He turned the key in Briar’s doorknob and stepped in. Her room was clean and smelled of canned air freshener. Something lemony—they all smelled the same to him. But a scent lingered underneath the fake citrus. An aroma he couldn’t describe, yet knew well. A warm smell. Heavy and light at the same time. A smell that tugged at his heart. Briar’s scent. The aroma of where he wanted to be.
He pulled the equipment from his pockets and grouped it together on the bed. Where to put it? He didn’t want to open any of her drawers or even her closet. She might think he was snooping—and he didn’t want temptation to make her assumption correct.
He glanced around, his gaze finding the floor. Under the bed seemed like the best option. He lowered to his knees and looked under. Completely bare, not even a dust bunny. He picked up the ankle monitor, frowning at the weight of it. Ten years with this thing locked around her ankle must’ve been torturous. And to think she was only a little girl of seven when she’d received it.
No wonder she’d looked at him that way when he’d unlocked it and slid it from her ankle this morning. She’d gazed at him as if he’d slid something precious and gold onto her finger. He’d love to compare both expressions someday. And both kisses…
He shook the thought away. She was only eighteen, as of today.
Then again, he was only twenty-four. What was six years? His father had been twelve years older than his mother when they’d wed, and as far as he knew it had never been an issue.
He palmed the other items and placed them all under the bed, scooting them near the wall, far from view. Part of him—the part he refused to accept, the part that grew stronger every day—wished he and Briar could find a place like that. A little corner where they could stay together forever, hidden from view. A secret, safe haven where he wasn’t responsible for killing the God she loved so much.
He stood and walked to the door, a heaviness bending his back and stooping his shoulders. Meet Dr. Lukas Stone. Grown man who daydreams about living under a bed.
Briar Lee deserved so much better.
18
Briar’s eyes couldn’t open wide enough to take everything in. Lukas had no idea how priceless his gift really was—he couldn’t possibly. Ten years of spiritual and bodily entrapment melted smoothly away beneath the shelter of the red balloon.
She could feel her Agathi glowing brighter than Derby’s propane torch. Probably brighter than it had in her entire life. God was all around her. She silently thanked Him for allowing her this breathtaking ride over His creation. She praised Him, and she prayed. No one could keep her heart from communing with her Creator, because for a moment, she owned her Agathi—and the sky.
Derby’s lips were still moving. She attuned her ears to what he was saying. He chattered on about the Stone family, as he’d done for most of the ride. She really didn’t mind. She’d gleaned some interesting facts about Lukas’s family and, more importantly, Lukas.
She’d already known that Lukas’s father was an important man, and according to Derby, Lukas’s mother was an “energetic fireball of a woman” with a head for politics.
She learned that Derby and Lukas had been friends since boyhood, Derby had worked at the lab for six years, and Lukas consistently over-payed him.
“And then there’s Caster,” Derby said, the smile lines around his eyes vanishing. “Behaves as if his own brother is under his feet. Jealousy is the only thing that makes a man act like that.”
“Caster is jealous of Lukas?” Briar couldn’t imagine the man acknowledging the rest of the population, let alone being jealous of someone.
“It eats his lunch that their father put Lukas over Stone Labs. Oh, Caster had his chance. Don’t know what happened, but he must’ve messed up royally for Dr. Stone to jerk the rug out from under him that way. When Caster failed, Heston poured all of his knowledge and resources into Lukas. Made him director of operations, as well as chief scientist of Stone Labs.”
Briar cringed. “I’m sure that sat well with Caster.”
“Went over like a lead hot air balloon,” Derby said. “Lukas might be younger, but he was born with the ability to run the place. He’s got the knack and the know-how. Smartest man I’ve ever known.”
“Yeah. He’s pretty smart.” Briar closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled the crisp air.
