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He was met by dead air. He pressed the button a number of times, but no one answered.
“Look. Let’s regroup. We’ll go get some breakfast and see what we can find out in town. It’s a small community. Maybe someone knows something.”
Frank was right. He backed up his car and drove back toward town. At least he knew he was in the right place. Either she hadn’t returned here and he was at a dead end, or the person answering the intercom was lying. He suspected the latter was true. They’d never let a stranger on the grounds, particularly if Teigen told them she was home for good.
They had to figure out a strategy to find out if she was there and to get in touch with her. They walked into the local diner and sat down. A waitress came over, and after they gave her their order, Frank asked, “Do you get people from the Trinity Farm coming in here?”
“Nah. They keep totally to themselves. The only place you ever see them is at the local market. I’m pretty sure they come in a van once a week. Which is fine by me. They’re pretty weird.”
“Thank you,” Frank replied. Once she left the table, they agreed they should check out the market as soon as they finished breakfast.
At the market they found out that residents of the commune came in every Thursday to shop, and they hadn’t come in yet.
Ellison couldn’t believe their luck. They sat parked in front of the building until a vintage VW bus parked next to him and a straggly group of women got out. There was no doubt in his mind that they were from the Farm.
Waiting till they got into the market, Frank had him go down one aisle while he went down another. Ellison ran into them first. He approached one of the women when she detached herself from the group to go up an aisle alone. He followed Frank’s directions on how to talk to them.
“Excuse me,” he said, “I wonder if you know where I can find the detergent?”
She eyed him warily but answered, “It’s two aisles over that way.”
“Thanks.” He walked away but then stopped and turned back to her. “Aren’t you from Trinity Farm?”
She began to back away.
“It’s just that my friend’s parents live there. I thought if you knew them, I could ask how they were doing.”
The woman hesitated, so Ellison pressed on. “Her name is Teigen Finley.”
The woman put her hands on her hips and her chin jutted out. “If she’s your friend, why didn’t you know she came to visit her dying mother?”
Shewashere! And not because she was running from him. “If you see her, could you tell her Ellison was asking after her?”
“I don’t think so.” The woman stalked off without a backward glance.
Maybe Frank would have gotten more information, but at least he knew where she was and why. A dying mother is a hard thing to resist no matter how you felt about her. He was curious about how Teigen found out about it and how she got to the Farm. She couldn’t be planning on staying too long no matter how sick her mom was.
He met Frank down the next aisle and signaled to him that he had made contact. They left the store and got back into his car.
“She’s there,” Ellison informed Frank. “Her mother’s dying.”
“That means we’re going to have to find a way in without being detected. With the security around the perimeter, it’s not going to be easy, but I suspect they don’t have a lot of cameras inside. After nightfall, I can look around the property and see if I can find a way in.”
“I want to go with you. Teigen doesn’t know who you are and she has no reason to trust you.”
Frank shook his head. “I get it, but it will be easier for me to maneuver if I don’t have you with me. You’ll give me some things I can tell her that will convince her that you sent me, and I’m sure she’ll trust me after that. It’s too much of a risk, and I don’t want to get shot on that property. No one will ever know we were there if we get caught. This group has a law unto themselves.”
“I know you’re right, but I’ll be going out of my mind till you come back.”
“All right. I’ll take you with me. But you better fucking listen to every word I say till we get out of there. I’m in charge and I don’t want any backtalk from you!”
“Of course.”
They went back into the market to pick up food to eat in their room then went back to the hotel to wait until sundown.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TEIGEN
