Page 20 of Forged in Deception

“Now, let’s begin with my lovely colleague and partner in crime,” Bajwa continued, gesturing in Karlin’s direction. She raised her hand and gave an awkward wave across the table.

“Thank you, Dr. Bajwa,” she said, smiling sweetly, though Asher noticed that she had flinched at his particular choice of words. “I’m Karlin McKenna, senior research scientist. You’re welcome to call me Karlin. At least until I finally get my PhD, then Dr. McKenna it is,” she joked. “I've been pretty busy in the lab lately, but we’ll get there eventually.”

Everyone chuckled appreciatively, including Asher, though he was mainly focused on the sadness he could see hidden behind her pretty blue eyes. He had no doubt she’d been dreaming of a PhD for a very long time, and now, thanks to her courage, she was risking her entire future in an industry that she clearly loved.

And even though he doubted she’d believe him if he told her as much, he had become utterly determined to do everything within his power to make sure she came out of this situation stronger than before.

He wasn’t going to fail this time. Not the other innocent patients, and definitely not Karlin.

An older man with a silver moustache and an actual cowboy hat was up next, and he introduced himself as Paul Durant, age sixty-five. To no one’s surprise, he was a rancher in Montana.

Asher was next. He introduced himself as Axel Bishop, age thirty-two, and told everyone that he was a drummer for an indie grunge band in Austin.

It was the perfect cover, as far as he was concerned. He could wear all of his old band tees, colorful Converse sneakers, and well-worn jeans that Gabe periodically tried to ban from the Forge Brothers Security office. And, more practically, no one was going to produce a drum set he couldn’t play at the evening bonfire.

Asher paid polite attention to the final three patient introductions–a middle-aged woman named Lily, and two younger women named Cora and Destiny–but he was already beginning to feel he’d been sitting still for way too long. He wanted to get to know everyone, but like Bajwa said, that wasn’t going to happen over a single breakfast, anyway. And for the moment, he was eager to see what their first day on a drug research trial was going to be like.

“Now, I want to give you all a recap of our rules,” Bajwa said, looking over the cluster of patients with the air of a proud mother duckling as he drew a folded piece of paper from the breast pocket of his shirt. “We have a bit of a list here, I know, but this is serious business. We will be saving lives with the results of this trial, and you’re all going to be a part of it.”

Asher tried to listen, but by about rule number eight he’d begun to zone out Bajwa’s cheery speech. Everything the man said had been basic common sense, and in any case, he listened to enough rules and lectures from Gabe to last him three lifetimes. He was going to take full advantage of his time away from the office and loosen up just a little.

At long last, Bajwa decided to take a breath and gestured toward Karlin. “Now, if you’re all finished with breakfast, Karlin is going to take over our little tour. Follow us, please.”

“Don’t worry about the plates,” Ned chimed in from somewhere behind them, almost making Asher jump. Where had he even come from? The man was definitely at least a little bit creepy.

“Thanks, Ned,” Asher said quickly, handing over his well-scraped plate as he got out of his seat. “Appreciate it.”

The cook nodded and seemed pleased, but Asher was already switching his focus in Karlin’s direction as she, Bajwa, and the others began filing slowly toward the door.

He hurried his pace a little, not wanting to wind up at the back of the pack. Karlin gave him a pointed look as she opened the door of the dining hall and gestured for the others to pass her and head outside.

“Pay attention,” she mouthed at him as he followed.

He gave her a silent salute. Yes, ma’am. He’d definitely be paying attention.

He wanted to get a feel for where the off-limits areas of the retreat site were. But he also doubted he’d be able to peel his eyes away from Karlin for long, even if he wanted to.

CHAPTER

TEN

KARLIN

Karlin looked into the crackling firepit, not wanting to take her eyes off of the dancing orange flames. For the first time since that morning, she felt like she could finally relax a little.

The others, including Axel and Bajwa, were lost in conversion for the moment, and no one seemed to mind her silence. Overhead, the sky was inky blue and filled with stars, and the bonfire gave off the perfect amount of heat to cut through the chill of the desert in autumn.

The day had managed to feel both long and short at the same time. She and Bajwa had shown the guests the cabins, the small gym, the yoga huts, the sauna, and everything else the modern retreat compound had to offer. She had also made sure to point out the direction of the main Senera research compound and gave everyone a brief rundown of the work they did there.

Finally, she’d given everyone a tour of her on-site lab. She dreaded that part of introduction day, but Bajwa always insisted on it. He thought that giving the patients a glimpse at thescientific side of what they did would help them to feel more at ease, but for Karlin, it was the opposite.

Having a bunch of strangers in the small room made her feel like her most private sanctuary was being invaded. Even at the main compound where she often worked with other people, she could usually grab a couple hours a day of solitude. The lab was her happy place, where everything in her life actually made sense.

Still, she always tried her best not to let on to the patients how uncomfortable she felt. She did enjoy teaching on some level, and most of the group seemed to enjoy asking her questions and engaging with the subject, so she had tried to see the bright side of the forced tour.

By the time they’d enjoyed a long, relaxed dinner, it was cold enough that everyone had leapt at the possibility of building a fire in the pit behind the dining hall.

All day, she’d found herself on edge, reading into everything Bajwa did or said, constantly afraid that he suspected something.

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