Page 4 of Wyoming Cowboy Undercover

Alex stopped on the corner of Garfield and Third Street since he knew she didn’t want anyone from USD to see her being dropped off like a child.

She was twenty-four years old. But she didn’t have a license. Had never lived anywhere other than on the compound. Never gone to a regular school. Never eaten a meal that hadn’t been prepared by the hands of those she called family. Never been to a movie. Never had a job that paid money. Never had a Christmas tree. Or a birthday cake.

Never donned any color but white. Leaders wore no hue, reflecting and scattering visible wavelengths of light.

All per her father’s edicts.

A restlessness bubbled inside her, spreading and seeping through every cell.

Her father meant well. She suspected his overprotectiveness came from the loss of her mother when she was too young to remember her. He never talked about her, and she’d learned not to ask questions to avoid causing him pain. But the rules and restrictions everyone else in her community appreciated she now found stifling.

“I’ll be back to pick you up at six forty-five.” Alex flashed her a smile in the rearview mirror.

Her lungs squeezed. “That’s okay. I’ll walk back.”

He turned in his seat and stared at her, his hazel eyes trying to peel away her layers, see what she was hiding. Alex had learned that look from her father. He’d gotten very good at it. At twenty-nine, he’d been with the movement from the beginning, before she was born. With each passing day he emulated the Empyrean more and more. His title might be head of security, but he was one of their top missionaries, guiding and counseling, ever expanding his role. As much as he longed to someday take over as leader, she would never see him as a shepherd.

Only as a big brother.

“Your father expects you home by seven,” Alex said. “In time for dinner.”

She curled her fingers in fists, her nails biting into her palms, and nodded. As if she’d ever forget her father’s schedule or his expectations. “I’ll be there. On time.”

Alex glanced at his watch. “Then you won’t be able to take the full class and walk back. You’ll have to choose.”

Why did her choices always involve her sacrificing something?

“I’ll drive you,” Alex said, giving her another grin that made her skin crawl. “Make it easy on you.”

But she didn’t want easy. To be kept in a gilded cage, being told what to do from sunrise to sunset.

Mercy swallowed the bile rising in her throat. “My father gave no order that I had to be driven back. Did he?”

Alex’s gaze fell. “No. He did not.”

“Then I’ll figure it out and make my own way back.” She was twenty minutes early for her class. If her trainer, Rocco, was already there, then she could have both.

No sacrifice required.

“This isn’t the best time to be doing things on your own,” Alex said.

“Why not?” It occurred to Mercy that the change in protocol might not be about her. “Did something happen? Was a threat made against us?”

Not all the folks in town accepted the Shining Light’s presence. A few were curious. Others feared them, for being different, for following a path that seemed odd. She saw how people looked at her, dressed in all white. The way they whispered as she passed.

On occasion, during the select new moons that Empyrean dictated, they went to town en masse. Fifty strong, wearing T-shirts that advertised their message. Handed out flyers at the bus station and other chosen spots in town, offering food and shelter for those in need. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to throw a tomato or an egg at them. Sometimes even rocks.

She had never experienced any problems while by herself. Maybe it was the large group that was hard to ignore and easy to fear.

Once they had received a death threat at the compound. A terrifying time. But her father had put the compound on lockdown and had beefed up security. None of which had happened today.

Mercy might’ve been questioning which path was right for her to follow because her father had never given her a choice. Unlike everyone else in his flock. But she believed in the callings. Witnessed how those who came to them broken, in need, had found healing and purpose. Regardless of what she ultimately decided for herself, she was willing to protect that sanctuary for those who wanted it, as well as her father’s legacy.

“No, nothing like that. No threats,” Alex said. “Empyrean wants us to tighten our ranks. Focus more on the Light and less on the secular. He wants you to focus more.”

There it is.

This was about her. It was just as personal as she’d suspected. What irked Mercy more was that her father had confided in Alex aboutherbefore speaking to her himself.

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