she just as she was about to give up, her mother’s voice came on the line.
“Ann Marie?”
“Mother. How are you?”
“Surprised.”
There was a moment of silence.
“I’d like to come by and visit today if I could. I’m in town. I’d love to come see you and Daddy.”
“Your father’s not here,” Melissa Fales said. “He’s in Vancouver on business.” She didn’t tell Ann Marie that things had become so tense between the two of them that Harlan spent more time away from home than in it.
“Could I just come see you then?”
Another pause. “Why should I want to see you, Ann Marie, after the way you treated me at that horrible compound?”
“Mother, please. I don’t want to argue over the phone. I know you disagree with what I’ve done, but I’d really like to come see you and maybe work through our differences.”
“Well, life is too short …” Melissa Fale’s voice softened.
“Yes,” her daughter replied.
“Very well, Ann Marie. But I’m not promising you I’m going to accept what you’ve done.”
“You don’t have to, Mother. I just want to see you.” She paused. “But one more thing - I’m bringing someone…”
Her mother cut her off. “If it’s that man you call a husband, he is not welcome here. We don’t recognize..”
“It’s not Jake,” Ann Marie said. “It’s my friend, Karen Patterson.”
“Karen Patterson … that ex-police officer? The one who left the force to join the group?”
“Yes,” Ann Marie said, grimacing a little. “That one.”
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Mother, please. If you can just talk to her she can help you understand that Heartfield is really a good place.”
“As you wish, dear, but again I am not promising you anything. You understand that, don’t you?”
“I do,” Ann Marie said. “We’ll see you around one then, alright?”
Karen heard the woman on the other line murmur something and then Ann Marie hung up. A big smile spread over her face as she put the receiver in the cradle.
“She said ‘yes!’ She didn’t promise anything, but she said ‘yes.’ And that’s a start.”
Ann Marie threw her arms around Karen. “I’m so happy!” she cried.
She wasn’t the only one. Sitting in her ornately furnished living room, Melissa Fales was having a hard time believing her good fortune. Turning to Jarret Miller, she smiled. “We’re in luck,” she said. “As it turns out we won’t need to hire someone to follow my daughter after all. She’s in town, today. And she’s coming here!”
Miller leaned back, crossing his legs. “Is she now?”
“Yes. And it gets better. She’s bringing that disgraceful former cop, Karen Patterson.” Melissa Fales stood. “Excuse me,” she said to her guest and then opened the door to the living room. “Gladys, would you come here please?”
She returned to her chair and waited for her housekeeper to come into the room.
“Yes, Mrs. Fales?”
“I just wanted to let you know I’m giving you the rest of the day off. You’re free to go.”
The older woman looked confused. “But your daughter. Is she coming here? If she is I don’t mind staying to…”
“Whether my daughter is coming is none of your concern,” she said. “You are being given the rest of the day off. Now take it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The housekeeper turned away with a hurt expression that went unnoticed by her employer. When she was out of earshot, Melissa Fales turned to her guest with an icy expression.
“You’re fully prepared to follow through with the plan, then?”
“Completely,” he said, standing and smiling his most brilliant smile as his eyes raked across the handsome woman. Maybe after this was over she’d be open to a relationship. How hard would it be to convince a beautiful older woman that she could do better than the inattentive husband who left her alone? With her money and his libido, it could be a win-win situation. But he couldn’t think about that now. Right now he had to focus on what was at hand.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Fales. By the end of the day, your daughter will be back and that bothersome former cop will be unwelcome on either side of the Heartfield fence. Count on it.”
***
Ann Marie was chatty and bubbly as they drove along the road to her family estate. Karen carried along with the conversation, much of which centered on what they’d learned at the workshops, but inside she felt a gnawing sense of dread. She tried to conceal it from Ann Marie, not wishing to cloud her ebullient mood, and chalked her nervousness up to the fact that she and her friend were keeping something from the men in their lives.
“Wow. They got a new fence.”
Karen looked up to see a huge wrought-iron barrier in front of them. As the truck approached, the gate swung open to admit them onto the long drive that led up to the house.
“You grew up here?” Karen asked.
“Don’t sound so impressed,” Ann Marie said. “It was never a happy place. You need good parents to have a happy home.”
“So why are you still try
ing?” Karen pressed.
