Chapter 16

I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Victoria, given that I knew she’d joined Harmony Farm and Jake had said he thought he’d spotted her. It wasn’t even unusual that we were rooming together, as she was one of the more recent residents. But I was surprised, and saddened, too, at her appearance. The nineteen-year-old had aged dreadfully, the sudden weight gain doing most of the damage. But there was also a fearfulness in her that I hadn’t felt in her imprints, a fear I hadn’t noticed in the other disciples. Or hadn’t wanted to notice. Victoria’s weight wasn’t a matter of genes or part of the process of aging but a protective covering. I saw that as clearly as if she’d told me herself. The weight didn’t sit at all naturally on her small frame. The Fullmers would be horrified to see their daughter looking this way.

Victoria—called Misty, now—helped me clean up the broken bits of the figurine before slipping out of her shoes, exchanging her skirt and blouse for pajamas, and climbing rather laboriously to the top half of my bunk and stretching out. Even her toes were swollen, reminding me of cute, chubby baby feet, except that her toenails were in desperate need of a trim.

“I moved up here when I heard you’d come,” she said, her breathing strained.

“If you’d rather have the bottom bunk, we can trade.”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind at all.”

Minutes later she was asleep. I’d lived at home during my brief stint in college, so I didn’t know for sure how dorms were, but these roommates didn’t fit into my idea of sisterly bonding. I’d chatted more with complete strangers I’d never see again. If I’d actually joined Harmony Farms, I’d be having second thoughts about now.

I was being selfish, of course. Neither of my roommates had any idea that I’d been lost in the woods and had discovered a dead body. They couldn’t know I had the curse of feeling imprints. Of all the abilities available, why did I have this particular one?

I started to set my earrings on the dresser but changed my mind at the last moment and nestled them inside my extra underclothes. Once the light was off and I was in bed, I felt even more sorry for myself. I bitterly missed Tawnia and Jake and Bret. Was Tawnia drawing now? Had she seen me in the trees with Inclar’s body? I hoped not. She’d be freaking out even without the pregnancy hormones.

I wasn’t in the least tired. Every nerve felt alive, perhaps because of all the honey I’d taken in my hot tea. Come to think of it, I might be feeling restless because drinking so much tea had made my bladder stretch tight again. But no way was I going to tromp through those dark woods alone to the outhouse, not with a murderer loose.

Or was there really a murderer? I’d started to doubt myself, thinking maybe Inclar had been sleeping or passed out. I’d never been one for flights of fancy, but this place was getting to me. Or maybe Ethan’s worry was getting to me. I’d met Victoria—at least I could report that to her family. Now I only had to find Marcie. If she was here in the singles’ dorm, she would have to be one of the women who came back late, like Victoria. Or perhaps she was among the families. After a year she might have remarried and was maybe even expecting another child.

I didn’t believe it. Tawnia’s picture hadn’t shown a happy woman but someone who’d desperately needed help, and after seeing Scarlet, I believed in Tawnia’s newfound talent as I’d been forced to believe in mine. Because we were identical twins, it only followed that we should each have a similar oddity, our strange abilities perhaps starting out the same and then growing into something different. Had our birth mother also been gifted in some odd way? Or maybe another relative? Since our birth mother and the doctor who’d delivered us were both dead and no other blood relatives were in sight, it was possible we would never know.

Wherever my ability came from, I felt good about helping Ethan find Marcie and hopefully talking Victoria into coming with me when I left.

Aside from my stretched bladder, I was warm and comfortable. Except now that I was alone in the dark, accompanied only by the soft snores of my two companions, my mind went inevitably to the day’s events and particularly the two kisses. One too brief to really savor, and the other a complete and utter surprise. Life was like that, it seemed. A long dry spell, and then suddenly multiple possibilities. Or was there only one?

With Ethan, of course, because Jake was just a friend, after all.

