A Place Called Destiny Read online

  A Place Called Destiny

  The Destiny Series Book 1

  Emma Easter

  A Place Called Destiny

  (The Destiny Series 1)

  Emma Easter

  CKN Christian Publishing

  An Imprint of Wolfpack Publishing

  6032 Wheat Penny Avenue

  Las Vegas, NV 89122

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, other than brief quotes for reviews.

  Kindle Edition

  Copyright © 2020

  CKN Christian Publishing

  Characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ISBN 978-1-64734-702-4

  Contents

  Your FREE eBook

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Your FREE eBook

  A Look at The Path to Destiny

  About Emma Easter

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  Chapter 1

  Rachel opened her eyes when she heard Mike’s heavy breathing.

  Good, he’s asleep, she thought, and then heaved a sigh of relief. She slowly extricated herself from Mike’s grasp and put her feet on the ground. She slipped on the sandals she’d placed beside the bed and prayed that Mike would not wake up.

  For a brief moment, she sat waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the bedroom. When she could finally make out the shape of the blue sofa she’d tossed her dress onto some hours ago, she stood up from the bed and soundlessly went to pick up the dress. She hurriedly put it on, tied back her dark, waist-length hair, and tiptoed to the closet. A cry escaped her when she hit her leg on her purse stand, and she immediately clamped a hand over her mouth. Her heart began to beat wildly in fear and she silently scolded herself. You clumsy girl. What have you done?

  She didn’t dare turn her face toward the bed. If only she didn’t have to sneak around in the darkness. But she couldn’t afford to turn the light on and risk waking Mike up. She stood unmoving, tears in her eyes, not just from the pain radiating in her leg, but also from the fear that Mike would wake up. If he did, all would be lost, and she would continue living in this hell on earth.

  She put her hand on her growing belly and whispered, “Lord, please help me escape, not just for my sake, but my baby’s.” She sighed. There was no way she was going to raise her child in a place like Fallow Creek or with a man like Mike. She planned to go to Phoenix as she had a cousin who lived there. True, she hadn’t spoken to her cousin in years, but she was hoping for the best — just a place to stay and some food to eat until she could find her feet.

  After what seemed like an eternity of waiting and praying that Mike would not awaken, she exhaled. Weak with relief, she went quickly to the closet and opened it, less careful now about not making noise. All she wanted to do was leave quickly. The more time she stayed here, the higher the chance that Mike would wake up and find her trying to leave him.

  She picked up the sole purse from the stand, opened it, and brought out her phone. Pressing a button on it, she used the dim light to search for her duffel bag. She had packed the bag last night and hidden it at the back of the closet.

  She found the bag, brought it out, and then grabbed the keys to Mike’s truck on the bedside table. Her conscience pricked her as she dropped the keys into her purse, but she brushed the guilt aside. He had five other cars.

  She once again tiptoed toward the door, still praying that Mike wouldn’t wake up. She got to the door and just as she put her hand on the doorknob, Mike grunted, “What have you done?”

  She froze and her heart began to pound in terror. Oh Lord, why?

  Even though the room was dark and she was sure Mike couldn’t see her, he had probably heard her skulking about the room. In his usual annoyingly perceptive way, he had probably guessed what she was trying to do. Any minute now, light would flood the room and she would be found out.

  She turned around slowly, already knowing what Mike would say, what he would do. Shivers went down her spine.

  “We have been through this before,” Mike said.

  Rachel’s mouth felt dry and her stomach churned. She opened her mouth to tell Mike that she was just going to get something to eat because she could not sleep, and then raised her brows when Mike began to mumble gibberish. After a while, silence reigned again and it finally occurred to her that he wasn’t really awake. Once in a while, he talked in his sleep, which was what had happened now. Again, overwhelming relief flooded her as she silently left the room.

  As she walked past Olivia’s room, she resisted the urge to enter and tell the woman she was leaving. In spite of how Mike had tried to pit them against each other, and despite the fact that they were rivals, she liked Olivia. But more than that, she felt sorry for Olivia and never stopped blaming herself for being the cause of the woman’s constant sadness. If not for me, Olivia would have her husband all to herself, Rachel thought.

  She wanted to tell Olivia that they could leave Mike together with her two children, but knowing Olivia, she would never agree. Mike was like a god to her, the way many husbands in Fallow Creek were to their wives. Olivia’s two children occupied the bedrooms next to hers and if it weren’t so dangerous, Rachel would take those dear ones away from this place.

