Biding His Thyme: 4 (15 page)

Jake cursed softly in frustration. He
couldn’t hear a bloody thing—except footsteps approaching him. He retreated
rapidly, noiseless in his sandaled feet. Anxiety churned his gut because Sorrel
had been in the office for a while now. She knew he was waiting for her. Surely
she’d shout if she needed him.

“Brother Jake, we require help with a
task.” Brother Felix called from the doorway of the building Jake had hastily
exited. Brother John and Brother Tyrone followed Brother Felix outside.

Jake hesitated. Maybe he’d take the
opportunity to subtly grill Brother Felix for information. But he didn’t like
to leave Sorrel with Brother Rick.
You weren’t there when Greg needed you.
Jake shook himself, although he heard Greg’s confident voice ripple through his
memories.
No prob. It’ll be a breeze.
This was a different situation.
They were in New Zealand, not in a war zone.Sorrel would be fine.

“Damn, I forgot the keys,” Brother Felix
said, his round face creasing in a scowl.

His ears pricked at the mention of keys,
but his unease lingered. “I wanted to see Sister Sorrel.”

“She’s still with Brother Rick, discussing
extra help during the afternoon. Meet me at the vehicle, and I’ll grab the
keys. You can
talk
when you get back.”

Jake’s hands fisted at Brother Felix’s
smartass attitude, but he forced back his instinctive reaction, aware this
might be the breakthrough he needed.

“Come on,” Brother Tyrone said, jerking his
bald head in the direction of the truck.

Jake nodded agreeably and set off with
them. Sorrel would be here when he returned.

A few minutes later Brother Felix came
jogging out of the office. Sorrel and Brother Rick exited seconds after him,
and some of Jake’s apprehension faded. She was okay. He’d speak to her later.

They drove from the compound with curiosity
sitting like a fidgety child on Jake’s shoulders. He didn’t know Sloan well,
and concentrated on the passing scenery, picking out landmarks to remember to
help Luke identify their route. Brother Felix turned the truck and drove along
the main street of the town.

It was pretty, as towns went, with baskets
of red, white and purple flowers hanging from poles. No litter clogged the
gutters and there was a noticeable lack of the graffiti on the fences and
buildings he’d seen when driving through South Auckland two weeks ago. The
locals stared as Brother Felix drove down the street.

“Where are we going?” Jake asked.

“We have some business that needs taking
care of,” Brother Felix said.

“I hope it’s not too physical,” Jake said.
“I’m still not as fit as I was before I was sick. The doctors said it would
take a while to return to full fitness.”

“We’ll manage between the four of us,”
Brother Felix said.

He seemed to do most of the talking while
Brothers John and Tyrone stared at the passing scenery.

They drove past the police station, but
Jake didn’t see Luke. Another thought occurred, one that brought a scowl. He
glanced at Brother Felix’s broad back beneath his robe. Brother Felix was big,
but on the chubby side. Jake was confident he could take him in a fight. The
other two men were smaller than Jake. On their own he could deal with them, but
if they jumped him together he might have a few problems.

The shops and office buildings gave way to
houses and countryside. Jake was no wiser as to their destination. They pulled
off the main road onto a gravel one. The road wound around the base of a hill
before entering a plantation of pine trees. Soon the road petered out, and
Brother Felix halted the truck.

Jake climbed out of the vehicle with the
others. A low, mournful
moo
carried on the wind.

Bingo
.

* * * * *

Sorrel watched Jake drive away with Brother
Rick’s friends, her heart sinking to a level near her sandals.

Brother Rick remained at her side. When she
turned toward her workshop, he grasped her elbow and directed her forcibly in
the direction of the gates.

Heck, what did it matter?

She’d wanted to leave the compound.

But not like this, without her plans in
place.

Not without her mother’s books, and
definitely not without the battered recipe book she’d left sitting on the
counter in her workshop.

A warning prickle started behind her eyes.
She bit on her inner lip, the jolt of pain refocusing her. She wouldn’t give
Brother Rick the satisfaction.

She wrenched from his touch and marched
away, head held high.

