“Yes, I do.”
“Are they making you go?”
“No, it was my decision. But they are making it easy.” He sat beside her and exhaled audibly. The pungent scent on his breath stung her nose and she glanced at the flask. He set it on the doily-topped table beside the divan and put his arm across the cushion behind her. “I was hoping you would come see me tonight.”
“Really?” She saw the light hit his eyes and recognized his look of desire. She scooted back an inch, but she was already pressed into the corner of the short seat. “Like I said: I came to make sure you were all right.”
He chortled and moved his hand to her thigh. “I know the real reason you’re here. You’ve wanted me since the minute we met.”
“Justin!” She scolded as she pushed his hand off her leg. “I came here to warn you about the ocean. You have no idea how dangerous the currents are around the Land and I’ve seen—”
“You came to warn me?”
“Yes, because—”
“I don’t buy it.” His voice was quiet as he moved in close. “I’ll be fine, babe. I know what I’m doing. And so do you.”
Bethany tried to sense his emotions, wanting to detect something positive in his intentions but she only felt his arrogance and anger. She drew her head back. “I thought we were friends.” He shook his head and reached for his flask. As he took another drink, she looked at the bottle. “Is that something you brought with you to the Land?”
“It’s whiskey. I found it in the emergency supplies when Connor and I were getting the boat ready tonight. Felt like I struck gold when I saw it. Want a sip? It’ll loosen you up a bit.”
“No, thank you.” Her venture outside the cultural boundaries was not being received as well meaning but as a solicitation beyond her intentions. She stood and reached for her coat. “I should leave.”
“Don’t go.” He sank his hands into her hips and spun her around. “This is what you really came here for—” He pressed his mouth against hers. She tasted the drink on his lips and shoved her arms against his bare chest. His fingers moved and tightened around her waist. She feared he was not going to let go. Her heart hammered in her throat; everyone had been right about him. They had all tried to warn her: Connor and her father and Lydia and Everett and—
Justin released her and drew a breath. She gripped her coat and backed away from him. For every step she took closer to the door he took one toward her. Then his expression changed. He stopped walking and wiped both hands across his face. “What am I doing? I am so sorry. I’m being such a jerk. Listen please, I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
His sudden vicissitude held genuine remorse, but she no longer pitied him. “Justin, how could you?”
“I can’t help it. You’re so young and you show up at my place in the middle of the night and what am I supposed to think? Don’t leave. Please, forgive me, beautiful.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Look, don’t be angry.” He gave a short chuckle and his arrogance returned. “I was doing you a favor. You’re from this freakishly old-fashioned society and have no idea how modern women behave. Do you know how most girls act when they meet a guy like me? You should thank your lucky stars that I was willing to show you a good time before you become a farmer’s wife and have to squeeze out a bunch of kids. No! You know what? You knew what you were doing coming here and I’m going to give you what you want!”
Terrified, Bethany spun around and reached for the lock on the door, but he grabbed her hand. She tried to pull it away. “Justin, no!”
“You want me as much as I want you.”
“No, I don’t.” She tried to slide the lock out of the doorframe, but her fingers were shaking. “I want to go home.”
“You’re such a tease.” Justin raised his voice as he pulled her hand away from the lock. He clutched her wrist in his fist, proving his strength.
She tried to move away and when he did not let her, she squeezed her eyes shut. Her voice trembled. “Don’t—you can’t do this—I’m with Everett.”
“No, at the moment you’re with me. You came to me in the middle of the night. That only means one thing.”
She opened her eyes. “No. I came as your friend.”
“You are not my friend. You’re just a tease,” he hissed.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You’re not as innocent as you pretend to be.”
Her quivering knees vibrated the fabric of her skirt. “I’m not pretending anything.”
“Then you’re an idiot.” Justin let go of her. “I want you, but I’m not going to force you.” He reached past her face and unlocked the door. Something dropped to the floor beside her and made a delicate clink, but she was too scared to look down. Justin’s venomous gaze was full of disgust as he stepped back. “Stupid girl! Get out of here. Go back to your Quaker family and your sheep-loving boyfriend.”
