“This is a come-to-Jesus meeting, ladies and gentlemen,” Annie said, stomping her way around the room. “You!” she said, jabbing the Prophet in the arm. “Tell these pitiful women to do what we say. Surely somewhere in that perverted body of yours, there is some small seed of goodness. They’ll be left here to starve, and the weather will turn cold in a few weeks. Oh, wait a minute. You don’t know what’s out there by the flagpole, do you?
“Jack, drag this pile of bones out there and make sure he takes a good look at that flagpole. Joseph, Maggie will want a good picture of him standing next to his personal flag.”
In less than five minutes all parties were back inside the house of worship.
The Prophet was a beaten man when Jack tossed him back on his throne. “Those pictures will flash around the world by sundown tomorrow. All your people will see it. No way will any of you be welcome in any of their compounds. Now, do what the nice lady said and tell these women to do what we say.”
Yoko walked behind the throne and grabbed a handful of the Prophet’s hair and yanked his head backward. “Do what he says.”
The Prophet clamped his lips shut as he tried to struggle. Yoko let loose of his hair and clamped her hands on the Prophet’s shoulders. She started to hum the lyrics to “Dancing Queen.” Harry shivered as he watched his ladylove.
“Ah, he doesn’t want to talk. Hold him still, Yoko.” Kathryn walked over to Alexis’s Red Bag and rummaged inside. Triumphantly, she held up a switchblade and something that looked like an electric cattle prod.
“Normally, we don’t offer options, but in this case we’re prepared to make an exception because these women’s lives depend on your cooperation. Either I cut your dick off, or I shove this electric prod up your ass. You already lost most of your teeth, so to me it’s a no-brainer, but then I’m not stupid like you are,” Kathryn said as she bent over to plug the prod into the outlet nearest the Prophet’s chair.
Harry, Jack, Ted, and Espinosa sucked in their breath. It sounded like a hurricane swooping through the building. Espinosa’s hands were less than steady as he tried to focus his camera.
“You people are so cruel and unkind,” one of the women bleated. “You will never see salvation, you will be ground to dust and stomped upon for what you’re doing to this man. He will never take orders from you.”
Kathryn whirled around. “Shut the fuck up, or I’ll slice your tits off.”
The woman crumpled to the floor. No one moved to revive her or pick her up.
Harry looked at Jack.
Jack looked at Harry and shrugged.
Ted just gawked as he texted Maggie, his fingers blistering the keys he was pounding.
Jack’s phone vibrated. Snowden. “Emery,” he barked.
“I need an update, Emery.”
“Well…let’s see. Everyone is in the worship house. As far as I know all the other buildings are empty, but you might want one of your people to check just to be sure. Right now we’re getting ready to do an either/or.”
“What’s an ‘either/or,’ Emery?”
“The girls can’t decide if they should cut the Prophet’s dick off or shove an electric cattle prod up his ass. Oh, yeah, one of the wives passed out cold. She’s lying on the floor. Did I mention the ladies shaved the wives’ heads?”
The silence on the other end of the phone drummed in Jack’s ear. “What’s your update, Snowden?”
“We’re done rigging the buildings. We’ll be moving the second eighteen-wheeler out to an eighth of a mile from the gates. All the ambulances are gone. We didn’t have any problems. The cemetery will remain intact, as promised. Remember, we are not exploding the buildings. We are imploding them. I can’t guarantee the pumpkin patch.”
“Why the hell not?” Jack asked, just to have something to say. He thought Snowden’s voice sounded strange. He pressed on. “What’s your ETD, and don’t give me that military time shit.”
“Now, Emery, that depends on you. When will those people be ready to leave the compound? I have a destination but not a time.”
“Well, Snowden, I can’t give you that right now. It all depends on whether the Prophet wants to keep his dick or give up his ass. I’ll call you back. This is Emery, over and out.”
Jack looked at the others and shrugged. “What do you want from me? Kathryn?”
