Lethal Influence Read online

  “Are you okay, Kai?” She set her fork down and reached for his hand.

  He jumped up. “I need to use the washroom.” Once the heavy washroom door closed behind him, Kai checked the stalls. He was alone. He paced in front of the row of mirrors. Everywhere he looked his image looked back at him. He was so much the Trebladore. Even if Anthony didn’t know him already, he would be obvious to any of them — the even white teeth, his six-foot-four stature, the large gold fleck in his right eye.

  Just as clearly, Beth wasn’t one of them. Of only average height, she had deep brown eyes with no gold marring their irises and teeth a little less than perfect.

  He chewed his bottom lip. Pulling the cigarette lighter out of his pocket, he flicked it on and off before holding the tiny flame steady, watching it flicker. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. They only saw two people talking. He let the flame go out. Shoving the lighter into his pocket, he took a deep breath before he pulled open the washroom door.

  Kai returned to his seat. He felt Charles’ fatherly eyes and Anthony’s sharper ones on him. Beth gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it and ate his pasta like a starving man. “Are you ready to go?” he asked a few minutes later.

  There was still food on her plate, but she said, “Yes.”

  Waving over the waitress, Kai paid the bill as quickly as he could. He felt his shoulders hunch and he straightened them, forcing his breath to slow, easing the tension that was creeping up his spine. He rose and waited while Beth stood and they left the restaurant.

  She reached for his hand; he flinched at her touch and shoved his hands into his pockets.

  In the truck, driving back to Beth’s apartment, Kai kept the conversation light. The pauses between topics hung heavy with tension that he rushed to fill with more surface comments. Beth sat, looking out the window mumbling her replies. Then she turned to him. “Care to tell me what went on back there?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You don’t? How about your casing-the-joint stroll? How about the two men that made you so nervous.”

  “I wasn’t nervous.”

  “You’re always nervous.”

  She was reducing him to a weak, sniveling sort of man and Kai felt the evaluation like a physical blow. She had no way of knowing what he was actually risking by going against Trebladore rules. And he couldn’t tell her.

  When he didn’t respond, she said, “Maybe I don’t know what’s going on here. I’m not blaming you. Maybe I read more into this relationship than is really there.”

  “That’s not it. I meant it when I said you were important to me.”

  “You wouldn’t even hold my hand after they arrived.”

  “Some people are uncomfortable with public displays of affection. I don’t have to wear my love on my sleeve, do I?”

  Beth’s lips turned into a small smile that she erased a moment later. “Love?”

  There was no going back now. He smiled. “Okay, I’ll admit it. I love you, Beth.” He half expected lightning to strike from the clear night sky and engulf the truck in an annihilating jolt of electricity, but none came. Yet, his heartbeat thundered in his chest.

  “You’re a little nutty, but … I’ll admit … I love you, too.” She slid across the bench seat and Kai draped his arm over her shoulders.

  “I’m sorry I act a little weird sometimes,” he whispered.

  She turned and kissed his jaw. “It’s okay.”

  When the lights of the town came in sight, Kai’s heart fell. These moments snuggled close in the truck, had been happier than any he remembered. For a few brief moments it seemed as though they were the only two creatures in the universe and the cover of darkness had been protection from Trebladore eyes that would disapprove, condemn, and punish. He couldn’t bring himself to ask her to move back to other side but held her a tad tighter instead.

  Kai walked Beth to the front door of the apartment building. Beth’s eyes darkened and she ran her hand up his arm. His muscles trembled under her fingers. Then she leaned in toward him and kissed him. A long, deep, lingering kiss that caused the heat to rise through Kai’s skin. When she released him and turned to put her key in the lock, Kai swallowed and stepped back. Beth looked at him with an invitation in her eyes.

  “Do you want to come in?” she said, her voice low and husky.

