Terran Realm Vol 1-6

by Dee, Bonnie

  It was Donald Walters, his KOTE Council liaison.

  “Mr. Foster, there’s a new situation we’ve become aware of in Raymond Brody’s organization. Since you’re already familiar with his retreat facility and the Wellbeing group, you’re in a perfect position to investigate the issue.”

  “What’s up?” Justin’s voice was calm, but his pulse raced. Could Walters possibly be aware of his collusion with Brody? Was this a test or a setup to expose him? Being a double agent made it impossible to trust anything or anyone, and despite his recent track record, Justin knew he wasn’t a very good liar.

  “We’ve managed to get hold of one of Brody’s followers and remove the implant from her head. Our scientists and mages have dissected it and learned Brody is not only tracking his followers global-wide, but also has the ability to control their actions through suggestions planted directly into their brains.”

  “What’s he making them do? Give him money? Sign over their real estate?”

  “Well, that’s the question,” Walters said. “Since we don’t have a current active list of Center for Human Wellbeing members, it’s impossible to pinpoint suspicious patterns among them.”

  “You want me to secure a list of names? How am I supposed to do that? Brody knows I’m a Protector. There’s no way I can get close to him or his organization.” Justin hoped the logical argument would forestall Walters’s request to involve him. His double-life and Trina’s imprisonment would make any missions for KOTE risky.

  “That’s true.” There was a long pause. “However, I understand in the past you had a … personal relationship with Elyse Greenwood.”

  Justin swallowed. Oh God no. How did they know? He’d been so careful to keep his private life private.

  “I know it’s a lot to ask you to use that relationship to further KOTE’s goals…”

  “Sir, I no longer have a relationship with Ms. Greenwood. We haven’t been involved in a long time.”

  “Less than a year, Mr. Foster. This woman is highly placed in Raymond Brody’s organization. She must have access to all sorts of invaluable intelligence—information Mirabai Kashi wasn’t able to secure when she infiltrated the organization. We want you to resume your relationship with Ms. Greenwood and find out everything you possibly can.”

  Justin closed his eyes and breathed deeply, forcing his clenched jaw to relax. “Mr. Walters, you don’t understand. The chances of my gaining access to Brody through Elyse are non-existent. When I learned of her allegiance to the Destroyers, I broke off our involvement immediately. We didn’t part under pleasant circumstances.” He recalled the horrifying night he’d discovered Trina missing and received a call from Raymond Brody telling him she was under “his care” now. The realization that Elyse could have been the only one to betray him had been like a nuclear bomb going off inside his head. He’d been Brody’s tool ever since, but certainly couldn’t explain all that to Walters.

  The KOTE representative didn’t reply immediately. For a moment, Justin hoped he would be relieved of this duty.

  “There’s more,” Walters finally said. “There are suggestions something monumental is about to occur. Signs of trouble in the spiritual realm are more vague than portents in the other elements, but this time both Spirit and Earth Keepers concur there’s an impending danger to the earth.”

  An Earth Keeper might register a shift in magnetic currents or ley lines. A Water Keeper might perceive unusual behavior in aquatic life and currents. But the Spirit Keepers’ attunement was a finer, more delicate sort. The warning signs they identified would be undetectable to mortal man and hard to fathom for the average Terran as well.

  “Ms. Kashi and several others have informed me something is beginning to happen, and this ‘something’ points directly to Raymond Brody and the Center for Wellbeing.”

  “I understand, sir, but it doesn’t change the fact I don’t have access to Elyse Greenwood. She wouldn’t trust me even if I attempted to rebuild … relations with her. There’s no reason for her to believe my motives are sincere.”

  “Then it’s up to you to make her believe, eh?” Walters’s voice took on a sharp edge. His patience was wearing thin.

  “Yes, sir.” Justin’s temper was also close to the surface. He’d been too well trained in obedience to his superiors by the CIA to refuse Walters’s command, not-so-subtly couched as a request. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Good. That’s what I want to hear. Good luck.” Walters dismissed him.

