Lena Jones 02 - Desert Wives

make those biscuits?”
    I opened my eyes with a start. “What?”
    “I’m starved, Lena. And those biscuits you’ve been bringing home are all gone.”
    I stared at him in disbelief. “My face looks like hamburger, an innocent girl is being forced to marry a creep, and you’re thinking of your
stomach?
”
    “Lena, let me tell you something. I was in Korea, at Inchion Reservoir. We were surrounded by thousands of Red Chinese and weren’t sure if we’d live to see morning, but we still ate our rations.”
    He had a point. Going hungry wasn’t going to help Cynthia, so I reluctantly got up and went into the kitchen.
    My biscuits turned out to be the size and density of hockey pucks. Saul and Ruby ate them, but with pained expressions. I contented myself with some Ramen and thought about Cynthia. There had to be a way to get her out of the compound and away from Earl Graff. I felt certain that if I worked on the problem long enough, I’d find a solution, but for now, my duty to my own client came first.
    I’d been in the compound more than a week, yet I was no closer to finding Prophet Solomon’s murderer than the day I arrived. Yes, Virginia had warned me that Purity’s inhabitants were secretive, but she’d neglected to mention the almost harem-type seclusion the polygamists’ women lived in, as well as their almost total separation from the men except for fertilization time. While I knew I needed to talk to the men, I didn’t see how I’d manage, given my violent behavior at Ermaline’s. They’d be even more on their guard. But perhaps not all was lost. Tomorrow I’d talk to Tony Lomahguahu and he might be able to give me more information.
    After we’d finished the biscuits, Ruby spoke for the first time. “You need to get the Circle of Elders to pray over your eye, Sister Lena.” She didn’t ask how I’d received my shiner. She’d probably been eavesdropping.
    The thought of Earl Graff and his henchmen in the Circle praying for my healing struck me as hilarious, but I refrained from laughing out loud. “I don’t think so, Sister Ruby.”
    “God is the most wondrous healer.”
    I grunted. “God, maybe, but not the guys around here. And if I remember correctly, didn’t your first husband die after being prayed over?”
    Her indrawn breath told me that in my irritation, I had once again gone too far. Forcing myself to sound contrite, I said, “I’m sorry, Sister Ruby. Please remember that I am unused to the ways of faith.”
    Too late. Without another word, Ruby shoved her chair back from the table and left the kitchen.
    “Nice going, Lena,” Saul said. “Keep that up and pretty soon no one in Purity will talk to you.”
    I was washing the dishes when I heard the front door open and the sounds of men, all talking at once, enter the house.
    “Sister Lena, you’d better get out here,” Saul called.
    I dried my hands and walked into the living room. Waiting for me were Davis Royal, looking more blond-on-blond gorgeous than ever, and ugly old Earl Graff. Saul had his fists balled as if ready to take a swing at Earl, but Davis had positioned himself between the two. Smart man. Sister Ruby, who’d emerged from her room, completed the party. She stood watching from the corner, her face blank.
    “I try to get away to do some work on behalf of the compound, and things fall apart,” Royal said, sounding aggrieved. “Sister Lena, Brother Earl has leveled a serious charge against you.”
    “Bitch hit me,” Graff growled, his jowls trembling with rage. Was it my wishful thinking or had his nose already swelled to twice its size?
    I took a step toward him, and he shrank back, a protective hand covering his nose. “Only because you hit me first, Brother Earl.”
    Was it my imagination, or did I see a twitch at the corner of Royal’s gorgeous mouth? “Brother Earl, you didn’t say anything about that. Is it true? Did you hit Sister Lena?”
    Saul gestured toward me. I noticed that his fists were still clenched. “Look at her eye, Brother Davis. She sure didn’t do that to herself.”
    Royal approached me. I’m a tall woman, but he had to stoop while he examined the area around my eye. His handsome face was so close to mine that I could smell mint on his breath. My knees began to buckle. But he gave my cheek a final soft caress and stepped back before I could make a complete fool of myself.
    “Brother Graff, I haven’t heard your answer.”
    Graff shuffled his feet for a few