Chapters (48)
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT
- CONTENTS
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“When are you going to tell Abbi what’s going on?” I asked. She’d slept until after ten, and Kate’s interview was already over by then. Camille had spent the rest of the afternoon with Kate, so Scott had had plenty of time to fill Abbi in on the details she’d missed since last night, but he hadn’t. He’d spent hours going over yesterday’s videos with Dean instead.
He wrinkled his forehead. “She knows everything that’s going on.”
Was he avoiding telling her? She would find out about it at our next debriefing session anyway, so what was the point? There was no way to shield her from the hurt.
I placed my hand on top of his, forcing him to stop typing and pay attention to me. “We knew this would be hard, but you’re only prolonging the inevitable by not telling her. She would much rather hear it from you than a bunch of stiff FBI agents. Besides, you can frame it for her in a way that will mean more and might help lessen the blow.”
“Meredith, come on, you saw how Kate was in there today. Nothing about her joining Love International was voluntary. That man completely brainwashed her while she was down there.” He shook his head in disbelief and astonishment. “The crazy part is how he played with her and worked his way into her head without her even knowing he was doing it.”
Brian had said something similar during one of our coffee breaks this morning. He’d said if you wanted to brainwash someone, you used language specifically designed to draw them in, coupled with mind-control tricks. He had sworn people didn’t stand a chance over time when the practices were grounded in the so-called purpose and will of God.
“Did you hear how many times he told her that he liked it when she smiled? He knew that would only make her want to work harder to please him.” His eyes were on fire. “He knew her so well, right into her psyche. It’s how he made her into his slave. Think about what it must have been like for her. You’re all alone in a dark space, and he becomes the only contact with the outside world. Christ, she depends on him for food and water; her entire survival depends on him. It’s genius. It bonds her to him in a way that wouldn’t be possible any other way.”
“Scott, can we get back to my original question?” He would have gone on forever if I hadn’t stopped him.
“That’s what I’m talking about, honey. This gets to your original question. It’s too complicated and convoluted to tell Abbi that her mom abandoned us. It’s not that simple.” He eyed me pointedly.