Unwilling to Back Down (Survival of the Fittest Book 2)

by Shawn Keys

  The escort, who had introduced himself as Jordan, gave Kyle a careful look. “I don’t want to be part of anything weird.”

  Kyle tried to look casual. “Not asking for anything you don’t do any other night, friend. There’ll be two of them at the table. Show the girl named Sanya the time of her life. Honestly, she deserves it. She’s a pilot, if you want to use that to start a conversation. The other girl is named Rebecca. She’s a pilot, too, and hates this kind of bar. She’s only there to show Sanya a good time. She has no idea what we’re planning. Maybe suggest she go see a movie or something.” He pretended to rummage around in his pocket. “Here, free movie ticket. Maybe give it to Rebecca as something to do in the meantime?”

  Listening carefully, Jordan was trying to pick out any games or lies in what was being said. Fortunately, Kyle didn’t have to test his abilities at lying. He was laying down nothing but truth. Sanya was going to get lucky if he succeeded, they didn’t mean to do anything weird with her, and they hoped Rebecca would head for the movies. All of that was true.

  Only after that were things going to get intense. He ignored that for now. If he thought about it too much, then he would have to start lying and might sound a little fake.

  Jordan pressed one more time. “Nothing else? I can take her where I want? I can do this my way?”

  Kyle smiled easily. “You’re the expert. We’re just a bunch of friends who have pooled our money to show her a good time.”

  Jordan asked, “About that: what happens when she tries to pay me? You looking for me to give her the boyfriend experience, or do you have a way to explain away why I’m already bought for her?”

  Rapidly getting uncomfortable about the whole thing, Kyle tried to laugh it off. “We’re paying you to make the attempt because she would never think to go after someone like you herself. If you can get her to lay out a few more hundreds for you, I’m not going to complain. Maybe cut her a deal, since you’re being double-paid anyway. Call it incentive to try a little harder.” Kyle wasn’t going to lose any sleep about Sanya spending a little extra. “Hell, maybe she’ll turn you down. Not like I can ask for a guarantee, right? If she shoots you down, well, that’ll suck. Don’t push too hard. It’s meant to be fun. If she’s into it, give her what she wants.” He shrugged. “As for where? Hell, man, I have no idea. Do what you do. I mean, do you use your own pad, or a hotel or…?” He shook his head. “Nah, don’t tell me. Don’t want to know.”

  Jordan huffed, relaxing a little. “Alright, man. Thanks. I don’t offer any money-back guarantees or anything, but I think I can show your friend the night of her life.”

  Kyle shook the guy’s hand. “Take it easy. Have fun.”

  The escort walked across the street, shaking hands with the bouncer. He clearly kept his own bribes in order to get access, because it wasn’t long before the bouncer clapped Jordan on the back and let him head inside.

  Kyle said into his mic, “Ringer is inbound.”

  Dazz grouched, “This is totally unfair. Why does the fucked-up eugenicist get a night of rolling around a bed with this guy? She’s going to have this shit-eating grin all day tomorrow. I’m not going to be able to look at her.”

  “You won’t have to,” Kyle said with a small chuckle. “We’re all about Rebecca from now on. Ignore her.” He left Dazz to grumble a little more under her breath, asking Soo-Yun, “Well?”

  “Your guy isn’t wasting any time. He’s already with them, and they’re laughing. Lots of hair brushing and open body language. They aren’t shutting him down.”

  Kyle clenched a fist, taking the small victory for what it was. “Alright. We’re going to have to be ready. There’s no guarantee Rebecca is going to take the bait and go for a movie. Are either of you close enough that you can hear what’s being said? I’d love to have a little warning.”

  There was a pause, then Soo-Yun said quietly, “Hold on. I might be able to get them on speaker.”

  Whatever the doctor was doing to slide the transmitter closer, Kyle was able to pick a couple voices out of the crowd noise.

  The first sounded like someone from the mid-west, intense and hopeful all at once. She sounded like she was half begging, “… really need this, Becca! I mean, come one, no-one has to know!” She let out a giggle. “When’s the next time we’re gonna have the chance to be a little naughty? Come on!”

