Camille interrupted him. “That could’ve been a diversion tactic all along. Maybe that was the point. Everyone would be too busy thinking of them as good guys to stop and consider that they might be the bad ones.”

Dad wrinkled his face. “I just don’t understand. She admitted she was with them?”

“Not right away, because as you’re aware, communication with her is difficult, given what she’s been through.” She pointed to the walls around us. “She self-soothes by muttering phrases underneath her breath while she paces, and the living room is wired, so we’ve been analyzing all the audio for key phrases. She kept saying Love International over and over again when she talked. It didn’t take us long to start putting things together once we had a name. You can thank my guys for how quick they work.” She gave them an approving glance. “Are you familiar with their leader?”

“Ray Fischer?” Dad asked.

Camille nodded. “I asked her if she knew him, and for a second it was like I’d broken a spell. She confirmed that she’s been with Ray and Love International.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they kidnap her? All of them loved her because of the article she wrote about them. They swore she was the only outsider who’d ever understood them. Everyone had such nice things to say about her.” He shook his head, still unbelieving. “The police were more worried about her critics than they were them.”

Camille raised his eyebrows. “Critics?”

“Yes,” Dad said enthusiastically, grateful to give them information they didn’t have. “Her article was followed up with angry letters to the editor and op-ed pieces by angry parents voicing their opposition to her. Some of them had really hateful things to say about her, and for a while the police suspected a group of her harshest critics. They even talked to Ray about the hate mail he’d received, too, and he gladly turned it over to them for their investigation. He was so helpful . . .” His voice trailed off.

“How about someone named Abner? Are you familiar with that name?”

“Abner?”

I’d never seen Dad look so bewildered.

“Yes. Abner.” Camille enunciated it slowly, like maybe Dad hadn’t understood before. “That was another name that came up over and over. At times it’s as if she thinks she’s speaking directly to him and he’s responding to her.”

She didn’t need to tell me there was something wrong with that. What had they done to my Mom? Meredith must have sensed my pain, because she reached out to pull me close to her.

I jumped in while I had the chance. “How’d they take her?” I didn’t give her time to answer before other questions tumbled out. “Where’d they keep her? Did she ever try to get away?”

Camille turned her attention to me. “We don’t know any of those things yet, but I can tell you that this lead greatly narrows our search, and I expect to have more answers within the next forty-eight hours. I called in someone who specializes in deprogramming people who’ve been involved in cults to consult on her case. He’s supposed to—”