Into the Light (30 page)

Dr. Jennings shook her head. “He said she was incoherent, all she talked about was a light.” Dr. Jennings rubbed her temples. “The poor man said he kept telling her not to go toward it. I think he was afraid she might die right there in his car.”

My entire body trembled. I needed to speak with this woman or even the man who had saved her.
A light
had to be
The Light
, it just had to be. This would be the connection to the dead women.

Dr. Jennings agreed that I could wait for the woman to regain consciousness, and if that happened before her identity was learned and her family or the police stepped in with an order prohibiting visitors, I could talk to her.

I waited impatiently, wishing I’d brought my laptop to record my observations and nursing my third cup of coffee. Without food, my stomach continued to twist, creating knots upon knots. Perhaps that was why I startled when one of the nurses from the ICU tapped my shoulder. “Miss Montgomery?”

“Oh! Yes, is the patient awake?”

“No, ma’am, not yet; however, there’s a call for you at the nurses’ station.”

I straightened my shoulders. “For me?”

“Yes, ma’am. He asked that I get you.”

I nodded. “OK”—I stood—“thank you.”

As I followed the larger woman in dark-blue scrubs, my mind searched for who could possibly be calling me at the hospital. It wasn’t yet seven in the morning, and I hadn’t even told Bernard or Foster where I was.

“Hello?” I asked tentatively.

“Stella Montgomery?”

My forehead furrowed. “Yes?”

“My name’s Paul. I’m the man who found the woman last night on Woodward. I have a few minutes before work if you’d like to get my statement.”

My tired mind came to life. “Yes, Paul. Thank you, I’d love to do that. Thank you so much for helping her and talking to me. Can I get your last name, and where I can meet you?”

“I’d rather do this off the record, so no last name. But I want to help that lady. I work at a dry cleaner on Grand Boulevard in New Center. Martin’s. Can you meet me there?”

My body tingled with excitement. “Yes, I understand. I won’t use your name. I’ll be there in less than half an hour.”

“It’s kind of busy this time of day, but there’s a flat lot two blocks away behind Market on State Street.”

Behind Market on State
, I made a mental note.

“Thank you, Paul, I’ll be right there.”

It was probably all the coffee and the lack of food, but my grip tightened on my steering wheel as I approached Market. It wasn’t a street, but a big building filled with different establishments. It had another name, but people who were familiar with the area called it the Market. Over the years, locals shortened that to just Market. Turning off the main street, I turned onto State. In this area of town it was more of an alleyway than a street. The flat lot had an attendant.

Rolling down my window, I asked, “May I park here?”

“Five bucks for an hour, thirty for all day,” the man said, handing me a ticket.

As I put the ticket on the dashboard, the screen in my car lit, indicating a new text message. Out of habit, I hit the button for my car to speak.

Text message from Tracy Howell: I SPOKE WITH PAUL SWIVEL, THE MAN WHO FOUND THE WOMAN LAST NIGHT. HE SAID HE’D THINK ABOUT GIVING YOU A STATEMENT. I’LL KEEP YOU POSTED.

As I looked back up at the attendant, the large black man suddenly seemed vaguely familiar.

There was a sharp pain in my neck and my world went black.

CHAPTER 30

Bernard

I sent another text message to Stella; that made four. She’d never refused to answer me before. I knew I’d been a hard-ass about the deadline, but there were other stories out there that she could research. She said it wasn’t because of Mindy that she continued to pursue these leads, but I knew in my gut it was. I also knew that if she could connect the dots—if there were dots to connect—it’d be one hell of a story. That’s why I’d given her so much time. It wasn’t as if I had to answer to anyone. She worked for me. I worked for the station, but WCJB wouldn’t question my allocation of hours.

I picked up the desk phone and called Foster. “Have you heard from Stella today?”

“No, she’s probably checking out one of her leads. She’s been getting excited about things coming together.”

“Has she told you any of it?” I asked.

“Some. I know she was checking out properties owned by Entermann’s Realty. There was something about a private landing strip in Bloomfield Hills. That’s all she’s shared.”

“I wish she’d text me back.”

“Bernard, she’s not Mindy. She’s smart and has a good gut. Besides, she’s got Richards looking out for her. Give her some space. She’ll text back.”

