Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(76)

He also saw that he had released this information to someone, a man. It was fuzzy at first, it appeared that the memory had been tampered with, which was very unusual, but Garrett pushed forward, digging deeper. He had seen this before, and with his advanced skill, he knew that he could get the answer. His face began to dampen with sweat as he probed the memory again, focusing specifically on the man’s face he handed the information to. With suddenness, Stephan’s mind gave out, unable to fight his advances any longer. Garrett saw the face that had taken the information.

With a final attack, Garrett erased the memory of Stephan and his encounter, and sent Stephan into a deep slumber. When he awoke much later, he would have no memory of Garrett and his Inquisitor session, only someone as powerful as he would be able to recall the memory now, giving him more time within the Trust. No one would know his secret that had not been privy to it in the first place. No one.

Garrett walked out of the room, Brandon and Lana waiting outside. They stood up, ready to hear if he had been successful. The information he needed to release needed to be done, and done now. “I need a plane to Maine. Now.”





Chapter 22



Declan walked along a deserted beach, trying in desperation to relax in the afternoon air. It was not working. His mind was racing, going over everything. The stresses of the past few weeks had been getting to him more and more. He thought that perhaps a vacation was just what he needed to clear his mind. It was not working.

Declan heard his cell phone ring. He chastised himself for blocking himself completely from telepathy, but not remembering the simple task of turning off his cell phone. He wondered if he subconsciously did this on purpose, because his life simply was his work.

He thought about not answering his phone, but his curiosity got the best of him.

“Hello?”

“Declan! Where the hell have you been?”

“Caleb. I am taking a vacation.”

“Well, get back up here now. I need to talk to you in person.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Yes, but not what you think. Meet me at my apartment.”

Declan took one last look at the turquoise waves, before closing his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back in Caleb’s apartment, the light of the Caribbean being replaced by the light of Caleb’s computer screen.

Caleb walked out of the bedroom. “That was fast.”

“Who is the person who stole the information?”

Caleb shook his head. “I don’t have that yet. I am close, really close. I’ll have it though. Very soon. I promise.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Because I found out something else. Garrett Stevens is not who everyone thinks he is.”

Declan did not see how this was pertinent. “Who is he then?”

“Garrett Livingston.”

“That is impossible. Garrett Stevens is not Garrett Livingston.”

Caleb paced quickly back and forth in the tiny room, unsure what to do with his hands. Declan could not recall ever seeing him this out of sorts. “He is. I checked out the information four times. He is the son of Nathaniel Livingston all right. Stevens was his mother’s maiden name and the name they took when his mother moved to Colorado. These past six years I have been best friends with the head of the Cine Tofa’s son.”

Declan tried to wrap this information around his head. “How could this have been kept a secret from the Council even?”

“The Council were the ones that agreed to give Mary Stevens clemency with her son when he was six.”

“Do we know if he has had contact with his father?”

“There is a three and a half year period that is missing in his file. Nothing is in there. I am not sure what to make of that.”

Declan clenched his jaw. “Three and a half year period missing? The Trust keeps meticulous files, unless someone disappears or joins the Cine Tofa. It must have been him breaching security. It had to have been him.”

Caleb shook his head. “Garrett may have kept hidden who he truly was all these years, but there are a couple of things wrong with your theory.”

“Such as?”

“One, he is, or rather, was one of my closest friends. He wouldn’t do this, Declan. He just wouldn’t. I know him. He is a good man.”

“He may just be a good actor, Caleb.”

“I refuse to believe that, Declan. But there is more than that.”