Righteous02 - Mighty and Strong (3 page)

“Can I put my clothes back on now?”

“Of course,” Jacob said. “We’ll give you some privacy. Look over these pamphlets. Take all the time you need. Crystal will be happy to answer any questions.”

“Can I take them with me?”

“Sure, but don’t let anyone see you reading them. They’re private, for you only.” He turned to go.

“Dr. Christianson? Can I ask you one more question?”

“Go ahead.”

She was blushing. “Are you married?”

Chapter Three:

Emma Green may not have been pregnant, but she wanted to be. She wanted Jacob Christianson to be her husband, to put a baby in her. To come to her bed.

She was so distracted thinking about him that she cut herself while peeling potatoes for dinner. Emma squeezed a drop of blood from her finger and said, “I’m almost sixteen, I’m old enough.”

“What did you say?”

It was one of her sisters, who was washing carrots in the sink. Black soil, heavily composted, turned the water to a muddy brown and swirled down the drain. Her sister scrubbed furiously at each carrot until it glistened, clean and orange.

“I didn’t say anything,” Emma said, and grabbed a paper towel to wrap around her finger. A red circle expanded through the white paper.

She had no appetite that evening, and did her chores as quickly as possible, then said she was sleepy and went to bed early. She climbed naked into the top bunk, but not before checking and double-checking the sheets.

As Emma lay in her bed, dreaming about the handsome young doctor, she remembered his hands on her body. He’d talked to her as he’d performed his examination.

“I’m going to touch you right now,” Dr. Christianson had said. Later, “You’re going to feel something a little cold.” Or, “This might be a little uncomfortable.” So calm and comforting.

Nobody had ever touched her that way, but Emma didn’t mind. He was a doctor, so it was okay that he was looking at her naked parts, right? He was so gentle, and wise.

And one of us.

Emma had heard her mother talking to sister wives about the polygamist doctor from Blister Creek working at Sanpete County. That’s how she’d known to ask for him. And by the time he completed the examination, she’d known she wanted to be his wife, his eternal companion.

And to think, she’d have never met him except for her disgusting brother, Ammon.
Half-brother.
Self-abuse, spilling his seed on the sheets. Teenage boys were so gross.

Where had Dr. Christianson touched her? Emma slid her hand down her belly and was surprised to discover a damp place between her legs. She didn’t think very long about that, instead imaging that Dr. Christianson—no, she would call him Jacob—that
Jacob
was with her in bed, with his hand between her legs. He would touch her like this, and like that.

It would be okay, because they would be married, and he would be giving her a baby.

Her breathing came fast and she flushed with warmth. It was the spirit making her feel so good, nothing else could do it. That feeling like some vast pleasure, rising from within, was the Lord’s way of saying her desires were righteous, that Jacob Christianson was meant to be her husband.

Her fingers rubbed more urgently and her body tensed. She couldn’t catch her breath. A small groan came out of her mouth.

Tomorrow, some small place in her head insisted. Tomorrow she would go to Brother Timothy, the prophet, and tell him what she had learned. He loved her, he would find a way to bring her husband to the compound.

And then she would have him forever.

#

It wasn’t a good sign when Dr. Hess told Jacob to drive down from Salt Lake on his day off for a one-on-one meeting. He was curt, almost rude when asked why.

There was little sleep that night. The baby had an earache, and when Fernie finally got Nephi to sleep, Jacob couldn’t stop tossing and turning. He was disturbing Fernie, so he started to get out of bed when she asked him what was wrong. Reluctantly, Jacob told her about Dr. Hess’s phone call and that he suspected it had to do with the girl who’d come into the ER, thinking she was pregnant.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” she said.

“What if I lose my residency?”

“You won’t,” she said. “And it doesn’t matter, because the Lord will provide for our family.”

“Seems like He could have provided by reminding that girl’s sister to change the sheets.”

