White Heat by Brenda Novak Page A

glasses.
    â€œI’d heard Paradise was a ghost town,” Nate said. “Before we learned about the Covenanters, I was planning to go up that way, take a look around, maybe get some shots.”
    â€œThey won’t like you taking pictures,” Thelma said. “They’re very private. They know what other people are saying about them. When I was there, they definitely seemed a bit…defensive.”
    Abby, who’d refused to look at him or Rachel since they’d come in, was watching them both closely. Gone was the shyness and reluctance he’d witnessed in her mannerisms and bearing so far. Not only was she staring at him directly, she was shaking her head.
    â€œYou don’t like it up there, Abby?” Rachel asked.
    She shook her head again, even more adamantly.
    â€œShe doesn’t want you to go to Paradise,” Thelmasaid. “She thinks her grandfather is right, that Ethan is dangerous.”
    Nate leaned toward the child to let her know he was talking to her. “As long as we don’t bother him, we should be okay taking a few pictures, don’t you think?”
    The child’s eyes widened and she jerked her head again.
    â€œDon’t listen to her,” Thelma said. “She can read lips better than you can imagine and picks up on far too much. Richard and Lynne Sinclair have scared her, that’s all.”
    Rachel placed her napkin on the table. “Who’re Richard and Lynne?”
    â€œThey own a ranch between here and Rodeo. They’ve been stopping in almost every day, spouting all kinds of accusations against the Covenanters.”
    â€œLike?” Rachel prompted.
    Abby didn’t leave. She tapped her grandmother’s arm to get her to turn so that she could see her lips; she seemed to be closely monitoring the conversation.
    â€œCourtney, their teenage daughter, went missing last month,” Thelma said. “They swear up and down she’s been kidnapped by the Covenanters.”
    â€œYou don’t believe it,” Nate said.
    â€œNo. That girl was always a handful. Cutting herself and thumbing rides with anyone who came through town. She dressed in that gothic garb. You know, the black pants and black T-shirts with black boots. She even wore black nail polish and lipstick. They actually caught her propositioning a couple of old birders! She’d gone out to their campsite to trade you-know-what for the chance to ‘get out of this dump’ as she put it.” Shewaved a hand in apparent disgust. “She musta run off. She’s done it before.”
    Nate rubbed the condensation on his glass. “What makes her parents believe otherwise?”
    â€œShe went to one of the Covenant meetings a week or two before she disappeared and came home gushing about Ethan. She thought he was—” she made quotation marks with her fingers “—‘hot.’ That’s all. It’s not much to go on, which is why the police haven’t been able to help. They can’t force the Covenanters to let them search without some evidence that she might be in the compound.”
    Rachel took a sip of water. “No one’s seen her since?”
    â€œNo one.”
    â€œHow many Covenanters attend the Introduction Meetings?” Nate asked.
    â€œQuite a few. Fifteen or twenty. Ethan usually officiates—him or one of the Spiritual Guides.”
    â€œAren’t there any women in the leadership?” Rachel asked.
    â€œNo, the men hold all the power.”
    Nate could almost hear Rachel’s spine snapping straight with indignation. She’d come from a church with a strict patriarchal order where that power had been abused. “That doesn’t bother you?”
    â€œIsn’t that the way it usually is?”
    Nate cut in before the conversation could drift away from what he was interested in learning. “So once people join the commune, can they maintain relationships with