by Jan Coffey
“I’m sorry it had to be this way.”
She nodded. “So, is Tyler Somers somehow involved with Sydney’s and William’s deaths?”
Ian thumbed through the package until he found what he was looking for. “After the Mission suicide, Somers went underground for a while, changing his identity a number of times. He started other Missions of his own in Colorado and later in Texas under different names. Both of them were failures. He didn’t have the charisma that Butler did. Not enough people joined his cults. He couldn’t develop the funding network that Butler had, either. The bottom line, apparently, was that he never could establish a core group of people who believed he had a direct line with God…like his teacher claimed to have processed.”
He showed Kelly flyers that had gone out on one of Somers’s fundraising campaigns. “Meanwhile, as these other sects came and went, he added a whole list of criminal charges to his dossier.”
“What charges?”
“Possession and transportation of illegal firearms, interstate flight, racketeering, mail fraud, reckless endangerment to minors, extortion, tax evasion…and he’s wanted for questioning in connection with the disappearance of a dozen women and children. He’s been on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for over ten years.”
She took the packet from him and looked through it page by page, including the FBI’s sketches and pictures and the list of identities Somers had used over the years.
“About five years ago or so, I heard a rumor of him being sick with some kind of cancer,” Ian said, picking up another packet of papers off the bed. “I think it also might have been about then that Somers realized he had a goose that was laying golden eggs, and he wasn’t cashing in on it. Michael Butler died twenty-two years ago, but a number of his generous supporters lived on. There were people working in the office in Albuquerque, and there was a smattering of people whose families had pulled them out of the Mission before the end. Anyway, it appears that a lot of these people elevated their belief in Butler, changing him from a clergyman into the ‘Prophet Michael.’ Apparently, they quietly stayed in touch with each other, forming a kind of silent network to keep the faith alive and to continue to support what they thought were Butler’s causes.”
Ian showed Kelly printouts of a web page. At the top of the page, there were the letters “BDM~MDB”. Beneath the letters, there was a logo depicting a golden crescent moon with three red drops falling into a cup from one tip of the crescent.
“Butler Divinity Mission. Ministry of the Divine Blood,” she whispered.
Ian nodded. “The website was established a decade after the suicide. No search engines pointed you to it. They had a low-level security screen before you could access it. But it was easy to get past that. Basically, word of mouth is how a person finds the site.”
“And here I was, thinking that it was all gone.”
Kelly shivered as she looked through the pages. Nothing specifically identified any connection with the original sect or Reverend Butler, but if you were a part of it, you recognized it. And the “Truths” page contained the philosophy that she’d had drilled into her as a child. There were even sermons that alluded to “The Prophet,” undoubtedly a reference to Butler.
“How did you find it?” she asked.
“My wife Anne must have been on an original mailing list. I received a notice of it in the mail when the website went up.”
She gave the pages back to him. “So Somers rejoined the group?”
“He didn’t only join it, he took it over and spearheaded the effort to revive it,” Ian explained, showing Kelly the piles of propaganda that had gone out since Ty had taken charge. “He was, after all, a member of Butler’s original inner circle. So far as these people knew, he was the trusted arm of the prophet, and he’d been wandering in the desert, preparing to lead them in Reverend Butler’s name”
“But what about stealing from these same people? Some of them must have known about it.”
“Somers claimed that his departure from the Mission was planned by the Prophet himself. To provide for those who had been spirited away from their just reward, Butler personally sent him away to carry on. To be his voice. To gather the surviving believers for the second coming. I have to assume that over the years, Somers had learned how to put together enough astrological and scriptural evidence to make a pretty convincing case.”
Kelly looked at him, anger mixing with frustration. “How could these people believe him? He’s a crook. Everything he says is a lie. Wasn’t it enough for them to see what happened to those who followed Butler? The two of them are one and the same.”
“Not if you believe in what they say they can do.”
Kelly said nothing. She knew how the minds of people can be controlled.
“Butler was crazy,” Ian continued. “But Somers is armed and crazy. That makes him more dangerous. But there is something else. In all the propaganda he’s been putting out this year, he keeps referring to a new Messiah. A Chosen One that Butler also sent away.”
“He’s talking about himself,” she said tensely.
“No, Somers is the right hand of the Prophet. The one who would lead all of them though to eternity is someone of Butler’s own divine blood. He’s been referring to a child that was taken away on the day of the suicide. The Prophet’s child that they call Luna-K.”
Chapter 14
Denial.
Kelly felt the impulse shut down her thinking even as Ian said the words.
The Prophet’s child.
She stood up abruptly and walked toward the door. Before she could step through it, guilt and grief unlike any she’d ever felt descended on her in one violent sweep. Her feet froze to the ground. Her hands pressed against either side of the door, stopping her body’s forward motion.
“No,” she told him brokenly over her shoulder. “No, it’s not me.”
“I thought it could have been William or Sydney. But before I could get to either of them, they were dead.” He was standing behind her. “You’re the only one left.”
