Revolution (41 page)

    “I thought you looked sympathetic. The other two were completely clueless.”

    “They’re idiots. They’ll do anything Frump tells them to do,” Rayne said.

    “But you won’t?” Nicole asked.

    “Absolutely not.”

    “He can be a dangerous enemy.”

    “There are plenty of ways to avoid conflict and still get your way,” Rayne said, enjoying his new role of corporate rogue.

    “You’ll have to teach me some of them,” Brenton said, taking a long sip of her drink. She turned serious again and placed her drink on the table.

    “What about the other point I brought up at the meeting? Have you heard anything about it?” she asked, as the familiar crease of consternation formed between her eyebrows.

    “You mean the Body Bank?” Peter asked, feigning a casual demeanor about the subject. He had seen it, personally, and hoped never to see it again.

    “Yes, the Body Bank. Have you heard about them using ordinary civilians for cryogenic freeze?”

    “Yeah, actually I have,” Rayne said, treading carefully. “My….source told me they were running out of criminals, so they are turning to middle class patrons of the theme park to fill the gap.”

    “That’s what I was told. And my sources aren’t crackpots. They’re some of my most reliable technicians,” Nicole said.

    “Same here. I think the rumors are true. I think they’ve run out of criminals and have turned to hijacking ordinary citizens to keep the process going.”

    “It makes a sick kind of Darwinian sense,” Nicole said, pensively. “Sacrificing the relatively unimportant middle class for the benefit of the elite. I just never thought the administration would stoop to doing something like that. It places everyone involved with the project in danger.” She leaned closer to him. “If this were ever to leak out to the news media, who knows what might happen? It could ruin all of us!”

    “I agree, but here’s the problem. If we say anything about it, Frump is going to think we’re disloyal, and he’ll cut us out of the loop.” Rayne said, utilizing all his powers of deception. “He certainly has the power to destroy us. If he goes down, we go down. For now, we just have to play along and pretend everything’s above board.”

    “You’re right, Malcom. It won’t do any good challenging the President. We saw that pretty clearly in the meeting. I think I may have put some of my people in danger by bringing it up.”

    “I take it you saw the feral look in the President’s eyes when he mentioned he wanted the names of your sources,” Rayne said.

    “Yes, I did. I’m afraid he’s going to have his Special Investigative Division interrogate them. I’ve heard horror stories about those interrogations,” Nicole said, loosening her shirt collar.

    “So have I,” Peter said, feeling a chill prickling up the short hairs on the back of his neck.

    Peter gulped down his drink and quickly hit the button for the waitress and ordered another. The subject had wandered too close to home. He could feel his heart racing and adrenaline flowing at the mere mention of the government’s interrogations.

   
I have to calm down so I don’t blow my cover.

    “Malcom, are you all right? You don’t look so well. You’ve suddenly become very pale.” Nicole said.

    “No, I’m all right. I just need another drink.”

    Peter tried to regain his composure before his drink arrived. Sweat was forming on his forehead.

    “Malcom, you don’t look well at all. Maybe you’d feel better if we went for a swim.”

    “That’s a good idea, Nicole. I’d like that. But first, I’d like another drink.”

    The waitress arrived with another Captain’s and Coke, handing it to him.

    Rayne gulped down the last of his drink. He felt his forehead and was relieved to find the sweat drying.

   
I’m going to make it through this. I have to keep going with the flow and everything will be all right.

    “Since you’re done with your drink, let’s go for a swim,” Nicole suggested.

    “Okay, you got it,” Peter said.

    They stood and Rayne followed Brenton down the center aisle toward the clubhouse. As they approached the structure, she veered to the left. They walked down a path running along the clubhouse wall toward the far edge of the courtyard. They reached another smaller courtyard near the edge of the clubhouse, which was flanked by two one-story cabins. The sign above the left cabin door read GENTLEMEN and the sign above the right read LADIES. 

    “I’ll meet you outside in a second,” Nicole said, taking long strides toward the women’s changing room.

    Rayne walked toward the cabin on the left. He entered and was surprised to find an area resembling a small clothing store. Racks of bathing suits were lined up along the walls like a Sportswear Department. Racks of towels were lined up above the bathing suits. Peter searched through the rack until he found his size and pulled a colorful Hawaiian bathing suit from a hanger. He walked through an open doorway and entered a locker room. Rayne sat down on a plush couch, which looked as if it belonged in a living room rather than a locker room, and began stripping off his clothing. Finding an open locker, he placed his clothing into it and was surprised there was no lock on the door. After a moment’s rumination, he realized his mistake.

   
Why would a multi-millionaire want to steal anything out of a locker? Only the most
elite guests in the country are allowed to frequent the Crest Club.
   

    Rayne checked himself out in a nearby mirror. He thought he cut a pretty good figure. His muscles looked like they had toned up in the past few days. He tested his latest charming smile on the mirror and was satisfied. Leaving the locker room, he grabbed a towel from the rack in the small “store” and returned to the courtyard. Nicole wasn’t there yet, so he sat down on a nearby bench. He felt strange wearing only a pair of bathing trunks after wearing Getty’s expensive suit all morning.

    Rayne found that he couldn’t sit still, so he got up and started doing laps around the courtyard. He wrapped his towel around his shoulders, pulling nervously on the ends as he paced.  He halted and tried to act relaxed as Nicole emerged from the ladies’ room.

    “Hey, are you ready for a swim?” Nicole asked.

    “Sure,” Peter said, trying to look Nicole in the eyes.

    She was wearing a tight green bikini, which barely covered her voluptuous form. He had to use every ounce of willpower not to scan her up and down. Still, he could see her spectacular curves from the edges of his vision, as he kept his gaze focused firmly on her eyes.

