The Secret (The Scinegue Series Book 1)

by S. R. Booth

  “I will take care of this. I would have cooked for you too if Mrs. Roth would have let me,” Maria sniffed, sounding offended.

  “Thank you, Maria. We aren’t used to having anyone help us around the house, but we really appreciate that you are here,” Sarah soothed and Billy added his agreement.

  “Okay,” she replied, her feathers a little less ruffled. “Go on now, and let me put everything away. Go!” She shooed them away like children and they left obediently, hand in hand, with a private chuckle at their overzealous housekeeper.

  “Mr. Roth,” Billy’s intercom buzzed shortly after he arrived at work, pulling him from the report he’d just started reading. “Mr. Bryant would like you to grab a suit and your overnight bag from the closet, and meet him by my desk in ten minutes,” Mary Sinclair informed him briskly in her most professional voice.

  “Okay,” Billy replied with a surprised blink. “Why?” He flipped through his desktop calendar, hoping something would be written in on today’s date, unfortunately, every page was blank.

  “He mentioned that you have a meeting with one of the Tops in Seattle this afternoon.”

  “Okay,” Billy repeated, knowing he must sound stupid, even as his mind raced. A meeting with a Top in Seattle. Wow! He hadn’t expected to ever meet one of the elite group who oversaw Scinegue, and here he was on his third day of work with an appointment already set for this afternoon.

  Billy hurried to the walk-in closet in the bathroom and found a small, brown leather satchel on the top shelf. He set it on the counter by the sink and opened it to find it already filled with everything he needed for a night away from home. Right down to his underwear, he realized a little embarrassed, wondering who had packed for him.

  He closed it back up, grabbed the suit hanging in the closet and zipped it into a suit bag that was hanging behind it, then hurried to the front desk, arriving just as Mr. Bryant walked out of his wing of the building.

  “Are you ready, Mr. Roth?” he asked in a tone of deference that he had never used with Billy before.

  “Yes, sir, I am.” He turned to Ms. Sinclair. “Do I have you to thank for packing my overnight bag, Ms. Sinclair?”

  She looked up from the paperwork on her desk. “Yes, sir. I hope everything is satisfactory?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Satisfactory? Everything is perfect, right down to the brand of tooth powder I like.” He decided not to mention the underwear. “Thank you!”

  Mary shook her head once again at Billy’s exuberance and ducked her head to hide her smile from Mr. Bryant. “Thank you, Mr. Roth. Would you like me to phone your wife and let her know where you’ve gone?”

  “Oh, Sarah! I forgot all about letting her know I’m going out of town. Thank you, but I’ll give her a call on the way.”

  Billy turned and almost bumped into someone. “Excuse me!” His mouth went dry as his eyes locked on a familiar face and time froze once again. He was inches away from the man he secretly met at the Corner Store.

  ‘Bob’ walked past right past him with a nod and no sign of recognition. Billy couldn’t look away from him and watched as he entered a code on the door which allowed him access to the hallway on Mr. Bryant’s side of the building.

  “Coming?” Mr. Bryant called over his shoulder.

  With a final glance at Bob’s disappearing figure, he followed Mr. Bryant to his car and put his things in the back. This was unexpected; being chauffeured by Mr. Bryant, being referred to as Mr. Roth. “Are you going to Seattle also, Mr. Bryant?” He asked, tearing his thoughts from the appearance of Bob as he settled into the passenger seat.

  “How many times do I need to remind you to call me Eugene?” He shook his head in mock sorrow. “No, I am just taking you to the airport so you don’t have to leave your truck parked there overnight. I’ll pick you up when you get back.”

  “Oh. Okay, thank you.” Billy was a little confused why he was getting such special treatment. He could have easily driven himself or called a cab. He mentally shrugged, then pulled out his cell phone to update Sarah.

  “But Billy, tonight is our organics class. Ritchie is coming, too. Remember we were going to spend some time with him before going to the Brown’s?”

