Taking candy from a stranger is likely on their list too, dummy. Sofie would probably tell me this is sending the wrong kind of message, but I’m desperate to reassure them.
“How about I give you each one, and you can decide if you want to try it?” I unwrap one and pop it into my mouth. The bright sweetness explodes on my dry tongue.
I give one to CJ. His eyes brighten as he spins it open and slides it between his teeth. “Yum.”
When I offer two butterscotch buttons to the girls, they eye each other, then Gweneth plucks them from my palm. “Thank you.”
“Who knew Mr. Grumpy Gills had a sweet tooth?” CJ says under his breath as I pull onto the road.
The nondescript one-storybuilding surrounded by tall ponderosas that houses Canyon County’s Child Protective Servicescould pass for a school administration building or a library with its beige walls, thin carpet, and the overworked female staff. It’s a few blocks from the sheriff’s department, and a better place for the girls while everything gets sorted.
I debated bringing them to Finn River, where I have strong connections with law enforcement, but State Trooper Vera Perch and Luke both urged me here instead, not only because Luke’s brother Kaz is the sheriff, but it will be easier for the girls’ mother to see them and reclaim custody.
After the chaos of our arrival, a social worker let us keep the girls company in a small playroom with board books, used toys, and a small table and chairs with a box of blunt crayons and cheap coloring books, the kind with thin, brown pages that rip easily. Most were already colored in, but Gweneth and I managed to fill in the rest of a cartoon elephant together while I waited for Luke’s call. When I left the room to take it, CJ was reading to McKenzie on the floor, their backs against the wall, while the social worker invited Gweneth to work on a puzzle.
“Not that I’d change how this went down, but with them escaping, it means our hottest lead just got a lot more complicated,” Luke says into the phone.
“I understand.” Arresting a couple of the Sons of Eden elders for kidnapping would have been a great way to show these assholes we’re not fucking around, but Luke and I both know the safety of the two girls comes first.
I push out the double doors leading to a small courtyard in the back of the building, separated from the busy road behind it by a concrete wall that feels distinctly prison-like. The dry, cold air tastes stale, and if not for the cluster of tall ponderosas in the corner, the dead needles coating the two concrete picnic tables and ground would give this space an unwelcoming vibe. Though maybe it’s the cigarette disposal stand beneath the eaves giving me that impression.
“Anything else I need to know about your visit?” Luke asks.
“Our goal of gaining an informant isn’t happening. At least not from my agency.”
“It was a longshot given that both Tolbert and his buddy are in the upper echelon of the cult. The true believers who are devoted to Wakefield. Someone lower in status or from the group of followers would be a better target.”
Getting Sheriff Thomas removed from office would certainly improve our odds. Would that be enough to destabilize Wakefield’s power? “I got inside two of the houses.”
“Probably couldn’t resist showing off.”
A car whizzes past on the road. “Why do you say that?”
“Toxic leaders like them truly believe their way of life is superior. Despite the suffering it causes. Inviting you in and acting like a gracious host feeds that insatiable ego of theirs.”
“No sign of Wakefield.”
“I’m sure he wasn’t far.”
Maybe watching from his palace.
“And no one approached you? Not even the women?”
In the first home, Wayne Gilbert’s pregnant wife whisked a whimpering toddler down the hallway the moment I stepped inside. In the second home, it appeared Tolbert Browning was alone, though I sensed movement from deeper inside the structure.
“The rooms were so…bare. No toys. Barely any furniture. The kitchen was spotless.”
“The women and children are likely restricted to a certain part of the house. Or they live in the dormitories or that farmhouse.”
Restricted. I kick a pebble across the courtyard. “Someone took a big risk getting Gweneth and McKenzie out of there today.” And they were able to do it without Wakefield knowing.
“That’s what worries me,” Luke says with a sigh. “It means the abuse could be escalating.”
“I might have done something stupid.” I run my hand down my chin.
“Define stupid.”
I limp to the closest picnic table and rest my butt against the top, but the ache in my hip just skips to my groin. “I asked to use the washroom then wrote my cell number on the underside of the sink. With a sharpie.”