by Vaughn, Ann
“Use that, Tess. Play them against each other,” Gibson advised.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Pete replied.
Tessa cleared her throat, hoping they would get the message to shut up. It was hard enough to concentrate without them carrying on all the time.
“If you’d like to talk, I could make a quick trip to the ladies room,” she offered.
“Certainly,” Nathaniel said, “Just around the corner, first door on the right. I’ll be right here.”
“Then if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you to talk.” She walked off, acutely aware that both men’s eyes followed her as she went.
“Do not under any circumstances speak to us when you get in there,” Gibson ordered. “Chances are they have the restroom monitored.”
“Again, Captain Obvious? You’ve known her for years, I’ve known her for weeks but I know she’s not that dumb. C’mon,” Pete said.
Tessa tapped the mike twice to let them know she was turning it off and removing the glasses briefly while she used the restroom. When she put them back on and tapped the mike she was standing before the mirror.
“Hey, babe,” Shane’s voice sounded, “Just me for a few. I sent everyone else out for a minute. Look directly in the mirror and give a slow blink if you can hear me.” She did. “Look, it’s obvious Nathaniel is attracted to you. Are you OK with encouraging him? One for yes, two for no.” She blinked once, slowly, an apologetic look on her face. “You don’t worry about me. I’m a big boy; I can handle it. I know you love me. You’d best head back out. You’re doing great, babe. I love you.”
She gave him a wink then headed out. When she rounded the corner, Nathaniel was talking to two women, one older, one younger. The older woman, who looked to be in her fifties, had salt and peppered hair pulled back into a braided bun at the nape of her neck and wore a white shirt with black slacks. The younger woman appeared to be in her early twenties, wore her brunette hair long and flowing and wore a long white shift dress with sandals. From all she knew from their research, she knew that the older women acted like “Dorm Mothers” to the younger women.
There was a stern look on Nathaniel’s face as he spoke to the women but it was completely masked when he spotted Tessa.
“Joyce, take Olivia to see Paul in his office,” he instructed the older woman.
At his declaration, Olivia paled and grasped his hand. “Please, Nathaniel,” she cried in a soft whisper.
“Our rules are in place to assure your safety, Olivia,” he said in a fatherly tone. “Now, go with Joyce.”
Olivia dropped her hand from his and slowly followed Joyce from the room.
“That girl was terrified, Nathaniel,” Tessa said when he approached her.
He offered her an indulgent smile. “Not to worry. Just a small matter.”
“But why would she be scared?”
“Don’t push too hard right now, Tess,” Shane cautioned.
“One of the reasons for our success in maintaining a peaceful, harmonious atmosphere with so many people living together is our adherence to structure. Rules are set to maintain everyone’s happiness and safety. Those who choose to live within our walls do so of their own free will and with the knowledge that rules are set, maintained and enforced for the greater good of the community. Everyone works together and it runs smoothly; however, there are times that rules are broken. Consequences are severe in order to keep violations to a minimum.”
“Consequences? You sound as if you are speaking of children. Olivia can’t be much younger than me, but it seems as if you were sending her off to be punished like a child.”
He once again raised her hand to his lips, something she supposed he was fond of doing.
“Not like a child, Madelyn. Like a beloved woman of the Naturalist fold who just needs a reminder of why she chose to be here.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
“You’re supposed to be buying into the lifestyle, Tess,” Gib reminded her.
Nathaniel smiled indulgently, tucked her hand in his arm and began walking.
“Think back to when you were in grade school. With a few exceptions, you generally loved and respected your teachers, did you not?”
“Yes.”
“No one would dare sass a teacher back then because the consequences were more severe than they are now. Discipline was key. Here within the walls of the Retreat, we have brought discipline back and our members are happier because of it.” He took her into a building to the back left of the Main House. “This is our single women’s dormitory, where Olivia lives. There are three floors, with the Main Floor being the common areas and study rooms. As you can see, this is where we allow our men to visit the ladies, supervised of course. The upper floors are dorms and Paul and I are the only men allowed on those floors. The safety of our cherished females is our top priority.”