Except his kiss hadn’t felt like friendship. Even thinking about it made my heart feel funny. Not funny ha-ha but funny as though I might pass out.

Or was that my bladder?

I pushed myself to my feet. Well, while I was awake, I could at least investigate the women’s dorm. On stockinged feet, I crept slowly to the door, where the wooden floor creaked. Neither of my companions stirred. Our door was one of the few closed, and it squeaked as I opened it. I guess I should have thought to bring oil. Shannon would get a kick out of that idea, if he ever found out. He and his fellow detectives probably carried a can around in their pocket whenever they planned to sneak around.

Or did detectives always get a warrant first? Probably.

I felt my way down the hallway, lit only by the moonlight filtering through the sheer curtains over the single windows between each set of bunks. In each room everyone seemed profoundly asleep, as though exhaustion had irrevocably claimed them. Shadows reared up in the corners of the room and seemed to flit and dance as I passed, but the movement was only in my imagination.

It was weird. Subdued. Otherworldly. There was no reading with a flashlight or giggling in the dark. Were the women drugged, or just plain overworked?

I didn’t think I’d find the answer here, but I was determined to check every room. My heart thumped furiously as I opened the few closed doors, not a lock in sight, but those rooms were tiny and had only a single bed with a sleeping woman. Most of them were older. One gray-haired granny had her mouth wide open under her hooked nose, snoring loud enough to wake her neighbors. No wonder she slept by herself.

Besides the closet and the bathing room, there was nothing else to see. Every bed was occupied, except the one in my room and another in the room next door. Thus, the reason for Jake and his supposed building skills.

I saw no one who remotely resembled Marcie, though I might have been mistaken in the dark. Had she left the commune? If so, why hadn’t she contacted her brother? Or was she somewhere else? Perhaps in that dark room where Tawnia had drawn her.

An urgency I couldn’t explain fell over me. I needed to find Marcie.

I was hungry, too, despite the dinner I’d eaten. Ravenous, in fact. Only Tawnia would understand how that could be true. I wondered if I could find my way to the kitchen for a snack. I mean, it wasn’t as if the fasting day had begun, and I didn’t intend to follow it anyway. I’d fast for a good cause but not for joining the commune. I also thought about emptying my bladder somehow in the bathing room, but I remembered Harmony saying the refuse water went to the fields. That was why they only used biodegradable soaps, toothpastes, and shampoos, so using an inside drain was out of the question.

But I really, really did not want to go to the woods. Maybe they had a port-a-potty somewhere.

The outside door to the women’s dorms didn’t have a lock, either, so I went out onto the long porch overlooking the deserted square. The lights atop the poles were still on but dimmer now, with only the bottom half of the crystal glass gleaming as though there might be two bulbs inside, one for regular use and one to act as a nightlight. The brightness of the moon overhead did a far better job at illuminating the square than did the dim light. The tables were gone, and there was no litter anywhere to be seen. Several lights filtered through curtained windows in the married dorm, but even as I watched, they winked out.

The porch moaned horribly as I crossed it, and the outside air was cool, though I was well protected in my long-sleeved flannel nightgown. I edged down the stairs, my feet feeling confined and almost clumsy inside their stockings. It was amazing how the thin covering insulated my feet from the usual sensations.

Only the smallest sound gave warning, and then an arm went around me and another over my mouth. I experienced a sense of déjà-vu, though I realized how unlikely it would be that Ethan could have sneaked back so quickly. That left the person who had killed Inclar. My heart pounded in my chest. I readied my elbow for an attack.

“It’s me,” Jake whispered before I launched the jab. When he was sure I understood, he started to release me.

I avoided my first reaction to sag with relief and slapped his hands away.

“Sorry. I didn’t want you to scream.”

I certainly was jumpy enough to have screamed, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that.

He was looking at me oddly, and I realized it was because of my gown. “I didn’t pack pajamas,” I said defensively. Another small point of contention between me and my sister. She believed in pajamas, three fresh pair a week. I, on the other hand, didn’t see any harm in sleeping in underclothes or a T-shirt as long as it was fairly clean.

