Page 14

CHAPTER

TWELVE

ASHER

A sher handed his plate to Ned, careful not to let the little wooden knife and fork fall into the sand.

Of course they didn’t use plastic cutlery here.

Even their disposable plates looked to be made of some sort of recycled paper pulp.

“Lunch was great, thanks,” he said to the quiet camp cook, who looked distinctly uncomfortable to be beyond the walls of the dining hall. Ned offered a nod and a half-smile in return as he turned to grab plates from the others.

Asher had told the man the truth–the salad really was good, as far as vegetarian salads with no cheese or croutons went–but on the whole, he was already excited to grab a nice burger back in San Antonio.

Maybe he’d invite Gabe along so he could watch him eat half his weight in salad and bland chicken.

This health-obsessed place would have been perfect for him.

Save for the experimental, mind-altering, synthetic drugs.

He caught himself glancing in Karlin’s direction, wondering how she’d feel about grabbing a bite with him when all this was over.

The group had spent the last couple of hours enjoying a winding hike through the retreat grounds and surrounding areas, stopping for an early lunch atop a flat, windswept bluff.

For most of the day, Karlin had seemed to be avoiding him, always managing to walk and now to sit as far away from him as possible.

Every time he thought he was making some leeway in gaining her trust, she closed herself off again. Even if all it had accomplished was to make him more curious about what lay beneath the surface of her chilly personality and more eager to know why she was so determined to keep him at arm’s length.

Though he had to admit that maybe she was just being smart.

It probably would be good for him to learn to keep his distance. He’d spent way too much of his life looking for love in all the places he’d never find it. Deep down, he knew that finding his soulmate while undercover at a medical trial was about as realistic as meeting her in a bar.

“Earth to Axel, earth to Axel,” Destiny announced from somewhere on his right, startling him out of his thoughts. She was staring at him like he had three heads, and so were Cora, Paul, and Lily.

“Hi. What?” he said stupidly, shaking a smattering of sand loose from his hair.

“These dear ladies were trying to ask you if you had anyone special waitin’ back home,” Paul drawled patiently.

Once again, Asher’s gaze drifted involuntarily toward Karlin, who was now chatting with Bajwa and Ned as they helped him to finish tidying up.

Stupid. He seriously needed to get a hold of himself if he was going to keep his cover, let alone his dignity.

“Nah, not at the moment,” he said quickly. “I’m just focusing on the band right now. Most chicks can’t handle all the gigs and the late practices. I don’t think they want to share the A-man with any rabid fans, you know?”

Paul raised an eyebrow from beneath his cowboy hat, saying nothing. Lily chuckled to herself.

Asher knew he sounded like a world-class douche, but fortunately, Destiny and Cora seemed satisfied with his answer.

“I mean, that makes sense,” Cora said, bobbing her head up and down. “I dated this YouTuber once. He’s really big in the ufology world. Anyway, it was such a nightmare. Never again.”

“Ufology world? What does that even mean?” Destiny asked, wrinkling her nose.

Asher noticed that even out here on a hike in the desert, Destiny was dressed better than the average woman on a Sunday morning back home.

She reminded him a little of a black version of Grace, though the latter would have probably opted for a bubblegum-pink skirt instead of the red one that Destiny wore.

“You know, like people who study unidentified craft and interdimensional beings,” Cora said, waving her hand as though this was the most normal thing in the world. “It’s really fascinating.”

Paul retreated further under his hat, though Asher was certain he muttered something under his breath.

“Aliens?” Destiny said, shaking her head. “I don’t know. All the abductions and the…probing? It just sounds like demons to me.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “It’s science, Destiny. Not invisible horned dudes in the sky tempting us to sin or whatever. What do you think, Axel? Lily?”

Gabe and his friends had let Asher watch Signs with them when he was ten, and the movie had totally freaked him out. He wasn’t sure he’d given a whole lot of thought to the existence of aliens since then.

Then again, right now, he was supposed to be fake drummer Axel Bishop.

“I mean, aliens would be pretty awesome,” he said with a grin. “The universe is huge, man. So many planets and stars. Why would we be the only intelligent beings out there?”

Lily ran a hand through her silvery hair. “Well now, I’m just not sure one way or another, I suppose, though I’ve read some interesting things.”

“I don’t really see how the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is compatible with the incarnation of Jesus,” Paul said at last.