    “Let’s go then, silly,” she said, smiling.

    “Sure, let’s go,” Rayne said, trying to concentrate on the marble surface of the courtyard, rather than on her exquisite form.

    They left the courtyard and followed a long, winding path through the edge of the pseudo-jungle. Every time his eyes darted over to her scantily clad form, he felt a rush. She continued to smile at him as if she understood what he was going through. They followed the path until they reached the beach at the edge of the lake.

    Nicole took the lead and jogged across the sand toward the glistening water. Peter was glad he could only see her back because he didn’t think he could handle the view from the front. As he followed her across the beach, his eyes remained riveted to her exquisite form.

     Nicole ran into the water, splashing noisily, and dove headfirst into the pool. Peter preferred to enter the pool slowly and went up to his waist. Nicole disappeared under the surface of the water. She reappeared seconds later with her long blonde hair plastered back over her head. Emerging, she let him catch a tantalizing glimpse of her wet cleavage. Again, Peter tried to focus on her eyes.

    “Hey, silly, you still have your towel on your shoulders!” Nicole told him, laughing.

    “You’re right,” Peter replied, chagrined.

    Looking down, he saw the ends of his towel brushing the water. Rayne peeled the towel from his shoulders, crumpled it up, and threw it toward the shore. He watched it land in the sand a few feet from the water. When he turned around again, Nicole had disappeared. Peter felt a moment of panic as the surface of the small lake remained placid and undisturbed.

    Where did she go?

    He did a slow 180-degree turn, looking for her. He couldn’t help feeling that something had happened to her.

    Did she suddenly get a cramp and sink to the bottom? Is she in trouble
?

    Rayne was startled when he felt hands clutching his waist under the water. Looking down, he saw her form directly beneath him. Nicole emerged from the water, laughing. Pressing her body against his, she put her soft hands on his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist as they met eye-to-eye.

    Rayne felt his mind launch into the stratosphere as she pressed her warm, wet lips against his, kissing him hard. He returned the kiss in full, feeling like a movie star who had landed the hottest starlet in Hollywood. After a seemingly endless time, she gently pulled her lips away from his.

    “I knew you would be a good kisser, Malcom,” she whispered, smiling demurely.

    “You’re not too bad yourself,” Peter replied, trying to calm his euphoric mind.

    Never in his wildest dreams had Rayne expected a woman of this caliber to be attracted to him. But he was a fast learner and he went with it.

    “Nicole, you’re absolutely stunning.”

    “Why, thank you, darling,” she said, leaning toward him for another kiss.

    Peter kissed her back, wishing some of his friends at the warehouse could see him now. Billy and Henry’s jaws would have dropped to the floor.     

    The idea of Henry meeting this woman suddenly sobered Peter. He felt less like a schoolboy with a crush and more like an undercover agent on an assignment.

   
I have to calm down and bring myself back down to earth. I have to get my sense of perspective back. Technically, I’m kissing the enemy.

    Still, Rayne didn’t hold back as thoughts of his mission intruded on his euphoria. His mission was all the more reason to continue the seduction.

    The closer I can get to her,
the more I can learn
.

    Rayne tried to think about what Campion would say if she knew about his situation.  

   
Campion would tell me to take advantage of the opportunity and learn everything I can about this woman’s connection with the government. Maybe she can somehow
help me complete the mission.

    Rayne continued kissing her, gently massaging her breasts under the water. He no longer felt like a love-struck teenager. He was beginning to feel like an actor in a movie again. He was startled as Nicole broke the kiss and pulled away from him.

    “Now you have to catch me,” she said as she laughed, turned, and swam away.

    Peter laughed good-naturedly, although he was feeling somewhat frustrated.

    She’s going to make me chase her
.

    Rayne swam after her. He had to rely on the swimming lessons he took at the YMCA when he was a kid. As a result, his form was somewhat awkward from lack of use. Brenton was outdistancing him as she swam toward the edge of the pool. He chased her, putting his face down in the water to pick up speed and turning to the side every few seconds for air. Halting for a moment to get his bearings, he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t see her.

    Obviously, she’s doing her patented
underwater swim
.

    Treading water, Peter saw Nicole’s blonde head break the surface about twenty feet ahead of him. She turned around, saw him, laughed, and began swimming hard toward the tropical foliage at the edge of the pool. Rayne laughed with bemusement, placing his face back in the water for more power strokes. As he neared the edge of the pool, he stopped, treaded water, and looked for her. She had disappeared from view again, but he could still hear her splashing around. The splashing sounded as if it was coming from behind a cluster of green foliage.

    Rayne swam over to the tropical plants growing at the edge of the pool and stopped to listen. The splashing was coming from the left, so he followed along the side of the pool until he found a narrow river at the pool’s edge slicing directly through the tropical plants. The river was about five feet wide and continued for about fifty feet before curving to the right. Rayne saw Brenton swimming around the corner as she disappeared from sight.

   Swimming straight down the narrow channel, Peter reached the curve where Nicole had disappeared. Her splashes were now drowned out by something else.

   
The sound of falling water
.

    Swimming around the curve, he saw a small waterfall cascading over tall rocks directly ahead. A small circular pool surrounded the base.

   
Of course, she’s nowhere in sight. Unless she somehow swam by me underwater, there’s nowhere for her to go. She’s trapped.

    Rayne swam toward the waterfall and soon felt his feet scraping the pool bottom. Planting his feet on the cement floor, he walked toward the cascading water. The pool became shallower as he approached the falls. Soon, he was up to his waist. Looking around, he realized the pool was completely hidden by tall rocks and lush tropical plants. Glancing back, he could no longer see the main pool because of the sharp curve in the river.