Page 37 of Stay With Me (Griffin’s Den #2)

THIRTY-SEVEN

Luna

After ten minutes of conversation around the island, the other agent, who introduced himself as Special Agent Cooper Thorne, finally came inside.

We move to the kitchen table, and Noah pulls my chair close, his fingers softly brushing my shoulder.

With both agents sitting across from me, all my nerves rush back. I’ve worked hard to forget a lot over the last ten years, and the thought of talking about it makes my skin crawl.

“I appreciate you talking to us today. For the record, this conversation will be recorded so we can use it as evidence if needed.” Special Agent Hunt places his phone on the table, face up.

“We’ve been able to get information here and there about The Family, but the members tend to be pretty tight lipped.

” Special Agent Hunt presses a button on his phone.

“Yeah, because we were told that if an outsider wasn’t willing to join The Family, then they couldn’t be trusted. It was hammered into us from as early as I can remember.”

Both agents nod. “Yeah, isolation is typical. If that was all they did, we probably would have left them alone. But we have some evidence that shows they’re stockpiling weapons and may have been involved in some kidnapping cases.”

My eyes go wide. “I don’t know about the kidnapping. As for the weapons, I heard some of the elders talking about them, but I never saw them. As a woman, I wasn’t allowed to know that information.”

“Why don’t you start at the beginning? Were you born there? Do you know who your parents are? Are they from there?” Special Agent Thorne asks.

I take a deep breath and just start to talk. “To my knowledge, I was born there. My mom is one of the women I was raised around, and Jess and I share a mother. We have different fathers, though.”

“Do you know who your father was?” Hunt asks.

“Yeah. He was one of the elders. Elder John. I was raised like the other children, more in a group versus by my parents. Around the age of five, you start to work. Normally, you start in the fields and help tend the gardens. Once you turn six, you get matched to your future husband.” I hear the girls’ sharp intake of breath.

“Were you matched with kids your age?” Hunt asks.

I shake my head. “Not all the time. Sometimes, but other times we weren’t. However, you couldn’t get married even if you knew who your husband was until the woman came of age at sixteen.”

“If older men are matched to younger women, that checks. The age of consent in Utah is sixteen,” Thorne states as he makes a note in his notebook.

“What does that mean?” I question.

“It means that the state will legally recognize the marriage if both parties are over the age of sixteen. As long as a parent signs something giving permission for the person under the legal age of eighteen. But if your parents were in The Family, they most likely would if anyone questioned them.” Noah chimes in.

“I don’t know if any of the marriages were legal,” I admit.

“Some are filed. I’m not sure how they pick, but our best guess is that it’s one per household. But from what I understand, polygamy is the route that they take,” Thorne adds.

I nod. “Yes, the Father had sixteen wives, and the five other elders had at least three, but no one had more than Father.”

Both Hunt and Thorne look at each other and then back at me.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“Nothing. We’re piecing together what they kept from their original family unit and what they came up with on their own.”

My eyebrows furrow further down. “Kept what?”

“How much do you know about how The Family started? Like do they teach you that?” Thorne questions.

“Not much, only that Father wasn’t welcome in his family after he had a vision that he had to leave. God showed him the way to the land that he found and showed him his first wife in a vision. From there, a new family was made.”

Hunt pushes his notepad to the side and leans forward on his elbows.

“Kind of. Solomon John was born in 1958 to a branch of the Fundamentalists. Solomon was born to the prophet as the youngest son. He didn’t like his place in the family or some of the teaching that happened, so he left and started his own.

He was able to convince one male and his wife, who were his age and didn’t have kids yet, to come with him.

From there, the three of them started anew, and The Family was created. ”

I sit back in my chair and blink at them. I shouldn’t be shocked because Father didn’t seem like the type to not be in the spotlight.

“So when did you start to question what was happening in The Family? I’m guessing that kids questioning everything wasn’t normal,” Hunt asks.

“I don’t know if I can pinpoint an exact time.

” I pause to take a deep breath and close my eyes, trying to bring my childhood to the front of my memory.

