“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said, slipping her hand into his.
“I don’t want you to ask any questions about this, but I have three valid passports with yours, Carey’s and my photograph in them. I also have enough money to get us out of the country.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’ve never been out of the country,” she said excitedly. “Where would we go?”
“Maybe Hong Kong, as a first stop. There are excellent airline connections from there to points all over the world. I want to give some more thought to where we might end up on a more permanent basis. Where would you like to live?”
“Anywhere you say is fine with me,” she replied. “I mean that; Carey and I will go anywhere with you.”
“Here’s what we’ll do, then; we’ll drive to Spokane and leave the truck there, then fly to San Francisco. We’ll check into a hotel, the three of us, and stay until Sunday. When time comes to take Carey to the airport for her flight back to Spokane, we’ll simply get onto another flight. I’ll have to check the schedules and see what our best bet is, and we’ll have to go with only the clothes on our backs. We won’t even check out of the hotel. Carey will have some things with her, of course, but that will be all we can take.”
“There’s nothing here that I can’t live without,” Jenny said. “Not one damned thing.”
“My, my, I’ve never heard you use strong language, ma’am.”
She laughed. “I guess I must feel pretty strongly about it.”
“Something I have to know about,” Jesse said, serious again. “Carey. Just how firm a grip does the church and school have on her?”
“I know this isn’t a very good answer, but it’s hard to say. You’ve heard her spout the racial stuff they’re taught there, and as I’ve said before, they insist that she never miss a day’s school, unless she’s certifiably ill. The children are also taught to report any derogatory remarks their parents make about the church or Jack Gene; I think they use them as a sort of early warning system against parents who seem to be straying from the fold.”
“Have there ever been consequences for those people?”
“As I said before, people have been known to disappear.”
“Are there ever any questions asked about these disappearances?”
“People are afraid to ask questions. Sometimes there’s a story that they’ve been expelled from church and are ashamed to show their faces in St. Clair; sometimes they’re just gone.”
Jesse nodded. “We’re going to have to be very careful with Carey. It’s important that she not have the slightest idea of what we’re planning. Answer her questions about the San Francisco trip, but don’t overdo it; tell her we’ll visit Fisherman’s Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge and see all the other sights. We’ll do that on her weekend with us. I don’t want her to know that anything at all has changed until the last possible moment, when we’re at the airport, and you’re going to have to figure out what to tell her to be sure that she’s not upset by the change in plans.”
“I understand.”
“Also, talk with her about things beyond the San Francisco trip, things at school or at church. Make the trip seem like just one event in the coming months. That way, if anybody questions her, she’ll have the right answers.”
“I think the best way to handle things at the airport is to tell her that Jack Gene is sending us on a trip, a secret trip, maybe, to do something or other for him or the church.”
“Good. You’ll have to build our name change into the story, too.”
“What is our new name going to be?”
“Warren. I’m Jeffrey, you’re Jillian, Carey is Katherine.”
“I like the sound of them,” Jenny said. “Jeff, Jilly, and Kathy, the all-American family.”
“That’s us,” Jesse said. “Something else: I’ve got enough money to keep us for a while, if we’re careful, but we could certainly use more.”
“I rarely have more than a hundred dollars in the bank at any one time, after I’ve paid the bills,” she replied.
“That’s not what I was thinking of,” Jesse said. “When you lived with Jack Gene, did you live in the house he’s in now?”
“Yes. He’d just built it when I went to live there.”
“Did he keep large amounts of money in the house or in the church?”
“There was a big safe in his study,” Jenny said, holding out a hand at waist level. “This high, at least. I watched them install it, but I never saw what was in it. Jack Gene always seemed to have a lot of cash in his pockets, though, and it could have come from the safe.”
“Where in the study was it?”
“Opposite the fireplace, behind a bookcase that swung out. Jesse, you’re not thinking of trying to rob Jack Gene, are you?”
“I will, if I get the chance.”
“This is what I think,” she said. “I think that if we just disappear, he might not take the trouble to look for us much, especially if we’ve left the country. We won’t be able to hurt him in any way, after all. But Jack Gene has a monumental temper, and in the past he’s gotten maddest when somebody stole from him. If we take his money, he’ll never stop looking for us.”
“You’re right,” Jesse said. “We’ll manage on the money we’ve got.” But, he thought to himself, after what Jack Gene has shown me up on the mountain, he’ll never stop looking for us, anyway, so what the hell?
Chapter 39
Jesse was leaving his office on Wednesday, two days before the beginning of his honeymoon, when Pat Casey pulled into the parking lot in his squad car.
“Hey, Jesse,” Casey said.
“Evening, Pat.”
“Jack Gene wants us up at his house for a meeting.”
“When?”
“Right now.”
“Let me go back inside and call Jenny; I don’t want her to worry.”
“Forget about that; get in.”
Jesse got into the patrol car. “What’s up?”
“You don’t ever ask that when Jack Gene calls a meeting; you just go.”
“Glad to,” Jesse said mildly. He did not speak again on the trip.
They were greeted at the door by an attractive young woman, not the same one Jesse had seen on his last visit to the house, and shown to Coldwater’s study. Coldwater and Kurt Ruger were already seated on a sofa before the fireplace, and Coldwater indicated that Jesse and Casey should sit opposite them.
“How’s married life, Jesse?” Coldwater asked.
“Couldn’t be better,” Jesse replied, smiling.
“Good, good, glad to hear it. Jesse, it’s time we had a talk about something that’s been going on for some time, and it concerns you.”
Jesse nodded. He didn’t like the sound of this.
“You’ve been accepted into our midst, Jesse, but I’ve never really talked to you about what that means, have I?”
“Not specifically,” Jesse replied.
“In order to keep the coherence of our group, I require a very high degree of loyalty from my congregation.”
Jesse said nothing.
“Have I ever told you what loyalty means to me?” Coldwater asked.
“No, sir, not in so many words, but I’ve had the strong impression that you would not have told and shown me the things you have unless you felt I was capable of loyalty.”
“You’re quite right, Jesse; I always seem to be underestimating you. You’ve understood from the beginning without my spelling it out for you.” Coldwater rewarded him with a large smile.
“Maybe you’d better spell it out,” Kurt Ruger said suddenly. “That’s the only way of being sure.”
“Of course, Kurt,” Coldwater said smoothly, but he seemed miffed by the interruption. “First of all, Jesse, I don’t think I have made it clear to you the sort of rewards that are available to the people who are loyal to me.”