  The second woman, whose thick southern accent had to belong to Rebecca, answered with a fierce whisper, “You’re not the only one who is going to get tossed out of the program if we’re caught!”

  Kyle might have been overly hopeful, but he swore he heard a part of Rebecca that was being tempted by that, like getting kicked out might be a way out of being there without actually failing. Damn, I hope I’m not imagining that.

  Not totally sure what he was hearing, Jordan was rolling with the whispered discussion. “Hey, if you need to lay low, I could drop this movie pass on you. Friend gave it to me for a birthday and haven’t had the time to go myself. Not a big movie guy. Why don’t you take that, take a load off, stay out of sight, and I’ll go give your friend here a nice time. You can meet up after. My place is right around the corner. No fuss. No muss.”

  Sanya jumped on that. “See?”

  Rebecca’s voice dipped lower, as if embarrassed, “Been that long for you? You’re willing to… you know… pay for it?”

  Sanya actually laughed, then said a lot lower, “We’re gonna vanish from the Earth here for a few months, and I don’t think they’re going to condone us shacking up wherever they’re going to take us. Fuck it, I just need to get laid!”

  Another pause, and then Rebecca spoke with a scowl behind her voice. “Fine! But when I text you that the movie is over, you better be scrambling for your clothes…”

  Her voice faded away as Soo-Yun slipped away. Her voice came back onto the speaker a few seconds later. “Sounds like she’s taking the bait.”

  Kyle said, “Yeah, think you’re right. We’re going to have to be flexible when she gets there. I bribed one of the staff to open up one of the shut-down theatres for a ‘special date’ who’s going to be showing up. I’ll head over there right now and let him know that the whole thing is happening. No matter what movie she picks, they’ll cut her a ticket for that theater. Then it’s up to us.”

  Jackie came on the line. “We’re not far away. I’ve already picked up Chloe.”

  “See you soon.” Kyle took a deep breath. The whole thing was a huge risk, but they’d tossed their dice onto the board. They just had to hope that they didn’t come up snake-eyes.

  * * *

  Chloe said from out in the lobby, “She’s on her way in.”

  A small thrill an anticipation wended through Kyle. This is it. He asked, “What did she pick?”

  Sitting beside him in the theater seats, the corner of Jackie’s mouth quirked in amusement. “What does it matter?”

  Kyle shrugged. “Call me curious.”

  By then, Chloe had found the answer, saying, “A B-rate Sci-Fi called Rumble in Space II. Looks like a low-budget sequel to that train-wreck released last year.”

  Kyle hung his head back against his seat and started to laugh. “You’re not serious!”

  “Yup. Your bribed friend at the counter confirmed it.”

  Kyle was grinning openly. “Well, nice to hear she has great taste in movies.”

  “This is a travesty, Kyle. I’m not sure I can be sleeping with a guy who would spend money to see this in a theater.”

  “Cult classics have an important place in culture –”

  Dazz barked a laugh from where she was on the other side of the lobby, cutting him off. “Which that garbage doesn’t even start to qualify –”

  Jackie chopped her off in turn. “Focus! We’re not here to talk about terrible movies.” She glared at Kyle, daring him to keep the banter going.

  Kyle almost did, just to be impudent. But he heard the doors clang open and footsteps sound on the laminate flooring. It had
to be Rebecca coming in.

  Chloe said, “OK, she’s in the theater. We’ll hang out and make sure no-one wanders in.”

  Kyle whispered, “The staffer I bribed said he would block off the doors with cones and a cleaning sign.”

  Chloe confirmed, “He’s doing it now. But people still get stupid. We’ll make sure no-one stumbles in on you supposed ‘love-birds’.” There was a bit of a smirk behind her voice, and maybe a little of something else.

