The Faithful (20 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“Oh, what the
hell
!” The parapsychologist jumped to her feet. She was wearing a long black cotton dress, pale-blue Crocs, and an extremely angry expression on her face. Ryanne took a step back toward the doorway, hovering behind Josh.

“Now, listen Ms. Doku . . . uh,
Kahina
. Please, I have a very good reason for bringing Dr. Wilson here today. If you could just remain calm and hear me out, I think we might go a long way toward finding your granddaughter.”

“Why? Is she going to tell me where her
friends
took Leora?” She turned her hot gaze on Ryanne. “You tell them if they hurt
one hair
on that little girl’s head . . . she’s just a
baby
.”

“I had nothing to do with it!” Ryanne protested from the doorway. “I don’t know
who
took your granddaughter. All I know is I risked my
life
trying to stop it! And I’m sorry . . . I’m
so sorry
I didn’t succeed.” Josh noticed her eyes sparkled like emeralds when she was about to cry.

“What do you mean, you don’t know who took her?
You were there.
If you didn’t have anything to do with it, why were you there?” Kahina spat at her.

“Yes, I
was
there. I was there to
stop
it. The question is, why weren’t
you
, if you’re so psychic?”

Kahina reeled back. “How dare you? I would do
anything
to protect that girl . . .”

Ryanne blew out a ragged breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I don’t know who took her, I swear. I would tell you if I did.”

“Well, that’s not quite true,” Josh said.

“What’s not true?”

“You
do
know who took her, and you probably know where they took her, too. You just don’t remember yet.” Ryanne looked like she’d been slapped across the face. Kahina was watching him with wide eyes.

“Listen.” He turned pleadingly to the older woman. “I’ve been leading an investigation into a large number of missing children, an investigation that’s been ongoing for more than twenty years in one way or another. There are hundreds of missing-child cases I believe are linked to the kidnapping of your granddaughter.”

“How so?” she asked.

“There are a number of similarities, but the main one is all the missing children have some form of ESP. Does Leora share your gift?”

Kahina sat heavily behind her desk. “She does.”

Josh took the opportunity to sit down across from her, wanting to stay on her level. Ryanne remained in the doorway.

“Believe it or not,” he said, “for the first time in, well,
forever
, I can actually say that’s good news.”

“How is it good news?”

“Because I think I’m getting close to finding the people behind these kidnappings. I have hope we will find Leora.
Alive.
But we need your help.”

“What can
I
do? Obviously, I’m not much of a psychic. As you pointed out.” She eyed Ryanne.

“We don’t need your psychic abilities. We need your help to unlock Dr. Wilson’s memories. Just like she was asking you to do before you kicked her out of your office.”

“I don’t understand. What good will that do?”

“When I was twenty, I investigated the kidnapping of a young girl by the name of Ryanne Jervis. She went missing on her way home from school. The circumstances of that case were very similar to Leora’s. I became, well,
obsessed
with it. In fact, that case is the reason I joined the FBI. And that led me to the discovery of hundreds of other cases matching Ryanne’s disappearance, all beginning in the sixties.” He turned and smiled encouragingly at her, standing battered and frail in the doorway.

“Kahina, I’d like you to meet Ryanne Jervis. Missing child number five hundred and thirty-four.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

“You are a complete idiot. I can’t believe we share the same genes!” Lexy shouted at her brother. Sumner could feel the temperature in the room rising; Ora seemed aware of this as well.

“Phoenix, don’t listen to her.” She grabbed his hand, and Sumner noticed she winced as if touching a hot stove, but held on anyway. “Lexy,
chill
.”

“How can you be so
dumb
, Phoenix?” Lexy was too angry to heed Ora’s warning, and frankly, Sumner couldn’t blame her.

“We needed to know if the kid was still alive.”

“
Without
letting them know we’re interested!”

“They don’t know. I only talked to Mannix, it’s not like I announced it to the whole Ranch!” Phoenix was red to the tips of his ears.

“You only talked to Mannix?
Only?
He’s being ordained into the
Priesthood
!”

“He’s my
friend
, Lexy.”

“Not anymore, he’s not,” Ora chimed in, but gently. “Phoenix, we can’t trust anyone Inside anymore. Especially not someone who has committed to the Priesthood.”

“He didn’t know anything, anyway,” Phoenix said.

“That’s even worse! Now they know we’re interested, and we didn’t get anything out of it, either!” Lexy was stomping, too angry to stay still.

“Okay, Lexine! I screwed up! Are you happy now?”

“Why would I be happy? I’ll be happy when you start using your brains! And not the ones you keep in your pants, Phoenix!”

“How dare you! My sex life is none of your business!”

“You make it my business when you try to sleep with my girlfriend!”

“Hey!” Ora jumped in. Phoenix looked like he’d been slapped. The air in the room was starting to ripple alarmingly.

“You think I don’t know,
dear
brother? I know everything!”

