Read Online A Marriage of True Minds: A Sasha McCandless Novella by Melissa F. Miller - Free Book Online

their eyes on a point on the
floor. The third was wringing his rough, tanned hands together and openly
crying. His tears left tracks down his dirty cheeks.
    Father Alexander
must have sensed Sasha approach. He raised his eyes to hers and spoke in a
quiet voice. “I’m glad to see you’re unharmed. I’ll be with you in a moment.”
    She stood,
slightly apart from the group as he returned his attention to the cluster of
men before him. He spoke for another minute or two in a kind voice that
nonetheless conveyed deep disappointment and sadness.
    As he stood, the
crying man reached for his sleeve and said in heavily-accented English,
“Forgive me, Padre, for I have sinned.”
    Father Alexander
patted his hand and whispered something that Sasha couldn’t hear. A wave of
relief crossed the man’s shadowed face. And then he began to cry harder.
    The former
priest joined Sasha near the corner of the room and examined her face closely.
“Are you okay?”
    The concern in
his voice almost unlocked a well of tears that she’d managed to clamp down on
so far.
    She swallowed
and nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
    “Oh, thank God.”
    She inhaled
deeply and then let out her breath, slowly, steadying herself to ask the
questions she needed to know the answers to.
    “Who are these
men? If they’re professional mercenaries, frankly, they aren’t very good.”
    His eyes flashed
curiosity at her assessment but he simply nodded. “That’s correct. They’re not banditos .
They’re farmers, from a small community just to the west. As you might expect,
there’s a brisk business in the kidnapping and ransoming of American tourists
throughout Central America. But, this region, this small area between Costa
Rica and Nicaragua is quite safe, comparatively. In part that’s because the
people are less desperately poor and the farming is more lucrative—thanks in
part to the sustainable farming methods taught by the farmers your friend Dr.
King works with.  Also, this resort has made an effort to partner with the
surrounding communities to train and hire local workers as staff. It’s been a
model of community building for the region.” A note of anger crept into his
voice. “A lot of people have worked very hard to create this model. And now
these .... fools ... may ruin it all.”
    “I don’t
understand. Who are they? Why did they do this?”
    He shook his
head in irritation and his long wavy hair flew around his face. “There’s been
an influx of survivalists in recent months. A group of American expatriates
settled just to the north. They’ve formed a compound of sorts. At first, they
kept their distance, but they eventually sought the help of locals in
establishing and growing crops. They barter or pay in silver and preach
self-reliance. I’m told by missionary friends that similar enclaves have taken
hold throughout all of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, as well as Mexico.”
    Preppers.
    Of course. She
knew from her last run in with the Pennsylvania Preppers Network that similar
groups existed across the globe. They connected on Internet message boards and
forums, just like every other special interest group from standard poodle
owners to Jane Austen fans.
    Once Bricker
learned where she and Connelly were holding the wedding, it would have been
easy for one of his militia members to make contact with a Nicaraguan prepper.
She filed away for later the question of how he’d learned the wedding
location.
    “I see.”
    “Apparently,
these survivalists recruited a group of stupid young men to disrupt your
wedding.”
    “Why didn’t the
expatriates do it themselves? They probably have some paramilitary training.
These guys don’t seem to have any. It was a fool’s errand.”
    “Clearly. But,
these survivalists are toeing a fine line with the authorities as it is. They
likely wanted to have some deniability if things went wrong. And they surely
knew that avarice exists even in good men. Carlos has told me they were