Chapter Eleven

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ONCE THEIR FELLOW detectives left the room, Seth glanced at Noah. "We need to get out of here ourselves and be seen around town."

"Yeah, but where do we want to go? We also need time to get our gear ready if we're invited to join the militia."

Seth's gaze shifted to Teagan. More than anything, he needed time with his girl. Although he wanted Teagan to trust him enough to share her past with him, time wasn't on their side. He had to know her triggers to help her avoid situations where she would freeze. "Teagan?"

She blinked and looked at him. "What?"

Not good. She normally was alert and ready for trouble. He'd noticed that for months. Wasn't the case today. Today she was distracted and that could get her killed if she didn't get into the right head space fast. "Suggestions for places we should be seen around town for the next few hours. We'll also have to hole up someplace for the night."

"We should stay together. We shouldn't go to our individual homes in case The Brotherhood tries to contact you and Noah tonight. You need someone to watch your backs. Why not your fake girlfriend?"

And she needed another woman to help her feel comfortable in his home, especially after what little he'd pieced together of her background. "Noah's relationship with Violet might be fake, but our relationship is not. Would one of your teammates be willing to stay at my place with us and another stay with Violet at Noah's house? Better to have three people for night watch than only two, right?"

Her fists relaxed. "I'm sure they'd be glad to help. That's a great idea, Seth."

"I'll message Iona." Violet pulled out her phone and sent a text to her team leader. She received a response a moment later. "Rayne will stay with Teagan. Riley will stay with me. Iona will keep watch outside your house, Seth. Maddox will assign another operative for guard duty at Noah's."

"Good," Noah said. "Where should we be seen for the next couple of hours while we wait for Fortress to do their background research?"

"The park," Seth said. "It's deserted this time of day and we can bleed off some of the stress with a walk. We can walk in opposite directions and meet at the SUV." That plan would also allow Seth time with Teagan without interruption from Violet or Noah.

Noah stood and tugged Violet to her feet. "Sounds great to me. Let's get out of here. My skin is crawling."

Not good since Seth felt the same way. "Ditto." He helped Teagan stand. "Let's go."

His partner opened the door an inch and peered outside. After a moment, he said, "Clear." He threaded his fingers through Violet's and led her outside.

Seth waited a beat, then wrapped his hand around Teagan's. "Ready?" His gaze held hers.

"I'm fine, Seth."

She wasn't, but he'd let that pass for now. He gave a slight nod and headed to the SUV with her a step behind him. Wasn't much protection, but it was all he could offer for the moment.

Ten minutes later, he parked in a deserted lot at the back of the park and came around to open Teagan's door.

Her lips curved. "You realize I can open my door, right?"

"My mother taught me to be a gentleman, sweetheart. She would have a fit if she found out I let my woman open her own door."

She smiled and shook her head. "Your mother would be horrified if she knew what I do for a living."

"You might be surprised." Audra Dixon believed women should be able to take care of themselves if their men weren't around to do it for them. In truth, she'd be thrilled Seth was interested in a woman who probably had more lethal skills than he did.

At the entrance to the park, Noah and Violet took the path to the left, while Seth and Teagan turned to the right.

About a third of the way around the park, Seth nudged Teagan toward an unoccupied bench facing a pond with several ducks and swans swimming on the surface, calling to each other.

"Why are we sitting here?" Teagan eyed Seth. "I thought you wanted to walk."

"I wanted us to be seen by the people monitoring us. We're going to bore them to pieces with our walk, enjoyment of nature, and distraction with each other."

"Wondered if you'd noticed our tail."

"Picked them up as soon as we left the restaurant. You'll notice I didn't bother to lose them. If they want to talk to me that bad, I'll give them an opening and see if they bite. It's probably too soon, though."

She laughed. "Nice way to sidestep Maddox's order."

"Hey, I'm not trying to make contact, simply leaving the door open. He can't accuse me of going against his orders."

"Don't bet on it."

