T he next morning I arrive at the small headquarters building for Tracy Ellis Ministry and walk up to the reception desk. An older woman with a warm, genuine smile greets me as I approach.

“Can I help you?” she asks.

“Yes,” I tell her, showing her my shield. “I’m Agent Emma Griffin with the FBI. I need to speak with Tracy Ellis. Is she in the office today?”

The woman’s face drops, and an expression of concern goes across her eyes. She picks up a phone beside her and hits a button.

“Ms. Ellis, there’s an FBI agent here who wants to speak with you,” she says.

She pauses and listens to the other end of the call. A slightly less enthusiastic smile returns to her face as she hangs up.

“She says you can go on through to her office. It’s at the end of the hallway.” She gestures behind her to a hallway leading away from the lobby area, and I nod.

“Thank you.”

The doors to the office are closed, and a man wearing dark slacks and a branded polo stands outside, his hands clasped in front of him. I show him my shield and tell him that Ellis is expecting me. He knocks on the door and opens it just slightly so he can look inside without letting me see into the office.

“There’s someone here to see you,” he says. “Should I let her in?”

“Yes, Ander. Thank you,” a familiar voice I recognize as a less intense version of the one from the video says.

He pushes the door the rest of the way open, and I walk past him inside. He follows me, and I think of what Jesse said about Tracy Ellis having a security team. Regardless of what he said about her not taking the threats seriously, she clearly feels the need to have protection near her at all times.

“Ms. Ellis?” I ask.

“Tracy please,” she says. “Come in. This is Ander Ward, my head bodyguard. Thank you, Ander. I’ll be out in just a few minutes.”

Ander says nothing but nods and steps out of the office, closing the door behind himself. Tracy gestures at a seating arrangement to one side of the office, and I go to it.

“Can I get you something to drink?” she asks.

“No, I’m all right, thank you,” I say.

She pours herself a cup of tea from a set sitting on a table near the window and brings it over to sit in a high-backed leather chair diagonal from the settee I chose.

“What can I do for you?” she asks. “Estelle said you are an FBI agent? I assume this has to do with Gideon Bell’s death.” She is straightforward and to the point, not wanting to dance around the topic at hand. I appreciate that.

“Yes,” I tell her. “I am heading up the investigation into his death and the attack on his roommate, as well as the threats that have been received by employees of your company. I’d like to talk to you about the situation.”

“I’m happy to speak with you, but I’m afraid I don’t have the time right now. I’ve called a company-wide meeting that will be starting in just a few minutes. I’ll actually be addressing this situation there. If you’d like to come to the meeting, you’d be more than welcome. Then we can speak more if you’d like,” she says.

“That would be fine,” I tell her.

She sips her tea and gives an emphatic nod, like we’ve just come to a firm business agreement. With another few sips of the tea down, she stands up, checks the diamond-encrusted watch on her wrist, and returns to the small table to set the teacup down where she got it.

“The meeting is being held in the conference room upstairs,” she says.

Without any further invitation or instruction, she heads for the door. I follow behind her and notice Ander step into place beside her as we pass by him without acknowledgment. He looks back toward me, a motion that isn’t lost on Tracy.

“Agent Griffin will be accompanying us to the meeting, Ander,” she says. “Then we’ll be back in the office.”

He nods again, still not speaking. I wonder if that is a personality trait or a requirement of the position, feeling both are equally possible. We step into an elevator that brings us up to the second floor of the building, and Tracy leads us to a large conference room already filled with people. I stop in the back of the room, and she continues on to stand behind a lectern on a small podium that lifts her up above the rest of those sitting in folding chairs beside a table laid out with refreshments.

“Good morning, everyone,” she says with a heavily rehearsed smile and slow swing of her head so she can make eye contact with as many people in the room as possible. “Thank you for joining me here. I hope you’re enjoying breakfast. Unfortunately, as many of you already know, the reason for this meeting is not a pleasant one. You’ll see we’ve been joined by a guest this morning.” She gestures toward me standing behind everyone at the back of the room. “That is Agent Griffin from the FBI. She’s here under very serious circumstances.” Her expression goes dark, and her hands tighten around the sides of the podium.

“Last night, one of our own, a member of my security team, Gideon Bell, was murdered. His roommate, a former employee of the company, was also attacked but mercifully survived.”

