Free Designed with a Destiny by Elle Davis

connection.
    Bernie’s face softens in response to
Sophia’s growing apprehension. “It’s nice to meet you, Sophia. I’m
a friend of the family as well—just call me Bernie. I’m sorry I
didn’t get your last name…?” she says in a sweet voice, reverting
to the persona of a friendly grandmother type for a gentler, less
obvious, interrogation experience.
    “Sophia Strizich,” she answers. The minute
she says her name I see the flash of understanding in Bernie’s
eyes, but to an unsuspecting Sophia, it goes completely
unnoticed.
    “Strizich huh?—that name sounds familiar,
are you from around here?” she inquires smoothly putting her arm
around Sophia, and leading her to the couch where she continues to
probe her for more information.
    “ Brandon, what the hell are you
doing?” Alisha hisses in our mental chat room. “You couldn’t
just keep her in the guest house until Bernie left? Now we’re going
to have to tell her about the Harringtons and your little trip to
Montana. God, what a mess,” she mutters, pressing her fingers
to her forehead.
    “ It makes the most sense for Bernie to
know the truth. Sophia’s considered a key witness—Bernie will
gladly offer her government protection in exchange for a testimony.
The Harringtons won’t be able to touch her,” he says calmly,
revealing his motive.
    “ What makes you think Sophia would ever
testify against Zane Harrington when she could just as easily be
implicated for being his accomplice?” I question, still not
forgiving her for holding Cat hostage.
    “ She did it to protect her family, just
like we destroyed the Keystone Pipeline for your family. There’s
really no difference you know.” He looks at me when he says
this and I can see he’s dead serious about the comparison. Before I
can fire off a valid comeback, Bernie’s cell phone rings and a
relieved Sophia takes advantage of the interruption to excuse
herself, making a beeline for the back door. Brandon goes right
after her, hurdling over the sofa to catch up.
    “Brandon wait, I need to talk to you and the
others for a moment,” Bernie says, stopping him at the door. He
looks disappointed when Sophia heads for the guest house without
him, but Natalie smirks with satisfaction.
    “Here it comes,” Alisha mumbles. “Might as
well bring Dr. Emerick out, and get it over with.” I look at her
like she’s lost her mind.
    "Are you sure?"
    "If she figures out we've been hiding him,
she'll have a hell of a lot more questions."
    Lawrence has been patiently waiting
downstairs for the coast to clear, but when I connect with him
telepathically and tell him to come up, he eagerly agrees. Sometime
while we were working on Elizabeth, he had showered and changed
into a set of clean clothes that could only have come from
Brandon’s dad’s closet given the fit. Now clean shaven with his
gray hair neatly combed to the side, he looks nothing like the man
we rescued from the underground bunker. Alisha moves immediately to
his side, hooking her arm around his and leading him directly to
Bernie. It’s clear by her actions that she has a deep reverence for
the man whom she’s only known for a few hours, as I suppose we all
do. After all, if it weren’t for his teachings Liz would almost
certainly be dead by now.
    “I’d like you to meet Dr. Emerick. He worked
with Dr. Kappel at CGEM and is a Geneticist and Scientist. He is
partly to credit for some of our genetic engineering,” she says
proudly.
    “Hello Bernie, it’s been a long time,” he
says before the final introductions have been made by Alisha.
Bernie’s years of practice in being able to keep a straight face in
any situation, fails her now. She stands staring at him with her
mouth partially open, and the color quickly drains from her
face.
    "Lawrence," she manages to get out in a
hoarse whisper. She allows him to take her hand between the two of
his, and when he leans in to kiss her cheek in a customary European
manner, she squeezes