Desert Guardian (2 page)

Sam
knew it was crazy, a total fabrication born of a madwoman's hysteria, but his
mother had believed it with all her heart. What had always disturbed him was
the method the cult would use to hitch their ride. They claimed the human body
was too heavy for the ship to carry, meaning they'd have to kill themselves to
free their Essence and travel as weightless passengers.

A
familiar rage laced with grief lifted the hairs at the nape of his neck. Thanks
to Star Mother's onerous leader, and his own error in judgment, his mother hadn't
lived long enough to make the trip.

Kelly
squinted at him. "What's wrong with you? You're pale as the sand outside."

The
explanation was too complicated to go into now. Rather than get bombarded with
her questions, he took a second to erase all expression from his face. "Let's
get you out of here before they turn you into one of their mindless drones."

"Excuse
me?" She pushed her back stiffly against the camper wall. "I already
told you I'm not going anywhere without my brother."

She
and this brother of hers must be pretty tight, a foreign concept to Sam. He had
no brothers, no cousins, no aunts or uncles, no family at all. And he didn't
need any. "I'll come back for Jake later." As much as he'd like to
free every follower in this demented cult, he wasn't a superhero. A fresh wave
of guilt flooded his chest. He couldn't save everyone. He couldn't even save
his own mother. "Get your things and let's go."

They
glared at each other. A brief look of fear swam in the depths of Kelly's eyes before
her gaze turned steely again. The abrupt shift was like having a door shut in
his face.

He
didn't have time for this. Holding back a sigh of exasperation, he reached out
to touch her arm. "Come on."

"Like
hell," she said, and bolted down the narrow hallway toward the bathroom.

Sam
lunged after her.

By
the time she reached the door, he was on top of her. He grabbed her arms and
clasped her hands behind her back. She heaved in a breath as if preparing to
scream, so he covered her mouth with his hand again.

"Damn
it!" he said through clenched teeth. "Don't scream. I'm here to help
you, for Pete's sake." He shouldn't have grabbed her this way, but what
other choice did he have? Now that he knew the cult planned to make good on its
death wish, there wasn't time to wait for Kelly's cooperation. She would leave
here now whether she liked it or not. Besides, if the entire squadron of
sentries came after them, they wouldn't stand a chance of getting away. And Sam
was painfully aware of the persuasive tactics the cult used to make people
behave. Kelly might not survive with her sanity intact.

He
dragged her down the short hallway, her powerful legs kicking as she squirmed
in his arms, her feminine scent making his head swim. Damn, she was strong.
Lucky for him he out-weighed her by a good hundred pounds. He was a foot taller
as well, though she wasn't petite by any means.

He
tugged her with him to the trapdoor and prayed he could count on his decoy, Sheriff
Longbottoms, to help him pull this off.

"Listen
to me," he said, one hand firmly clamped over her mouth as his other held
both her wrists. This won him a hard kick to the shins, and he almost lost his
grip. "Damn it, you've gotta trust me! I know what these people are
capable of, and it's not something you want to find out for yourself."

She
struggled and forced out a muffled scream.

"I'll
make a deal with you," he said, desperate to get out of the trailer and back
on the road. "I'll let you help me get your brother out."

Kelly
grew calm.

"You'll
cooperate?"

She
nodded then kicked his shin again, and he let her go.

Her
face red with exertion, she glowered up into his eyes. Her lovely chest that
stretched the too-small T-shirt rose and fell with a couple of deep breaths
before she opened her mouth to let out an ear-popping scream.

"That's
it!" Sam grabbed her around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder.
He spotted her backpack on the floor and seized it as well.

"Bastard!"
she yelled, pounding her fists against his back. "You've seen way too many
old pirate movies. I'm a grown woman!
 
Put me down. I'll sue you for sexual harassment. My uncle is an attorney,
and he'll have you thrown in jail! You're going to regret ever coming here to
get me—"

"I
already do!" So much for a calm and quiet exit. He'd have to settle for
fast.

****

"Lady
Valya," the sentry said, sounding out of breath as he bowed before the
cult's leader.

Shadows
cast by hanging kerosene lamps flickered across the black canvas walls of the
tent. Valya glided over a vast oriental rug that covered the sandy floor from
wall to wall. She stopped at the open flap that served as a door and stared
expectantly at her personal bodyguard.

"You've
wakened me from a sound sleep. This better be good."

His
head still bent in supplication, the man said, "Kelly Bancroft has been
abducted by The Arrow."

