The Legacy: Book Two of the Lane Trilogy. Vicki Inc. Andree

him.

      “Hello.”

      “Hi, David, it’s—”

      His voice brightened. “I know who it is: Lyza! How are you doing today?”

      She watched the traffic pass by her. “I’m really doing well. So glad you called. I’m just about to leave for Cairo.”

      His words sounded measured. “I hope your trip is successful. I’d like to see you when you get back.”

      “David, I would love to see you then. I’ll call you the minute I get back.”

      His tone lifted. “I’ll be here. You said you were going to Cairo.”

      “Yes, I’ll be in Cairo. It’s a property inspection and shouldn’t take long. When I get back, I’ll meet with the Lane staff to decide if we want to take it on. It’ll take more time to get there than the inspection. Crazy, isn’t it?” She decided to spare him any more details.

      “I’m looking at a map of Israel right now. The Middle East is so interesting, my favorite part of the world. You’ll be close to Israel. Someday I want to go there to visit all the places Jesus walked. I’ll be thinking of you while you’re gone.”

      Lyza sighed. “I’ll be thinking of you too.”

      “Take care, and go with God’s blessings.”

      “Take care. Bye.” She wanted to add, “Love you,” and stopped herself just in time.

      I’m sick and tired of this job. She felt the pressure to produce mounting. Does anyone have this kind of responsibility at my age? Have I even had a life?

      She gunned the engine and sped home. She slowed down for the security gate, and she called ahead to ask Cook to have the limo ready to take her to the private airstrip near the Lane Mansion. As soon as she got to her room, she threw clothes together with no regard to fashion. The more she packed, the more upset she got. It isn’t just this trip. The last ten years I’ve traveled more than any one person I know. I’ve never had a life of my own. I’m a Lane, the daughter of Lawrence and Lana Lane. I’m an heiress of Lane Unlimited, and I belong to the conglomerate. I might as well be in the military for all the choice I get about my own life. Now I know how Prince William must feel.

      Family-owned and wealthy beyond imagination, Lyza started to cry. Tears of anger, regret, and pain rolled down her face, dripping onto her packed bag. She zipped it up, threw it on the floor, fell on it, and wept.

      Her cell phone rang. Security informed her the limo had arrived and waited just outside the front door. She answered, “Yes, I’ll be right down.”

      Twenty minutes later, she pulled herself together enough to walk out to the long black limo. The driver, a Lane Unlimited employee, went in to get her bags. Lyza’s large round sunglasses coupled with a light scarf helped hide her red eyes. She kept her head turned away until she got into the car and felt like her tears had been undetected.

      Her mind kept telling her what a loser she was. She tried again and again not to go there, but anger kept rising in her. Then tears would come again. I have to get myself together before we reach the jet and I have to get out of the limo. What can I think of to take the place of the anger?

      I discovered a well-kept secret. The secret is that I really am a person, an individual, and I have a specific purpose in life. It’s not to be a Lane Unlimited puppet.

      What could she think of to get her mind off this pity party? She could think about shopping trips in Paris with Leesa. When she thought of that, it made her think of Leesa with concern. Does Leesa know anything about being her own person?

      Then she remembered something David told her soon after she first met him, at a counseling session for the survivors of Swiss Air flight 688. He said we are not our own; we have been bought and paid for. The price was expensive, making us quite valuable in the sight of God. Lyza started to relax.

      The tears stopped as she remembered that meeting. David explained that Jesus had sacrificed Himself on a cross to give us life and take our sin away. That is the hope believers have, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that whoever believes in Him shall not die, but will have everlasting life. David also said that God sent Jesus to save the world, not to condemn it, though I found that hard to believe at the time.

      We’re Jewish, but we’re not religious. We believe in God; doesn’t every Jew?

      The other thing every Jew does is reject Jesus, right? No. David said that not all the Jews rejected Jesus when He was here on earth. All of the disciples were Jewish, as Jesus was. Jesus was a rabbi here on earth, and He taught Jews.

      David had said to read Psalm 23 if she ever had a battle on her mind, if she ever felt alone. She decided to get her Bible out after she boarded. In the meantime, she meditated on the words she’d read just the other night. “Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, present your requests to the Lord.”

      She boarded the jet and opened her bag. She found her Bible, settled in, and began reading Psalm 23. From there she read Psalm 24, and then she read the entire Book of Psalms. After that, she fell asleep for the rest of the sixteen-hour flight.