Terran Realm Vol 1-6

by Dee, Bonnie

  There was only one driveway in and out of the Wellbeing Center with two gates, one for entrance and one for exit, monitored by a guard in a gatehouse. The Jaguar headed up the drive just as the gate opened for a local news van to enter. Justin gunned the engine and aimed the car straight for the opening—and the front of the van.

  “No. No. No. No. No,” Jhoti pleaded. “My car!”

  The Jag scraped paint as it sped past the van and through the open entrance gate. The squealing graze of metal on metal sent up a shower of sparks and sent the car swerving. Justin fought the Jag back under control.

  Elyse picked herself up off the floor and turned to look out the rear window. The van had stopped and was blocking the Explorer’s way, but the exit gate was already opening. They had only a few seconds head start on their pursuers.

  Justin turned from the driveway onto the country road with a squeal of tires.

  * * * *

  “They’re on the road heading west, but don’t worry, sir, our team is right on their tail.” Murav shifted from foot to foot, telegraphing his nervousness. He absently rubbed dried blood from his temple.

  “They’re out of the complex and I’m not supposed to worry?” Ray’s hands clenched at his sides. “How much do I pay for my so-called security force?” He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. His thoughts were scattered like a flock of birds startled from the brush and flying in all directions. It was all too much to handle, just entirely too much. A dull ache throbbed in his head. “All right. There’s nothing I can do about this right now. I have to get ready for my press conference. Keep on top of the situation and report to me the moment I’m through.”

  Ray went into the nearest men’s room and walked over to the sink. His hands gripped the cold porcelain as he leaned over the basin. But although nausea rolled through him in waves and his stomach rumbled, he didn’t vomit. After a moment, he splashed cool water on his face then regarded his reflection. He looked ghastly, pale and nervous.

  Well, a decent makeup artist could fix that before he went on camera. At least his shirt and suit still looked as fresh as when he had put them on. It was good because he had no time to change.

  “Confidence,” he counseled his reflection. “Cool. Calm. Collected. Presidential.”

  He practiced his smile and it looked good. It was all right. Things hadn’t spun too far out of control. The program might be temporarily disabled, but Rivera could fix it and put everything back on track again. And yes, Foster would go straight to KOTE and tell them everything he’d learned about Ray’s plans, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. The power was still in his hands. As for Elyse Greenwood double-crossing him, well, he’d always known her allegiance was fickle. An aching, gnawing feeling twisted his guts and Ray was forced to face the betrayal that had really injured him—Trina. He should’ve known better than to put his faith in a human, but the girl was the first person in a long time—hell, he might as well admit it—in his whole life, who had really listened to him.

  It had all been faked, a ruse to get Ray to trust and bring her close enough to Foster for him to “rescue” her. What a fool he’d been.

  He massaged his eyes with the heels of his palms, fighting the pressure inside that made them throb. No time for self-pity or regret. He had to prepare for the most momentous moment of his life, at least until the day he took office.

  Ray blew out a long breath, splashed his face again and patted it dry. He faced his reflection again, squaring his shoulders. “In the course of history there are pivotal moments when it becomes clear it is time for a new evolution in society. The United States has been a two-party democracy practically since its inception. I believe it is time for a new force to rise and challenge old beliefs and prejudices. Time for a viable third-party candidate to step forward and say, ‘Enough!’”

  He stared into his own gray-green eyes. “Yes. You can win them over. The power is yours.”

  * * * *

  “Steer!” Justin ordered Jhoti, as he used both hands to search his pockets. Where the hell was the damn chip?

  “What? I can’t!”

  “Steer. Now!”

  Jhoti leaned over and grabbed the wheel, his gaze riveted on the road.

  Justin found the microscopic tab and brought it out to examine it. It looked so harmless, just a tiny bit of metal and electronics, but with the capability of altering a life or changing the world.

