Page 17 of The Girl and the Lies

“Excuse me,” I call after the three.

They stop and come back toward me.

“I’m Agent Griffin. As Tracy said, I’m investigating Gideon’s death and the threats that have been sent to the people working for the company. I know what you just did was really difficult, but before you go, do you mind telling me a bit about it?”

They glance at one another and nod.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks,” the woman Tracy referred to as Dawn starts. “At first I didn’t really think much of the threats because things like that have happened before, but then more people started getting them. Then I got one, and it really scared me. It was left on my car while I was at the grocery store. I had my daughter with me, and I’ve never felt quite so helpless. Now with what happened to Gideon…” Her voice trails off, and she shakes her head. “I just can’t do it. The job isn’t worth feeling like I’m putting my daughter in harm’s way.”

“How about you?” I ask the other two. “Did either of you get threats?”

They both shake their heads.

“No,” the man says. “I didn’t get one myself, but I know a couple people who did, and it’s really unnerving. I just feel like something should have been done. More than just calling the police and talking about it at company meetings. I know that the police can’t really do anything because they don’t know who sent them, but Tracy should be doing something to protect the people working for her. She mentioned that someone suggested she change her schedule and not do the appearances she has soon. That was me. I put in an anonymous note and said that I thought it would be better if she laid low for a while, at least until all the heat she caused recently calms down a bit. I just think she needs to stop making herself, and the ministry, so blatantly visible with all this going on.”

“I feel the same way,” the other woman says. “I think it’s really irresponsible for her to take something like this and use it as a rallying cry to put herself, and all of us, out there even more. She’s putting all of us, not just the ones that actually got the threats, in danger. And I’m not going to stick around and wait to find out what else is going to happen because of it.”

“Does any of you have any ideas of who might be behind this? Is there something different about these threats than the other ones you’ve heard of?” I ask.

“Before the threats came to the company itself,” Dawn says. “Sometimes if we were out at an event or something, we might hear people yelling things at us, but this is the first time I know of where anything has actually gone to people’s homes. That’s what really scares me. They know where people live. They can get to them.”

“You should look into Marcus Kelsey,” the man tells me. “He used to work for the company but was fired a few months back. I know he had some really pointed words for Tracy and the ministry when he was leaving.”

“Do you think he would be capable of doing something like this?” I ask.

“I didn’t know him well,” the man says. “But what I did know about him wasn’t good. He was a favorite of Tracy’s because he met her intensity. There were even times when he was more zealous and aggressive than she was, to the point that he could be legitimately frightening.”

“Then how did he end up fired?” I ask.

“No one is completely sure,” Dawn says. “All Tracy said about it after it happened was that she found out he was not who he was presenting himself to be and she couldn’t have any of that among the people she kept closest to her. It sounded like he had betrayed her in some way, but it wasn’t advertised to the whole company.”

“Which really surprised me,” the other woman said. “Tracy is never above making an example out of people when she feels like she can put a spin on it and turn it into something that’s going to get her more loyalty.”

“All right. Thank you for talking to me.” I give each of them business cards. “Call me if you can think of anything else that you think might be important.”

The three leave, and I go back into the room just as Tracy is coming down off the podium to the applause of the audience. The clapping certainly isn’t universal across everyone in attendance, and I have a feeling the three I just spoke to are the beginning of an exodus.

I fall into step with Ander and Tracy as they leave the room. We get back on the elevator, and she glances at me, dabbing at the sweat on her forehead with an expensive-looking handkerchief. There’s expectation in her eyes, like she’s waiting for me to tell her what I was doing when I stepped out of the room. I’m positive she noticed. The whole time I was listening to her talk, her eyes were flickering to me at the back of the room. I was a new listener, a new person she could attempt to impress and sway with her fervor. Maybe that’s what she’s waiting for. Confirmation that she has captured me and I’m going to be one of her dedicated followers. Or that she has repelled me and I’m going to still garner her more attention with my complaints.

She’s not going to get any of that from me. I’m here for only one reason, and that’s to talk about what happened to Gideon Bell and the threatening messages her employees have been receiving.

Tracy goes directly for her teapot again when we get back into her office. She pours more into the cup that she left behind and doesn’t add anything before taking a sip. Looking over at me again, she lifts the cup to indicate it.

“Are you sure I can’t get you something?” she asks.

“I’m fine,” I tell her. “Thank you.”

“All right,” she says, bringing the cup over to the seating area and settling into the same spot as before. “I saw you step out of the room. Did I say something to offend you?”

It almost feels like a challenge, but I don’t let anything show on my face. I can absolutely see how this woman has gotten the reputation that she has. She’s undeniably compelling and charismatic, but there’s also something about her that doesn’t sit well with me. Other than what was said in the brief clip I watched about Terrence Brooks, I don’t know enough about her ministry or what she preaches for it to have an effect on me, but I am still bothered by the way that she talked about him. I have a feeling that other issues she takes up aren’t handled with any more of a deft hand. But there’s more to it than that. It’s the woman herself that I’m not responding to.

She has all the hallmarks of someone caring and welcoming. Offering tea alone shows that she puts importance on hospitality and knows how far such a gesture could go in earning the loyalty of the people she interacts with. But there’s an undercurrent of something in her that I can feel. Something that fuels the raving and that has obviously pushed away people who once numbered themselves among her committed employees and possibly even followers.

“I wanted to speak with the people who left the meeting,” I tell her. “Getting as many perspectives on this situation as possible will be helpful to the investigation.”

“Did they have anything interesting to say?” she asks.

“They offered me some insights,” I say. “What can you tell me about Marcus Kelsey?”

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