“Right now I’m not ready for you to deliver a kill shot,” Evan replied. “I’m still hoping I can negotiate everyone out of there. I now have some information that might move things forward.”
“I just wanted to let you know I’m set up and ready. Sooner or later he’ll make a mistake and I’ll get my shot. All I need from you is the go-ahead.”
Evan clapped Daniel on the back. “Right now I’m waiting to get more information about this group. I’ll let you know if and when I’m ready for you to act.”
When Daniel left, Nick walked over to Evan. “Maybe we should go over the blueprints of the school that Hendrick sent us again. Maybe we missed something...some way for us to get inside and get the hostages out.”
Evan frowned. “I’ve already looked at them half a dozen times. They’re pretty simple...one door in the front and one door in the back, which makes it pretty easy for just a couple of men to guard from the inside. There’s no basement, and right now there is no way to get close enough to the building to get any of our men on the roof. I am thinking that maybe under the cover of night, I might try to get to the van parked by the back door and move it away from the school.”
“That would take away any form of transportation they have out of here, although they’d be stupid to attempt to drive it away with the heavy police presence surrounding the area.”
“Yeah, but desperate people do desperate things,” Evan replied. His phone buzzed with an incoming text message and he read it. “I’ve got to go,” he said to Nick and then hurried toward the mobile van. Hendrick had information.
HENDRICK LEANED FORWARD in his chair, his hand going to a squishy plastic ball he sometimes used for stress relief. And discovering what he had about the Brotherhood of Jacob had sent his stress level through the ceiling.
He now looked at Evan on his computer screen. “The Brotherhood of Jacob was founded eight years ago by a man named Jacob Noble.”
“What kind of organization are they?”
Hendrick frowned at his fellow agent. “It has all the markings of a cult masquerading as some sort of church and charity.” Old memories slashed through Hendrick’s mind, memories of pain, of endless hunger and never-ending fear.
He shook his head to dispel them and released his grip on the squishy ball. Right now more than anything he needed to stay focused and get as much information to Evan as possible.
“They have a membership of about thirty men, fifteen women and ten children. They all live on an off-the-grid compound in the mountains just outside of Pearson. Several of the men have been arrested for a variety of crimes that include bank robbery, stolen firearms, domestic terrorism and murder. But Jacob Noble has no criminal record to date.”
Hendrick drew a deep breath and then continued. “Their mission statement is to end world hunger and return power to the righteous.”
“And let me guess...this Jacob gets to pick who is righteous,” Evan replied dryly. “What can you tell me about Jacob Noble’s background?”
“Not much,” Hendrick replied. “He was born to poor and modest parents on a farm outside of Raleigh. He married Gretchen Owens three years ago, and I haven’t been able to find out much about her. Most of the information I’ve gained is from Jacob speaking in his official capacity as leader of the group. It looks like they recruit new members by taking to the streets to reach out to people.”
“Do you have any more names of the members for me?”
“Only a couple.” He told Evan the few names he’d been able to dig up. “For the most part, there seems to be a lot of secrecy surrounding the members, the group and the compound itself. I’m just now starting to dig into the financials to see what might be there, and I’ll continue to try to dig into Jacob’s background. If I find any other information that will help, I’ll be back in touch.”
“Thanks, Hendrick.”
“Evan, if this man is truly the leader of a cult, then he’s a complete narcissist. He’ll have made many wonderful promises to the members, and he’s probably very charismatic.”
“He’s definitely not showing much of that particular personality trait right now,” Evan replied dryly.
“He’s probably angry that he’s not in control right now and he’s only going to get angrier. Evan, whatever it takes...get those children out of there,” Hendrick said fervently.
“I’m working on it. This info will hopefully help.” With a murmured goodbye, Evan disappeared from view.
Hendrick continued to stare at the screen as the memories he’d fought off earlier washed over him again. He had been born into a cult and for the first ten years of his life had lived in a compound just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.
His first memory was of the hunger. The rules of the cult were that the men ate first, women second and then the children were fed whatever was left. And there was never enough food.
There had also been very little love. Children lived separately from their parents, the boys in one house and the girls in another. While his father had occasionally sneaked hugs to Hendrick, his mother had followed the strict guidelines set by the leader, Father Timothy, of no personal interaction.
Hendrick would see his mother out working in the gardens, and as a young boy he’d yearn for her. He wanted her to wrap her arms around him and tell him he was loved. He desperately wanted her to smile at him with love in her eyes, but she remained distant and true to the discipline of the cult.
There were rules for every minute of every day. You woke, you worshipped and you worked long hours. There was not supposed to be any idle