“Looks like something my grandma wears.”

Great. Just the image I wanted him to have of me. “I saw Victoria,” I said to distract him. “No Marcie, though. Unless she’s in the married house.”

“I don’t think so. I watched them pretty carefully as they went inside tonight. I did some looking around, too, and there are no hidden rooms that I can find.”

“You’ve been in there?” I jerked my head toward the front house.

He nodded. “Kitchen, big work room, laundry, offices, and rooms for Dar and Gabe. No basement.”

“Do you think Marcie left? Maybe we could ask around.”

He shook his head. “We’ll have to be careful. I mentioned the possibility of leaving to one of the men, and he wouldn’t even look at me after that.”

“There have to be work places here,” I said, thinking of Tawnia’s picture. “Where they make the soaps and things. Maybe she’s there.”

“The kitchen’s big enough for that. And the meeting room has tables that probably double as workstations for some of those crafts they sell.”

“Well, they have barns and a henhouse.”

“Two barns from what I’ve been able to learn, a big one out behind the married housing and a smaller one beyond the outhouses.”

“Oh, and a greenhouse,” I added, remembering my new roommate and her herbs. “They raise their own food, so they could have a lot more buildings we don’t know about. Any of them could have a secret room.”

“Let’s go look for them.”

I glanced reluctantly toward the woods, but I wasn’t quite so afraid now that Jake was with me. Besides, the police would be here soon. “I need a pit stop first,” I confessed.

“I want to get another look at where you saw Inclar’s body, anyway. Look what I brought.” This time instead of the borrowed lantern, he held up a chunky blue flashlight, the one he used at the store back in Portland during blackouts. It had the most powerful beam I’d ever seen.

“They let you keep it? They took Ethan’s phone and the radio he gave me.”

“Didn’t seem to bother them. They did say something about the batteries running out eventually. Apparently, they don’t restock batteries often.”

“Probably because they’re more expensive than whatever’s in those smelly lanterns. Plus, they’re hard to recycle. Not good for Mother Earth.” I caught his smile. “Hey, I can’t help it if I happen to agree with some of their beliefs. Humans can be terrible for the environment. I think I’d give up my cell phone altogether if it weren’t for Tawnia.”

“Thank heavens for Tawnia then. Don’t you remember how many times you’ve had to call me when your car has broken down?”

“Maybe I should give up driving.” Winter and Summer had never owned cars.

His grin was mocking. “Maybe. But you won’t.”

He was right. I did need my car to search for antiques. I was a terrible hypocrite. “Come on.” I tugged on his arm. “Let’s go.”

We walked into the woods a short distance before he turned on the flashlight. It wasn’t exactly like walking in broad daylight, but the path was completely illuminated, the dark shadows pushed back to a safe distance.

“Here.” He shoved something into my hand. An organic blueberry muffin.

Instantly, I forgave him everything. Even for the kiss, which I was thinking about way too much now that we were together and alone, but not for a million muffins would I admit it.

I gobbled my muffin on the way to the bathroom, where Jake waited for me. Then he led me back to the place where I’d seen Inclar’s body. With my wonderful sense of direction, I wasn’t sure it was the right place until we were actually upon it, but Jake’s steps were sure.

With the flashlight it was easier to see the indentation in the sparse shrubbery at the base of the tree where Inclar’s head might have been. Something that looked like dragging marks curved off to the left, vanishing into a stretch of undergrowth.

“Wait. Is this blood?” Jake held the light closer to the indentation. A patch of darkness marred the dirt between the greenery, as though someone had poured a cup of used oil there. Except it wasn’t glistening like oil. Tiny bits flaked off one of the leaves when Jake moved it aside.

Dried blood.

I was both relieved and frightened at the same time.

“He didn’t drag himself away,” Jake said.

