The Perfect Outsider (7 page)

Molly was back on her guard shift outside Jesse’s door, and Davis was doing another round of sentinel duty at the canyon entrance. Brad was sleeping so he could take up a night shift if necessary. A two-way radio rested on the table within June’s reach.

Lacy knew Sonya—a soft and rounded woman in her forties who’d “disappeared” from the Cold Plains hardware store—fairly well. She also knew Tiffany, Brad’s mother. Tiffy was a secretary at the school. Molly and Davis she’d seen around town. Cold Plains was a small and intimate community, and every good Devotee attended Samuel’s seminars.

“I can’t believe you got them all out, that they’re all
here,
” Lacy said in wonderment, her gaze scanning the room.

Above the kitchen table hung a huge chandelier made of antlers. Other lamps had hide shades. June was a vegetarian. She’d have preferred the decor to be, as well, but it was the least of her concerns right now.

“How do you get electricity in here?” said Lacy, looking up at the chandelier.

“Solar panels, up on the cliff,” answered June

“This place is so awesome—it’s kind of artsy, yet rugged. I really love it.”

“Lacy, I need you to—”

But suddenly Lacy began to cry. “I just don’t know what’s going to happen to my coffee shop now, the staff…it had all seemed so perfect, the town, the people. I so
badly
wanted to believe in it all. I feel so cheated, so deceived. So damn angry that I let myself get sucked up like that.”

“Lacy.” June placed her hand on the young woman’s arm. “Your reaction is normal. I’m going to start you on some exit-counseling and then we’ll get you into a program where you can talk to people who understand exactly what you’re going through right now. They’ll help you work through everything you’re feeling, and you’re going to be fine. Abby and Bekka are going to be fine. The FBI is finally going to get something to nail Samuel. They
know
he’s bad, they
know
what he’s doing—it’s just a matter of finding evidence they can use in court to effectively prosecute him. He’s smart, but the noose is tightening. In the meantime, I need you to do something for me. I need you to be strong, okay?”

Lacy glanced up, wiped her eyes. And June could see the resolve in her face. This young woman, a social butterfly who loved material things, had chucked it all to save her kids and herself. She’d made a bold move, braver than many in town were capable of. June’s heart went out to her, and it bolstered her own resolve.

“What you’ve done, Lacy, gives me faith in what we’re trying to do. It makes me believe we’re going to see Samuel and his sick empire taken down.”

Lacy bit her lip and nodded.

June leaned forward. “But there is just one more thing I need you to do, Lacy. Eager and I found an injured man in the forest last night. He’d fallen down a ravine and had a bad gash across his forehead. He can’t recall what happened and he doesn’t know who he is.”

Lacy’s face went sheet-white.
“Henchman?”

“I can’t be sure. He does have a tattoo—”

“And you brought him in here! Where my twins are!”

“Lacy, easy. There are some things about him that don’t add up. I need you to see if you recognize him.”

Her eyes, unwavering, huge, glared at June.

“Will you come take a look at him, Lacy?”

“I can’t!” Her hands pressed flat on the table. “I just can’t.”

“You can, Lacy. He’s hurt, he’s lost his memory and he’s unarmed. You’re safe here. I’ll have my weapon with me. Molly will be right outside the door with the shotgun. And I swear, Eager will take him down if he so much as even tries to lift a finger against us.”

Doubt flickered through Lacy’s features. “June, please, don’t make me do—”

“I’ll bring Brad and Tiffany and Sonya in with us. I want you all to take a real hard look at this guy and tell me if you might have seen him in Cold Plains before. There’ll be safety in our numbers.”

June wanted to watch Jesse’s face, too, when she brought Lacy and the others in to see him. She’d be looking for a flicker of recognition in his eyes, anything that might indicate he was lying about his memory loss.

* * *

The group waited outside June’s locked bedroom. Lacy fidgeted nervously. June took a deep breath and rapped on the door.

“Jesse—I’m going to come in,” she yelled. “Can you go sit on the bed, please, and stay there while we enter? I have some people I want you to meet.”

Silence.

“Jesse?”

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you,” he yelled back, and June could hear the irritation in his voice. “I’m on the bed, sitting nice and still. You can come in now.”