“Right,” Destiny agreed. “And the fall. And a whole lot of other things. Did Adam’s sin affect little green men on Mars? Do they need a savior? Is Christ crucified again by the aliens? I find the whole idea creates a lot of problems.”

Cora made a face. “I’m not going to let ancient superstitions get in the way of scientific progress, but you guys can believe what you want.”

Asher pressed his mouth together into a firm line. He couldn’t really get into an argument while he was supposed to be undercover, however annoying he found the woman’s presuppositions.

“Hey now,” Lily said. “I don’t think you have to pit faith against science. Maybe it’s more complicated than we think.”

“Exactly,” Cora said excitedly. “I’m not necessarily saying that aliens are gray men with big eyes who drive spaceships. They might be something else. Something we can’t usually see or perceive with our minds under normal circumstances.”

“I have heard of people speaking to what they call aliens while under the influence of psychedelics,” Lily said, her brow wrinkling. “But I sure hope that doesn’t happen to me. No thanks. Sounds way too spooky.”

Destiny shuddered visibly at the thought, but Cora looked more bright-eyed than before.

“Speak for yourself! I’d love to chat with another being. Imagine how much we could learn from them. Maybe they know the cure for cancer or how to build a car that runs on water. The way I see it, it’s just another reason why studying DX8 is so important.”

Alarm bells were ringing in Asher’s mind the more that Cora talked.

He didn’t know what mental health condition she had claimed to have in order to be accepted into the trial, but it seemed like her real intentions had a lot more to do with some weird UFO contact project.

He glanced over at Karlin, who was off on her own near the edge of the bluff.

He wanted to talk to her about Senera’s patient selection policies.

He doubted the FDA would take kindly to Cora being part of this kind of supposedly scientific trial, and it could be a source of easy evidence for the company’s negligence.

Just as he thought he might get the chance to catch her alone, however, Bajwa got to his feet and announced that it was time for a trust building exercise.

Asher could practically see Karlin rolling her eyes from where he stood, but he forced himself to keep his groan an inward one. He had a feeling that whatever the man had in mind was going to be a lot less fun than the annual Forge Brothers Security paintball tournament.

Maybe it wasn’t the best activity for building trust, but getting to shoot paint pellets at his brothers once a year just had to be good for his job performance.

“All right, everyone, it’s time to pair up!”

Bajwa began ordering people around, and before Asher had a chance to think, Karlin was standing beside him.

He couldn’t believe his luck. Except for the fact that she looked like she was ready to shoot him , and maybe not with a paintball gun.

“You know, there are worse people than me you could be forced to partner with,” Asher said.

“I didn’t even say anything,” Karlin said, though her expression didn’t soften.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have a very expressive face?”

“Gee, thanks.”

“It can be a compliment!”

“Okay, was it?”

Asher considered this for a moment while Karlin continued to frown.

Seriously, something had to give with this woman before he lost his mind completely.

“I just don't understand why you insist on being so hostile to such a sweet and handsome gentleman such as myself, Karlin,” he said innocently. “It’s really quite confusing.”

“I’m not hostile,” she argued.

“Maybe not on purpose,” Asher admitted, giving her a wicked grin. “I did notice that you made no attempt to deny my sweetness, nor my handsomeness.”

“That’s not what–”

Before Karlin got a chance to damage his ego any further, Bajwa gave an ear-splitting whistle and told them all to pay attention.

“What are we doing?” Asher whispered.

Karlin just shrugged, looking as confused as the other group members paired up around them.

“Let’s start with the classics,” Bajwa announced. “It’s time for some trust falls!”

KARLIN

Karlin felt her heart beginning to beat a little faster. She seriously hated stuff like this, and Bajwa usually changed things up with each retreat, so it was difficult to know what to expect.

“Now, if my lovely partner would help me demonstrate?”

Bajwa had already directed everyone into forming two neat parallel lines.

Karlin shared a quick glance with Ned, who was standing behind Paul and looked even less thrilled than she felt.

She couldn’t blame him–this totally wasn’t his job–but unfortunately such little details rarely stopped Bajwa from making unreasonable demands of his staff.

“Ready?” Bajwa asked his partner, Lily, who was standing about two feet in front of him. She had her eyes pressed firmly shut, but she was smiling.

“Ready.”