Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(107)

“Not yet.” She had met Declan’s father on several occasions, but never his son. She reached out her hand to shake his. “A pleasure, Declan. Monroe has told me a lot about you over these past few years.”

“Good things, I hope.”

“Always. Anyway, I will let both of you get back to business. Just holler if you need anything.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

Declan quickly downed his scotch and set it on the table next to him. “Thank you. Your wife seems lovely.”

“She is. Best thing that ever happened to me. If it wasn’t for her, this job would have eaten me alive years ago. Remember that, Declan. A good woman will keep you going, even when you don’t think you can go anymore. It’s not always about the job.” He wasn’t sure that Declan fully comprehended that.

Declan paused, a far off look in his eyes, as if he was contemplating something serious. He finally just gave a curt nod in response.

Monroe picked up the document that sat next to him. Although it could only have been fifty pages or so, the weight that it bore on Monroe was heavy. “Let’s go over some of the finer points of this document.”

Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.





Chapter 33



“The Trust got approval for the permit in Wyoming to build.”

“The new firewalls installed in the Georgia network will be up and running by nine am Eastern Standard Time.”

“Gavin Beiber would like to meet with you in person. He is asking that you fly to Germany this round. Shall I confirm and set up a time?”

“I’ve been thinking it over and I believe that Teresa Notting would be a better choice to head the mentoring center than Ilene Cavanaugh. We should move Teresa to the top of the candidates.”

“Dad, get some sleep.”

Jonathan rubbed his temples wearily. People had been going non-stop for three weeks straight in his head. He was lucky if he was managing three hours of sleep a night; he was finally beginning to believe his son when he insisted that Jonathan couldn’t keep up this pace anymore.

He closed off his mind; enjoying the instant silence that action afforded him. He now listened only to the steady ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner of his home office. Jonathan sadly noted that the clock confirmed that it was one thirty in the morning; he had hoped to be in bed by midnight.

Jonathan looked at the laptop in front of him, catching up on the few items that he had not already talked about this evening. The policing unit that the Trust was establishing was almost completed. The final candidates list was posted in front of him. Jonathan already knew that he wanted to entrust Kent DiMartino to the job; others had concerns about the appointment, citing his recent stay with the Cine Tofa. Jonathan actually thought that it was an asset. His internal experience with them gave him a special insight to how they worked. His time with the Inquisitors, while rough, did not impact him the way it did some of the others that had been subjected to them. He is sure that this list is what Gavin wanted to discuss with him. He found it frustrating that the Head of Household refused to communicate telepathically.

Three new mentoring centers were already starting construction, a move that pleased him greatly. He was not sure how the general Actual population would take to the change. The mentor/student relationship had been in place for decades, with an emphasis on one on one teaching. Soon there would be more new Actuals than seasoned ones, and the dynamic would fall apart. Setting up mentoring schools would allow one Actual to teach twenty or thirty at a time, acting as a Mentor to all. He did not think it ideal by any means, but certainly necessary. Hopefully, with Declan’s new teaching methods incorporated, the Trust would be better off.

Reports from across the globe sat in front of him, regarding different changes that were to occur. To say he was surprised when the Heads of Household came to a unanimous agreement that there would need to be unprecedented change for the Trust to survive was an understatement. Sometimes it had seemed as of late that Jonah Pasquino and himself were on one side as the Americans, and the European faction were on another altogether.

But now, they were all adopting identical models. Jonathan couldn’t help but wonder what the future of the Trust would be.

He wrote some additional notes on his computer before closing his laptop shut. If he went to bed now, he may actually be able to get four hours of sleep tonight. He stood up, and began to walk out the door to head upstairs, when he heard the buzzing of his cell phone.