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“To call me a liar?” She hadn’t ever lied to him or to Ahnah. She hadn’t wanted to lie to anyone. It went against everything she believed, and she’d taught Ahnah to be honest as well. Honest and a free-thinking woman who was strong and independent. Something the Family men didn’t allow. They were—for the most part—cruel with the belief that women were nothing more than sex objects and baby incubators to give them a strong posterity. They were better to be seen than heard and to look pretty while at it.
“No. I meant that. You can control whether you lie or not. The hair...” His eyes widened as he gave her untamed hair the no-hope-for-you expression, but she caught a glimmer of amusement. Ty always did use humor to deflect or lighten tension or to escape conflict.
“So, are we going to have this talk now?” She braced herself. Time to rehash the past, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to say about the present. She wasn’t expecting him to show up out of thin air. But over the years, she had been rehearsing what she’d say if the day ever came. Now all her words vanished and she was at a loss.
“No. Because I’m not here about you or us or our past, or even your lies.” He ran his tongue across the inside of his cheek. “I’m here about Ahnah’s disappearance and the murdered women at the lighthouses. That’s it. Then I’m out of your hair—pardon the pun—for the next seventeen or so years. Not here on a white horse, Bex.”
His words shouldn’t sting, but they did. “I never asked for a knight or a white horse. I can saddle my own, but clearly, you’re in shock that I’m alive. I imagine you want some answers.”
“Bexley I’ve known you were alive since last October when I saw the business card you gave to my colleague Fiona Kelly. You spoke at her church. I’ve gotten over the shock you’re alive. Not really over the shock you went from one cult to another. Maybe all the hair’s tangled your brain,” he mumbled.
Well, this was clearing some cobwebs on where he stood about the Family, and God. A year, though. He’d known a whole year and didn’t reach out. She couldn’t fault him. She hadn’t reached out in almost eighteen. Didn’t mean she hadn’t thought of him every single day, because she had. “I see. Well, I’ll tell you all I can about Ahnah, then.”
He clicked the pen again and picked up the notepad from his lap. “Does Ahnah take off often without telling anyone? Is it possible she’s out doing something on her own?”
“She’s a grown adult and doesn’t need permission, but she does live in my home. If she plans to be gone for an extended time, she lets me know so I don’t worry. You know I help broken women who have come out of domestic abuse and trafficking. Ahnah has seen what can happen to women, so she’s good about telling me and we have shared locations on our phones to track one another, but her phone has been off since she’s been missing. I’ve already spoken to the sheriff numerous times.”
“She’s...twenty-nine now. Wow,” he murmured. “I remember when she was a little squirt following us around as if we didn’t know it.”
Bexley smiled. “She loved you very much.”
“I loved her,” he whispered. “And I am going to find her, Bexley.”
“I believe you.” She had no reason not to. Tiberius had never been a liar.
“Did she know Lily Hayes and Amy-Rose Rydell?”
“She knew Amy-Rose better. They worked together at Blue Boutique and hung out often. Lily was more of someone she knew in passing. I don’t think they spent personal time together, but they did work on the same strip. Most everyone knows each other or of one another.”
“Boyfriend?”
“No. She’d dated some but... Ahnah didn’t trust most men. You can guess why.” Tiberius had witnessed the atrocities that were inflicted upon her sister. Upon many of the young girls in the Family.
Tiberius glanced up from his notepad, compassion in his eyes. That was one thing that had separated him from his father—the Prophet, aka Rand Granger. Her blood boiled at the thought of that vile man and the community he’d created that had warped and twisted everyone who came in contact with him, but he’d won them with great looks and charisma. Then he’d bound them to him and the way of life he’d declared God had given him.
“I do know, and I’m sorry it stunted her growth for relationships.” He cast a quick glance at her left ring finger as if checking to see if her growth had been stunted as well. It had, but not for the same reasons. “Were the two of you still close? Did she confide anything in you that might give you pause or anything that would appear abnormal?”
Were they close? It had been a rocky road with Ahnah. At twelve, after they’d escaped, she’d missed Mom and Dad and didn’t understand why they couldn’t call or visit. She had no concept that what they’d been brainwashed to believe was a lie from the pit. Even Bexley hadn’t realized they’d been fed lies until Renee Helton, the woman who’d found them after they’d run and who’d become her mentor, had showed her real truth. It had taken a long time to untangle the false beliefs.
“It was off and on with us. She had some resentment over me taking her away from her life and family, but she later understood I was saving her from your brother. From lies. From a lifetime of subservience to men like him. I put her through counseling—with someone else. Made her take self-defense classes and did anything I could to promote self-awareness and confidence. I wanted her to be her own woman. Make her own choices. Sometimes she thought I was too hard on her, and maybe I was.” Bexley had made mistakes. She was human.
“She’s had no contact with the Family, including your parents?” he asked, scribbling notes as he spoke.
Seemed like they were getting personal without actually saying it. “No. That was the hardest—not speaking to our mother. But they thought we were dead too. The only person who knew we were alive was Mother Mae. She passed four months ago. I kept in contact with her over the years. She helped us escape from the inside.”
“Mother Mae?” He frowned. “Really?”
“Yes. She wanted to leave the cult, after awaking to its barbaric nature, but wouldn’t because she knew Rand wouldn’t allow her to take the children, and she had four daughters. She stayed to protect them and others the best she could.”
“I had no idea,” he murmured.
“I called her once, though.”
“Mother Mae?”
“No. My mom.” Emotion clogged her throat. “I wanted to hear her voice. I never revealed it was me. Never even spoke, but it was like she knew. She said my name, and it was all I could bear. I hung up and never called again. Mother Mae called when Mom died two years ago. Cancer. My dad has remarried. I believe he’s up to five wives now.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know about your mom. I always liked her.”
