by Mikayla Lane
Cin nodded and smiled before moving back to the kitchen and pouring each of them a cup of coffee. He slid one across the bar to her.
“You’ll have plenty of time over the next week, so just relax and get used to being free while we wait.” Cin hated to bring it up but needed Lanie to understand what was happening.
“Wait for what?” Fear flashed in Lanie’s eyes before she pushed it away.
“For Jason’s family to come and claim what’s left of his body.” Cin smiled warmly at Lanie.
“Oh, my God!” Lanie paled. “They’re going to know what happened and blame me.”
Cin shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if they do. They can’t even prove you were ever here and even if they could, what happened to Jason is physically impossible for you to do.”
Lanie stood and paced the room. “It won’t matter. They’re going to kill me.”
“They won’t even get the chance,” Cin promised.
Chapter Eleven
The smell of fresh coffee had Cin launching himself out of his bed and quickly freshening up before striding out of his bedroom and into the kitchen. He smiled when he saw Lanie moving around the refrigerator and stacking things on the counter.
“Good morning,” Cin said as he approached the coffee pot.
Lanie jumped and dropped the carton of eggs on the floor. “Oh, no! There goes breakfast.”
Cin eyed her ragged and dirty clothes and shook his head. “We need to run to town and get supplies anyway. It’d be a good idea for you to get some clothes to blend in better.”
Lanie blushed and looked down at her worn attire. “It’s been hard enough to eat and stay warm, much less get new clothes when you’re on the run.”
“I’m not judging you, Lanie,” Cin said softly. “I think you’re amazingly courageous for going through what you have without giving up. You should be damn proud of yourself.”
Lanie blushed from his praise and started to clean up the eggs from the floor. “This all seems like a dream to me. I’m still trying to grasp this is real, and Jason is gone.”
Cin saw she’d cleaned up the floor and stood. “Well, let’s get our visit done in town. We don’t want to have to go back while Jason’s family is here.”
Nodding at Bob, who’d sat up when Cin stood, Cin instructed him to watch the house while they were gone. He smiled when Bob reminded him to get more of his favorite cat treats and led Lanie to the door.
Twenty minutes later, Cin pulled into the strip mall that held the town’s one clothing store. They were strolling down the sidewalk when Lanie saw where they were going. She stopped and looked up at Cin.
“I don’t have the money for this.” Lanie shook her head and blushed. “I don’t have any money at all. Jason stole my wallet when he found me.”
Cin shook his head and sighed. “I have more damn money than I know what to do with, so I’m covering it. Besides, I need to get a few things as well.”
When Lanie still stood there looking uncertain, Cin headed down the sidewalk and called back, “You don’t want me picking your clothes or guessing your size!”
Looking around nervously, Lanie ran to catch up to Cin. “I’ll pay you back. I can cook and clean the cabin until you get rid of Jason’s family. With them out of my life, I might still be able to work for Henry’s store at the three-way.”
Cin shrugged and held the boutique door open for Lanie. “That’s more than fair.”
Four hours later, Cin and Lanie were unloading the car and carrying the bags into the cabin while Bob watched with an irritated look on his face. Cin set Lanie’s bags in front of her bedroom door and put the rest in the kitchen.
After another hour of putting everything away, Cin was kicked back in his recliner while Lanie curled up in the corner of the couch opposite Bob. The cat looked like he would swat the hell out of Lanie instead of the fluffy toy Lanie jerked in front of him with a stick.
Cin answered his phone within seconds of his nanites, notifying him of an incoming call from the sheriff.
“Robbie?” Cin already knew why the sheriff called. “Someone just filed a missing person’s report on Jason McMaster, didn’t they?”
“You creep me out sometimes. You know that, Son?” Robbie’s voice trembled a little. “Yeah, not only do I have a potentially kidnapped woman, seen shopping with you in town today but now her ex-boyfriend is missing. His powerful Senator Aunt has just informed me that she is coming with some people to crawl up my asshole. Is this your idea of having things under control? Because this sounds more like a shit show!”
Cin chuckled. “I can’t help it if people get lost hiking in the forest and run afoul of our beautiful but dangerous wildlife. It’s not like there aren’t dozens of signs pointing out the dangers to the tourists.”
Robbie muttered a string of curses. “Son, how the hell am I supposed to play this?”
“You do what you normally would as the Sheriff,” Cin said with a chuckle. “You initiate a search, find the animal tracks, the remains, and send the family on their way with whatever might be left of the body.”
“What about the missing girl?” Robbie asked, already knowing the answer.
“She was never here. Hell, you probably didn’t even know McMaster was in town until the family called you looking for him,” Cin suggested, giving the sheriff plausible deniability.
“Keep that girl out of town until that damn family leaves,” Robbie warned before he hung up the phone.
“Are they here?” Lanie looked terrified all over again.
Cin went into the kitchen, pulled the rising crust pizza from the fridge, and preheated the oven. “We knew the family would come. It’ll be all right. They aren’t going to be thinking of you for much longer. There is a much larger plan in play here, and I need you to trust me.”
