At the Crossroads (Buckhorn, Montana #3)(47)

The closer they got, Culhane could see why she was surprised and suspicious. Two armed men stepped from the booth and blocked the already-gated entry into the compound.

“They need this kind of security?” she asked.

“My thought exactly, the first time I came out here. There is definitely something off about this whole place.” The times he’d come out to do sheriff’s department welfare checks at Lost Sunset Ranch with its cultlike following of young women had creeped him out. Something was off about all of it.

The general feeling was that the Reverend Jerome Franklin was either a saint to help these young women or a dirty old man. Culhane hadn’t seen anything illegal going on during his previous visits. He and another deputy had found the young women in question, talked to them, asked them to call home and left. Because the women were over eighteen, there wasn’t anything they could do. With churches, even ones as sketchy as this one, the law tended to keep hands-off.

But Culhane had picked up on something at the ranch that left him feeling uneasy and concerned about the young women he’d seen living out there. Hearing that Jana had come here made him all the more suspicious.

He pulled up to the guards, both holding assault rifles.

He whirred down his window. “I’m here to see Jerome.”

“Do you have an appointment with the Reverend Franklin?” the guard asked, bristling at his use of the man’s first name.

“Tell him it’s about Jana Redfield Travis. I’m her husband, and I’m not leaving until I see him.” He didn’t add that he was going in there one way or the other.

One of the guards remained in front of the pickup while the other went inside the booth.

“If Jana is here,” Alexis said, “at least she’s safe, right?”

Culhane said nothing as he watched the man in the booth turn his back to them to pick up the phone. A few minutes later, the man hung up, stepped out and signaled the other guard to let them pass, and the gate opened.

As they drove, dense pines lined the narrow paved road. Several more guards appeared from out of the trees. Ahead he could see women and children, all wearing bonnets and long full dresses as if this were the 1800s.

But it was the way the women and children looked at them as they drove in, the suspicion and fear as they hurried away, that raised red flags.

“I have goose bumps,” Alexis said. “Who are these people, and what is going on out here?”

Culhane shook his head. “I would imagine the young women are lost souls. I suspect Jerome preys on them in some way. Maybe just financially. You said it was costly to stay here?”

“Very. Especially for seven months.”

“From what I understand, they’re also required to work.” As they came around a curve in the road and the pines opened, the massive rock-and-log structures that made up the ranch complex appeared. “But someone’s picking up the bill for this place. Jerome was a former hippie with no visible means of support before he found his calling.”

Having been here before, Culhane wasn’t surprised by the staff that came out to escort them to Jerome. They all wore one-piece tan jumpsuits and slack expressions.

“We’ll take you to the Reverend Franklin,” one of the staff said in a monotone.

“Don’t bother. I know where to find him,” Culhane said, striding off in the direction of the man’s office.

“They’re like zombies,” Alexis whispered, forced to trot alongside him to keep up as he left the staff behind. She hugged herself, feeling an uneasy chill.

Culhane stormed into the reverend’s office, Alexis at his heels. He told himself not to lose his temper, but everything about this place, this man and this situation had him fuming. As he looked at the man behind the huge desk, he wanted to grab him by his throat and shake the information he needed out of him. As if sensing his growing anger and frustration, Alexis laid a hand on his arm.

ALEXIS HADN’T KNOWN what to expect—but certainly not the man in front of her. The Reverend Jerome Franklin had a shock of white hair that stood on end as if he’d been raking his fingers through it.

As they burst in, he looked up with mild amusement rather than concern. Which seemed strange, given all the security she’d seen. He settled his startling blue eyes on the two of them and smiled.

“Hello.” As he rose to his feet, he looked younger than his white hair suggested. “Welcome to Lost Sunset Ranch. I’m sorry you had trouble at the gate. We have to be careful who we allow in for the protection of the young women here.” The man’s voice was calming, almost hypnotic, but it didn’t seem to be having a soothing effect on Culhane.

“Right,” Culhane said. “A sanctuary for young women.”

“Would you like to sit down? I could have my assistant bring you a cup of coffee, tea or—”

“We won’t be staying that long,” Culhane interrupted. “We want to see Jana Redfield Travis.”

Alexis suspected it wasn’t going to be that easy, even though the reverend didn’t seem in the least ruffled.

“The name doesn’t ring a bell,” the man said as he lowered himself back into his chair behind his desk. “But I’ll check to see if she’s with us.” He picked up his phone and asked his assistant to check to see if they had a follower by that name. “It should take just a moment,” he told Culhane as he hung up the phone and gave them his disarming smile.