“Then you know nothing has ever happened.” Ora moved toward Lexy, reaching out for her.

“Don’t lie to me, Ora! I know about the
kiss
.” Ora froze. “What’s worse, I know you
liked
it.”

“Okay, Lex. I’m sorry.
I’m sorry,
I should have told you. But I swear, that’s all it was. It was just a
kiss
. Nothing else has ever happened.”

“Not yet, but it will! It
will
!” Lexy burst into tears, great wailing sobs that shook her tiny frame.

Ora wrapped Lexy in her arms and buried her face in Lexy’s soft cloud of curls. Sumner could hear her murmuring endearments and reassurances, and Lexy folded into Ora’s chest, fingers twisting into her blond locks.

Phoenix turned away. “Get a room.”

Sumner might have found the sight arousing if he weren’t so infuriated with all of them. “Can we all calm down and work out the problem? We have more important things to deal with here.”

The girls slowly untangled, flushed and damp from Lexy’s tears. Ora pulled Lexy down onto the couch beside her, cuddling the smaller girl up against her side.

“Sumner’s right,” Ora said.

“Thank you.”

Phoenix was still turned away from them, but the air had cooled.

“Phoenix?”

“Fine,” he sighed and turned to his sister. “And for the record, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what? For being an idiot or for trying to fuck Ora?”

“Lexy!” Ora sputtered.

“You see what I have to deal with?” Phoenix said to Sumner. “I’m sorry for both, Lexine.”

“Whatever,” Lexy muttered, looking away from her brother. Sumner could see Phoenix’s temper beginning to rise, and broke in to head off another fight.

“Okay! So . . . we don’t know if Jack is still alive, but we do know I couldn’t find his spirit. Right?” He waited a moment, but no one was responding, so he answered himself.

“Right! I think we’ve got to assume they’re keeping him somewhere on The Ranch, alive but unable to reach us.” He paused again. This time he got a small nod from Ora. Encouraged, he continued. “So, what do we do?”

They responded with more silence, so he jumped in with both feet. “I’m going to try to break the kid out.”

“They’ll see you coming from a mile away. You’ll never make it,” Ora said.

“Yes. But would they see
you
coming? Or know what you were planning?”

The three of them looked at each other, contemplating.

“Maybe not,” Phoenix said thoughtfully. “We’re pretty good at shielding our minds from them. We might be able to do it.”

“We can’t go back before they’ve called for us. They’ll be suspicious,” Lexy said.

“And they won’t be calling us back for at least another week,” Ora agreed.

“What if I create a distraction?” Sumner suggested. They all turned to him.

“What do you mean?” Lexy asked.

“Well, they know I’ve gone AWOL by now, I’d imagine.”

The first thing Sumner had done upon landing in Houston was throw away his cell phone; he didn’t want them using technology to find him. With Ora, Phoenix, and Lexy shielding him, it was unlikely they knew where he was. They must have known he hadn’t gone back to DC, as promised.

“So I’m already on their radar. What if I head back to The Ranch, guns blazing, so to speak, to draw their attention to me?”

“And we try to get to Jack while they’re focused on you?” Phoenix was smiling. Sumner nodded.

“They’ll kill you,” Lexy objected.

“Probably.”

“I don’t like it.” Lexy was shaking her head.

“Can you think of a better idea? I’m no hero. I’d really rather not be killed. I just can’t think of any other way to get Jack out of there.”

“Maybe we don’t need him,” Lexy muttered.

“We do, Lex,” Ora said softly.

Phoenix nodded his agreement. “The boy knows stuff. I don’t know how he knows, but he does. I got a sense of him when I was plugged into Sumner’s dream. That kid is . . . different.”

“Different than what? We’re all different, Phoenix,” Lexy said.

“I know. But he’s . . .
special
somehow. I felt it. It’s hard to describe, but . . . well, you know how the Chosen usually have stronger powers than the Disciples?” They all nodded in agreement.

“Well, this kid goes way beyond that.”

“But he’s not—I mean—are you saying that genetically . . . ?” Ora couldn’t seem to find the words for the question she wanted to ask, but Phoenix understood anyway.

“No, he’s not one of the Chosen. Genetically, he should be in league with the Disciples. But he’s not. He’s powerful . . . like something I’ve never seen before. I think with proper training he’d be more powerful than all of us put together.”

“Are you serious?” Lexy asked.

“How is it he knows
everything
? Whatever the Fathers are planning, he
knows
about it. He has the
whole picture
. The group of us, with all our powers combined, has never been able to get
close
to figuring it out.”

“They guard that information too well,” Ora said.

“Right, exactly. But somehow
he
knows. We
need
this kid.”

“Okay, I’m convinced,” Lexy sighed. “But can’t we figure out a way to rescue him that doesn’t get Sumner killed?”

They all stared at each other blankly.