“Jacob, please.” He knew she didn’t like it when he let his doubts show.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You’re right, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“No, I’m glad you told me, that’s what I’m here for. Taylor would have never told me anything.” Taylor was her first husband, now in prison, his sealings to his wives dissolved by the church. “Jacob, let’s not borrow trouble. They’re not going to fire you because a girl came into the ER and asked for you by name.”

#

The next day, looking at Dr. Hess’s grim face in the conference room, he wasn’t so sure. He looked around the room, at the empty chairs. “Where is the board?”

“This is a preliminary meeting. I’ll make my recommendations to the board and proceed from there. Please, sit down.”

Jacob did as he was told. He’d faced more difficult men than Dr. Hess. Keep his cool, that was the key. Except now he had a wife and children to worry about. The added responsibility weighed on his shoulders.

“Can I ask the reason for this meeting?” Jacob asked.

“We could dance around with pleasantries,” Hess said. “But let’s get everything in the open, I think that’s the best way to deal with this problem.”

“Dr. Hess?”

“Jacob, are you a polygamist?”

“You don’t want to talk about that trauma case last week?” Jacob asked. His fingers found a pencil on the table, left by someone from a previous meeting.

“Don’t be funny, Dr. Christianson. This isn’t a joke.”

Jacob felt his anger rising. “No, it’s not. You took me aside after we saved that woman’s life and told me how glad you were that you’d picked me instead of that woman from Berkeley.”

“This is not about your work. I thought that was obvious. It’s about your inappropriate interaction with a young patient.”

“Inappropriate? I didn’t do anything inappropriate. Crystal Kincade was present at all times. The girl said a few strange things, but she was a confused, naive kid.”

“Who’d apparently met you before. And thought you’d make good marriage material.”

“I never saw her before in my life.” Jacob pushed the pencil away, afraid he would snap it in his fingers.

“But she knew enough to ask for you by name. And suggest she become your polygamist wife.”

“She also thought she was pregnant because she slept on a bed where a boy had masturbated.”

“We can go around and around on this,” Dr. Hess said. “I want you to answer my question. Are you a polygamist?”

“You do know it’s illegal to ask about religion or marital status in a job interview, right? Which is what this is, considering the question of the renewal of my residency.”

“Polygamy is not a religion and it’s not a marital status. It’s an illegal behavior. Believe me, I’ve consulted with legal about this already and I’m well within my rights, especially considering what happened with the patient.”

“Nothing happened with the patient!”

“Are you a polygamist?”

“No, I am not. I have one wife. Legally married by the state of Utah. I have not married, cohabited, or had any other unlawful or immoral relations with any other woman. Not that it’s any of your business.”

There was a long moment of silence. Jacob had conceded ground the moment he lost his temper and told Dr. Hess more than the man had asked. It was a stupid mistake.

Hess leaned back in his chair. He seemed less angry, but also more confident, almost smug. It was an unpleasant side Jacob had never seen before.

Hess said, “After Crystal Kinkade told me what the patient told you and what you said in response, I took the liberty to go through your file. Your resume. Did a little digging I should have done before we hired you in the first place.”

“There’s nothing to dig. Everything on my resume is one hundred percent accurate.”

“Maybe so, but there are some revealing things, that’s for sure. This line, for example.” He took out a sheet of paper and slid it across the table.

Jacob looked down at the highlighted section of his resume, then slid it back. “There’s nothing special there. I went to high school. I got good enough grades to earn a scholarship at the University of Calgary. I went to medical school at the University of Utah and did well enough that you hired me here. You were happy with my work until yesterday, when some random child said a few things.”

“Harmony, Alberta, is a polygamist colony. I did not know that. You are an American citizen, but you moved to Alberta when you were a child.”

He shrugged. He’d been born in Utah, but if birth places were required resume material, Blister Creek would raise more red flags than Harmony would. Few people who weren’t living plural marriage would have heard of Harmony, but everyone in Utah knew about Blister Creek. Which was precisely the reason why his church had kept communities in different states and countries. Sometimes you needed to pick up and move when some government official decided to do something about the local polygs.

“The Christianson name brings up a million hits on Google,” Dr. Hess said, “until you include the word Harmony. Are you related to Abraham Christianson?”

