by Dee, Bonnie
Elyse imagined the ramifications of that kind of power. She knew Brody was a crazy fuck that might do anything on a whim. “Damn!”
“Exactly.” Justin nodded toward the TV. “I’m guessing he’s handing voters over to his father on a silver platter, but the guy’s just as likely to give a command for mass suicide. He’s unstable. You know that. And now with this fault line, whatever the fuck it is, he’s got to be stopped.”
“What does KOTE plan to do?”
He paused with his head and one arm in his T-shirt and raised an eyebrow in a “would I tell you?” look before answering anyway. “They haven’t decided yet. I’m supposed to be here finding out Brody’s plan. So, you can go to your boss now and tell him I’ve revealed everything KOTE knows. He can consider me his flunky and let Trina go.” He smiled humorlessly.
She sucked in a breath and blew it out, coming to a hasty, impulsive decision. “All right, since we’re truth-telling I’m going to lay it out for you—what we’re really doing with the seismology equipment. Absolutely nothing. Brody wanted me to get close to you, share false information, and find out if you’d relay it to KOTE. This whole stupid mission was about finding out how trustworthy you are. Crazy, huh?”
“That’s Brody.” Justin shook his head, tugging his T-shirt into place, covering his six-pack abs. “But it makes the other two guys showing up even weirder. If this project isn’t real then what were they doing there?”
“Who knows?” Elyse shrugged and the sheet slipped down her breasts. She pulled it back up, smugly pleased that his glance went straight to her chest. “Listen, when we see Brody today, I’ll do everything in my power to convince him to give Trina back. Like I said before, I never wanted it to go down like it did, but the situation was out of my hands. I never wanted to hurt you guys.”
“You do sincerity well. I almost believe you.” He walked to the dresser, tucked his wallet in his pocket and put on his watch. “Come on. Get dressed. Let’s go.”
Elyse slid out from under the covers, letting the sheet trail seductively off her naked body as she stooped to pick up her torn negligee. She glanced up to see Justin watching her in the mirror over the dresser. For a moment their eyes met, then he quickly looked away.
She smiled as she closed the bathroom door behind her. Well, at least he was interested. Maybe she could rebuild his faith in her and win him back into her bed on a semi-permanent basis if she played things right. That was today’s goal. If she could keep her well-paying job in Brody’s organization, all the better, but if she had to double-cross her boss, she was more than willing to do it. She’d do what she had to in order to get what she wanted and needed … and right now that was Justin Foster.
* * * *
Ray thumbed the remote, flicking off the television in the middle of his father’s speech. It was the third time he’d watched it on Headline News. He swallowed his morning energy drink, mixed half and half with Maalox. The churning acid in his stomach began to settle. He remembered to breathe deeply and his racing pulse slowed to a steady beat.
Pushing back from the breakfast table, he walked to the mirror and checked his tie and shirt collar. They were crisp and sharp. He smoothed the lapels of his suit jacket and brushed back his hair with one hand. Everything was in order. He looked the part of a dignified leader—every bit as presidential as his father. And very soon he would make his own announcement. He wondered how angry Algernon would be when he realized Ray was going to call on his followers to vote him instead of his father into office.
Before giving a speech to this week’s retreat group, Ray decided to pay a quick visit to Trina. It had become part of his routine to talk to the girl every morning he was able. His dependence on her was a becoming unhealthy, but he couldn’t seem to stop checking in with her. She was too easy to confide in and he would be hard-pressed to let go when her usefulness in manipulating Foster was finished.
Greetings of “Good morning, Mr. Brody” and “Hello, sir,” met him as he walked through the compound. He greeted everyone graciously, calling most of the staff by name. A delicate balance of admiration and fear was essential in managing the workers in his organization.
Ray descended in the elevator to the basement and walked the echoing hall to Trina’s room. He knocked out of politeness, then the guard let him in.
“Good morning,” he said, taking in Trina’s neatly braided hair—he approved the tidiness—and her worried expression. “Is something the matter?”
