Page 27 of The Girl and the Lies

The front door opens, and a second later, a woman comes bustling in with her arms laden with grocery bags.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “The lines were all the way to the back of the store. You would think they would have more than two cash registers open. It was ridiculous. I was just trying to pick up a few things for dinner, and it took me almost two hours.”

“It’s all right, honey,” Marshall says. “Agent Griffin and I were just talking.”

She looks at me, and her cheeks go pink. “I’m sorry… Yes, Marshall told me you would be coming by.”

“Not a problem,” I tell her.

“I’m Carla,” she says, crossing from the open-concept kitchen into the living room area to shake my hand. “Marshall told me that Tracy introduced you to the company yesterday morning. Give me just a second to put these things away, and I’ll be right in.”

She hurries back over to the kitchen and starts pulling things out of the grocery bags she put on the island.

“How would you describe your feelings toward the ministry?” I ask Marshall.

“My feelings toward it?” he asks. “Like do I believe everything that Tracy stands for?” His eyes slide up slightly, like he’s trying to see the thoughts going through his mind and searching for the right words to answer me. “I believe that she believes it. I believe that she thinks that she is doing something good and what she is supposed to be doing. There are elements of what she teaches that I believe, but over time, she has gotten more aggressive about things that I can’t align myself with fully.”

“Does it cause problems for you within the company that you aren’t fully sold on everything that she says?” I ask.

“No, I don’t talk about it with anyone within the company. But it is a big part of why I’m leaving it,” he says.

“You’re planning on quitting?” I ask. “I heard that Carla put in her notice.”

“And I’m taking all my accrued vacation time to fill out the last two weeks so I don’t have to go back,” she says, coming into the room with us. “That’s why I wasn’t at the meeting. I have no interest in working there for another second. We are ready to move on.”

“You said it was in part because of how you feel about the ministry. Does that mean it isn’t because of the threats?” I ask.

The couple looks at each other as Carla settles into her husband’s arm on the couch.

“We started talking about getting a fresh start a few months ago,” Marshall says. “We decided to move to be closer to Carla’s family and see what kind of new adventures we can get into. Both of us had been questioning how much we really wanted to be working for Tracy Ellis and her ministry, and it just started to fall into place. But we didn’t want to rush anything. We wanted to make sure that we had everything settled and were really ready before we quit. Ideally with positions lined up and everything.

“Then the threats started, and it felt like that was the real sign. We both heard Tracy’s assertions about the situation, and it didn’t sit right with either of us. We knew then that being with the company wasn’t right for us anymore. We didn’t have it in us to put what we felt like was our lives on the line for the organization, and that was the only thing that would have changed our plans.”

“Does Tracy know about your plans?” I ask.

“Yes,” Marshall tells me. “I told her so that she wouldn’t be blindsided by it. She told me that I should reconsider, that staying here rather than moving would be a bold statement to the coward sending the anonymous messages, and it would make so much of a difference to everyone within the company. She tried really hard to convince me, but it’s just not something I can do. I was expecting her to fire me when I turned her down, but I think because I didn’t quit on the spot, she still has some hope that I’m going to change my mind and stay. Maybe even shepherd Carla back into the fold.”

“Which isn’t going to happen,” Carla says. “I’m really ready for our new life, and I can’t wait for it all to work out. We’re just waiting to hear on a couple of positions for Marshall.”

“Did you happen to have kept any of the notes that you got?” I ask.

“Yes, actually,” Carla says.

She walks out of the room and comes back with a few pieces of paper in her hand.

“I don’t know why, but I thought it would be important to hang on to them. I’ve just been keeping them in the office.”

I take the notes and read them.

Turn your back on the vile teachings or be punished

Walk away or lay down your life for the wicked

You work for a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Cleanse yourself and be spared.

“Do any of these sound familiar to you for any reason? Have you heard these phrases used before?” I ask.

“They sound vaguely religious,” Marshall says. “Like someone is trying to reference Tracy without saying her name and using religious language to make a point. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard these specific messages.”

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