Influencer (Influencing Trilogy Book 2)

by Daniel Hurst

  But as soon as she speaks, those innocent thoughts leave my mind because what she wants to know isn’t something that I ever hoped I would be asked.

  Not today. Not ever.

  ‘I got a weird message the other day telling me to watch my back’ she says. ‘And I know Trey got one as well. So I was just wondering, did you get one too?’

  #FlashingLights

  Emily Bennett

  I love a good fireworks display. There’s something magical about looking up at the heavens and seeing the beautiful arrays of light exploding all above you, illuminating the black sky and making it seem like there is no amount of gloomy darkness that can’t be filled by colour.

  There is also something special about the people you share these moments with. Whose hand are you holding as the colours explode over your head? Who is beside you as the air is filled with a cacophony of loud bangs? Whose smiling face do you see being lit up by the palate of colours above?

  I know that it’s a pretty deep way of thinking about a simple pyrotechnics show but I have always loved fireworks. I loved them as a young girl when my parents would take me to the Bonfire Night display at the local cricket club and I love them to this day, as I stand on a beach in The Bahamas with the rest of the party guests, watching the expensively-assembled show entertaining us all.

  It’s Ryan who is next to me, it’s his hand that is wrapped around mine and it is his smiling face that I see when I look beside me. We share a kiss as the booming noises continue above us and when we look back up, we see the crescendo of the show, which is an impossibly elaborate, and no doubt expensive, choreography of colour, light and sound.

  When it ends, there is a brief moment of total silence before everybody on the beach breaks into loud admiration for what they have just witnessed. Somewhere amongst the crowd is Zack, the birthday boy, who is the reason we are all here on this beautiful evening, witnessing such a stunning spectacle.

  In a moment we will be instructed to step back on board the magnificent yacht that will return us to the equally bright lights of Miami but for now I am happy just to stand here with the cool sand beneath my toes and the presence of my strong, gentlemanly boyfriend beside me.

  I also need the time to allow my inebriated body to process what it is going to do next.

  I’ve had plenty of drinks since the party began but in my defence we have been going for about nine hours. There aren’t many people on this beach who aren’t feeling the effects of the champagne and cocktail diet that we have all been on for the better part of the day. The only ones who aren’t intoxicated now are either those guests who choose not to consume alcohol for health or vanity reasons and the hospitality staff who are no doubt cursing us under their breath and wishing they were allowed to have as much fun as we’re having right now.

  I hear Zack telling everybody to grab their belongings and head back to the yacht. I savour our last few moments on this island, then step back onto the white decking of the vessel that will whisk us away from the tropical sands and back to the harsh concrete of the South Beach strip.

  I see Mason is amongst those who are almost already back on the yacht. She is deep in conversation with Harriet and Trey and I feel a little guilty that I haven’t made as much of an effort with them today as she clearly has. I vow to myself that I will spend time with them on the journey back, catching up and sharing a drink, as we glide across the ocean under the pale hue of the moonlight.

  I also feel a little guilty that Mason has felt that she had to go looking for others to have some fun with at the party today. We had planned to spend most of it together, just like best friends do, but I think even with the best of intentions most of my attention has gone towards Ryan today and not her.

  Of course I had no idea he was going to surprise me by being on board the yacht when we set sail earlier today and, after all the effort he had made in being here to do such a thing, I could hardly just ditch him to go and party with my girl. But I guess I could have involved her more in my conversations with Ryan.

  Ryan and I usually mingle more when we attend events together but that’s also because we have usually just come from his apartment and so there is no need for any extensive catch-up chats between us. But because it has been a week since I last saw him, we have had much to discuss.

  I have told him all about my time back in London and how good it had been to see my mum again. In turn, he has updated me with all the latest happenings on his comedy tour of the West Coast, how the reviews are going and what his agent is predicting for the future. By the time we were up to speed with each other, the alcohol had kicked in and somehow, amongst all the people and the partying around us, we have ended up in our own little bubble of love and happiness and have forgotten to spend much time engaging with others.

  But it has also been nice to be at an event and not feel like I’m working. Usually I am having to network and grow my relationships with the other people in attendance, never mind having to keep my PhoGlo followers updated at regular intervals about what I am doing and who I am doing it with.

  Today though has been a rare treat. We haven’t been here to promote something, nor have we had to feel like we should be chained to our mobile phones in case we miss something big that is happening online. All the best influencers are here right now, so I’m not missing anything. I am right at the heart of it and my followers know where I am, plus I am being tagged and mentioned in enough photos and videos to mean that I don’t have to do it all myself.

  I took a great shot of Bimini as we approached the island earlier today and the blue colours of the sea and sky look amazing when contrasted with the green of the palm trees and the yellow of the sand. But I will wait until I am back in my hotel room in Miami before I upload that photo. I want to give my followers a little more detail about what an incredible day I have experienced but right now, I am simply enjoying the moment and I’m not going to feel guilty about it one little bit.

