Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(110)
DiMartino led them through several security checkpoints before finally arriving at a set of doors that had three men in front of it. “Harrison, will you please open the door. Lionel Whitman has a visitor.”
Harrison bowed his head at Jonathan in respect before doing as he was asked. Jonathan walked through the door, the others remaining behind. He listened as the door slammed loudly behind him. Jonathans heavy footsteps echoed down the long room, his eyes holding fast on the light at the end, where a man sat bound to a chair, with an Inquisitor standing on each side of him, a hand clasped on a shoulder.
As he neared, he noticed that his former best friend’s head hung lowly, his hair drenched in sweat. Jonathan stopped directly in front of him, the room encased in silence. He stared at the pathetic figure in front of him before turning his attention to the Inquisitors.
“Has he moved or said anything since being captured?”
Jonathan did not recognize the balding man who spoke. “No sir. Not since we arrived here at least. He was shouting and cursing on the ride here, but the moment we walked through the building, he clammed right up.”
“Thank you.” Jonathan needed to make sure that he was really controlled. Lionel was brilliant; it would not surprise him if Lionel let himself get captured again. He talked directly to the traitor. “Speak.”
Lionel’s head stayed down.
He looked at the Inquisitor again. “Has he reacted to physical stimuli?”
“We were specifically ordered not to harm him physically, Councilman.”
“I see. Well, maybe we should test him. Waterboarding, perhaps? Unless of course, he would like to talk.” Jonathan made sure that his voice clearly indicated that he was not joking and he was positive that Lionel was very much aware of that. “Speak.”
The man slowly lifted his head, a sinister grin playing on his lips. “Hello, Jonathan.”
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Is that all you have to say? Hello? Surely, Lionel, you should have more to say to me than that.”
“Oh trust me. I have plenty that I want to say to you.”
The Councilman smirked. It was amazing how quickly he went from loving this man like a brother to loathing him. “Well, you will have plenty of time to say it. It is not like you are going anywhere.”
Lionel laughed. “You think you are going to hold me long?”
Jonathan leaned down to his ear, his voice dripping with hate. “Oh, I know we are. We are going to hold you in Trust custody until you are nothing left but a bag of bones.”
His former friend looked around casually as if he did not hear what Jonathan had just told him. “It’s only a matter of time till I escape. You have two Inquisitors on me and they can only prevent me from teleporting and communicating telepathically. At some point, they are going to wear down and then I can leave.”
He waived the man off. He knew himself and DiMartino would make certain that particular scenario never occurred. “So Lionel, tell me… how is Nathaniel these days?”
“Nathaniel is fine, although he is not going to be pleased by this latest turn of events.”
“Nathaniel is not going to be happy about a lot of things, and I think you being captured is the least of them.”
Lionel eyed him cryptically. “What does that mean?”
Jonathan shook his head. “Nothing at all.”
Lionel jostled in his restraints. Jonathan smiled, pleased to have gotten a reaction out of him. “Jonathan, what the f*ck does that mean?”
He turned, having enough of staring at the traitor’s face. “I am just saying, it’s a whole new ballgame out there, Lionel. At least, it will be as of tomorrow.”
“You lie.”
Jonathan reached out and could feel Lionel trying to communicate telepathically, attempting to reach out, but he was unable to. It was the confirmation he was looking for. “The one benefit to you and I being friends for twenty years? You know that I am not lying. The Tribunal will call for you at some point for questioning. Don’t expect it to be anytime soon.”
He heard the scraping of the chair as he begun to walk away. “Jonathan, turn around now! I will not answer to the Tribunal.”
Jonathan looked straight ahead as he reached for the knob, opening the door. “Go to hell, Lionel. Go to hell and don’t ever come back.”
Chapter 34
The past two weeks Caitlyn had spent in deep contemplation regarding everything. Where her life had been, where it was going, what it was doing now. Looking back, there were now three distinct periods of her life, before her mother’s death and sister’s coma, life on her own at college, and as an Actual.