Gasps and whispers ripple through the audience, and Tracy nods along with them. She lets them continue for a few seconds before holding up her hands to get their attention again.

“This death is a shock and a tragedy for all of us. You may know that it follows several weeks of threats that have been received by several people within the company. These threats have been received by members of my security staff as well as others throughout the company and have been very pointed in their declaration that the recipient should turn their back on me and the ministry. We have lost two employees due to these threats, and there have been suggestions that I cancel my upcoming appearances because of them.

“I stand before you this morning to tell you that I have no intention of making any changes to my schedule or letting this situation control me or my work. I will not bow down to the whims of a mere human when those whims are to end my battle against the evils and darkness that have taken over our society and are trying to bring us down. Every day we face more reminders of the degradation of what our world should be, all the ways that society is falling victim to the evils of Satan and all of his temptations. They try to force us to consume their poison and be like them, but I refuse.”

Her voice is getting louder, and I recognize her starting to slip into the persona I saw on the video recording of her talking about Terrence Brooks.

“I will not be seen as weak and malleable. We are in a battle here. A war with darkness and sin. A war for salvation and deliverance. We can’t allow ourselves to be taken down from the rock on which we’ve placed our feet. This is not the time to sink back and be broken. Now is the time to show complete and unshakable faith. I stand before you now saying, ‘Listen to the words we have been taught.’ Do not be afraid. If I am to show fear or hesitation in the face of this, if I am to change my schedule, let down the people who want to hear me speak, bend to the will of this mere human, then I am questioning my faith. I am failing in what I teach, and those who look to me will think that I do not practice and believe what I tell them. I can’t have that happen. This is a test, and I intend to pass it.”

A hand goes up and a woman speaks.

“But doesn’t this show that the threats are real? Gideon got a few of them, and now he’s been murdered. Are we supposed to just pretend that his death doesn’t mean anything?” she asks.

A few people mutter responses and support, and I can see anger building on Tracy’s face. She doesn’t like being questioned.

“I would never ask that the loss of a human life be ignored. Gideon’s life, like all lives, was precious and cherished, and it being ripped away does absolutely matter. But I will not run and hide because of it. I will not show weakness. Not as a Follower. Not as a woman. I will be seen with the strength I speak about, the power that comes to me through my faith and dedication. I am calling on all of you to share that strength. We must create a unified front. Be defiant in the face of these threats and push even harder to spread our message. Again, this is a test. Those who choose to live what has been shared with so many will be rewarded, and we will all have the chance to touch more people. Isn’t that what we want?

“I never said and will never say that being righteous and spreading the truth to the world would be easy and comfortable. In fact, I guarantee it won’t be. The darkness fights hard to stop it. The world is in the clutches of self-indulgence, wrath, and the loss of our true meaning and being. Pushing against that and fighting for what is real and right and true is the hardest battle that will ever be fought, but it is a worthy one. You must be willing to put on the armor of faith, take up your sword, and go into battle, or all is lost. I tell you now, I will not stand by and let this stop me. I will not give in. I will not give pleasure and satisfaction to the one who destroys the light. I will press on, and I tell you, those who will stay with me will do the same. Now I ask that we all take a moment to honor Gideon with a moment of silence.”

She bows her head, and I look around the room at the members of her company gathered in front of her. I can see on their faces that many, if not most, of them do not share the same zeal she’s showing. They aren’t filled with the fiery enthusiasm this has sparked in her. I see fear in their eyes and hesitation in their expressions. I see some lean toward each other, whispering. Suddenly, the same woman who spoke earlier stands up.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I don’t want to disrespect Gideon, but I can’t do this. I got one of the threats on my car, and I’ve been terrified ever since. This just makes it worse. I can’t let my family be at risk. I need to leave.”

Tracy stands in chilly silence for a few seconds, staring at the woman. It brings the eyes of everyone else in the room toward her, and the woman starts to turn pink, but she doesn’t back down.

“Well, Dawn,” Tracy says in a slower, calmer voice, “if that’s how you feel, I can’t argue with you. I can’t force anyone to do something they don’t believe in. If you are truly ready to walk away, then I can’t stand in your path. If anyone else is ready to make this declaration, please, go with her now.”