“Okay, Mr. Prophet, what’s it going to be?” Kathryn asked, jabbing the prod in the Prophet’s direction. Blue current sizzled in the air. Then she feinted with the switchblade. “Did I say this is one of those Japanese knives that can cut down a tree? Did I also mention the fate of the free world and these…uh…lovely ladies depends on your answer?”
“Do what these people tell you,” the Prophet whispered.
“Louder! I can’t hear you! These baldies can’t hear you!”
One of the women spoke in her singsong voice. “You’re forcing the Prophet to say what he’s saying. You are coercing him to say what you want. We know better. He doesn’t mean it. Prophet, shake your head if you really mean us to do what you say.”
“I’ll be damned,” Jack said to Harry. “Where are those women’s brains?”
Harry clucked his tongue. “You really don’t want me to answer that, do you?”
“I was just being foolish, Harry. Please forgive me.”
Ted texted furiously.
Espinosa just clicked and clicked. He wondered how much his bonus would be for the job. He hoped it was substantial. His mother’s birthday was coming up, and he wanted to get her something wonderful. He planned to ask Maggie for her help in choosing just the right present.
The Prophet, with a prod from Kathryn, bobbed his head up and down.
“Oooh, oooh, the Prophet is saying something,” Kathryn cried excitedly. “Louder, so everyone can hear you!”
“Never question anything I say. Leave my sight, you offend me.”
The woman who had spoken cowered, her hands covering her face. She started to shake from head to toe. Her fellow wives ignored her. The woman lying on the floor continued to sleep peacefully. The other women ignored her, too.
Jack’s phone vibrated. “Emery. What’s up, Snowden?”
“Are the women leaving or staying? Our final check showed no human in any of the buildings with the exception of the one you’re in. No animals, either. The truck has been moved. We’re ready to implode in nine minutes. Call me the minute you have everyone outside by the flagpole. We are on schedule.”
“Whoopee!” Jack said. “We’re departing the premises right now. I still don’t have an affirmative on the women. The remaining men are good to go. Like now. I don’t know if this matters or not, but they’re nekkid!” Jack drawled.
“Makes me no never mind—naked, clothed, it’s all the same to me, Emery.”
“That makes me happy, Snowden. Over and out,” Jack said dramatically as he watched the nude men parade past the women.
The sleeper was back on her feet, appalled at what she was seeing. The woman who had dared to question the Prophet was moaning and groaning about the children.
Yoko told her to shut up, then she said, “That bus left an hour ago.”
Harry looked so proud of the love of his life, Jack gave him a shove and told him to get with the program.
“And that would be…?”
“Unwrap that guy you duct-taped to the flagpole. Make sure the good doctor here sheds his clothes, and don’t be gentle with him.”
Outside, the wind was brisk and cool. The moment the Prophet saw his anatomically correct likeness flapping in the breeze for the second time his legs gave out from under him. Harry jerked him upright as Espinosa, grinning from ear to ear, clicked away.
Jack’s phone vibrated. Jack took a deep breath as he looked at the vigilantes.
“Five minutes till implosion, Emery.”
“Got it.” Jack held up his hand, his fingers splayed to indicate they had only five minutes, and so it was time to move toward the road.
The
Sisters hustled as they shooed the women the way they would have shooed a group of reluctant five-year-olds, toward the road and far enough away from the compound to keep them safe.
They all watched Snowden’s men shove the naked men into two of the parked SUVs. With only seconds to spare, the dark vehicles growled to life and raced down the road and out to the gate, which was standing open.
The moment the two vehicles were through the gates, Jack hit the remote he’d removed from the visor of the police cruiser. Five seconds later and a minute to detonation, Jack’s cell phone vibrated.
“My people tell me there is a caravan of satellite trucks and other assorted vehicles heading this way. Keep those damn gates closed and hunker down. Over and out.”
Jack had the crazy urge to tell Snowden to stop with the ridiculous “over and out” sign-offs, but he didn’t. “Hit the ground, everyone! Ten seconds!”
