Sacred Circle Read Online Free Page B

desk. A file sailed into Devlin’s line of vision, and he raised his head.
    “Good morning to you, too,” he quipped with a lop-sided grin.
    “Don’t ‘good morning’ me. I’ve been up all night.”
    Devlin leaned back in his chair.
    “It's nice to see another ecological egghead bogged down in mud. My last two days have been spent training field engineers who don't know shit about the earth, or even give a damn about it. I welcome the chance to talk to someone who actually knows what I'm talking about—even if that someone needs a bath and clean shave.”
    Jake plopped into a vacant chair.
    “What can I say? Digging mines turns me on.”
    “Now, you see there, that's what I'm talking about.” Devlin stated. “These young go-getters I'm saddled with are interested in mining the earth for profit, rather than finding cures for radiation sickness, cosmic rays, food chains, and ozone layers.”
    “Profit versus extinction. That’s always been man’s dilemma, and his heartbreak,” Jake responded.
    “Well, I’m here to prove that man can live in harmony with his environment, instead of drilling it all to hell. Even the plankton in the sea deserves that much courtesy from us.”
    Devlin saw the busted smirk.
    “Yee-haw! Let’s dunk the bastards.”
    Devlin tossed his pencil across the desk at Jake.
    “Spare me your good-old-boy personality so early in the morning, huh? Why are you disturbing me when I clearly asked not to be disturbed?”
    Jake caught the pencil, and used it to pound the file he threw on the desk.
    “You backed out of the Sage proposal. Why?”
    “I realized it’s not for us.”
    Jake sported a frown.
    “You axed the deal at the last minute, though. That’s not like you.”
    “You know my personal history, Jake,” Devlin said, turning his attention to the file. He flipped it open, studying the scrawled signatures.
    “Commune living, blah, blah, blah,” Jake touted.
    “It’s a little more interesting than that,” Devlin said, glancing up.
    “Like I said, blah, blah, blah. No bullshit this time. What’s going on?”
    “I thought I could mend some fences by buying Brianna’s company, but I’ve realized I can’t.”
    Devlin heard a brief chuckle.
    “Touché. Now, let me tell you the real reason you won’t broker this deal, old buddy.”
    Devlin flipped the file shut, leaning back in his chair again.
    “I can’t wait to hear this.”
    Jake ignored his sarcasm.
    “You have a ‘thing’ for the beautiful Brianna.”
    Devlin’s chair hit the floor.
    “Where the hell did you come up with that reasoning?”
    “It’s the only plausible explanation. You’re a handsome, heterosexual male with needs, yet you constantly shun the ladies who throw their panties in your direction. Only one reason to do that; you’ve got the love bug bad.”
    Devlin saw a familiar smirk, but before he could comment on it, a loud jangling erupted from the phone on his desk. He pressed the intercom button on the speaker box, glad for the interruption. Jake’s musings were getting close to subjects he had long ago deemed nobody’s business but his own.
    “Devlin here.”
    “Devlin, it's Charles.”
    “Charles?” Devlin paused, running a list of names through his head. Charles in Toledo? Charles in Santa Ana? And then it hit him. “Good lord, Charles, how did you find me?”
    “I’ve kept track of your whereabouts for years,” he replied. “However, I had to call the A.A.P.G. to get your number.”
    “I’m flattered,” Devlin remarked. “It's certainly good to hear your voice after all these years. How are things?”
    “Things are bad. Sienna’s dying.”
    “What?!” Devlin’s chair bumped the desk, and he snatched up the receiver. “Did you say she’s dying?”
    “Yes. She fell ill during a Sacred Circle ritual, and you know better than most what that means. Several members of the congregation, including myself, are showing signs of respiratory problems. And we have one casualty in