Page 101 of Lethal Danger

“Every individual must make their own decisions about what is best for them, but I personally believe that fairs and other worldly sources of entertainment are dangerous. They perpetuate evil, and naturally, evil things happen as a result. I’m sure you see that in what happened to your aunt.”

Jerk. To use her aunt’s death as an object lesson was pretty low. But he apparently thought petting her hand would make her miss the disgusting tactic.

“I’m sure you’re right.” She somehow forced a smile. She should really be in the running for an Oscar with this performance. “Does anyone ever get bothered by having to follow all the rules, though? I understand there are a lot of them here.”

“No, not rules, Jazz.” His smile was more condescending now as he dipped his head like that helped him see her better. “Guidelines to seek and attain your best life. As I said, I know how to get you to where you want to be. It’s up to you to choose the best life for yourself. Some people, sadly, don’t realize how happy they would be if they’d simply follow the proven path I’ve laid out for them.”

Jazz swallowed the bitter taste pushing up her throat. She’d had enough of this conman’s gimmicks and definitely enough of his hand holding. She could be allowing the touch of the person who was trying to have her killed. Though the first attempt on her life was the night before the pin was found, the day of the Ferris wheel sabotage.

But maybe she’d seen something or someone she hadn’t realized was significant that morning. She’d never seen this joker before. His height and handsome, uniquely distinguished face would not have been something she’d miss or forget. Not that he would’ve risked being spotted at the fair.

She scanned her memories from that morning before the Ferris wheel car had fallen. She and Flash had caught the purse snatcher. Her pulse sped as a new possibility took shape in her mind. Could the teenager have been a diversion? “Do you have a family? A wife and children?”

At least that got the man to slide his hands away from Jazz. But he covered with a smooth smile. “I do have a lovely wife, yes. No children yet, I’m afraid.” Which at his age probably meant he didn’t want them.

“Oh, that is a shame.” She stood and lifted her purse strap to her shoulder. “I have to run, but thank you for your time. The community does sound like a wonderful family.” She practically choked on the lie, but it was for a good cause. “Before I commit, can I talk to some of the members? I know you said they’ll love me like family, but I’d like to see what kind of people they are for myself first. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course.” He smiled. “As you leave, ask my assistant, Sarah, for an appointment to speak with some of our members.”

“Oh, it doesn’t have to be so formal.” She waved a hand to dismiss the trouble. “I just wanted to chat with a few people I see on the way out. Keep it organic and simple.”

“That’s a lovely idea.” He put his hand on her shoulder as he guided her to the closed door that led out of his office. “But not every person in our community is at the right stage in his or her journey to be questioned without harming them. We protect our members. Which you will benefit from when you join us.” He gave her a broader smile and took her hand again as he opened the door. He lifted her hand to his lips. He wasn’t going to kiss it was he?

She slipped out of his grip before she could find out. “I’m sure I will. Thank you so much.” She walked away, thanking her own lucky stars that she still had her sanity and wits intact. Seemed like not everyone could say the same after an encounter with Desmond Patch.

“The midnight sun.” Hawthorne walked out from the far side of Jazz’s parked SUV as he spoke the line he hoped Jazz would remember.

The gorgeous redhead paused her step for only a second as she spotted him, a smile showing off her perfect white teeth. “Never shines on me. Carson Steele’s code line to make sure his buddy hadn’t been swapped with his double?”

Hawthorne grinned and leaned back against the closed liftgate of her SUV, crossing his arms over his T-shirt as he grinned. “Seemed the best way to be sure you didn’t get brainwashed in there.”

He glanced over her shoulder at the Best Life commune that stood a good distance away from where she’d parked in the large lot. Far enough that no one should see him talking to her.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll blow my cover?”

He peered at her from behind his sunglasses. “More afraid of the brainwashing.”

Jazz stopped a few feet from him and wrinkled her nose. “Think I’m that susceptible, huh?”

“I think Patch is that tricky.”

Jazz moved closer and lowered herself to perch on the thick rear bumper. She looked straight ahead instead of at Hawthorne. “Came closer than I’d like to admit. He’s really good.” The regret and surprise in her tone twisted his gut a little.

Hopefully, the experience hadn’t been too painful. Maybe he could alleviate any disappointment in herself by sharing more of his experience. “He is an expert at persuasion and mental control. He didn’t target me with his persuasion because I was only a child. But I watched him do it to my parents and other adults in the cult.”

Hawthorne lowered his weight down to the bumper next to her and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I always thought they were stupid not to see through what he was doing, how he was manipulating them. But now that I’m older, I understand it a little more. He knew how to find their weaknesses and exploit them. Always in a way that made it look like he understood them, saw them like no one else. And that made it seem like he was the only one who could give them the deepest desires of their hearts.”

“You described it…perfectly.” Jazz turned her head toward Hawthorne. “That’s how he almost got me. For a second.”

He couldn’t help but get caught in those emerald eyes that gave everything away. Shock, longing, and vulnerability he hadn’t expected to find in tough, heroic Jazz Lamont. “I’m glad it didn’t take.” His throat thickened around the words.

“Thanks to you and your warnings about him.” She sighed. “It must’ve been so hard. Growing up there.”

He pulled in a deep breath, his hands going to grip the bumper on either side of his body as he looked down at the blacktop, chest clenching. “The worst years of my life, for sure. The hardest part was seeing how quickly my parents changed. And with them, my whole family, our lives. I was a kid, so I didn’t like having more rules, but it was so much more than that.”

He reached up to run his fingers through the intentionally ruffled hair on top of his head, probably messing up the gelled style. But he didn’t care at the moment. “They became robots, programmed by Patch to do his bidding. After a few months, I never got to talk to my mom or dad ever again.” Emotion caught his voice. He paused, trying to push back the sadness before it became even more obvious. “It was like talking to Patch instead of them. They were shells of the parents I’d known.”

Hawthorne felt Jazz’s touch on his shoulder before he saw it coming.

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