I rubbed my temples. He was probably right. Mindy’s disappearance had us all on edge. “Hey, speaking of Richards, what did you learn about him?”

“Nothing that we don’t already know. There was that one quirky thing about a utility bill on some mansion, but none of it checked out. Stella told me his parents were deceased. That checked out. Everything else was pretty boring.”

I shook my head. “Fine. If you hear from her, let me know.”

“Sure thing.”

Meetings, calls, and general business ensued. It was nearing five in the evening when Foster knocked on my door.

“I’m heading out. I never heard from Stella, have you?”

Shit!

“No, hang on a second. Let me call her again.” I’d already called three times and had no idea the number of text messages I’d sent. Just like the other three times, the call went straight to voice mail. I shook my head.

“What about—?” Foster asked.

“Richards? I’ve got his number here someplace.”

Foster placed a Post-it note on my desk. “I’ll admit it, the Mindy thing has me worried too. Stella’s a smart girl. I’m sure everything is fine. I’d just like to know.”

Nodding, I dialed the number on the Post-it note. Richards answered on the third ring.

“Richards.”

“This is Bernard Cooper. I was wondering if you’ve spoken to Stella today.”

“This morning, why?”

“When this morning?”

“Why? Where did you send her?” Richards’s volume rose.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t send her anywhere.” My eyes met Foster’s.

“Sure you did,” Dylan Richards replied. “She got a call early this morning. I don’t know, like three o’clock or something. Hell, I don’t remember. I went back to sleep.”

My heartbeat quickened. “What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t call her at three in the morning.”

“Well, fuck, someone did. She took off.”

I shook my head. “And you have no idea where she went?”

“Listen,” Richards said, modulating his voice. “Tell me she said something about wherever she went once she got to the station.”

“That’s just it. She never came to WCJB. I haven’t been able to reach her all day.”

“How about her apartment?”

I shook my head. “What about it?”

“Maybe she went back there and fell asleep. It was early when she left.”

I took a deep breath, my eyes still fixed on Foster’s. “Foster’s with me. We’ll meet you there.”

“OK, shit. I have a key. I can be there in forty minutes.”

“Richards, I’m calling DPD to meet us.” My chest clenched at my next sentence. “In case it’s a crime . . .” I couldn’t say it.

“Fine, I won’t go in, but I’m knocking the shit out of that damn door. This better be some big fuck-up, or else . . .”

My neck straightened. “Or else what?”

“You know where you’ve been sending her. Don’t you give a fuck about her safety?”

“Richards, shut the hell up. We’ll be there with DPD in forty minutes.”

“I am DPD. I’ll have someone with me.”

One week later—still nothing. The evening at Stella’s apartment had come up empty. I might not have liked Dylan Richards, but the man was a basket case. Between the DPD officers who’d accompanied him and ours, we’d had a shit-ton of officers there. He kept it together better than most would in his situation with his girlfriend missing, but once the crowds thinned he did little to hide the frustration and desperation on his face. I’d talked to him almost every day since.

DPD taped off her apartment and searched it thoroughly. Her laptop was missing. I’d seen it with her sometimes while she worked. All we could assume was that she took it with her that morning. Richards said he didn’t know. He’d fallen back asleep after she’d left. No flash drives or backup hard drives were found.

The DPD forensics team was able to get her MAC address from her router. With that the team searched for her computer. All it would take to find it, would be for it to be turned on and connected to Wi-Fi. It hadn’t been since the night before she disappeared.

Foster gained access to her personal and work e-mails as well as her search history on her computer at WCJB. The search history confirmed her research into Entermann’s Realty and Wilkens Industries. She’d searched Google Earth, but specifics couldn’t be found. When Foster went back in time he found her preliminary research into the property on Glendale Avenue in Highland Heights. It was what had prompted her to dig into Entermann’s Realty. Foster said he’d seen a list of their holdings, yet it wasn’t in her e-mail. We could only presume she’d deleted the e-mail to protect her source. Of course her e-mail trash was empty. One of the oldest and usually most reliable ways to back up information is to e-mail it to yourself. There was no evidence that Stella had done that.