  But I will have to move soon because most of the partygoers are already back on board the yacht now and unless Ryan and I want to be left alone on a deserted strip of sand then we should probably join them.

  ‘It’s been the best day’ I say, holding Ryan’s hand as we walk barefoot across the sandy dunes that lead down to the water and the steps that will take us back onto the boat’s deck.

  ‘It’s not over yet. I think the party’s just getting started’ he says, pointing to the yacht where the DJ is already playing his songs again to a packed dancefloor.

  ‘Is it bad that all I want to do now is get back to my hotel room and lie in bed with you?’ I ask him, as I feel my feet sinking in the softer parts of the sand that have been touched by the gentle waves of the ocean.

  ‘Only if you are planning on sleeping’ Ryan says to me with a cheeky grin and I laugh.

  ‘Oh no’ I say, suddenly remembering something. ‘I told Mason that she could share the room with me tonight. I didn’t know you were going to be here.’

  ‘That’s okay, I’m sure the bed is big enough for three’ Ryan says, and I slap him playfully across the arm to tell him that that idea is definitely not going to happen.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Mason can find her own room. She’s probably going out partying with most of these guys anyway’ he assures me, and I relax a little. I’m sure he is right. Mason is a big girl. She doesn’t need me to look after her.

  As we reach the yacht, I feel the cool water of the ocean lapping at my ankles and allow Ryan to climb aboard first. I tell him it’s because I want to get a good view of his bum as he climbs up but really it’s so he can’t get a bad view of mine.

  As he pulls himself aboard, I wrap my hands around the steel ladder to hoist myself up out of the water. But as I do, I look back to the dark island where we have just spent the most incredible day. The marquee is quickly being disassembled and the large bonfire that we made at one end of the beach has already been extinguished. Soon we will be gone from here and all that will
remain then will be a couple of the locals, wandering the beach and picking up the litter and leftovers from the swarm of inebriated influencers who had descended on it and spoilt the peace, for a brief period at least.

  By dawn there will be no evidence of the epic party that took place here and the only thing that remains then will be the incredible memories in the minds of all those who were lucky enough to experience it. But just before I hoist myself out of the water and back onto the yacht, I notice a female figure standing on the shoreline behind the workers, just in front of where the palm trees and jungle-like canopy begins.

  I can’t make out her face from here, but I can tell that she is watching the yacht and therefore probably watching me. I presume she is just another local or maybe even a tourist who had been attracted to the area by the extensive firework display that lit up the skies here a short time ago.

  But as I set foot onto the ladder and lift myself out of the water I see the woman is still watching me and it’s only once I have climbed aboard that I notice she has finally retreated into the trees again.

  #BadFeeling

  Mason Manor

  I just want to get going now. The crew members on the yacht are still making the final preparations before we set sail again, but I just wish they would hurry up. I want to get back to Miami and I want to lock myself safely away in a hotel room until I figure out what is going on.

  Most of all I want to know who sent those text messages.

  It’s been a couple of hours now since I found out that Harriet and Trey had received the exact same message that I did.

  The warning message. The threat of revenge. The mystery sender.

  I had hoped my message had been a prank or even just a wrong number but now I know that wasn’t the case. I wasn’t the only one who had received it and more importantly I wasn’t the only one of Sebastian’s former employees to have received it. There was no way that could be a coincidence. Now I am afraid that Sebastian still has allies out there and that these messages mean that it is time for them to get payback.

  Somehow this person seems to know what we did to Sebastian and now they want revenge. What else could it be? Other than my former boss I’m not aware of any other enemies that I have in the world and certainly not any mutual ones who I might share with Harriet and Trey.

  It has to be someone who was close to him. Someone who knew how we had been connected to him. And somebody who was allowing Sebastian to torment us, even from beyond the grave.

  As soon as the three of us had discovered we shared the same ominous message in common we had checked with the rest of Sebastian’s influencers. It had seemed like none of them had until we had found Rochelle Turner sitting under a palm tree filming a video for her account. She told us she had received the same message, which was a concern. Because she was the only other person who had been part of our plot to bring down Sebastian. That meant four out of the five people who had turned against him had received a message saying that Revenge is sweet.

  The only conspirator who hadn’t received the message was Emily.

  I haven’t told her yet that I’m not the only one who has been warned. She hadn’t been overly concerned when I first mentioned the message to her earlier in the week and I doubt she would be too worried about it now. I also don’t want to spoil her day. She is drunk and loving every minute of being with Ryan at this party. Every time I catch a glimpse of her on the crowded beach, she has had her arm linked in his and a big grin on her face. She is the happiest I have ever seen her, and it doesn’t feel right to project all my worries on her right now.

  But I will have to at some point. I have no choice. I can’t just ignore these warnings. Harriet is concerned too though she seems to be alleviating that anxiety by drinking more and more. She is sprawled out next to me on one of the sofas on the yacht and I know she will be asleep long before we arrive back in Miami.

