In Too Deep (Grayton Series Book 4) by Jill Sanders

Author:Jill Sanders [Sanders, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grayton Press
Published: 2015-09-12T23:00:00+00:00

He finished his plate quickly and watched her pull out a pan with the cheesecake wrapped inside. After cutting him a large piece, she set her fork down and pushed her almost full plate aside. He’d only taken a few bites of his cake, when her eyes moved up to his. Setting his fork down, he waited.

“I found my… well, technically, he’s my grandfather on my mother’s side.”

“What?” he asked.

She repeated her statement so he shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

She stood up and walked towards the surf, holding herself tightly. He followed close behind her, wanting to touch her but deciding against it. When she sat down in the sand, he moved beside her, their knees brushing slightly.

“Just before Reagan was born, I was scared and running. I’d just escaped the cult…”

“You had to escape the cult?” He frowned, turning towards her.

“They kidnapped me.” Her voice was low, causing him to lean a closer. “After my mother visited me.” She glanced over at him.

“I remember, she came up to the house and asked to speak to you.”

She nodded.

“We turned her away.” He frowned, remembering the junkie woman who had shown up. She’d had needle marks in her arms and a scared look in her eyes.

She sighed and rested her elbows on her knees. “She found me the next day, when I was leaving school.” He felt anger boiling deep inside. “She’d left the CoF—the Council of Friends—a few years back and had gotten back involved in drugs.” She shivered. “Anyway, someone from the family had tracked her down and told her to visit me. She told me that they claimed it was time I came back and fulfilled my obligations to the family. So, that night, after catching what I thought was you and Susan Shaffer, I left Spring Haven. I was so young and stupid that I rented an apartment in Tallahassee under my birth name.”

“Marissa Collins?” he questioned.

She shook her head no. “That’s what Lilly told the Grayton’s my name was. To protect me.” She rested her chin on her arms. “I’ve used a few names until I came here. Wright, Collins, but my birth name was Marissa Smith. I’m one of sixteen Smith’s born into the Kevin Smith cult.”

“Kevin Smith is your father?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “At least he seems to think so. It’s hard to know who belongs to whom in a polygamous cult. In the Council of Friends, every child takes the leader’s name.” She glanced down at her hands. “And every leader takes the last name of Smith. The compound is just outside of Tallahassee.”

“I thought those cults were only in Utah?” He frowned.

She shrugged her shoulders and looked back up at him. “Several larger groups broke off a few decades ago. Some settled in Colorado and others even farther away. The CoF moved near the Florida border. That’s where I was born and raised until Lilly helped me escape on my wedding day and brought me to the Grayton’s.”

“Why would they kidnap you?” He reached out and took her hand in his.

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