  He took control of the wheel again and abruptly pulled the car off the road on an overpass over a major highway. Jumping out of the car, he stood on the bridge and waited for a semi to pass beneath, then dropped the chip. It landed on the trailer, where it either stuck or blew away.

  He got back in the car, reversed it and headed back the way they’d come toward a dirt track he’d noticed a while back. Turning off the main road onto the deeply rutted lane, Justin drove the Jag full speed over pits and valleys that set his teeth rattling.

  “My car,” Jhoti moaned softly to himself as they disappeared off any map.

  “Aren’t you glad I didn’t really put that in your head,” Elyse called from the back seat. “We would have had to throw you over the bridge.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  After Ray bid the reporters good afternoon and left the stage, he went straight to Murav. “Well?”

  The big man looked pale, from either his head injury or nerves. “I’m sorry, sir. They have…”

  “No! I don’t want to hear, ‘I’m sorry.’ Fix this, Murav, or I’ll appoint a new head of security.”

  “They slipped through the gate and it took the tail a few minutes to catch up. Rodriguez and Arndt followed the tracking device on their onboard monitor, but when the chip stopped moving in the middle of the highway, they realized it was a decoy. It had never been implanted in Foster.” Before Ray could respond, Murav hurried on. “I have six teams out there now on all the major highways. We know they’ll head for the airport so it’s only a matter of time…”

  Ray held up a hand. “Shut up! Just … don’t.” He rubbed the crease between his eyebrows, smoothing it out and trying to massage away his resurging headache.

  “Sir, there’s something you need to see. Right away.” Ray’s personal secretary, Janean, was even paler than Murav. In fact, she looked as if she might faint.

  His stomach dropped at her tone. He followed the woman to the prep room behind the auditorium’s stage.

  “I was watching the live broadcast of your announcement, sir. It was followed by … this.” She indicated the television in the corner of the room.

  The CNN logo was down in the corner. The image on the screen was his, slightly off-center from the camera and speaking with great enthusiasm and broad hand gestures.

  As Ray stared at the image of a fanatical zealot spouting insane predictions of world rule, the light rumbling in his stomach escalated to a roiling boil in seconds. “No. Oh no,” he murmured. “No.”

  When the footage ended and the picture returned to a newscaster, Ray glanced up from the television screen. Both Janean and Murav had left the room.

  He was alone, but not for long, Ray knew. The press would hound him. Maybe the police or the FBI would come.

  And his father would definitely be arriving sometime soon. There was no doubt about that.

  He was, to put it bluntly, screwed.

  * * * *

  Elyse settled back into her economy seat on the airplane. She glanced at Trina, sitting beside her gazing out the window, then turned to look at Justin, across the aisle and a few rows back, guarding Jhoti Naidu. He’d insisted on bringing the scientist with them to KOTE.

  “Elyse promised to let me go after I helped you get out,” Naidu had protested.

  “But I didn’t.” Justin grabbed the man’s arm and kept him close as they entered the airport terminal.

  Elyse wasn’t at all sure she wanted to fly to San Francisco to face KOTE either. She might have helped foil Brody’s plan, but she’d also been his employee for
the better part of two years. They were going to pick her brain, then probably throw her in some kind of reprogramming facility.

  She leaned her head against the seat and closed her eyes. She’d never been so exhausted. There was nothing she wanted more at this moment than to be lying in a pillow-soft bed with Justin’s naked body beside her and his warm arms wrapped around her. She would happily stay there for days—maybe weeks.

  And she’d let Justin do so much more than cuddle her. She fantasized him giving her a full-body massage to pull the kinks out of her tense muscles, spending a solid hour on her feet alone, then sucking her toes and licking her instep until the tickling torture had her writhing on the bed. Stifling a moan, Elyse pressed her thighs together and shifted in her seat.

  “Elyse.” Trina’s soft voice jerked her from her erotic daydream.