“Stubborn, I guess,” Ann Marie said. “I guess down deep we’re all just kids who need to be loved.”
The comment made Karen sad, and she was still pondering it as they pulled up to the front of the house and parked. A set of large semi-circular steps led to a wooden door with a leaded glass panel in the center. Ann Marie rung the bell and the pair waited for a moment before the door opened. Melissa Fales was wearing a light pink fitted suit with a pearl necklace that picked up the tint of the garment in its gleam.
“Where’s Gladys?” Ann Marie asked.
“Is that how I’m to be greeted?” Melissa Fales’ voice was cool and curt, and she cast a hate-filled glance at Karen as she spoke. “If you must know, she’s out doing some shopping.”
“Sorry.” Ann Marie leaned over and gave her mother an awkward kiss on the cheek before Melissa stepped aside so the younger women could come in.
The foyer of the house was cavernous; Ann Marie’s sneakers squeaked on the marble floor, and Karen felt underdressed and wished she’d worn something other than jeans.
“I had Gladys put some tea and cookies in the sitting room before she left.” Melissa Fales led the way, her heels clicking as she went. She did not glance back at the pair, and Karen wondered if she were always this aloof and formal.
A door to the left of a short hallway led to a room with a bay window overlooking a rose garden that was now past its peak. The furniture was heavy, dark and antique, giving the room a somber feel. Over the fireplace hung an oil painting of a foxhunt. In one corner of the painting, the fox’s head was thrown back in agony as the hounds savaged it. From their horses, the riders watched with dispassionate expression. Karen wondered who could have painted such a picture, and who would want it.
She heard the door to the drawing room click shut, and was just about to turn to thank Ann Marie’s mother for allowing her to come along when she felt a hand clamp over her mouth. She was simultaneously pulled backwards and instinctively kicked back at her attacker as she’d been taught to do in the police academy. But her captor was ready and her heel did little more than connect with the lower inside of his thigh.
She heard a scream and realized it was Ann Marie’s. Then she froze as a knife went to her throat. Karen stood stock still, not wanting to risk a cut. The only thing she could move were her eyes, and she looked over now to see Ann Marie standing there, distraught and confused as her mother laughed.
“You really didn’t think I was just going to let this go, did you, sweetie?” Melissa Fales asked her daughter. “Ever since that humiliating ordeal at that awful cult compound I’ve been planning a way to put an end to your nonsense once and for all.” She walked over to Ann Marie and slapped her hard across the face, watching as her daughter turned back to her with tear-filled eyes. “Do you have any idea what you put me through, Ann Marie?” She turned to Karen. “And you. I had everyone from your boss down on my team. If you had just done your job I never would have had to resort to this.”
“You’re only making things worse for yourself, Mrs. Fales,” Karen replied. “Kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment are both against the law.”
“So is making false statements during an investigation.” Miller’s voice was hot in her ear. “And by the time I’m finished with you, Missy, you’re going to give me a written statement that everything you put in that report was a lie, that Heartfield keeps women there under duress and that you delivered Miss Fales back to her family today because you wanted to save her from the abusive atmosphere of what you now realize is a cult.”
“The hell I will,” Karen said, and Miller jerked her back angrily. In that instant, Karen dropped her hand to her side and pushed against the pants pocket. Neither Melissa Fales nor Jarret Miller realized what she’d done, but as Karen’s eyes connected with Ann Marie’s, she knew her friend had activated the cell phone she had hidden there.
“Please,” Karen prayed. “Let the call go through.”
***
It was Clay’s good fortune that he was holding the phone when it rang, and he knew as soon as he brought it to his ear that there was trouble on the other end of the line. He could hear a woman’s voice, the shrill tone familiar but one he could not place, and he refrained from calling out as he listened. It only took a minute for him to piece together that Karen and Ann Marie were not at the conference.
Running from the tractor shed, he sprinted across the yard to where he’d last seen Jake. He was still there at the Wickhams, helping Randy install new cabinets in the kitchen. Lynette was at the table, pounding dough down for a loaf of bread. Everyone looked up when Clay came running in.
“Jake,” he said. “You need to get out here, fast.”
Jake Markum stood. “Why, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s the women. They’re in trouble.”
“Where?” Jake looked confused. “They’re still at the conference, aren’t they?”
