The Paradise Betrayal by Evan Hirst

Author:Evan Hirst [Hirst, Evan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense Conspiracy Thriller
Published: 2017-02-27T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 48

The Helvetious Institute was on the ground floor of a two-story stone and shingle house on a cul-de-sac in Berkeley, California. A large palm tree soared high in the air in front of it. A small rock garden encircled the tree. It was early evening and no one was out in the neighborhood.

Isabel Floris walked up the wooden stairs to the house's porch. There were two mailboxes and two doorbells. The Helvetious Institute occupied the ground floor. Isabel turned the knob on the institute's door. It opened. Isabel entered.

The large front room in the Helvetious Institute was completely empty. There was no furniture. An old-fashioned landline phone sat on the floor in a corner. Isabel leaned over and picked up the receiver. There was a dial tone.

Isabel stood up. Cautiously, she moved from empty room to empty room. Disappointed, she realized she wouldn't find anything about Dan Evaner here. Any clues to what was going on had been removed long before. When she reached the back of the house, she heard a noise. The backdoor was open. Isabel tiptoed toward it. A man in jeans and a sweatshirt was sitting on a folding chair on the back porch, reading a book. Sensing a presence, he looked up.

The moment he saw Isabel, the man was out of his chair. With a rush of adrenaline, he crossed the distance between them in a flash and grabbed her. Instead of flesh, his hands went straight through Isabel. Bewildered, he grabbed for her again. Instinctively, Isabel put her hands out to protect herself. Instead of the man, her hands touched something solid. Immediately, the man vanished. Startled, Isabel opened her eyes.

Her hand was touching a small round window in the Gulfstream. The Helvetious Institute was gone. Isabel was seated comfortably in a plush leather seat in the well-appointed cabin of the jet that was now at its cruising speed somewhere over the Atlantic. Through the plane window, she could see the flashing lights on the jet's wing.

Alarmed, Isabel leaned toward Urs Hoffman who was sleeping in the seat next to hers. She shook him. When he didn't wake up, she shook him even harder. "Urs, wake up!"

Urs opened his eyes and blinked, still half-asleep. Seeing the alarmed expression on Isabel's face, he sat up, now wide-awake. "What's wrong, Isa? What is it?"

"We have to go back," Isabel said as her hands gripped the edge of her seat.

"To Lisbon?" Urs asked.

Isabel shook her head. "No. To London… Immediately. It's urgent."

Urs moved to the leather seat across from her and turned the overhead lights on. Worried, he eyed her pale face and the beads of sweat on her forehead. "Why?"

Isabel lowered her voice to a near whisper. "I don't know. I just know we have to go back."

Worried, Urs kept his gaze on her. "And the Helvetious Foundation?"

"There's nothing there to help us," Isabel said with conviction.

Urs was astonished. "How do you know that?"

"I was just there," Isabel responded.

Urs frowned. "In a dream?"

"It wasn't a dream.

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