Lethal Influence Read online

  In his rear view mirror, lights appeared, one car and then another. The rebels weren’t far behind. Kai pressed the accelerator a little further, beyond prudence, and clutched the steering wheel. The cars in pursuit stayed with him. Flying around a bend, Kai’s car slid, then righted, but the first car behind him rammed a tree and skidded into the path of the second rebel vehicle. He saw the collision in the rear-view mirror and jumped in his seat as metal meshed with metal. He hesitated, struggling with the instinct to slam on the brakes, drive back and make sure everyone was okay. That was the Trebladore way, but the accident was giving him the break he needed to get away. Biting his lip, he pressed the accelerator instead.

  Forty-five minutes later he reached the highway. Into town or away? They wouldn’t expect him to go back to town, would they? And he had to talk to Beth, although he didn’t know what he could say to her. He turned and, full-throttle, sped toward town.

  Beth’s apartment building was mostly dark when Kai pulled up. He jumped from the jeep and flung open the entrance doors. The light in the vestibule stabbed at his eyes. He blinked hard before jabbing at the button to ring Beth’s apartment. He wondered what time it was; being without his phone was inconvenient in so many ways. After a moment, he buzzed her again, then twice more in quick succession. Still, she didn’t answer.

  Kai scanned down the names on the other buttons. He couldn’t remember any of her neighbors. Was the grumpy man with the terrier Trotter in 312? Was the recluse author across the hall McKenzie in 315? Kai pushed 315. While he waited for a response, he noticed 314, Beth’s apartment, had only a sticky rectangle under the number. Had her name always been missing?

  “Yes, who is it?” said an annoyed, groggy voice.

  “I’m a friend of Beth’s. Her boyfriend. Could you let me in?”

  “The guy with the great abs and green eyes?”

  “Um, I guess so.”

  The door buzzed and Kai pulled it open. He took the stairs two at a time and soon reached the third floor. He knocked on Beth’s door but there wasn’t a stir inside. He knocked again. Then he tried to reach out with his mind, just to find her. Nothing.

  The door across the hall opened, and the author stood pursing her freshly painted lips. Her graying hair was recently combed but her eyes still showed the heaviness of sleep.

  “Where’s Beth? Do you know?” asked Kai.

  “Did you two have a fight?” Her eyes flashed with flirtatious energy. She was at least ten years older than him.

  “No. I’ve just been out of touch for a few days.” Kai remembered that the woman held Beth’s extra key. Since she was home tapping away on her computer all the time, she was a great choice, according to Beth. “When’s the last time you saw her?”

  “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Beth for a few days. But that’s not unusual.”

  “Could you…” He motioned turning a key.

  “You want me to let you in? Forget it. That’s an abuse of the key exchange unwritten agreement.”

  “I just want to see if she’s alright. What if she’s too sick to come to the door?”

  “Why don’t you call her?”

  “I lost my cell phone.”

  “I’ll call her.” Kai waited agonizing seconds while the author found her cell phone. She punched in the numbers. “No answer,” she said, finally.

  “Please.”

  The author gave him a sweeping glance, lingering on his abdomen. “Okay, but we’re going in together.”

  She went in first, calling Beth’s name, flipping on the light. Kai’s jaw dropped. The room was completely empty. Gone were the couch and the coffee table. Gone were the television and the bookshelf. Kai hurried to the bedroom and flung open the door. The room was bare. No bed, no dresser, no clothes in the closet … nothing.

  The author said slowly, “She didn’t say a word about moving.”

  Kai stared and rubbed his forehead, too shocked to say anything but, “Beth.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kai left the jeep at an all-night convenience store and walked five blocks through back alleys and shadows to a hotel. He paid cash for the room.

  Beth was gone. No, Beth had disappeared. He pulled the chain lock into place, went to the desk phone, and dialed Beth’s cell number. The recorded message said the number was disconnected. He slammed the receiver into place. Why would she disconnect her phone? It didn’t make sense. It had rung when the author called it. Now it was disconnected?