"No!"
She peered out the tent's doorway to see Sam carrying Kelly like a sack of
potatoes while jogging down the rock-strewn hill just beyond the camp. Valya
yanked her long braid of white-gold hair over her shoulder, and her angry
fingers quickly unlaced the thick strands. "That's all I need. Who's with
him?"

"The
sheriff. He's waiting for them in the Jeep. But The Arrow's devil-dog stands
guard and won't let anyone come within ten feet."

"No
one is to attack while the sheriff watches." She heaved a frustrated sigh
and struggled for composure. "I'd rather not stir up trouble with the law.
We've been lucky to avoid every accusation launched against us so far, but luck
can only last so long. It's a critical time for us, and we can't afford any
slip-ups."

Valya
knew the starship was coming, and there was no way she'd miss her chance for a
ride home. It would be another hundred years before the ship returned. She had
dreamed about the ship last night, had seen the gleaming silver of its hull and
the many colored lights that covered its instrument console. Just a few more
days and they would finally be off this horrible rock of a planet for good.

"What
about the Bancroft woman?" the sentry asked. "Her brother is with us.
They share the same blood and should journey to Atria together."

Valya
nodded. Blood ties were a powerful bond highly valued by Star Mother,
especially for the reincarnated starship crewmembers who had arrived on this
planet two thousand years ago. She was convinced Jake had been one of the crew
in a previous life, so there was no question his sister shared the same honor.
Her destiny was here with her Star Mother family. "Follow them. Take another
sentry with you, and take Jake along as well. Watch where they go and what they
do, then report back to me. I'll let you know when it's time to bring her back."
Which would be when Sam Reed wasn't around to stop them.

The
sentry joined her in watching Sam grapple with a struggling Kelly Bancroft.
Valya had to admire the young woman's spunk. She also had to admit being
jealous of seeing her in Sam's arms because it was a wonderful place to be. Her
own time with Sam had been brief, and though it had happened five years ago, it
had been an exquisite experience she would not soon forget.

****

"I
hate you," Kelly screamed. She continued pummeling Sam's back with her
fists, but not as forcefully as before. With the upper half of her body hanging
upside down, her pendant swung precariously below her nose, and she grabbed it
before the chain could slip off and the necklace disappear in the sand. She was
getting tired and all the blood rushing to her head had given her a headache. "Put
me down!"

The
man calling himself The Arrow—a totally ridiculous name if you asked her—wasn't
listening. His arm wrapped around her thighs was like a band of iron, and the
rough hairs covering his skin rubbed intimately against her flesh. His physical
power was strangely intoxicating as he effortlessly carried her across the
hard-packed desert, his footsteps sure and fast. Though the view of his taut
behind from this angle was lovely to look at, she'd seen enough. He better set
her down soon or her head would burst like an overfilled water balloon.

She
heard an animal growl. It sounded like a dog, but there was something too feral
about it to be domestic. She lifted her head and came eye to eye with a coyote.

She
pushed up from Sam's shoulder and twisted wildly to escape his arms. She could
deal with brawny cult intervention specialists and bizarre cultists, but when
it came to bugs and wild animals, all bets were off. When she’d been a child,
her father would punish her by locking her in a basement closet filled with
rats and spiders. Daddy knew how to start a phobia and make it last.

She
and Sam were about to be attacked by a desert coyote, and no way would she
submit to becoming its dinner. "Don't you see it? A coyote is about to
attack us—"

Sam
abruptly swung her from his shoulder and steadied her on her feet. "Stop
it. He won't attack."

Though
she had struggled to get away from him seconds ago, she clung to Sam now, using
his body as a shield between her and the canine. The swell of his backside
pressed against her hip made her slightly dizzy. Glancing at the coyote, she
could have sworn it smiled at her.

"He's
not a threat," Sam said. "He's my friend."

She
frowned. "You have a coyote for a friend?"

He
glanced back at a growing crowd of red-sashed sentries. Strangely enough, they
kept their distance. "We're lucky they're not carrying guns."

"Why
would they?" she asked, remembering the blissful couple of days she'd just
spent at the camp. No one here could be dangerous. She'd found them to be the
most caring, generous people she'd ever met. "The people here claim to
embrace harmony and unconditional love. They may be deluded, but at least they're
peaceful."

He
looked down at her, an expression of pity on his face.

"What?"

"No
time to explain. Come on." When she didn't move fast enough, he bent down
as if to grab her again, and she jumped back.

