Chapter 7 #3
She shrugged. “That’s fine, but we need to get going.
I want to see that this poor guy is doing better and is protected, so he won’t be a victim of these kidnappers again.
Whether their victims have abilities or not, these kidnappers seem to be running out of patience.
So far, I’m not so sure that the boss man running this whole kidnapping operation is terribly convinced that anybody has abilities.
And that one egotistical bastard—Dominic—who fancied himself a mind reader?
Well, maybe he was just a lot of bravado and inflated confidence, yet he clearly had something going on.
So the boss man has maybe one psychic working for him.
From what I saw of Dom though, I don’t know that he’ll maintain his presence in that criminal organization if he can’t find others like him soon. ”
On that note, Jonas stepped away and made a couple arrangements by phone, then motioned at them. “Come on. Let’s head out to the hospital. We’ll take my rig.”
She hesitated and looked over at Terk, but he was already shaking his head. “Nope, we’ll take our own rig. Thanks for the offer though.”
Jonas stared at him but eventually shrugged. He was clearly not pleased with that. “Whatever,” he muttered, then proceeded to lead the way out of the offices again.
As they went down the same elevator, she looked at him, still scrutinizing everything. “What kind of security do you even have here?”
“I would have said it was good security,” he replied, “until this all happened.”
“Yeah, it’s always a bit of a blow when you find out things aren’t quite as good as you would have hoped,” she muttered.
“On the other hand, I am wondering about the moles. Even though you mentioned how you found one person who may have been involved in an information leak, there could easily have been multiple people involved.”
“And we are looking into that,” Jonas replied, as he nodded in understanding.
“What we can’t control is what people do when they’re out of the office.
And just because they’re working under a contract that requires they not speak and have even signed various legal documents to confirm that they don’t, it doesn’t necessarily keep people from doing just that.
Particularly if they think they’ll get money for it. ”
“Right,” she muttered, “and money always seems to drive the criminal enterprise, doesn’t it?”
“Exactly.”
“Speaking of money, you never did tell me what you would offer me, just that very tempting range of salaries,” she noted humorously. “But then I guess that’s because you didn’t get around to making the offer.”
He looked at her and sighed. “You seem to be harping on that. Are you upset because you weren’t offered a job?”
“No, I just feel as if I’ve been through enough, so it would have been nice to know what the wages for my skills would have been. Regardless I would still turn you down,” she added, “but…”
“Would it make a difference?” he asked curiously.
She pondered that, then shrugged. “I don’t know if it would or not, money being what it is. I still need to make a living, you know?”
He didn’t say anything to address that. “Since the team itself isn’t up and running, I wouldn’t disclose that detail regarding money anyway,” he shared. Yet he did glance over at Wallace. “However, if you ever want to talk, let me know.”
Wallace snorted. “Right. So, I’m still on the docket, but she’s not?”
Jonas shrugged. “After what she’s been through, I don’t blame her for not wanting anything to do with it,” he conceded. “And maybe it’s the same thing for you. I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel like it’s the same thing.”
“No, maybe not exactly the same, but still I have a certain level of uncertainty,” he added cheerfully.
“So, in the meantime, you don’t want to work for us, I suppose.”
“Nope, not particularly,” Wallace responded.
“If that’s how it is, how about working for Terk?” Jonas asked.
“I’m not sure that Terk needs more people at this point, but, if he does, I would definitely consider that option.”
“Why him and not me?” Jonas protested.
Terk chuckled but otherwise stayed silent.
Wallace replied, “For one thing, I understand where he’s coming from and what he needs done. In your case it’s the government,” he noted, as if that explained away all his insecurities, “and that’s kind of like operating in the dark all the time. It’s not very comfortable for any of us.”
“So what you’re really saying is, you’ve got this problem with government again.”
“Again?” he repeated, chuckling. “I think you’ll find most of us do.”
“Yep, that’s exactly what we’re finding. Most of you do, whether it’s justified or not.”
“Most of us would say it’s fully justified, and most of us would say that anytime the government’s involved, we have to watch out.”
Jonas snorted. “But you do realize, while you can say that, it doesn’t mean that anything is wrong with working for us.”
“Other than the lack of transparency?” Amy added, with a smirk.