  As Justin ended the call, it occurred to him he’d found it all too easy to capitulate. Somewhere inside, he’d known he wasn’t finished with Elyse. He couldn’t exorcise her from his mind. She’d pushed past all his defenses and made him trust her in ways he’d never trusted a woman in his entire existence. He’d surrendered not only his body but also his innermost self to her. And she’d cut him down, felled him like an oak tree with her lies and deceit.

  It was Justin’s turn to take control. He’d find her, seduce her and persuade her to believe he trusted her again—or at least to believe in his acute need for the amazing sex they’d shared. Then he’d make her pay for her betrayal, and at the same time find a way to rescue Trina from Brody’s control.

  Perhaps it would even be possible to cancel what he’d done and steal the damned box back from Brody before Algernon used it in whatever crazy, world-altering scheme he had planned. Maybe Justin could actually get his old life back, put everything to rights and make it as if he’d never betrayed KOTE.

  Maybe then he could stop having nightmares every time he tried to sleep.

  * * * *

  “Elyse, could you come to my office please?”

  Brody’s voice on the interoffice phone, asking that question, sent a frisson of nervous tension up Elyse’s spine. She wasn’t oblivious to the fate of some employees who’d received a call to the Big Man’s office. He could as easily be praising and promoting you for a job well done or eradicating you if you’d fucked up in one of a thousand ways.

  “Certainly. I’ll be right there.”

  Elyse rose, tucked in her blouse, and smoothed her skirt. She searched her mind for any transgression she might have committed lately, but as far as she knew, she was still on Brody’s “good” list for her work with Justin Foster last winter.

  “Damn it!”

  There was Foster again, invading her brain. She hadn’t been able to scrape him off the bottom of her shoe. He clung to it like a stubborn piece of tar, marring the smooth surface of her sole and making her walk with a figurative limp.

  Use, abuse and lose. She mentally repeated her mantra, but unlike the memory of Justin Foster, the words didn’t stick, at least not the last one. Elyse had tried, but couldn’t lose him, couldn’t shake him. He was always with her now. A dozen lovers since Foster hadn’t been able to erase from her mind images of the things they’d done together and the way he’d made her feel. The mere memory of his name had her panties damp and her nipples aching. Crap! Why does that man give me the female version of blue balls?

  “Damn him!”

  “Did Brody just call you to his office?” Milton rolled his chair away from his desk and peered around the edge of the shared wall of their respective cubicles. “What’d you do? Is he pissed off?”

  “I didn’t do anything, Milton. Sorry, you’re not getting my job today.”

  Elyse quickly checked her makeup in her compact mirror. Her auburn hair fell in glowing red waves, framing her strong-boned face and hazel eyes. She wasn’t conventionally pretty or beautiful, but striking in a Meryl Streep kind of way. Plus, she’d been told, her body was as sexy as hell, curved in all the right places. And she knew how to carry it. Men always looked when she walked by. She smiled at her reflection, checking her teeth for lipstick then shut the compact with a snap.

  Hell, maybe Brody was calling her to his office for a non-business related reason. The guy had to date somebody, right? Although she despised Ray, she wouldn’t mind getting even closer to him. H
e was a stepping-stone in her ultimate plan to secure the elder Brody’s attention and work for him. Ray was just a rung on the ladder as far as Elyse was concerned, and she’d do him if it advanced her agenda.

  “Good luck,” Milton called as she sashayed past him and the other office drones on her way to Brody’s suite. It amused her that the headquarters of a pseudo-religious organization looked like any other corporate office. The games people played were the same get-ahead-at-all-costs tricks Elyse had seen at every place she’d ever worked—from bordellos to boardrooms.

  As she ascended in the elevator then walked the long, plush-carpeted hall toward Brody’s sanctum, Elyse reminded herself who she was. “You’re a winner. You’re bound to succeed. This is your chance. Seize it.” Of course, she’d told herself the same thing when she served Justin Foster up to Brody like steak on a platter, and it still hadn’t been enough to win her the promotion she’d deserved. Maybe she was finally about to get her reward for a job well done. She took a deep breath and knocked on Brody’s door.