“It can’t be.” She shook her head, unable to hold back the tears. “I’m not like him. I didn’t believe in him. I hated him. He didn’t send me away. I ran away. It was my own doing. I…”
Putting a hand around her waist, Ian pulled her away from the open doorway and pressed her back against the wall of his room. Even in the middle of her panic, she realized he was thinking of Jade. He didn’t want her to see her mother like this. Kelly closed her eyes. She let the tears fall. All those dreams. Jill, her mother, was always near the Father. She could see him now—reaching out for Kelly, offering her the cup. They were not dreams. She was seeing what he expected her to do.
“No,” she told Ian, shaking her head. “I won’t let him do this to me. I won’t let him use me to kill innocent people. If I’m that demon’s offspring, then I’ll kill myself first before allowing anyone to follow me to the same ending that he took all those innocent people to. It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it.”
“You’re not any demon’s offspring,” Ian said gently, lifting her face until she was seeing him through a teary blur. He wiped her tears with his thumb. “Butler was just a man, and none of us are responsible for our father’s sins. You’re a loving and caring mother to a wonderful daughter. Whatever Somers claims, none of that changes the kind of person you’ve become. You spent twelve years in that Mission, but you’ve lived twenty-two years away from it.”
Kelly clutched at his wrist, desperate to remember something that would clear her of being Butler’s daughter. Like a noose around her neck, the thought that she was his offspring was choking her. But there was nothing she could recall that indicated anything else. The more she forced herself to think back, the more incriminating the moments were that she recalled. The woman she knew as her mother was always close to Father Mike. Kelly had to go and see the sect leader more than any of the other children. He was much more interested in what she did, in where she went, in what she was studyi
ng than any of the others.
“You’re here. You found me. Does this mean that they can do the same thing?” Kelly asked.
“I suspect they’ve known for a long time. I think they know where you are, what you do, and who’s around you.”
Leaning against the wall, Kelly hugged herself tightly. She couldn’t panic. She had to think. “Lauren…Lauren Wells. Is this why she was trying to get in touch with me?”
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Ian answered. “I spoke to her a couple of times on the phone during the early days, when I was beginning to look for answers about Anne, about if she was part of the cult or not. Lauren was friendly, open, and helpful. She was very much aware of all the aftershocks that were still going on after the Mission suicide. I think she had a much harder time than any of the three of you in forgetting how close she’d come to saving more people. So I wouldn’t put it past her to keep track of all three of you. If she was, then she might have known something happened to William and Sydney.”
“And since then, has been trying to tell me.” Kelly shook her head. “Did you talk to anyone at the camp? Was anyone on the bus? Did they see her?”
“I talked to one of the kids who came over last night to pick up the stuff that was in the cottage. He and a few of his friends were on that bus, but he said he didn’t see her. He was lying.” Ian reached into his pocket. “I found this in—”
The shouts could be heard through the open window of the sitting area. Hearing the cries for help, Kelly and Ian rushed to look outside. Four people were standing on the shore of the lake. Some fifty yards out in the water, a canoe was capsized, and there were two people in the water. From the cries, it looked to be the Stern boys.
“How deep is the water?” Ian asked right away.
“Very. It drops off very fast. It doesn’t look like they’re wearing lifejackets. Where’s Dan?” Kelly asked, recognizing the people on the beach as Bill and Janice and the parents of the boys. The father was moving into the water, but one of the boys went under.
“I’ll go,” Ian said, starting down the stairs. “Don’t leave Jade alone. Don’t trust anyone to watch her, either.”
Her daughter was already beside her. Kelly picked up the child in her arms and followed Ian down.
~~~~
As Dan pulled the old truck into the parking area, he saw Ian Campbell sprinting toward the water. He saw the capsized boat and the flailing arms.
“You sure took your fucking time picking up this stuff,” Blade stepped out the back door. He paid no attention to what was going on at the lake. “What are you waiting for? Bring the bags in.”
“Later,” Dan called over his shoulder, running toward the water.
Rachel Stern was only good for making lots of noise and had not put even a toe in the water. Her husband was not much better. He was wading out at a snail’s pace toward his sons.
Ian Campbell was already near the boat. Dan saw him dive under as the younger son’s head disappeared below the surface. Dan raced into the water closing the distance rapidly with strong strokes. Ian and the kid broke to the surface ahead of him.
“There we go,” Ian said, holding the kid up by the back of the shirt. Ryan Stern was coughing out some water he’d swallowed, but not thrashing or trying to get a grip on his rescuer. “We’re all right.”
The older Stern boy seemed to be treading water with ease. As Dan reached the boat, Ian was pulling Ryan toward the shore. The boy’s face was red from coughing, but Dan thought he’d live, no problem.
“Get the other one,” Ian said, swimming past.
“I’m on it.”
A couple of strokes and Dan was beside the boat, where Craig Stern was now holding onto the bow of the canoe.
“Can you swim in?”
