Deadly Deception (SCVC Taskforce) (16 page)

Thomas held out a hand. “Deal.”

Adam smiled for real this time, reaching through the window to shake it. “Come back inside. We have much to talk about.”

He leaned in and kissed Ronni on the cheek. As he walked to the house, he ushered Melanie inside. Mel glanced at Thomas over Adam’s shoulder, her brows knitted in consternation.

Ronni sat back, turned off the car. “What did we just get ourselves into?”

Thomas laughed. “This could be heaven or this could be…?”

“Hell,” Ronni finished.

His money was on the latter.

Chapter Eighteen

Three o’clock bible study. Ronni had to check her nervous tension at the door. She wasn’t a hand-wringer, but being inside the cult made her heart race and her pulse pound.

The small building on the south side of the property referred to as the “chapel” was packed with people. Ronni and Melanie arrived late after stowing Ronni’s belongings in the house’s tower-like bedroom. They took their seats in the front pew under many watchful eyes, including Adam’s.

On her right, the young girl who’d brought the iced tea and cookies with Melanie stared up at Ronni. Her mother, on the far side, gave Ronni a faint smile and put her arm around the girl, drawing her close.

“Melanie?” Adam said. He stood behind a simple stage raised a few feet off the floor in the front of the room with a wooden pulpit. Behind him was a large projection screen. “Before we get started on today’s scripture reading, would you give us an update on farm business?”

Melanie jumped up, eager to do Adam’s bidding. He backed away from the pulpit as she removed a piece of paper from a pocket and unfolded it. “Good day, everyone.”

The congregation answered. Next to Ronni, the little girl still stared at her with curious, solemn eyes.

Ronni smiled at her but the girl only continued to stare. The front row was reserved for Adam’s inner circle, from what she could tell. Jacob, Melanie, the little girl…Ronni’s imagination ran wild for a moment. The girl didn’t favor Adam, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t his daughter.

My niece.

She mentally shook off the thought.
Mama, what am I doing here?

Melanie looked out at the congregation, back at her paper. “The August receivables aren’t all in yet, but from what we have so far, our profit rose for the sixth month in a row.”

Clapping, nodding, murmurs of approval.

She smoothed the paper, a small smile on her lips as she acknowledged the praise. “Belinda and I have set up the south barn with holiday packing materials, and we’re already taking orders for our bath and beauty sets. Those will begin shipping December first. Our candy and baked goods orders will be sent out via priority mail beginning December ninth. I’ve already set up a work schedule for everyone. It’s posted outside my office, so please stop by and make note of your hours. Everyone is expected to work on prep and packaging a minimum of twenty hours a week starting October first.”

A collective groan went up, reminding Ronnie of the SVCV taskforce meeting.

“I know,” Melanie said, waving off the good-natured complaining. “But we expect this holiday season to far exceed last year’s—
if
we can meet production demands. Our goal is to make enough money to fix the old tractor and buy a new one!”

The crowd switched gears again, clapping and hooting. Someone in the back gave a whistle.

For a tractor.

Talk about Mayberry.

But it was sweet and homey and
normal
. Like a real community. A family.

How sad was it that the only “normal” she’d ever experienced was inside a cult?

Yes, she’d strived for normal all her life, but she’d never had the same type of closeness with her father and his new family that she’d experienced at Wrightsville. Never saw a group of people live and work together so seamlessly.

All these years, she’d dressed to fit in, watched the same mindless TV shows so she had something to talk to people about around the water cooler, went to the gym, and pushed herself to excel at every job. She’d done whatever it took to act like the people around her, and still always felt like an outsider looking in. She bet it was the same for many of the people inside this room.

How pathetic.

Sometimes the truth
was
pathetic. Didn’t mean it was any less true or something to be ashamed of. She was tired of being ashamed of her mother for being sucked in by Daniel Karsni. Daniel had some pretty major faults, but one thing Ronni never doubted was his love for all the people at the molehill.