  Billy heard the plaintive tone in Sarah’s voice and it irritated him. “I’m sorry,” he replied coldly, “but this is pretty important. Maybe you didn’t hear me say, I have a meeting with one of the Tops?”

  “No, I heard you just fine,” Sarah replied shortly, stung by the iciness in his voice and very concerned about what might happen with everything Ritchie had told her. “Have a safe trip. I love you,” she said finally, certain she wouldn’t be able to persuade him not to go without telling him what was going on, and knowing there was no way she could do that with a likelihood of the phones being tapped. Maybe the Browns would be able to help her, she thought hopefully.

  “I love you, too,” Billy replied in a much gentler tone, already regretting his lack of patience with her. She probably just didn’t understand what this meeting could mean to them. If anyone knew what this company stood for it was the Tops, and Billy hoped the one he was meeting would at least give him a clue about the company’s true intentions.

  “Trouble with the Mrs.?” Mr. Bryant asked snidely after Billy hung up.

  “What? Oh, no, not really. We just had other plans for tonight. She’s disappointed that I won’t be able to go with her.” Billy considered the sharp edge that came into Mr. Bryant’s voice every time he mentioned ‘the Mrs.’, as he often referred to Sarah.

  “What about you, Eugene? Are you married?”

  Mr. Bryant didn’t look away from the road. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “Unfortunately?”

  “My marriage was arranged by the company. You would think with all of their research on compatibility they could have picked someone just a little more compatible for me.”

  Billy decided there was really no way to comment on that, but it did give him some unexpected insight into Mr. Bryant’s attitude towards Sarah. If his marriage was as unhappy as he made it sound, he probably didn’t hold marriages in general in very high regard. They rode the rest of the way to the airport in silence and Billy lost himself in plans to ‘accidentally’ bump into Bob at work again.

  Mr. Bryant leaned out his window and punched in a code at the gate leading to the airport runways, then drove the car through as the automated gate rolled open. He passed the main terminal of the small airport and drove to the end of the field where a large white jet with blue stripes waited in front of a huge white hangar.

  The car rolled to a stop directly beside the plane, and Mr. Bryant himself got Billy’s suit bag and satchel from the car and handed them to one of the pilots who carried them onto the plane. “Your plane will be met in Seattle,” Mr. Bryant informed Billy briskly, but with a tone of deference, “and you will be taken directly to your meeting with Mr. Berkley. He will probably ask you to join him for dinner.

  “Depending on whether he wants to meet with you again tomorrow or not, you should be able to fly back tonight or fairly early tomorrow. The plane will remain there on standby. If you are to spend the night, a car will take you to the suite reserved for Scinegue. I’ll be waiting here to meet you whenever you do return.”

  He returned to his car and drove away as the captain of the plane came over and introduced himself to Billy. “It will be a short flight in this plane, sir. If there is anything you need just let our flight attendant know.”

  He let Billy precede him up the lowered steps and into the airplane where he was met by an attractive female flight attendant who said her name was Michelle. Billy caught a glimpse of a beautiful wood-toned galley to his left, and Michelle directed him in the opposite direction towards the cabin. “You’re welcome to sit wherever you like,” she told him as he walked wide-eyed through the lavish airplane, his head turning from side to side as he tried to take in every gorgeous detail.

  He passed four roomy chairs, two on either side of
a beautiful wood-top table. A little farther back he finally chose a buttery soft, light brown leather chair that faced the front.

  Michelle advised him to buckle up for takeoff. He reached down to fasten his seatbelt even as the engines roared to life one by one. He couldn’t stop himself from gawking at the plane’s interior and was surprised by the size of the couch placed lengthwise across the roomy aisle from him.

  This thing was huge for a private jet, he thought. Not that he’d ever been on a private jet, but this was larger than he would have imagined. And it was just so beautiful with lots of wood and leather. The pilot had seemed pretty proud of it. He guessed he would be proud too, if he flew an incredible plane like this.

  After takeoff the flight attendant came back and asked if he would like a drink or snack. He chose mineral water and she brought him an unopened bottle and a glass with ice. “Have you worked for Scinegue long?” he asked, watching as she poured his drink.

