Tessa

My phone lit up with a call as I applied my makeup for my date with Lance.

"Hey, Brock. What's up?"

"Sugar, Lance Croft is not whoever he told you he was."

I closed my lips gloss and set it on the counter. "How do you know about him?"

"I saw his text on your phone."

I picked up my cell and held it to my ear. "You're watching my phone?"

"Rogan asked me to look out for you, remember?"

My heart twisted into a knot of regret and grief. Rogan was dead and wouldn't watch over me any more, but at least Brock still cared about me.

"Croft works for the FBI. His real name is Lachlan Cutlass."

Brock's usually easy going voice turning urgent and bitter set my hair on end.

"The FBI? What would he want with me?"

"It's more like what would he want with me and my brother. Don't give him any information. How long have you been dating him?"

"Tonight's our second date."

"Cancel."

"What?" I glanced at my clock. "He'll be here in a few minutes."

"Look him up. You'll see he's not whatever he told you he is. I'll be right over."

"No—"

But he'd already disconnected.

***

The serene Boston skyline reflected off the panoramic windows of The Top of the Hub restaurant. The gourmet New England steamed lobster on my plate cooled uneaten as I stared at the lying jerk sitting across from me.

"I have a problem."

Lance put his fork down and raised his eyebrows. "Hmm?"

"Can you tell me why I couldn't find an adjunct professor at UMass named Lance Croft? Or an entertainment reporter from the Times with that name?"

His shoulders pulled back a fraction, but he was good at covering. If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't have noticed any reaction.

"I write under a pen name. And it must be an oversight on the school web—"

"No Lance Croft. No Lachlan Cutlass?"

"Tess—"

"Are you an FBI agent?"

He leaned over the table and spoke in a hushed voice. "Yes."

With a quick glance, I made sure no one was listening and leaned in too. "Are you investigating the Monroe brothers?"

"No." He lied to me with a straight face and a convincing tone like the practiced con artist I now knew he was.

My phone buzzed in my purse and I checked it quickly.

Brock: I'm in the lobby if you need me.

I ignored the text and continued my staring contest with Lance. "What's your real name?"

"Lachlan Cutlass. Special Agent for the FBI."

"Thank you for being honest with me—now at least."

"Tessa, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. It's a precarious situation."

"I'm sure it is."

He looked away, and we both sat back in our chairs, ignoring our food and the elegant ambiance of the restaurant.

I'm an adjunct prof at UMass. Art appreciation.

Full stop honesty here, Tessa. I'm into you.

What a scumbag liar, trying to get information on my boss and his brother and then lying about it. Lachlan Cutlass was a fraud, just like my father, and I fell for it so easily.

The waiter cleared our plates and left us alone with the strained silence on the table.

Special Agent for the FBI.

As I glared at him, my mind orchestrated an idea to reverse Lachlan's own game on him. My days of being manipulated by men like him ended eight months ago. No more playing the victim. Time to fight for my joy.

"I might forgive you for deceiving me if you can help me."

He scrunched his brow. "Help you how?"

"I have five siblings stuck in a dangerous situation. I want to get them out."

He quirked his lips. "Tell me the details."

***

"He believed I carried her soul, so he left his seed with me as an offering to God."

Lachlan's eyes softened as I finished recounting my story of the abuse and the restrictive life I lived on the compound.

"How'd you get out?"

"I had a phone. I could get internet access when I went into town. I found an underground rescue organization and messaged them to help me. I snuck out through my window. They set me up with an apartment and a job in Boston." Lachlan had lied to me and now I'd lied to him. He didn't need to know Rogan rescued me from terrorists.

"So that's how you got the job at Siege? What's the name of the rescue organization?" He pulled a phone out of his jacket and tapped the screen.

Uh-oh.

"Um... My father's name is Jebediah Barebones."

Lachlan's blue eyes scrutinized my face.

