The Beginning of the End (Book 1): Toward the Brink Read Online Free

strolling through the car park of Blue Lakes Shopping Mall when he heard the female voice call to him. He turned towards the voice and was surprised to see his high school sweetheart, Cindy Baker, who stood next to a red Honda Accord not ten feet away.
    “Oh hi, Cindy.” Elliot looked a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. “How—how are you?”
    “I’m good, Elliot, but you know, I got sick of waiting for you to call.”
    The two had made quite the couple in the last year of Twin Falls High School. They’d planned on going to the graduation as a couple, but all that changed when Elliot’s mother died a week from the event. Cindy knew the family was close and gave Elliot time to grieve. When two months had passed and he hadn’t called, Cindy realized it was time to move on.
    “I know. I’m sorry; my mind has been elsewhere.”
    “Elliot, it’s been over three months.”
    “My dad suffered a mild heart attack about a month after the funeral. We had just opened the store, and we needed to establish ourselves. We closed it for two days; then I reopened and ran it myself. When Dad was feeling better, I let him answer phones but nothing else.”
    “I’m sorry, Elliot. I didn’t know about your father.” She lowered her voice and stepped closer. “That would have been another good reason to call. I have had experience working in a store, you know.”
    Elliot liked her a lot, and he knew she liked him even more, but the grief about his mother, the new store, and his dad falling ill all had taken a toll on him. He knew a relationship wouldn’t survive all that. He liked her too much to risk hurting her.
    “I’ll keep that in mind if I need help again.” He switched his weight from foot to foot awkwardly. “You look just as good as when I last saw you.”
    “I’m not going to let you off the hook that easy, Elliot Goodwin.”
    He was trying to think of something to say when a loud voice amplified through a bullhorn came to Elliot’s rescue.
    “What the heck is that?” he asked.
    “Oh, that’s the demonstration coming down Blue Lakes Boulevard. You hadn’t heard about it?”
    “No, I didn’t know anything about it. What’s it over?”
    As soon as she mentioned the target of the protesters was Baer Industries and its widespread use of the growth hormone, Elliot felt ice cold fingers of fear take a firm hold of his balls.
    “It was organized some time back,” she said, “and there are simultaneous demonstrations in other cities across the country. I’m surprised you didn’t know about it. You always kept up to date on current events.”
    “That was until my mother died. I haven’t had much interest after that.”
    “I’m so sorry, Elliot.” She reached out and grabbed his forearm.
    “Thank you.” He realized how much he’d missed her touch.
    “Elliot, I’ve heard the rumors about the growth hormone, but I’m not sure if I believe them or not. They’re too terrifying to be true. What do you know about it?”
    Elliot thought about it for a few moments.
Should I tell her the truth or protect her from it?
He decided on the former.
    “It is terrifying, and it is
true
. The purpose of the hormone is not to feed the world, Cindy, but to make a profit! Trust me.”
    “How do you know, Elliot? I mean, these people are claiming on the Internet that it’s responsible for thousands of people getting sick all over the country. They’re also claiming that deformed babies have been born then secretly whisked away by some government agency. Can you believe it? I mean, that just has to be bullshit, doesn’t it? If that many people were sick and disfigured kids were being delivered, it would be headline news, wouldn’t it?”
    “You would think so, but the media doesn’t always tell us what we need to know anymore. They tell us what
they’re
told to.”
    “What do you mean ‘told to?’ Do you believe the media is controlled by a higher clandestine power?”
    Elliot didn’t answer at