Chapter Forty Hollis
Chapter Forty
Hollis
My brother was locked in a windowless suite on the service level, built for this very purpose: a holding cell. Soundproofed walls and a reinforced steel door. Security inside and outside keeping tabs on him.
It’d gutted me to watch such a strong man walk himself into a cage, when I knew deep down in my soul he was innocent.
Jason was giving me time to process what had happened, and I was taking that moment with Julian before regrouping with the others. Outside on the balcony of Ryder and Alex’s suite, Julian hugged me.
“I believe him,” he said into my ear. “If he says someone made him do it, then he’s telling the truth. He clearly doesn’t remember it happening.”
“They stole only his memory of being there that night with me in Rome. How?” I stepped out of his embrace, swiping away tears.
“How could they selectively delete just a certain memory?” I thought back to Trevor’s cousin, Tessa .
. . I guess it is possible. She’s proof of that.
But not with this drug. This one only works on us, so it couldn’t have been used on her.
“I don’t know, but I do know there were other experiments in that book, not just the identity-wipe one that only works on our bloodline.” Julian rested his back against the railing, eyes set on the room, and I looked back to see where his focus was: Gwen and Easton talking.
“Why didn’t you bring this up before?”
“I sort of told you, didn’t I?”
Honestly, everything was becoming a blur at this point. Not good, since I didn’t have that many memories to hang on to. “You said he created weapons during the Cold War. I think?”
“Yeah, the kind used to get people to ‘conform,’ and do shit,” he said with air quotes. “I’d always thought it was the same weird science shit as the memory drug and didn’t believe it. But that stuff was never my thing. Just”—he winced—“Tristan’s.”
Which brought us back to the brother who was probably truly guilty. He’d used an innocent man and set him up. “Where was Gideon before you two flew to Charleston, when you called to tell him my tracker went offline in Rome?”
“I checked the flight logs on your way back here. I never thought to ask him, because why would I?” He shook his head. “But he was in Monaco, which is a short plane ride to Italy. I met him in Charleston since I was already Stateside, then we flew with Delta Shield to Rome.”
My stomach pitched, cold and sour. “Gideon is the one who talked to all the ravers and Putcheski’s son. You were with him for that?”
“Yeah.” He kept his eyes on the damp pavement.
“None of the ravers seemed to recognize Gideon when we talked to them. They only ID’d you and Kylo, but .
. .” He looked up at me. “Weird thing is, now that we have the street footage outside the library where the ravers took off after, I can see Benjamin and his security making a run for it, but they didn’t have Kylo with them. ”
“Then where the hell is he? Who has him? He wasn’t on that video with me when Gideon put me in that van.”
“There had to be a second side exit or another tunnel system aside from the one Constantine found, since there was only one set of footprints back there. Kylo had to get out and come up top somewhere else.”
“Does that mean . . .” I didn’t even know how to finish that thought; the battle of who’d done this raged loud in my head with uncertainty.
“We’re working on running Kylo’s face through our software to try to get a hit on where he was between the time his flight landed and the rave.
Retrace his steps that way.” He jerked his chin toward the suite.
“We’re also running facial recognition on the three men with Gideon as well.
No hits yet, but something will come up. ”
“What about the Czech Republic?”
“There’s no CCTV footage near the monastery since it’s abandoned. They covered their tracks for a reason, which means whoever brought you there had to be on a camera at some point. Flight records don’t indicate shit, though.”
“So all we know is that someone’s moving us like pawns in their game. If they used Gideon to attack me, then what’d they want with me? Why’d they change their pattern and drop me off in that coffin? Why erase all of my memories?”
“Because you were onto them.” He blinked, then dragged his knuckles along his jawline, seemingly lost in thought before he startled his head upright.
“If this was used on Gideon, who’s to say it wasn’t used on me?
Or Mum? Dad’s in the clear, since the memory drug wouldn’t work on him, but .
. . I’ve, uh, been forgetful lately, and I just thought it was from a lack of sleep, but what if it’s something else?
What if no one mirrored my rig to steal the source code, but I willingly gave it away and explained how to use it myself? ”
“Rig?”
“That’s just what I call my laptop, sorry.”
Before I had a chance to voice my thoughts about everything, Gwen yelled, “I found something.”
Julian caught my arm, guiding me into the suite to hear her out.
Ryder, Alex, Carter, Sebastian, and Easton lingered near the doorway, a solid wall of muscle and suspicion behind Gwen, who sat with her laptop balanced on her thighs. My brother dropped next to her, leaning in to study her screen.
Easton wasted no time in joining them. He slid onto the cushion on her other side, completing the triangle that always seemed to form around her.
Jason cut across the room to join me, anchoring himself at my side.
“Your source code’s been active in other places.” Gwen’s fingers flew across the keys before she angled the laptop toward Julian. “Every time it’s used, it leaves your anonymous signature.”
Julian’s mouth curved at the edges. “What can I say? Gotta mark my territory.”
Easton rolled his eyes. Didn’t blame him there.
“That ego of yours worked in our favor. I traced seventeen instances in the last year alone. You’ve been a busy boy. Were all of these you? Well, aside from Rome, the Czech Republic, and Hollis’s trip to her grandfather’s?”