  She tiptoed down the stairs and got to the living room. Turning on the light, she took the keys to the front door from the TV stand, and then went to unlock the door. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at the living room and the house she’d lived in for four years; four torturous years. The living room, like the rest of the house, was furnished lavishly. Mike was the second richest man in Fallow Creek, and he’d never been afraid to spend his money on luxuries that had sometimes raised a few eyebrows, like the half-dozen cars parked outside their large five-bedroom home. She turned around again and stepped out into the night. She ran to the red truck, opened it, and got in.

  For the first time, she was grateful that the houses in Fallow Creek, the religious community — or polygamous cult, depending on who you asked — that she’d lived in for most of her life didn’t have gates or barricades. She could drive away from the house without needing to first open a gate. However, there was something worse than a barricade that she was worried about. The security squad, a group of young men who patrolled Fallow Creek twenty-four hours a day, would be out tonight. She had already concocted a story to tell them. She only hoped they would believe it. If not, she would try to bluff her way out of the community.

  Her heart hammered as she started the truck. If the sound of the vehicle roused Mike or anyone in the house, her leaving would be in jeopardy. Even if they got down here after she’d driven off, they would definitely call the patrollers at the edge of the community and she would be prevented from leaving. And then her plight would be worse than it had been before. The punishments for trying to
leave the community, especially for women, were varied and severe. No woman was to leave her husband’s house without his express permission. As for the security squad, they could probably hear the roar of her truck now. They would be expecting her.

  Over the years, she had marveled time and time again at how the polygamous community had been able to exist mostly under the government’s radar. The community was a very small town in Arizona made up of roughly three hundred people, most of whom she’d grown up with. It was peaceful, mostly due to the fact that all the inhabitants obeyed the strict religious rules. The other “wives” the men in the community married were not legal, but “spiritual wives”, and in that way, they escaped prosecution for practicing polygamy. Only a few people had ever successfully moved away from the town. Rachel planned to be one of them.

  “Lord, please help me,” she muttered as she backed out of the driveway.

  She drove away from the house, thanking the Lord that no one had woken up and rushed downstairs to try to stop her. But she was still afraid. The security squad was ahead.

  She drove fast, driving by the houses in the community. Some of them were as tiny as the living and dining rooms in Mike’s house. Others were bigger homes, but none as big as Mike’s. So far, no one had seen her, for which she was grateful.

  The stars seemed to shine brighter tonight than ever before, but maybe it was just because she was beginning to feel excited about the prospect of finally leaving Fallow Creek. She began to approach the edge of the community, and then blinked in surprise. She didn’t see any security squad members.

  Just before the edge of Fallow Creek, on the left side of the road, stood the home of Dennis Hamilton, the leader of the community who was also their spiritual leader. The man had as many wives as he had children, all of them living in his four-bedroom house.

  Rachel’s heart began to pound with excitement as she passed the house. She still hadn’t seen any of the men in the security squad. And then she sucked in her breath. A short distance away was a group of armed security squad members in fatigues, their faces and forms illuminated by the headlights of the SUVs around them. It was as if the whole security team had gathered at the edge of the community; as if someone had tipped them off about her plan to flee Fallow Creek. They were all looking in her direction, their cars barricading the road.

  She reduced her speed, her heart racing faster than she could ever imagine, while praying fervently for help. She had told no one of her plans, so how was it that they were all gathered here now, about to stop her from her journey to freedom? The thought of remaining in the town was too much to bear.

  Maybe it was time to turn around and drive back to Mike’s house. Or she could keep going and try to bluff her way past the team. But her plans to do that had been based on the fact that she’d believed she would only have to deal with the one or two members of the squad who usually patrolled the border. Never had she imagined that she would have to face so many of them.

  As she crawled on, she made a split decision not to turn back, the myriad of squad guards ahead notwithstanding. To continue staying in this community was, in a way, as undesirable as dying. Besides, they had already seen her, and if she went back they were sure to tell Mike she’d been there, and then not only would she get into a heap of trouble; she would be monitored constantly and would never get the chance to escape again.

  With her hands dripping wet and clutching the steering wheel, she increased her speed until she reached the guards. She stopped in front of them and prayed furiously as they walked toward her truck. She could see their faces clearly now. Some of them looked curious, others bemused.

  One of the men came to stand beside the truck and stared at her as she rolled her window down. She knew him really well. His name was Daniel and he had been her older brother’s good friend when they were growing up. Seeing him immediately reminded her of her older brother, Taylor, who lived on the other side of Fallow Creek. She and Taylor had been quite close when they were children but had grown apart as adults. Even though Taylor lived in Fallow Creek, they had not seen each other in months.

  Daniel’s eyes grew wide, and he said to her, “Rachel, where on earth are you going at this ungodly hour?”

