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“Yes, I get it.”
“I understand you have quite a history with them.”
Gedrose’s smile slipped. “I guess you know I was given early retirement from the department. They thought I’d stolen money from a drug bust. I don’t suppose you care that I didn’t do it.”
“Sure,” Alex said. “We don’t hear that often enough in law enforcement.”
Gedrose shrugged. “You’ve made up your mind, so I won’t waste my time trying to convince you. But there was never any evidence that I took the money. However, if you’ll look through the file from back then, you’ll see that my partner seemed to suddenly have a lot of luck at the casinos in Kansas City.”
“The department would have been looking for that.”
“Not if your partner is the chief’s son.”
“Look,” Logan said, “let’s concentrate on what happened at the hospital. Do you know how Nettie died? Do you think she was killed?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see anyone at the hospital who aroused my suspicions, but you need to know that more members of the Circle are around than you think. The actual number would shock you. I’ve only met a few of them.”
Alex snorted. “Only four or five people used to show up for my aunt’s meetings. I think we can handle that.”
“But that wasn’t the only meeting place in Wichita. And across the country? Thousands of people are in the Circle.”
“Wait a minute,” Logan said as he sat down on the arm of the couch, his gun still pointed at Gedrose. “You’re trying to tell us it’s true that thousands of people believe in this stuff? That’s absurd.”
“Yes, it is. I finally realized that. I got involved with the Circle shortly after I was pushed out of my career and forced to make a living any way I could. I won’t bore you with my job history, except to say I did okay.” He swallowed. “My wife hated the Circle. She was a Christian and tried to tell me that I’d been deceived and The Book was false. She said that Satan can’t create anything so he attacks what God has designed. That The Book is one of the devil’s ways to keep people from Him.”
“You said she was a Christian,” Alex said. “You’re not married anymore?”
Gedrose hung his head. “She died about ten years ago. Embolism. That’s what drove me to the truth. My parents made me attend Sunday school when I was a kid, but I didn’t pay much attention. But I had to know if my wife was in heaven. If I could really see her again. So I read the Bible all the way through. When I was done ... I believed. I prayed for God’s forgiveness and asked Jesus to give me a new life. A new mind. I asked for His Holy Spirit to live in me. Make me the man He wanted me to be. And He answered my prayer.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Being in the Circle only caused me to fear others. But God filled me with love and changed me completely. I’m not the same. That’s the miracle, isn’t it? Seeing people change. No other god does that.”
Alex sighed. “That’s great, but it doesn’t explain what happened to Nettie.”
“The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced the Circle got to her in the ICU. Nettie wasn’t worried that they knew Willow had a copy of The Book, but I wasn’t so sure. I warned her they might try to take it.”
“Wait a minute,” Alex said. “Just before she died, Nettie indicated she recognized you from a sketch I made, but she never mentioned you when she gave me The Book.”
“She wouldn’t,” Gedrose said. “She was protective of me. Even though she wasn’t worried about herself, she was concerned about me. She kept my connection to the Circle and to her a secret. She and I were working together to free Willow from the Circle’s clutches.”
“So you think someone from the Circle tried to kill Nettie because she was trying to free Willow? Then they finished the job at the hospital? But why kill Willow?” Logan asked. “She was one of them.”
“I don’t know. To be honest, I find it strange that Willow and Nettie were attacked after Nettie gave you The Book.”
“How did you find out about that?” Alex asked.
“Nettie called me. Told me about it.”
“That’s convenient,” Alex said. “Then you told the Circle about it and caused their deaths. Maybe you even killed them yourself.”
Gedrose’s expression darkened. “First, I don’t know anyone in the Circle who would attack two women—and so violently. And second, even if I were a killer, which I’m not, do you really think a former police officer would assault those women the way they were? I went in the back door after the police left Willow’s house. I have a key. What I saw was rage. It was messy. I wouldn’t have done it that way. No one in law enforcement would.”
Alex couldn’t argue with that. Gedrose would have simply shot them.
Logan sat down on the couch next to Alex, his gun lowered. “Let’s say we believe you,” he said. “Why are you here?”
“I want to help if I can. Like I said, I loved Willow, and I might be the best link you’ll ever have to the Circle.” He frowned at Alex. “Nettie said you removed The Book in a bag. If someone was watching, they might have guessed what it was.”
Alex shook her head. “I really don’t see how.”