Bethany whirled out the door. She ran down the porch steps as Justin spat angry insults from the threshold. She was halfway to the road when she heard his door slam. A dog barked outside a village house on the other side of the graveyard. She choked on a sob as she wrapped herself in her coat and hurried home.
The cold air stung her face and neck, but her shaking fingers refused to button her coat collar. She tried to silence her weeping so as not to be heard while she sneaked home, but the trinity of fear, hurt, and regret unraveled the seams of her sensitive heart. Justin was wrong to grab her and kiss her, but he was right about one thing: she should not have gone to him.
Remorse gripped her, scraping her insides raw with self-loathing. She was an idiot. She should have listened to the people who loved her and she should have stayed away from Justin Mercer. Her visit to his home was not only a breach of their tradition but also had some universal meaning. The boundaries of cultural propriety were there for her protection. If her father found out, she would never outlive the shame she brought upon her family. If Everett found out, he might end their courtship before it began. Everett—she had barely thought of him when she was concerned for Justin. As she ran down the cobblestone street in the village to her family’s property, she prayed Everett would never know of her blunder. Justin could leave and she could survive mourning his death, but the thought of losing Everett’s affection was more than she could bear.
When the cobblestones ended at the edge of the village, Bethany walked through the grass beside the road to avoid making the gravel crunch beneath her feet. A low hum moved through the air to the west behind her. She looked up as a dark blur streaked across the sky overhead and soared toward the ocean. She saw two glowing fire-red rings behind the bird-shaped shadow and gasped. She focused on those two red circles, but it was out of sight before she took her next breath. Recalling Justin’s description of the aircraft he flew, she raced to the house. She pushed the back door open and scurried through the dark kitchen and up the stairs. As she rounded the landing, she almost ran into Connor, who was standing in the hallway, holding the baby. He stepped back into the dimly lit nursery. “Bethany?”
“Connor, thank God,” she panted. “There was an airplane. Did you hear it? I saw it. I think that’s what it was. It had to be. It went toward the ocean—”
“An airplane?” Connor glanced at her coat. “Where?”
“Outside. Come quick. Maybe it will pass again.”
He shifted Andrew into the crook of his arm and pointed at Bethany’s closed bedroom door. “I thought you were asleep.”
She shook her head as she noticed Connor’s scowl. “Didn’t you hear what I said? I saw an airplane fly over the village. An airplane!”
“Yeah, I heard you. What were you doing outside in the middle of the night?”
Lydia and Connor’s bedroom door opened and Lydia stuck her head out. “What’s going on?”
“Bethany says she saw an airplane,” Connor answered Lydia while staring at Bethany.
Lydia walked out of their room and lifted he
r hands to take the baby. “I didn’t hear anything. Connor, you told me airplanes are loud. Did you hear anything?”
“No,” Connor said as he passed Andrew to Lydia. Then he slipped into their bedroom. “But I’ll go check it out.”
Bethany recalled the sensation she had felt as the aircraft passed above her. “It didn’t make a loud noise—more of a hum. Maybe whatever is different in our atmosphere blocked the sound.”
“That’s an interesting hypothesis, Bethany, but now is not the time,” Connor said from inside the bedroom.
Lydia looked at Bethany and angled her head. “Where have you been? It’s not like you to go outside in the middle of a cold night.”
“That’s what I thought,” Connor said as he came back out of their bedroom, wearing boots and his old flight jacket. He stood close to Bethany. “Please tell me you didn’t go to see Justin?”
“It wasn’t like that.” Bethany answered louder than she intended. She did not want to talk about it at all, let alone where her father might hear. She lowered her voice. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” Lydia said as she moved close. Bethany felt trapped for the second time in a matter of minutes. She stepped back.