“Open the gates,” Brother Rick called.

Two of the elderly brothers were on
security, and it took them ages and much grunting and straining to unfasten the
catch and push the gates open. Sorrel wanted to help them. A decent man
would’ve helped, but Brother Rick remained silent at her side, judge, jury and
now security guard seeing the accused off the premises.

Finally the gates opened.

Sorrel marched through and didn’t look
back.

She heard the gates creak closed behind
her, heard the puzzled questions from men she’d known since she was a young
child, but she kept walking.

Once she was out of sight of the compound,
she sank to the ground, tears streaming down her face. What in the stars did
she do now?

* * * * *

“I didn’t realize we had stock up here,”
Jake said.

“We have several operations outside the
main compound,” Brother Felix said.

The rumble of another vehicle sounded. The
brothers didn’t seem perturbed, which meant they’d been expecting someone else.

“Right on time,” Brother Felix said.

They wandered over to the paddock and
studied the grazing cattle. Jake counted them. Four head. He couldn’t see ear
tags or brands from this distance. Not that it mattered. He had the location
and that would help Luke put a stop to the rustling. A set of basic yards stood
to their left.

“Which beast do you want slaughtered?” the
new arrival asked.

Brother Felix shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.
Just pick one.”

“Usual terms?” the man asked.

“Usual terms,” Brother Felix confirmed and
pulled a wad of notes from his robe pocket and handed them over.

“What do you want me to do?” Jake couldn’t
figure out why they’d asked him along. It seemed strange after the previous
secrecy. His gut was shooting him warning messages, yet he forged ahead,
playing things by ear.

This was an opportunity to get the evidence
he needed to kick their robe-covered asses.

The chance to free Sorrel to leave the
cult.

He’d take her with him. God, he couldn’t
believe he’d known her for less than a week. He felt as if he’d known her his
entire life, that she was the one he’d been waiting for all along.

“We need help with loading and the cleanup
afterward,” Brother Felix said. “Actually, can you grab both the tarpaulins
from the truck? We’ll need one for the offal and one for the meat.”

“Sure.” Jake limped back to the truck. He
thought about texting Luke but he wasn’t sure how much time he’d have alone,
and he wasn’t one hundred percent sure the second arrival had come on his own.
He glanced at the number plate, frowned when he saw it was obscured by mud. On
purpose? Jake wasn’t sure. Perhaps the make and model would be enough. The
color. Besides, he had a description of the man too. If he was a local, Luke
would know him.

He retrieved the tarpaulins and returned to
join the men. One of the animals—a black and white one—was in the yard now. A
shot fired. The animal went down.

During the next hour, Jake helped the men
dress the beast. They loaded the carcass onto the truck, secured a cover over
it, and followed the second vehicle down the gravel road. Instead of driving
back to Sloan, they turned toward Auckland, stopping on the outskirts of
Papakura, the suburb on the very outskirts of the city, and where both Nikolai
and Louie lived with their wives. Jake was familiar with the suburb since much
of their army training had taken part in Papakura. It was home base for the
SAS.

But he didn’t comment, just stayed quiet in
the back, taking careful note of their surroundings and where they were going.

They pulled into a driveway and drove past
a white bungalow to a huge iron shed behind. Jake helped the other men carry
the beast into the shed. The man in the second vehicle opened another door, and
a wave of cold sprang out at Jake. They lifted the beast, hanging it on a hook
in the chiller.

A camera flashed in Jake’s face. He frowned
at Brother Felix. “What the hell?”

“Just to make sure you won’t talk to anyone
about today,” Brother Felix said. “Some insurance.”

The other men laughed, the humor bearing a
distinctly nasty edge. It raised Jake’s hackles.

“Why the fuck would I tell anyone?” Jake
demanded. “I’ve decided I’d like to live at Children of Nature.”

Brother Felix smirked. “Good to know.
Brother Rick will be pleased to hear you’ve decided to join us.”

