Chapter 17

Chloe sat beside Trevor on the small plane as the tires bumped the tarmac. Her fingers crept into his hand and twined with his. They were landing in Washington D.C. and she was frightened to death. If the people here discovered her power, what she could do, they would use her as they had probably tried to use Trevor.

He gave her hand a small squeeze and sent her a reassuring smile. She smiled back but she knew it was a weak smile and her face was pale and drawn. Her face lifted to look up at Agent Durn as he came down the aisle to stand beside their seats.

“Come on, time to go,” he said in a more or less resigned voice.

They had both noticed that he honestly didn’t seem to want to bring them here. For the most part, he had been friendly, kind, and very nice to them. It was only as they got closer and closer to Washington that he became more withdrawn and seemed to become the quintessential FBI agent.

Now, he placed them in handcuffs once more, and led them off the plane and to another dark SUV. They were placed in the back and driven away from the airport. The agents in the car were all quiet. Agent Durn included.

Chloe felt Trevor tense as they pulled up in front of a rather anonymous looking gate. “Tre?” she questioned him.

He shook his head and said nothing. But she could tell that something about the place bothered him. She simply held his hand as they pulled through the gate and headed for the building where they parked and the agents led them inside.

They were taken to an office, Durn knocked on the door, and they were asked to enter. He pushed the door open and as they were led inside, the other agents walked off down the hallway, leaving them with Durn and the two men that were already inside the office.

The man behind the desk was probably close to sixty, he wore some sort of military uniform, his hair, though nearly all gray, was still thick. The second he saw them a broad smile broke out on his face and he turned to the man sitting in a chair against one wall. “See Brooks told you he’d bring them in. I told you!”

Brooks’ expression didn’t change. The stoic look remained. Eyes cold and icy. Features expressionless, he simply stared at them, chin propped on the knuckles of his right hand, elbow on the arm of the chair as he studied them.

Durn gave the man behind the desk a nod. “Yes, General Maitland, here they are.”

“Very well done, Agent Durn. Very well done indeed!” The General sat back in his chair, still smiling as he watched them. “You didn’t think you could elude us forever did you Madison?”

Chloe looked sideways at Trevor who was giving the General a very convincing blank look. Or perhaps it was a real one. She couldn’t be certain.

“Do I know you?” he said.

Maitland sat forward with a frown. “Is that supposed to be a joke?”

Durn shook his head. “Afraid not General.” He threw the wallet that Trevor had been carrying as Treacy Maher on the desk and watched as he picked it up.

The General sent Brooks a glare. “Brooks?”

Brooks shrugged. “Minor matter. We know its Madison.”

Trevor sighed heavily. “This is ridiculous.”

Brooks rose and walked over to the General’s desk, picked up his Blackberry and calmly threw it on the floor.

“Brooks, what in the hell are you doing?” the General roared.

Brooks didn’t say a word as he stooped down, picked up the device, tested it to be certain it was busted and smirked at Trevor, holding it out to him.

Trevor arched a brow at him. “What should I do with that?”

“Simple, touch it,” Brooks told him.

Trevor shrugged. “Sure why not.” He took the Blackberry from Brooks and held it.

Chloe felt a sense of panic as she watched Trevor hold the broken Blackberry in his hand the second Brooks took it back he would know who Trevor was. Trevor looked at her and rolled his eyes as if to say, “Who are these freaks?” before he looked back at Brooks.

She suddenly got it, all it took was that look from him. She looked at Brooks. “This is really stupid.” She reached out, snatched the Blackberry from Trevor’s hand, and pushed at the power button. “It’s a piece of scrap! I mean come on, what did you expect to happen when he touched it? Did you expect some major miracle to occur and it would be fixed.” She tossed it back at Brooks who was standing there with a stunned expression on his face. Who knew, the guy could actually change expressions?

They watched as Brooks punched repeatedly at the power button. “Impossible!”

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d like to know what’s impossible.”

Durn was looking at Brooks with narrowed eyes. “Yeah, I’d like to know the same thing.”

“Can we leave now that we’ve established that we’re obviously not who you’re looking for?” Trevor asked looking between Brooks and the general.

“No. Lock them up Durn. Until we get to the bottom of this you aren’t leaving!” Brooks yelled at Trevor.

Durn made off to protest, but a stem look from Brooks stopped him. He grabbed Trevor by the arm and hauled him out into the corridor, Chloe followed automatically. Durn was cursing beneath his breath as he led them down the empty hallways.