“Look at as many people as possible, Tess,” Shane reminded her.
He led her to the elevator and they took it to the top floor. As soon as he stepped out of the doors, dozens of young, beautiful women surrounded him, calling out his name and smiling like star-struck teens. They all wore the same long, flowing white shift Olivia had worn, all with long hair, all thin, none larger than a size 8 she would guess, and all pretty; not a fat, ugly duckling among them.
“Holy David Koresh, Batman,” Joe said and Tessa had to fight hard not to laugh.
A stern woman dressed as Joyce had been emerged and firmly clapped her hands. “Ladies, step back, let Nathaniel breathe for pity’s sake,” she scolded them.
The women all took a step back and instantly hushed.
“Thank you, Deborah,” Nathaniel addressed the older woman.
“I’m not seeing the Senator’s daughter,” Crownover said.
“Me, either. Are you looking at everyone in the room, Tessa?” Gib inquired.
Tessa wished she could tell them all to be quiet. They were very distracting.
“Have you brought us a new sister, Nathaniel?” a starry-eyed petite blonde asked.
“Well, Tina, I’m not quite sure. Ladies, this is Madelyn Parker. She is my Very Special Guest.”
A unison feminine gasp sounded from the room and as one they all bowed their heads and curtsied as if she were the Queen of England or something.
“What the hell?” the men in her ear all gasped at once.
“Oh, um, OK,” Tessa said, taken aback by their gesture. “Nathaniel? Am I missing something here?”
He chuckled. “Not at all. They are merely showing deference to you as my Very Special Guest.”
“Welcome, Madelyn,” Deborah said.
“Um, it’s Maddie, actually, and thanks.”
“Madelyn is such a distinguished name,” Nathaniel said, stroking a lock of Tessa’s hair. “I prefer it.”
“OK, well-”
“Relax, Tess,” Shane’s soothing voice sounded, calming her. She was thankful for his voice; she was beginning to be weirded out by their behavior.
“Come, let’s resume our tour,” he said, again kissing her hand. She was beginning to feel like she’d need to disinfect her hand as soon as she got back to her condo. As it was, she had to fight the urge to jerk her hand away. He led her through the dormitory, showing her where the women slept. She noticed that the rooms were plain, with very little personal items or decorations, and exceedingly neat. The clinical feel saddened her. These women were being programmed, stripped of their personalities to become like brainless Stepford Wives.
One door they came to was closed. Nathaniel immediately demanded an explanation from Deborah. Tessa took that to mean closed doors were not common.
“It is Stephanie. She’s just returned from the Arena,” Deborah explained.
“That could be her,” Gib said.
Tessa tuned out the Captain Obvious remarks from the men and watched when Nathaniel opened the door. Tessa saw a dark haired girl lying on her stomach on the bed, her dress pushed down to her waist and a poultice
of some sort on her back.
“Excuse me just a moment, Madelyn,” he said, going to the girl on the bed. She watched him sit on the edge of the bed and gently place his hand on Stephanie’s head. “Stephanie?” Tessa watched the girl slowly turn her head toward Nathaniel.
“That’s her,” Gibson confirmed.
Tessa’s breath caught in her throat when Nathaniel carefully removed the poultice. There were bloody, criss-crossing stripes on the girl’s back. Tessa thought she was going to be sick. Nathaniel was talking in soothing tones to the sobbing girl but she couldn’t make out their words.
“Tess?” Shane’s voice sounded in her hair. “Keep it together. I know you’re pissed. You can’t show that to him. Not yet.” She closed her eyes a moment, listening to his voice. He knew her so well. She wanted to rush in and pummel Nathaniel, pull Stephanie away from this awful place. She gasped when Nathaniel’s hand touched her cheek, her eyes flying open.