She sat cross-legged on the narrow cot, her hands clenched together in her lap and her teeth biting her lower lip. “I need to tell you something, Mr. Brody.”
“What is it? You didn’t like the book?” He smiled to put her at ease.
Trina unclenched her hands and extended one toward him. On her palm lay his cell phone. “You left this here yesterday. I should’ve given it to the guard, but I didn’t. I made a call. You’ll see it logged in there so there’s no point in denying it. I called Justin, but I didn’t tell him anything except that I’m okay. I swear.” She blurted it out so fast he could barely understand the words. “Anyway, I wanted to be honest and up front with you about it. I hope you’re not too mad at me.”
Ray stood for a moment processing then stepped forward and took the warm phone from her sweaty hand. How many hours had passed and he hadn’t even noticed it was missing? His focus was slipping. “Thank you,” he said absently, flipping the phone open and closed over and over. He looked into her warm, brown eyes, as open and honest as a dog’s.
“You see, Mr. Brody. I wanted you to know you can trust me completely.” She smiled. “You’ve won another convert to your mission. I believe in what you’re trying to do here and I think KOTE misunderstands you.”
Her sincerity touched him. Ray stroked her cheek. She was a winsome little thing, and so bright it was easy to forget she was a mere human. Perhaps he could keep Trina and find her a place in the organization. He would like to have her around.
“I’m deeply impressed by your integrity. Thank you for telling me the truth.” He gazed at the phone another moment, then put it in his pocket. “I believe, with your help, I can convince Mr. Foster to work with me of his own volition.”
“I’m certain of it, Mr. Brody. When he understands your purpose in restoring Terrans to their proper place in the world, how could he not want to be a part of it?” Her smile widened. “If you’ll just let me talk to him face-to-face, I’m sure I can convince him.”
Ray considered her request and could find no reason not to grant permission. Perhaps Trina’s eloquent intercession was the very thing needed to win Foster over. “Very well. I’ll arrange a meeting between you and your guardian very soon.”
Chapter Nine
Ray Brody held up one empty hand. “Trust.” Then, the other. “Loyalty.” He looked out over his audience, focusing on a few faces here and there, his silence giving emphasis to the words. He slowly brought his hands together and joined them into a united whole. “These are the cornerstones of any successful relationship. You cannot have one without the other, and it takes the combination of both to make a firm foundation.”
Justin rolled his eyes at the hypocrisy. Oh, please. The strange thing was even as he scoffed at Brody’s rhetoric, he felt himself falling under the sway of the man’s voice. Brody was damn good at public speaking and there was enough truth in his words that it was easy to nod and agree. But mostly the vibration of his voice was his special gift, allowing him to hypnotize a crowd.
As Brody rattled on about trust and relationships, Justin looked around the group of retreat guests assembled for their morning pep rally with their spiritual guru. They were a cross-section of all races, ages, sexes and economic groups. At least Brody was democratic in his conning of the masses.
Justin glanced at Elyse by his side, judging the effect of Brody’s speech on her. She appeared completely engrossed in what he was saying. Was she acting? Or had she been acting when she promised she’d do everything she could t
o help him get Trina free? It was impossible to tell what was real with Elyse. She’d proven she was untrustworthy and her allegiance turned on a dime. Yet, here he was, ready to rely on her to convince Brody he was a faithful follower. His faith in her was twisted, but then everything about their relationship had been convoluted from the beginning.
Justin had met her in an S and M club in L.A., a place he went to occasionally when his need for the powerful aphrodisiac of subjugation was too strong to resist. Justin rarely indulged his urge to be bound and tortured. Finding the right partner was almost impossible. Humans couldn’t apply the kind of force he needed to feel truly purged and renewed, and finding a Terran partner who was into the scene and enjoyed power exchange, wasn’t easy. Justin enjoyed being on both sides of the whip, and players who would indulge his dual kink were few and far between.