The only other source of information was her phone. A call had been placed to her at 2:48 a.m. the morning of her disappearance. It had come from the assistant forensic pathologist at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s private cell number. Dr. Tracy Howell claimed she and Stella had become friends and admitted to calling her and asking Stella to meet her at the medical center to see a patient. Unfortunately, the patient she mentioned had never been identified and was now in the Wayne County Morgue. There was an ongoing internal investigation at the medical center, but primary information indicated the patient had suffered a severe allergic reaction to pain medication. Anaphylactic shock had occurred before treatment could commence, and resulted in death.

No calls or text messages had been sent from Stella’s phone the day of her disappearance. Calls from Richards, Foster, me, and Tracy Howell had been received but never answered. Some of us had left voice mails. Text messages had been received from Dr. Howell, Richards, and me. There was absolutely nothing else.

Her car had been found the day after her disappearance in a flat lot in New Center. The crime lab dusted it—nothing. Unfortunately, Stella had chosen one of the few lots in the New Center area without video or even picture surveillance.

Each day was worse than the one before. Two women working for WCJB were officially missing. Vanished from sight. Disappeared into thin air. While speculations ran wild, for those of us who knew them, it was devastating.

CHAPTER 31

Sara

One morning in June, Dinah and I met Raquel and Elizabeth in the coffee shop before work. Since the Assemblymen needed to be at Assembly early, the night before at prayer Raquel had mentioned that we should start our day with friends. To my delight our husbands had agreed to this unusual impromptu outing. Standing at a tall table, I stirred cream into my coffee and half listened as the other wives chatted about nothing in particular. When something was said about
the dark
, my ears perked up.

I leaned over the table and spoke quietly. “I know I shouldn’t, but I wish I remembered. I think it’s cool that you do.”

“I don’t remember either,” Dinah said. “I think I blocked it out.”

Elizabeth sighed, her green eyes moist.

I reached out and touched her hand. “What’s the matter?”

She looked up. “Nothing.”

Raquel hugged Elizabeth. “Maybe we should go somewhere a little more private?”

Standing taller than her already tall height, Elizabeth swallowed and nodded.

“We’ll see you later,” Raquel said as she led Elizabeth away.

I turned to Dinah. “What was that? I’ve never seen Elizabeth that way.”

Dinah leaned close. “I feel so dumb. I wasn’t even thinking.”

My eyes silently questioned.

“She’s not allowed to talk about it, but she did open up once in prayer meeting. You must not remember.”

“I don’t, but if she said it in front of me once, would it be wrong if you shared?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think so, but not here. Let’s head over to the lab. Brothers Raphael and Benjamin will be at their meeting for a while.”

Scooping up our cups, we moved out of the shop and toward the lab.

Once we were there, she exhaled. “Elizabeth loves Father Gabriel, The Light, and Brother Luke. She’ll be the first to tell you that she has no regrets about coming to The Light, but once a year, around the time of her birthday, she gets sad.”

I shook my head. “We don’t celebrate birthdays.” It was something I’d learned early on with Sister Lilith.

Dinah’s lips formed a straight line. “That doesn’t mean they don’t happen.”

I nodded. “OK, but why is she sad?”

“In the dark she has a sister, a twin sister. From what she said, they decided to follow Father Gabriel together, but after they did, her sister changed her mind. Elizabeth doesn’t begrudge her sister that right. After all, we’re all here because we want to be, but according to her, she never got the chance to say good-bye. Being twins and all, they were very close. She said she knows that the dark isn’t death, but after Brother Luke told her that her sister changed her mind, Elizabeth felt a loss, as if her sister died. Like all of us, Elizabeth was ready to give up everyone and everything from the dark. She just didn’t expect to give up her sister. It bothers her the most around her birthday.” Dinah shrugged. “
Their
birthday.”

“Wow, poor Elizabeth.”

“Please don’t mention it to her. Of course, we were all glad we could help, but Brother Luke didn’t approve of her sharing. As you know, Elizabeth is usually the poster child of obedience. Being corrected for her plea for help reminds her not to bring it up again.”

Reminders!

I nodded. “Thanks for telling me.”

