Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I scoff. “You need my permission?”
“Penny’s on the up and up. She doesn’t break the rules for us. She doesn’t break the rules for anyone. She’s just very good at working within them so we can get the information we need. She pulled you aside because she never had any intention of telling me about it. In her mind, it was none of my business. I asked her to find a way to tell if you were lying. She did that. You weren’t. And that was the end of her commitment to me. So, do you have a problem with giving this permission?”
“With her telling you? No. I can’t say for sure what this brain wave shit was, but it’s got to be residual. Leftovers from the programming.”
“Programming,” Collin sneers. “Nice.”
I raise an eyebrow at him, stopping at the bottom of his porch steps. “You think you weren’t programmed? Because Disciple, West Virginia, is a cult if ever there was one.”
“Maybe.” He doesn’t disagree. Not outright. “But it’s a pretty fuckin’ innocent one compared to this CORE shit. My childhood was spent pretending to be a happy, old-timey son of a preacher man whose life revolved around a tourist-attraction tent revival. What these people did to my sister once she left Disciple was flat-out mind-control.”
Again, he’s not wrong.
“So are you in, Shep? Because I get it. You’ve got no loyalty to us yet. You’ve been here two weeks. If you don’t wanna come—”
“I do,” I say, cutting him off. “I’m here now.” I look around a little. At all the men, and the dogs, and the houses. Then I look back at Collin. “It’s pretty much the nicest place I’ve ever seen in my life.”
He smiles and looks down the driveway. “Good. That’s the vibe we were goin’ for.”
“So I’m in. And anyway—” I hesitate here.
But he catches this hesitation. “Anyway what?”
I shrug. “I like her.”
“Olive?”
“Yeah. I like her. She’s… well, let’s just leave it there.”
Collin side-eyes me. “Yeah. Maybe we better. But listen, I need to go make some plans. Can you stay here and watch Olive? We should really keep an eye on her until we know what’s goin’ on.”
“Sure. I can do that.”
“Good. I’ll text you Penny’s number. Call her up and just give her permission to talk to us. Then I can get all the details from her so we know what we’re dealing with. Do not mention Olive. Do not mention anything about what we’re doin’ here.”
“Won’t say a word.”
Collin nods his approval, then he shakes my hand and walks away.
I don’t go back inside the house. Not right away. I just sit on the porch steps and wait for the text as I watch the goings-on around me—the dogs, the men, and everything in between. And as I do this, I find myself wondering what time Cross gets off school. Because he’s gonna be mad at me if I haven’t checked a single thing off his damn list by the time he gets home.
Just thinking these words in my head makes me smile.
Two weeks. That’s how long I’ve been here. That’s all it took for me to want it. This life that Edge is offering me. It’s a real second chance. Something I never thought I’d have. Something I probably don’t even deserve.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I fish it out and read the text from Collin. It’s short and to the point, which is typical of him. Here’s the number, call her up, give her permission to talk to me.
So I stand up and make the call.
Penny picks up first ring. “I don’t recognize this number, so state your name and business and be quick about it.”
“Uh… Penny? This is Shep—I mean, Ean Shephard. We met on Saturday when—”
“I might be old, but I’m not senile, Mr. Shephard. Of course I remember you. It was five days ago. What is it that you need?”
“Well, what you and I were talking about on Saturday? Collin told me to call you and give you permission to tell him all about it.”
“Hmm.” She pauses here after her little hum. “So you’re in.”
“In?”
“You’re going to be one of them. The Edge.”
“Yeah. I guess I am.”
“Well, Mr. Shephard, this is not a conversation for this phone line so I’m going to take some precautions.”
“OK. What’s that mean?”
“It means I’m going to send a courier to deliver a package. You’ll know what to do once it arrives.”
“How long will that take? Just so I can tell Collin?”
“Few hours. Talk then.”
The call ends and I let out a breath, feeling a little more stressed than I was because I wasn’t expecting her explanation would require end-to-end voice encryption, which is obviously what she’s talking about.
I text Collin, letting him know what’s up. He texts me back a thumbs-up, but nothing else.