Barry also sat quietly, while Kyle was going over his potential options.
“We’re getting closer. What do we have, a little less than a day?” Barry asked hoping to get a response from Kyle. His previous attempts failed to illicit even a nod or grunt.
Hearing Barry’s voice only made Kyle grip the wheel tighter, if that was possible.
“I think we should talk, I really do. Don’t you want to know what I can offer to help you and your wife?” Barry asked.
“I want to wait until I hear more from Portia,” Kyle said, finally breaking his silence.
“But by then, it may be too late.”
Kyle chewed on that response. There was truth to that reasoning. Information was his friend and the more he had the better. “Fine. What are you offering and for what?”
“I want you to kill my father,” Barry said calmly.
Kyle slammed on the brakes, bringing the truck to a stop but forcing Barry into the dash. “What?”
“Christ man, how about warning me before you do that shit!”
“You just asked me if I would kill your father. Do you know how many guards are around him at all times?”
“Yes, but…”
“And how do I do it without getting caught. The last thing I want to do is die and leave Portia a widow.”
“But all you…”
“You’re joking, right? This is a stupid childish prank, a test,” Kyle asked once more interrupting Barry.
“If you’d let me finish I’ll tell you everything, I just need you to close your mouth for five minutes and I can break it all down for you.”
Kyle’s nostril’s flared and his face turned flush. “Go ahead,” he snapped.
“I’ll easily get you in front of my father, just us three, from there you can take him out. Once I’m in charge, I’ll pardon your wife and you two can go back to living you happy life.”
“How is that a deal at all? I don’t even know what your father is proposing to Portia, for all I know it could be benign.”
Barry began to shake his head.
“What?”
“I know you’re a bit clueless, but now you sound fucking stupid. You’ve known my father for nineteen years. He wants something so valuable to you, that he asked me…” Barry said then stopped talking.
Intrigued, Kyle said, “Finish what you were going to say.”
“This morning, I called my father to check in. He was having someone go get her right after I got off the phone,” Barry said.
“Finish your other thought,” Kyle barked.
“He asked me to kill you,” Barry said plainly.
Hearing that, Kyle looked to make sure Barry didn’t have a weapon in his hand or near him, he then thought hard if what Barry was saying could be true. He knew Number One’s wife had recently passed away and he also knew Number One had an eye for younger women and that it was rumored he had affairs with other people’s wives. Why would he do that to him? This was the same man who had saved him years ago. Now after all these years he wanted him dead?
“Search your thoughts and feelings. You know it’s true,” Barry said.
Kyle did just that. The more he thought on it, the more confidence he had in Barry’s theory. He looked at Barry and said, “He wants me out of the way so that he can get Portia.”
Barry put his finger on the tip of his nose. “Bingo.”
Dismayed, Kyle let go of the steering wheel and lowered his head. “But why?”
“Why do people do anything?” Barry asked.
“I’ve been loyal to him since after he found me. I gave him my life in service to The Collective.”
“I’m going to tell you something else and this will no doubt piss you off.”
Kyle sat speechless.
“You don’t have any leverage over me, it’s not like this is a deal so my father doesn’t find out I’m fucking kids. He knows. He’s known for a long time. While you’re out there driving and risking your life for The Collective, he’s been playing four-dimensional chess against you. I never went missing, he sent you out to quote unquote find me so we could kill you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because I want you to kill him.”
“I kill him and you take over, it’s simple, very simple.”
“Yes, now you see,” Barry said with a broad smile.
“How about I kill you and kill him, hell I’ll kill everyone,” Kyle said out of anger.
“You and I both know that you’ll never succeed at that. This is the only way for you and Portia to be together and safe. If you show up at The Collective, you won’t make even past the walls and Portia will be his new wife.”
Kyle sat and thought. As he looked towards the gently sloping hills and the mountains beyond he couldn’t help but think that even after a nuclear war, man was still scheming, and devising ways to screw each other over. Number One’s experiment for social justice and a government designed to bring equality and fairness was all bullshit. He still lived in opulence and he pursued and went after anything he wanted, even other people’s wives. This wasn’t a reboot, this was the same all over again.
“Let me tell you one more thing that will make it easier for you. My father is sick. He has something called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I guess women normally get it but nevertheless he has it. He needs a steady supply of hormone replacement and the only place we’ve found a plentiful supply is in the Rocky Mountain Republic. I guess those bastards have a pharmaceutical plant in their boundaries and they got it up and running a few years back. We ran into some trouble with them ten years ago concerning trade as you know well. However, with father’s need for those hormones he began trading in the one commodity we could spare… children.”
Kyle snapped his head and glared at Barry, “He’s been involved in the slave trade of children?”
“Yes, just so he could get his precious hormones,” Barry confessed.
“Why am I just finding out about this? How could this remain so quiet?”
“It’s called paying people off, we knew you couldn’t be bought but we found other drivers like Ten and Two, and others. You’d be surprised who’s involved.”
“Unbelievable.”
“Now you know why I kept saying you were clueless. While you were being the honorable one out there fighting and scavenging for The Collective, the rest of us were playing the game of greed, lust, gluttony, you name it. This whole system we created is bullshit, it’s a scam.”
Clenching his fists, Kyle said, “I just want to…”
“Kill him?”
Kyle squeezed his fists tightly and answered, “Yes.”
Portia hadn’t been outside the walls of Collective Prime since they had gone up. There wasn’t any need for her too and it was illegal.
“Where are you taking me?” Portia asked Number One.
“Right there, he said pointing towards a large building.”
“Is that a hotel?”
“Yes, before The Reboot it was the Ritz Carlton, it’s now my secret getaway, I call it the Lair. It’s heavily protected so you don’t have to worry.”
“Why are you taking me here?” she asked.
“I’ll explain it all once we get there. And from now on, please call me Xavier.”
She nodded.
Ahead of them, the road narrowed and channeled them towards a large metal gate which opened when they came near. On the other side the road widened again and slivered up the hill towards a second gate, which too was open for them. After that, they continued until they stopped under a massive wood porte cochere. Armed men surrounded the vehicle and faced out. More men came and opened her and Xavier’s door.