He followed his own instructions as Espinosa looked confused. Jack reached out to grab his ankle. Espinosa fell forward and landed on top of Ted. “You can take your damn pictures when it’s all over. Maggie will kill me if anything happens to you. Cover your ears!”
Twenty-one seconds later it was all over and nothing but piles of rubble remained of the HOE compound. Thick gray smoke hovered overhead, but the brisk wind carried it away, as if by magic. The only thing left standing was the flagpole and the huge iron bell. The Prophet’s likeness billowed in and out, inflating, then deflating, his assets. The vehicles that had been moved were intact, as was the remaining eighteen-wheeler full of pumpkins that was in the process of being moved by Kathryn.
Jack got to his feet, his legs wobbly. “Everyone okay?”
“We’re all okay,” Nikki called out.
Ted and Espinosa were on their feet and running wildly back into the compound. It always came down to the story for their readers.
Jack moved over to Nikki and put his arms around her. “So, are these women going or staying?”
“I hate to say it, Jack, but I think they’re staying. We could make them leave by force, but what will that get us? I wish you could have heard the speech Annie gave them. It made me cry, it really did. But no matter what she said, it didn’t register. She told them what real family life was like. She promised them everything under the sun. She talked about life outside these gates and everything that could and would be done for the children. Sometimes, Jack, we forget how lucky we are and how we take everything for granted. Annie didn’t miss a thing. I was watching those women, and they simply could not comprehend what she was saying. They have been so beaten down they can’t allow themselves to think. Let the authorities take care of them. They might have better luck. We did what we came here to do, and that was get the children safely away. The best we can hope for now is that one day the children will want to seek out their real parents. If that comes to pass, our people will help them. For now, it is what it is. No one will inhabit this place ever again.”
Jack listened to the words, but he wasn’t satisfied. He thought about the grizzly man and his young girl brides and how obscene it was. “A new Prophet will spring up somewhere else,” he said bitterly.
“That’s the downside, Jack. But we kicked the door open. Law enforcement has to do something. Will it be enough, will it be what we want? The answer is no. The upside is that now people will be watching these compounds. When Jeffs comes to trial again, the people will rear up. I’m hoping for a domino effect.”
“The women might tell the authorities about me, Nikki. Ted and Espinosa are the press, they can defend being here. I can’t.”
Nikki laughed. “Kathryn already took care of that. “She told them all if they opened their mouths, we would kill the Prophet. That, they understood. We need to make our preparations to leave. Do you want to take a last walk-through to see what happened?”
“I thought you’d never ask. Should we take the women with us?”
“Great idea.” Nikki whistled shrilly. “Line up, ladies, we’re going for a walk.”
Whatever reaction the Sisters were hoping for didn’t come to pass. The women were stone-faced as they followed along like docile children. They held hands and chewed on their lips as they looked at the devastation that had once been their home.
“Aha! The pumpkin patch is intact! Look at those luscious pumpkins!” Jack cackled gleefully.
In spite of herself, Nikki laughed.
Avery Snowden, his men behind him, marched single file up to where the group was standing. “They going or staying?”
“Looks like they’re staying,” Jack said. “The FBI will be here shortly. You guys should get out of here. We’ll be right behind you, but we have one or two loose ends to tidy up. We’ll meet up with you at the designated spot. Wait for us, Snowden. Here, you’re going to need this,” Jack said, tossing the remote into the air. Snowden caught it and grinned.
“See ya,” Snowden said. He offered up a sloppy salute, which Jack returned.
“Back to the flagpole, ladies!” Annie shouted.
Jack walked over to Ted and Espinosa. “You get it all?”
“Oh, yeah. And then some.” Ted snickered. “Maggie said I should kiss you guys, but I’m not doing that.”
“Me, either,” Espinosa said.
Harry glared at both men as he tried to figure out if they were lying or not. Yoko reached over and took his arm. Harry wilted right in front of them all. Yoko smiled as she whispered sweet nothings in Harry’s ears.
“Thanks, Jack,” Nikki whispered.