  Kyle read it as lingering heat from the other day, reminded of the fun sort of things people could get up to in a dark movie theater. He was smiling at those wicked thoughts when he remembered who it was they were waiting for. This woman wasn’t on their side, yet. For all they knew, she had already sworn a blood oath to purge the world of all the ‘unworthy’. He forced himself to see her in that light. Better to think worse of her rather than be charmed just because she liked a movie that he might like. Picturing her as the devil made flesh, he actually felt calmer. More like when he was holding a rifle while getting ready to gun down one of those assholes. Yeah, much better. Steadier. Because this was probably going to take a couple threats before it was all done.

  It wasn’t easy to hold on to that commitment to Rebecca Bruice’s evil intentions when she emerged holding a small bag of popcorn, munching away at a few kernels contentedly. She turned the corner of the entry corridor and looked up into the bank of seats, ready to search for a seat amidst the crowd… only to find that no such crowd existed. She was dressed for a night at a club, though with a clear wish that it could have been a country-themed one. Her normally straight, blood-red hair was drawn back and interwoven in an elaborate, multi-tiered braid that would have been right at home on a ranch, using it to keep her hair out of the hay. She wore a cow-girl-style blouse the color of dark leather trimmed with raw-hide laces along the seams, offset against a black-denim skirt that hugged tightly to her thighs. Beneath the hem, there was a brief glimpse of her slender legs before they disappeared behind tall, stiletto heel boots that reached to the top of her calves.

  Confusion stole across her face. She had not expected a near-empty theater, and her bright hazel eyes that matched her photo were drawn inevitably to Kyle and Jackie sitting near the center as if this was their personal viewing chamber.

  She was undeniably lovely, and Kyle used his assumptions about her possible prejudice to fight past that, determined to think the worst of her for the moment. As such, his voice came out a little stern when he spoke, “Come on in, Rebecca.”

  The other woman had started drifting across the front of the room in front of the screen when he used her name. She froze. “Excuse me?”

  Jackie leaned forward in her seat. “He said that you should come in and talk to us, Rebecca Bruice. And before you think of bolting out of here, you should be very, very worried about who we are and why we know your name. Don’t do anything so stupid as running.”

  Rebecca’s eyes did flicker toward the exit a couple times, as if measuring if she could outrun fate itself. Then, her gaze centered on them and her eyes narrowed. “Who are you? I’m warning you; you really have no idea what you are getting involved with.”

  Jackie flipped open her credentials. “Do you know what this is, Miss Bruice?”

  Rebecca squinted, trying to make out the details past the rows of chairs. “Department of Justice?”

  “That’s right. Good eyes. Then again, we should have expected no less of someone with your pedigree. You’re the heiress of a beautiful set of genes, aren’t you? But then, your father has told you that. Again. And again. And again. That’s one lesson he’s made awfully clear over the years, hasn’t he?”

  Combined fear and anger lit in the woman’s eyes. “What? What do you know about my father?”

  Kyle said, “Does that matter? We’re not wrong. We’re also hoping he never told you the full reason why he would talk about having the right blood in your veins. Probably been that way all your life, hasn’t it? What did he call people who weren’t as good in his mind? Would he have called me a ‘stunted leprechaun’ or ‘a shrunken little donkey’? I’ll bet he had a few creative insults he never used in your presence.”

  Rebecca’s cheeks flushed a little, hearing the superiority in her Dad’s voice even if Kyle wasn’t using the right words. The exact words didn’t matter; he was striking the perfect level of haughty attitude. “You know why I’m here, don’t you?”

  Kyle met her eyes, uncompromising. “Do you know what ‘baseline’ means to the two instructors who are evaluating you right now? Do you know what you are getting into?”

  A trace of confusion crossed her face. “What? N-no, I… I mean, I have no idea what that means. They are FDPC. I’m being evaluated to become part of the agency.” Her eyes darted around. “This is another test, isn’t it? You’re pressuring me. Trying to get me to play some weird game.”

  Jackie shook her head. “No, Miss Bruice. This isn’t a game. You’re not telling us something. This can’t be all of what they told you. I’ve seen the websites advertising the intake examinations and process for FDPC agents. You’re a smart girl. I don’t care if your father lined up this trial and interview process for you. You would have looked it up. You’d know this isn’t the normal way of getting in. What did they tell you? There must have been something more.”

