Mercy was studying Bunker carefully. ‘Searching the newspaper archives is not a bad idea, Jeffrey. I’m Mercy, by the way.’
Bunker at least had the good grace to look ashamed. ‘I know. I’m . . . I’m sorry.’
‘I know,’ she said quietly.
Rafe had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from snarling. This man had seen the video of Mercy. Yes, it was grainy, according to anyone who’d seen it. Yes, he’d gotten it taken down within hours. But he’d seen it. He’d seen Mercy, naked and vulnerable, and Rafe wanted to rip his arms off for that alone.
But Mercy only smiled at the young man. ‘You helped Amos reunite with us, and I’m grateful. As far as I’m concerned, we’re more than even. I’ve missed him more than I can say. Thank you.’
‘And you reported my aunt Quill’s murder,’ Farrah added, ‘and for that I have to thank you.’
Farrah’s use of ‘have to’ wasn’t lost on anyone, especially Bunker.
‘She was a nice lady,’ Bunker said, dropping his gaze to his feet. ‘She was so proud of both of you. I hate that she was touched by any of this. That she . . .’ He glanced up at Abigail, who was watching everything with wide eyes that seemed to miss nothing. ‘Anyway. I’m so sorry for your loss.’ He squared his shoulders. ‘I’ll go to my room now. If you need me to help search archives for this Herbert Hampton guy, please ask.’
Irina rolled her eyes. ‘Sit, Jeffrey. We’ll have cake.’
But Rafe was too surprised by Bunker’s words to stem his own. ‘Wait. He’s staying here? In this house? With Zoya here? Why?’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘You never would have let us have “special friends” spend the night.’
Zoya glared at him as she took four servings of the cake. ‘He’s here because he brought Amos here, and Amos has most likely been discovered missing, which means that the people in Eden will be looking for him and anyone who’s helping him. Jeff’s at risk because he did a good thing. To make it worse, the FBI “can’t spare” anyone to watch his house to make sure he and his mother are safe. So they are here. At our invitation. Mine, Mom’s, and Dad’s. You don’t live here anymore, Rafe, so you can sh— be quiet,’ she amended, then gave Bunker two of the four plates she’d prepared. ‘Jeff, let’s go back to the office. We can take your mother and my sister Meg some cake, too.’
The two of them left the kitchen, Zoya with an angry flounce and Bunker with a quiet sigh.
Irina said nothing as she served cake to everyone still at the table, but Rafe thought he saw her lips twitching. ‘Mom, are you going to let Zoya get away with talking like that?’
‘Yes,’ Irina said simply.
‘Because she’s right,’ Karl added, taking a bite of his cake. ‘This is so good, Rini. Just like always.’
‘Zoya is right,’ Mercy murmured. ‘“Special friend sleepover” concerns aside, Jeff did us a big favor. I mean, I’m the one who has the most right to be angry about the article, and I’m really not. I’m grateful that Jeff cared enough to alert Irina to Amos’s email. He didn’t have to do that, but he did, and now Amos is here with us.’ She squeezed Amos’s hand, then turned a serious gaze onto Rafe and Gideon. ‘Abigail already thinks you’re an ogre, Gideon. I think we’ve got enough hatred coming at us from the true bad guys. Let’s not feed it with our own anger, okay? I’m tired of being angry.’
Farrah sighed. ‘You’re right. Why are you always right? And don’t look so happy with yourself.’
Mercy smirked. ‘I’m not right all that often, so I’ll be happy with myself as long as I want to.’
Rafe felt like Mercy had pulled a plug on his anger, and his shoulders sagged. He stuffed a forkful of cake in his mouth to combat the bad taste of that upcoming apology. ‘Dammit,’ he grumbled.
Mercy patted his face lightly. ‘I’m not happy about Bunker’s first article. I’m not. I’m embarrassed and I might have to wear a disguise out in public for the rest of my natural life. But here, when it’s just us, I’m safe enough, and I can be clearheaded enough to know that the real danger is a lot worse than a few thousand people seeing me in a less than pleasant light.’ She paused and looked around. ‘Nobody has really talked about the fact that DJ is out there, too. He could be anywhere. Maybe use all that energy to think about following Bunker’s advice. We need to find Eden, and Pastor is the cornerstone. If he embezzled that much money, somebody had to have covered the story. It exists somewhere, in some newspaper archive. We just need to find it. Amos, do you remember any of the articles from back then?’
‘No. We were told not to read them, that it was just Satan’s way of making us doubt.’
Rafe was about to scoff but saw the acceptance on Gideon and Mercy’s faces. ‘That was a thing, huh?’ he asked instead.
‘We were separate from the world,’ Gideon said. ‘And anyone who came into the compound from the outside had to take an oath to forget about the world and not speak of it. The world was determined to sway us from God and the Elders, so we were not to listen.’
‘Mark them,’ Mercy murmured. ‘Have nothing to do with them.’
The words and the eerie, detached way that she spoke them sent a chill down Rafe’s spine.
‘They preached that?’ Farrah asked. ‘Have nothing to do with anyone who didn’t agree?’
Mercy nodded. ‘Every Sunday. And Monday and all the days that ended in “y”. Paranoia was like mother’s milk. At least in Eden.’
Amos looked uncomfortable. ‘In Eden and in the LA church. And in some ways, I have to agree with that teaching. I’ve seen a lot today that I never, ever thought I’d see.’
‘Zoya showed him some television,’ Irina said.
Amos shook his head. ‘I’m still . . . well, it’s a very different world than the one I left.’
‘What will you do next, Amos?’ Mercy asked, seeming to need to change the subject. ‘How can we help you settle in?’
‘I have no idea,’ Amos confessed. ‘I need a job. I need a place to live. A school for Abigail. We need documents. Abigail doesn’t even have a birth certificate. It’s . . .’ He trailed off helplessly.
‘Overwhelming, Papa?’ Abigail chirped, cake all over her mouth.
‘Exactly that.’ Amos wiped her mouth with a napkin. ‘This much to do’ – he stretched his arms wide – ‘and this much time to do it.’ He closed his arms around her, wrapping her in a hug.
‘But you don’t need to figure it out tonight,’ Irina said firmly. ‘We’ve all had a long day and I’m declaring it time to rest. Daisy and I have filled boxes for each of you. Take this food home and eat it. I texted Damien and asked him to follow you home, so I know you’re safe.’