  Kai went to the door and peered out the peephole. The two tall lights in the parking lot were dim, covered in a thick layer of dirt. As far as he could see, however, no new vehicles had parked in the lot. The rebels were looking for him; to them he was a secret weapon. How ironic that he could be so powerful yet he had to hide away in fear.

  He could do nothing tonight. He would find Beth tomorrow. He pulled back the covers on the saggy mattress and lay down. With his worry for Beth, disturbing thoughts of the rebel cause, and the wild jump of his nerves every time he heard a sound outside, Kai had a restless night.

  At six o’clock he began to pace in the slivers of early morning light that invaded his room around the edges of the blackout curtains. By eight o’clock he was outside Beth’s apartment building again. He pushed the button marked ‘manager’ and it emitted at harsh buzz.

  “Yes?” The voice was deep and friendly.

  “Hi. I have some questions about the apartment 314…”

  “You want to see it? I’ll meet you there; come on up.” The door buzzed and Kai pulled it open.

  It was a surreal feeling to take these steps without Beth at his side for the second time in as many days. He stopped in front of her apartment.

  He leaned against the door, remembering the first time he’d walked over the threshold. It was their first date. Such a simple occasion but it seemed significant to him. She had symbolically let him into her world. He’d scanned her bookshelf while he waited for her. Classics of literature and microbiology textbooks mingled with a few popular titles. There were knickknacks on a shelf that caught his eye. They were obviously a collection of keepsakes from younger days — a mock U.N. picture with Beth smiling while wearing an African caftan, an award from a state science fair — first place, a picture of her under an apple tree in bloom with her parents on either side. It was in this apartment that he started to see her passions as part of who she was.

  A man in his forties exited an apartment down the hall and came toward Kai.

  “You waiting for someone?” the guy said.

  “Are you the manager?”

  “No.”

  “Did you know the girl who lived here?” Kai asked him.

  “A little.”

  “Did you see her move out?”

  “Yeah. Those guys were pretty efficient.”

  “Movers?”

  “I doubt it. They were a bunch of tall guys, though.”

  “How did she seem?”

  “Who are you? What’s she to you?”

  Kai had several thoughts simultaneously. My love, my reason for living, my girlfriend, but he decided on, “My best friend. I didn’t know she was moving and I’m kind of worried about her.”

  “Well, she didn’t seem too happy that day. Looked like she’d been crying.”

  “Did she say where she was going?”

  “No. Did you fight or something? Most best friends would know when the other moves.”

  “I’ve been away for a while. Lost my phone.” It had been a short while but it felt like forever. So much had happened. So much had changed. The man slapped Kai’s upper arm. “Good luck to you. I think she could use a friend now.” He continued down the hall and turned at the stairs.

  After another minute, a pale little man with a ready smile sauntered up to Kai. He reached out and shook Kai’s hand in a firm grip. “So you’re l
ooking for an apartment, are you? I require references,” he said. “Is that going to be a problem?”

  Kai was about to tell him he didn’t want to rent it but he wanted to see the space one more time. “No, no problem.”

  He walked through the rooms hoping to find some forgotten clue. The smell of her scented candles still lingered, making his chest feel heavy. He turned to the manager. “I knew the girl who lived here.”

  “So that’s how you got here so fast. The ad came out in this morning’s paper.”

  “I’m actually looking for Beth. She must have left a forwarding address.”

  “Nope. The post office takes care of things like that.”

  “Of course. But she must have mentioned where she was going and why she was leaving.”

  “It’s none of my business. People come and go in these apartments all the time. And her father was willing to pay for the months she should have given notice, so that’s fair.”

  Kai nodded. “Her father was here?”

  “Sure. He paid in cash, too.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Tall, with dark hair like hers.”

  “Tall? How tall?”

  “Over six feet.”