“I am armed,” she warned, nerves skittering through her stomach suddenly. “And so is the guard who will remain right outside your door. Try anything and you’re dead, understand? Because I
will
kill you rather than let you hurt these people here.”

“I said I hear you,” he growled from inside.

She drew her Glock and unlocked the door. Gun leading, Eager in a tight heel at her left side, June stepped inside.

But she stalled at the sight of him sitting on her bed.

He’d put on the white T-shirt Davis had left for him, and it was stretched taut across his honed pecs. His hair had dried into a roguish tumble and his indigo-blue eyes crackled with anger. His whole body seemed to vibrate with a quiet electricity.

June swallowed and met his gaze as she motioned for Lacy to step inside.

His eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of Lacy, but his features betrayed nothing else.

“It’s him!”
hissed Lacy, grabbing June’s arm. “He’s the one who tried to stop me. He shot at us.”

“Are you sure?”

“Damn right, I’m sure. You bastard!”

“You can leave now, Lacy. Tell the others to come in.”

Brad and Tiffany entered the room, followed by Sonya. Both Molly and Davis had already told June they didn’t recognize Jesse.

“Have you seen him before?” June asked, her attention fixed on Jesse’s face.

There were murmurs of denial.

“Thanks, guys, you can go. Tell Molly to stay outside with the gun.”

“Are you sure, June?” Brad whispered, casting a leery glance at Jesse, who sat totally motionless, muscles taut.

“I’m sure.”

Once she was alone with him, she said, “That was Lacy. I found her and the twins—”

“Congratulations.” His voice was bitter.

“She told me that you tried to block her escape. She hit you across the face with a log, then you shot at her while she fled. I found a log with blood on it, and spent casings, .40 caliber, likely from your Beretta.”

He glowered at her.

She felt hot.

“Why did you try to kill Lacy and her children, Jesse?”

“I didn’t.”

“How can you say that with such unequivocal assertion, yet you can’t recall anything about what happened preceding the blow to your head?”

He lurched up, neck wire-tense. “Because I know, dammit! I just
know
…I don’t kill people!” He pointed at the door. “Especially not a woman and her children.” His hand went suddenly to his brow.

“
What,
Jesse,
what
are you remembering?”

He inhaled deeply. “Look, maybe I have some recall of a brunette and her kids running through the dark, but I feel no urge inside me, no whisper, not one damn thing that tells me I wanted to, or needed to, or did anything to hurt that woman. Nothing. Just…just…” He turned away.

“Just what?” June said.

“I can’t place it.” There was dejection in his voice now. “But I feel guilt. I feel responsible for something awful that involves a woman, maybe not her, maybe some other woman.”

He turned back and his eyes met June’s. The raw honesty in them took her aback and her heart clenched. She’d seen a similar look of need, anguish, desperation, in Matt’s eyes when she’d told him to choose between her or his religious cult. It was the night before he’d kidnapped Aiden from day care and fled with him into the wilderness.

June had never seen either alive again.

If she’d understood the desperation in Matt’s eyes, if she’d been kinder, if she’d sought proper therapy for him, he and Aiden might still be alive. She tried to swallow the sudden sharp surge of emotion swelling inside her, but couldn’t.

“There you have it,” Jesse said. “I’m opening up, being as honest as I can. What in hell else can I do?” He sank back down onto the bed.

Empathy swelled through June. She sheathed her Glock, and tentatively sat on the edge of the bed beside him.

“Jesse?” she said gently.

He didn’t look at her.

She reached out, placed her hand over his.

He stared at her hand, her pale skin against his dark tan, then he looked slowly into her eyes, and she imagined the warmth of his lips against hers. June’s stomach swooped and heat pooled low in her belly.

Her raw, physical response to him shocked her. What on earth was going on with her?

A wry smile twisted his lips. “You know what? When I woke up in your bed I thought I was drowning, but then I saw your face and I thought I was seeing an angel. You were surrounded by warmth, light. It made we want to come back up.”

Her cheeks went hot. She wanted to remove her hand from over his, but couldn’t.

He glanced around the room. “Now I’m in some prison.”

