"We'll talk to Zeke and he'll understand-"

"You think Zeke called us to his house to have a conversation? Eden tried to leave us, for heaven's sake! She meant to find that judge and tear up the power of attorney. She betrayed him!"

The turn into Zeke's was just ahead. She stared at the moonless night beyond the window.

"There's gonna be h.e.l.l to pay, I swear."

Wyatt pulled into Zeke's compound and brought the truck to a stop. Claude leaned against a pillar on the porch, watching them as they climbed out of the truck and made their way to the front door.

Claude pushed the door open. "He's waiting in the study."

The study. Judgment was in the air and there was no running from it.

She cinched her night robe tight, entered the house, and angled toward Zeke's office to the left of the living room. Through the door she could see him sitting at his desk.

They entered the study without a word, followed by Claude, who stopped at the doorway, arms crossed.

Zeke's piercing stare was as dark as midnight and for several seconds he simply studied them. She felt naked, stripped to the bone, nothing more than a desperate failure. The bitter disappointment on his face said everything.

"Sit." He nodded to the two leather chairs opposite him, watching them from his black, high-back chair, whisky gla.s.s cradled in his hand.

Kathryn eased into a chair and Wyatt began to take the seat beside her.

"Not you," Zeke said.

Wyatt stood upright, confused for a moment. "Sure, Zeke."

Zeke tilted his gla.s.s and took a drink. "Why'd you give her the keys, Wyatt?"

Wyatt stood stock-still, like an animal trapped in a cage.

"Do you take me for a fool?"

"No, Zeke. Of course not."

"No. Of course not. Stupid, Wyatt. Very stupid."

"I . . ."

"Like that boy of yours. But at least he's honest. He must get his backbone from his mother."

Kathryn's pulse drummed in her ears.

"You gave Eden the truck keys and walked away. Unless Bobby's lying, in which case I would have to punish him. You know how I hate liars."

Wyatt's hand began to quiver at his side. "Bobby's an innocent boy."

"You're right, Bobby wouldn't know duplicity if it smacked him in the mouth. Tell me Wyatt, are you duplicitous?"

Wyatt shifted on his feet.

"It means two-faced, double-dealing," Zeke said. "Deceitful. Or is that not a clear concept in that thick skull of yours?"

"No," Wyatt said quietly.

"No what?"

"No . . ." A tremor had taken to his voice. "I mean . . . Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes. I understand."

"Understand what, Wyatt?"

He hesitated. "That I was deceitful."

His eyes, guilty as sin, flitted to Kathryn, then darted back to Zeke. She felt the room begin to close around her. Wyatt had betrayed her too. The whole world had turned against her.

"Why did you defy me, Wyatt?"

"I'm sorry . . . I wasn't thinking."

"No, you weren't. And unfortunately I can't allow people who don't know how to think to remain with me in an hour like this." He drilled Wyatt with an uncompromising stare. "I'm sending you away."

Wyatt blinked, dumb, face white. Blinked again.

"You understand I have no choice, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Whether or not I ever allow you to return to Bobby will depend on how you conduct yourself these next thirty days. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Zeke." He cleared his throat. "Thirty days."

Kathryn could see the beads of sweat on his forehead, but her mind was on her own head. If this was Wyatt's sentence, what would be hers? Dear G.o.d, it was all falling apart. All of it!

"Well, now, I can't have a traitor around while we reap our blessing, now can I?"

Their blessing, Kathryn thought. Eden's money. It was Zeke's fixation as much as their obedience.

She kept her eyes on Zeke, now unnerved by any impulse to look at Wyatt-it would const.i.tute some kind of betrayal of Zeke. She couldn't allow herself sympathy. Not now. But she didn't have to look at him to know that he was shrinking and for that she couldn't help but to feel strangely conflicted.

Zeke glanced at the door. "Show him out."

Claude stepped forward, took Wyatt by the arm, and pulled him way.

Hot tears blurred Kathryn's eyes as the front door thumped shut. She was alone now. Alone with Zeke.

Zeke took a long breath and let it out slowly. A heavy blanket of silence settled over them. He gently tapped the desk with his fingertips, eyes cutting so deep she felt her very soul being severed in two.

But this was his way, wasn't it? A good and righteous and pure way, deeply dividing the truth like a sword. Bone and marrow.

"You disappoint me, Kathryn."

"Forgive me, Zeke." The words came out in a half sob. "Please. I didn't know . . . I did what you asked. She didn't know she could-"

"Shut up, Kathryn."

"Yes, Zeke."

"The issue has nothing to do with what you did or didn't know. The issue is Eden. And here I was so sure that you'd brought her up in the ways of truth. Now I see you have a s.l.u.t for a daughter."

He was right. She couldn't possibly offer any defense. There was nothing to be said. He let the statement stand and continued to tap the desk with the tips of his fingers.

Only when she didn't think she could bear his dark gaze a moment longer did he shift it to the wall behind her.

"Like a shepherd I watch over the sheep that G.o.d has entrusted to me. Tell me that I haven't cared for you, Kathryn."

"Yes, Zeke, you've cared for me."

"That I haven't been merciful to you in every conceivable way."

"Your mercy knows no bounds."

"That you don't owe your own life to me."

"I do. All of it."

He looked into her eyes again.

"That Eden and everything she is belongs to me."

"She's yours. Your lamb. Your gift to me and I am so grateful."

"And yet this is how you treat me? What have I ever asked in return for what I've given you?"

"Nothing."

"Wrong. Not nothing. What is the one thing I ask of you?"

She hesitated only a moment. "Love."

"That's right, love. And how will I know whether or not my flock loves me?"

"By their obedience."

"Good girl. And as obedience brings the blessing, rebellion brings the curse, and, with it, judgment."

"Yes, Zeke."

"You are the people of my pasture, the sheep of my flock, and I am your good shepherd. Who knows what's best for you?"

"You do, Zeke."

"And who knows what's best for Eden?"

She swallowed hard. "You do."

"You've allowed her to forget who she is. She's proven herself a stray sheep p.r.o.ne to wandering. One of these days she just might wander too close to the cliff and bring us all down with her."

"I'll do anything."

"Yes. You will."

"Just tell me what to do. Anything, I promise. This won't happen again."

"No it won't, Kathryn. It won't because you're going to teach that stray lamb not to wander from the fold."

"I will. I swear I will!"

"Just like a good shepherd teaches any precious lamb."

"Yes, just like that. Just like a good shepherd. Tell me, Zeke. Just tell me what I have to do."

He picked up his tumbler and drained the last of his whisky. Then set it down and slowly turned it with his thumb and forefinger, as if it was a delicate crystal.

"I want you to break one of Eden's legs."

EPISODE FOUR.

22.

Charleston, SC