“Of course, Dr. Stone couldn’t leave his elder son in the cold. He made him chief financial officer of Stone Labs, so he’d have a title—guess being called Doctor wasn’t enough. But I’m here to tell you,” Derby said, his voice becoming distant, trance-like. “Caster Stone doesn’t need a title to get what he wants.”
Derby’s eyes took on an unfocused gaze. “He has…people.” He sounded distracted, as if he were miles from the balloon basket. “People that can make things happen. Cruel people. Terrible things.”
Uneasiness seeped into her pores. Cruel people? What was he talking about? Briar cleared her throat. She didn’t like the faraway look in his eyes. The basket seemed to be shrinking.
“Wow,” she said, looking below at the beiges, grays, and occasional faded greens of the rocky desert landscape. “We really made some distance. When are we heading back?”
~*~
Lukas rolled the small container between his fingers, watching the milky liquid coat the glass. Stone’s Abstergent. The stuff that would change the world—and the woman he loved—forever. He set the vial on the spotless countertop, next to the antidote. Both compounds were flawless. Every i dotted and t crossed. The serums were perfect. He wished he could pour them down the drain.
But the abstergent would save her life. Possessing a Bible was dangerous. Downright deadly. The book evoked hatred, and incited a rage in citizens that law enforcement deemed justified. She’d be better off concealing a gun—or drugs.
And the ARC wasn’t an option. According to Reid, residency equaled a fate worse than death, and his father’s comments echoed the same.
Abstergent was the only answer. It would release the grip religion held on her heart and mind.
He clicked off the stainless-steel lamp and stood, focusing his thoughts on Briar. How exhilarated she must be, soaring a mile above Sickle Ridge after being cooped up for so long. He recalled her kiss on his cheek again and smiled.
He picked up the vials and stepped toward the pharmaceutical closet. The rattle of the doorknob stopped him in his tracks.
“No excuses, Lukas, I know you received Briar’s fleshcard. I have the invoice right here.” She shook a sheet of paper.
He glanced at the printout and raised an eyebrow. “Your point?”
She shoved the page into the satchel looped over her arm. “My point, Lukas, is that you received her fleshcard and hid it away, like an obese child hoarding a candy bar. Where is it? It should be installed immediately.”
“Due to the prior complications, I want to be certain the conditions are right before implantation.” He no longer wanted the tracking device under her skin. In addition to reading SAP levels and vital signs, the card was designed to gauge and record Agathi reaction, as well as all other brain function. Reid—and anyone else—would, literally, be able to read Briar’s physical and emotional disposition like a book.
“The new gun shouldn’t give us any problems, I inspected it days ago. We’re both here now. The procedure won’t take five minutes.”
Lukas inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “By this point, it doesn’t matter. Following the sleep study, she will receive the abstergent and be on her way within a week. Her physician’s office back home can install her fleshcard.” He forced the words out, hoping his eyes weren’t reflecting the pain in his heart. “Speaking of—I asked you to stay out of this section of the lab until Briar’s sleep study was complete.” He took the remaining three steps to the vault and placed each vial next to its twin.
“The sleep study is the reason I’m here. I need the information for your father’s report. Not the completed statistics, just the readings you’ve gotten so far. I do
n’t even have to be in the room with her.” She stepped to the counter and snatched up his flexpane. “I can glance at the data stream on your device. I only need enough to fill in a couple of blanks.”
He slid the pliable screen from her grip. “I’m not streaming at the moment. I’m drawing up Briar’s exit packet—follow up instructions, a questionnaire detailing her stay at the lab, confidentiality and liability forms. The usual discharge papers.”
“OK, since you’re making this difficult, I’ll stream it from my own pane.” She started toward the door.
“There’s no live feed. It wasn’t necessary. I’ll upload the data afterward.”
“How long has she been asleep?”
He glanced at the flexpane. No clock, only the Stone Labs cactus logo screensaver. He had no idea what time it was. “A while.”
“Ah.” Reid raised her chin. “A while. Sounds very clinical and precise.”
