Page 52 of Beast: Part Two

The house seems to be buzzing with energy. Walking into the dining room, I pause. It looks like a high-tech conference room. The table and chairs are still here, but at the front of the room is a large whiteboard. On the side of the room closest to the door, is a small table with a large flat screen TV. A rectangular folding table is in the back of the room and there are four computers set up on it.

Everyone is already here. Priest and all my brothers along with Albany, Many’s girlfriend, and three other women. One is dark-skinned with gray eyes. She’s talking to Albany near the whiteboard. The other girl has a deep brown complexion the same color as Albany. Although not as dark as the first girl, it’s nowhere near as light as Summer’s. She’s tall, has to be at least six feet. Her glasses are perched on the bridge of her nose and her straight black hair hangs past her shoulders. When she spots me, she smiles brightly at me as if she’s known me all her life.

Mother said they would all run from me.

The other girl in the room has a golden tan complexion. Her hair is long and curly with brown and blonde highlights. She’s too busy setting up a computer system to pay attention to me.

“Oh, Beast, you’re finally here,” Priest says coming over to me. “These are the ladies of the Daughters of Egypt. They are friends and colleagues of Fem and Ari. That’s Kyra,” he says pointing to the girl with gray eyes talking to Albany.

“The one working on the computer is Deidra. And that’s Alicia,” he points to the tall girl with the pretty smile. She walks over to us and holds out a hand to me.

“Hi,” Alicia says, voice light and friendly.

Looking down at her offered hand I slowly reach out my hand to shake hers. Her fingers are skinny compared to mine. They seem too fragile. I quickly remove my hand from hers hoping I won’t hurt her.

She pushes her straight hair behind her ear before rocking back on her heels.

“So, have they told you why we’re here?”

Instead of answering, I dip my chin to my chest.

“Good, well come on, I’ll show you the setup.” She turns and walks away. Her skirt, though it touches her knees, hugs her curves tightly.

“Kid,” Priest says beside me. “I promise you don’t want those problems.”

I’m not sure what he’s getting at. What problems? I shake off his words and follow the woman to her computer.

“We have every satellite we own searching for Sam O’Cleary.” She points to the map on her screen. She then points to the bigger monitor at the front of the room. The big monitor has the same thing as her computer, only much bigger. There are small glowing circles covering most of the map on the screen.

“The moment his face is recognized, it will alert us on here. We will then pinpoint his location.”

“What then?” I ask folding my arms over my chest.

“Well, we track him down, follow him, and figure out the best way to isolate him so that you and your brothers can confront him.”

It seemed simple enough, but I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. These people had access to travel all around the world. Trying to track them down would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

“So now we just wait while your satellites play Where’s Waldo,” I say.

Alicia laughs. It’s soft and airy like her voice. She touches my arm.

“Wow, handsome and funny. A rare combination.”

I look down at her hand on my arm. I wait for it to give me that ick feeling. The one that would usually make me step out of her grasp. However, it doesn’t come.

Priest clears his voice causing me to look up at him. He swings his head to the doorway where I find Malia and Summer. Malia is smiling as she brings in a tray of sandwiches. Summer is watching me closely. Her eyes glued to where Alicia’s hand is lying on my arm. The ick feeling finally hits and I subtly step away from Alicia’s touch.

When I turn back to the door, Summer is no longer standing there.

Where did she go?

“I swear you boys are going to cause me to have a damn stroke,” Priest says shaking his head as he walks away.

I ignore him as I walk out of the room. I needed to find Summer. She wasn’t too far. I find her pacing in the kitchen. On the island are all the ingredients used to make those sandwiches.

“Did you eat?” I ask as soon as I enter.

She turns and glares at me before turning back to the counter. She picks up the bag of bread and ties the end.

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