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“She’s safe. That’s all you need to know.”
“Thelma—”
“I don’t want to talk to you, Nate.” With that, she marched around him and into the restaurant.
Nate remained outside, braving the storm and wondering if he should drive to Willcox. He needed to get on the Internet and check in with Milt. He hadn’t done that since letting their boss know they’d arrived safely. But Willcox was an hour and forty minutes away, and he didn’t want to put any more distance between him and Rachel. Although service was slow and sometimes erratic, the Internet worked here in Portal. Besides, he was starving since this had all erupted before they could have dinner.
Deciding to brave Thelma’s displeasure a little longer, he retrieved his new computer and headed inside.
He stood near the Welcome, Please Wait for a Hostess to Seat You sign, but Thelma didn’t reappear. Maybe she knew he was waiting and didn’t want to seat him.
Her husband, Chaske, came out from the kitchen instead. “Just one?”
His expression didn’t reveal whether he’d heard about Rachel’s fat lip. “Yes.”
Chaske led Nate to a table in the corner, handed him a menu and left without further comment.
Thelma showed up a few minutes later. She was wearing lipstick and a clean apron, as if she’d freshened up to prepare for any late stragglers, but her smile wilted the moment she saw him. Ignoring two parties who’d come in after he had, she hurried over.
“Nate, I won’t tell you where Rachel is, so it’s not going to do you a bit of good to camp out here.”
He was just opening his laptop. “I understand. I won’t ask you again.”
She seemed taken aback by his capitulation. “Then why are you here?”
“The trailer feels too empty without her,” he said, which was true. He couldn’t stay there, all the while imagining what might be happening in Paradise. He’d started walking to Portal the minute she’d left. “I just want something to eat, okay?”
She pursed her lips. “I still can’t believe you’d hurt her like that.”
“Neither can I.”
“You gotta control your temper. You’re gonna lose her, you know that? You might have already.”
His muscles tightened at the thought of how permanent “losing” her could be. He was coming to care about her, much more than he wanted to. After Susan, he wasn’t eager to take the risks associated with a relationship, but he couldn’t let that stop him from ever getting close to a woman again, could he? “I sincerely hope not.”
“What were you thinking?” she asked. “You—”
“Food, Thelma,” he cut in. “I haven’t had dinner.”
“Fine,” she snapped, and moved off to take care of her waiting customers.
“Hi, Joanie. How’s the new horse?” Her voice carried, but he didn’t listen for long. Abby appeared with his water, then lingered near his table, staring at him.
“I suppose you’re mad at me, too,” he said.
She gave no indication. She didn’t have much of a chance. Her grandmother tugged on her sleeve as she passed by and pointed toward the table she’d just seated, and Abby hurried off to get those people some water, too.
With a curse of frustration, Nate shoved his menu aside. He’d order a burger. It wasn’t as if he cared what he put in his stomach.
After two botched attempts, his Internet connection held well enough for him to access his e-mail. His computer was as slow as a damn snail, but he had time—too much of it now that he was resigned to waiting a few hours before driving up to Paradise. He hated feeling so helpless.
There were a number of e-mails in his in-box. Some were from friends and family. Most were spam. He began by opening one of two messages he’d received from Milt. The first had been sent the day after they arrived.
That was the briefest check-in on the planet. What’s going on? Have you busted this ass**le yet?
Nate would’ve chuckled except he felt pretty far from having the upper hand where Ethan and the Covenanters were concerned. If Rachel got in—and he was fairly certain she had—they’d turn him away. He knew that already. She’d spend the night in the commune…alone.
Milt’s next e-mail was longer and had been sent just this morning.
Hey, why haven’t you checked in? I send you away with a beautiful woman and you disappear? Call me. I have something you need to hear.
“What now?” Nate exited his e-mail program, left his laptop on the table and took his cell phone outside.
Milt answered on the first ring. “It’s about damn time!” he complained instead of saying hello.
“Whatever you do, don’t say anything to piss me off,” Nate said.
“Wow, you are in a shitty mood.”
“What do you want?”
“What do I want?” he repeated. “How about a f**king update?”
“Martha’s gone missing, and Rachel is in the compound, trying to find her.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“Taking a nap, Milt. What do you think? I’m biding my time until I can go bang on the gate and get in there with her.” He hated the fact that he couldn’t do anything until then.
“Things aren’t going well, huh?”
They weren’t. Nate kept thinking about the stoning and the girl who’d gone missing and the way it all tied back to Ethan and Paradise. Rachel thought she could handle everything so she didn’t shy away from anything. It was a bad mix, a dangerous mix. And then there was that business with his computer. “Could be better.”
“If that’s the way you’re feeling, this probably won’t help.”
Bracing for more bad news, Nate paced in front of the restaurant. “What is it?”
“I hired a private investigator to do some checking, had him go to several of the places the Covenanters lived or visited before settling in Paradise.”
“And?”
“He stumbled across a woman who met Ethan. This was outside Cincinnati when the cult passed through there. They only stayed two weeks. They weren’t welcomed by the locals. And they couldn’t get enough money together to buy the land they wanted. So they moved on, searching for greener pastures. But this woman, she felt badly about the discrimination they faced, so she tried to extend the hand of fellowship, as she put it.”
“And that means…”