“Just until we know who you—”

“I’m not talking about these walls, I’m imprisoned in my own head. What if I never find out who I am? What if this has more to do with a psychological block than an injury to my brain? What if I’m running from something inside myself?”

Silence filled the space between them, loaded, simmering. His skin was hot under her fingertips. He leaned closer, too close. “What does that tell you about me, June?” he whispered.

She got up quickly, heart racing. “I’m just a paramedic, not a doctor. Or a psychologist.”

He stared at her for several beats, and June knew he’d seen the unbidden flare of lust in her eyes. She felt naked. Afraid, suddenly, at what was happening inside her.

“I need to talk to Lacy again,” she said, making for the door.

“You can’t hold me here.”

June paused, hand on the doorknob. “I won’t, not for long. I’m going to bring in the FBI.”

“I don’t want to see the feds.”

“If you’re innocent you won’t have anything to worry about, right?”

“I told you, June, I don’t know why I feel guilt. Maybe I have done something bad. Maybe I’ve broken the law in some small way. But I’d like to know who I am, and what I did, before you turn me in.”

“You need to see a proper doctor, Jesse. The FBI can help with your ID and with getting you medical care.”

“June, help me figure it out before turning me over to the feds.”

She scrubbed her hand over her brow. He could be a con artist, playing her. Her gaze flickered to the photo on mantel. Jesse followed her eyes.

“Where is he—your husband?” he said.

She tightened her mouth. She shouldn’t answer. That’s how they did it—con artists. Little by little, they found your weak points, zeroed in. Then they had you. It’s how Samuel had done it with every one of his Devotees.

“He died,” she said quietly. “Five years ago.”

“You still wear a wedding band.”

“To remember why I do what I do.”

“What exactly is it that you do, June?”

Without answering, she stepped out the door, locking it behind her.

And June realized her hands were shaking.

* * *

Jesse stared at the closed door, heart banging hard against his ribs.

She was a widow—why did it mean so much to him?

His thumb worried his own naked ring finger and desperation swelled in his chest, followed by an indescribable sense of loss and loneliness.

He needed to find the reasons for his feelings of guilt and remorse, and he had to do it before June brought in law enforcement. And he sure wasn’t going to find them holed up in here. If he was going to find answers anyplace, it would be in Cold Plains. Jesse needed to go there, and he had to find Samuel. Everything was tied to Samuel.

He lurched to his feet, banged on door. “June!”

No response.

He banged again, then jiggled the lock.

“I’ll shoot your ass off!” came Molly’s voice.

Jesse didn’t doubt it.

He was trapped. At June’s mercy. In some cave room. Inside his head.

Chapter 4

J
une heard him banging as she went down the passage and her jaw tightened, hands fisting at her sides. She wasn’t going to be able to contain him in there much longer. She could even face legal implications down the road. Her pager sounded again.

Tension strapped tighter across her chest.

Now that she’d found Lacy, she needed to head down the mountain, back to Cold Plains, to her job. What in hell excuse was she going to give Bo Fargo?

She couldn’t tell him she was out of pager range. Although there were dead cell-phone zones in these mountains, the pager system had greater reach.

She entered the living room, which opened out onto the kitchen. Gray light streamed down from skylights and a fire crackled in the stone hearth to ward off the underground coolness that permeated the cave house. It was safe to burn wood now, with the cloud socked low over the mountains—no telltale smoke would be seen from afar. Otherwise, they burned only at night.

June found Lacy pacing in front of the fire, rubbing her arms in a nervous gesture.

“I need sleep, June—but I can’t rest with that man in the same house as my twins. I just can’t.” Accusation, bitterness filled her eyes. “I don’t know why you brought him here. Maybe I should have stayed in Cold Plains. At least if I’d stuck it out with Samuel my children would be safe.”

June took hold of Lacy’s shoulders. “Look at me, Lacy. That’s exactly where Samuel gets his power—by subtly threatening violence or death for disobeying him. He’s a sociopath. He’s sick—evil. And his is the worst kind of mental abuse. It’s no way to live, and you know it. You did the right thing, for your children, for yourself, for your future. I’m going to get you into an exit-counseling program real quick, okay? Which will mean moving you out of the house as soon as we can.”