by Joely Skye
Trey had betrayed them.
“Josh Mackay is in our custody,” said Horton. Kir didn’t doubt it, but found it painful to hear. “His good health will depend on your good behavior. Do you understand?”
Kir lay there, in despair.
“You had better get up and nod that head of yours, Kir. For Josh’s sake, if not yours.”
Kir pushed himself up.
“Listen to me carefully. I am going to come in and talk to you. I realize you’re weak but I know you. I know you can manipulate me. Someone will be monitoring us and if they see you misuse your powers, they will intervene and Josh will suffer.” Horton let that last word echo. “So, Kir, can I come in and you won’t molest my mind?”
Kir hung his head in a semblance of a nod.
In less than a minute, Horton pushed the thick door open and shut it behind him. He stood an inch taller than Kir, with thinning hair and a grizzled beard. Intelligent eyes. Maddie had warned Kir Horton wasn’t stupid.
Horton stood there, shaking his head. “You don’t look much like your sister, you know that?”
Kir rubbed his bleary eyes. He hoped the drug wore off soon, because he needed his wits about him, such as they were.
Horton sat on the chair in the corner. “How are you feeling?”
“Not great.” Kir didn’t want to answer Horton’s questions, didn’t want to talk. But Kir had to be as compliant as possible. It was his way to get around people.
“Is there anything I can get you?”
“I need to piss and I’m thirsty.”
Horton looked into the camera and nodded. “They’ll bring you a drink.” He gestured to the corner. “The hole is there.”
Wearily, Kir relieved himself on camera, in front of Horton. He supposed he could be grateful Horton’s interest wasn’t sexual, but gratitude was a difficult emotion to summon. Still they delivered the drink and Kir sat on the cot with a large bottle of water and guzzled it.
Horton watched him drink, which made his skin crawl. Horton’s pale blue eyes seemed slightly dead.
Sitting back, Horton crossed his legs. “So, I want to tell you something.”
Kir nodded.
“Josh doesn’t interest me very much. Truth be told, I’m still irritated by his interference three years ago.”
Kir blinked, trying to read the meaning behind his words.
“When he helped you escape,” Horton explained.
“That was my fault,” Kir said quickly. “I used him.”
“How gallant of you to take responsibility for his actions. The point is, I’ve only ever tried to use Josh to get to you. I will continue to do so. If you use your powers against me, or the agency, Josh will be punished.”
Kir found it hard to breathe, but he nodded again. Puppet, puppet.
“Do you understand? I’m thinking a bit of finger-breaking, to start. It can get much worse. Eyes are always vulnerable.”
Kir began to shake and Horton smiled.
“Unlike Snow, I’m not fond of sexual torture. But I am just as ruthless. Even if, personally, I have nothing against Josh. In fact, I like him.”
Kir tried not to let his lip curl in disgust.
“Do you understand?”
“Yes,” whispered Kir.
“Good. Because I am happy to keep Josh in the best of health.” Horton smiled as if he expected Kir to smile back. “Tell me, how is your hearing, Kir? Any damage?”
“I’m fine.” His head hurt, but he didn’t think his hearing had been affected.
“Excellent. I don’t want you deaf. You wouldn’t be as useful. And you’re going to be very useful, aren’t you?”
“I am,” said Kir fervently. He was also going to rescue Josh, he just didn’t know how. Rescuing Josh from Brad had been easy. Maddie had planned it. She had brains. Kir didn’t. At least, not when frightened. And he was very frightened now. It no doubt showed.
Horton laughed. “My goodness, so eager. But then, Snow was your handler. He wanted you docile, pliant, lacking in spirit. Because otherwise you might do as your sister did, and get away from us. And you never did, at least not on your own.”
“Where’s Josh?”
“Ah, you’re more interested in talking about Josh than yourself. I suppose that makes sense.”
Kir swallowed.
“He’s not too far away. I can’t be more specific than that.”
Kir pulled in a shaky breath. “What exactly do you want of me?”
Horton smiled again. “I want you to save the agency, Kir.”
“How?”