"Fine.
I'm coming with you, but only because you promised I could go along when you
return for Jake."

"Then
let's go." He turned away and stalked toward the road. His arrogance was
irritating as hell. She should be outraged, but she had to admit his machismo
was something of a turn-on. She usually hated that sort of thing.

He
called over his shoulder, "Move it, okay?"

She
caught up to him, and they walked side by side toward the Jeep, where she saw a
uniformed man sitting behind the wheel. "Hey!" she yelled, and
started toward him, but Sam grabbed her arm to hold her back. "This man
kidnapped me, officer. I want him arrested."

Sam
reached the driver's side ahead of her. He threw her backpack inside and
growled, "Jump in. Now!"

Who
the hell did he think he was? "I'm not taking orders from you."

Ignoring
her, he grabbed the lawman's shoulders and hoisted him off the seat.

Kelly
gasped. "What the hell—?"

When
Sam tossed the sheriff carelessly into the back, his head popped off and
bounced onto the sand by her feet.

He retrieved
the dummy's head by its hair. "Sheriff Longbottoms is my decoy. He's a big
help in cases like this. Now get in."

"Look,"
someone yelled. "The sheriff's a fake."

Furious
shouts came from the gathering crowd at the camp's perimeter, and no one stood
aside any longer. About fifty screaming people in white robes rushed toward
them, waving their arms and yelling, "Deceiver! Kidnapper!" among a
few other choice words that Kelly was surprised to hear from a religious group.

The
coyote leapt onto the backseat beside the headless Sheriff Longbottoms. The
image was like something out of a really bad horror movie.

As
the Jeep jumped forward, her head snapped back. They quickly accelerated to a
speed that was sure to get them killed.

"Where
are we going?" she asked, determined not to let up on him. She was in no
need of saving, and he had totally ruined her plans for freeing Jake. "And
when are we coming back for my brother?"

"I'm
taking you to your father's hotel in Big Bear. It's not far, a couple of hours
at most. As for your brother..."

She
glowered at him. "Go on."

He
gave her a piercing look before returning his attention to the road. "Just
talking to him won't save him, Kelly. He's in too deep. And if you're not
careful, you will be, too."

"What
do you mean?" Kelly asked, still stunned by the events of the last fifteen
minutes. Her brother would be back with those people by tomorrow, and she was
determined to get him out. "You said you'd help Jake. We're still going
back for him, right?"

Sam
stared straight ahead and his jaw muscle twitched. He didn't answer.

She
unbuckled her seat belt. "Stop the Jeep."

"What
are you doing?"

Anger
flooded her cheeks with heat. He'd made a promise, and like most men, her
father in particular, Sam was backing out. "I should have known better. If
I want something done, I have to do it myself. Just stop and let me the hell
out."

"No."

As
tempting as it was to leap from the speeding Jeep, she'd be no good to Jake
dead. She had to think, come up with a plan.

Sam
stared at her briefly before refocusing on the narrow two-lane highway. "What,
no arguments?"

Her
arms folded stiffly across her middle, Kelly gazed at the dark landscape in
front of her, miles of sand and desert rock fanning out in all directions. Such
a lonely, desolate place, but also beautiful. A great place to think, which was
what she needed to do right now. If only she could talk to Jake, to reason with
him. She'd like a chance to talk with the group's leaders, too. How hard could
it be convincing them to just let Jake go?

Sam
checked the rearview and sideview mirrors before slowing the Jeep to a less
lethal speed. "I told you I'm going back for your brother, and I am. But
to be honest, your father only paid me for one night's work. There are expenses
involved in what I do. I don't perform interventions for free."

She
twisted to give him a shocked look then blinked and settled back in her seat.
Fine. Rather than ask her penny-pinching father for help, she'd foot the bill
herself. That she was now indebted to her father for her own rescue was
ludicrous, especially since she hadn't needed rescuing in the first place.
Men
. Always had to be the tough guys,
always had to have the upper hand. Well, not with her, thank you very much.

"If
I were to hire you myself, how would you convince my brother to leave his cult
and go with you?"

"I'd
need to tell him something that would compel him to choose freedom over Star
Mother."

"Like
what?"

He
shrugged. "I know your father and brother had a falling-out, so I'll tell
him his father is sorry for what happened and wants him to come home. I hope
that will be enough. Sometimes it is."

She
rolled her eyes. "You have no idea how wrong you are."

"Oh?"
He slid her a sideways glance. "You have a better idea?"