  She pressed down her fear and put on a smile for him. “Dan, I haven’t talked to you in a while,” she said as pleasantly as she could manage. She tried to remember exactly what she had planned to say as some of the other men came to stand on the other side of the truck. She turned to give them a bright smile and then turned back to Daniel. She stopped smiling and said, “Actually, one of Olivia’s children is having an asthma attack and I was sent to get his medication immediately.”

  One of the guards, a young man whose name she couldn’t remember, said in a dubious tone, “How come you did not go to our local pharmacy? It’s only a few minutes’ walk from your husband’s house.”

  Rachel stared at him with her eyebrows raised and said in a steely voice, “Do you want to be responsible for a child’s death? Do you think I didn’t think about going to the pharmacy? As you well know, it doesn’t open at night.” She glared at him. “You need to let me go. If something happens to that child, I will make sure to tell everyone that you are responsible.”

  Daniel said, “I think we should let her go.”

  Another member of the squad, who stared at Rachel with disbelief in his eyes, said, “Why didn’t you go to Peter Miller’s house, then? You know he owns the pharmacy. You should go there now. Since it’s an emergency, I am sure he will open the pharmacy for you and give you whatever you need.”

  Rachel bit her lip and hastily searched through her mind for something to say. An idea came to her and she said, “The last time we went to buy the boy’s asthma medication from the pharmacy, Peter told us it wasn’t available. We had to ask Elder Pearson to get the medicine when he went for that brief visit to Phoenix. As I told you, it’s an emergency. I didn’t want to risk going to Peter’s house only to be told the medicine was still not available, which would be likely considering that the pharmacy has not been restocked for a while. Now let me pass, or do you want to be held responsible for a child’s death?” She glared at the three guards who were looking at her.

  They looked sufficiently chastised. The one who had been interrogating her turned to the others who were standing near their SUVs. “Let her through,” he yelled.

  Rachel stifled a loud sigh of relief and put on a scowl instead. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as though she were losing her patience by the minute. Her heart kept racing and she continued to pray silently that nothing would go wrong and that no one would think to call Mike to corroborate her story.

  One of the men who had been standing some distance away walked up to Daniel. “Are you sure we should let her through?” he asked.

  Daniel said, “It’s an emergency. One of Mike Cadwell’s children is having an asthma attack and Rachel needs to get his medicine. Peter Miller does not have the medicine, so she needs to get it outside Fallow Creek. Unless you want to be blamed for whatever happens to that child, I suggest you make way for her to pass.”

  The guard hesitated for a minute and then nodded. He ran to the other squad members and said something to them. When they got into their vehicles and began to drive off the tarred road, Rachel pressed her lips tightly together while maintaining her scowl.

  The two guards who had been questioning her nodded and moved on. Daniel smiled and told her to be careful, as it was the middle of the night. He said, “I will ask one of the men to go with you. It’s not safe for a woman to be on the road at this time of night.” He waved one of the men over and Rachel’s heart filled with dread. What do I do now Lord? she silently prayed. If one of the guards followed her, she would not be able to escape. She muttered beneath her breath, “Lord, I need your help right now.”

  “Please just let me go, Daniel,” she said. “I don’t need anyone to go with me. I have a long way to drive and you wouldn’t want any of the men to be
away from their post for so long.”

  “Nonsense,” Daniel said. “Billy will act as your bodyguard.”

  She looked at the road in front of her. All the vehicles blocking her path had cleared out. She could just speed off. She immediately put away the idea. The members of the security squad would catch up to her in no time.

  Daniel was studying her face and she knew she had to do something. She recalled Mike saying something about a police station in the next town. All she had to do was outdrive the men until she could get to the police station. Once she was inside the station, the guards would not be able to get to her anymore.

  As Billy began to walk toward her truck, she floored the accelerator and sped away. She heard a commotion behind her but did not look back. A few minutes later, as she raced down the road, she looked in the rearview mirror and her stomach flipped. The squad team were gaining ground. Once they overtook her, it would be all over.

  She increased her speed, knowing she was now driving at a dangerous pace. Still, she had to escape, not just for her sake, but her unborn child’s as well.

  Her heart beat wildly as her tires ate the road. She checked her rearview mirror again and nearly passed out from fear. The squad’s SUVs were now almost bumper to bumper with her truck. Soon, they would overtake her. She pushed the car even faster and then winced in pain when her chest hit the steering wheel. Someone had crashed into her from behind. She ignored the pain and drove faster and faster until someone hit her from behind again. She lost control and her truck swerved and skidded off the road. Her eyes grew wide in horror as the truck headed for an electric pole. She tried to veer it away, but it was too late.