  “Come in.”

  Elyse fixed her brightest smile on her face and swept into the room with confidence. “Good afternoon, sir.”

  Brody looked up from some paperwork. “Ms. Greenwood, You’re looking exceptionally nice today.”

  He folded his hands on his desk and smiled at her. His dark hair was touched with gray at the temples, giving him a distinguished air and imparting an appearance of wisdom that was far from his true personality. Ray’s voice was deep and mellifluous, as befitted an orator. Elyse found herself relaxing under its soothing spell even though she knew it was magically induced.

  “Thank you. What can I do for you, sir?”

  “Please, take a seat.” He gestured at the chair in front of his desk.

  Crossing her legs demurely at the ankle, Elyse allowed her skirt to ride up her thighs, signaling her availability if that was what Brody was after.

  He steepled his fingers beneath his chin and regarded her in one of his staged poses. “Ms. Greenwood, I don’t know if I properly thanked you for your help in securing Justin Foster.”

  She lowered her eyelashes and smiled. “I was glad to do it. Anything to advance the cause of Human Wellbeing. I hope Foster has proved useful to you.”

  “Yes. Indeed he’s been a valuable asset. More than I could have imagined.” Brody tapped his fingertips together. “With his ward in our control, he is as docile as a housecat.”

  Elyse smiled thinly. The mention of Trina caused an unexpected twinge in her stomach, and the thought of Justin de-clawed, a caged tiger rather than a housecat, twisted her gut even harder. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy seeing the big, alpha-male Protector humiliated and chastened, but she wanted to be the only one to do it. A weakling like Ray Brody shouldn’t have control over her tiger.

  “Well, that’s good, sir,” she replied.

  “As I said, I’ve been remiss in rewarding you for your efforts and I want to rectify that.”

  Her pulse fluttered, and her hands clenched in her lap.

  “But, first, I wondered if you could do me one more favor, something that would absolutely ensure your elevated position within the hierarchy of the Center for Human Wellbeing.”

  Not wanting to appear overeager she answered with a pleasant smile. “How can I help, Mr. Brody?”

  “I want you to oversee a new project I’m developing. You’ll work closely with Justin Foster again. Get him to trust you, feed him information and then see what he does with it. The project will be fake, invented purely for the purpose of testing Foster’s loyalty. Having the girl gives me control over the Protector, but I need to know how much and how long I can continue to use her as a bargaining tool.”

  She cleared her throat. “After what I did, I don’t see any way Foster would have anything to do with me, except perhaps to tear me apart with his bare hands.”

  “Yes.” Brody rubbed the crease between his eyebrows with one finger. “I had thought of that. But, couldn’t you make him desire you enough to become involved with you again?”

  The thought of coming into contact with Justin both thrilled and terrified Elyse. He’d surely kill her as soon as he saw her. Her pussy clenched and released as convulsively as her fingers. Aching with desire, her sex opened at the mere memory of Justin. In seconds her panties were drenched. The thought of seeing him again set her pulse racing and she felt more charged with life than she had in months.

  “Wouldn’t it make more sense to choose someone else to work with him on this sham project and report back to you. Why me?”

  “I believe you have a special affinity with Foster.” Brody examined her closely and for once Elyse thought he might be more shrewd than she gave him credit for. “I think you have a connection with him that hasn’t been broken despite your betrayal. You can lure him into your bed and your confidence again and learn more about the man than anyone else could. Are you willing to take this opportunity for advancement?”

  Releasing a slow, even breath, she smiled brilliantly at her employer. “Absolutely, Mr. Brody. Whatever you want. I’m a team player.”

  Chapter Two

  Contacting Elyse turned out to be much easier than Justin had expected. Before he could figure out a way to make his approach plausible, Justin received a call from Raymond Brody asking another favor of him.

