“I drank white Russians in college,” she said. “It’s my kind of drink.” He looked pleased enough that he wandered away to offer his New England Russian to some fresh new faces on the other side of the bar.

  “You waiting on someone?” he asked, coming back around fifteen minutes later.

  “Four female someones,” she answered.

  He nodded. “Bachelorette party?”

  Rainy played along. “Sure.”

  He scooped up her empty glass. “Another?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll close out.” His concoction was curdling in her belly as she signed the receipt.

  “Hey, I know you girls like to party hard when you come here, and I like you. So, listen up—whatever you do, do not buy drugs from Barry. He works at the Bellum, but he comes around to all the hotels within a few blocks.” He was pouring someone else’s beer but looking at her. “Last week, that little bastard sold roofies to four girls here. He told them it was cocaine, and they all ended up in the ER. I served them before they left—just like you. I told them to stay away from Barry, too, but do you think they listened?”

  Rainy gave him a look that was part fear for what was happening in her stomach, and part interest. He glommed on to the interest part.

  “He’s a New Englander, too. You’ll know that slimebag because he wears a fanny pack. But don’t worry about it. You’re a nice girl.”

  The nice girl felt better when she got up from the bar stool to walk around some more. She’d just bought herself a water at a little grocery in the lobby when Braithe texted her to say they were coming down.

  “I can do this,” she said to no one. “Maybe not well, but I can do it.” She sped up when she saw them step off the elevator. She was definitely underdressed. Why hadn’t they told her?

  Get over yourself, Rainy. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she presented her best smile to the night ahead.

  10

  Then

  Summer had not been crushed when the RV rolled forward, its brakes hissing. She’d lain flat on her stomach, cheek pressed to the road so hard she could feel the heat of the asphalt digging into her skin, and she’d been praying like hell. And then she’d felt the breeze on her back, lifting her shirt, and she realized she wasn’t pavement paste, after all.

  Taured had driven the monstrous thing straight over her body. When she dared look up, it was turning at the maintenance shed. And that’s when she understood he meant to turn the RV around: cut a U-ey, as her dad would have put it. In a few seconds, he’d back the behemoth up and turn the wheel left. He’d see her lying in the middle of the parking lot, covering her head like the sky was falling. The other cars in the lot were parked neatly alongside the building, and she ran in a half crouch for those, diving between the BMW and the Chevy just as the thing came rolling back around. Sammy had said something about the envelope being in Taured’s car—the very car her right hand was resting against. Summer scuffled backward, opening the car door as the Airbus neared. She probably had about sixty seconds before one of them spotted her. She reached her arm inside to feel the passenger-side seat and her fingers caught the edge of an envelope. It was heavier than she expected; she pulled it toward the opening in the door and adjusted it to slide out sideways. A door slammed. Sammy had jumped out of the passenger side of the RV and was asking Taured what he thought of it. Summer tented the envelope and reached inside.

  “Everything’s good,” Taured said. “I drove the Airbus home from the dealership. Jon signed the papers, no problem. If you get pulled over, show them the paperwork, everything’s clean.”

  The envelope rattled. Her fingers grasped something hard and square. She pulled out a floppy disk—one of several in the envelope—holding it up to her face.

  “Sure, boss.”

  She had just enough time to slide the envelope back onto the front seat. She was about to close the door when she saw another envelope, this one spilling its contents—what looked like Polaroid photographs. She could only manage to take one. It was a much easier grab, but it almost cost her. Sammy’s steps were heading toward her. There was no time to hide. Summer stuffed the disk in the waistband of her jeans and crawled under the Chevy. She was breathing so loud she was sure Sammy was going to hear her, but lucky for her, the guy never stopped talking.

  “Marvin over at Nirvana asked if we had a couple of waitresses we could send over, said the girls you sent to the motel and post office are working out real good.”

  “Send the sisters,” Taured said. “Tell them to listen and learn and be good little employees.”

  “On it.”

  The sisters were Rhodi and Dawn, two of Taured’s earlier converts who’d moved into the compound with him eight years before. Her mother called them loyalists, in a not-nice way. They looked like twins but got pissed if you said so. Dawn had a tattoo on the back of her hand, a mandala, as she called it—that’s the only way Summer knew how to tell them apart. Not that she needed to; she didn’t like them or the way they watched her mother with little smiles on their wiry lips. They smoked their cigarettes and leered and listened like desert snakes.

  The BMW’s door opened and closed. Summer watched Sammy’s boots stir up dust as he walked the two envelopes over to Taured.

  “This it?” Taured asked.

  “Yup.”

  “Good, go gas her up. I’m sending you out again.”

  “But we just got back.” Sammy’s voice was incredulous.

  Taured kept talking like he hadn’t heard the upset in Sammy’s voice. He was rattling off the next set of plans. Summer was lying in a pile of her own sweat, realizing that her mother would be gone again by morning. They always left in the night and were gone by the time everyone was up for breakfast. If she wanted to talk to her, it was going to have to be tonight.

  “You’re going to Florida.”

  “Man, we have to go so soon? You said there’d be a break after Minnesota, and we went on to do two more cities—”

  “Lorraine is causing problems.”