Two others stand up, and they all move to the door. One makes eye contact with me as she leaves the room. I dip out of the room as Tracy launches back into her speech, lamenting the loss of faith and the fear that has shaken their foundation.

“Excuse me,” I call after the three.

They stop and come back toward me.

“I’m Agent Griffin. As Tracy said, I’m investigating Gideon’s death and the threats that have been sent to the people working for the company. I know what you just did was really difficult, but before you go, do you mind telling me a bit about it?”

They glance at one another and nod.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks,” the woman Tracy referred to as Dawn starts. “At first I didn’t really think much of the threats because things like that have happened before, but then more people started getting them. Then I got one, and it really scared me. It was left on my car while I was at the grocery store. I had my daughter with me, and I’ve never felt quite so helpless. Now with what happened to Gideon…” Her voice trails off, and she shakes her head. “I just can’t do it. The job isn’t worth feeling like I’m putting my daughter in harm’s way.”

“How about you?” I ask the other two. “Did either of you get threats?”

They both shake their heads.

“No,” the man says. “I didn’t get one myself, but I know a couple people who did, and it’s really unnerving. I just feel like something should have been done. More than just calling the police and talking about it at company meetings. I know that the police can’t really do anything because they don’t know who sent them, but Tracy should be doing something to protect the people working for her. She mentioned that someone suggested she change her schedule and not do the appearances she has soon. That was me. I put in an anonymous note and said that I thought it would be better if she laid low for a while, at least until all the heat she caused recently calms down a bit. I just think she needs to stop making herself, and the ministry, so blatantly visible with all this going on.”

“I feel the same way,” the other woman says. “I think it’s really irresponsible for her to take something like this and use it as a rallying cry to put herself, and all of us, out there even more. She’s putting all of us, not just the ones that actually got the threats, in danger. And I’m not going to stick around and wait to find out what else is going to happen because of it.”

“Does any of you have any ideas of who might be behind this? Is there something different about these threats than the other ones you’ve heard of?” I ask.

“Before the threats came to the company itself,” Dawn says. “Sometimes if we were out at an event or something, we might hear people yelling things at us, but this is the first time I know of where anything has actually gone to people’s homes. That’s what really scares me. They know where people live. They can get to them.”

“You should look into Marcus Kelsey,” the man tells me. “He used to work for the company but was fired a few months back. I know he had some really pointed words for Tracy and the ministry when he was leaving.”

“Do you think he would be capable of doing something like this?” I ask.

“I didn’t know him well,” the man says. “But what I did know about him wasn’t good. He was a favorite of Tracy’s because he met her intensity. There were even times when he was more zealous and aggressive than she was, to the point that he could be legitimately frightening.”

“Then how did he end up fired?” I ask.

“No one is completely sure,” Dawn says. “All Tracy said about it after it happened was that she found out he was not who he was presenting himself to be and she couldn’t have any of that among the people she kept closest to her. It sounded like he had betrayed her in some way, but it wasn’t advertised to the whole company.”

“Which really surprised me,” the other woman said. “Tracy is never above making an example out of people when she feels like she can put a spin on it and turn it into something that’s going to get her more loyalty.”

“All right. Thank you for talking to me.” I give each of them business cards. “Call me if you can think of anything else that you think might be important.”

The three leave, and I go back into the room just as Tracy is coming down off the podium to the applause of the audience. The clapping certainly isn’t universal across everyone in attendance, and I have a feeling the three I just spoke to are the beginning of an exodus.

I fall into step with Ander and Tracy as they leave the room. We get back on the elevator, and she glances at me, dabbing at the sweat on her forehead with an expensive-looking handkerchief. There’s expectation in her eyes, like she’s waiting for me to tell her what I was doing when I stepped out of the room. I’m positive she noticed. The whole time I was listening to her talk, her eyes were flickering to me at the back of the room. I was a new listener, a new person she could attempt to impress and sway with her fervor. Maybe that’s what she’s waiting for. Confirmation that she has captured me and I’m going to be one of her dedicated followers. Or that she has repelled me and I’m going to still garner her more attention with my complaints.

She’s not going to get any of that from me. I’m here for only one reason, and that’s to talk about what happened to Gideon Bell and the threatening messages her employees have been receiving.