Connor zipped his jacket. “If there is something you need to confess, I want to hear it right now from you instead of later from Mercer. Be honest with me.”
“We didn’t do anything.” Bethany had been caught in her blunder. She started to bury her face in her hands when she heard her father’s door open.
“What has happened?” John asked, his concerned voice sounded low and sleepy.
Connor flipped his collar up around his neck and started down the stairs. “Bethany thinks she saw an airplane fly over the village. I’m going to check it out.”
“An airplane?” John stepped into the hallway.
Andrew started fussing. Lydia carried the baby into the nursery and closed the door behind them.
Bethany glanced at her father. He loved her and trusted her and had no idea she had even left the house. She turned her face toward her bedroom door and could feel him looking at her through the dark.
“Are you dressed because you were about to leave, or are you just coming home?”
A lump rose in her throat. “Coming home,” she whispered.
John did not respond. She waited for him to say something—anything—but he did not speak. Finally, he turned and went back into his bedroom. A few seconds later he came back out, buttoning his coat. “Go in your room and do not leave it until I come get you.”
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m coming,” Everett raised his voice as he shuffled to the front door. Levi and Mandy were waiting on the porch, backlit by the predawn sky. Everett yawned as he let them inside. “You’re early. We were supposed to meet at the cairn after sunrise.”
Levi walked in behind Mandy then closed the door. “Connor woke us. He said an airplane landed on the ship during the night.”
“An airplane?” Everett rubbed his eye as he tried to process the news. Mandy sauntered past him and into the kitchen. He looked at Levi. “Is Mercer still leaving?”
“As far as we know.” Levi’s gaze was fixed on his wife. He crossed his arms. “Connor said for Mandy to stay here with your mother until we come back. Mandy knows what’s going on, and she said she would take care of Roseanna if anything happens. Is your flock still sheltered?”
“Yes. James and Nicholas will stay with them.” Everett ran his fingers through his hair. “Should I be worried?”
Levi shrugged. “Connor seemed concerned.”
“When it comes to the outside world,” Everett said as he walked back to his room, “Connor is always concerned.”
In his room, Everett lifted his pants leg and strapped a sheathed hunting blade to his shin. Mandy clanked pans in the kitchen and Roseanna emerged from her bedroom. Levi began explaining the situation to Roseanna. Everett dropped his father’s folding knife into one trouser pocket and a small scripture book into the other, and then he met Levi at the front door. “Let’s go.”
The clear sky warmed in color, but the air remained cold as Everett and Levi approached the village. They cut through the forest on the path near the Colburn property and trooped toward the cairn on the shore. When they were close, Everett saw Mercer ahead of them on the path. He nudged Levi and pointed. Levi’s nostrils flared as he shook his head. He held up a hand in front of Everett, stopping him on the path. “Whatever happens, don’t let him get to you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t like him any more than you do, but you can’t let him rile you like yesterday. He makes you angry and you lose focus—that’s why you didn’t block Connor’s punch. I don’t want to see that happen to you again.”
Everett rubbed his cheek—now completely healed thanks to a layer of gray leaf salve overnight. “I’m not concerned with Mercer—it’s Connor I’m worried about.”
“Why? Connor is handling Mercer well.” Levi contracted his brow. “Don’t let Mercer make you doubt the people you know you can trust. And if he can’t leave the Land, be careful you don’t let him wreck your relationship with Bethany. He will try.”
Everett grinned. “I’ve already won that battle. She picked me.”
“Just be careful,” Levi warned as they continued walking beneath the gray leaf trees to the shore. The sound of the waves increased as they came to the edge of the forest. John stood near the tall stack of stones that marked the place where the founders had arrived in the Land. Connor was bent over the backpack-style radio transmitter, demonstrating its use to Mercer. Though they were talking, Everett could not hear their words over the sound of the waves until he stepped close to the cairn. Mercer flipped several switches on the top panel of the green metal box. Then he closed the radio’s lid, latched it, and hoisted it onto his back.
