The Secret (The Scinegue Series Book 1)

by S. R. Booth

  Billy was surprised by the sudden look of anger that swept across his uncle’s face.

  “Remember, the Great Depression was still fresh in everyone’s minds around that time. I have no reason to believe that Jacob wouldn’t have been killed if it was discovered that he could not sire children.” His sad smile returned. “As much as I loved Elaine, I loved him, too. I would have been no better than David, in the Bible, if I let a man—my best friend at that—be killed just so I could be with the woman I loved.”

  “Are you the reason the ‘Tops’ changed their mind about requiring me to divorce Sarah in order to move up in the company?”

  “You go straight to the tough questions, don’t you?” He gave a small snort and shook his head in apparent frustration. “I’m not exactly sure who instigated that requirement for your position to start with. We’ve moved far from ‘the perfect body image’ that the company once believed in. To answer your question, yes, I am the reason that stipulation was removed from your requirements. I figured the Berkley family has already made a large enough sacrifice to the cause. We will need to discuss that more at a later date, though.”

  Billy’s brow creased as he thought of the ‘perfect bodies’ that filled the offices of Scinegue before another, more shocking thought broke through. “Wow! My name isn’t even Roth, is it?”

  “Well, of course it is,” came the brisk reply. “It is the name you have always had. There is no need to change it now.”

  “Uncle Bill, um, Great-grandfather Bill?”

  “Let’s stick with ‘Uncle Bill’, shall we?”

  “Okay. Uncle Bill?” Billy leaned forward in his chair, one pressing question utmost on his mind. “Do you think Sarah will be safe as long as I am working for Scinegue?”

  “Safe?” His uncle’s kind face crinkled in confusion.

  Billy debated how much he could safely share with his ‘uncle’. He’d worked for Scinegue and its’ predecessor almost his whole life. He’d willingly given up his family for the company. Could he be trusted?

  “Is there somewhere else we could go for a while? A nearby park maybe?” Billy asked, thinking of his excursions with Sarah to find a private place to talk. He wasn’t sure how much he would share with his uncle, but he certainly didn’t want to take a chance on anyone else listening in.

  Uncle Bill turned and peered out the window with a furrowed brow. “It looks as if it’s still sprinkling. You want to go to a park in this weather?” He squinted at him questioningly.

  “Yes, sir. I do.” He then remembered that the man before him could easily be in his nineties. “That is, if it would be okay with you.”

  Uncle Bill searched Billy’s face before nodding. “We have a charming park nearby with some covered picnic tables. I’ll call the driver.”

  Chapter 19

  Soothing music was playing on the car radio, but her frustrated thoughts refused to be soothed. Sarah pounded the palm of her hand lightly against the steering wheel as she drove alone to the Brown’s for their ‘organic’ meeting. Why did she let Billy put her off last night? She should have demanded that they go have a picnic at the lake so she could have updated him about what she knew.

  Now she would see Ritchie at the Brown’s and still had no idea what to tell him. Maybe she would be able to find time alone with Linda or Farmer Dan. If she and Ritchie told them everything that had happened, they might have some ideas on what to do next.

  She walked into the Brown’s dressed casually in jeans with a comfortable pair of shoes and a light orange sweater, and found Ritchie visiting with Farmer Dan. “Hi!” She put on a bright smile as Farmer Dan shook her hand in greeting. “I see my brother has introduced himself already. I hope it’s all right that I invited him. He’s apparently involved with this gardening stuff, too,” Sarah tried to relay her brother’s connection.

  Farmer Dan seemed to understand perfectly. “Several others have brought friends and family tonight who are also involved with this gardening stuff as you put it.” He grinned. “Everyone is welcome here who is involved in gardening.” He winked and patted her shoulder before walking off to welcome a new arrival.

  “I’m glad you made it, Ritchie. Has everything been okay?” Sarah questioned as she rose on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

  He tipped his head to receive her kiss and nodded. “Nothing new since I saw you last.”

  “Have you moved into the house yet?”

  “I have. It’s great not having to listen to my neighbors through the walls all night.” He darted her a questioningly look. “But, what’s up with that rooster crowing every single morning at dawn?”

  Sarah shot him a smile. “Your new neighbors might not be so noisy themselves, but they do raise chickens. You’ll get used to it. I’ll introduce you to them. They’ll sell you some great fresh eggs if you want.”

  “Oh, well sure, I guess I can deal with the natural alarm clock in exchange for fresh eggs.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes, but flashed her a smile so she would know he was joking. “Should we get seats?” He looked around at the rapidly filling room.

  Sarah nodded, and they found two chairs close to the front. Farmer Dan started the meeting as he had the last time, then asked if there was anyone who had just stumbled across the class tonight. People looked around, but no hands were raised.

  “So each of you was invited to join this class personally by me and my wife or you were invited by someone already in the class?” Heads nodded as people looked around again, curious to see who else was involved with what was going on.

  “Okay then, you should all be at about the same level so that will make teaching easier. After tonight, I’m going to ask that no more new guests are invited to join our group. We will be able to cover the material faster without new students questioning things we have already covered.”

