JACOB
“No, you can’t get the sheriff involved in this, Agent Ross. He’s part of the fucking problem!”
Twenty-four hours. That’s how long it took for Father Timothy to contact the Diocese, convince them there was a madman who could expose the hidden crimes of the Catholic Church, and have them get in touch with people even higher up the food chain to send a federal agent to the small cabin where I was hiding with Joshua and Sedra. The agent had brought a team ready to storm the gates of Jericho’s compound, he was sent to investigate first, but after speaking with Sedra and discovering how brainwashed the poor woman was, he spoke with Joshua and found out exactly what was going on inside the walls of a building that Jericho had managed for over twelve years.
The agent, with his tawny brown hair and shrewd amber eyes, squinted against the sunlight pouring through the thick branches of trees above us. Dressed in simple khakis and a black button up shirt, he didn’t draw attention to himself like most agents would. He was familiar with the rural areas in the mountains and had located the roads leading to the hunting cabin rather quickly. He drove a truck that was more beat down than mine, and I was thankful to him for hiding his identity when I knew the sheriff was most likely watching. By now, Jericho knew that Sedra was missing and I was sure he’d set out an entire army to claim her and bring her back to the compound.
Reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, the agent stared at me with disbelief obvious behind his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe what he’d learned about Jericho and the happenings inside the small town, it was just that he’d reacted like any person would to find out people were being crucified on crosses like we were back in Biblical times.
“You have to understand my shock in all this, Jacob. That’s a lot of crazy shit to digest. As far as I knew, nothing happened around this area except for the occasional theft of somebody’s hunting dog, or perhaps an argument over zoning boundaries. It’s not too often a person finds out that a cult has been operating directly under their noses for twelve fucking years. And then to hear about what he’s doing to people? To learn that the sheriff is helping him? Jesus Fucking Christ! What kind of insanity is this?”
Pacing out a few steps, he turned back to stare at me. “You know, if the Church itself hadn’t contacted the Bureau, there would have been no way in hell that we believed it. Sure, we may have made a drive-by, but left it at that. Now we’ve got the Catholic Church breathing down our necks threatening all sorts of hell if this isn’t handled quietly.”
Quietly certainly wasn’t going to happen. Not with my brother. By the time this was all over and done with, I was sure this particular problem would be labeled another Waco. Bringing down that cult had spurred national attention, thousands of citizens crying out in anger over the deaths of women and innocent children just because some whackjob had decided he wanted to run a cult.
I hoped it wouldn’t come to that with Jericho, hoped there was a way we could get all the innocent family members out and also save my brother. I didn’t want him killed, only locked away where he couldn’t hurt another person. I was sure that deep down inside, he was still the same brother I’d known before those assholes changed him into a monster.
“So, how do we go about doing this?” I asked, hoping like hell this guy could come up with a decent plan because I was running on empty.
Unable to get out and buy food or water, the three of us had stayed in the cabin until the agent was able to bring some with him. I’d snatched a water bottle for myself, but had given the rest to Sedra and Joshua. Who knew how long it had been since either of them had been allowed to eat something nutritious? I remembered the dietary requirements Sedra had told me about during the first nights she’d spent with me at the parish. It didn’t matter much to me if they ate every last bite. My stomach was churning so hard with apprehension that I wouldn’t have been able to keep the food down regardless.
He sighed before scrubbing his palm over his face. “I think we’ll need to get the state police involved. I’ll explain that local law enforcement is involved and needs to be kept out of the loop. If they’re killing people like you say they are, then we need to get in there tonight in hopes of saving whoever else they have ready to go up on those crosses.”
Wincing at the thought of the horrible deaths being delivered to the people dragged into the compound, the agent breathed out heavily and turned his face to the sky. “You know, I’m a faithful man, always have been. It’s hard being born and raised in this part of the country and not having Christian values shoved down your throat, but I never imagined an entire town of people could be led so far astray as to believe anything like this is right. These are good people. Hardworking people. Faithful people. But to hear about this? To know they’re involved?” He shook his head. “None of it makes sense.”
Stepping toward him, I tried to refocus his thoughts on the solution to the problem and not how Jericho had managed to brainwash an entire town. “Can you have a team out there tonight? How long will it take you to bring all of this together so you can get in there and rescue those people?”