“Yeah, right,” Lanie said with a disgusted snort. “I spent eleven years waiting for them to put an end to Jason’s relentless stalking of me, and all they did was give him more money and resources. They’ll come after me.”
“The family won’t be around long enough to come after you,” Cin stated evenly.
He planned on killing all but the children in Jason’s family and was already tracking their progress to Laurel Springs and reviewing their rental vehicle and lodging reservations.
“I think you’re a lot more optimistic than I am.” Lanie came into the kitchen and rummaged around in the cabinets until she found a pizza pan.
“I have a lot more experience in these matters than you do. Trust me.” Cin chuckled and unwrapped the pizza.
Lanie was silent while she rinsed the pan and dried it. “How is it that you have that experience? Who are you? Why would you risk so much to help me? Seriously, what kind of person kills someone for a total stranger?”
Cin took the pan from her and put the pizza on it before sliding it into the oven to bake. “I’m a soldier. I was literally born and bred to be a soldier. Until I found out, there was a hidden group behind the ills of this world. A group that is known only as the elite.”
Lanie looked at him in surprise and sat back down at the bar. “You know about that? Everyone swears it’s just a conspiracy theory, but I’ve seen it in action. Those people are as real as we are. What else do you know?”
“I know the elite’s minions are the public face of those who are truly pulling the strings. Jason and his family are minions,” Cin admitted, seeing no reason to lie to her.
Lanie gasped. “How did you find out? I still can’t understand why anyone would give someone like Jason’s family any kind of power. The whole lot of them are twisted and corrupt.”
“The elite overlords are desperate to remain hidden, and they need people like the Senator and her family to be their public face. It gives people someone to hate without them ever knowing who is truly in charge.” Cin was determined to never give up on finding and eradicating those who were terrorizing his world.
Lanie ran her hands over her face in frustration. “It took me
a decade to figure out what Jason’s family was a part of, and now I have to add in elite overlords. This whole world is doomed and not from an outside threat but one from inside.”
“What makes you say that?” Cin was curious about what Lanie might have learned when she was with Jason.
Lanie sighed heavily. “I’ve been there when Jason’s aunt Lilly was telling her husband that if he couldn’t buy off a witness to one of their fraud schemes, that he should pay someone to kill the man. Two days later, the guy was dead. That’s when I ran away. Their money and power get them out of everything, and people just don’t see that the law doesn’t apply to those considered elite or their minions. They’re the most dangerous criminals in society because there’s nothing they can’t get away with, and the law enforcement agencies that are supposed to protect us, work for them.”
“Inbreeding,” Cin said with a nod of agreement with her assessment.
“What?” It was the last thing Lanie expected him to say after her rant.
“I’m serious.” Cin pulled the pizza out of the oven and set it on the bar between them. “Those who think themselves elite have been inbreeding for centuries. They believe they’re part of some special bloodline that must remain intact. Psychotic tendencies are a guaranteed side effect of that much inbreeding.”
“That’s disgusting,” Lanie felt sick to her stomach. “Sadly, it’s not surprising.”
Cin rummaged around the drawers for a pizza cutter and smiled when he found one. “How many pieces do you want?”
“How can you be so calm about this?” Lanie felt ill for even being with Jason. “Do you have a team of people helping you? How can you hope to make a difference against people that are this powerful?”
Cin calmly sliced the pizza and slid two onto a plate before putting it in front of Lanie. He put four on his own, then took a bite. Cin gestured to Lanie’s plate, encouraging her to eat. According to the nanites Cin still had in her body monitoring her health, the woman was far too thin and malnourished.
“I do have a team.” Cin didn’t think he was lying because he had Dar and dozens of other warriors in the universe that could be counted on if he needed them. “Surprisingly enough, the thing we need the most is for more people on this planet to wake up to what’s going on. Not just here in America either, but around the world.”
Lanie snorted then took a bite of pizza. “Good luck with that. These days, the news is nothing more than blatant lies, and most politicians are bought and paid for by outside influencers who want to see the world burn. People feel helpless and demoralized. I know the feeling all too well.”
Cin hated what Lanie had been through for her whole adult life. A decade of living on the run from a demented but powerfully connected boyfriend must have been hell for her. But Lanie’s words made him smile.
“For someone who’s been running for a decade, you’re pretty well-versed in what’s going on,” Cin noted. “Did you learn all that from Jason?”
“No way.” Lanie rolled her eyes. “That whole family treated me like I was a smudge on the bottom of their shoe because I didn’t come from another rich or powerful family. No, I learned a lot over the last few years from online forums. Ones that haven’t been de-platformed yet for wrong-think.”
“Really?” Cin’s face remained blank. “Any good ones I might like?”
“Do you have internet?” Lanie looked around for a wireless router.
“Of course.” Cin went to the living room and grabbed the remote. He went back to the bar and handed it to Lanie.
Cin’s nanites sent him a warning when Lanie logged onto a familiar forum and scrolled through the threads on the front page.
“This one is my favorites,” Lanie said between reading the thread titles. “This guy says so many things that sound like crazy conspiracy theories, but after everything I’ve seen and heard, it resonates as the truth with me. Besides, he keeps being proven right.”