“It doesn’t matter. The machine records all of the data, including the time. Now if you’re finished playing your little game, I have work to do. And so do you.” He walked to the door and motioned for her to leave.
“Do you realize how ridiculous you look? It’s no secret how you feel about her. A sleep study? What a load of garbage. We have all the information we need on Briar. Her research is complete. All that’s left is to administer the abstergent. But you never will. You’ll say anything to preserve that virginal brain of hers. You are supposed to destroy her Agathi, not protect them. Have you forgotten you are the scientist who designed the dissolving agent?”
She raked a hand through her hair and took a breath. “Tonight, you’ll have another excuse—some farfetched concoction that only an idiot would believe.” She stepped to where he stood in the doorway. “I’m no idiot.” She slid a hand into the satchel and slipped a small item into his palm.
Briar’s Bible. “Need I ask where you found this?”
“In her room, beneath her pillow. Hidden inside a hideous little stuffed animal. Much easier to locate than the ankle monitor, GPS receiver, and fleshcard stashed under her bed.” She retrieved all three items from her bag and held them out to Lukas.
He took them from her hands. “Why were you snooping around in Briar’s room?”
She shrugged. “Why not? She isn’t here to stop me. By now she’s miles away, her head stuffed in the clouds. Tickled pink to be so much closer to the God who saved her soul.” She clasped her hands at her chest.
Her statement made Lukas’s heart beat faster. She knew about Briar’s hot air balloon ride. But how? He’d sworn Derby to secrecy. Mentally, he kicked himself. Derby was so crazy over Reid, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her—or keep from her. That explained how she’d gotten inside Briar’s apartment. Derby had given her his master key.
“I’ve taken pictures of everything. I’m thinking of texting them to your father. To let him know how his chief scientist is operating Stone Labs. An unlevel test subject out of the laboratory without a tracking device, on the very day she turns eighteen. What if she decides to run? I don’t think that will sit well with him, do you?”
Despite his burning desire to yell, he remained silent. He was sick to death of Reid, his father, and his brother breathing down his neck about administering the abstergent to Briar. Reid wanted a rise out of him. He’d give her nothing. Not even a facial expression.
“I warned you, Lukas. Remember? I told you to quit stalling and give her the abstergent, but you did nothing.” She stepped closer, tilting her head as if looking at a poor, little puppy dog. Oh, how that condescending look clawed under his skin. “You made your own bed, Lukas. But I’d be more than happy to lie in it with you.” She touched his cheek.
He grabbed her wrist.
“Mmm. Now that’s what I’m talking about.” She winked, her laugh sounding like a cackle.
“Do whatever you have to, Reid. Whenever you’re gone, I’ll still be here.”
“Are you sure about that? Maybe Daddy will see the light and put Caster in charge—as he should’ve in the first place.”
“Doubtful. Father isn’t one to repeat mistakes. He doesn’t take fondly to those who undermine family, either. You’d do well to keep that in mind when you state your case. A case against Briar is a case against me.”
Her eye color shifted from desert spruce to swamp algae. “Before the lab rat arrived, I thought your heart was as hermetically sealed as that fleshcard.” She flicked the transparent packet in Lukas’s hand. “Turns out it was as easy to unlock as that stupid ankle monitor. I just wasn’t holy enough or young enough to turn the key.”
She knocked into him as she walked out the door, scattering the tracking devices over the tile. He’d managed to hold onto the Bible. He dragged his thumb over the edge, ruffling the tiny pages. If only he could find a way for Briar to hold onto it as well. Not physically. Spiritually.
He squinted down at where he’d parted the book and read the tiny print. “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther, chapter four, verse fourteen.
“…for such a time as this.” He closed the book, a determined line creasing his brow.
19
Derby hadn’t answered when she’d asked where they were going. Something in his demeanor made her afraid to repeat the question. A sick feeling slid through her, settling in the pit of her stomach. She pressed a hand to her middle.