I inhaled a deep breath. "The Brotherhood of God Church. Caldwell, Idaho. "

The repercussions of telling Lachlan this would ripple through my family. The compound would be tossed into disarray because I gave my father's name to the FBI. The betrayal of my promise to Rogan weighed even heavier on my conscience than calling out my dad. I had promised him not to trust anyone except the few people he'd said I could trust, and here I had given my father's name to a stranger. But he'd left me. I'd convinced myself he was dead and wasn't coming back. I had to do what I could to save my family.

Lachlan read on his phone for a minute then placed it on the table. "There's an open investigation. We've been watching them since Ervil Jeters went down ten years ago."

I nodded because Rogan had mentioned the FBI investigation when I first met him. "Watching? But no one has done anything?"

"No witnesses. They can't get an undercover agent in there. The security is too tight. No women have come forward. Those fuckers are all hush-hush about the shit going down inside those walls."

"Oh." That was the first time I'd heard Lachlan cuss.

"Transporting sex slaves across state lines is the most severe allegation we're trying to prove."

"Sex slaves?"

He put his phone back in his pocket and returned his gaze to me. "Human trafficking. Did they bring you and other women from Utah to Idaho and make you have sex with men you didn't know?"

"We moved from Utah. I wasn't forced to have sex with anyone, but the other women, yes. They were pressured to sleep with seed bearers. But no girls under eighteen. After Ervil went to jail, my father decreed no more sex with minors."

"We can still get them on rape, even if the women were over eighteen and consented. You can't coerce a woman into sexual acts with the threat of God. It's religious terrorism. How many seed bearer psychos are pulling that crap in Caldwell?"

"I don't know."

"But your father claims to be a seed bearer?"

"Yes."

"If we can get the women to testify, maybe get DNA to prove paternity, your father and any other seed bearers are guilty of rape."

"Okay."

"The bureau's also collecting evidence to prove tax evasion, WIC fraud, and child labor law violations. Will you testify?"

"Yes. To what I know." Facing my father in court would terrify me, but I'd find the strength. I would not cower to him ever again.

"One more favor?" I asked Lachlan.

He tilted his chin.

"Don't mention to the Monroe brothers I'm working with you."

"I don't speak with them. But Brock and Dallas are aware I'm with the bureau. If they see you with me, they'll figure something's up."

"Let's not let them see us together then."

"Agreed. I can't date you while the case is active anyway." He reached across the table and grasped my hand in his. "But the second this case is resolved and your father's wearing an orange jumpsuit, I'm taking another shot at you. Not giving up. You're too sweet."

I yanked my hand from his. "Don't call me sweet. My father used that word to intimidate and steal my dignity. I'm not sweet. I'm strong."

"Damn. I like that about you too. You're an amazing woman. You'd be good by my side."

"To be honest, I'll never trust you enough to date you after you lied to me the way you did—even if it was for a job."

"You said you'd forgive me if I helped you."

"I said I might forgive you. And forgiving doesn't mean I'd risk my heart with you. Making a girl feel stupid for falling for you doesn't lay a solid foundation."

"I didn't mean to make you feel... You were falling for me?"

"A little. I don't know. I'm confused."

"This sucks. I wish we'd met some other way." He rubbed his chin with his pointer finger and thumb. "I'm still gonna make a move on you after this case is over."

I laughed and challenged him with my eyes. "Go for it."

"I will." He dropped a wad of cash on the table with his napkin and stood. "Let's go. I gotta light a fire under this case."

***

For months, I'd worried about Milo and the other kids back home, but I'd stuffed it down, holding onto hope Rogan would come back. After tonight, I couldn't resist any longer. I shouldn't have, but I texted my sister. Hopefully Lachlan would be able to get her out of there.

Me: I'm alive. Everything's going to be okay. Stay strong. V

Temperance: V? Thank God you're alive.

Me: Keep it secret. For now.

Temperance: OK. Luv U

Me: <3 U 2