Almost thirteen, Rafe thought. Which meant she’d been abused by that monster for a whole year by then.

Gideon’s gasp was audible. “Mercy. If he’d caught you . . .”

“I know, I know.” She waved it off. “I was in hell, Gideon. I didn’t think he could do anything worse than he’d already done if he caught me.” A shudder shook her, but she soldiered on. “I hoped it was something I could use against him. Something I could use to get me and Mama free. But all it was was a driver’s license in the name of Eustace Carmelo.”

Rafe wanted to ask her about that shudder, because he had the sinking suspicion that Ephraim had caught her. But he tucked the question away for until the two of them were alone. Mercy had been forced to confront enough shit for one night.

“So Pastor gave him another alias?” Daisy asked. “After Ephraim’s son, Carmelo?”

Another bitter chuckle from Mercy. “Ephraim Burton has several sons. One is Eustace. One is Carmelo. Eustace, Carmelo, and Ephraim all mean ‘fruitful.’ I asked Eustace’s mother why she’d chosen that name and she looked surprised. Told me that Pastor had suggested it and that Ephraim hadn’t wanted it, but Pastor’s word was law. Carmelo’s mother said the same thing.”

“Several sons?” Karl asked. “By different mothers?”

Mercy shrugged. “I was Ephraim’s sixth wife. We all lived together in his house.”

Karl exhaled. “He had six wives at the same time?”

“One big happy family,” she said bitterly. “One of the wives had died before we came to the compound, so I guess I was number seven.” Her lips twisted. “Lucky me. Another wife died a few months after I . . . after our marriage. And then, of course, there was Mama. I don’t know how many he had after I left and she was killed.”

The table fell silent until Irina said through gritted teeth, “You were not his wife. You were a child. You know that, yes?”

Mercy smiled at her, a genuine smile that softened her face. “Yes, ma’am. I know that.”

“How many children did he have at that point?” Gideon asked, troubled.

“Nine,” Mercy said flatly. “Five sons. He did his part to populate the community.”

Sasha was biting her lip. “But not you . . . You never had any . . .”

Mercy shook her head hard. “No. Not me.”

Everyone kind of slumped in relief at that. Except for Rafe. He could see that there was far more that Mercy had left unsaid, and none of it was good. “Anything else, Gideon?” he asked. “I was going to take Mercy and Farrah back to Daisy’s place.”

“And I’m here, Gid,” Damien added. “Rafe and I’ll make sure that the bastard doesn’t touch her.”

“Thank you,” Gideon said. “There is one more thing. Airline records show that Eustace Carmelo took the red-eye from San Francisco into New Orleans on Monday evening.”

Mercy shuddered again. “After that damned newscast.”