Lanie blushed, put the remote on the bar between them, and took a bite of pizza. “I realize that sounds crazy too, but this guy, Soldier of Vengeance, he’s dead-on right about everything happening so far.”
“How long have you been following this guy?” Cin picked up the remote for Lanie’s sake even though he didn’t need it.
“Years,” Lanie said with a smile. “Mostly, the last three or four. There were days when I felt so low, and being on the forum with the Soldier and other like-minded people helped me through. Most of what I learned about hiding, I got from them. They’re probably the reason I stayed alive long enough for you to save me.”
Cin couldn’t be more stunned and happy at her words, and he gestured to the TV. While Lanie watched, Cin logged into his account on the forum, and her eyes went wide right before she let out a squeal.
Lanie flew off the stool and stared at Cin. “You can’t be him! There’s no way.”
Cin chuckled and shrugged. “Life is strange, isn’t it?”
“There has to be a reason I was led here, to you, the Soldier of Vengeance! Is there really a God?” Lanie’s eyes filled with tears, and she was overcome with emotion.
“Yes, there is. That’s another thing the elite are trying to take away from the people,” Cin stated, giving Lanie a chance to control her emotions. “Belief gives people hope; hope prevents demoralization. They’re pretty insidious and thorough in what they do, aren’t they? It just goes to show how long they’ve been planning and instituting this new world order takeover.”
Lanie sniffed back her tears and chuckled. “That’s exactly the kind of words that gave me courage. Your forum was my first taste of what was going on globally, and I realized how lucky I was to get away from Jason and his family. Are some of the forum members part of your team?”
“Every living and breathing person who realizes that something sinister is going on is part of our team,” Cin admitted. “One voice, spreading the truth to another and standing together, is the greatest weapon we have against the minions and the elite overlords. One person standing up and showing the rest they can do it too is more powerful than any gun or rifle.”
“It sounds good, in theory, but the reality is that the people are losing, and the days are long gone where one person can make a difference. The elite has too much power,” Lanie said with a sigh and pushed her plate away from her.
“What do you think they can do if the majority of the world decides just to stop doing their bidding? What if people refuse to wear masks, refuse to keep their businesses closed, refuse to follow rules that go against the good of their communities?” Cin asked, curious to see what the intelligent woman would say.
Lanie shrugged. “The people in the governments, paid for by the elite, would put them in jail and ruin their lives. Hell, they might even kill them too.”
“That is exactly what the elite want everyone to think, but it’s not feasible,” Cin smiled, enjoying Lanie’s company and the conversation. “Think smaller. If a mayor ruins lives and most of the town physically and without violence, remove them from office, and vote for a new one, what can the mayor do? Nothing but waste money fighting it in court only for the voice of the people to win. Same with governors and other representatives that aren’t doing their job or voting against the interest of the majority.”
“The people can’t do anything if they’re the ones in jail,” Lanie countered with a half-smile.
“How many jails do you think they have to hold people in?” Cin quirked a brow and grinned.
“There’s FEMA camps.” Lanie wasn’t only relaxed but having fun talking to him, even if the subject was bleak and disturbing. “I saw the pictures on your forum.”
“That’s true, but who is going to force an armed populace into them?” Cin couldn’t remember having this much fun talking to anyone but Dar and didn’t want it to end.
“The United Nations?” Lanie was beginning to see where he was going with this and was shocked that more people hadn’t thought of it by now.
“Again, agai
nst an armed populace? It would start a war.” Cin cleared their plates from the bar and put the leftover pizza in the fridge before refilling their coffee.
*****
Senator Lilly Patrosi downed her third glass of vodka and paced the private jet's aisle, trying to ignore her sister Teresa's sobbing. Lilly was furious over this trip and didn’t care who knew it.
Jason’s unhealthy obsession had once again thrown a wrench in her already busy schedule, and Lilly had enough of Jason’s antics. The idiot had been useless since birth, and in adulthood, Jason had turned into more of a problem than an asset.
“Anything new yet?” Lilly snapped at her brother and personal staff.
“There’s nothing, Ma’am,” Jared stated with a shake of his head. “Jason’s chip still shows him active somewhere in the forest. The local sheriff is forming a search party as we speak.”
“Jason would never have gone in the forest,” Teresa cried out. “He hated the thought of ticks and spiders!”
Lilly rolled her eyes and handed her empty glass to the stewardess to fill. “I’ve had enough of Jason’s obsession with that bitch, causing problems for this family!”
“He loves her!” Teresa shot back, wiping her tears.
“Jason is fixated on Lanie because she doesn’t want him!” Lilly shot back angrily. “If it weren’t for that bitch, Jason would have already married that Duchess and our place would be assured among the ruling class!”
“The heart wants what it wants!” Teresa snapped. “Jason loves Lanie, and we can’t stop him from feeling that way.”
Lilly knew that now was the time to do what she’d wanted to do a decade ago and was determined to manipulate her vulnerable sister into agreeing to it. She wasn’t the least bit worried about her brother-in-law John, because he was too weak to cross her.
“If we permanently remove Lanie Fulbright from the planet, then Jason will have to move on, and you might still get grandbabies,” Lilly suggested, watching her sister carefully to see how she would react.