  Trey, on the other hand, seems to think that the whole thing is one big prank, just like Emily had suspected when I had first told her about the messages. He therefore doesn’t seem too concerned and the fact that he is doing shots with some other guys at one of the tables on the yacht confirms this.

  I feel disturbed. I feel concerned. And I feel angry. I should be enjoying this party as much as everybody else around me. I am usually the life and soul of an event like this. Yet here I am sitting by myself, lost in my thoughts and wishing that I were back on dry land so I could make myself feel safer than I do right now.

  I look again at where the crew are working and see that they are finally ready to take us away from this island. I look at the dark shoreline over the edge of the yacht. It had looked so beautiful when we arrived in daylight but seems less appealing now that it is shrouded in darkness.

  It is still three hours back to Miami and the party is far from over. But, as I feel the vibrations from the engine beneath the deck, I am relieved that we are finally on our way.

  As the volume of the DJ’s set increases, I decide to leave the sofa and the drowsy Harriet, and head to the front of the yacht where I will be able to feel the wind in my face as we sail. Even though I feel like I have sobered up a lot since Harriet told me about the messages, I know that technically I am still intoxicated. A good dose of fresh air might help straighten out my thoughts and make me feel a little bit better about the situation.

  I squeeze myself through the wedge of bodies on the dancefloor, stepping over a sleeping guy in the process, before finally making it to the front of the yacht where it is a little less crowded. Putting my hands on the cool steel railings, I feel the warm breeze in my hair as the yacht’s skipper charts a path back to America.

  I definitely feel a lot better here than I had done on the sofa and so decide that I will remain here until I get sick of the wind blowing in my face. As I close my eyes, I mentally force myself to push away the negative thoughts, reminding myself how strong I really am.

  I am the most successful female influencer on PhoGlo. I am an inspiration to millions of women all over the world. And I have killed a man who was coming to kill me.

  If I can achieve all that then I can forget about the mysterious message on my phone.

  It’s just a stupid text.

  What harm can it really do to me?

  #WTF

  Emily Bennett

  Bye Bye Bimini. Thanks for having us. You were the best.

  I know I’m drunk when I’m having an imaginary conversation with an inanimate object, especially one as large and untalkative as a tropical island. I’m definitely wasted but so what? I’m young and I’m living my best life. It would be weirder if I weren’t.

  From my position at the back of the boat I am taking in the view as we slowly leave the tranquil Caribbean behind and head back to the craziness of America. I’m momentarily on my own as Ryan has gone to one of the multitude of bathrooms below deck and, while I could easily find myself somebody to talk to amongst the heaving mass of partygoers behind me, for now I’m happy just to chill on my lonesome.

  That is until I feel my mobile phone vibrating in my hand.

  We’re not that far from the island yet, so we must still be getting signal on our phones. I decide to answer the call, aware that soon we will be out at sea and any communication then will have to wait until Miami.

  The caller ID is withheld and usually I wouldn’t entertain speaking to somebody who doesn’t want me to know who is calling but the high levels of alcohol coursing to my brain means I want a chat and so I connect the call.

  ‘Aloha’ I say, aware that this is a customary greeting in Hawaii and not the Caribbean. But I go with it because I am feeling all tropical and sun-kissed after a day on the beach.

  ‘You need to get off the yacht now.’

  The voice at the other end is masculine and deep.

  ‘Who is this?’ I ask, swaying a little, which is possibly being caused by the boat moving over the waves but is more likely to be caused by how tipsy I am right now.

  ‘Lis
ten to me. If you don’t get off that yacht now, everybody you care about will die.’

  That last part sobers me up quickly.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ I demand to know. If this is some kind of a joke, then I’m not laughing.

  ‘Jump off the yacht before you get too far away from the island’ the man at the other end of the phone tells me, in the same harsh tone in which he delivered his earlier instruction.

  But that isn’t enough to make me leave my boyfriend and best friend behind. I need more information.

  ‘Tell me who this is, right now. I mean it’ I reply, trying to make myself sound just as firm. As I wait for the answer, I notice that my free hand is gripping the steel rail at the back of the yacht extremely tightly.

  ‘I am trying to help you. But you have to get off that yacht now. If you don’t then everybody you care about is at risk. That includes your friends and your boyfriend.’

  I look over my shoulder back to the party and desperately hope to see Ryan making his way towards me through the crowded dancefloor. But there is no sign off him. He is still below deck and I am still on my own. But these warnings are reminding me of how I used to feel when Sebastian had his control over me and every second that goes by makes me think that somehow it isn’t over.

  The message Mason had received warning her of revenge, that I had just dismissed. Now this phone call threatening my family if I don’t comply with an order.

  This has Sebastian written all over it. But he is dead. I am the one who killed him. So who is this person on the other end of the line and why do they want me to get off this yacht?

  ‘Who are you?’ I ask again, even though I know the mystery caller won’t give me their name.

  ‘You have ten seconds to get off the yacht or everyone you care about will die. Swim back to the island. I will be waiting for you on the shoreline. Do it now or have your loved ones die. It’s your choice.’