The night he’d met Elyse, with her voracious capacity to give and receive pain, Justin felt he’d found his perfect counterpart. Beyond their sexual compatibility, she matched him in other ways, too. After two minutes of talking, he felt he’d known her a lifetime and trusted her with secrets about himself he’d never told anyone. Hell, if he believed in the concept, he would’ve called her his soul mate. Elyse seemed to understand him on a gut level and gave him exactly what he needed in the bedroom … or dungeon.
As days had passed, they’d seen more and more of each other. They worked out together, walked on the beach, hiked in the hills, tried unique restaurants, went to concerts and museums or just enjoyed cuddling on the couch watching movies and talking. And they’d spent hours discovering new ways to please and torture one another. With Trina off at college, Justin’s house had been his own and there’d been no need to stifle the sounds of screams or cries of ecstasy.
Justin had been on the verge of asking her to become a more permanent part of his life and move in with him. Then had come the night Trina was taken.
“Betrayal.” Brody’s voice boomed through the mike, as though reading his mind. His reverie broken, he looked away from Elyse’s profile and refocused on Brody. “The worst sin of all. In Dante’s Inferno, the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, inhabits the lowest circle of Hell. A blow to one’s trust can be incapacitating, almost impossible to move past, but clinging to that negative only allows the betrayer more power over us. Never let someone steal from you your ability to have faith in people. That is where your very soul lies.”
From there Ray made a tricky turn into discussing finances. He spoke of his complete faith in his followers to keep the ministry operational and to spread the good news to all. They were reminded of the free will offering buckets by the door and asked to give whatever the spirit moved them to bestow.
Justin looked at the people around him again. Their eyes were slightly glazed as if waking from a dream. They applauded Brody’s speech then, rose from their seats and headed toward the doors. Bills rained into the buckets in response to Brody’s suggestion.
Elyse leaned close to Justin, her shoulder bumping his. Her scent tickled his nose, and like clockwork, his cock stiffened, conditioned to respond. “Showtime. Come on. Let me do most of the talking. You’re crap at lying, Foster.”
“And you shine at it,” he muttered as they filed out of the auditorium.
Twenty minutes later, they were seated in a pair of leather chairs facing Brody’s desk. He sat with his fingers folded under his chin, regarding them curiously. “How did your field work go, Ms. Greenwood”
“We took readings and set up the machines.” Elyse’s legs were crossed and she leaned back in her chair with an easy air. “I believe I found out everything you wanted me to.”
Brody’s eyes flicked to Justin then back to her. “And?”
“I think your plan is feasible.” She paused. “Something unusual happened, though. While we were at the first location, a pair of men showed up—Terrans, who claimed you sent them to do the same job we were already doing.”
Brody frowned. “Two men? What were their names?”
“They didn’t give their names. As a matter of fact, they attacked us and we fought before one of them suggested we resolve the situation by calling you. After he made the call, they backed off, said you’d told them to let us go ahead with the work.”
“They claimed they were talking to me?”
“Yes, sir. When I tried to call and verify, I couldn’t reach you.”
“Well, I have no idea who you were dealing with, but they weren’t my people. Did you think I sent someone to check up on you?”
“I didn’t know what to think, sir. Perhaps they’re working for someone else and wanted to throw us off guard by using your name.”
Ray rubbed his mouth and chin with his hand and stared through Elyse, as though focusing on something else. “Well, thank you for telling me. I’ll look into it.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I never talked to anyone yesterday,” he continued. “My phone was misplaced for a while, as Foster well knows.” He turned his attention to Justin. “You’ve done a remarkable job of raising Trina. I’ve never met a human so intelligent and remarkably honest.”
Justin’s stomach dropped as he realized Brody knew about Trina’s call. “Yes. She’s remarkable.”
“I accidentally left my phone in her room and the girl had the forthrightness to tell me so this morning. She confessed she’d called you, but didn’t want me to lose faith in her, so she returned the phone. Isn’t that amazing?”