  “I’m as new as this plane,” she joked. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with aircraft, but this plane hasn’t even been released yet as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Scinegue has some connections pretty high up I guess,” she added with a pleasant laugh.

  She was dressed in an attractive navy skirt that stopped just above her knees, topped with a light blue satiny blouse. She cocked a hip to the side and leaned against a dividing wall in front of Billy’s chair. “I was hired to crew this plane less than a month ago. I worked for the airlines before that, but I love this.” She looked around and gestured to encompass the plane’s beautiful interior.

  “The plane is clean and gorgeous and the passengers, so far, have been very respectful and dignified. I never knew what I would have to put up with on a commercial flight,” she confided with a roll of her eyes. “It seemed like there was always someone who was angry on every flight. I guess if people could travel like this they probably wouldn’t have been so upset.” She laughed and pushed her long dark curls over her shoulder.

  “So, this is a pretty new plane?” Billy questioned as he considered something that had been bugging him.

  “Yes, sir. Brand spankin’ new.”

  “Do new planes have a new plane smell like cars?”

  “Yes, sir,” Michelle said again flashing an excited smile. “They usually do, but not this one. Scinegue does something to neutralize that new smell. I heard someone talking about it on one of my first flights.” She leaned in a little closer. “They said that the odor you smell actually has some toxins in it, or something like that.”

  She frowned thoughtfully before continuing. “They were talking about some pretty technical stuff that went way over my head.” She grinned and waved a hand through the air above her head to demonstrate. “Basically they are able to get rid of those toxins somehow.”

  “Wow, really? That’s pretty cool.” Billy debated sharing the fact that his new truck had been odorless, but realized it might come across as if he was bragging. He took a sip of his drink before asking, “Did Scinegue have a different plane before they got this one?”

  “Have you worked for Scinegue long?” she returned his question, raising her nicely shaped eyebrows and giving him a knowing look. “They have a fleet of twenty private jets that I know of.”

  “That sounds like quite a few. Do they keep them busy?”

  “They do, actually,” she said with a nod. “I’ve heard talk that they might get a couple more of these, but that’s just rumor so far. From what I’ve heard, Scinegue has a group of leaders called Tops who are spread out strategically around the world. I haven’t flown with a Top yet, as far as I know. I’m not sure if they do any traveling or if everyone else just travels to them,” she gave a little shrug “Either way, these planes stay busy.”

  “Hmm,” Billy said thoughtfully. “I’ve heard something about them being spread out, too, but didn’t realize there was a strategic reason behind it.”

  “Well, you ignore everything you just heard from me. What do I know?” She straightened from the wall and ran a hand down her side to smooth her skirt. “I hear bits and pieces every now and again. I’m sure I should just keep it to myself.”

  Billy met her eyes. “I appreciate your information, Michelle. Being new, as you correctly guessed, I’m interested to learn all I can about the company. But I also think you’re right that the higher-up people in the company probably wouldn’t appreciate you repeating anything you hear from them.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Roth.” Her cheeks reddened, and she fidgeted nervously.

  “Michelle, I don’t mind at all, and I won’t say a word. I just wouldn’t want you to get in trouble with someone else in the company.”

  “Yes, sir.” A chastened and embarrassed Michelle fled into the galley and made herself scarce for the rest of the flight.

  I didn’t mean to upset her, Billy thought leaning his head back, but what she said made him remember Ben and Jerald. He would rather she be upset than disappear.

  He realized that he hadn’t thought of Ben or Ben’s wife at all the last couple of days. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been startled by what Ben’s wife told him, or that he didn’t care. He just had too much going on for him to focus on everything.

  He’d experienced such highs and such lows on a daily basis lately. He wondered idly if that’s what pushed people over the edge mentally. When he tried to focus on everything that was going on, he felt overwhelmed.

  He let his head loll to the side and watched the wisps of white clouds zip past the window. He wondered how Sarah was holding up. He knew she really wanted to talk to him yesterday, but he had put her off intentionally. He wasn’t sure he could take anymore.