Melanie said a few more words about the ailing tractor and the need to keep it running through the busy holiday season. Profits depended on keeping all the equipment operating to cut down on manual labor. She also brought up that the oven at the house was going on the fritz and needed to be looked at. It was burning some things and not thoroughly cooking others, no matter how much she adjusted the temperature. Did anyone have experience repairing commercial ovens?

No one raised a hand or commented, most people turning to look at their neighbor.

Adam stepped forward, gave her shoulder a squeeze, and addressed the crowd. “If we have to call in a repairman, it will eat into our profits, and you know how tight Melanie is with the money.” People chuckled and nodded. “Those of you with a gift for mechanical things, please consider taking a look at the oven today or tomorrow and put Melanie’s mind at ease, okay?”

Melanie gave Adam a huge smile, then turned the stage back over to him. Pride showed on his face and he clapped with the rest of the crowd as she resumed her seat next to Ronni.

It was hard not to appreciate Adam’s warmth.

He opened his sermon with a prayer, called on a few people in the group and asked about troubles they’d had, such as a cold or injury, or a disagreement, and he asked a few to share positive things they’d recently experienced. Laughter rang out frequently as Adam put a light-hearted spin on everything.

Once the group shared what was on their mind, Adam dove into scripture. He didn’t read from the Bible—apparently he knew the passage by heart. The girl next to Ronni swung her legs under the pew and folded her hands in her lap. Every once in a while, she’d sneak a look at Ronni, even when her mother purposely put a hand on the side of the girl’s face and turned it to face forward.

Adam was soft spoken, like Daniel had been, and filled with the same passion. He wasn’t reading scripture or preaching just to hear himself speak…he believed in his message. Believed he was transcending his congregation to a higher truth.

He spoke a lot of about truth and honesty. Ronni tried not to judge.

It had been a long time since she’d been to a bible study. Twenty years to be exact. Her mind wandered and raced—where was Thomas? Was he okay?—but after a few minutes of listening to Adam’s fervent and enthusiastic sermon, her mind settled, quieted. Like muscle memory, her brain shifted gears. As a nine-year-old, she’d enjoyed the study sessions with Daniel. His view on the spiritual and earthly dimensions had seemed wondrous. A real life fairytale filled with monsters, angels with flaming swords, and a happy ending for those in his flock.

Melanie ardently watched Adam pace in front of the packed crowd as he revealed his latest vision and how it tied into Revelations 21, a new heaven and a new earth. The look on her face…

Mom
. Ronni’s mother had looked at Daniel that same way. Believed in him the same way.

Adam didn’t use a microphone, but he didn’t one. The room was quiet, the listeners held in rapt attention. Nothing he said was outrageous, just a studious dissection of biblical verses. There was no doubt he knew his scriptures inside and out.

“The bible is a coded story,” he entreated his followers. “All you have to do is understand it. All the miracles inside are revealed. All those revelations bring you closer to your higher self. To God. You are a son of God. A daughter of God. Sons and daughters of the Divine, and God, Himself, has laid out these wondrous messages for you, right here.”

Adam understood the Bible’s confusing language, and as he continued to read from Revelations, he dissected the “code” into layman terms. All around him, his followers nodded and chuckled at his “inside” jokes.

“You see?” he cajoled with a smile on his face. “I understand the code, and you can too. I’m the key for you to use to decode the messages. To prepare for the second coming. Together, we will build a new earth. Together, we will enjoy a new heaven.”

A round of applause erupted. The girl on Ronni’s left clapped like her mother. Gave Ronni an odd look when Ronni didn’t join in.

As the bible study progressed, Adam drew the group deeper into the palm of his hand. When he asked questions, dozens of hands went up, people eager to answer and gain his approval. He was a teacher. Encouraging, smiling at his pupils, equally as eager to involve them in the process of revealing God’s hidden meanings. When anyone answered a question he posed correctly, he showered them with praise.