  Struggling to decide what she should say, eventually Rebecca exploded, “I don’t know what you want. It isn’t like I was joining the CIA. They said it was an elite corps within the FDPC. They said our qualities and background gave us the chance to mark a special sort of mark. They said we’d been recommended, and that was the only way to get a chance at this.” She threw up her hands, her eyes sneaking a look at the door again.

  From their pockets, both Kyle and Jackie drew pistols. Kyle shook his head at her. “Don’t do it.”

  Rebecca’s face went white. Before, the threat had been implied. Now, it was naked and in her face. “What the hell is going on?”

  Kyle asked a question to which he already knew the answer. “It was your father who recommended you, wasn’t it? He was a member of this elite unit. At least, that’s what he told you.” Inside, he hoped that was true. The fear on Rebecca’s face looked real. He wanted her to be innocent in all this. Forcing her to help them would be a lot easier. Not a breeze. Her loyalty to her father would still stand in the way. But easier if she had been lied to.

  “Yes!” Rebecca exclaimed.

  Jackie prompted, “He’s been pushing you toward it all your life, hasn’t he? When did you figure it out? After he canceled your college scholarships? Or when he made you become a firefighter pilot?”

  The woman trembled, looking like she wanted to dive out of site. She was totally exposed there, standing in front of the huge white screen. “How do you… how do you know so much about me?”

  Jackie tapped her credentials off the seat in front of her, then slipped it back into her pocket. “I figured that much would be obvious.” She paused. “What’s baseline, Miss Bruice? Have they told you who the enemy is?”

  Throwing up her hands in frustration, Rebecca complained, “I have no idea what you’re talking about! It sounds like some sort of test standard. But they haven’t told us if we’ve met the grade. They don’t tell us anything after any of the tests. We answer questions and they nod or frown or whatever and then send us on our way. I haven’t been sent home so… maybe I’m meeting this stupid baseline you’re talking about. I have no idea!”

  Jackie leaned back in her chair again, shifting her focus over to Kyle for a brief second. Kyle met her eyes, weighing the confidence Jackie felt at what they were hearing. He swore she was as convinced as he was. Interesting. Maybe this could work out after all.

  Kyle shifted forward in his seat, perching right on the edge as if closing the distance between them by even a few inches might lend seriousness to what he said. “What we’re about to tell you is going to be difficult to hear. We don’t have much choice but to count on you being
able to handle it.”

  “Handle what?”

  Kyle heard the exasperation in her voice, sympathizing with her a little. This is not going to be easy for her at all, Kyle knew. Aloud, he said, “Your father was technically a member of the FDPC, like he said. But that wasn’t where his loyalties ended. There are people… an organization… who are using the FDPC for their own purposes. Your father was one of them. He wants you to be one of them.”

  “Their own purposes?” Rebecca laughed helplessly. “I don’t know what that means.”

  Jackie took over, “You do, Miss Bruice. You’ve been quietly groomed for it all your life.” She leaned over and tapped on her projector. It broadcast an image onto the screen behind Rebecca. The image was of a skinny guy, his spine rounded a little from too many video games in front of a screen. “Describe him.”

  Rebecca turned, confused again. “What?”

  “Quickly, Miss Bruice. First adjective that pops into mind. Describe him!”

  Startled, Rebecca blurted out, “Inferior.” Then, a hand slipped up to clamp over her mouth.

  Jackie nodded, leaning back in her chair with an interrogator’s satisfaction. “Sounds like your father just entered the room.”

  Rebecca rushed to say, “That’s not what I meant!”

  “Perhaps not.” Kyle said, giving her the slightest fraction of the benefit of the doubt. “But it’s buried inside you. The ugly part that sees differences and variety as imperfection. Your father’s sad gift to you.”

  Anger stormed onto her face. “You don’t know me. Stop acting like you do!”

  “Perhaps not,” Kyle repeated. “But we know your father. We know a lot like him. And we know what he wanted for you. That’s why you are here.”