“If I say jump, will you say how high? Did Snow really program you that well?”
“I think so,” admitted Kir, remembering how Snow had delighted in praising Kir for being feisty and spirited, when they both knew Kir had neither quality.
“God knows what Josh sees in you. I mean, nice body, I’m sure—not that men attract me.”
Yes, yes.
“But what normal man would want to be with you, freak and whore that you are? Trash, really. Yet Josh seems genuinely concerned about you. You were the first person he asked about when he regained consciousness.”
Kir’s face heated up.
“Ah, that information affects you. It is so convenient you care.”
“Will you tell me what you want?”
Horton regarded Kir. “Okay. Let me give it to you in a nutshell—you’re going to talk to a number of important people and make their doubts about the agency vanish.”
“How can they talk to me if I’m in this room?”
“You won’t be. Once I’m convinced you’re obedient, you’ll become my new assistant, at least in name. You’ll come to a rendezvous, convince our target you should remain at the table to chat and then make a couple of forceful statements.”
“It doesn’t always work.”
“Don’t play me for stupid, Kir. I know Snow used you often for this type of thing. Now, he wanted people to give him money for no reason they could comprehend, or he wanted to blackmail someone, but you managed quite well back then. Snow died with a tidy sum of money.”
Kir felt sick to his stomach.
“What? Not good memories?”
“No.”
“Well, it is different now. There is Josh to consider.”
“Yes,” agreed Kir. “But how do I know Josh is alive?”
“We’ll let you see him on video.”
“You could fake it.”
“Nah, we’ll set it up so you can ask him a question. How well he’s able to answer will depend on you, of course.”
Kir teared up. Josh would end up dead unless Kir was extremely careful. He didn’t think he could survive Josh’s death, not when it was caused by his very existence.
“Your sister never cried,” said Horton.
No, and Maddie still doesn’t cry. She doesn’t have sex now either. Doesn’t care for anyone, except me and a few Minders.
“Now.” Horton stood and hiked up his pants. “Before we get started, you’ll need a day or two to recover from the shock of being back here. You’re too pale. You’ll also need to be fitted for the job. Dirty shirt and jeans won’t convince anyone you’re my assistant. Someone will be in to measure you.”
“Okay.”
Horton left after a few more comments about Josh’s health and Kir’s goodwill. A bit later food arrived followed by a nervous man who measured Kir while Kir gritted his teeth.
Then Kir crawled back onto the cot and escaped to sleep.
* * *
Next visit, Horton brought a laptop. When Kir opened it, he saw Josh, live on camera, pacing his room like a caged animal. Kir’s heart stopped at the bleak expression on Josh’s face. He disliked being closed in. More than Kir who had, at least, grown up with it. He knew how to adapt.
Kir looked up at Horton. “You said I could talk to him.”
“Josh refuses to talk to you.” Horton shrugged. “We didn’t think forcing the issue was in Josh’s best interest, but
if that’s what you want you’ll get it.”
“No,” said Kir, unsure if Horton lied or not. Josh might refuse to cooperate in any way. Or he might be angry with Kir, but Kir rejected that possibility.
Horton had a small smile on his face. “You’d think Josh would be more grateful. We told him you wanted to talk to him. That you needed his reassurance. All he said, so eloquently, was, ‘Fuck you.’”
Kir looked away so Horton wouldn’t be able to read his face. He probably showed all his insecurities and longing and fear. Fear for Josh, fear that Josh hated him.
“In fact, Josh doesn’t seem to like you much anymore.” Horton seemed to see right through to Kir. “But that’s not important. What’s important is that you like Josh.”
Josh likes me, Kir wanted to shout, but he just kept his eyes glued on Josh prowling his room, shedding excess energy, losing weight again.
“I’ll take the computer,” said Horton and Kir relinquished his link to Josh. “Now we’ll get you prepped for a first meeting. This one’s not critical. We just want to see how you function in the field.”
Kir went through the motions without thinking. Like old times. They cut his hair. He showered and dressed. They groomed him. Horton watched with a knowing eye, apparently pleased. At least Horton had no desire to kiss him as Snow had.