He pulled them into the small apartment that Trevor had been assigned to during his last “visit” here and slammed the door shut behind them. Uttering several more curses, nearly all of them directed at Brooks, he turned to face Trevor and Chloe.

“All right what exactly is going on and do not lie to me d****t!”

Trevor held his wrists out. “Cuffs first.” He waited while Durn removed their handcuffs.

“Right. Now explain a few things. Are you or are you not Trevor Madison?”

Trevor looked at Chloe who gave him a small nod. He sighed and motioned toward the couch. Before they all took seats, he moved to the small stereo system near the television and turned it on, then moved to the camera up in the corner grinned and waved at before he tossed a dish towel from the kitchen over it, and then he went and sat down with the others. Trevor sifted his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “Yes, I am.”

“Why the hell didn’t you say so?”

Trevor gave him a twisted little smile. “Would you have?”

Durn dragged a hand over his face and cursed. “No, no, I wouldn’t have. S**t. What in the hell is going on here?”

“Wish I could tell you. I don’t remember very much. I know I was here before. Brooks brought me here to do something, but I can’t for life of me remember what it was. When I ran from here, I was injured, lost my memory. A lot of it still hasn’t come back.”

Durn grimaced. “He won’t tell us a damn thing. He’s playing everything close to the vest. Claims it’s all need to know and we don’t need to know. He gives us just enough to get the job done. And it’s barely enough at that. I knew there was something wrong with this entire assignment. I knew it!”

Trevor dropped his head back against the couch cushions. “If only we knew exactly what it was.”

Durn studied him. “You aren’t at all like what the file said you’d be.”

Trevor raised his head and smiled at Durn. “I’ve changed since I ran from here. I learned a lot since I’ve been out on my own. The Maher family taught me a lot. The file you had I’m sure was accurate for Trevor Madison, for Treacy Maher, not so much.”

“So you weren’t exactly lying when you said you were Treacy Maher, you considered yourself Treacy Maher, now.”

He nodded and dropped his head back down. “Yes, I left Trevor Madison behind. As far as I’m concerned, he’s gone. I’m not sure I want to be that man any longer.”

Durn shifted his gaze to Chloe. “And you?”

“The girl I was died a long time ago Agent Durn. She died when I was twelve and ended up on top of that mountain where Tre found me.”

“Is that why you don’t remember your last name?” he asked her.

She gave him a soft smile. “I remember it just fine; I just don’t see a reason to use it.”

He blinked at her incredulously. “You mean you know who you are?”

“Oh yes, of course I do. I was twelve, not an idiot.”

He rubbed at his temples and slumped in the chair he was sitting in. Things were moving a bit too fast for him. “All right, well then, I guess I’ll let that be. For now. What was with Brooks and the Blackberry?”

“Can you keep a secret?” Trevor asked him.

“If it means keeping Brooks in the dark, yes,” he answered.

Trevor held out his hand. “Your phone please.”

Durn looked skeptical but handed him his cell phone. He watched as Trevor dropped it on the floor and stomped on it. “What the hell are you doing?”

Chloe reached down and picked it up. Showing him the shattered screen and the fact that it didn’t work. “Hold on a moment.” She handed the phone to Trevor.

He held it in his hand for a minute or two and then handed it back to Durn with a smile. “All fixed. That is what Brooks was hoping for.”

Durn stared down at the phone in wonder. “Holy s**t. How’d you do that?”

“Not a single clue. I was born doing it. Search the Internet for my name. My folks have a website dedicated to me and my gift as well as a Facebook page and a Twitter feed. My parents may have pampered me and all that nonsense, but it wasn’t because they loved me, it was because I was their meal ticket. They rented my fabulous gift out for a price. A hefty price. All I was to them was a big, giant dollar sign.”

Durn stared at him in silence.

“Can you take more?” Chloe asked him.

His gaze swung over to her. “How much more can there possibly be?”

She held her hand out for his phone. He reluctantly handed it over. She only held it for a second or two before handing it back. He frowned at her, looked down at the phone, back at her, the phone. She laughed. “Try and turn it on.”

He did and scowled. “It’s dead. Damn battery.”

“It isn’t the battery. It’s me.”

“You?”

She nodded and gesture to Trevor. “Trevor can give electronics life and I can take it away.”

Durn looked startled by her revelation. “And this is why Brooks wants the two of you?”

