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"You sure he won’t get mad? Because I need this job, et the van If it’s not busy tonight, we’ll be done by eleven Otherwise, we’ll work till the van is perfect Safe and dependable How does that sound?"

Justin’s lips got a little pink around the edges His eyes lassy But all he said was, "That’d be real good, Al You ever need a favor, all you have to do is ask"

"Hey, friends take care of each other Friends can count on each other"

Twelve

Laine asked Eric if he could take an afternoon off to go soed it He’d do anything she asked and she knew it She drove hilas County, down a lonely, tree-lined road He kept asking where they were going and she told hiate A county sheriff’s car was parked outside the gate and Laine jue, chatted with hi, then she got back in the car while the deputy opened the gate

Eric was catching on--there was yellow cri And an aruarded?" he asked her

"Not exactly," she said "It’s under routine surveillance We still have two suspects at large, although I’ular inventory of the contents of the buildings on the property to be sure nothing isthat amounts to evidence has been taken out of here and we don’t expect our suspects to return, but one never knows"

"So, this is the place," he said "This is where it all happened"

She took a deep breath She nodded "The commune The place This is the second ti after h the property, go over the events and give thes while I was here I did pass inforh the fence behind the chicken coop, but that was infrequent It really so back there to check the security of the place and the brush and trees grew up against the fence so it was a very unlikely place for anyone to break inor out When I ca soister what I was seeing or re Want to see the place?"

"Want to show ain I wanted to look at it with some objectivity The wo house There were only six woot here but the place was built for twenty, plus children When the wolance, it looks like such a safe place," he said

"I know The entire estate is beautiful On this side of the river there were livestock, ardens, chicken coops, the house and barn, corral, playground The anie across the river--on the other side were the men’s bunkhouse, Jacob’s house and tarehouses that Jacob said held supplies, equipanic plants They arehouses dedicated tofederal cri federal case before I saw the pot," she said "He was bringing these poor, destitute women here, fro to ar on the establisha captive women and children" She looked around "If people had had the freedoo as they pleased and if he didn’t have an i far little commune Of course, it would’ve been very poor And there was the littlecrazy is not against the law"

"What will happen to this place?" Eric asked

"Auction, I suppose Co hied by the fire, a large Victorian style with huge rooms and a wraparound porch Inside it was not only abandoned and deserted, but also dirty and cluttered Detectives had plowed through every drawer and cupboard, but of course, nothing was put back It was plundered in search of evidence

The kitchen was enor, family-style table that could seat at least twenty "The family ate here The women, children, Jacob and often the men atched over the place"

"Did you cook for the family?"

She shook her head "I had chores and sometimes I had chores in the kitchen, but they didn’t know I could cook Or that I liked to cook"

"Why not? That’s important to you"

"Oh, lots of reasons My backstory--I was poor, down onmy mother into this It was subtle, but it was perverse" She walked through the kitchen and out the back door She started down the porch steps, then stopped and sat down "The wo--that they had no options, no choices They let Jacob have his way because that made him happy and while he was happy, they had safety and plenty to eat They had children and nowhere to go They were afraid if they left, if they ran away, they wouldn’t survive Since they’d been in shelters or living on the streets before he found them, it wasn’t too hard for him to convince them that’s all they orth"

Eric sat down beside her and took her hand

"You can’t i to convince them they’d been manipulated, tricked Brainwashed But I couldn’t I had to be one of the on here And of course, get them out before Jacob and his little militia used them as shields I had to take my time, sneak them out slowly so it would seeive o slowly"