  “Was he a little on the heavy side?”

  “If you count muscle as heavy. Not an ounce of fat on that guy. So what do you think? You want to rent the place? I can write down your references.” He pulled a little coil notebook out of his shirt pocket.

  “I have another place to look at in an hour. I’ll give you a call if I decide I want to take it.”

  “Okay. What’s your name?”

  “Bob.”

  Kai walked away. “Over six feet” indeed. Beth’s father was about five foot six and was far from being all-muscle. Whoever paid Beth’s rent, it wasn’t her father.

  Chapter Nineteen

  After leaving Beth’s apartment, Kai stood outside in stunned confusion. The leaves rustled in the trees above him and he looked up. The sky was blue, not a cloud in sight. It was a truly beautiful day. And he knew he couldn’t enjoy it. This was something Beth would have made him stop and appreciate. A beautiful day was not to be wasted on distractions and business. It was to be savored. To be smelled, watched, listened to, and tasted.

  All this flitted through Kai’s mind as he stood on the street in front of Beth’s apartment and tried to think of what to do now. She was gone. Had someone kidnapped her? Why would they take everything she owned if they had kidnapped her? Had she left voluntarily? She must have if she was there when they took the furniture. He had only been gone for two days. How could so much change in two days?

  Spinning around, Kai checked the immediate area. Was the world going crazy? Was he going crazy? First the rebels and now Beth. What was going on? He needed to regain some sense of self-control. He had to think!

  Her parents. He fingered the lighter in his pocket, hesitating as he stood there. He pulled it out, flicking it on. His eyes rested on the tiny gold flame, so much like the fleck that marked a Trebladore eye. He took a deep breath; let the air sing out of his lungs. Once. Twice. He let the clip on the lighter go and watched the flame disappear before he thrust the lighter back into his pocket.

  He knew where Beth’s parents lived; they were just on the other side of town. A half hour later he stood in front of a small bungalow set back from the street. Flowers grew in a profusion of color along the walkway to the door and Kai again thought that Beth would have slowed to enjoy the view.

  When he finally stood before the dark wooden door, he hesitated. The place somehow seemed vacant. He rang the doorbell and stood back, waiting. Several moments passed. He rang the bell again, wondering as he did so if it were broken. When there was still no answer, he rapped his knuckles sharply on the door and tried to peer in the side window. It was frosted and didn’t afford an easy view into the house. Still no sound or movement.

  Kai glanced around the area, seeing that most of the houses were well cared for, clean and tidy. He saw a plastic shopping bag flipping in the breeze, caught on the branch of a crab apple tree that grew in the front yard. This struck him as unusual. Beth’s parents were passionate about keeping things orderly. Kai remembered how neat the inside of this house had been when he had visited with Beth just last week.

  A shiver ran up his spine and he looked around again. The street was deserted, but he imagined unseen eyes staring at him. Slipping quickly down the steps and around the side of the house, he opened the gate into the back yard. He sidled along the wall until he came to a window. Unfortunately the window was too high for him to look in easily. Sighting a sturdy bucket that sat empty by the back door, he placed it upside down under the window and stepped on it. He could just see inside.

  The kitchen table sat just under the window. It had a crisp white tablecloth and a centerpiece of artificial flowers. The refrigerator door was propped open, clearly empty.

  “Can I help you with something, young man?” The voice, coming as it did right beside Kai’s left hip, almost sent him flying off the bucket. He swayed, reached in panic for a handhold, and managed to grasp the sill of the window. Steadying himself, he turned, fighting to tamp down the rising fear that threatened to swallow him whole. He felt his face flush, as if he were blushing. But Trebladores don’t blush. They don’t feel fear and panic, either.

  So why was his heart racing? And why did his ears feel hot?

  He turned to the elderly gentleman standing beside him with both hands on his hips and a quizzical look on his face.

  “I … I was just looking for Bud and Myrtle Flanagan. Do you know where they are? It’s very, very important.”