There wasn’t much extra space within the walls of the community, but on the north end there were a few acres of woods with paths. When I first awoke from my accident it was the beginning of the dark season; now we were into full light. Though it never got warm at the Northern Light, it was considerably warmer near the end of June than it had been in November.

“Hurry up,” Jacob teased as he ran ahead.

“I am,” I said with a laugh as my feet pounded the hard dirt and my lungs filled with fresh air.

Lately Jacob had been required to be gone more, including for overnights. However, since the weather had warmed, whenever he was home, we tried to run together, either early in the morning, before our days began, or later, before dinner. The first time he’d mentioned running was the first time I remembered the memory I’d shared with Elizabeth six months earlier. Though Jacob said we’d done it regularly before, the first run since I’d awoken had been when the frigid temperatures finally broke in April. Two months later we were still running together.

Reaching the end of the woods, we came to the small grassy area just before the innermost wall. With the sky bright above, Jacob reached for my hand, and brought us to a stop. Looking out to the wall, I thought about running a longer distance. Not leaving, just having more room.

“I’d ask if we could go to the hangar and run where we had more space, but . . .”

“You’d rather not be eaten by polar bears?” he asked with a grin.

“Yes, that’s a big deterrent.”

“But,” he teased, “just think how fast you’d run.”

Smiling, I leaned into his embrace.

Now that I was no longer in what he’d called a crash course of remembering, I loved the way he was when it was just the two of us. His wit and humor made me laugh. That didn’t mean he didn’t correct me; it meant it wasn’t often necessary.

As chosen, we had the responsibility of setting examples for the followers; thus in public we didn’t show affection. However, running, especially in the early morning, allowed us more freedom. Despite being outside, we were alone. I rose up on the tips of my running shoes and kissed his cheek. “You know, I love this.”

His features softened. “I know you do. So do I.”

I sighed. “It’s strange, but it’s one of the few things I think I remember.”

He kissed the top of my head and played with my still-short ponytail. “Who knows, maybe more will come back.”

With my hand still in his, we began walking and I confessed, “I’m not trying to be selfish, but I miss you when you’re gone. I wish you didn’t have to leave so often.”

“You know that I . . .” He’d mentioned that he’d been given more responsibility but couldn’t tell me more.

I nodded. “I know you can’t say and I’m not asking. But I’ve been wondering about something else.”

“You have? That inquisitive, intelligent mind of yours scares me. Sometimes you’re too smart for your own good.”

I didn’t say more; instead I pushed my lower lip out playfully.

Jacob kissed my pout. With sparkling eyes he said, “Go on. What have you been wondering?”

“Before my accident, did we ever talk about children?”

Jacob’s feet stopped. When I looked up, his face was ashen as if all the blood had drained from his cheeks. “We did,” he finally admitted.

“We did?”

“We decided that we weren’t ready.” He began walking again.

“
We
did, or
you
did?”

“Sara, even though that is questioning, it was a decision we made together.”

I sighed. “Then I’d like to ask to revisit
our
decision.”

He kissed my cheek. Releasing my hand, with a smirk, he lengthened his stride, and called over his shoulder, “If we hurry home, we could practice.” He shrugged. “I’d want to be sure we had it right first.”

Though I shook my head, I couldn’t stop the smile that pushed my cheeks higher. I was confident we had it right, but there was always room for practice. In no time we were running side by side, back through the woods, while long beams of light shone down, and back to the community on our way home. As our strides took us closer to our apartment, I thought about the babies at the day care. I’d been going there lately to meet with a female follower. Often I’d hold and rock one of the babies as she did the same and we talked. At first the small humans had seemed foreign, but now I found myself excited to go there. Their soft skin and sweet smell woke something inside me. Maybe it was like it was for Jacob with me. I wanted to love someone so much that I took full responsibility for them, like he had me.

As Jacob helped me out of my running clothes, I contemplated the birth control medication that I took every morning. The idea of
not
taking it seemed more and more appealing. I’d probably receive correction for making that decision without Jacob’s permission, but I knew my husband. Once he found out we had a baby coming, he wouldn’t stay upset; he couldn’t.