On
the tail end of a sigh, she said, "All it would take is a few words from
me and Jake would follow me like a puppy."

He
nodded, his expression unreadable. "I wouldn't be so sure, but the idea
has merit. We'll talk about it. To come up with a concrete plan, I'll need to
know more about your brother, your relationship with him, and his relationship
with his father."
 

Not so fast
,
she thought, and reached up to flip on the dome light. She had some interrogating
of her own to do first.

"What?"

"I
want a better look at you," she said, studying his profile. "I'm not
so sure I should hire you. You could be an axe murderer for all I know."

He
arched an eyebrow. "What does an axe murderer look like?"

"Give
me a minute and I'll tell you." This was the first chance she'd had to
study him up close. When they’d first met, she'd been so surprised by his
sudden appearance that she hadn't paid much attention to how he looked except
to notice he was big and intimidating, which had immediately put her on the
defensive. While he’d used the caveman approach to carry her off, she could
tell he was all muscle and sinew, a good six feet and a few inches of it. Now
that she saw his face in the light, he no longer looked so scary. His thick
brows were dark and expressive, accenting the deep gray of his eyes. He had
prominent cheekbones and a small bump on the bridge of his nose that told her
it had been broken once.

As
she watched him, Sam's full lips tilted up in a sly grin. She felt herself
blush.

"Do
I pass inspection?"

She
gave him an unladylike snort. "The jury's still out. I'll let you know."

He
switched off the dome light. "I hope you understand the seriousness of
your brother's situation." His voice had lost its conversational tone, and
the new chilly undercurrents made her tense, reminding her he was still a
stranger. "Let me emphasize that involvement with a cult is not an easy
life. And cults aren't always religious. They can start from almost anything,
any belief, any event. Look at terrorists. That's a great example of how far a
cult can go."

She'd
never thought of it like that. "How many cults are there?"

"Hundreds.
Possibly thousands when you consider the spin-off groups, the multilevel
marketing groups, the therapy groups, and the self-help gurus who can make you
thinner, happier, sexier, wealthier, and anything else you can dream up. Cults
are all about power and control." His lip curled in disgust. "Even
Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris have a cult following. There are kids all over
the country who admire the killers for having stood up for themselves. They
aspire to follow in their heroes' footsteps."

Columbine
.
Why anyone would ever want to repeat that tragedy was beyond her.

She
had never considered Star Mother a power-based sort of group. The people at the
camp were so docile, not pushy at all. "Are you sure Star Mother's
followers are as bad as you make them out to be?"

"Don't
underestimate these people," he said, his baritone voice taking on the
gruffness of a drill sergeant. "I know a fair amount about Star Mother,
and they're not a peaceful group working to create a united world of love and
understanding."

She
searched his face to see if he was kidding. He tossed her a sardonic look
before adding, "I know because I used to be one of them."

She
couldn't help but gasp at this interesting piece of news. An ex-cultist who
kidnapped cultists. Who'd have thought.

"Hard
to believe, huh?" He chuckled. "My association with those freaks wasn't
by choice, believe me. When my father died, my mother was depressed and easy
prey for the cult's leaders, who eagerly accepted my father's life insurance
payout in exchange for taking us in."

Kelly
was a glutton for gossip, and he'd found the perfect ploy to distract her from
her single-minded goal of rescuing Jake. "How old were you when this
happened?"

"Ten."

"So
when did you get out?"

"When
I turned sixteen." His voice had lowered an octave, grown even huskier.
This was obviously painful territory for him.

"Did
someone rescue you, like you'll do for Jake?" She was determined not to
let him forget his promise.

Sam
peered at her sideways, the corner of his mouth lifted in a cynical half-grin. "I
left on my own. My mother was the one smitten by the cult's belief in a utopian
planet that's supposedly their true home. I guess I believed in it when I was a
kid, but that changed after I got to know them better."

She
studied his profile and watched for a shift in his stony expression. There was
a subtle hint of emotion stirring just below the surface. An emotion he
obviously wanted to keep to himself. Her curiosity got the better of her, so
she asked, "What's Star Mother really like?"

He
cleared his throat, his Adam's apple making a deep bob as he appeared to
consider his next words. "For one thing, families are always separated
until the parents' conditioning is complete. Adults and children are
manipulated through guilt, intimidation, an appeal to their ego, fear,
curiosity, and their natural desire to be liked. It's emotional torture, pure and
simple. The cult's abusive ways interfere with a member's ability to digest
facts because their emotions get in the way of objective thinking."

