“Me too,” Stefanie said hastily as she gazed at the stone-faced Juan.
Jasmine took her hand and said, “Come, let me show you around…”
“Okay,” Stefanie agreed, watching Juan head off in another direction but still peering at her.
Jasmine noticed and said, “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s naturally suspicious of anyone who wants to see what we’re all about, as though we’re supposed to be closed off to expanding our tent. That isn’t the case at all,” she argued.
“Cool.” Stefanie smiled. She had no intention of joining the cult, but she was most interested in what she could learn about Mia.
After being led around the open country space that included fruit trees, crops and farm animals for a self-sustaining lifestyle, Jasmine introduced Stefanie to a few of the members, then took her to a cabin.
“This is where I live,” Jasmine said proudly.
Stefanie took a sweeping glance around the cozy cabin with bamboo flooring and wicker furniture. “Nice,” she told her.
“I try to make it as comfortable as possible.”
Stefanie smiled softly. “Do you know Mia O’Dell?” she asked evenly.
“Yes, Mia’s part of the Braison Family,” Jasmine said. “Are you friends with her?”
She doesn’t seem to know what happened to Mia, Stefanie thought.I have to tell her.
But before she could, a tall and fit bearded man withpresence walked into the cabin, and Jasmine said, with eyes wide with admiration, “Kenneth—”
“Hey.” He regarded her with a serious look, then turned to Stefanie and said, “I’m Kenneth Braison.”
The head of the Braison Family, Stefanie deduced by his commanding presence. “Stefanie Nguyen.”
Kenneth shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Stefanie.”
“You too,” she told him politely.
“I trust that you’ve been made to feel welcome to our little slice of paradise?”
“Yes.” Stefanie flashed a smile. “Thanks to Jasmine.” She looked at her and got a grin in return.
Kenneth fixed his eyes to Jasmine’s face and told her intently, “Everyone’s meeting in the courtyard in five minutes.”
She nodded. “All right.”
All three left the cabin, where Juan was waiting outside. Kenneth eyed Stefanie and said succinctly, “Hope you’ll come again. Juan will show you out…”
Stefanie glanced at Juan and understood that this was Kenneth’s way of telling her it was time to leave, whether she was ready to or not. She looked at Jasmine, who seemed confused, but didn’t dare voice an objection. Nor did Stefanie wish for her to put herself at any risk. Especially after what had happened to Mia. Or perhaps because of it.
After leaving the compound, Stefanie wondered if Campbell might be up for having dinner with her. There was only one way to find out.
* * *
KENNETH SENSED THATStefanie Nguyen was on a fishing expedition rather than truly being interested in becomingpart of their family. He’d heard through the grapevine that she was the one who found Mia in the park. So, was she visiting the compound on behalf of Campbell Sawyer, to see if he could connect her death to the Braison Family? Or was it a personal quest by Stefanie to see what rocks she could overturn for her own curiosity?
Either way, Kenneth was not about to let the group his father started be torn apart. Not as he was now the head of the Family. That included making sure that Stefanie stayed in her own lane—as a yoga instructor, he’d learned—if she knew what was good for her.
With everyone now gathered before him, Kenneth sucked in a deep breath and said, with the appropriate remorse, “I have some news to share with you… It’s with a heavy heart that I just learned that one of our own, Mia O’Dell, died on Founder’s Day from a drug overdose.” He watched for a moment as the expected moans and murmurs came from his flock. “She was found in Reston Hills Park. Though I’m sure this comes as a shock to most of you, given that drug use is strictly prohibited on these grounds, Mia may have fallen in with the wrong crowd outside of our reach…and paid the price…”
Kenneth saw this as an opportunity to further separate the Braison Family from outside influences and their decidedly negative play on human nature. If this made them stronger, then all the better. He could only hope that Mia’s death wouldn’t make its way back to him and everything he stood for. Just as his father had before him.
Chapter Six