“Yes,” the older Stern boy replied. He was shivering, and Dan guessed it wasn’t because of the temperature of the water, which was quite bearable. He looked scared.
“Then start swimming.” Taking hold of the bow line of the boat, Dan started toward the shore, pulling the canoe behind him. “And where the hell is your lifejacket? Didn’t I tell you two that you don’t take a boat out without having them on?”
Craig nodded and started swimming toward the shore. Ian was already wading toward the beach. The boys’ father was standing with Ryan in the shallow water.
An audience was waiting for them at the shoreline. Marisa and Dave Meadows were watching by some chairs watching. The photographer and the model were also on the lawn. Dan realized that everyone’s attention was focused in one place.
Kelly was knee deep in the water. She took Ian’s hand as he approached and whispered something to him. He said something back and wrapped his arm around her as they made their way out of the lake.
No one appeared to be too concerned with the two boys who could have drowned. Everyone was watching Ian and Kelly.
~~~~
Ian was no lifeguard, but he was smart enough to recognize when someone was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. Especially when that someone was a twelve-year-old.
As he came out of the water, Kelly thanked him for going after the kids, and Ian told her the truth. The boy was faking it. The whole thing was staged. Ryan could swim just fine. He felt her muscles grow tense even as he told her what he thought. Then he just held on to her, because he didn’t want her exploding at anyone on that beach.
Luckily, Jade was the first person who ran toward them.
“I want to go swimming, too. I want to go swimming with Ian,” she protested, jumping up and down in her bare feet at the very edge of the water.
“Not now,” Kelly said, marching off toward the Sterns, who were coming out of the water and being handed towels by Janice.
“It’s too cold.” Ian faked a shudder and took the little girl by the hand. “Plus, your Mommy is ready to rip into a couple of kids and their parents for not following the rules.”
“Good work out there,” Dan said, joining him by the bench.
“Where were you?”
“In town. Picking up food for the kitchen. Don’t want any boating survivors going hungry tonight.” He ran a towel over his head. “But this thing wasn’t my fault. Kelly told me we won’t be having any lifeguard duty for another week or so, when it’s actually warm enough for people go swimming. Of course, who knew about those two?”
The boys were wrapped in their towels. Showing miraculous resilience, Ryan seemed to be completely over his near-death experience. He was standing next to his brother and staring devotedly at Kelly.
“Actually,” Ian said, “I think they would have done just fine by themselves if you and I hadn’t jumped in.”
“You think so, too?” Dan answered sending him a knowing glance. “I say next time we let them take in a gallon or two before we decide to go in after them. Check out the way they’re looking at Kelly. You’d think they were trying to get her attention.”
“Not a good way,” Ian replied, frowning.
“Not a good way, at all,” Jade added in her little voice, mimicking his frown.
He looked down and found the child standing between him and Dan, her feet apart and a giant towel draped around her shoulder, just like the two of them. Ian was still smiling when he looked up. Dan seemed amused with Jade, too.
“So how good a friendship do your mother and Kelly have?”
“Good enough that she hired me here for the summer.”
Kelly was still talking to Rob and Rachel Stern. Janice had disappeared inside the house. The Meadows couple was starting up toward the inn. Ash was pretending to ignore her boyfriend as he took some shots of her with the boathouse—along with Kelly and the Stern family—in the background.
Ian looked down at the little girl standing at his feet. “Do you think they’re good enough friends that Kelly and Jade could just pop in and visit with her for a few days?”
Dan looked up at him. “I didn’t know Kelly was planning on going anywhere. Why would she want to?”
&
nbsp; “Answer the question.”
“I guess there wouldn’t be a problem. No, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. But she does like twenty-four hour notice. Even I have to give her that.” He tugged on one ear. “I keep thinking maybe she has a live-in boyfriend these days, and has to push the guy out before I get home.”
The Sterns were starting back to the inn, and Rachel Stern was all apologies as the family moved away from Kelly.
“Keep that topic to yourself for now, will you?” he asked Dan.
The other man nodded, and Ian and Jade headed over to where Kelly was standing, her hands still on her hips. She was looking with some perplexity at the departing family.
“Why, Ian? Why did they stage this?” she asked.
“Maybe you and I were spending too much time alone,” Ian told her. “In fact, right about now, I wonder who’s upstairs in my room, going through the stuff that I left all over my bed.”
“You need to change,” she said, abruptly swinging Jade up on her hip and leading the way.
“I want to play in the sand,” Jade complained, pointing back toward the water.
“Later, sweetheart. We can play later.”
Ian’s clothes were still dripping wet. He left his soggy shoes and socks behind on the bench and followed Kelly.
A lunch buffet had been set up, and the newlyweds were fixing their plates. Kelly went by the reception desk and was heading down the hall when Janice came after them.
“That was a close call. Wait,” the old woman called.
“Whatever it is has to wait, Janice.”
“I need to tell you something.”
“Later. I’m wet. Mr. Campbell is soaked. We need to change first.” She started up the steps.