  “Mr. Foster, you did me a great service in returning my box. I know I may appear slow in upholding my end of the bargain, but believe me, your protégé is well and living a comfortable life. I do intend to release her into your care again, but I have one more task I’d like you to accomplish before Trina is returned.”

  Justin sat at a glass-topped table on the patio outside his house, surrounded by potted plants and flowers Trina had lovingly grown. His lunch sat untouched before him as he stared at the rolling blue-green surface of the ocean at the foot of the bluff. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fork so hard in his fist it bent.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Good. Here’s the deal.” Brody was suddenly brisk. “I have a new project I’d like you to work on. I need your physical strength and your understanding of electromagnetic currents.” He paused. “And, I need you to work with Elyse Greenwood, who is in charge of the project.”

  “What?” Justin was shocked at the coincidence. Simply hearing her name sent waves of mingled lust, rage, and shame through him. “No!” He refused flatly, without thinking. “Absolutely not.”

  Brody sighed. “Come now. We’ve been through this before. Do you expect me to negotiate every time I want you to do a job? You must realize your allegiance is to me now. Even after you get Trina back, you’re mine. You’ve betrayed KOTE, which makes you one of us now—a Destroyer, as other Terrans call those of us with a more pragmatic bent.”

  The ping of metal on stone caught Justin’s attention. He looked down at the fork he’d dropped on the patio floor. Brody was right. He was a betrayer. There was no way he could expect to fix what he’d done.

  “What do you want me to do?” he almost whispered into the phone.

  “There’s a reservation for you on Delta Flight 251 from LAX at 4:45 today. I’m at the Reno branch of the Center for Human Wellbeing. Elyse will pick you up at the airport and fill you in on the details.”

  Already a ticket and plan in place. Brody obviously had no doubt Justin would obey. Bile rose in his throat at the humiliating subservience he was forced to endure.

  “Fine.” Justin ended the call abruptly, taking that small shred of power for himself. He gazed at the tumbling waves with unseeing eyes, examining every angle of the latest turn of events.

  KOTE wanted him to find out Brody’s plans by using Elyse. Brody was giving him the opportunity to learn everything as well as get close enough to Elyse to destroy her. The only thing stopping Justin from both serving KOTE and exacting personal vengeance on Elyse was Trina. He couldn’t do anything without putting her at risk, and still hadn’t the faintest clue where she’d been hidden. M
onths had passed. By now, the girl probably thought he’d abandoned her.

  But getting close to Elyse and earning Brody’s trust might raise an opportunity to discover Trina’s whereabouts and rescue her. This was a golden opportunity that had dropped right into his lap. He’d be a fool not to take it.

  * * * *

  “Welcome all.” Raymond Brody extended his arms in an inclusive embrace and smiled at the camera. “I wish I could personally greet each of you as you join us at the Retreat Center for Human Wellbeing, but, as you know, our movement is growing and I now have a schedule that takes me to locations around the world. Nevertheless, be assured I am with you in spirit if not in body and I personally guarantee that you will have a meaningful and rewarding retreat experience.”

  He babbled on some more about personal growth and coming to terms with inner demons, making sure to look directly into the camera. His aura was effective enough that he could reach his followers even at a distance, although he preferred to address them in person for maximum effectiveness.

  Ray’s smile extinguished the moment the camera lights went out.

  “Perfect, Mr. Brody,” the cameraman said. “We can add this address to the montage of appearances on your new DVD. The followers are eager for anything new. Your DVDs are vying with major movie releases in sales.”

  Ray nodded. “Great.” He dismissed the camera crew with a wave of his hand and turned to his personal assistant. “What next?”

  “You have a lunch appointment with some local ministers. They want you to join their ecumenical group to discuss your program to fight gambling addiction in Reno.”

  “Excellent.” Ray wiped his face clean of the makeup that he’d worn for the filming. “A program I plan to set up in Las Vegas and Atlantic City as well.” He smiled, pleased with the clever yet simple scheme that diverted money from the casinos straight into his pocket.

  “But first, sir, your father is waiting for you in your office.”