After an hour or so, Ronni shifted in her seat, using her peripheral vision to look around. Unlike her, the group didn’t seem bothered by the length of the sermon.

Adam had told her that everyone at the farm attended bible study. Everyone, including novices and initiates to The Church. Did that include those in quarantine? She hoped it did, because for all his perfectness and annoying attitude, somehow, someway, Thomas had become her touchstone.

Slowly and carefully, she shifted to her other hip, crossing her legs, and taking a quick peek over her left shoulder. Her eyes scanned the rows behind her, and…

There. In the back pew. She caught sight of his blue T-shirt, the curve of his neck above the material. A woman sat in front of him, blocking Thomas’s face, but she knew it was him.

Thank goodness
. She faced forward once more, releasing a furtive breath.

Initially she hadn’t wanted to involve him or anyone else in this operation. Now, she was relieved to have Thomas with her.

Partner
. The word had taken on a deeper meaning. She’d told him trust didn’t just happen, it grew out of something more. Something she’d previously believed was intangible. Now it seemed very real in the form of a six-foot man with incredible blue eyes and an endless supply of playfulness.

Playfulness. On stage, Adam was acting out the role of God in a humorous manner.
So like his father
. Unbidden, the ghosts of the past rose from her memories, taunting and just out of reach.

Mom.

Ronni had to admit she understood Adam’s search for the truth. She’d shared the same internal mission. When she’d learned of her mother’s death after the siege, her world had flipped upside down. Men and women working for a government agency had interviewed her, over and over. Never unkindly, but she’d been so devastated and terrified after what she’d seen and lived through, she couldn’t speak. Reactive mutism. Overwhelmed by the outside world and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, she’d mentally and emotionally retreated to a place deep inside where no one could reach her.

One of them, Anne Marie, was especially kind. She provided new, soft, comfortable clothes, all the food Ronni could eat, and gave her a teddy bear. Peace offerings meant to calm and reassure her. And with every offering, Anne Marie dangled the carrot…if Ronni agreed to talk to them, they’d let her see Adam.

Ronni’s father had been in the Air Force, stationed in Beirut and far away from the Wrightsville tragedy making headlines around the world. It took nearly a week to clear him to return stateside and find a home for his now motherless daughter. He had yet to remarry and start a new family, and Danielle’s parents were both deceased, so Ronni had no other family to take her in.

Before the government would hand her over to her dad, though, they’d sent her through deprogramming. Exit counseling, they’d called it, and later, strategic intervention therapy. Like she had a drug or alcohol addiction, instead of suffering from a subtle brainwashing.

The carrot of seeing Adam had finally opened up the dam inside her chest. She hadn’t told Anne Marie or the others everything…just enough to satisfy some of their questions. No, she’d never been abused or seen her friends being abused. Yes, Daniel had multiple wives and children by them. Yes, some of the wives were teenagers. No, she didn’t know who fired the first shots…

In front of her, Adam’s voice rose. He lifted his arms in the air and stared heavenward. “I am the Light, the Truth…” He paused, closing his eyes. “The truth. Our mission here tonight and every night, my friends. Find the truth. Be part of the truth.”

Amens
echoed through the room. Adam smiled, eyes still closed. He clenched his raised fists. “I am the Way. I. Am. The. Way.”

More
amens
. Someone behind Ronni said, “Yes, Adam.”

The girl beside her stared up at Ronni with beguiling eyes. For her young age, she was extremely well-behaved. Less fidgety than Ronni. Innocent.

Adam opened his eyes, scanned the crowd. His gaze fell on her and the girl. “No one comes to the Father
but by me
.”

The girl stiffened, feeling the intensity of Adam’s gaze and his words. There were many ways of indoctrinating people. Had Daniel ever forced anyone to believe he was gifted by a higher being? No. Was Adam forcing anyone in this room to stay here and listen to him preach? No.