  He and Linda spent the first half hour covering the very basics of establishing a garden in ideal conditions. The proper amount of lighting for the desired crops, properly nourished soil and the concerns of growing non-heirloom seeds. When they finished, they once again broke the class into two groups to keep things more manageable, and to provide more one-on-one time for any questions.

  Sarah and Ritchie were part of the group that would stay where they were with Linda, while the other group went to the greenhouses with Farmer Dan. They watched Farmer Dan’s group get to their feet and follow him out the door in the kitchen.

  Sarah returned her attention to Linda at the front of the room as she began speaking, and then snuck a peek at Ritchie. She knew he wasn’t interested in gardening at all, and wondered if he was even staying awake through the lecture. He was awake all right—wide awake and breathing rapidly, his cheeks void of all color.

  “Are you all right?” she leaned over and whispered to him.

  He just shook his head with a sick look on his face. “Nick. Nick is here,” he whispered nervously. “I just saw him leave with the other group.”

  “Who’s Nick?” Sarah asked quietly, surprised by his reaction.

  “Nick! The FBI agent, remember? Do you think he’s following me?” He turned his head and darted looks from one side to the other, trying to see if there was anyone else he recognized in the room.

  Now it was Sarah’s turn to pale. She could literally feel the blood draining from her face as she took in the possible ramifications of the bad FBI agent being there. She figured the odds of him being a horticulturist who’d just stumbled upon this class were slim.

  “See anyone else you know?” she asked Ritchie while her thought flew. He shook his head.

  She stood up abruptly, cutting off whatever Linda was saying. “Excuse me. Linda? Could I speak to you privately for just a minute? In the kitchen maybe?” Linda gave her a puzzled look, but excused herself from the class and headed for the kitchen. “Stay here,” Sarah whispered to Ritchie as she brushed past him and followed Linda.

  Sarah motioned Linda to join her outside. “I forgot the house might be bugged,” she w
hispered, unsure if it was safe to speak where they were, but knowing she had to take the risk. “My brother just saw an FBI agent who we think is connected with Scinegue. He’s in your husband’s group. Was Farmer Dan going to talk about anything besides gardening tonight?”

  Linda cast a fearful look at Sarah before she pivoted towards the greenhouse and took off running. Sarah ran after her then stopped abruptly and stood frozen when she heard a rapid popping noise followed by muffled screams coming from the secure greenhouse.

  Sarah saw Linda reach the greenhouse door just as it was thrown open and a tall, broad-shouldered man walked out, gun in hand. He looked down at Linda as he brushed past her and sneered wickedly, “I doubt you want to go in there. Come to find out, that husband of yours didn’t have much gardening advice to offer.”

  He spotted Sarah where she stood rooted and walked straight to her. “Mrs. Roth. How unexpected to see you here.” He eyed her up and down. “I would have thought you would choose your friends a little more carefully considering your husband’s connection with the company.”

  Leaving her in shock he strode across the yard towards the house. Sarah suddenly realized that he could be headed for the unsuspecting people still inside and made herself run after him, not really sure what she would do if she caught him.

  Instead of turning towards the house, though, he continued straight across the yard to a car parked in the street, got inside and drove off. Sarah tried to make out his license plate number in the dim light when Linda’s heart-wrenching cry shattered the still of the night.

  She jerked towards the cry, the sound filling her with foreboding, making her want to run in the opposite direction and never look back. She shook off the temptation and sprinted back the way she’d come. The corner of a decorative paving stone caught the tip of her shoe and sent her sprawling across the path.

  The breath was knocked from her, and her palms scraped across the gravel. Although momentarily stunned, her mind didn’t register the pain. She sucked in a breath and picked herself up, then continued her frantic race to get to Linda, not allowing herself to imagine what could have caused such a heart-rending cry.

  An overwhelming smell that reminded her of fireworks on the Fourth of July assaulted her at the open greenhouse door before fading to combine with the wet, earthy odor Sarah associated with the greenhouse. A harsh underlying metallic smell kept it from being pleasant to her senses as it usually was.

  She knew what happened the minute she saw Linda kneeling over the prone form of her husband, but her mind refused to accept it. The blood drained from her face as she watched Linda rocking back and forth, back and forth, by his side. She tried to make sense of what she was seeing, tried to catalog the sounds and smells, knowing she should be doing something, feeling something.

  She crept into the greenhouse past the first row of potting benches. Through a haze of disbelief, she saw bodies strewn awkwardly across the gravel floor, blood seeping from various wounds.

  Breaking free from the feeling of unreality, the almost paralyzing shock, she rushed from person to person, checking for any signs of life. Finding none, she stood and grasped a potting bench with both hands to support herself. She took two slow, deep breaths, and tried to convince herself that this wasn’t possible. But she wasn’t able to erase the now lifeless images of the people she’d just seen laughing and talking from her mind. Linda’s quiet crying broke through the deafening pounding of her heart, and she carefully made her way to the front of the building to comfort her the best she could, knowing Farmer Dan must be gone.