“I’m sorry you had to see that on your first visit,” he said softly. “Stephanie is one of our newer members and is having a bit of a hard time adjusting.”
“Why not just let her leave?” Tessa asked, unable to keep the shock from her tone.
“She was given the option. She chose to stay and accept the consequences of her actions.”
He led Tessa from the building, casually strolling with her in the sunshine.
“What could she have possibly done to warrant that, and what’s this Arena you mentioned?” she asked. “I take it that is where that was done to Stephanie.”
“It’s nothing you need ever to be concerned with,” he said, stopping in a flower strewn gazebo that very much reminded her of the one back home in Indian Springs. “What do you think? Beautiful here, isn’t it?”
“Very much so. But, Nathaniel, what was done to that girl-”
“You know, I couldn’t help but notice how much you outshone all those beautiful women back there,” he said, dodging her remark. “You are truly stunning, Madelyn. You take my breath away.”
She felt a blush rising on her cheeks that had nothing to do with Nathaniel’s flowery words and everything to do with all the gagging and kissing noises she was hearing in her ear from the guys.
“Thank you, Nathaniel, but you didn’t let me finish. That girl had been whipped…as in, with a whip! Again, what could she possibly have done to warrant that?”
“Back off, Tessa,” Gibson again warned her.
“Just relax, babe,” Shane cut in.
“I’m not aware of the specific infraction,” Nathaniel told her. “But be assured, Stephanie chose this, and she will be a better member for it. Think of it as a purification of sorts.”
Tessa was afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep the horror she felt from her face so she turned from him to gaze out over the grounds. He came to stand behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently massaging them.
“Nathaniel-” she began but he cut her off.
“When she is feeling better in a couple of days, you can talk to her. See that this is indeed her choice. Would that make you feel better?”
“It would, yes.”
“Would you consider coming to stay here at the Retreat? Getting to know me and our lifestyle a little better?”
“Oh. Wow, um…I don’t…wow.”
“I know we just met,” he said in a rush, “but I feel such a connection to you. Not just your beauty but your intelligence.”
“Not to mention your bank account,” Joe said dryly.
She turned back to face him. “I feel a connection to you as well, Nathaniel, but I have to be honest, what I saw back there, I’m not 100% comfortable with. I don’t think I could live the way those women back there are.”
“Tessa!” Gibson admonished.
“I wouldn’t dream of putting you in the dorms, Madelyn. You would stay in the Main House. I meant what I told them; you are my Very Special Guest.”
“And what does that mean to them, Nathaniel? Why did they treat me the way they did?”
“Just a sign of respect.”
“Yes, but why? What are you telling them when you say I’m your Very Special Guest?”
He smiled, “Can’t slip anything past you…I was telling them that I’d like for you to be mine.”
“Nathaniel,” she gasped with a smile.
“Too fast for you?”
She stepped closer to him. “Well, now, I don’t know. You haven’t even kissed me yet.”
He stroked his finger down her cheek then touched her lower lip. “I don’t usually move this quickly, but ever since you walked into my tent I haven't been able to get you out of my mind.”
The guys all groaned when he leaned in to touch his lips to hers. Shane clenched his teeth and cut the mike so nothing they said would distract her. He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, getting up to pace.
“You all right?” Bruce asked him.
“I’m fine,” he said in a clipped tone. He glanced at the monitor, saw that Helton had removed her glasses so at least they weren’t looking at a close up of the creep’s face.
“How is it that someone as beautiful as you isn’t taken?” Helton asked her.
“I was in a relationship,” she said. “It ended badly.”
“I’m sorry…but then I’m grateful, since it has allowed you to be here with me.”
Their conversation died again and Shane knew he’d probably kissed her once more. He thought of his time with her in San Antonio and touched his hand over her ring and dog tags. He knew as hard as this was for him to watch and listen to, it was worse for her.
“Pictures’s back,” Joe said.