  “I … I would love to, Beth. But I can’t.” He saw disappointment flash across her features, and his heart felt heavy in his chest. “I do love you. I’m just not sure we are ready for the next step. I’m not sure I’m ready. You need to understand that I’m not like other guys. I don’t take sex lightly.” He wanted to convince her that his feelings for her were real, but there were other considerations he couldn’t talk about. If he were to get her with child, the consequences were severe.

  “Okay,” she whispered. “I know you respect me, and I know you don’t want to take this relationship for granted or take advantage, and I can respect that. I just want you to know that I am ready … sooo … whenever you are, too … let me know.” She flashed a quick, trembling grin and then pushed open the door, disappearing into the lobby of the apartment building without a backward glance.

  Chapter Eleven

  Harrison jingled when he walked, so Kai heard him coming from twenty feet away. The chains around his neck glittered in the sun as Kai welcomed him to his park bench. Harrison sat, moving the chain that hung from his pocket so he didn’t sit on it. Kai held a book on his lap, open to page forty-seven, as it had been all afternoon.

  “How’s surveillance today?” asked Harrison.

  “No one to add to ‘Persons of Interest.’ It’s been nice.”

  “Good. You deserve a slow day, my man. I heard about that scum, Billie.”

  “Another mission gone bad,” agreed Kai. His words were soft but the turmoil inside him raged. It was so coincidental. Too coincidental. “Strange that he died while we were there.”

  “Very strange.” Harrison’s blue eyes, the gold fleck almost invisible in the bright light of day, watched Kai closely. Kai withdrew a fraction of an inch, feeling like an insect under a microscope.

  “I’m just glad there were three of us. I don’t know what would have happened to me if Anthony and Lincoln hadn’t been there to drag my sorry butt out of there. I just can’t understand why I keep fainting. This is the second time it’s happened.”

  “Well,” Harrison sighed, “I would love to have seen the look on those guys’ faces when they turned and saw Anthony and Lincoln! Lincoln said they lit out of there like their hair was on fire. They didn’t even hesitate to leave Billie lying on the floor.”

  Kai closed the book in his lap. “That is the second time a human has died while being Influenced.”

  Harrison’s gaze rested heavily on Kai. “What are you suggesting?”

  “What if we had something to do with it?”

  “Sometimes humans die, Kai. Humans are susceptible to a lot of sicknesses.”

  Kai’s gaze swept back to the green expanse before him, scattered with humans who were out enjoying a warm, sunny afternoon. They all looked so innocent, so carefree.

  “I’m worried, Harrison. I think I need to talk to Jessip about this.”

  Harrison shook himself, “Well, you can’t do that today. He’s away for the next few days. Besides, the guys and I know you’ve been a little down and we have something we think will cheer you up. Leo has a new TV and we’re gathering to watch the big game tonight. That thing is a freakin’ monster, eighty-nine inches or something like that. Are you in?”

  “Sure. Soccer on the big screen. How could I pass it up?”

  “Are you about done?”

  Kai checked his watch. “Yeah.” He rose. Harrison followed, puffing up his chest and arranging the medallions hanging there. He was several inches shorter than Kai — around five-ten, the
smallest stature for Trebladore men and Kai always thought it bothered him. Harrison never said anything about it so neither did Kai.

  He adjusted the single cigarette behind his right ear. There was always a cigarette there, but Kai had never seen him smoke one. “Leo’s putting burgers on the barbecue, and I have chips and salsa in the van.”

  “Sounds great. Stop at the store and I’ll pick up some drinks.”

  Twenty minutes later, Harrison and Kai arrived at Leo’s, their arms full of impulse snack items that Kai couldn’t pass up. Trebladore metabolisms! If only they could market it.

  “Where’s everyone? Are we the only ones coming?” asked Kai, following Harrison into an empty living room. Two other Trebladore men lived in the house with Leo and Harrison but they were nowhere to be seen. Several moments later, Leo arrived. He was a sturdy black man with a flair for style. Tonight, he wore skinny jeans and a black blazer — not what Kai would have chosen to barbecue in, but to each his own.