Connor lifted his chin acknowledging Levi and Everett’s arrival. John turned and put his hand on Everett’s shoulder. “Thank you for coming.”
Everett nodded, then he looked at Connor. “What’s this about an airplane landing on the ship?”
Connor sent John a look, then answered. “Late last night a jet was spotted flying over the village. It landed on the carrier. I’ve been out here ever since, watching for more activity, but it’s still the only aircraft on the flight deck, and it hasn’t moved since. We believe it had to be very close to the Land to be visible through the atmospheric phenomenon, but we won’t know for certain until Mercer rows out and relays what he sees to us over the radio.” Connor picked up their homemade receiver: a glass bottle coiled with magnet wire, nestled on a wood block with connections to a crystal diode and capacitor salvaged from the space debris. Everett’s gaze followed an antenna wire to the top of the cairn and another wire that ran to a copper ground spike protruding from the nearby earth. Connor listened to the homemade speaker cup. “I’m not picking up any signals from the ship, so it’s either farther away than it appears or the radio waves are blocked by whatever protects us.”
Though fascinated by the science involved, Everett was more concerned with ensuring Mercer left the Land before he began transmitting signals. He looked at the ship on the horizon and shuddered. “Is it normal to have only one aircraft on a ship that big?”
“No,” Connor answered. “At least it wasn’t three years ago; I have no idea what’s going on out there now. I think maybe the carrier is severely understaffed. Everyone is probably sick or dead. The sooner Lieutenant Mercer gets out there, the sooner we will find out.” Connor glanced at Mercer, who was strapping on the radio pack. “The wind is calm right now, so that should make it easier.”
“Good.” Everett kept his voice level but his fists tightened as Mercer stepped away from the cairn.
Mercer made eye contact only with Connor. “Let’s do this,” he said as he walked through the group of men. He sent a shoulder into Everett on his way past. Everett took a slow breath and curled his toes inside his boots. He glance
d at Levi. With one shake of his head, Levi reminded him to not respond to Mercer’s vexation.
Connor and Mercer walked to a bright orange inflatable boat on the sand near the water. Everett and Levi followed, but John remained by the telescope and radio receiver. He lifted the receiver’s wired cup to his ear, ready to listen.
Levi stopped on the dry sand, while Connor rolled up his pants legs and helped Mercer carry the boat into the water. As they neared the surf with the dinghy, Everett stepped close to Levi. “Connor is staying here, isn’t he?”
“Of course,” Levi answered. “He’s just helping Mercer out to the sand bar. Believe me, Connor wants Mercer out of here as much as we do.”
Everett felt a slight sense of relief. “I’m ready to see Mercer and his orange dinghy disappear over the horizon—so long as he doesn’t bring an army back with him.”
“He won’t. I don’t think he will even make it past the breakers without getting sucked into a current and thrown back to shore.” Levi stared at the ocean. “We will be digging his grave by noon.”
“Nothing would please me more,” Everett mumbled.
Mercer stopped Connor and said something to him. Everett wondered why they had paused. He took a few steps closer to the water. Then Mercer, standing knee deep in the ocean, stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled something out. He looked back at Everett and raised his voice above the sound of the gentle waves. “By the way, your girlfriend left this at my place last night.” He threw something and Everett caught the object reflexively. Everett opened his palm to see Bethany’s silver bracelet. Anger burned in his gut as he traced his thumb over the little silver charm. He clenched his fist, burying the trinket in his hand, as he glared at Mercer. Mercer smirked and got in his dinghy. Furious, Everett lunged forward but Levi gripped his shoulders.
“Let him go,” Levi growled. “It can’t be true. Beth wouldn’t do that. You know you can trust her. Don’t let him get to you.”
Everett’s pulse rang in his ears as he watched Mercer paddle out to sea. “I want to kill him.”
Uncharted Inheritance (The Uncharted Series Book 3) Page 17