“No.”

“Let’s follow it. If they have a hidden place, you can bet that’s where they’ll put him—at least temporarily.”

It took a while to locate a trail, but once we did, it was a matter of following the bits of dried blood and depressed vegetation. Whoever had moved Inclar was either too slight to carry him or hadn’t wanted to get blood on his own clothing.

“This isn’t going anywhere except toward the dirt road we came in on,” Jake said after awhile.

I grunted. I’d thought we’d been going in the direction of the fields.

“We’d better be careful, then,” I said. “Because of the guards.”

“Guards?” Jake stared at me.

“Ethan said he saw some.”

“Did they have guns?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Jake switched his light to a lower setting, and we crept along. When we reached the road, the signs of dragging and the blood vanished altogether. Jake indicated the hard-packed dirt. “Must have loaded him into something.”

“Did they go out or in past the house?” Earlier I’d noticed another dirt road skirting the married house, presumably the way to the barns or fields.

“They could hide him anywhere. There’s nothing for miles. Three hundred acres, plus all the land between here and Rome.” Jake scrubbed a hand across his face, which for some reason made me stare at his lips.

He caught my eye. “Uh, Autumn, about before.”

“You mean when you kissed me?” The words fell from my lips before I could bite them back.

“I hope it was okay. We’re still friends, right?”

Friends. I hated that word. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’d take more than a kiss to drive me away.” I spoke jokingly, but instead of my words reassuring him, an annoyed glint came to his eyes. Obviously, he wasn’t prepared to joke about it.

“Let’s follow the road to the larger barn,” he said coolly. “It’ll be easier than going through the woods, and we won’t need the light out here on the road. No use in announcing our presence.”

We’d gone about fifty yards when we heard a shout behind us. “Uh-oh,” I said.

Jake pulled me off the road, and we began running. I stubbed my bandaged toe painfully on an exposed root.

“Must be a guard,” I panted, looking around to see if the man had a gun.

Not one but two men were behind us, though they didn’t seem to be carrying anything except flashlights. I hoped I wasn’t wrong.

“Split up!” I yelled at Jake. I was sure I could outrun anyone, but the darkness was making it difficult.

“No!”

Ignoring him, I curved away and sprinted for a large tree. If I could reach it before they caught up to me, I could use the tree to change my direction without being seen. Behind me a light bobbed between the trees. I wondered if our pursuers could make out the details of our faces.

I darted around the tree and changed direction. I was mentally congratulating myself when I slammed into a solid figure. Without hesitation, I jerked my foot upward at his flashlight, hitting it with the ball of my foot and knocking it away. With a grunt he lunged for me. His fist caught the left side of my face, the side Spring’s husband had bloodied, making me cry out with pain. The momentum from his punch hurled me backward into a bush, and everything went black for an instant. Then he was coming toward me, his round, flat face lit eerily by the moonlight.

I jabbed out with my feet, catching him in the chest by surprise. He grunted as he fell. Leaping from the bush, I started to run, but the world spun around me. I forced myself to take a step. I was too slow. A hand closed over my ankle, and for the first time in my life I wished I were wearing heels. Sharp spiky heels that I could use as a weapon.

Down I went, face splatting on the narrow path. It was softer here, not packed like the trail to the bathrooms, but pain reverberated through my left cheek. I had the impression of a fist coming down on the back of my head, and at the last minute, I turned over, limbs flailing. He was on me in an instant. I desperately reached for something to use against him. Finding only a handful of dirt, I threw it into his eyes. He bellowed in rage as he rubbed his face. I dug my elbows into the ground, trying to pull myself out from under him.

He laughed, a mean sound that sent shivers up my spine. He was enjoying this! That knowledge gave me strength, and I managed to move myself a few inches. His hands reached for my neck.