“He’s my father.”

“As of May, he is the so-called prophet of a polygamist cult called the Church of the Anointing.”

“Is this guilt by association?” Jacob asked. “Because, unless you’re just satisfying your curiosity, it has nothing to do with me or my performance at this hospital.”

“And when I googled Abraham Christianson, it turns out he was at the heart of that big investigation at Blister Creek a couple years back.”

He was not at the heart of the investigation, Jacob thought. He was the one left to pick up the pieces after the Feds arrested the conspirators. It had nearly destroyed the church, scattered dozens of its members, but at least they’d rid themselves of the fraud and other corrupt practices that had eaten the church from within.

“Guilt by association,” Jacob repeated.

“Is it? Is that all it is? What is your position within the church?”

“I won’t answer that question.”

“Fine, let’s back up. Tell me about the girl.”

“The one who came into the ER? I already told you everything. She thought she was pregnant. She wasn’t. I’d never met her before and don’t expect to see her again.”

“Why are you lying about this incident?”

Jacob blinked. “I’m not lying. Talk to Crystal Kinkade. The nurse was there the whole time. Whatever her opinions about polygamists, she saw and heard everything. She knows what happened and can easily—”

“She was in the hall. You were alone with the girl.”

“I wasn’t alone with her at any time. There was a curtain drawn, but we were talking loud enough for anyone to hear. Emma said—”

“She asked you about terminating the pregnancy.”

“There was no pregnancy to terminate!”

Dr. Hess gave him a sharp look, perhaps searching to see if he could detect a lie. Jacob met his eyes, forced himself to remain calm. “Whatever this girl was thinking, it will blow over now she knows she’s not pregnant,” Jacob said. “And yes, I come from a polygamist family, but so do a lot of people. Even one of our senators is first cousins with a bunch of polygamists.”

“I wish I could be sure, Dr. Christianson. But I’ve got budget pressures you can’t imagine, and we’re dealing with a couple of lawsuits, and the last thing I need right now is negative media attention.”

He sounded reasonable again and Jacob relaxed. “Give it a week or two. Nothing will come of this, you’ll see.”

“Very well, we’ll set that aside for the moment.” Dr. Hess returned Jacob’s resume to the file, then closed it and twisted his pen closed before replacing it in the breast pocket of his suit jacket. Then he tented his hands in front of his face. “Now I want to discuss the more serious matter.”

“What serious matter?” Jacob asked. A cold knot returned to his stomach.

“An FBI agent stopped by my office this morning, asking about you.”

Chapter Four:

The drive from Manti to Salt Lake took two hours, but Jacob still hadn’t digested the news that the FBI was asking about his work at the hospital. He’d fully cooperated with their investigation four years earlier, had testified in court against leaders of his own church.

Jacob wasn’t ready to talk to Fernie. He needed to clarify his own thoughts. And so he stopped at Temple Square to look for his sister, Eliza. He parked across the street, made a quick trip into the French patisserie at the mall.

Temple Square was a single square block that encompassed the Salt Lake Temple itself, plus the dome-shaped historic tabernacle, the gothic Assembly Hall, and a pair of visitor’s centers. A massive wall surrounded the block, with visitors funneled through a handful of entrances. The entrances served double duty as a security checkpoint and a place for missionaries to approach visitors.

Mormonism, as a movement, had grown from a few hundred members in 1830 to millions today. Some of the growth came from a high birth rate, the rest from baptizing waves of converts. Two young women spotted him and gave him an encouraging smile. His sister was not one of them, so he gave a polite nod and continued on his way. No need to get sucked into a discussion about Joseph Smith.

The first thing he did upon running the first missionary gauntlet was glance at the temple on the east side. Only card-carrying members of the mainstream church could enter the temple itself, so Jacob had never been inside. He’d had ancestors who’d helped build it, however, and couldn’t drive past or walk through Temple Square without feeling a stirring of pride.

The temple was granite, with six spires, almost like a European cathedral in appearance, except for the gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni blowing a trumpet atop one of the spires.