  Her eyes flew open and she turned toward her traveling companion. Strands of Trina’s hair had pulled from her ponytail and straggled on either side of her face. Elyse imagined her own coiffure was just as wild. As always, the girl’s eyes were as wide as a startled fawn’s, but now Elyse knew the image was deceptive. This young woman had a will of steel and manipulation skills to rival a politician. “Yes?”

  “I still think you really suck for what you did to us, lying to Justin and using me to control him, but I need to thank you for saving my life today.”

  “Well, you’re welcome.” A quick burst of satisfaction swelled inside her. She could get used to the feeling. Do-gooder types must experience it a lot.

  “Are you going to glom onto him?” Trina jerked her head toward Justin. “’Cause I may be grateful for the life-saving thing, but it doesn’t mean I want to see you two together. Not to be rude, but you’re no good for him.”

  The warm, pleasant glow evaporated with a pop like a bubble bursting. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”

  “Well, for the record, I’m letting you know how I feel.” Trina leaned toward her. Elyse felt ridiculously threatened and fought the urge to pull away. “Justin is a hero. He protects people and saves the world. That’s just what he does. He doesn’t need someone like you making him doubt himself and dragging him down.”

  “I wouldn’t. I won’t. I don’t,” Elyse stammered, wondering why she was bothering to explain herself to a nineteen-year-old human girl. “I mean, I lo—care for Justin, but I don’t want to change him. If we did become involved, I wouldn’t want him to be less than what he is.”

  Trina gazed at her. “Whatever. I guess, time will tell.” She grabbed the in-flight magazine from the pouch in the seat in front of her and opened it, dismissing her.

  Elyse sat back, closing her eyes again, but couldn’t rouse the pleasant erotic daydream again. Instead, she thought about what Trina had said. ‘No good.’ Harsh words. How many times as a child had she heard some well-meaning relative say that to her mother about Daddy. “The man’s no good, Karen. You’ve got to stop letting him into your life. He’s bad and loving him will only cause you pain.”

  Was she bad for Justin like that? Did merely being with her diminish his heroic aspect? Assuming she could even get him to give her the time of day after this whole misadventure, would she wreck his life by becoming part of it? Elyse sighed. She wasn’t naturally introspective, preferring to march into life with a take-no-prisoners attitude and seize what she wanted. Wondering about her worthiness to be Justin’s … whatever … gave her a headache.

  “Listen,” Trina’s voice broke the silence again. “Why don’t you trade seats with the Mad Scientist back there so you and Justin can talk?”

  Elyse frowned as she looked into the girl’s serious brown eyes. “Now you want me to talk to him? I’m confused.”

  “I don’t like you, but I love Justin and for some strange reason he seems to have a connection with you. I guess you have stuff to work out, whether you end up hooking up or not. So, go. Talk.”

  Elyse didn’t wait for a second invitation. She went back to Justin and Jhoti. “You. Go up there,” she ordered.

  “Just a minute,” Justin protested. “I don’t want this guy out of my sight. He…”

  “Where’s he going to go? It’s an airplane.”

  Grateful to escape his guard, Naidu quickly got up and took Elyse’s vacated seat. She slipped in beside Justin. Immediately his nearness impacted her, the warmth of his arm next to hers, his subtle male scent, his sheer size and presence. All these things combined to set fireworks off in her belly. Since she was already wired from their close escape from Brody, it didn’t take much to rev up her motor.

  “Hi,” she said inanely.

  “What do you want?” His eyes scanning hers were like two laser beams, bright blue and piercing.

  “Guess I just want to know what happens next? If I go to KOTE with you, am I setting myself up for some jail time? What kind of punishment do they give bad girls like me? Cause really, if a whipping has to be administered, I prefer you do it.” She grinned, feigning nonchalance.

  Justin didn’t return her smile. “I don’t know. There’s no set way of dealing with Destroyers. It kind of goes on a case-by-case basis.”

  “What, like destroy a rainforest—ten demerits? Kill a baby seal—three? What’s the penalty for collusion with an attempted world takeover? Death? And how much is my sentence mitigated because I helped foil the plot?” She kept babbling, throwing out sarcastic comments, because she was too scared to ask him what she really wanted to. What about us? Is there an us?

