Page 10 of Only Girl Alive

“I’ll arrange for the autopsies to take place as quickly as possible,” she continued. “I have Hannah at the top of my interview list followed by”—Eve looked down at the statement—“Howard Wall as the person who found the bodies.”

Her stepbrother looked up from the notepad.

“Howard is Hannah’s uncle. He says she is distraught and in no position to speak with anyone. Interviewing her may not be possible.”

The girl was vital to the investigation. Eve was empathetic to Hannah’s situation. They had a murderer on the loose and to keep more people from possibly dying, she had to interview her. It was not optional.

“Make it happen. If you honestly have no idea who killed this family, her testimony is key.” Icy resolve was heavy in the words.

“If I knew, believe me, I wouldn’t have called in your team so quickly.” His hands opened and his pasty white fingers spread in appeal.

Something didn’t sit right but she had no idea what that something was.

“You don’t have a single suspect? I know you’ve spoken to the police chief. This family belonged to your church. Did they have enemies, jealousy, any reason four people are now dead?” she asked point-blank.

“Nothing.” His smugness remained.

“Is there anything you think I should know or even don’t think I should know but it would help with the case?”

“I’ve shared everything I have.”

Eve looked at the folder in her hand with its single sheet of paper. She stood and walked to the door.

“Don’t forget my reports from you and the officers who entered the scene. I also need to know if Bart Tanner was Hannah’s biological father. If not, I want the name of the man who provided his seed.” She turned at the last minute to see Aaron’s eyes nearly bug from his head. She had finally cracked his wall of arrogance. She knew what caused this anger. How dare she mention something so taboo to the outside world? When seed bearers impregnated wives, the husband held her hand and the sister wives helped hold her still while she was raped. Hannah’s age and Tanner’s lack of wives let Eve know he wasn’t a highly valued member of the church. Bart had most likely fallen out of favor over some small transgression. That meant he was not a chosen seed bearer. Eve wanted those guarded details but knew she wouldn’t get them. The names of the men allowed to have sex with other men’s wives were one of the church’s most closely guarded secrets.

Her brother’s hard stare didn’t let up.

Outsiders could not comprehend church doctrine when it came to the polygamist view on bloodline purity. Eve knew it was one of many harmful laws that kept the women under tight control. Pointing this out to him showed she understood his involvement in the ugly situation. He knew the sex was forced. The wives helped his cause because they did their duty and would never dream of reporting what happened as rape. By the size of Aaron’s family and the young children, his wives remained silent to the assault or Aaron himself was a seed bearer and was just as evil as the others.

If, as Eve supposed, Mr. Tanner had once had more wives who had since been reassigned, there was a chance one of these former wives could have committed the murders. If her stepbrother would pull his head from his butt, he would know it too. That outcome would be very bad for the church. Eve knew everything she requested would be held up for as long as Aaron could get away with it. This was the game he always played.

She hated that things were this petty between them but she reminded herself he was brainwashed into everything she found repugnant. His beliefs were a battle she would never win.

“If wives were removed from the home, I want their personal information.” It was her last demand before she walked away.

By the time she passed the new Mrs. Owens at the front desk with her sour face and walked outside, she was no longer thinking of Aaron. Her thoughts were on the bodies she would shortly be processing. Head slightly down, she walked toward her car, which was at the end of a narrow cement walkway with small, pebbled gravel on either side. No way would the fundamentalist organization pay to water unnecessary grass. She took a deep breath of clean crisp air before she noticed five men blocking her path about fifteen feet ahead.

They stood in their black dress pants and long pale blue shirtsleeves while wearing identical expressions of disgust. This was nothing new to Eve; the church made it known she was unwelcome. Yet she’d never had them step forward in open confrontation. They usually followed her team in huge black four-wheel-drive trucks.

On closer inspection, Eve recognized the two older men. She’d grown up with them. Each of the five carried the Owen family genes. Their blond hair, blue eyes, stocky build, and short height along with blunt facial features and pale skin were almost identical.

They didn’t budge. She looked around the area realizing it was deserted in the middle of the day. Had this been arranged? They spread farther apart, blocking the path and much of the pebbled rock on either side.

Their glares of contempt did not bode well.

Eight

Eve had two choices. She could walk around them and hope they let her pass or she could go back inside the office. Her mind clicked to a third option.

“Mark, Patrick,” she greeted. “I wasn’t aware you were still in town.”

Patrick turned to Mark, who was the oldest of the five standing in her way, though younger than Aaron. Mark did not acknowledge his brother’s glance. Hatred flared as his eyes traveled up and down her body. He wanted her shame for being improperly covered and she would not buckle under his scrutiny.

Mark whispered something she couldn’t hear.

This was their cue to react. As one, they turned their backs to her. Eve, the apostate, was too vile to look upon. Her stomach clenched. One of the three younger men was possibly who she was carrying the day her mother rescued her. Eve couldn’t deny the hurt even though she was aware of their backward beliefs.

The staged scene had caught her off guard. She gave the men a wide berth and walked ten feet onto the gravel to get around them. She had always known what her siblings would think of her. They were taught that her wickedness was sent to destroy them. She was evil and even worse than a gentile, Eve had turned her back on God and chosen the devil.

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