Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(82)
James bit out a curse. “Yeah, I hear what you’re saying. I’ll send the men out now, and I’ll tell my family to get over to Gentry’s. Thanks for the warning, Father. I’ll let you know when my men have located Eve and her brother.”
The line went dead and I dropped the handset of the phone to the ground, kicking it against the wall much like I had the Bible in Joshua’s room. Those slimy sons of bitches better find my wife before I completely lose it and fly off the fucking handle.
JACOB
“No, you can’t get the sheriff involved in this, Agent Ross. He’s part of the fucking problem!”
Twenty-four hours. That’s how long it took for Father Timothy to contact the Diocese, convince them there was a madman who could expose the hidden crimes of the Catholic Church, and have them get in touch with people even higher up the food chain to send a federal agent to the small cabin where I was hiding with Joshua and Sedra. The agent had brought a team ready to storm the gates of Jericho’s compound, he was sent to investigate first, but after speaking with Sedra and discovering how brainwashed the poor woman was, he spoke with Joshua and found out exactly what was going on inside the walls of a building that Jericho had managed for over twelve years.
The agent, with his tawny brown hair and shrewd amber eyes, squinted against the sunlight pouring through the thick branches of trees above us. Dressed in simple khakis and a black button up shirt, he didn’t draw attention to himself like most agents would. He was familiar with the rural areas in the mountains and had located the roads leading to the hunting cabin rather quickly. He drove a truck that was more beat down than mine, and I was thankful to him for hiding his identity when I knew the sheriff was most likely watching. By now, Jericho knew that Sedra was missing and I was sure he’d set out an entire army to claim her and bring her back to the compound.
Reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, the agent stared at me with disbelief obvious behind his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe what he’d learned about Jericho and the happenings inside the small town, it was just that he’d reacted like any person would to find out people were being crucified on crosses like we were back in Biblical times.
“You have to understand my shock in all this, Jacob. That’s a lot of crazy shit to digest. As far as I knew, nothing happened around this area except for the occasional theft of somebody’s hunting dog, or perhaps an argument over zoning boundaries. It’s not too often a person finds out that a cult has been operating directly under their noses for twelve fucking years. And then to hear about what he’s doing to people? To learn that the sheriff is helping him? Jesus Fucking Christ! What kind of insanity is this?”
Pacing out a few steps, he turned back to stare at me. “You know, if the Church itself hadn’t contacted the Bureau, there would have been no way in hell that we believed it. Sure, we may have made a drive-by, but left it at that. Now we’ve got the Catholic Church breathing down our necks threatening all sorts of hell if this isn’t handled quietly.”
Quietly certainly wasn’t going to happen. Not with my brother. By the time this was all over and done with, I was sure this particular problem would be labeled another Waco. Bringing down that cult had spurred national attention, thousands of citizens crying out in anger over the deaths of women and innocent children just because some whackjob had decided he wanted to run a cult.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to that with Jericho, hoped there was a way we could get all the innocent family members out and also save my brother. I didn’t want him killed, only locked away where he couldn’t hurt another person. I was sure that deep down inside, he was still the same brother I’d known before those assholes changed him into a monster.
“So, how do we go about doing this?” I asked, hoping like hell this guy could come up with a decent plan because I was running on empty.
Unable to get out and buy food or water, the three of us had stayed in the cabin until the agent was able to bring some with him. I’d snatched a water bottle for myself, but had given the rest to Sedra and Joshua. Who knew how long it had been since either of them had been allowed to eat something nutritious? I remembered the dietary requirements Sedra had told me about during the first nights she’d spent with me at the parish. It didn’t matter much to me if they ate every last bite. My stomach was churning so hard with apprehension that I wouldn’t have been able to keep the food down regardless.
He sighed before scrubbing his palm over his face. “I think we’ll need to get the state police involved. I’ll explain that local law enforcement is involved and needs to be kept out of the loop. If they’re killing people like you say they are, then we need to get in there tonight in hopes of saving whoever else they have ready to go up on those crosses.”
Wincing at the thought of the horrible deaths being delivered to the people dragged into the compound, the agent breathed out heavily and turned his face to the sky. “You know, I’m a faithful man, always have been. It’s hard being born and raised in this part of the country and not having Christian values shoved down your throat, but I never imagined an entire town of people could be led so far astray as to believe anything like this is right. These are good people. Hardworking people. Faithful people. But to hear about this? To know they’re involved?” He shook his head. “None of it makes sense.”