  “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

  “What?” Billy turned in his seat, eager to see who’d spoken. The back of the plane was empty. He turned back in his seat and drove both hands through his hair. “So I’ve already cracked, or one of God’s angels is talking to me now. Which probably also means I’ve cracked,” Billy murmured, leaning his chair back and closing his eyes in exhaustion, but feeling surprisingly at peace.

  “Mr. Roth. Mr. Roth?” Billy opened his eyes, surprised to find himself in an airplane with Michelle leaning over him, gently shaking his arm. “We are preparing for final descent into Seattle. You’ll need to adjust your seat for landing.”

  “Thank you,” Billy murmured. He sat up before stretching his arms overhead, surprised at how wide awake and refreshed he felt.

  A black sedan met the plane on the ramp, and the co-pilot made sure Billy’s bags were carefully transferred to the trunk before Billy was whisked away to his appointment.

  Billy tried to get some information from his driver about Mr. Berkley, maybe even what he could expect from this meeting. Unfortunately, the driver’s vocabulary was limited to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ as far as he could ascertain. Billy left off his questioning in frustration and turned to look out the window.

  The sky was overcast, and a few people on the sidewalks carried closed umbrellas in preparation for the approaching storm. His thoughts returned to the flight attendant. He wished he hadn’t been so blunt with Michelle; she seemed to have plenty to say until he basically told her she was talking too much. He probably could have learned all kinds of interesting things from her. She might have even known something about his upcoming meeting.

  The car pulled up in front of a nondescript red-brick building, and a man wearing a suit and holding a dark green umbrella rushed to open Billy’s door and offer him shelter from the light rain that had just started. He escorted Billy into the building, leaving his umbrella just inside the door, and checked him in at the front desk before showing him to the elevator and giving him a floor number.

  “That’s the floor for Mr. Berkley?” Billy asked as he stepped into the waiting elevator.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Do I need an office number or will there be someone there to meet me?” Billy wasn’t obsessive by any means. He liked
to have at least a general idea of what was going on, though.

  “You won’t need an office number.” The man smirked as the elevator doors slid closed, leaving Billy alone with his concerns. He meant to prepare for this meeting during his flight, even though he didn’t have a clue what it was about. Well, he would have to wing it and let Mr. Berkley do most of the talking since he was the one to initiate the meeting.

  The elevator stopped and the doors slid open, revealing a lavish apartment which reminded Billy of an English hunting club. Stepping tentatively out of the elevator he did a sweep of the room from right to left. Dark green leather chairs, a lively fire in the fireplace, and colorful paintings of the expected hunting dogs on the walls. An entire wall of windows with a view of the city added some originality and brightness to the otherwise dark room. To his left he saw an elderly man with white hair rising from behind a large desk.

  Chapter 18

  “Uncle Bill?” Billy exclaimed in shock as recognition set in. The older man smiled, his whole face crinkling up with obvious delight and his light blue eyes shining.

  “Billy, Billy,” he said with excitement as he hurried around the desk to greet him, his nimbleness belying his age.

  “Uncle Bill,” Billy looked around hesitantly, “what are you doing here? I’m supposed to be meeting with a Mr. Berkley.”

  The man smiled broadly as he shook Billy’s hand. “That’s me. William Berkley. Or Uncle Bill as a privileged few refer to me.” He winked at Billy and led him to a grouping of chairs arranged near the fire.

  “Sit down. Get comfortable. A warm fire always feels good on a dreary day, even if it isn’t very cold out, don’t you think?” he asked as he rubbed his hands together briskly.

  Billy sat down where his ‘uncle’ indicated, but his brain was refusing to function. He was having trouble connecting the ‘Uncle Bill’ from his childhood with the powerful Scinegue Top he’d planned to meet.

  “I can see you are surprised, my boy. Well, that’s to be expected, I suppose, but it is so good to see you in person after all these years.” He sat and looked Billy over with a smile on his face. “Why don’t I give you the short version of how I—and you—came to be here, hmm?”