The Enemy Within (Daughters of the People Series Book 3) by Lucy Varna Page B

are
better left unknown.”
    The careful note
in her voice set him on edge. “I’m not risking my people on an unknown.”
    “Life is an
unknown, Bobby.” She swiveled in her chair to look out the windows running
along one side of her office. “You’re old enough to understand that.”
    His jaws
clenched at the reprimand. “I’ve been old enough to understand that for a long
time.”
    “True.”
    She sounded sad,
regretful even. For the first time, he noticed the faint lines around her eyes
and the gray in her ash blonde hair. His gut twisted into a hard knot. Sweet
Goddess. When had she gotten old on him?
    “Tell me about
the Order,” he said softly.
    She sighed and
swiveled back to face him. “I can only tell you so much.”
    “Then tell me
what you can.”
    He reached
across the desk and waited for her to take his hand, as she’d done when he was
a little boy. She’d always been there for him, protecting him, loving him. Now,
maybe it was his turn to return the favor.
    “Sweet boy.”
Rebecca clasped his hand in hers. “You were always my favorite.”
    He grinned. “You
say that to all of us.”
    “And it’s always
true.” She squeezed his hand gently before letting go. “I suppose you’re going
to share everything I tell you with your team.”
    “Not all of
them. Hiro and Drew, yeah.”
    “And Indigo?”
she said with a coy tilt of her head.
    “Let’s not go
there again.”
    “I want you to
be happy.”
    He let his gaze
go flat over the humor. “You’re stalling.”
    “Only a little. So
you’ll tell Hiro, Drew, and Indigo, whom you aren’t seeing.”
    “Mom.”
    “Don’t approach
Margaret,” she warned.
    “Too late. Now
spill.”
    Rebecca pressed
her lips into a thin line. “The Eternal Order is real.”
    He rolled his
eyes skyward. “I got that part.”
    “Don’t be smart,
young man.” Rebecca tapped the top of her desk with one finger. “I can still put
you in your place, if needs must.”
    He rubbed a
finger across the smile that rose. She could indeed, and would probably always
be able to. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And don’t think
I can’t see that smirk. Honestly. Kids these days.”
    They shared a
grin, and then Bobby listened while his mother told him everything she could
about the Eternal Order and its struggle to stop the Prophecy from being
fulfilled.
     
    * * *
     
    Rebecca leaned
back in her chair and watched her youngest child as he left her office. Trying
to find a balance between giving him the information he needed and protecting
the larger interests of the People had exhausted her.
    Bobby had probed
her knowledge relentlessly, seeking the information he needed to close in on
India Furia and other possible traitors to the People. An intelligent mind
focused ruthlessly on the overall objective, exactly what the People needed to
defend themselves. Her mother’s heart filled with pride that her son would be
the one to solve this problem and bring their enemies to justice.
    The intercom
buzzed, announcing her next appointment. She picked up the phone’s handset and
instructed her receptionist to give her a moment before sending anyone in.
    She took a sip
of cool water, relished the feel of it trickling down her throat, and ignored
the fatigue that seemed to dog every movement she took these days. A quick make-up
check in the hand-held mirror she kept in her desk reassured her that she
didn’t look nearly as old as she felt.
    Of course, if
she felt her true age, she would feel old indeed.
    She still had a
couple of decades before she hit the millennium mark, and hoped she’d be around
for it. Robert had promised her a party to end all parties as a celebration.
She intended to hold him to it, but first, she had to lead the People through
their current crisis.
    The door opened
to admit Sigrid Glyvynsdatter, their in-house genetics specialist, and George
Howe, a young man whom Rebecca had invited to the IECS to assist Sigrid in
gathering and analyzing DNA samples