The first man Kir met, a friend of Horton’s, was troubled by some of the agency’s antics, as he named them. As if the agency was a recalcitrant child that had to be brought to heal. Kir surprised the friend by joining them for drinks. When Kir “reminded” the man he wanted to meet Horton’s new assistant, they became a friendly party of three.
Kir remained quiet while the other two talked about old times, new times, agency goals. At the right moment, Kir ventured that the agency did a good job under difficult circumstances—these had been Horton’s words—and the friend’s brow creased. There was less resistance than Kir expected. Though Kir didn’t think he had just saved the agency, he had shut down a questioning voice and it made him sick—he had acted against himself.
He found he couldn’t finish his drink, his head was swimming.
“Your assistant looks a little pale,” the friend observed. Shortly thereafter Horton decided they should leave.
Kir feared Horton would be angry Kir hadn’t hid his unease but, in the limo on the way home, Horton grinned, flushed with success. Giddy, and Kir remembered the old days when Snow would literally crow in the backseat, thinking there was nothing he couldn’t accomplish with Kir at his side or on his lap or in whatever position Snow chose.
Horton let Kir slump in his own seat and he proved a little more observant than Snow had been. “What’s wrong?” he asked, reigning in his exuberance.
“It always makes me a little sick,” Kir acknowledged, seeing no reason to hide it.
“With so few words? You hardly said a thing.”
Kir nodded.
Horton eyed him. “Your sister could accomplish much more.”
“She’s not here.” Thank God. In this situation, Maddie would kill herself.
“No. Not that I could count on her. One day she’d obey and the next she’d do her own thing.” Horton paused. “I found something admirable in that. It’s better, though, that Snow broke your spirit. If you ever had any.”
Kir looked out the window.
On the outside, Kir felt like a machine, a very obedient machine. But on the inside, he was watching. Nobody could know about the inside. He guarded himself and waited.
In the week that followed, Kir worked on four other men with similar levels of success. He took more care to hide his discomfort, to wait until he got back to his room to be sick.
Horton praised him. Kir was appalled that the praise at some level pleased him. What was the matter with him? He told himself he just wanted Josh to be safe. But his actions hurt people. At some point—soon, he hoped—he would have to undermine Horton’s efforts, all the while protecting Josh. Kir feared he didn’t have the strength and resources to play that double game.
He had nightmares he couldn’t remember and woke terrified of the unknown. He had to find his opening and until then, obey. The waiting was painful because he didn’t know what opportunity would present itself and he feared it wouldn’t arrive, or worse, he wouldn’t recognize it.
Then one morning, Trey paid him a visit. The large man walked through the door. His very presence startled Kir who’d been expecting Horton.
“Jumpy?” asked Trey, his voice flat, his face turned to stone.
Kir backed up to a wall. Trey. Betrayal.
Trey’s face became even more unreadable. Its blank grimness frightened Kir. Trey planned to physically threaten him. Kir recognized the type.
Instead, Trey began to pace. Kir wanted to fade into the wall to escape Trey’s silent presence. The pacing made Kir think of Josh, last seen by Kir over video, sleeping on the cot. Horton claimed Josh was not drugged, but one of Josh’s hands had been scraped and his face was bruised.
Trey came to a stop and turned. “You realize that Josh hates you.”
Kir jerked his head up. The words hurt.
“After you shot Ed Harding, Josh had no choice but to do exactly what you wanted. You cannot be surprised at his hate. This is the third time you’ve taken control of him. At your apartment, he wouldn’t even leave you to come with me.”
Kir continued to stare straight ahead, his thoughts whirring. Don’t show it, don’t show that Trey made no sense whatsoever. Trey knew Josh had chosen to be with Kir. Josh had shot Ed. Trey had driven the getaway car.
“I wouldn’t mind some kind of response here. Horton says you’re very obedient.”
“I’m obedient,” Kir parroted.
“Good. It’s important to know when to obey.”