“I don’t think so,” Clay said. “I’m not sure where they are, but Karen hit the send button on her phone and I heard voices. It sounds like Ann Marie and Karen were in some sort of distress.”
“But where are they?” Jake’s face was a mask of worry. “How will we find them?”
“I know where they are.”
All turned to see the ashen face of Lynette, who stood with her hand still in the center of the doughy mass.
“They went to see Ann Marie’s parents. This afternoon. They made plans to go during a break between workshops.”
Randy turned to his wife. “You knew this?”
She nodded and swallowed.
“Did you know that I didn’t want Ann Marie to go?” Jake asked.
Again Lynette nodded. “Yes. She told me. I’m sorry. I didn’t think..”
“Apparently not, Lynette,” Clay snapped. “After what happened, if the women are planning to go behind our backs and visit the woman who tried to destroy Heartfield, that’s the kind of thing we need to know.”
He turned to Jake. “Let’s go.” Then to Randy. “You want to come with us?”
But Randy was already rolling up his sleeves. “No,” he said. “I’ve got something to take care of right here.”
The two other men were already down the steps when Randy Wickham pulled out the kitchen chair, sat down and pulled Lynette over his lap. She did not fight as he pulled her skirt up and jerked her panties down to mid-thigh, and she braced herself as he picked up the small breadboard from the table and slammed it down hard onto her bottom. Within moments she was sobbing uncontrollably, her bottom was burning worse than it had during any previous spanking. The heat built to a nearly unbearable level, and Lynette kicked frantically as her husband’s unflagging arm rose and fell over and over.
Randy did not lecture. He knew he did not need to. Secrets were frowned on in Heartfield, and between husband and wives they were forbidden. Lynette’s secret had done more than cause marital discord, however; it had put two women and perhaps the entire community at risk. Again. And Randy was determined to make sure his wife knew just how displeased he was with her behavior. She was trying to scoot off his lap now from the pain, but he hauled her back up and trapped both her legs with his before continuing his blistering assault on her tortured bottom.
She was sobbing now, and begging for mercy as he concentrated his efforts on the lower part of her buttocks and tops of her thighs. Randy Wickham had faith that the other women would come home safely, but he wanted to make sure when they did they realized that bringing his wife into their plan had cost her dearly. And he knew she wouldn’t be the only one to pay. If Ann Marie and Karen got out of this current predicament unscathed, their worries wouldn’t be over. Randy didn’t have to ask to know that those two were in for the spankings of their lives.
Chapter Twenty
“You won’t get away with this,” Karen said. “And I’m not going to sign anything, so get that out of your head right now.”
“No?” Jarret Miller smirked. �
��You’d be wise to reconsider, especially given that the – how shall I put this – well-being of your cute little friend in there wholly depends on your cooperation, just as she realizes your well-being depends on hers.”
They were alone in the drawing room, and Karen was still reeling from the situation, and wishing she’d listened to Clay in the first place. There was no way to know whether he’d gotten her call.
“You can’t force Ann Marie to live here,” Karen said. “She’s a grown woman and an investigation has cleared Heartfield of any wrongdoing. She can live there if she wants.”
Miller laughed deeply. “You’re quite right, but we’re not planning to make her live here. In an hour, some of my men will be here to escort Miss Fales..”
“She’s married,” Karen hissed. “Her last name is Markum.”
“She won’t be after it’s annulled, Sweet Cheeks,” Miller replied, and flicked the blade against Karen’s face. “Don’t you interrupt me again, or you’ll regret it. Hear?”
Karen nodded but kept her eyes on him.
“As I said, in an hour or so, my associates will take Miss Fales to the airport, where a private plane will take her out of the country.”
“To where?” Karen demanded to know.
“Like I’d tell you,” Miller laughed. “Let’s just say where she’s going has another compound, this one owned by a man experienced in deprogramming or, as I like to think of it, convincing people that the decisions of association weren’t right for them after all. By the time she returns, she’ll be prepared to back up what you’re about to write in a statement.”
Miller pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. “Start writing.”
“Fuck off,” Karen said.
Miller stood, cracked his knuckles, turned to the window as if thinking, and then rounded on her. Karen, whose hands were bound behind her back, was helpless to stop him and felt herself being lifted up and shoved facedown on the desk.