  Harrison’s eyes darted to Leo then back at him. “We asked them. Don’t know what they’re up to. I guess if they show, they show, if not, too bad for them.”

  “Their loss,” said Leo presenting a plate of hamburger patties smothered in barbecue sauce.

  They each took a seat in front of the screen, Harrison and Kai on the couch and Leo on the matching leather chair. The game captivated Kai instantly; he ate without noting how many hamburgers he downed.

  Leo got up to close the blinds, fiddle with the front door, and constantly made trips to the kitchen to replenish snack bowls. You’d think he wasn’t interested in soccer at all. Kai, appreciated the ever-full snack bowls, however, and only occasionally noticed that Harrison was looking at him instead of the screen. He could be a weird guy.

  When the game ended, Kai said, “What a faker. I still can’t believe it. There’s no way Smithson deserved a yellow card for that.”

  Leo and Harrison gave mumbled replies.

  “Well, it’s a good thing they pulled out the shot at the end. If that call would have changed the game, I’d be livid.”

  Leo stood. “Yes, livid. I think Trebladores are pretty good at avoiding ‘livid.’ What do you think, Harrison? Have you ever been ‘livid’?”

  Harrison slipped the cigarette out from behind his ear. He used it to point at Kai. “No, I haven’t. What about you, Kai?” His eyebrows shot up in a challenging manner.

  Kai felt the force of their stares. He cleared his throat. “Well, I guess not … but they pulled off the win.” He gathered up a few of the dishes covering the coffee table and took them to the kitchen. When he returned to the living room, Harrison and Leo were standing in front of the door. Harrison chomped on a wad of chewing gum, his eyes challenging.

  Kai felt a chill climb up his arms. “Thanks for the burgers and for the invite,” he said, much lighter than he felt. “See you around.”

  “Stay and talk for a bit,” said Leo.

  They’d never been close buddies, and the invitation seemed stiff. Leo’s glossy black hair appeared alive in the overhead lights. Kai cleared the frog in his throat. “No thanks. It’s getting late and I’d like the walk after sitting so long.”

  “You’re not going anywhere, Kai.” Leo’s voice had a rough edge.

  Nothing made sense. “Uh, what’s with you guys?”

  “Things are changing, Kai.” The confrontational quality in his voice was unmistakable now.

  “What things? We’re all on the same team, guys.”

  “That’s right. But some methods are better than others.”

  “Methods?”

  “Think, Kai,” said Leo. “It’s time to see the truth.” He cleared his throat. “Gentle influence!” He spat out the words. “It so soft, so easily ignored.”

  “You would prefer a less-gentle Influence?”

  “Exactly!” said Harrison.

  “You’re serious?” Kai searched Harrison’s eyes then Leo’s. He was speechless. Who would even conceive of such ideas? His fellow Influencers were treading on strange ground. Kai sat on the arm of one of the chairs and Harrison and Leo followed him, though still staying between Kai and the door. “The work we do among the humans is intricate,” said Kai. “Sure we’d like to succeed in every mission, make them listen, but the Influence appeals to the good in them and helps to bring it out. Sometimes we fail but that’s the nature of the work. It’s a perfect system.”

  “How can you call it perfect when it fails so much of the time?”

  “Influencing is perfect, but humans are not.”

  “Haven’t you ever wanted to do more than nudge someone in the right direction? Have more power?” said Harrison.

  Kai thought of Derek slicing his knife through the dog’s hide. He thought of Billie drawing blood down the girl’s face with the blade of his knife. “Yes,” he admitted. “But we must accept our role.”

  Leo snorted. “Why? Why must we accept it?”

  “You guys need to go back to pre-Influencing theory.”

  “Indoctrination!” said Leo.

  “The foundation,” corrected Kai.

  “I told you he wouldn’t listen,” said Harrison to Leo. “Kai is a drone.”