"Lucky for me, I don't work for Maddox. He'll have to put up with my off-the-books behavior." He draped his arm across Teagan's shoulders. "I also enjoy watching ducks and swans. We had a pond near where I lived when I was a kid. I always begged Mom to take me to feed the ducks when school was out of session."

"That's a nice memory."

"I have a lot of them." He kissed her temple. "I gather you didn't have a good childhood."

She froze.

"Breathe, baby," he murmured and waited, praying she'd gather the courage to tell him what he needed to know to protect her without having to dig for information. Seth didn't want to learn her background that way. It felt like an invasion of privacy when he wanted more than anything to build a relationship of trust with the woman of his dreams.

Several minutes passed before she finally said, "My childhood was nothing like yours. It was a nightmare filled with pain and horror until I escaped."

Escaped? Seth kept his breathing even, his hold on her light. The last thing he wanted to do was make Teagan feel boxed in. He waited in silence for her to continue.

"My parents were members of a cult." She shuddered. "They were totally immersed in the doctrine, believing every word out of the prophet's mouth."

"What kind of doctrine?"

"The usual." Bitterness filled her words. "If you wanted to eat, you worked. Everyone lived in the compound under the prophet's watchful eyes. No exceptions. When you joined the fellowship, every worldly possession became the property of the cult." She snorted. "More like everything became the property of the prophet. He encouraged whole families to join, especially those with female children."

Nausea boiled in Seth's gut. Oh, man. Didn't take a genius to know where this story was headed.

"Prophet Isaac said we were a large family, and he was the head. The men who joined were assigned roles as workers or enforcers. Boys were assigned jobs until they were old enough to take on the other roles. The women were assigned tasks, which included taking care of Prophet Isaac's every need. He claimed to love all the females of his flock." She swallowed hard.

Seth stroked her hair, reminding her of his presence and support.

"All the females were eventually given the honor of becoming one of Prophet Isaac's wives."

He paused, analyzing what she said and what she hadn't. "All of them?"

"Every one."

"That's illegal."

"He didn't care. He married them in a private ceremony with only his enforcers in attendance. No papers were ever filed outside in the real world."

Oh, man. "How young did he take them as a wife?"

Another shudder. "Twelve years old. Before that age, girls were in a training program. The wives were to teach the girls how to please Prophet Isaac in all things except for the bedroom. He preferred to train the girls for that himself. Before they were old enough for him to train, he made the girls watch him with the wives. He called it the preparation for their future honor."

Seth made himself stay relaxed, continuing to stroke Teagan's hair when all he really wanted to do was find the sick pervert and beat him to a pulp. "Is he still alive?" he asked, voice flat.

"Yes."

"He took you as a wife?"

A slight nod. Tears slid down her cheeks. "My parents gave me to him the day I turned twelve. Their last birthday present to me was a wedding dress."

He pushed the fury down hard. Prophet Isaac could expect a visit from Seth before he went back to his career. "When did you escape, Teagan?"

"The day I turned fourteen."

Tears burned his eyes at the horror she'd endured for two long years. "Oh, baby." His voice broke. "I'm so sorry you had to endure that."

"Prophet Isaac was never pleased with me. He said I wasn't cooperative or compliant like a good wife should be. As punishment, he passed me off to his enforcers for a night each, then I would go back to him to see if I had learned to behave as a proper wife." Her lips curled at the corners. "I never did."

"How did you escape the compound?"

"Prophet Isaac gave me to an enforcer for punishment. The enforcer tied me to his bed and left me to contemplate the coming beating and rape while he worked his shift. He planned to punish me when he returned. Unfortunately for him, I freed myself and slipped from his small house. I took bolt cutters from his utility room with me, cut through a hidden portion of the compound's chain-link fence, and ran. A kind old gentleman saw me stumbling along a roadside and stopped to offer help. He took me to the closest police station."

"What happened?"