“No. He wants Trevor. As far as we know he has no clue what I can do. I don’t know why I’m here.”

“He told me to bring you in because he thought if we brought you we could control Trevor by using you,” Durn said and watched Trevor carefully as he jumped up and began pacing the room.

“So Brooks thinks if he threatens Chloe I’ll fall in line and do what he wants?”

“That’s what I’m guessing.”

“And if I don’t?” He didn’t like the look Durn sent him. “Our chances of getting out of here?”

“After your last escape?”

“Nil,” Trevor answered for him as he dropped back down on the couch.

Chloe frowned at the two of them. “Can I say something here? We have one advantage they aren’t aware of.”

“Chloe, if you use your power to help us escape then Brooks will know what you can do and he’ll come after you,” Trevor told her.

“I know, but it may be our only chance of getting out of here.”

Durn drummed his fingers on his knee. “Give me a couple of days. I’ll see what I can do. Though I doubt it’s very much. In the mean time, you’re Treacy Maher and don’t friggin’ touch a goddamn thing they offer you.”

They both grinned at him as he stood and headed for the door.

***

“Well, what’s going on?”

Brooks refrained from glaring at General Maitland. What was going on was that Madison had gotten damned smart in the time that he’d been away. The second Durn had asked him if he was Madison, he’d turned on the radio to cover their conversation, and he’d covered the camera as well. They couldn’t see or hear a damn thing.

“How in the hell should I know,” he told the general gesturing to the monitor in front of them.

“You think he’s telling Durn anything?”

Brooks snorted. “Doubt he’d be that stupid. He’s probably babbling about nonsense just to f**k with us.”

Suddenly the radio went silent and the towel was whipped off the camera lens and Madison waved and them, giving them a cheeky grin and flipping them the bird before stepping away.

“Smartass,” the general muttered.

Durn entered the room with a sigh. Brooks turned to him expectantly. “Well? Did he tell you anything?”

Durn shook his head. “Denied it all up and down. He still insists that he’s Treacy Maher. He asked me what the chances are that they could get the hell out of here. I told him dead, pretty decent, alive not so good.”

Brooks shot an evil glare at the monitor before turning back to Durn. “That explains why he covered the camera and drowned out your conversation.”

“Yeah, he didn’t want you to know that he has no plans on remaining here any longer than necessary. The guy is pretty POd about the entire thing. He also warned me that if his family even gets a sniff of where they are we’d better be prepared for WWIII.”

Brooks snorted and shook his head in disgust. “The man really doesn’t give up does he? He honestly believes that crew will come after him. They aren’t related in anyway. What reason would they have to come for him and the woman?”

Durn merely shrugged. He wasn’t about to explain loyalty to Brooks. The man could never understand such a thing. Loyalty was a foreign concept to a man like Brooks. The only person Brooks was faithful to was himself. He’d betray his own mother if it would gain him something he truly wanted.

“Well, they seem to trust you much more than any of the other agents. Try and keep their trust.” Brooks rose and left the room without another word.

With a shrug, the general followed, stopping to smile at Durn and give him a light slap on the shoulder. “Good work Phil. I see a promotion in your future son!”

“Thank you sir,” he said without much enthusiasm. He sat back as the other man left the room. His gaze flicked over to the video monitor. Chloe and Trevor were snuggled up on the couch watching TV. He needed to try and discover why Brooks wanted Trevor here. It had to have something to do with his power.

If Brooks needed Trevor’s power to jump-start something, could they possibly slip Chloe in and kill whatever it was Brooks wanted to awaken? Durn knew that if Brooks wanted something juiced up it was probably something the rest of the world would want to avoid.

Right now, he needed a shower and a good night’s sleep. Once he was working with a full battery, he might be able to put some of the puzzle pieces together. For now he’d have to let them lie where they had fallen and hope to God nothing went to Hell until he could put it all together.

***

Brooks was going to move forward, it didn’t matter what had happened in Maitland’s office. He had no clue how Madison had managed to keep the Blackberry from healing, but he was certain they had the right man.

Tomorrow they would drag him to the artifact room and he would touch the damn thing or Brooks would put a bullet in the woman’s head. Madison’s choice, he could pick one or the other. Brooks would take great pleasure in shooting the woman if Madison didn’t comply. He’d enjoy it anyway, once Madison did what he’d been brought here to do, the woman was dispensable.

Trevor Madison, however, had his uses. He would never step foot outside this facility again.