“Hungry?” Derby asked.
Her heart rose a millimeter. Maybe he would land if she agreed.
“Starving.”
He fished in his jacket pocket and held a small package out to her.
Her hope took a nosedive. He’d brought snacks. Beef jerky. Fake, of course. With the exception of fish, meat had been outlawed years ago.
“I still remember what the real stuff tasted like.” He pulled another stick from the pocket and ripped it open with his teeth. “And this ain’t it.” He took a bite.
The rich, spicy smell on his breath polluted the cool air and churned her insides. To divert her queasiness, she crushed the unopened jerky in her fist, concentrating on how the packaging bit into her palm.
Derby didn’t notice. His eyes were closed, a frown elongating his features. He sighed deeply. “I like you, Miss Briar. You have a special place in my heart.”
His words slammed into her chest, knocking the breath from her lungs. Was he going to try something? How could she defend herself inside this balloon? Her gaze darted around the basket. Her shoe? Maybe. If she swung it hard enough. But it was on her foot. She’d have to lean down and yank it off first. Then what? If she knocked him out or managed to throw him overboard, who would fly the balloon? Not her.
“I had to do it. I didn’t want to. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have done it at all. But, you see, I had to.”
She clamped her mouth shut, panic rising with each quick breath she sucked in. What was he talking about?
“I hate doing this to Lukas—he’ll never forgive me. Caster was behind it all. He arranged everything.”
Derby was crying. She swallowed what little moisture her mouth contained. Things were spiraling downward fast, and she feared the balloon would follow. She had to cheer the guy up. Redirect his thinking. Do something.
“Oh, I’m sure it’s not all that bad.” She forced herself to drop the jerky and touch his hand. “Why don’t you tell me what happened? Talking about it will make you feel better.”
“I don’t know—I really shouldn’t. I haven’t told a soul.”
“All the more reason to tell me.” She pasted a grin to her face, remembering to crinkle her eyes for sincerity. “I’ll guard your secret with my life.” She pretended to lock her lips and throw the key from the gondola. Earlier he’d said he liked her. As long as he wasn’t making inappropriate advances, she would play up the cutsie-wootsie stuff fo
r all it was worth.
“Ah, I might as well let you in on it. You’re never going back to Sickle Ridge anyway.”
Her bladder burned with a sudden urgency she’d never experienced. The intensity rushed hot tears to her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
“Caster told me to fly you within a quarter mile of a tiny landing strip outside of town. Twelve-mile flight.” He glanced at his cuff. “We should be seeing it here pretty quick.”
“But, why?” The words croaked from her shrunken vocal chords.
“All I know is Caster wants you at the ARC really bad. Bad enough to have me manipulate Lukas to get you inside this balloon. The birthday surprise was really all Caster’s idea. He told me to put a bug in Lukas’s ear, and Lukas fell for it. Caster pulled the whole thing off without raising a single hair on the back of Lukas’s neck.” Derby shook his head. “I told you the man couldn’t be trusted.”
The basket, the sky, the world—everything closed in on her.
“When we land, reps from the ARC will pick you up and transport you by private jet to their facility in Montana.”
He lurched forward. Briar yelped as he clutched her shoulders. “I’m sorry. But I had to do it—for Reid. I’m only a janitor—out of her league. A man has to do everything he can to keep his woman happy, or she won’t stay. I learned that the hard way last time around.”
Briar nodded numbly. The guy was past delusional. Could he seriously think Reid was his girlfriend?
“Caster is relocating me to New Mexico. Setting me up in some upscale town house. Balloon runs are good there. Reid will be along shortly, after she ties up a few loose ends. We’ll have a good life together.” He squinted up at the sky and nodded.
Of course. Caster and Reid. It made perfect sense. Reid wanted her out of the way so she could have Lukas all to herself. Caster wanted Briar out of the way of his brother, and more adamantly, his son. They’d arranged her demise together.
The Commandment Page 15