“I remember the first time I was allowed to go into town for something that we couldn’t produce at the farm.

I saw some of the local kids playing and riding bikes.

I wanted to do that. When I asked why I couldn’t, that was the first time I received the lecture that they weren’t chosen, and they spent their days sinning. ”

“And did you go to school? Or was there school on the property?” Thorne asks.

“No. Well, not a typical school. The closest thing I can say we had to school was when we were in church learning from the Bible. Or The Family version of it. We did that about twice a day.”

“Were there punishments for anyone who was out of line?” Thorne asks, and Noah tenses next to me.

I put my hand on his thigh and give him a slight squeeze.

“Yes, the punishment varied based on what you did. The most that ever happened to me was that I was starved for four days. They had an isolation room where some people were locked in, and I never saw it happen, but there was one person who was banished and had to face the elders for the crimes he committed. I also heard of some people receiving beatings.”

“Banished?” Hunt questions.

“Yeah.” I shrug.

Thorne cocks his head to the side and asks, “Do you know the person’s name?”

“No, it was years before I was born, and once banished, your name was never spoken again.”

A look passes between the agents before they bring their gazes back to me. “Okay, let’s talk about who your marriage match was and what made you decide to leave?”

I tell them about how Aspen and I were going to leave together and bring Jess with us. How I was trying to avoid my fate of marrying Matthew and how I was always told how lucky I was to be matched with Father’s son.

“You were matched with Matthew?” Hunt narrows his eyes.

“Yeah. We were told we were the chosen couple. The couple that would bring forth the next prophet. I was so upset because he was always so mean to everyone. He was the Father’s youngest son and got a lot of privileges as a favorite.

I just remember not feeling special. I felt like it was a death sentence.

That if I married him, my life would not end well,” I admit, and Noah kisses my temple.

“And you ran away when you were sixteen?” Thorne asks.

“Yeah, the night Matthew and I were supposed to get married. Aspen and I had a plan. We were going to take Jess, and the three of us were going to run. We had a few belongings and very little money we had saved from change after our trips out into town to barter.”

“How did you save the money?” Hunt asks.

I shrug. “When we would sell things, we would take a dollar or two and tell The Family a different number so they never knew.”

They both nod at my answer.

“How old was Jess?” Hunt asks.

“She would have been about ten months old at the time.”

“But you didn’t all get out. What happened?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest,” I admit as tears start running down my face.

“I didn’t want to go. I wanted to find a way to get us all out of there.

It’s my biggest regret. I wanted to find a way to get Aspen out too.

She had to have helped Jess escape. I don’t know how else she would have known where I was. ”

“You did what you had to do in that moment. I can promise you that Matthew is not a good man. Your instincts were spot on about him.” Hunt gives me a grim nod. “Now, are you saying you stayed in contact with Aspen? How?”

“We always had a backup plan if one of us couldn’t get out.

We would double-check the key was in an envelope in our hidden spot, and we would send a letter the first chance we got.

I was able to do that, and we’ve been mailing letters to each other for years.

I always updated her on where I was without naming where I was living or working, and I never sent a letter from the town I lived in.

I always went to another town to mail it out. ”

“What about when you got to other towns? How did you open them?” Hunt asks her.

“I would wait a few weeks after learning who worked at the post office in the next town over. I made sure they recognized me, then I would pretend I lost my ID. I only had an issue once, but mostly because I stuck to smaller towns, they let it slide. When I got here, I let it slip with Ann, and she said she would rent one for me so I could talk to my friend without worry. I would put cash in her purse every month for it because I realized she wasn’t taking the money out of my check like she said she would. ”

“Have you heard from her recently? Did she let you know she was sending Jess or anything after as to say how or why now?”

I shake my head. “No, nothing. I haven’t heard from her in at least four months, which is the longest we’ve ever gone.” My chest aches with the admission.

“Now, Jess, she’s your sister, but you said you have different fathers? Does that happen often?” Thorne asks, redirecting the conversation.