Kir looked up at Trey whose stone expression had vanished. His voice remained conversational and slightly sinister, but his eyes burned with meaning, as if something mattered very much indeed.
Trey resumed pacing. “Horton didn’t want to explain that Josh hates you. But you need an explanation for why Josh won’t talk to you. Otherwise you will balk when it is most important.”
These statements that Josh hated Kir were false. They were Josh’s way of telling Kir not to help the agency. He watched Trey, trying to read his message.
“You’ll meet Josh’s brother soon. That’s why I’m here, to prepare you.”
“Prepare me?” Kir’s heart began to hammer. Josh’s brother. He didn’t want to manipulate Josh’s brother. Josh had described Sam as a brat, but with some affection.
Kir swore he saw concern behind Trey’s grim expression, but he had trouble making sense of the situation. He’d never had a cool head under pressure.
“I am in charge of Josh’s well-being,” Trey informed him. “I decide what happens if you don’t behave. So when they take you to Sam Mackay, make sure you do the right thing.” Then Trey did what Kir had been waiting for ever since Trey had entered the room. He walked up and grabbed Kir, hauling him off the ground to slam him against the wall. Kir began gulping in air.
Trey’s face pushed up against Kir’s, his pale blue eyes intense and unflinching.
Tell, Trey mouthed, then released him. Kir dropped to the floor as Trey strode out. Kir folded into himself, burying his head in his arms, and rocked a little, hiding his face from the camera.
Tell.
Kir wished he had good reason to trust Trey.
* * *
The next day Horton came in and looked over a well-groomed Kir with approval. “I would have been ticked off if Trey had bruised you.”
“My back hurts.”
“Your back doesn’t show.” Horton paused. “Yesterday, I watched Trey who is, I admit, unpredictable at best. He should have communicated the fact that Josh is vulnerable and you must continue to do as I say.”
“I already understood that.”
Horton lifted his arms in an exaggerated gesture of sympathy and Kir loathed him a little
more. “I thought so.”
Kir felt a tic under his right eye. Horton noticed and reached out to touch the skin. Involuntarily, Kir flinched, while Horton looked disgusted.
“I don’t know how Snow could have fucked you all the time. I don’t even like to think about it.” But he liked to mention it. Because it rattled Kir and the less clearly Kir could think, the better he obeyed.
“Do you understand what you have to tell Sam?”
Kir nodded.
“Say it again,” demanded Horton as if Kir were stupid. It was only two sentences. Horrible sentences, but only two.
Kir swallowed. “Josh is dead. A Minder killed him.”
“Don’t mumble.”
Kir cleared his thick throat. “Josh is dead. A Minder killed him.”
“Exactly.”
Tell. Kir clung to that word.
He barely paid attention on the way over though Horton appeared more tense than usual. This meeting carried more weight than those that had gone before, because Josh’s brother was not easily cowed or bribed or influenced. At least not when the life of his brother was at stake.
As if Kir would proclaim to the world that Josh was dead. It would bury Josh alive. Did Horton think Kir didn’t understand the risk to Josh? To force Sam to believe his brother had died was unthinkable. Kir cast Horton a sideways glance just before they left the limo.
Up the fourteen floors they went. Ushered into an office. With his lightheaded fear, Kir found it hard to breathe. He caught Horton eyeing him with worry. Careful. For Horton to abort the meeting at the last minute would be disastrous. Kir tried to ground himself by remembering Josh, his bravery and his strength. It didn’t banish his fear but it got Kir to the meeting room. Where Horton insisted Kir appreciate the fantastic view of the city.
Kir and Horton waited for Sam Mackay, not the other way around. So Sam thought a lot of himself. Maybe most brats did, Kir wouldn’t know. He’d always been desperate to please and very little else.
With Josh, he’d forgotten how empty he really was. He felt empty again.
“Carl,” snapped Horton. It took Kir a moment to realize Horton had used his cover name, and another moment to realize they had company. A stranger had entered the room and Kir’s gaze fell upon a tall man of Josh’s height and build. Their faces weren’t at all similar. Sam was darker than Josh, and his eyes were blue, not gray.