* * * * *

After ten minutes Sorrel forced herself to
stand. She sniffed, wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, balancing on
teetering legs. No time to dither. Already it was late afternoon, and she
wasn’t sure where to seek shelter for tonight.

Shunned.

Stars, what age did Brother Rick think this
was?

Fury struck her then, strengthening her
weak resolve and shoring up her wonky knees. Brother Rick wasn’t going to get
away with this.
Shunning her
. He might think he was the boss of her, the
boss of all of them, but by the time she finished he’d learn otherwise. Yeah,
he’d rue the day.

Sorrel started stomping toward town. The
walk seemed much longer without Jake’s company. Jake. Brother Rick had
purposely distracted Jake with a chore so he could expel her from Children of
Nature with minimal fuss.

The more she thought about Brother Rick’s
actions the angrier she became, tension reverberating through her body with
each furious stomp. Brother Rick was a terrible leader. He’d changed the group
and not for the good of the members.

The town came into view. Sorrel marched
past their shop. Several women inside were looking at and buying her products.
Maybe she could set up her own business at a later date.

But right now, she had something else on
her mind. She strode past the florist shop, past the café and the town hall.
She stomped right to the police station, thumped up the front steps and pushed
through the door.

“I want to speak to the policeman in charge
please.”

* * * * *

Jake and the other brothers arrived back as
the ring of the dinner bell echoed through the compound.

“I’m gonna take a shower before I go for
dinner,” Jake said, after climbing from the rear of the truck. The camera
flashed in his face, catching his bloody robe and disreputable appearance. He
knew what he looked like—a man who’d helped butcher and dress a stolen beast.
“Enough with the fuckin’ camera,” he snarled, turning away. Ten steps into his
charge across the compound he realized he wasn’t limping and that pissed him
off even more.

Jake stopped by the men’s quarters to grab
a clean robe. In the ablution block, he stripped, taking special care not to
drop his knife or phone. The water was still cold when he stepped under it.
Maybe it would help cool his temper before he gave in to his urge to throttle
Brother Rick.

He couldn’t wait to tell Sorrel about
Brother Rick’s latest move. The man was like a dictator, ruling over his small
kingdom. Jake couldn’t wait to take the bastard down.

Garbed in clean clothes, and firmly back in
character, Jake hobbled into the dining hall. As he joined the line waiting for
their food, he scanned the room for Sorrel and ignored the men who whispered
about his nightmares and violent tendencies. He couldn’t see her, but she’d
been here at lunch, which meant she’d eaten her one meal of the day, the second
actually, but he didn’t intend to tell. Jake snarled under his breath at the
injustice, not quietly enough because the sisters in the line in front of him
put a larger gap between them.

He slapped an extra two dinner rolls on his
plate plus more roast beef and ham than he could eat. Scanning the room, he
noted it was fuller than usual. He dropped into an empty seat and filled the
two rolls with meat before eating his meal. Damn, it didn’t seem right enjoying
a meal when he knew Sorrel was hungry.

Brother Rick entered the dining hall, his
three friends following him like a robed entourage.

“All he needs is a swirling cape.”

His snide comment earned Jake a passel of
glares from the brothers and sisters who shared the table with him. So shoot
him. He didn’t give a crap. Leaning back in his chair, he allowed a sardonic
smile to curve his lips.

The dining hall fell silent as Brother Rick
climbed onto the dais at the far end of the room. He stood there, presenting a
calm front. “I’m sorry to interrupt your dinner, but something important has
occurred. I felt I needed to tell you before our next weekly meeting.” He
paused for a long moment.

Jake snorted, earning himself a heap more
censure in the form of sniffs and glares.

“I’m sad and disappointed to announce I’ve
had to take an unusual step today.” He paused again for dramatic effect. “I’m
sure many of you witnessed the terrible episode before the lunch hour this
morning.” The tone of his voice changed to one of distinct disapproval.
“This…transgression goes against everything Children of Nature stands for.
Everything. Of course, I investigated, and this afternoon, I officially
expelled the culprit from the compound.”

Foreboding filled Jake. He straightened
abruptly, steeling himself for the rest of Brother Rick’s announcement.