Julian’s eyes narrowed as he pulled the laptop closer. “Nope. And definitely not . . .” He went still, then looked at me, his tone weighted. “I know where you were while you were missing.”
A cold ripple ran down my spine. “Just tell me I didn’t kill someone.”
“No.” He spun the screen toward me, showcasing an image of a sprawling medieval-looking estate under gray skies. “You were in Florence. Probably to get something from our vault.”
“Why use me for that? If whoever’s been pulling our strings—”
“Only two members of our family at a time are allowed access to it. Dad, and he chose you as the other.” Julian handed the laptop to Gwen and stood. “Everything in that vault is bound to Dad’s line. The drug wouldn’t—”
“Work on him since it’s tied to Mum’s side.
” Was that the first time I’d called her that?
I wasn’t sure why that realization even hit me.
“Did they just knock me out in the crypt and drug me later then? How else would I have . . .” I shook my head.
“Muscle memory. They kept my skills and all that intact, because then I could open it under the power of suggestion without any pushback. Stole my memories, not my mind.” It had to be in that order; I’d have resisted otherwise.
Then again, Gideon and Julian had also been used without losing all their memories, so I wasn’t sure what to think at this point.
“Can we recover the footage from there? See who was with me and find out what they had me steal?”
“Working on it now,” Gwen said, eyes never leaving the glow of her screen.
Jason brought his hand to my back, his thumb sweeping in small circles, steadying me.
“Are we leaving Gideon locked up?” My voice dropped as I shared, “He was drugged, too.”
“He was?” Jason side-eyed me, and I forgot that Julian and I had come to that conclusion alone on the balcony.
I quickly explained everything, then waited for them to process my sci-fi-ish remarks. “It’s not so wild, is it? Mind control.”
Julian jumped in to defend me, reading their unsure looks.
“It’s already happening naturally and organically because of the internet.
The power of suggestion.” He opened his palms, surveying the room.
“You see and hear something over and over again, even if it’s a lie, and people quickly believe it to be the truth.
Trust me when I say some governments and agencies are already weaponizing that strategy to use against people to divide them. Throw in a drug on top of it . . .”
“He’s not wrong,” Easton said, as if it pained him to agree with my brother on anything.
“Regardless,” Ryder interjected, “Gideon said he didn’t trust himself. I don’t blame him for that. I’d feel the same, and he’s not exactly in a prison cell. Maybe we hold off for now on letting him out?”
“I still need to talk to him,” Julian muttered. “Also, call my parents. Warn Mum and Lyra they’re at risk. Let them know the drugs from that book are real, and they’re clearly effective.”
“Make it fast,” Carter said to Julian while removing his phone from his pocket.
“You and Gwen need to stay locked in on this source code and go through the raw footage,” Ryder added. “Whoever’s behind this doesn’t realize you found a way to see where it’s been used and when it’s being used. The second they try again—”
“I’ll pick up on it, and we’ll have their location. That’s bloody brilliant.” Gwen smirked.
“Coming from you, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ryder said wryly.
Julian gave me a quick Everything will be okay nod, then took off from the suite.
“Did you all come up with an infil plan to go after the Putcheskis?” I asked at the memory. “I assume that’s still on the agenda tonight?”
“We’ll talk to Benjamin on the phone. Give him a chance that way first. Plus, we’re short on time,” Carter said steadily.
“He can tell us what we need to know the easy way.” He shifted toward Sebastian.
“And if he doesn’t, or he lies, then I guess that means your wife is putting you in time-out when you’re back in Dublin. ”
“And that’s supposed to mean?” Alex asked, cracking a smile.
Sebastian casually adjusted his red tie. “Translation: I might have to kill people if he doesn’t cooperate. My wife hates when I do that. Carter finds it feckin’ hilarious when I get in trouble.”
I had no clue whether this was true or some inside joke, but both men seemed equally intimidating and about a hundred shades of morally gray.
Carter’s grin came and went fast before he recalibrated, mission-focused again. “Pull up Benjamin’s house in Austria. Access his security feeds.”
“Give me a minute.” Gwen’s fingers moved fast.
Everything was suddenly moving quickly now that we were working as one united front. The enemy had tried to divide us, to turn us on each other, because we’re stronger together. That’s how the devil operates, my subconscious whispered in my ear.
Jason mouthed, “I got you, don’t worry.”
Before I had a chance to say the same, Gwen announced, “We’re about to go live. They’ll be able to hear you, but we won’t be able to hear them.” She blocked the lens with her palm, scanning the room. “Who’s talking?”
Carter tipped his chin at Sebastian. “You run these parts. He’ll recognize you.” He unlocked his phone and handed it to him. “Already programmed Putcheski’s number in it if he’s willing to take the call.”
Sebastian stepped into the frame as Ryder and Alex shifted back, aligning with Jason and me just out of camera range. Gwen angled the laptop to capture only him and hit a button to show our camera and unmute the screen.
“You know who I am. Sebastian Renaud, League leader,” he began, his voice low and commanding. “We can speak like civil men about what happened in Rome at the rave last week”—he held up the phone, his expression hardening—“or you can imagine what happens if I have to come to your house myself.”