Righteous02 - Mighty and Strong by Michael Wallace Read Free Book Online

says when I take a cigarette break.”
    “Coffin nails, I tell you, coffin nails.” Fayer said the words lightly, but she was studying Jacob as she spoke and he didn’t like the barely-veiled suspicion in her eyes.
    “Give me a second,” Jacob said.
    Daniel and Leah had their books open at the kitchen table. “Daddy!” they shouted.
    Jacob gave each of them a fierce, protective hug. They were bright kids, and better behaved than he would have thought. His wife’s doing. Between medical school and his residency, he never had enough time with them.
    It certainly wasn’t good genes. Their biological father was serving fifteen years. Jacob wished it were thirty. Let the bastard rot in prison. Of course, if he’d been a better man, or even a father who gave a damn about his twenty-five kids from half a dozen wives, these kids wouldn’t be wrapping their arms around Jacob’s neck, calling him Daddy.
    “Who are those people?” Daniel asked.
    “They want to talk to Mommy and Daddy about grownup stuff. Can you guys wait here until we’re done? Then I’ll come back and we can read from our book.”
    “And find out what happens to the Snail Riders?” Leah asked.
    “Know what? I think the green snail with the missing horn is going to win the race,” Jacob confided.
    “No, Daddy! He’s too old and slow,” Daniel said.
    “Never count out old and slow. One Horn may be old, but he’s sneaky, too.”
    By the time he came back into the living room, he’d regained control of his emotions. The FBI agents had taken seats on the couch and were chatting with Fernie about the weather. Fernie sat in the easy chair.
    Jacob stood with his back against the fireplace. “Your timing was bad at the hospital.”
    “How so?” Agent Fayer asked. That hard look again. She already didn’t like him.
    “I’m going to assume you know about my family background.”
    “We do, yes.”
    “Not everyone does and I wanted to keep it that way.”
    “Why, are you ashamed?” Fayer asked.
    “I didn’t choose where I was born,” Jacob said. “So I’m not going to apologize for who I am. But that doesn’t mean I need to tell everyone I meet. Just so happens you questioned Dr. Hess on the same day I saw a polygamist patient. He put two and two together. It’s going to cause me some trouble.” He caught Fernie out of the corner of his eye, chewing on her lip, brow furrowed at the unwelcome news.
    Fayer shrugged. “Naturally, being a polygamist, they’re worried you’ll bring home some underage girl and get in trouble with the law. Could look bad for their hospital.”
    “Do you see any teenage brides here?” he asked.
    “No, but maybe we should consider a more thorough inspection of the premises.”
    “I have one wife, Agent Fayer.”
    “You’re still young,” she said. “I’ll give you a couple of years.”
    Fernie cleared her throat. “Isn’t there some business you wanted to discuss with my husband, Agent Fayer?”
    “We do, as a matter of fact,” Agent Krantz said in that low rumble.
    “What is it with you Salt Lake Mormons?” Jacob asked Fayer. “Why do you hate us so much?”
    “What makes you think I’m LDS?” she asked.
    “Come on, you don’t drink coffee, you give your partner grief about smoking. You’ve got a Utah accent. Bet you went to BYU before you joined the FBI. You don’t have to be a trained investigator to figure it out.”
    “Jacob,” Fernie said. “Don’t you want to hear what they have to say?”
    “Not yet, I don’t.” He was on a roll now, and had found a target for his frustrations. “You do know that Joseph Smith married fourteen year old girls, right? And that some of his wives were already married to other men when he was sealed to them? That’s right, your prophet and mine. Has your family been in the church long? Got any polygamist ancestors? Bet you do.”
    “What’s your point?” Agent Fayer asked.
    “That maybe you should look to the beam in your own eye before