What now? More dirt? Would it stop him? There was no chance of curling my feet up to use against him as I had done against Inclar. This man was simply too big and heavy. My scrambling right hand felt a rock, one heavy enough to give me trouble moving it. I hefted it, the jagged edges digging into my skin. With a loud grunt of effort, I brought it up and slammed it into his head.

He crumpled. Unfortunately, he crumpled on top of me, and he was so large that it took more strength to move him than I could coax from my wounded body. My right hand that had wielded the rock felt like it was broken, and the other arm pulsed pain with each heartbeat. That meant I must be bleeding there. Hopefully, not too badly. I made a mental note to ask Shannon about self-defense lessons. I’d need them if I was going to stay in this line of work.

That’s when I knew I was delusional. I was an antiques dealer, nothing more. Coming here had been a huge mistake, and I was going to leave the first chance I got—dragging Victoria with me, if I could.

Provided, of course, that I could get this guy off me before he woke up and finished the job he’d started.

The pain in my arm and wrist were fading a bit, so I pushed at the man’s body. It took me three tries before I managed to get enough momentum to roll him off. I gulped in air with relief and struggled to a seated position. Unfortunately, my hand touched his belt buckle as I moved, a huge piece of engraved metal at his waist. Images shot through me—terrifying images of rape, torture, of blood welling from a wound. Screams echoed in my ears until I didn’t know if the events had happened or were happening now. Maybe I was the one screaming. I saw Inclar’s rolling eye. A flash of Gabe’s face drawn in anger. And Marcie. Thin to the point of death, agony in her face.

Gasping, I pulled my hand away as though I’d touched an open flame. “No,” I protested feebly through my sobs.

The imprint had drained the last of my energy, and I slumped next to my unconscious attacker. When I closed my eyes, the memories of the imprints were still there, a revolving mass of confusion and terror. It was impossible to block out the scenes. I shook uncontrollably.

I couldn’t place the imprints at any exact time, but those of Marcie and Inclar were recent. Very recent.

I don’t know how long I lay next to the guard, shuddering and feeling the terror that wasn’t mine—and mine had been strong enough to begin with. My skin felt hot and flushed, and my stomach threatened to disgorge the muffin Jake had given me. I was totally and completely exposed.

Sometime later I heard footsteps and felt the gentle touch of Jake’s hands. “Autumn, you okay? I’ve been searching everywhere for you.”

I couldn’t answer. Tears slid from my eyes and into my hair. Why me? I wanted to scream. I don’t want this horrid ability!

“Autumn, talk to me. Where does it hurt?” When I didn’t respond, Jake lifted me so I was sitting. “What did you see?”

This time I was glad he understood what had happened, but I still couldn’t talk. “It’s going to be okay,” Jake murmured, as though to a frightened child. “I’m right here with you.” He dropped his flashlight in my lap and pulled me into his arms, cradling me to his chest like an infant.

My hands touched his flashlight. I didn’t expect any imprint, but suddenly I saw myself—a transparent figure that signaled a fading imprint. I was illuminated by the flashlight, my antiques all around me. I heard Jake laughing. “Let’s have a picnic,” I was saying. “It’s almost closing time. Besides, with the snowstorm and the power outage, most people will be heading home.”

Jake followed me to the back room, where we ate whole wheat crackers and cheese from a grass-fed cow, washing it down with herbal tea from the mini fridge. The lack of power was already making itself felt in the store, and Jake spread a Mexican blanket over my shoulders to ward off the cold. We were close. He wanted to be closer.

He wanted to be closer?

I remembered that day. Jake and I alone in the store at not quite six o’clock, the winter street already dark. I’d thought he was trying to jolt me out of one of my sad moods that day, but now I wasn’t so sure. Could he really have felt strongly enough to leave even this faint imprint? Or did I only wish it to be so?

“Autumn?” Jake whispered.

“You hate cold tea.” My voice was scarcely a whisper.

“What?”

“This flashlight. We used it the day of the power outage. We drank iced tea, but you hate it cold. I never knew.”