He looked back at the monitor, taking in Helton’s smug face. He wanted to knock that look off the SOB so bad he couldn’t stand it, especially when Tessa’s hand appeared on screen, wiping her lipstick from his face.
“Want to see the classrooms? Meet some of the children?”
“Absolutely,” she replied. While they began walking, she tapped the mike.
“We’re here, Tess,” Gibson replied. She tapped it three times, her signal for Shane.
He closed his eyes his eyes for a moment then turned his mike back on.
“I’m here, babe. Everything’s cool,” he assured her, keeping his voice level.
“How many children live here?” they heard her ask, letting them know she was satisfied with his reply.
“Thirty two in all, but only eleven are school age as of now. We have a couple of women who home school them but we’d much rather have an actual teacher.”
“What are their ages?”
“Five thru eleven. We go ahead and allow the older students to attend public schools. Less red tape that way.”
Thankfully from all of Shane’s investigations they knew that the children were not subject to the abuse the women were. He didn’t know if she would be able to stand it if the children were being abused.
He ignored the chatter between them concerning school matters, wondering off hand how she knew so much about curriculums. He couldn’t wait for her to get out of there tonight. He needed to see her. He thought he could handle knowing she was kissing someone else but he’d been fooling himself. It hurt. It brought out a vicious, Neanderthal side of him he never knew existed.
“She’ll be fine for the time being,” Bruce said, clamping a hand on Shane’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s take a walk.”
Shane nodded, allowing Bruce to escort him out of the control room and into the kitchen of their temporary command house, just over a mile up the road from the Naturalists compound.
“That was hard for you to see,” Bruce stated.
Shane rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah…it was.”
“I was worried about you in there.”
“I’ll handle it…somehow.”
“If this is going to tear you up, maybe you should-”
“Don’t, Bruce, OK? I’ll be fine. I’d rather be here watching than not knowing what’s going on.”
“I understand. Just don’t let it eat you up inside.”
Shane pulled the dog tag chain from his neck. “I gave her this the other day,” he said, showing Bruce the ring. “Haven’t even told my folks yet. Hell, they don’t even know Tessa’s back in my life.”
“Well…your dad knows. Sorry,” Bruce smiled.
Shane smiled, opening the fridge and taking out a Coke. “That’s OK. My dad likes Tessa. My mom? Not so much.”
“Susie’ll come around.”
“Maybe…I don’t really care. Tessa has always been it for me.”
“Hey, McCanton, she’s asking for you again,” Crownover said, stepping out of the Control Room. “He’s trying to get her to stay the night.”
Tessa was getting worried about Shane. She hadn’t heard from him ever since they left the gazebo. She’d tapped the mike and Joe told her they’d get him but that had been several minutes ago. After seeing the children and the school she needed to hear his voice, was desperate to hear him, actually.
“Hey, Tess, I’m back. The guys said you saw the kids and they all look healthy and happy. That’s good news at least.”
Tessa took a deep breath, taking comfort in the sound of Shane’s voice.
“I really would like for you to stay tonight,” Nathaniel pressed again when they arrived back at the Main House.
“I can’t tonight, Nathaniel. I have an appointment in the morning.”
“You can’t reschedule?”
“I’m afraid not…but I can come back when it’s over, and plan to stay tomorrow night. How’s that?”
“I suppose it will have to do…you do promise to return, though, right? I’m afraid I’ve already gotten spoiled by your presence.”
She laughed. “I absolutely promise.”
He cupped her face tenderly in his hands and kissed her in full view of everyone gathering for evening chapel.
“Be careful going home and hurry back to me,” he said against her lips.
“I will. Good night, Nathaniel.”
He kissed her once more then opened her car door for her. She got in and took a deep breath.
“Do not say anything yet,” Shane cautioned her. “There‘s a diner on the way out of here, about twenty miles down the road. Ed’s Café. Stop there and we’ll talk.”
