'Christ.'
Calmly, DeMarco said, 'For that alone he deserves to rot in hell. But something unusual happened yesterday, or at least I think it did. This group is the one including Ruby.'
'You never said she'
DeMarco cut her off. 'I wasn't about to tell you something that would only make you more determined to rescue her as soon as possible. And I had no reason to suppose this ceremony would be any different from the two or three Ruby has already endured.'
Not nearly as calm, Tessa said, 'So something was different this time?'
'I haven't seen Ruby this morning. Or one of the other girls who was in her group. Brooke.'
'Would you, normally?'
'A communal breakfast, with prayers, in the church's dining hall. Not everyone attends, but many do. Ruby's mother was there, smiling. But no Ruby. And no Brooke. I gather the group has a new girl, Mara, but no explanation was offered as to why she apparently replaced Brooke or what happened to Brooke or to Ruby.'
Tessa had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. 'You think he hurt them this time?'
'Brooke's gone,' he said simply.
'What?'
'I knew it as soon as I saw Samuel this morning. I could feel it in him, that particular energy. He destroyed Brooke.'
Tessa swallowed hard. 'And Ruby?'
'I don't think so. You still feel the connection, don't you?'
She didn't have to think about that. 'Yes.'
'Then she's still alive. But I have no idea where she is.'
'I have to find her.'
'I know. And I can't help you, except by making sure the chief's distraction is felt all through the Compound.' DeMarco checked his watch. 'We have about half an hour. The cameras are already cutting in and out, but they always do when a storm's on the way, so no alarm.'
'And no watching eyes?'
'Give me five minutes to get to the control room and take care of that.'
'What about Ruth?'
'She was busy. I didn't wasn't to disturb her. Be careful, Tessa.' DeMarco turned and went into the church.
Tessa glanced up at the clouds thickening in the sky, drew a shaky breath of the cold morning air, and slid her hands in the pockets of her lightweight jacket. She tried to open herself just enough to get a sense of the place but not enough to be vulnerableand immediately felt once again the skin-tingling sensation of energy.
It was almost automatic to instantly retreat, to shore up her shields. To protect herself.
But her determination to do her part today, coupled with her growing worry for Ruby, overrode that impulse for self-preservation. Or just made Tessa more stubborn; she wasn't sure which.
She kept that door in her mind open just a little bit. And listened with every sense she had.
Tessa began to wander around the church grounds, taking the long way to her car as she kept that narrow opening in her shields and tried to probe through it.
'Come on, Ruby,' she murmured, 'where are you? You've reached me before. Reach me now'
She walked slowly and probed as cautiously as she could, sensing people inside the church, inside the neat little houses, all of them with the eerie sameness that had struck her from her first visit.
All the scrubbed and nice people
Ruby.
'I just think you could have mentioned it, Chief, that's all,' Robin Keever said somewhat stiffly.
Sawyer closed the Jeep's hatch and faced her, sighing. 'Robin, I've already explained that I didn't
'I was off the clock,' she muttered.
'That's not the point. The point is that I told you about the feds as soon as I could.'
Her gaze slid past him to the Jeep and, still obviously disgruntled, she began, 'Well, I just'
'So,' he cut her off, 'do you want to play or take your marbles and go home?'
She blinked at him, and a small smile worked at the corners of her mouth. 'You mean be in on the operation?'
'Yeah. Such as it is.' Before she could leap on the offer, he added sternly 'Listen to me. We don't want anybody up there in the Compound getting spooked. That means you keep your hand
'Yes, Chief.'
'The feds just want to have a quiet look around without making a big fuss about it.' He hoped to hell he was as good a liar as DeMarco was. 'So they go in as locals. I drive this Jeep, you drive yours, and we each have a couple of uniformed officers with us as we serve the warrant.' He glanced up at the grayish sky as a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. 'Damn, the weather's moving in earlier than we expected.'
'Do feds melt?'
He stared at her.
'Sorry. Sorry, Chief. Is the weather important?'
'You'd be surprised.' He paused. 'Really surprised. Robin, I need a familiar officer driving the other vehicle, somebody Fiskor whoever's manning the gatewill recognize. But you are not to interfere in any way with the agents, understand?'
'Yeah, I get it.' She was frowning now. 'I'm not a rookie, and I won't do something stupid.'
'I'm not worried about you doing something stupid,' he said patiently. 'I'm worried about you getting hurt. So stick close to the Jeep, and if anything weird happens, you hit the deck and keep your head down until it's all over.'
'Until what's all over? Chief, if you don't believe they have weapons stockpiled up there'
'They don't.'
'Then what am I hitting the deck to avoid?' Her voice was getting stiff again.
Sawyer didn't have a clue how to warn her, at least in part because he didn't know what to expect himself. Not that he could confess that, of course. 'Just stick close to the Jeep,' he repeated finally. 'Let's go. We have to meet up with our temporary officers.'
By the time Tessa circled the church, she was convinced that the faint whisper she'd heard twice more was coming from somewhere inside. She had met no one on her stroll, which didn't strike her as particularly oddherebut she was a bit wary of going inside.
Not wary enough to ignore the plea, however.
Crossing her fingers that, between them, DeMarco and Galen had muddled up the security system enough so that she didn't have to worry about being watched, Tessa simply walked up the steps to the open front doors of the church and went inside.
She passed through the vestibule, stepping with more caution into the church proper. As far as she could tell, it was deserted.
She walked slowly down the center aisle, looking around, trying to both reach out with her senses and keep
