Page 50 of A Man of Power

I walk to the local coffee shop, but no one has seen her. I text Erin to confirm that they reached out to her family. They haven’t heard from her either. Erin’s trying not to worry them yet. None of her other friends have heard from her. She hasn’t posted on social media. She hasn’t made contact with anyone since she went for that run.

At some point in my searching, Erin texts to say she filed the police report. The afternoon is quickly turning into evening. Conner and Aiden have checked area after area. Between the three of us, I feel like we’ve scoured most of the city by the time the sun starts to lower in the sky.

“We’re going to have to call it a night,” Conner states after I call him to check in for the fifth time.

“Use a flashlight,” I growl.

“Sebastian, go home. Get a good night of sleep, and then we’ll start again tomorrow.”

I hang up on him because I’m not having any of that. I wrack my brain for a second as I get in my car again and start aimlessly driving around. Can I call someone? No. The only two people I trust right now are Conner and Aiden. I don’t know who in the brotherhood is on my side. Hell, I don’t even know if anyone beyond my two closest friends is on my side. Maybe Aaron? I should trust all my brothers who live by me, but I’m starting to have doubts in the pit of my stomach and I don’t like that, not at all.

I know who I can’t trust. My father. I can’t help wondering if he’s behind the text messages and the help from the White House on my transportation bill. The elders of the brotherhood, the elite, never reveal themselves, but based on those conversations that Kara and I heard so many years ago, I’m fairly certain he’s one of them. And I don’t like that he’s pulling the strings. Where my moral compass might be directionally off, my father has no moral compass. He’d sell his soul to the devil to make sure our family’s political empire stayed intact.

My mind zones out to the memory of that conversation.

“Kara?” I ask as I walk down the back hallway of our home. She’s leaning against the wall with a glass cup to her ear.

Her eyes widen and she puts her finger to her lips to indicate that I need to shut the fuck up. I roll my eyes and walk toward her.

“What are you doing?” I mouth.

“Listening. Dad is in there talking to someone. I was curious,” she mouths back. This has been our game for as long as I can remember. We’ve gotten very good at lip-reading because in our family children should be seen and not heard.

“Does that even work?” I ask, my lips forming the words.

She nods and smiles, offering the glass to me. I shake my head and walk back to the kitchen. I grab my own cup and head back down the hall. This time, I motion for her to go into the butler’s pantry that backs onto our father’s office. It’s safer than being in the hallway.

She follows me and we both put glasses to the wall and listen.

“It’s done,” my father’s voice hisses in anger.

“What do you mean it’s done?” another voice asks. It sounds like someone on speakerphone.

“I signed the order this morning. It will be completed today.”

“Todd didn’t vote,” the voice says in a flat tone.

“Fuck the vote. This can’t wait for all of us to be wrangled onto a call. And I wasn’t going to send a message out through the encrypted channels. This can’t get out. This is too sensitive,” my father explains.

“Fuck. Fine. But at our next meeting, this has to be explained. The council will not be pleased.”

Our father sighs. “The council’s time is coming to an end. It’s our time now.”

There’s a long pause. “So, the plan has been put into action, the whole plan?”

“Yes.”

“The hit was ordered.”

“Yes.”

“I see. Inform me when it’s over.”

“The other elite will be informed when it is completed. He shouldn’t have overstepped. We all know the price we pay for breaking a vow,” my father states.

“Will we be invoking the vows at that time?” the man asks.

“We will. The new elite member will be invited to our next meeting and we will vote on the council then. Orders will go out shortly.”

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