  The man looked him up and down and shook his head. “You won’t find them here. Not anytime soon, anyways,” he said.

  “Why?” Kai asked, the strange sensation he had felt at Beth’s apartment returning to make his skin tingle and the hairs rise on his arms.

  “They left; that’s why. A big truck showed up yesterday, movers packed all their personal belongings, and then drove away. The Flanagans left hours earlier — flying out, they said, to Italy. Don’t know if they are staying there forever, but they certainly took a lot of their stuff with them. They said they were going to rent the house out … semi furnished.”

  “Do you know why they left?” Kai said, struggling with a sinking feeling deep in his gut.

  “Said they had been offered a chance to work in Italy and they couldn’t refuse. It was too good an opportunity to pass up. Their daughter was all grown up. Didn’t need them so close anymore, so they felt compelled to take the offer.”

  Kai stiffened at the mention of compulsion. Were they Influenced? Did Trebladores do this? Kai felt the now familiar anger rise up through his chest. If they thought they could force him to join their little rebellion by kidnapping his girlfriend and her family, they were about to find out how wrong they were!

  Chapter Twenty

  The elderly man left and Kai stared at the Flanagan’s house as though it was part of a puzzle. Where were they? Where was Beth? He heard the tinkling of a wind chime. He almost dismissed the sound, then jerked his head to the left. There was Harrison crouched on the grass, and Leo was mid-air in his jump from the six-foot fence. Wind chimes, indeed. The sound of Harrison’s chains gave Kai a two-second head start.

  He sprinted to the right, dashing down the back yard and hopping the much shorter gate. Then he ran as though his life and freedom depended on it. If he were going to be any help to Beth, it wouldn’t be as a fellow prisoner. He cut through a yard on his right, a duplex that wasn’t fenced. There was an overturned tricycle and a couple of bikes in the yard, and a sandbox overflowing with dump trucks and Hot Wheels. Then half a block later, he darted down an alley. He didn’t see Harrison or Leo following him, but there was no chance they’d let him slip away without a chase. Had they followed him on foot or gone to a
vehicle? Kai hardly noticed the streets flying by; his breath and his thoughts consumed him.

  A few meters ahead Kai saw a bus parked by the curb. Scanning every direction and seeing no sign of the rebel Trebladores, he slipped onto the bus just before it pulled away. He stuffed a bill in the container for the fare, then dropped into an empty seat and slumped low. The bus’s windows were huge. This was nothing but a mobile fishbowl.

  A woman a little older than him, sitting across the aisle, stared. Kai nodded in the friendly but aloof manner he’d perfected over the years. Women were always trying to get his attention. Then he noticed she had a book and a newspaper on her lap. “Do you mind? Could I borrow your paper?” he asked, still short of breath.

  “Oh, no. Go ahead,” the woman said.

  “Thanks.” He opened the newspaper to the sports section and used it to shield himself.

  His breathing slowed. The first place he wanted to check out was Leo’s house and that was clear up on the north side. They’d used it as a prison once before, maybe that’s where they had Beth now. Perhaps both Beth and her parents were there. Things were crazy. Unfortunately, the bus was heading in the wrong direction.

  As long as the rebels hadn’t seen him get on the bus, he was safe for the moment. He slowly began to relax. First things first; he’d be sure he wasn’t followed, and then he’d head to Leo’s. ‘Out of the frying pan and into the fire,’ came to his mind. Maybe. But what else could he do? The bus passed a bicycle shop and Kai reached up and rang the bell. At the next stop, he returned the newspaper and got off.

  Three young men were gathered on the sidewalk in front of the bike shop. There was a row of bikes, each chained to a long stand, and they were running their hands over a shiny black road bike. Kai looked at the bicycles next to the ones they were examining. “That thing’s not going to make it,” one of the men said, referring to a bike parked on the sidewalk. “You need something new.”