They were outside in the parking lot by now. She looked around and suggested, “Why don’t we just meet you at the hospital?”
He nodded. “See you there in ten.” He hopped into his vehicle as they walked over to theirs.
She looked between Wallace and Terk. “Anybody else get that weird feeling?”
Terk immediately nodded this time. “Yep.”
Wallace asked, “But what was it?” He was clearly frustrated, more than any of them. “I got weird vibes off him, but I don’t know what could be there.”
“You really trust him?” she asked Terk again.
He nodded. “I do, and there’s never been any reason not to. So far, it has all been in the clear.”
“How about now though?” she asked, with a wry look. “I don’t think even he’s aware of it.”
Wallace leaned forward and asked with suspicion in his tone, “Is he being tracked?”
“I think so,” Terk stated. “I’m getting a weird buzz every time I’m around Jonas. Somehow we’ll have to get a message to him and let him know that things aren’t copacetic in his world, without triggering him to inadvertently pass that same information to whomever has bugged him.”
“I can’t imagine he’ll be happy to find out that somebody got close enough to get the upper hand on him though,” Amy noted.
“No, of course not, but he would still rather be free of that influence, instead of having to deal with whatever the hell’s going on,” Terk pointed out, looking at her. “When we work with somebody like that, we always try to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
She muttered. “I might have trouble always being the better person.”
“You’re the better person until there’s a reason not to be,” Terk declared instantly.
“When that happens, then there’s a reason why, and we move on.
” They all piled in Terk’s rig, as he drove them to the hospital.
After he parked, he turned and nodded at them.
“I presume you guys want to talk to the patient on your own.”
“Yes,” she confirmed. “And since you have a rapport with Jonas, you need to talk to him.”
Terk nodded. “Yeah, I do. I just don’t know that I want to do it the easy way.”
“Because there is no easy way with him,” Wallace stated, with a nod.
“Telepathic communication is one thing, for those of us who at least have some idea of what the hell’s going on.
However, to work your way into somebody’s cognitive senses when they haven’t had any training—or worse, someone so skeptical as Jonas—that’s a whole different story.
” Wallace smirked at Terk. “You could just write him a note instead.”
“I was considering that,” Terk admitted, with a sigh. “It’s probably faster to do it that way, but it would be a lot more fun to scare the crap out of him.”
With everybody still laughing, Wallace and Amy headed into the hospital, leaving Terk behind to catch up with Jonas. Once inside, the two walked toward the patient’s room.
She asked Wallace, “What’s his name?”
“It’s Wallace as well, but that’s his last name,” he explained. “That was part of the confusion. It’s Gerry Wallace, if I remember correctly.”
“Poor man,” she murmured.
As they got closer, they found a guard standing outside the room. As soon as Wallace identified himself and pulled out his ID, they were allowed to enter.
“I’m glad they’re looking after him at least,” Amy pointed out. “It seems he’s been given the short end of the stick.” As they stepped inside, the young man was sleeping. Hesitating at the doorway, she looked at Wallace. “Should we wake him?”
At that, the other man opened his eyes and stared at them. “Do I know you?” he asked in confusion.
She shook her head. “No, but this is the Wallace who you were mistaken for.”
He studied Wallace, then nodded. “We have met then, but I don’t remember much of that right now. We have a similar body type too.”
“I was thinking that,” Wallace added, as he walked closer. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t say I’m terribly impressed either. It’s one thing to be punished for shit you’ve done, but another thing to be grabbed for somebody else’s folly,” he shared, with half a smile. “I’m Gerry Wallace, by the way.”
“And I’m Wallace Cremayne,” Wallace replied with a smile, as he reached out a hand. “How’re you doing?”
He shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere soon,” Gerry noted grimly, “but I’m out of that hellhole and alive, so believe me that I’m doing just fine.” Gerry looked over at Amy. “So, if you are with Wallace, then you must be the woman those guys went after too.”
She nodded. “Apparently.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gerry muttered.
“Yeah, they got me too, but Wallace here rescued me.”
At that, Gerry looked at Wallace and smiled. “It sounds as if you’re the man of the hour then.”
Wallace snorted. “I would have much preferred that there hadn’t been any need for the two of you to be rescued in the first place.”