It was Jack’s turn to wilt, and wilt he did.
“I think it all went rather well for not having a plan,” Annie said happily as she led the parade back to the flagpole.
Off in the distance the group could see lights springing up outside the gates. The compound itself was totally dark, the only light coming from the crescent moon and the twinkling stars overhead.
Chapter 21
Myra Rutledge sat quietly staring out the window of the small lobby. Thin, watery sunshine was struggling with dense cloud cover. If she had been a gambling woman, she would have bet on rain as opposed to sunshine. She wondered if she’d feel any better if the sun was bright and warm. She doubted it.
She was waiting for someone to take her to the airport. Someone. Not Charles. At the moment she didn’t even know where Charles was. She didn’t know where Allison, “Call me Allie,” Barnstable was, either.
Myra closed her eyes. She was too tired to think, yet for some reason she didn’t feel sleepy. The truth was, she couldn’t remember when she’d slept last. She must have dozed from time to time; otherwise, she’d be dropping off right then.
The only thing she knew with any certainty was that Charles was not returning with her. She didn’t know how she felt about that. She didn’t know how the girls were going to feel about it either, when they saw her returning alone.
Myra looked down at her watch. Her Sisters should be safely away from the HOE compound already. She wanted to call Annie or Nikki but wasn’t sure if she could emotionally handle whatever news they would give her. She also didn’t want to have to answer questions about Charles and the current situation.
Myra jerked upright when she heard clicking heels coming down the hall to her left. She didn’t bother turning around to look to see who was coming her way.
“Madam?”
Myra forced herself to look up. He was tall and incredibly thin with coppery-colored hair. She wondered if he talked into his sleeve or his collar the way special agents did back home. Sunglasses peeked out of his breast pocket. She wondered how often he got to wear them, given the awful weather.
“Yes.”
“Come with me, madam. I shall be escorting you to the airport for your return trip.”
Myra knew that if she asked questions she wouldn’t get any answers, so she didn’t bother. She simply got up and followed the tall, thin man down a different corridor. Then she was outside and escorted inside a luxurious-looking car. She wouldn’t have ca
red if it was a scooter as long as it would get her to the airport.
Settled in the car, her seat belt buckled, Myra looked back at the building she’d just left. Was Charles still inside? Was Allison Barnstable back at her home with her children? She continued to stare out the car window, hoping Charles would magically appear and wave good-bye. She knew it wouldn’t happen, so she leaned back and closed her eyes.
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t imagine her life without Charles in it. Then again, she’d thought she was going to die without Barbara in her life. She’d survived somehow. She fought the tears forming in her eyes, but it was a losing battle.
“Mom.”
Oh, dear God! “Darling girl,” she whispered.
“Buck up, Mom. I’m here. Don’t cry. Your eyes will get all puffy.”
Myra smiled through her tears. “It’s just…It’s just that I’ve never been totally alone before. I don’t like how I’m feeling. I’m worried.”
“Mom, you’re never alone. I’m always with you, you know that. All you have to do is call my name. You know that, too, Mom, so why the tears?”
Myra fingered the pearls at her neck. She did know that. If only she could reach out and touch her daughter, feel a flesh-and-blood person. Her and Charles’s daughter. That wasn’t going to happen, either, and she knew it.
“It will be all right, Mom. This is a bump in the road. A rather big bump from where you’re sitting, but it’s a mountain for Charles. He feels worse than you do, Mummie.”
Myra felt herself literally swoon at her spirit daughter’s endearing title. When Barbara was little, she’d always called her ‘Mummie.’ Then when Nikki came along, Barbara had started calling her ‘Mom.’ Myra had loved that title, too.
“Darling girl, Charles told me I did a despicable thing when you…when you passed over. He said I told Nikki, or rather asked her, why it hadn’t been her instead of you. I know Charles would never lie to me about something like that. I’m sick in my heart over that. And yet, Nikki never once said a word. How I must have hurt her.”
Under the Radar Page 18