"Wow."
Kelly fell silent as she considered what he'd just said. Guilt, intimidation,
fear...that sounded a lot like how her father had kept his own children in
line. And Jake was no stranger to being victimized by such tactics. Their dad
had been a master at it. Jake had made a lateral move from one emotionally
abusive parent to another. "While I was at the camp, I didn't see any
fences keeping people in, and the sentries didn't stand guard over anyone.
Folks could easily walk away whenever they wanted. So if it's so awful, why
does everyone stay?"

Sam
stared at the ribbon of highway ahead, his neck muscles tightening as he
swallowed. She studied his face, his frown tempting her to reach out and smooth
away the disturbing memories that seemed to torture his thoughts. "They
have no choice," he said. "Star Mother, or I should say Star Mother's
leaders, took that ability away from them."

"How?"

"By
depersonalizing them." He gave her a quick look, his eyes so sad it broke
her heart. "Their individuality was wiped away so they would no longer
have to think for themselves. You have to understand that the majority of Star Mother's
members had been so unhappy with their lives that they welcomed someone who
would do their thinking for them. They yearned to belong somewhere, to be
accepted and cared for, regardless of the cost. So Star Mother gave them what
they wanted."

A
disturbing chill made her wrap her arms more tightly around herself. "What
does Star Mother get in return?"

"Their
souls."

Sam
didn't come across as the type of person to be so easily manipulated, to give
up his mind and body without a fight. It was obvious to Kelly from what he’d
just described that he'd witnessed his own mother's mindless transformation.
Something desperate must have happened to him to make him leave his mother
behind.

"You
said you left when you were sixteen. Why then? If life was so horrible with
Star Mother, why did you wait so long to leave?"

His
hands gripped the steering wheel even tighter, the skin over his knuckles
turning fish-belly white.

"I'm
sorry," she said. "Really, I didn't mean to pry—"

He
held up a hand, the corner of his mouth twisted in a half-grin. "It's
okay. I need you to understand how harmful the Star Mother cult can be to
someone unprepared to deal with its cruelty. So don't be shocked by what I'm
about to tell you." He inhaled deeply. "The cult's young people are
encouraged to shed all sexual repression on their sixteenth birthday. Ritual
orgies are used to break down inhibitions. Star Mother believes that if you don't
feel comfortable with group sex, it's a psychological hang-up that prohibits
you from unifying with the group."

That
was child abuse. It amazed her that he was willing to share so much personal
information, but if he wanted her to understand the danger her brother was in,
he'd taken the right course. "So you were subjected to—"

"No,"
he said calmly, though she thought she saw a ripple of revulsion pass through
him. His shoulders straightened, and he held his head an inch or so higher. "I
ran away before...I left with my virginity intact."

"Where
did you go?"

"I
lived on the streets of San Diego for a few days, just until I was sure no one
from the cult had come after me. One night, my need for food made me look for a
police station. That's when social services was called to pick me up."

Kelly
had to admire him for surviving such a horrendous childhood. If she had known
what kind of life he'd had, she might not have been such a pain in the ass when
he'd snatched her from the cult's camp. On second thought, she couldn't have
helped herself. Bucking authority was her claim to fame, thanks to her
self-absorbed, egotistical father. The chill deepened and she rubbed her arms.

"Cold?"
Sam asked, and reached into the backseat to grab an old jean jacket from
underneath Sheriff Longbottoms. He tossed it in her lap.

"Thanks."
She draped the jacket around her shoulders. It was flannel lined and felt soft
against her skin. She sniffed the collar and smelled pine, plus a mild hint of
mildew as if it had been stored in a damp place for a while. "You didn't
mention what became of your mother."

"No,
I didn't," he said flatly.

An
uncomfortable silence settled between them. The only sound was the whoosh of
wind through the Jeep's open windows.

Okay,
so he didn't want to talk about his mother. She could live with that. Sam had
already made it clear why he'd gone into the cult intervention business, and
she admired him for it. But she wondered what qualified him to perform such a
potentially dangerous task. She knew first hand the police were helpless when
it came to getting people out of the cults they joined voluntarily. Kidnapping
was illegal no matter who did the napping. When she had gone to the county
sheriff to ask for help with her brother, she'd been turned away, giving her no
choice but to take matters into her own hands. So it made sense that someone
like Sam was needed to help innocent victims of cult influence reclaim their
freedom. Considering how the cult's members had turned vicious in a heartbeat,
Sam's expertise probably went beyond mild-mannered counseling.