  Justin let out a long breath. “I know you’re nervous, Elyse. I don’t blame you. Don’t forget, my ass is on the line here, too. When I tell them what I did for Brody—the whole box debacle—even though it didn’t turn out to be important, Donavan’s not going to be too happy with me.” Suddenly his hand covered hers on the armrest and Elyse’s heart raced as eagerly as a tail-wagging puppy.

  She looked at his big hand covering hers for a moment. “I’m sorry I made so much trouble for you. I know I’ve apologized a half dozen times already, but really, I am.”

  He stroked her hand once, sending a chill up her arm, then pulled his away. “Forget it. Your nature is chaotic. I get that now. You’re like a hurricane. You don’t mean to harm anybody, but they get in your way and there’s going to be damage.”

  Elyse swallowed past a sudden lump in her throat. His words weren’t cruel and probably they were true, but for some reason they hurt her more than anything he’d ever said to her when he was truly raging. I’m not a hurricane! She wanted to protest. I can be good. Give me another chance.

  “What happens afterward?” she asked. “Assuming they don’t arrest me after they question me.”

  “What do you want to happen?” Justin’s gaze continued to pierce hers, making her want to wiggle in her seat. “You can do anything, Elyse. Become anything you want to be. Don’t let either of your parents’ lives dictate yours.” His gaze drifted away and she let out a sigh of relief. He looked across the aisle at the snip of Trina’s profile they could see from where they sat. “If there’s one thing I learned from all of this, it’s that there are more shades of gray in this world than I ever wanted to admit to before. But I still believe … you have to become the best version of yourself you can be.”

  “Well, that sucks,” Elyse said. “I’m way off the mark on this one.”

  “No.” He reached for her hand again, but this time he didn’t just touch it. He wrapped his fingers around her palm until her small hand was engulfed in his. “That’s not true. Somewhere in there you’re a good person, Elyse. And I don’t think it would take much for you to become an even better one.”

  “Is that a compliment? I can’t quite tell.” She smiled.

  He laughed. And then suddenly he leaned in, cupped the side of her face and kissed her, long and lingering. Drawing away after a moment, he whispered, “Here’s another left-handed compliment for you. You’re a real bitch—but I kind of like it.”

  She was breathless from the unexpected kiss and l
ack of oxygen was the only explanation she could find for what she said next. “Does that mean maybe you’d like me to stick around a while? You know I can’t go back to my apartment, not even to get my things. I burned my bridges, and since you’re kind of the one who made me homeless and jobless, I think you have a responsibility to … I don’t know … take me in or something.”

  He chuckled again, the rich sound sinking into her bones, warming her like a strong cup of coffee on a cold morning. “Yes, Elyse. You can crash at my place for a while.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ray sat in his darkened office, watching the footage over and over again. He’d seen it so many times now, he’d memorized every line, every facial expression and vocal mannerism. He could do a creditable imitation of himself if he was ever called on to do so—a regular one-man show.

  He lifted the remote and pressed rewind again. If there were a way to kill Foster and Greenwood and that evil, little human bitch, he would find it. Right now, he didn’t know if any of his staff was left in the facility, but maybe Murav was still around. The man had always been loyal. Surely there had to be someone he could trust.

  When Ray thought about how the girl had lied to his face, lulling him into a sense of security, then cruelly cutting his legs out from under him, it made his stomach clench and churn. How could he have been so naïve and placed so much trust in a human?

  He pressed play, starting the footage again then took a long pull from his bottle of Pepto Bismol. The intercom on his desk blared to life, startling him so much that he almost dropped both the bottle and the remote. “Yes, Janean. What is it?”

  “Your father is here, sir.”

  Ray’s stomach gave another sickening roll and he was afraid he might vomit on the carpet. He swallowed the bitter bile in his throat before answering. “All right. Send him in.”