  “You think so?” Kai said, rising to his feet. He’d heard enough to know they were full of radical ideas and insulting comments. He wouldn’t stay here another minute. He started for the door, but Harrison and Leo tackled him, their combined weight carrying him to the floor. Kai was so surprised he didn’t react for a crucial moment, his face firmly planted into the carpet. Then he bucked Harrison off, but Leo’s wiry strength pinned him again and Harrison came back and sat on Kai’s legs.

  “The Trebladore ways are changing,” said Leo, between heavy breaths. “You need to be part of it.”

  Kai turned his head trying to see them. “What are you talking about?”

  Leo said, “If you’re unwilling to consider our words, you’ll have to talk to him tomorrow.

  “Who?” asked Kai.

  “You’ll find out if he wants you to know.”

  They pulled him to his feet and forced him down the stairs, Kai thrashing between them all the way.

  “I’m not staying here until tomorrow! Let go of me!” yelled Kai.

  “You need to understand. This is the way to make a change in the world!” yelled Harrison.

  At the bottom, they turned a short corner. Harrison opened a door to the left of the stairs. It opened into a room that was sparsely furnished with little more than a single bed and a small lamp on a spindle table. They pushed him through the doorway. Kai stumbled forward, noting that there was no window in this bedroom. He turned to the two men standing in the doorway of the room. Harrison held a key, ready to lock him in. “You’re kidnapping me?”

  “Gee, you catch on quick,” said Harrison.

  Chapter Twelve

  Kai didn’t sleep for a long time, the raw energy coursing through his veins like a drug. He paced, banged against the solid door, rattled the handle until he was sure the hinges wouldn’t give way, and finally came down from the physical high. Eventually, sleep came.

  He woke and stretched. The bed had been surprisingly comfortable, and despite how rudely he’d been shut in this tiny, windowless room, he wasn’t truly frightened. Trebladores were non-violent by nature, and he knew they wouldn’t harm him. Even restraining him and forcing him to stay was more violence than Trebladores normally used. Whatever it was they wanted, it wasn’t to hurt him.

  After the Billie mission, he had not been sure if he was cut out to do this. Except Influencing was what Trebladores did. It was what gave them purpose. And Kai was determined to achieve the level of Influencing his father had. His parents were dead, but if his father were alive, what would he think of Kai’s missions so far? Kai clenched his teeth. He would get better. He would make him proud.

  Jessi
p had spoken to them after Billie’s death. He didn’t treat it as a failure, even though Billie had died instead of becoming a better person. As it happened, this particular death saved a young girl’s life … and may have saved many others as well. Kai was still shaken. This was the second death. “Is it possible that some humans react badly to being Influenced?” he had asked Jessip.

  “You think the Trebladores hurt him?” Jessip exclaimed.

  “It’s such a coincidence…”

  “Nothing we do could harm anyone, Kai. We help, not hurt.” Jessip seemed to look at him with eyes that were suddenly wary. Was he questioning Kai’s understanding of Influencing?

  Kai nodded. “I know that. Of course, we did nothing to harm them.”

  The next two missions he’d been given after the night with Billie were successful. He helped a young man make the right choice when it came to using drugs and Influenced the decision of a teenage girl who was contemplating suicide. These had been simple Influences, ones Kai found quite easy, and they had gone smoothly.

  Now he found himself locked in the basement of one of the Trebladore male dormitory houses, with the inhabitants talking gibberish about rebelling against the standard Trebladore rules. Kai felt uncomfortable. Things were just not making sense. What was going on with these young men? Never before had there been a rebellion among the Trebladores … at least as far as Kai knew.

  His attention was brought sharply back when he heard voices. “Leo, watch the step, man. I can’t believe it’s so dark down here. Where’s the light switch?”

  Kai recognized Harrison’s voice.

  As they unlocked the door, he heard more voices and knew to expect more than two of them. The door swung open and Kai blinked in the sudden light that flooded his room. He looked up at Harrison, who stood with both arms crossed and a scowl twisting the even line of his lips.

  “Thought you might need a bathroom break,” Harrison said. “And then maybe some breakfast before we have a little talk.”