“Because we normally drink it hot. The company was good, though, if it left an imprint.” There was caution in his voice now, as though he worried what I might make of that. He didn’t need to worry. The imprint was faint, and I really couldn’t say that I wasn’t imagining it.

“Look, can you move?” Jake asked. “Is anything broken?”

I wanted to smooth away the concern on his forehead, but my hand wouldn’t obey the silent order, though I felt much better already. “I’m okay.” I blew out a soft, unsteady sigh. “But Marcie’s here. Or was a day or so ago. She’s somewhere dark. They take her food.” I had no doubt now that my key opened her door, but finding that door would be difficult. “She’s not the only one who’s been there. It’s what they do to the people who want to leave.” Inclar had talked about screaming, and now I knew that the room Marcie was in was somehow connected. “But why won’t they let people go, if they don’t want to stay? It’s not as if they couldn’t find more people to join.”

“Marcie had fifty thousand reasons disappear with her, not to mention the proceeds from her furniture. If people started leaving, they’d want their assets back. Imagine all the lawsuits.”

“We need to talk to Shan—Detective Martin. He’ll know how to follow the money trail. I bet Gabe’s rolling in fat Swiss bank accounts.”

“Or it could be for the power. For some people, power is everything.”

That image didn’t go with the one I’d seen of Gabe, but then what did I know of evil masterminds?

Jake took hold of my elbow. “We need to get back to our rooms before these guys wake up.”

“You knocked yours out, too?”

“Two of them.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. “But even together they weren’t as big as this one.”

“Girl’s gotta do her share.”

He chuckled. “Think you can walk? I could carry you.”

“I’m okay. But my wrist hurts, and I think my arm is bleeding.”

He lowered the setting on the flashlight and ran it over the left sleeve of my nightgown. Sure enough, there was blood seeping through, but not nearly as much as I’d feared. Jake couldn’t get the sleeve of my granny gown up high enough to examine it, but I finally convinced him I wouldn’t bleed to death.

I looked down on the face of the unconscious man. “Will they recognize us?”

“Mine won’t.”

“I don’t think this one will. But I can’t be sure.” I hesitated. “He isn’t dead, is he?” Despite all the terrible images I’d seen imprinted on his buckle, I didn’t want to be the instrument of his death.

“No. He’s bleeding a lot, but head wounds tend to do that. It doesn’t look like too much swelling. Aside from a headache, I think he’ll be fine when he wakes up.” Jake’s dark tone told me he wished otherwise.

“Don’t worry. The police will be here soon. He’ll get what he deserves.”

“If he doesn’t run off first.”

There was that. But neither Jake nor I were in a position to do anything to stop him. We couldn’t exactly tie him to a tree for the rest of Harmony Farm to discover in the morning.

Jake helped me to my feet and kept his arm around me as we picked our way through the trees. Somehow, I’d run back toward the gate instead of toward the houses, but Jake’s internal sense of direction turned us the right way. “This time we go through the trees.”

I agreed.

Sudden lights behind us brought a sinking feeling to my stomach. Not again! Seconds later the roar of an engine came within hearing range. “Let’s go see who it is,” I whispered. “Maybe it’s the police.”

“Already?”

I shrugged. “Depends on how fast Ethan rode your motorbike, I guess. Maybe it’s Detective Martin.” I was eager to see even Shannon at this point.

Jake shook his head. “Too far from Portland.” He had a point. Well, I’d settle for any officer who would take us safely away from here.

Jake and I slipped back toward the gates, under cover of the trees. We went as close as we dared and peered around a large tree. “Uh-oh,” Jake said.

There was a rushing sound in my ears. The last time one of us said that, we’d been jumped by the guards. “What it is?” I craned my neck.

“Looks like their leader.”

Sure enough, Gabe jumped out of a green sedan and began opening the gate. His face wore an angry, determined look.

Fear crawled down my spine.