Once we were both completely naked, Jacob captured me in his arms and pulled me close. Though our skin was warm and slick from our run and the temperature wasn’t cool, as my breasts flattened against his chest, goose bumps peppered my flesh and my nipples beaded. The scent of desire mixed with his normal leather and musk created an intoxicating concoction. Inhaling, I inclined my face toward his and chuckled. “You know I need to be at the lab by nine and you need to be at Assembly.”

“An advantage of living in the community is that our commute time is minimal.”

I shook my head. He was right. We both could walk to our destinations in less than five minutes.

Loosening his embrace, Jacob tugged my hand. With a sly grin and his sexy, raspy voice, he said, “I think we both need to shower.”

“I thought you promised me a practice session?”

“I’m all for killing two birds with one stone.”

As Jacob turned on the rain of warm water, the muscles in his arms, back, and tight, bare rear flexed, causing my insides to liquefy at the magnificent man in front of me. Only fleetingly did I recall the showers after my accident. At that time my husband’s touch had been gentle but aloof, and he’d obviously been fearful of hurting me. No longer was he tentative—in any way. I was his to have and claim whenever he desired. Yet when he did, it was always with complete reverence, always confirming that I was willing and ready for him. He needn’t have worried; just the sound of his raspy voice and the way his eyes shimmered with lust had me ready. I couldn’t recall ever having had an issue with being willing either.

That didn’t mean I wanted to forgo foreplay.

Under the warm spray, I leaned my head back as moans escaped my lips. With my breasts willingly exposed to his masterful inclinations, I ran my fingers through his dark hair and pulled his mouth closer. His stubbly cheeks created the perfect abrasion as a fever burned within me, making the water sizzle as it fell upon our hot skin. The sensations he produced as his tongue and lips teased my hardened nipples sent pulsations throughout my body. In time his ministrations turned to nips as he cupped my behind and pulled me tightly against him, capturing his hardness against my stomach.

No longer just ready, my body ached with need as my insides tensed to a painful pitch. “Please,” I begged.

A resonating growl filled the shower as his fingers probed, no doubt learning just how ready I was.

One finger, in and out, and then two . . .

I tasted his salty skin as my tongue and lips kissed and sucked his bristly neck. My grip on his broad shoulders tightened as my body mindlessly moved to his touch. When my breathing quickened and I was ready to quake in his grasp, his strong arms lifted me, pinning me to the wet tile. As he continued his erotic assault, eliciting my pleasure, pushing me toward the edge, my legs tightened around his waist. Just before I fell to ecstasy, his fingers disappeared, and we came together.

“O-oh, God, Jacob,” I moaned. My core clenched as I adjusted to accommodate his size. The delicious stretch filled me, electrifying every nerve in my body. From my fingers to my toes, sparks ignited.

“You feel so good,” Jacob said. “I’ll never get enough of being inside of you.”

“It’s where I want you,” I purred.

His lips captured mine, swallowing my words and sounds. Our tongues danced to the song our bodies sang. He created the rhythm, but the melody came from both of us. The combination of his resonating hiss, my whimpers of desire, and the slap of skin against skin filled the shower with the indistinguishable sound of two people moving in sync and lost in one another. Up and down we moved, until the sparks he’d ignited detonated.

As I teetered once again on the edge, my breath stuttered and my legs tightened.

He didn’t stop. He knew my body better than I did. He knew the signs that I was close. Nipping my breast, he commanded, “Come on, Sara, come for me.”

Fireworks, volcanoes, and stars falling from the sky paled in comparison to the explosion.

I cried out as every cell inside me discharged, leaving me shattered, held together only by his arms. Holding tight, I clung to his neck as wave after wave rippled through me, instigating uncontrollable spasms. Another thrust and I opened my eyes in time to watch his handsome face go from strain to utter bliss. Seconds later Jacob’s eyes met mine and I smiled.

Seeing him like this let me know just how much influence I had over my husband. He was in charge of our lives, but I held power too. With a sly grin, I admitted, “I may not be able to stand.”

His smile grew. “I’ve got you.”

Exhaling, I said, “I think you’ll have to let me go. I’m not exactly ready for work.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” He kissed my forehead. “I’ll help you with that too.”

My kisses trailed from his shoulder to his chest as he lowered my feet to the floor. “How did I get such a helpful husband?”