He frowned. “Normally an operation like this takes weeks or months to put together. But with the Church breathing down our necks and with the possibility that a damn war could break out if your twin decides he’s angry about his wife disappearing, we need to move faster. I’ll have some agents come into town. Prepare them for what’s to come and I’ll have the state police ready to go. There’s a chance we can have this ready for tonight.” He stopped then, his feet going still over the dead leaves he was crushing with each step. Turning to me, he narrowed his eyes. “Why are you asking that question, anyway?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I shot a look toward the cabin. “I have no supplies where I am, and I’m sure my truck will be easily recognized if I drive down the roads. I can survive out here on nothing if I have to, but Sedra and Joshua need food and water. I can’t keep them here for long with nothing to eat or drink.”
He shrugged, not in an effort to dismiss what I’d said, but more like my issue wasn’t much of a problem. “I planned on taking the three of you with me. I can’t fit you into the truck I’m driving right now, but I can come back with vehicle that will fit all of us. I wasn’t going to let you spend another night out here without some kind of protection. If the sheriff is looking for you, I’m sure he’s been instructed to kill you on sight and dump the body. That’s not going to happen under my watch.”
Kicking at an errant stone on the ground near my foot, I confessed that I had another idea. “I wasn’t planning on staying here. As soon as you can get Sedra and Joshua to a safe place, I was planning on heading to the compound.”
The agent’s eyes rounded into saucers. “Like hell you are. Are you fucking crazy?”
I locked my gaze to his. “Maybe I am, but it’s doubtful my brother has told the family about me, and we’re identical twins. There’s a good chance I can sneak into the compound without Jericho knowing I’m there. Especially if he’s out searching for Sedra and Joshua. The members won’t know he has a twin. They’ll let me in as soon as I approach the gates.”
“And what good will that do?”
Smiling, I answered, “That means you’ll have someone on the inside who can open the gates for you. If your team can get in without a gunfight just to enter, there’s a chance we can keep this quiet.” Growing quiet, I chewed on the inside of my lip before admitting, “and if it’s at all possible, I’d like the chance to save my brother’s life. He’s crazy. I know that. But that still doesn’t mean he needs to be put down like some kind of animal.”
The agent frowned, pacing a few more steps before turning to look at me. “Listen, I think what you’re suggesting is fucking insane, but you’re a free man and I can’t stop you. You don’t have to get in my car when I come to pick up those two inside. You hear me? You can go off and do whatever crazy thing you want to do, but it will be without my immediate protection.” Pausing he squinted against the sun again before wiping the beads of sweat from his brow. “But, I’m telling you now, Jacob, you’d better not breathe a word of this to your brother. Doing so would only mean that more people inside that compound will die.”
My expression softened, my heart beating with the truth of his words. “I know. I won’t say a damn thing. I’ll just make sure I’m inside and can open the gates when you need me to.”
I started to walk off toward the cabin when it was clear our conversation was over. Before I could reach the door, he called out to me.
“Hey, how will we be able to tell the two of you apart? Didn’t you say you’re identical?”
I’d given that question a lot of thought after leaving the Appalachians and returning back to the city where’d I’d been raised. Fortunately for me, buying the guns had been the perfect answer. I found it funny that I hadn’t thought of it long before I’d pressed my fingers against the inkpad on the counter and left the marks on a piece of paper that would tell Jericho and I apart.
“I purchased a shit ton of guns and ammunition before coming back here. I won’t lie. I’d intended to deal with my brother myself in this hopes that I could save him and keep him out of trouble. I’ll give you the receipt from the gun shop where I bought everything and you’ll know where you can find a copy of my fingerprints to use to tell us apart. It’ll be the only way. Everything else about us is the same.”
The agent’s expression twisted with hidden knowledge, an unspoken understanding between two men that even he didn’t want to voice into the silence of the forest.
“You try to stay alive in there, you hear me? You seem like a good man with a good head on your shoulders. Dying to save your brother isn’t the way a former priest should leave this world.”
Inclining my head, I smiled. “I helped create the monster my brother became with my silence about our father. If I deserve anything, it’s to die by his side as a way to tell him I’m sorry.”
The agent shook his head and cursed under his breath, but he didn’t attempt to argue. “Stay here until I get back to pick up your friends. After that, I hope I see you alive again once all of this is said and done.”
He stalked off and I watched him disappear through the woods on the way back to where his truck was parked. I wasn’t sure what I would do once I entered the compound, but I knew that if it was time for my brother to die, I would be the one to end him.
Jericho was a monster. He did horrible things to other people. But could you really blame a man for losing his mind when everybody he’d ever trusted had used him and hurt him so badly?
If nothing else, I could give my brother a compassionate ending, even if his beginning had been nothing short of a living nightmare.