  There was a thick silence as Sammy reevaluated his position. Summer, who had never seen the underside of any car before today, much less two, was praying, her lips moving without sound. In her mind, she saw her mother’s pierced ears—was he referring to that or something else?

  “I told you about that when we was in Saint Louis,” Sammy said. “I can’t control her on these trips. She’s getting the other women riled up, telling them they don’t need to do things—”

  He was shifty; Summer could see the little traitor’s feet stirring up dirt as he sold her mother out. She let the air rush out of her nose as she ground her teeth, all praying done.

  “You threatened her kid, man, she’s agitated.”

  She grew stiff waiting for what Taured would say next. Her? Taured had threatened to do something to her? Summer was on edge now for several reasons: Sammy was talking to Taured with open disrespect, the type that usually received a punishment. If they fought and Sammy fell to the ground, he’d see her. But instead of an explosion, Taured’s next words were measured.

  “Replace Shanna and Desiree with Frank and Chord on this trip. Remind her about Summer if she acts up again. The sins of the parents will be visited upon their children.”

  Summer felt real fear then. It was cold and it tingled as it crawled up the backs of her legs and settled in her gut. She wanted to roll on her side and curl in a ball right there under the Chevy’s hot belly. Instead, she looked at the photo clutched between her sweaty fingers.

  “All right,” Sammy said slowly. “But she ain’t gonna like going with Frank. She’ll have something to say about that.”

  Summer didn’t know what she was seeing, not at first. The photo was taken at an odd angle, low, like the camera had been resting on a counter.

  “Don’t tell her. Load up an hour earlier and be ready to go. If that cunt gives you a problem, call me on the walkie.”

  She peered closer, the sweat dripping down her sides and onto the asphalt. What she was seeing wasn’t right, but she didn’t fully understand why.

  Sammy offered no further argument. There was the sound of breathing and the crunch of gravel as the men parted behind the BMW. Summer tore her eyes away from the photo and listened for their feet. She was biting her bottom lip so hard she was sure it would leave a mark. Even when she closed her eyes, she could still see the photo. She waited until she heard the hissing of the Airbus engine and heard Taured open and close the side door of the building. They had both been gone for a few minutes before she scooted out from her hiding place, tucking the photo into the waistband of her jeans. She was filthy, and more than that, she was afraid.

  Lorraine is causing problems. The sins of the parents will be visited upon their children.

  She wanted to speak to her mother again. If she didn’t find her now, she’d be gone for weeks, maybe months. They had never gone on a mission trip without Shanna and Desiree; what would her mother think of that? Frank had been there long before Lorraine and Summer arrived on that dusty day. He was one of Taured’s first recruits, and her mother had hated him on sight. She could remember the way her mother tensed whenever Frank walked into a room. She would not be happy he was going. Taured did that on purpose, Summer thought as she made her way back to the side of the building. He was angry with her mother.

  It wasn’t until she was back in the dorms at Kids’ Camp, riffling through her clean clothes for a new T-shirt and jeans, that she remembered the items she’d taken. They suddenly felt hot against her skin. Looking around, Summer saw that there were only a couple girls milling about. Everyone else was in the orchard at this time of day. Slipping into a stall in the girls’ bathroom, she pulled the floppy disk and photo out of the waist of her pants, then reached behind to slide the driver’s licenses from her back pocket. She had to hide them for now. God, if anyone found them in her things... She could sneak to the computer lab later and have a look at what was on the disk, but she had to find her mother before lights out. Changing into clean clothes, she put all four items inside of her sports bra and went to find her mother.

  * * *

  Lorraine was not in her room. While Summer was there, she reached into her shirt, pulling the four stolen items from her bra. Looking around the room, she searched for a place to hide them. The wardrobe? Too obvious. Under the mattress? What if her mother found them while changing the sheets? She spotted a crocheted pillow her mother had brought from their apartment in California. Lorraine had told her daughter that it once belonged to her grandmother, and Lorraine had used it to hide Summer’s dad’s love letters from her parents by pressing the letters into the stuffing. Summer had found the hole in the seam many times as a child, sticking her fingers inside in search of a forgotten love letter. Now, she widened the opening with her finger and pressed everything inside. Instead of love, she was putting sin into the pillow; it felt wrong. She set it back on the bed and backed out of the room, making sure everything looked okay.

  Her mother was not in the cafeteria nor any of the other common areas in the main compound. Summer walked with her head down and avoided making eye contact. If someone asked her why she wasn’t in the orchard with the other kids, she’d say that she was on an errand. No one would question that because everyone knew Summer was one of Taured’s favorites. Hours ago, that thought had comforted her, but now it made her feel strange. She turned right, away from her mother’s room and toward an area everyone called Music Street because of the three musicians who lived there.

  Summer headed over to the room Desiree shared with Shanna and found the women sitting cross-legged on a rag rug playing Scrabble.

  “You seen my mama?” Summer asked. She leaned against the doorframe as Desiree laid R-E-S-P-E-C-T on the board.

  She saw the women exchange a quick glance before Shanna took her turn.