  Linda let herself be held for a full minute before she pulled away and looked at Sarah with determination shining in her eyes. “The others?” she questioned briefly and Sarah shook her head. “We always knew this was a possible ending for us. I don’t know why he didn’t shoot me, too.” She brushed a hand over her face to wipe her tears. “But, I’m glad he didn’t.”

  She leaned over and kissed her husband’s cheek. “I’m going to fight them like never before,” she declared, pushing to her feet with Sarah’s help. “They thought this would shut us up. Well, they thought wrong!” Anger ripped through her grief, giving her strength.

  “I’ll call for help. Will you check on the guests in the house? Tell them what happened out here, but be discreet. Everyone on our side will suspect who is responsible. Any other spies who are planted in there won’t know for sure if we suspect them or not.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before she pulled her cell phone from her back pocket and dialed 911. “Go on now. I’ll be all right.”

  Sarah took strength and direction from Linda’s calm sense of purpose and did as she was asked. People were visiting and laughing when she returned to the main house. The incongruity between the jovial atmosphere in the house and the death only steps away struck her and turned her stomach. How could these people be happy? How could they not know what a tragedy had occurred just outside? She did a sweep of the room for Ritchie but didn’t see him, so she walked to the front.

  “Could I have your attention please?” she asked nervously before glancing down at her hands. She raised them slowly before her face, blood-smeared and shaking. They silenced the room in a way her words hadn’t. She looked from her hands to the gathering with a haunted expression. “A terrible event has just occurred.”

  Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat. “Farmer Dan and the entire group he took to the greenhouse with him were all just murdered.” A murmur of disbelief and fear rippled through the assembly. “Linda is with her husband and has called 911. She is devastated to say the least, but has already confirmed that she will keep teaching.” She paused to let that sink in.

  “The police might want to ask us some questions about what we saw, so if you could stick around until they arrive that would probably be helpful.” Sarah walked from the front of the room with every eye following her before the room exploded with excited and fearful chatter.

  She pushed the corner of a curtain aside with a shaking finger and peeked out the front window. Ritchie’s car was missing. She wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved. She just hoped he would be safe.

  Someone grabbed her arm almost painfully, tearing her attention from the window. An older woman bent close to her. “So it has started? Just as they said it would?” Her voice was raspy, but her narrowed eyes had the same determined look Sarah had seen in Linda’s.

  Sarah shook her head nervously and shrugged, pulling away slightly. “I really don’t know anything yet. This is only my second meeting here.”

  The woman gave Sarah a fierce look and nodded sagely. “It has started,” she whispered, then slipped out the front door without another word. Sarah felt goose bumps rise on her arms. It had started?

  She spent a minute in the kitchen running warm water over her hands and watched the blood-tinged water swirl down the drain. Her hands were tender from her fall, but she ignored the pain and squirted soap on her palms then scrubbed fiercely, determined to remove every trace of the reminder that made the deaths in the greenhouse all too real. Feeling slightly better she hurried back to the greenhouse so Linda wouldn’t be alone with the gruesome scene and found several people already with her.

  She searched for a quiet spot in the garden where she could keep the greenhouse in sight, pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed rapidly. “Billy!” Her voice was a harsh whisper when he answered. “Are you home yet?” she asked frantically.

  “Sarah? What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

  “Are you home, Billy?” she repeated.

  “No, I’m still in Seattle. I wasn’t planning to come home until tomorrow. What’s going on?”

  “They killed them,” she blurted, not caring who might be listening. “They killed Farmer Dan and maybe twenty others.” The tears finally came and she cried quietly as the reality of the situation hit her.

  “Tell me what happened!” Billy demanded fearfully.

  “We were at the Brown’
s class and they split us into two groups. Farmer Dan’s group went into the greenhouse first. Someone had a gun and shot everyone in there.”

  She dashed at her tears, wondering what she could safely say. “The man who shot them knew me.”

  “What!” Billy exploded.

  “He came out of the greenhouse and walked right past me. He said something like I should know to choose better friends, considering my husband’s job.” She felt sure Billy would be able to make the connection to Scinegue without her having to spell it out. “Billy, can you just come home tonight?” she asked, trying not to start crying again. “I’m so scared, and I just want to be with you.”

  Billy pushed a hand through his hair and paced back and forth beside the bed in the room where he was staying. He wanted to be with Sarah, he needed to know she was safe, but he also needed to talk to his uncle. He’d spent enough time with his uncle at the park that afternoon to know Uncle Bill believed that Scinegue was a happy place. He honestly didn’t believe anything sinister was brewing within the company; but if Billy could convince him it was, Uncle Bill might have enough pull to be able to do something about it.

  “Sarah, I know you’re not going to understand this, but I can’t come home right now. I want to be with you more than anything. I need you to trust me about this.”

  Anger bubbled up in Sarah.

  “Sarah, trust me okay?”

  The anger deflated as rapidly as it had formed and turned to cold resignation. She couldn’t make him come home.

  “Sarah?”

  “I’m here,” she said, her voice flat. “The police are arriving. I need to go so I can talk to them.” She started to disconnect the call but could hear Billy saying something.

  “What?” She put the phone back to her ear.

  “I love you more than life itself, Sarah. Please say you trust me.”