Free Behind Closed Doors (Season One: Book 7) (Jessica Daniel) by Kerry Wilkinson

up but, if anything, that made him more intimidating. His shoulders and arms were brutish,
his chest bulging against his blue shirt. Jessica did not want to risk standing out, so she looked away herself, staring at the place setting in front of her.
    She wondered how many of the thirty-one people knew what had happened to Liam Renton. Had someone around her drowned him and then dumped him in the Manchester canal?
    Jessica glanced up as the doors at the far end of the room creaked open. Zipporah entered, wearing a long dress similar to the one Jessica had on. Behind her was a younger girl with long,
straight dark hair and unblemished skin that almost glowed in the fading sunlight streaming through the tall windows. She was perhaps nineteen or twenty, and looked around the room nervously, not
making eye contact with anyone. Her dress was shorter, clinging to her attractively in a way that again had Jessica thinking the rules about everyone having similar clothing didn’t
necessarily apply to all. Even though she would be the centre of attention in any room, the girl appeared far more self-conscious than Heather had done, traipsing behind Zipporah, staring at the
floor.
    After they had taken their spots behind two chairs, there was a pause. Heather was gripping the top of the chair tightly, and Jessica could sense the anticipation in the room.
    Finally, the door opened a second time and the man from the painting in the hallway walked in, beaming. The art was unerringly accurate in every way other than its size. Moses was wearing
sandals and a light brown robe. His beard and eyebrows were perhaps a little greyer but he looked as if he had just stepped out of the past, a walking cliché of every assumption ever made
about what people looked like in biblical times.
    Moses held his arms out wide and bowed slightly before padding his way to the table and standing in between Zipporah and the younger woman. With a gentle nod, everyone took the cue to sit, a
thunderous scraping of chairs roaring around the room until everyone except Moses was seated.
    He bowed his head, everyone following instinctively, and then started to pray. Jessica had been taken by surprise, noticing too late that everybody seemed to have their eyes closed. She leant
forward, double-checking she had the right number of people, only to accidentally lock eyes with Glenn across the table. His hands were clenched together but his eyes blazed, fixed on her
accusingly. She could understand why Heather felt uneasy earlier; there was little that was friendly about his manner.
    Jessica snapped her eyes closed, listening to the final words as Moses thanked the Lord for providing the food, shelter and safety, before he said ‘Amen’. The word was repeated
around the room and then there was a second scraping of chairs as four people at the other end of the table stood, scurrying out of the room.
    ‘What’s going on?’ Jessica whispered.
    ‘They’re the cooks,’ Heather replied.
    Jessica could feel Glenn still staring at her but ignored him, picking up one of the jugs of water and filling her and Heather’s glasses.
    She lowered her voice as much as she could, nodding slightly towards the head of the table. ‘Who’s the girl next to Moses?’
    Jessica put the jug down and leant back into her chair as Heather angled towards her, whispering. ‘That’s Katie.’
    ‘Is she their daughter?’
    Heather shook her head gently.
    ‘Some other family member?’
    Another shake.
    Heather was staring directly ahead towards Glenn, who Jessica knew would still be watching them.
    As the cooks re-entered carrying platters of food, it dawned on Jessica what she had missed. Of the people around the table, there were twice as many women as men. Not only that but the men were
almost entirely Glenn’s age – middle-aged and greying. The women were all younger, with Jessica one of the oldest. Moses had surrounded himself with men older than him and women who
were