As usual, Megan was giving us the runaround.

“Alastair is a very busy man,” Megan said. “You can’t just show up and demand to see him, or he probably won’t be around.”

“He isn’t,” Vee piped up from her vantage spot on the stairs. “She’s telling the truth. He went out an hour ago.”

The front door opened behind us. “But I’m back now.” Alastair greeted us with firm handshakes and a smile as warm as a July afternoon.

“They don’t have an appointment,” Megan said. “I asked her to make one.”

“That’s all right. I have some time for Ms. Levine and her associate.”

“Actually, I can handle the interview. Someone”—I nodded toward Adam—“has been trying to steal my cookies. I’m sure he can be talked into buying a box of his own.”

The girls swooped in. While Adam was surrounded, I slipped past to Alastair, who led me to his office. Megan followed. At the door, he motioned me inside, then murmured a few words to her. When he came in, she didn’t.

“Megan can be a bit ...” Alastair smiled, face creasing as he sat behind his desk. “Overprotective. If you need anything more from me after this, call my cell.” He handed me a card with the number. “Just don’t tell Megan.”

He winked and leaned back in his chair, and I got my first good look at him. From his picture, I knew he was a distinguished, handsome older man. But it wasn’t until I was sitting across the desk that I really understood why he had a houseful of girls lining up to share his bed.

Guys like Adam have charm. They know how to make a girl feel pretty and special. Alastair probably had that, too, at Adam’s age, but by forty-five, it had matured into that rarer variety every good cult leader needs. Charisma.

Two minutes with him and he was acting as if we were coconspirators, smiling in a way that said he already liked me and was looking forward to spending time with me. I bet that every person who entered Alastair’s world got that smile, and few realized he gave it to everyone. That was his gift.

“Don’t worry,” I said as I pocketed the card. “I won’t tell Megan. I don’t scare easy, but she does the trick.”

He laughed. “Yes, she is a very strong-willed young woman.”

“I was thinking more of the Santeria. They have some nasty curses.”

The smile froze, then twitched, as he tried to light it again. When it returned, the warmth was definitely more May than July. Early May, with a chance of frost.

“Taking an unguided tour of our property, Ms. Levine?” he said. “Trespassing is illegal. Break and enter even more so.”