“What about the woman he was looking for?” Ora asked. “Does anyone know who she is? I mean, is she from The Ranch?”

“I don’t know; I haven’t given her much thought,” Sumner admitted.

Phoenix looked pensive. “Did you actually see her in Jack’s mind, Sumner? All I could see was the red hair, but everything else was a blank.”

Sumner shook his head. “It’s the same for me, just the red hair. I don’t know how old she is, or what she looks like, or anything.”

“But she was the one he really needed to get to, right?” Lexy asked.

“Yeah. In fact, I think he feels a connection to me because we had a moment of communication at The Ranch, but it’s really her he needs to find.”

“So that means we need to find her, too,” Ora said.

“You’re right,” Sumner agreed. “Are there any redheads at The Ranch?”

“There’s Ashlyn, but she’s only eleven,” Phoenix said.

“I think she’s twelve or thirteen now,” Lexy corrected.

“Who is she?”

“She’s one of the Chosen,” Ora answered. “She’s Father Gabriel’s daughter, very powerful. She’s the only person I’ve ever known who can draw forth water.”

“She’s Phoenix’s shadow when he’s on The Ranch. We call her his fire hose,” Lexy joked.

“It’s because she has a crush on him,” Ora chimed in, and Phoenix blushed.

“When you say she can draw forth water . . .” Sumner prompted.

“Just that,” Ora replied. “She can create water the same way Phoenix makes fire. It’s very useful when you’ve got a hot-tempered firestarter running around.”

Phoenix seemed to take the teasing in stride. “She’s come in handy more than once,” he admitted. “But she doesn’t need to get angry to bring forth water, the way I do with fire. She has more control over her gift than I do.”

“Well, most of the time,” Lexy said, and the other two paled.

“What?” Sumner asked.

“Lex.” Ora gave her a warning look, and the smaller girl seemed to shrink back into the couch cushions.

“What is it?”

“Let’s just say there was an incident,” Phoenix said.

“What kind of an incident?”

“Well, she doesn’t always have control over how much water she produces. And water can be dangerous. People can drown.”

“Phoenix,” Ora said sternly, and he looked down, chastened.

After a moment of silence, Lexy chimed in. “Anyway, I doubt she’s the one Jack is looking for. She’s too young. And she’s on The Ranch; don’t you think this redhead would be Outside?”

“Probably. Anyone remember a Disciple with red hair?” Phoenix asked. The girls both shook their heads.

“Sumner?” Phoenix asked.

“I . . . don’t know. Maybe. I think there was a little girl, a new Disciple who was brought in just before I left. I don’t remember her name or anything, though; I just have the impression of red hair.”

“Just before you left? So you were eighteen?”

“Seventeen. It was just before I went into the Cocoon. After that, I don’t remember much,” he said bitterly.

“Any idea how old she was?” Lexy asked.

Sumner shook his head. “I didn’t pay much attention; if it weren’t for the red hair I probably never would have noticed. I’d say anywhere between five and eight. So I guess that would make her . . . in her early thirties?” he calculated.

“Wait, if she’s in her early thirties, then that means she’s, what . . . ten to fifteen years older than us?” Ora said. “Are you sure you don’t remember her? Phoenix? Lexy?”

“I don’t think so,” Phoenix said, shaking his head.

“Nope, me neither,” Lexy agreed. “We would have been pretty young when she went into the Cocoon.”

“Or became an
Amante
,” Sumner said tersely.

“Right. So if—” Ora was cut off by the sudden shrill of Phoenix’s cell phone. They all jumped. He pulled it out of the pocket of his robe and looked down at the screen.

“Shit.”
His pale face had gone gray.

“Who is it?” Lexy whispered.

“Father Narda,” Phoenix’s voice was grim. Sumner’s heart plummeted.

“Oh, shit!” Ora moaned.

“What do I do?” Sumner could hear the hammer of Phoenix’s heartbeat in his voice.

“Answer it,” Sumner said through gritted teeth.

On the fifth ring, Phoenix tapped the answer button and held the phone up to his ear. His hand was shaking violently. “Hello, Father.”

They sat, white-faced, watching Phoenix.

“She’s fine. She must have turned off her phone or something,” he said, and then swallowed audibly. “No, she’s right here. Hang on a sec.” He held out the phone to Ora like it was a bomb. “Your dad wants to talk to you.”

Dad?
It struck Sumner like a crowbar to the chest. She was Father Narda’s daughter? The younger sister of Adelia’s twin girls?

“Hi Dad,” Ora said. To give her credit, she sounded calmer than she looked. “Uh-huh. Right, but . . .
now
? It’s . . . but we’re still processing orders, and we haven’t finished clearing the accounts yet.” Her eyes widened in panic. “But we’ve got at least another
week
of work to do . . . Okay, fine. I said
fine
!”

She clicked off and closed her eyes. “He’s calling us home. We’re to report to The Ranch ASAP.”