Free Storming Heaven by Kyle Mills Page B

are very focused on financial and political success. So a Kneissian woman might have self-esteem problems just as severe, but they would relate to, say, a lack of success in her job.”
    “I’ll buy that.”
    “Obviously, that’s an oversimplified example. Here’s a better one. How old do you think the bride and groom are?”
    Beamon shrugged. “I have no idea. They looked like kids to me, but then, so does half my staff.”
    “I’d guess that they were just out of high school. For some reason, Kneissians get married very young and have an extremely high divorce rate.”
    Beamon nodded thoughtfully. “Recruitment.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “That’s why they marry early and get divorced,” he said. “Recruitment.”
    “I don’t think I follow you.”
    Beamon grabbed another shrimp. “What’s the purpose of religion?”
    “That’s a pretty complicated question. To make people feel less alone?”
    Beamon scowled. “No. That’s the purpose of God. The purpose of a religion is simply to force everyone into its way of thinking.”
    “Why, Mark. You’re a cynic. I never would have guessed.”
    Beamon ignored the jibe. “Seriously. The Church of the Evolution doesn’t miss many opportunities totell you it’s the fastest-growing religion in the world. How do you think they achieved that?”
    She pushed a dirty plate out of her way and leaned against the table. “I think they’ve created a pretty attractive belief system that fills a lot—” The expression on Beamon’s face made fier stop. “You’re going to tell me that I’m overthinking again, aren’t you?”
    He smiled and nodded furiously. “They’re growing faster than any other religion ‘cause they’ve been more scientific about recruitment. Take our young couple today. Let’s assume a perfect scenario for the church. The boy was, I don’t know … Buddhist. He converted in order to marry the girl, who was Kneissian. They have a couple of kids and get divorced, say five years from now. Our groom likes the church and decides to stay. They’re both single for a few years, then he finds a nice Baptist he wants to marry and she converts. Same thing happens to our bride, but maybe she converts a Protestant. Both new couples have two more kids. How many new Kneissians have we just created?”
    Carrie counted on her fingers. “Uh, nine?”
    “Sounds about right.”
    She held her glass up in salute and took another sip of her wine. “I have to say, Mark, that’s got to be the most malignant piece of deductive reasoning I’ve ever heard.”
    “Thank you. Are you ready to take me to dinner?”
    She folded her arms across her chest and gave him a stern look. “That offer was
instead
of the reception, not in addition to. Besides—you have tohave eaten a hundred shrimp already.”
    The way her eyes crinkled at the edges when she smiled really was dazzling. The truth was, he really wasn’t hungry—and the shrimp and cream cheese he’d eaten had definitely not been on the new and improved Mark Beamon diet—but he didn’t want the evening to end just yet. “Yeah, but they weren’t very good.”
    The silk of her dress gathered and dispersed the dim light of the room hypnotically as she stood. “Okay, Mark. You win. Since you seem to have elevated cynicism to the level of a religion, I think I might be able to write the check off on my taxes.”

10
    “H ELLO? ” B EAMON CALLED INTO THE EMPTY reception area of the Kane County, Utah, sheriff’s office. No answer.
    He leaned his head into the half-open window centered in the wall. “Hello! Anyone home? I’m Mark Beamon from the FBI.”
    There was a moment of silence, then a disembodied voice. “Wait in the conference room.”
    Beamon stepped back and scanned the missing persons posters taped haphazardly to the glass. Jennifer Davis smiled out from one of them, posing selfconsciously alongside a bicycle with a big red bow on the seat. The other lost souls had similarly cheerful expressions