Page 81 of Phoenix Rising

“I don’t know who she is!” Elijah insisted. “Look, I’ve been honest with you. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, but they were all to take care of my sister. Because of Josiah, she’s set for life, and I don’t have to worry that she won’t be provided for. I don’t know this Paige woman.”

“I’ve heard of her,” Henry announced. “She’s a hard-hitting journalist who digs for salacious information. She must’ve found out you’re The Lightkeeper. That federal agent told me she’d been to your sermons.”

Elijah glanced at his watch. He didn’t know how long they had until the Feds returned with warrants. They had to get out of here. “I have contingency plans in motion. You two are my only friends, and I don’t want you caught up in my mess. Come with me, and we’ll start over, just the three of us.”

“What do you mean?” Tina asked. “You want us to go on the run from the FBI?”

“Yes! We don’t have much time. You won’t have to worry about money. I’ve got that covered.”

“Tell us how you killed Paige Stockton, and we’ll come with you,” Henry insisted.

“We don’t have time for this! That Fed said he’d get a warrant. We need to be gone as soon as possible.” Elijah gathered his most important possessions. He kept them close for just this reason. If he needed to flee, they would be easy to grab. He made sure he picked up the device that would end Spiritual Beginnings.

He glanced at Henry and Tina to see them wavering. His stomach plummeted to his feet. The two people in the world he could count on were undecided.

“Please, come with me. I love you both. I don’t want you to be hurt in the aftermath.”

#

Talia glanced at her husband. That was a pretty specific threat. Elijah had something planned, and it didn’t bode well for anyone associated with Spiritual Beginnings. “What are you implying, Elijah? We should talk this through to figure out the next steps.”

“What don’t you understand? We don’t have time! The Feds will be here soon. We have to get out of here now before they return. We need a head start.”

“Okay, we’ll come with you,” Hunter agreed. Elijah looked as if he’d won the lottery. “But you have to be straight with us.”

“I have been,” Elijah insisted. “I admitted to my lapses in judgment. You know all the skeletons in my closet.”

“You haven’t told us how you killed Paige Stockton,” Hunter reminded him.

“And you need to tell us what you mean about being hurt in the aftermath,” Talia added.

“Come with me now, and I’ll tell you everything.”

It seemed too easy. Talia had a sinking suspicion about what he had planned, and there was no way she could walk away and leave the people inside the building—including her coworkers—to that fate. She thrust out a hand to stop Elijah. “You need to tell us what you are going to do, or we will not go with you.”

Sadness washed over his face. “I prayed every day to find you two, and now I have. To lose you again will crush me, but I can’t stay any longer. I wouldn’t survive a day in prison.”

Talia glanced at her husband, and he gave a subtle nod. Their covers would be blown, but they had no choice. Elijah had clammed up, and they wouldn’t get anything else from him now.

Hunter whipped out his Sig Sauer and pointed it at Elijah’s head.

#

Elijah was itching to get out of the building. It was taking too long to convince Tina and Henry of his plans. He thought they’d follow him unquestioningly. They’d believed everything he told them and had defended him against the federal agents. They were dragging their feet, and he didn’t understand why. “Let’s go—” Elijah gasped when Henry pointed a gun at his head. “Henry, what are you doing?”

“You aren’t going anywhere, Caraway,” Henry growled.

Betrayal crushed Elijah so hard he couldn’t breathe. No, not Henry. He reached out and grabbed Tina around the neck, positioning her before him. She clawed at his arm, but he was determined. He didn’t want to hurt her, but Henry wasn’t giving him a choice.

“Let. Her. Go.” Henry’s voice turned Elijah’s blood to ice. It was the sound of a stone-cold killer.

“What are you doing, Henry?”

“I’m ending this.”

Scenarios Elijah didn’t want to contemplate flashed through his head. Tina and Henry had come to his compound, and it had been raided. Suddenly, they’d shown up again, he’d confessed his digressions, and the authorities had come down on him once more.

It was as if a haze had dissipated, and he saw everything clearly for the first time. “It was you,” he accused. Henry didn’t answer, and he didn’t flinch. Elijah’s stomach felt like it was being eaten up with acid. He had befriended Henry when all along he had been the enemy.

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