Justin’s pulse spiked. “Amazing,” he repeated faintly. Trina had taken a dangerous gamble telling Brody the truth, lulling him into a false trust in her.
“I would like to have her work for me.”
“Excuse me?”
“And you, too, of course. Trina would be a great asset to my ministry. She has a way with people that is very … comforting and invites confidences. I’d love to have her become part of the retreat team, counseling the guests.”
“Oh.” Justin felt a touch against his shoe. He glanced down to see Elyse’s foot nudging his. She’d probably have kicked him in the shin if she could have done it without attracting Brody’s notice.
“I-I’m sure Trina will be flattered by the offer. As you know, it’s taken me some time to accept the idea of working for you, but after this morning’s talk, I see the value of what you’re doing here.” Justin maintained eye contact with Brody. Fuck Elyse, he could lie as well as the next man. “I think I could be a useful part of it.”
Ray stared at him for a long moment, perhaps weighing his words and checking them for irony, then he nodded. “As a gesture of good faith, I’m going to allow you to talk to Trina, here in my office.”
Justin forced a few words out of his dry mouth. “She’s here?”
Brody narrowed his eyes. “Please, Mr. Foster. Don’t give me reason to doubt you. I’m not a fool. I know you’re well aware she’s here.” He spoke into the intercom on his desk. “Bring the girl in.”
Justin’s pulse rate ratcheted up even higher as the door opened and Brody’s henchman Murav escorted Trina into the room. Justin rose from his seat.
Trina smiled and ran into his arms. Her slight body felt like a bundle of twigs wrapped in cloth. He’d forgotten how delicate and insubstantial she was.
“Hey, are you okay?” he whispered.
“Fine, except you’re crushing my rib cage.” She pulled away and looked up at him, her smile trembling a little. She clenched her jaw, firming her chin and stepped away from Justin. She turned to regard Raymond Brody. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Brody, too, had risen from his seat. He gazed at Trina with fond affection.
“Mr. Brody, could you possibly give us a few minutes alone, please?” Trina’s voice was soft and wheedling. Justin had been manipulated by it himself as she’d grown up, whenever she wanted to buy something he didn’t think was appropriate or go with her friends to a place he didn’t approve of. It was hard to resist her respectful tone and huge eyes. “Please,” she repeated. “You
do trust me, don’t you?”
Ray looked from her to Justin and back again. “All right, I’ll leave you alone for a few minutes.” He moved out from behind his desk.
Justin’s aggressive instincts kicked in. He wanted to launch himself at the Destroyer and rip his head off, grab Trina, throw her over his shoulder, barrel through security and out the front door of the building. He wanted to be done with all this subterfuge and deceit and return to what he did best—protection. But he kept his head and the polite smile etched on his face. “Thank you.”
Brody stopped beside him and stared into his eyes for a moment as though trying to read him. “Elyse will stay with you. I’m trying to believe in your change of heart, Mr. Foster, but don’t try anything foolish. Even if Trina is out of my sight, I have complete control over her. Trying to fight your way out of here or run would not only be incredibly stupid but hazardous to your ward’s health.”
Justin gazed back at him, biting the insides of his cheeks to control the roar of rage that rose in him. The bastard had implanted Trina. “I told you, I’m with you now. You can take my word.”
Brody nodded once then walked from the room. Murav closed the door behind them.
Justin turned to Trina, taking her by the arm. “Are you really all right?”
She nodded and glanced at Elyse. “You two are still together?”
“No,” he said sharply. “She works for Brody. She’s the reason you’re here.”
Trina snorted and shook her head. Contrary to her advice in his dream, she’d never warmed to Elyse in real life and didn’t seem shocked to learn the woman had been the cause of her kidnapping. But then, Trina took most things in stride. Sometimes Justin felt she was more self-possessed and calm than he’d ever be. “So we’re being monitored,” she said.
“Talk freely. I won’t repeat a word.” Elyse crossed her heart.
They both stared at her.