Silenced

there nearly every Sunday morning. Sometimes she took Mina with her, or one of the other girls, but I don’t think they were proper churchgoers. You know how kids are these days.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He handed her his card. “You have this, but I wrote my cell phone number on the back. If you see Ivy or any of the other girls, call my cell phone immediately, okay?”

“Of course. I promised Agent Kincaid I would do the same. I hope Ivy and Mina are going to be okay. They are sweet girls.”

Noah didn’t know if sweet was the right word for the prostitutes, but he didn’t comment. He thanked Mrs. Neel and went back to his car.

Thirty-first was two blocks over. He drove slowly down the street, looking for a small church. He didn’t see anything, turned around and went back up the road toward Hawthorne. He did a double take and realized he’d missed it-the church wasn’t so much a church as he was used to seeing, but a small converted business partly hidden between two larger buildings. In addition, it was set back from the road and had a small sign half-obscured by an old tree.

His Grace Church amp; Preschool

Sunday service 9

A.M.

Noah parked down the street and walked to the church. It was late afternoon, the hottest time of the day. A small, covered playground behind a security fence was empty of children.

A door around the side led to the school; it was behind a locked gate. The front door that led into the church was unlocked. He walked in, a brass bell overhead announcing his entrance.

The church had ten rows of mismatched pews down the middle, with aisles on either side. If people sat shoulder-to-shoulder, the room might be able to seat a hundred people.

The altar was simple, with an empty cross, a pulpit, and a few chairs, maybe for a choir or speakers. High, narrow windows let in natural light, what little could come through with the taller buildings on three sides. A room opened to the right, set with more chairs and two tables of different heights.

Noah didn’t notice the door behind the altar until it opened. An older man who would have looked like Santa Claus had he a beard, stepped out. He wore slacks and a button-down short-sleeved shirt that puckered at the midriff. “May I help you?”

Noah identified himself, and said, “Are you the pastor?”

“No, sir. I’m the custodian, Remus. Are you looking for Marti?”

“Yes, is he around?”

Remus’s thick eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. “You don’t know Marti.”

“No, Remus, I’m investigating the crash that happened a few blocks away.”

“The FBI investigates car crashes?”

“When they involve a federal employee and a fugitive, yes.”

A gazelle-like black woman emerged from a hallway off the right. “Thank you, Remus, I’ll talk to the agent.” She waited until Remus shuffled down the hall muttering to himself.

“I apologize. I’m Marti North. Let’s sit.” She gestured to a pew in the front. Noah sat and she sat a few feet away, bending her left leg under her, and turned to face him with a bright smile that didn’t quite match her suspicious eyes.

“Special Agent Noah Armstrong. Correct?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m looking for a young woman who goes by the name of Ivy.” He showed her the current picture she had of Ivy. “Do you know her?”

Marti North didn’t look at the picture. “What did this young woman do to draw the attention of the FBI?”

“We believe she’s in danger.”

“A lot of young women are in danger in this town. The FBI doesn’t seem to pay them no mind. Why this girl?”

“Do you remember a fire last week, a few blocks over, on Hawthorne?”

“Yes, I do. I live upstairs.”

“Ivy lived in the house with five other young women.”

As Noah spoke, he had the distinct feeling that he wasn’t telling Reverend North anything she didn’t already know.

Marti smiled at him, as if waiting for a question that she already knew she wouldn’t answer.

Noah asked, “Did Ivy attend church here?”

“I don’t keep a roster. Everyone is welcome.”

“But you recognize her.”

“That photo is unclear.”

Noah was growing frustrated. He changed tactics. “Do you also run the preschool?”

“Yes. When I left the Army I got my degree in Early Childhood Education.”

“You served?”

“Yes, sir. Corporal, Fort Hood. Spent a year in Iraq as a Chaplain.”

“Air Force,” Noah said. “Captain, Raven Force.”

“The Ravens. Elite.”

He shrugged it off. Ninety percent of his job had been guarding aircraft and transporting international prisoners. Not very exciting. “How many students do you have?”

“The numbers fluctuate. We average ten to twelve, but can have more. We’re licensed with the city.”

“There was a car crash down the street earlier this morning, followed by gunfire.”

“I heard about it after the fact. I didn’t hear any gunshots, but Remus told me about the crash. He’d taken the children to the park before it got too hot, and the crash meant they had to take the long way back.”

“Ivy was in the car. I think she came here after the crash. Did you see her? Anyone who had been in a wreck?”

Now Noah realized he had the pastor. Marti had been trying her best to obfuscate and not tell a lie-either because she was devout, or because she didn’t want to be caught lying to a federal agent, which was a crime.

“A young woman did come in here,” she said momentarily, “with a cut on her arm. She didn’t say she’d been in an accident. I offered to take her to the hospital, she declined. I gave her a small first-aid kit, and she left.”

Noah was getting tired of twenty questions. “Had you seen her before?”

“Yes, she had been here for services in the past.”

“Did she leave on foot or in a vehicle?”

“She walked out.”

Noah handed Marti his card. “You may think you’re protecting Ivy, but you’re putting her in more danger. Someone is trying to kill her, and nearly killed my partner in that crash. I can help her, but only if she comes to me. Two of the girls who lived in that house are dead, and it’s my opinion that whoever killed the two girls intends to kill Ivy and the others. If he finds Ivy before I do, she will die. I’m sure you don’t want that on your conscience.” He started to walk out, then stopped and turned to face her. “If she contacts you in any way, give her my number. If you find out where she is, let me know immediately. She has a diagnosed medical condition that could make her a danger to herself or others. I want to help her, but she has to come forward. If she comes in on her own, it will help her.”

Marti rose from the pew. She was taller than Noah, at least six foot two. “Agent Armstrong? A lying tongue hates those it hurts.”

She tilted her chin up, making the stately woman appear even taller. “Don’t take everything you hear as Gospel. You may leave.”

Ivy waited until the FBI agent had left before she came downstairs.

“He’s still outside. I see him watching.”

“You’re safe here. I locked the front door.”

“The Reverend is coming. He’s going to take Sara. He’s already lied and they believe him.”

Only one person would have told the FBI that she had been diagnosed mentally ill. Her father.

Her entire body shook so hard she thought she’d crack right down the middle. She had to get it together or she’d never make it out of town.