Desperate Rescue Read Online Free

expression. Phoebe may be an adult, but sometimes adults are children.”
    In the counseling sessions she’d attended, she learned they were all victims of Noah’s insanity.
    And victims needed help.
    But they’d all hurt her. By allowing Noah such horrible free rein, especially with her, they’d moved from victims to perpetrators. Her stomach clenched.
    Eli opened his eyes and met her stare. Fighting the unwelcomed guilt still rising in her, she returned to her sweeping, not before dashing away an errant tear. “Go away, Eli. Neither of us can help them.”
    She could feel him step closer to her. Too close. “We can help them. Phoebe needs you.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “She’s a victim just like you were.”
    Phoebe was too trusting. And too easily beguiled and willing to do anything for Noah, even if it meant hiding to prepare for the end of the world.
    Kaylee struggled to fight the sympathy leaking in. And she struggled to fight the way Eli’s words drew out the righteousness in her.
    “Kaylee?”
    She blinked back tears to focus on him. All she could see was gentle sympathy.
    “I know how you feel. And I wish that what I was asking of you was easy.”
    He didn’t know how she felt. “What are you asking, exactly? That I just talk Phoebe out of that cult? You sound like you think she’ll listen to me. Considering what I’ve said and done and what Noah did to Trisha, I’d be the last person they’d open their door to, even if I did agree to go.”
    “But you know the compound. You know the house and grounds and everyone in there. You’d know how to get into it.”
    “So you need someone to tell you the layout of the house and then you’ll just ask Phoebe to come outside?” She shook her head. “You’d have to be as smart as Noah to convince her to give it all up. Or as sly and shrewd.”
    Again, that hint of strife within him flitted across his face. Only for the briefest of seconds, she noticed. Then it was gone. “I’ve been trying to talk to her for years. You’re my best shot right now. I don’t know what else to do. I’ve prayed about it constantly.”
    “Yes, well, prayer may be okay for finding a bit of temporary peace, but you have to be proactive or nothing works.”
    He frowned. “Why do you say that?”
    “You better come up with a plan. Even if we get into the compound and then into the house, you still need to deal with those people. God only helps those who help themselves.”
    Eli frowned. “Is that what Noah taught you? God isn’t some passive overseer. He’s powerful, strong, willing to do anything to bring back His lost sheep.”
    “His lost sheep? He abandoned Trisha and let her be murdered!” she lashed out. “A drug overdose in a motel, the coroner reported. And everyone in that cult, Phoebe included, told the police Trisha was depressed because I left. They lied and said I was disillusioned because Noah had spurned me. I couldn’t convince the police otherwise.”
    Her next breath caught in her throat and her head suddenly pounded. It was all so fresh, so hard to bear. “But it wasn’t going to bring back Trisha and I wasn’t strong enough to fight it all. I had to let it go, but believe me, it was the hardest thing I ever had to do.”
    When he didn’t answer, when his lips tightened and she saw his throat bob, she glared at him. “Do you really think Phoebe’s going to follow either of us out? You have to come up with something more drastic than that, I’m afraid.”
    He looked as if he wanted to say something, but held it back. His face had become so easy to read. “You don’t have a plan, do you?”
    It was an accusation. She was angry.
    He shook his head, barely. Allowing the surge of shock and anger to overtake her discretion, she burst out, “You’re expecting God to step in with some divine intervention? That’s admirable, but frankly, it’s insane!”
    “This is important to me, Kaylee. I can’t explain it any more than