Of course. It’s not like Brenin would announce himself to the world. She bit her lip. Maybe he is using a false name?
Maddie’s eyes widened as she came to a realization. Maybe Brenin is the false name!
She scanned the names one more time. And there it was. A name that looked familiar.
Lester B. Brownstone.
Now why does that look familiar? Maddie asked herself. She spent the next couple of minutes just looking at the name. Then she started playing with the name, looking for a clue.
L.B.
She initialized the name in her head and immediately made the connection.
L.B.! Her father had told her that Brenin used to go by those initials.
It was a bit of a reach, but Maddie swore that this Lester B. Brownstone was Brenin himself.
Maddie had a good look at all the companies that belonged to Obnitor’s portfolio. Most of the names meant nothing to her, but they started to come together when she searched each name individually. She knew that she had hit the jackpot when one of the companies was the very company that her dad had been buying his seed from.
Maddie glanced at her watch and thought about Brenin’s other “gifts.”
I bet all those companies fall under Obnitor’s umbrella. Brenin is personally profiting from all this stuff.
She found herself breathing hard and forced the anger down. Shutting down the computer, she stared at the gray screen for a minute, collecting her thoughts.
Brenin is building his own empire.
Maddie knew that she couldn’t talk to her parents about this. She woodenly walked out of the library, barely acknowledging the salutation from the librarian as she left the building.
The sun beat down on her as she realized the truth: She couldn’t talk to anybody about it. The weight of the humid heat was nearly as oppressive as the burden now on her shoulders.
How do I stop him? The question consumed her for several weeks, while the answer was not forthcoming.
Chapter 36
The one positive thing in Maddie’s life was Pedro. He was her best friend and confidant. His devotion to her was absolute.
One day, Pedro took Maddie out for a hike. There were some beautiful hiking trails in the foothills, about forty miles to the north. It was a gorgeous summer day. The heavily forested area provided plenty of shade from the sun, and the small river they followed seemed to beckon them to its cool waters with every crystalline flash of the sun’s reflection.
Pedro picked several wildflowers as they walked along the peaceful scenery. He stopped after picking up each one and tied it into Maddie’s hair.
Eventually, they came upon a massive boulder standing beside the river like a silent sentinel. They climbed the boulder and sat for a while, listening to the sounds of the river trickling along beside them. The scene was utterly peaceful, and Maddie felt very content.
They were lost in their own thoughts for a long time. Occasionally, Pedro would stroke her arm, or reach out to cup her chin and place a gentle kiss on her lips.
A single cloud passed in front of the sun and plunged their warm perch into shadow. Maddie would have shivered, if it weren’t for the residual heat from the large stone underneath her. The interruption was enough to pull a shadow over her own thoughts, though.
She started talking about the Order. She talked about her frustrations with her own family and her alarming findings regarding Brenin. None of this was news to Pedro, who had heard all of it before from his beloved.
Maddie frowned. “I just keep feeling like something big is about to happen. Why all the secrecy, otherwise?” She sighed. “I don’t trust it. I want to get away from it.”
The thought of wanting to get away triggered Maddie. She got up, preparing to get off the colossus which some glacier had deposited eons ago. She climbed down, followed by a silent Pedro.
Pedro caught sight of another flower growing out of the shadow of the rock as Maddie dusted herself off. Maddie saw him reach down and snap the stem with careful precision.
“This is the one,” she heard him say to himself as he stood up straight and walked to Maddie.
She saw the flower. It was a beautiful light blue color. She smiled as Pedro weaved the flower into her hair with infinite tenderness.
“Maybe we should run away.” Pedro’s comment caught Maddie off-guard.
“Run away?” Maddie smiled, feigning frustration with Pedro. “We’re not ten years old, Pedro.”
“Wait. Hear me out.” Pedro sank down to his knees in front of her. Maddie’s eyebrow rose in mild surprise.
“Madeleine Sarah Jeffersons,” he said, the intensity in his eyes shining bright. “You’ve run away with my heart. All I think of is you. I breathe you. I eat and drink you. I hear you even when you are not near me.”
Maddie could feel her emotions rise as she realized what was happening. A tear rolled down her cheek. “Yes,” she croaked.
Pedro gave her a mildly annoyed look.
“Hey! I’ve been practicing this for weeks. Let me finish.” He pouted. She could tell that he did it without malice.
Maddie wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled down at him. “OK, Pedro. Go ahead.”
Pedro chuckled good-naturedly. “Where was I? Hmm, maybe I should start over...”
“Pedro!”
“Fine...”
They were smiling from ear to ear as he dug in his back pocket. He found the object and held it up to her. It was a ring, of course.
“This was my mother’s ring. It’s not much, b—”
“It’s beautiful! It’s all I want.”
“OK,” Pedro answered softly. He cleared his throat and looked up at Maddie. “Madeleine Sarah Jeffersons, will you marry me?”
“Yes. Yes!” She pulled Pedro to his feet and kissed him, tasting both hers and Pedro’s tears.
TAMMY SMILED AS SHE put the diary down.
“That was sweet,” Michelle said from the kitchen. She had finished up supper for the crew. It smelled great. “Come and grab some grub — it’s pretty much ready.”
People were tucking into their steaks and
