The Hero (Thunder Point #3)(39)

The women all looked fearfully at each other. Laine knew, without a doubt, she would be the most suspect, given the fact that she was the newest to this clan.

“Who’s missing?” he thundered. He looked around the kitchen. “Where are Reese and Mariah?”

The women exchanged even more troubled glances. Finally it was Lorna who said, “Gathering eggs, I think. That’s where they should be.”

“There’s no one in the henhouse!”

Charlotte stepped toward Jacob. “But they would never leave,” she said. “Not Reese—this is her home. This has been her home for eight years! And Mariah is close to having her baby—where would they go?”

Laine braved his wrath. “Jacob, are there any vehicles missing? Mariah’s too pregnant to get far on foot. Shall we go looking for them?”

“I’ll take care of this,” he blustered, stomping around the room. “Get the children downstairs right now!”

And four women scrambled to do as he ordered.

Laine knew exactly who would be missing, but their lives depended on her ability to be convincing and helpful.

Tears ran down Laine’s cheeks and she twisted her hands. “Jacob, Reese and Mark and Mariah aren’t here.”

He let out a roar, picked up a plate from the table and threw it against the wall. Little Liam in the high chair began to cry and Laine rushed to pick him up. This broke Laine’s heart; he was the baby of the house and she desperately wanted to get him on the other side of that fence. She just cried harder as she thought about this.

“Did you betray us, Laine?”

“Me?” she asked on a choked sob. “Why would I do that? If I wanted to leave and knew the way, wouldn’t I go? Jacob, they can’t have gone far—let’s look for them. I’ll help. We’ll all help.”

“There’s a conspiracy here,” he thundered. “And when I find it, you’ll be sorry!”

Laine just held the toddler against her, weeping.

But when he turned to leave, she sent daggers at him through the narrow slits of her eyes. If she’d had a weapon at that moment, he might be dead.

A half hour later the men—all four of them, armed—left the compound in three big dark SUVs. Suddenly they were all gone, leaving the women and children behind.

It had taken Laine nine months to be picked up by Jacob. Her assignment was to infiltrate the commune and learn the extent of his fraudulent activities. As well, she was to look for evidence of kidnapping, human trafficking, antigovernment activities and custodial interference. What they hadn’t known, going in, was that Jacob had developed a large and sophisticated marijuana grow-op. Once Laine had learned the extent of this operation the commune was placed under constant surveillance. At that point her job shifted from investigation to rescue. She had to find a way to get the women and children out before a warrant was served. Crazy Jacob, who said he’d die before facing off with the government, might just kill all of them rather than surrender to authority. This could become another Waco or Ruby Ridge if it wasn’t handled with finesse and intelligence.

Laine was FBI. Deep cover. And in grave danger.

* * *

Devon felt tickling on her face and opened one eye. Mercy grinned at her. “Mama, you spended the night.”

She opened the other eye. Jenny was sitting next to Mercy, both little girls on their knees, giggling at her.

Oh, my, she thought. This is embarrassing. “I just wanted to kiss you good-night and I must have fallen asleep right here,” she said, trying to get her bearings. She sat up. Someone had covered her with a blanket and she still wore last night’s dress. Beautiful. “Where’s your daddy, Jenny?”

“He told us to wake you up. He’s making clown pancakes.”

“Wonderful,” she said. She pulled herself up, visited the bathroom, rinsed her mouth and headed to the kitchen. Will was standing on a stool, stirring the pancake batter. The girls were already sitting at the table eating their breakfasts. Scott, still wearing those plaid pajama bottoms and a T-shirt, was flipping pancakes.

“Well, good morning,” he said with a smile.

“I’m very embarrassed,” she said.

“No need. You were out like a light so I just went to bed.” He lifted a handsome brow. “I trust you slept well?”

She chuckled to herself. “Oh, yeah. Just like old times. Wrapped around a couple of little girls.”

“Can I interest you in a couple of pancakes?” he asked.

“Sure. That’s awfully nice of you, after I disrupted your sleep in the middle of the night.”

“Nah, not that serious. I was just reading.”

“Where’s Gabriella?”

“Sleeping in. I have no idea when Charlie brought her home, but it must have been very late. Sunday is her day off unless I have something going on. I’m on call for Bandon E.R. today and if they call, I’ll need her. She usually spends Sundays studying or with Charlie.”

“You could just call me,” she said.

He leaned toward her. “How’m I gonna do that, Devon?” he asked.

“Right. No phone. I’m going to have to take care of that. Maybe I should take the kids down to the beach, let them see the flower arch, play in the water a little bit. I’d be happy to do that. In fact, it’s the least I can do.”