  “Not since dinner when she ran out after you.”

  Summer felt heat crawl up her neck. So she’d made more of a scene than she’d intended, but she couldn’t change that now.

  “When are you guys leaving again?” She pulled on a corner of her hair, studying for split ends, and tried to look casual.

  Again, they exchanged the sort of look that made Summer uncomfortable.

  “Why don’t you go join the other kids in the orchard, Summer. You’ve caused enough trouble for one day.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” There was no more grinning, no more playing with her split ends; she was staring at them now with her hands fisted at her sides.

  “Close the door on the way out, will you?” Shanna wasn’t looking at her; she was frowning at her Scrabble board. Both women had always been warm to her, so the whole situation made Summer feel uneasy. The first bell rang for bedtime. Everyone would be heading to their rooms now, so if Summer wanted to make it back to Kids’ Camp in time for second bell, she would have to leave now. Instead of turning to the hallway that would lead her to the dorms, she cut a left and went back to her mother’s room. She’d wait there all night if she had to.

  * * *

  Summer woke. She’d fallen asleep on her mother’s bed, her arm trailing the rug. Disoriented, she sat up. She thought she’d heard a scream. Glancing at the digital wall clock, she saw that it was 3:36 in the morning. Had she been dreaming? The room was the same it had been before she fell asleep, with the bedside lamp on and the door closed. She listened for some other sound to confirm she hadn’t been dreaming, but nothing came. It was hot, she realized, really freaking hot. Scooting off the edge of the bed, she slipped into her shoes; if the Airbus hadn’t left yet, she could catch her mother there. And then what? You’re going to get her alone somehow and tell her what you heard.

  Summer stalled halfway to the door as a realization slipped like ice into her head: Taured. What would he do if he knew she’d been hiding under the Chevy, listening to his conversation? Had they noticed she wasn’t in her own bed, or had Sara covered for her? She reached for the door, determined to find her mother one way or another, and found it locked.

  Locked? She tried again, yanking at the handle. Had there been a key? She tried to remember the first day, if Taured had given her mother a key, but there was no such memory. No, no one in the compound had a key to their room; she’d been watching people open and close their doors for years without keys. And besides, the door was locked from the outside. Mama installed a lock after you moved to Kids’ Camp, she told herself. That was it. And she probably left for her trip and locked up without coming inside. She pounded until her fists were numb.

  Wherever her mother was, she didn’t know this was happening. Summer screamed until it felt like she’d swallowed broken glass. Her mother kept bottled water under the bed, so she crawled forward on her hands and knees, pulled out a bottle and, unscrewing the cap, gulped down the whole thing. The room was hot, too, like the air-conditioning wasn’t working. But someone would find her. They had to.

  * * *

  No one came for Summer until hours later. By that time, she was cried out, hungry and defeated. Sara’s mother, Ama, heard her pounding and had gone to get Taured, who came back with the master key.

  “My God, Summer,” he said, looking at her in amazement. “How long have you been in here?” He looked rested, fresh, like he’d just gotten out of the shower.

  Summer stood by the bed in socks, shorts and a T-shirt and asked in a half daze, “Where is my mother?”

  “She’s gone, left on mission trip to Florida. Didn’t she tell you?”

  “No,” Summer said numbly.

  “She’s known about it for a while, Summer. I’m so sorry.”

  That was it: that was the lie. He lied with clear, bright eyes and an easy smile. It wasn’t his true self; she’d heard his true self speak to Sammy. Summer, who was tired and hungry, began to tremble. Just yesterday, she’d trusted this man with her whole entire heart, and now she could barely look at him. The things she’d taken from the envelope were just feet away. If he found those...if he knew what she’d seen...

  “She never came back to the room. I waited here for her.”

  “She must have come back because she locked the door,” Taured said.

  “It’s never been locked before,” Summer argued. “It was like someone locked me in here on purpose.”

  “Why would someone do that?” He was frowning now, his eyes alight with curiosity. “No one wants to hurt you here, Summertime, you know that.”

  She looked at his face: it looked honest...kind. When he smiled, creases appeared at the corners of his eyes. He smelled like soap and cloves—good things. He played with the little kids, tossing them into the air and tickling them until they squealed. He sang on some nights, while he played the guitar, and his voice froze everyone to complete stillness until the last verse.

  The sins of the parents will be visited on the children.

  “She always tells me when she’s leaving and she always says goodbye, so I was confused,” Summer said.

  Taured seemed to look right into her when he said, “Did y’all have a fight? You certainly ran out of the cafeteria in a hurry...”

  So he had been paying attention to more than just Feena and Jon. If she said yes, he’d ask her what the fight was about, but if she denied it, he’d know she was lying. Either way, she was royally screwed. She decided her best bet was distraction.

  She kept her voice light so it didn’t sound like she was challenging him. “I’m surprised you noticed. You seemed to be very focused on what you were doing.” She could keep her expression scraped of anger, but her voice was another story altogether. Everything she said sounded like a challenge and she hadn’t intended—

  “And what was I doing, Summer?” There was a threat dangling in his question.