"A detective took me to the local hospital while his coworkers mounted a raid on the compound. By the time they arrived, Prophet Isaac and every member of the cult were gone except for the enforcer whose mistake allowed me to escape. He was killed execution style before the others left the compound."

"Do you know where Isaac and his flock are now?"

"Mexico. Chihuahua Province." Her mouth curled. "That entire area is filled with people who hate Fortress Security with a passion. Crime is rampant in that whole province."

"Have you heard from your parents since you escaped?"

She shook her head.

Seth brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. "What can I do to help you cope if we're accepted into The Brotherhood?"

Teagan turned to face him. "You won't insist I bow out of this assignment?"

"Do you need to?"

"No."

He studied her for a moment. "You've gone undercover in cults before, haven't you?"

"With my team, yes."

"All right. How can I help you be successful in this assignment?"

She inched closer to his side until she rested her head against his shoulder, her gaze locked on the ducks and swans. "All I need are my weapons at hand. I can take care of myself, Seth." Her mouth curved. "Every member of Artemis is lethal and skilled at close-quarters combat. We're excellent at blending into our environment."

"I'm not questioning your skills or training, baby. What else do you need from me?" He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. "Be honest with yourself and me. Our safety might depend on it."

"I don't like to be cornered, especially with an audience watching," she murmured.

He stilled. Those words told him volumes about her experiences in the cult compound. "I'll do my best to ensure that doesn't happen."

"If it does, I'll handle it like I have every time Fortress sends us undercover." She nuzzled his palm. "Gone on many undercover assignments as a cop, Seth?"

He grimaced. "Enough."

"Not a fan?"

"Nope."

"Why?"

"I hate living immersed in a lie."

She tilted her head. "We're taught to keep everything as close to the truth as possible so we don't trip ourselves up on an op."

"Same. Still hate it."

"Don't you lie to perps in the interrogation room?"

"Sure. It's not the same as becoming a person I hate to fit a long-time role. I don't like the person I see in the mirror during those undercover missions."

"We may be undercover for a while. Sometimes those in leadership are slow to trust newcomers. If that happens, we could live a lie for weeks. Can you live with that?"

"To keep this group from costing innocent lives, I'll deal." He kissed the top of her head. "You don't know how much I want to really kiss you right now. I can't, though."

"You've changed your mind about me," she said, voice soft.

"No. We have an audience." Seth looked into Teagan's beautiful eyes. "I promised to do my best to help you deal with your trauma. Kissing you with people watching is not on the agenda. Besides, your safety would be at risk with my situational awareness compromised."

"You'll have to kiss me in the compound to carry off our roles as lovers."

"That I can do. I'll know we're in enemy territory. Really kissing you out here in the open with our relationship so new is a recipe for disaster."

"How will you work around that?"

He winked. "Easy. I'll have to kiss you every chance I get until we're in the compound."

Teagan laughed. "That's your plan?"

"You have to get used to my touch, my kisses. I'll throw myself into the kissing program for the good of the mission." He pressed a brief, light kiss on her mouth. "After we're in safer surroundings. I want to focus on you, not on potential threats to your safety."

His phone vibrated. Seth slid the phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. "It's Maddox. He cleared the others for this mission."

"We need phones for your friends." Teagan pulled her phone from her pocket and made a call. She put it on speaker. "It's Teagan. You're on speaker with Seth. We're not in secure surroundings."

"Understood. What do you need?"

"Phones for my new friends."

"Delivery?"

"As soon as possible."

"Where?"

She looked at him, one eyebrow raised in silent inquiry.

"My house," he murmured. "Might need some research help later."

"If you do, call me. I'm your assigned tech. Anything else, Teagan?"

"Not right now."

A slight pause. "You're okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Your voice tells me otherwise. Call if you want to talk. Claire and I are superb listeners."

"I appreciate that, Z."

"Offer's always open. Later." Murphy ended the call.

He sent a message to Noah, then slid his phone away. "Time to go. We have plans to make."