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“Control people…you mean people like me.”
“Oh no, dear. Not you. You’re better than that. Your mind is a treasure, and that’s why I tried to teach you more than the power of words. I also wanted to instill the knowledge of how to see the world. I only wish that I could go back to when you were young, teach you again, with the new knowledge I have since I’ve met him.”
Again with the “him.”
“Who?” she demanded. “Who is this guy?”
“If you’re lucky, you’ll get to meet him.”
“Alicia, please, let’s just…go get a cup of coffee and talk about this. Surely you see how,” crazy, “fanciful this all seems. Secret societies, and now this man whose name you won’t even use.”
“Ah, you haven’t yet made the connection.” Alicia turned left, toward the water.
They emerged from between the sand dunes onto a long stretch of deserted beach. The morning sun sparkled on the water, and she blinked to close her eyes. They were driving on the sand and had slowed down enough that she could probably jump out now. The problem would be where she would go from there.
She needed to send another SOS signal. Her phone was long gone, so the beta version of a new smart watch her brother had given her was her only hope of signaling for help. Would it work without her phone? She wished she could remember. Placing her right hand over her left wrist, she curled her thumb into the space under her palm and tapped on the watch, working from memory and praying this was doing something.
That was her only hope of outside rescue, but without any idea if it was working, she needed a plan to get herself out of this mess.
The rolling sand dunes that forced a barrier between the road and beach weren’t just piles of sand, but covered in plants—beach morning glory and railroad vine. That meant the dune was probably stable enough for her to scale it fairly quickly. She wouldn’t sink in the way she would have if it was just sand. She’d put a dune between herself and Alicia, and then either try to make her way to find help, or hide and hope Alicia gave up on finding her. She couldn’t see anything manmade from here, but she had a hard time believing that if she followed the water, she wouldn’t come to something—a private home, public beach, something, someone who could help her. Or at least loan her a phone.
“The connection,” Sylvia prompted, wanting to keep the other woman talking. “What connection?”
“He’s the one who knows about the Masters’ Admiralty because he’s one of them.”
Sylvia stopped thinking about her escape plan, all her attention now on Alicia. “What?”
“He’s one of them. He sees what they’re doing and wants to dismantle the organization. He is both our leader and our double agent.”
“Why doesn’t he just…go to the press? Write a book?” Sylvia demanded.
“They control all media.”
“No one controls all media.”
“Naive,” Alicia scolded. “I thought better of you.”
“I’m naive? You found a man who you wanted to sexually submit to, and because of that, bought into some insane story about a secret society that rules the world? That’s naive. Worse, it’s stupid.” Her plan to not confront, and maybe enrage, the crazy woman was out the window. Sylvia wanted to reach over and slap some sense into her teacher.
Alicia sucked in air, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel.
Her anger somewhat abated, having been expressed, Sylvia fervently wished she could take the words back. She wasn’t really ready to jump out of a moving car, but if Alicia reached for another syringe, she was going to have to.
Alicia’s fingers relaxed. “You don’t understand, and that’s fine. I laughed in his face the first time. Then he showed me evidence, names and records going back a thousand years. All the powerful people and families who didn’t earn that power, but were chosen to receive it. He will not just expose them, but break them. He is Leon and Francisco and Bhagat.”
“Oh, Alicia,” Sylvia said sadly. “What happened to you?”
“Do not pity me,” she snarled. It was the first time the other woman hadn’t seemed cool, calm, and collected.
“You need help,” Sylvia said quietly. They were approaching a curve in the coastline. She’d jump as soon as they passed that point, then run back the way they’d come, and up the dunes. Hopefully it would take Alicia some time to stop the car and turn around, during which, Sylvia would be out of sight.
Twenty yards.
She flexed her toes in her shoes—stylish white canvas sneakers that weren’t exactly meant for running. She was desperately glad she’d worn these rather than the cute sandals that would have looked better with these pants.
Ten yards.
She had to be sure to jump far enough out that her legs didn’t get run over by the back tire. Given the way every muscle in her body was twitching, thanks to adrenaline, she didn’t think that would be a problem.
