“Yes, we are,” Miles replied. “We’re curious to know if his death is in any way tied to a legal case the Bannerman Foundation recently became involved in.”
“The guy’s name is Aaron Fellows,” I said.
Phillip’s eyes widened, and he paled.
“He tried to do the right thing,” I continued, “and got fired for it. Now he’s under investigation by the DOD. We’re determined to prove him innocent and make that right.”
Phillip’s hands shook as he rubbed his face, and glanced at Lorna again. She was also pale. She knew something was very wrong.
Phillip looked back at us desperately.
“I need help,” he said.
“You need a fresh start,” I stated.
“Not surprising, considering the history of your two predecessors,” Miles said.
“You—you knew,” Phillip stuttered. “That’s why we’re here!”
“What happened to you is wrong,” I replied. “It was destroying you and your family. Someone who loves you saw that, and brought you to our attention.”
“Steve,” Lorna said softly, and I nodded.
“So decide what your new name’s going to be,” I told them. “Our specialist will work with you on Monday to see that you have a smooth transition into your new identities.”
Lorna clutched her husband’s arm anxiously.
“Phillip? What is this about? What happened?”
“There’s a lot I haven’t told you,” Phillip answered, rescuing his arm and putting it around her.
“We’ll give you some privacy so you can do that,” I said. “But first, you’ve got to accept the job.”
“Are you kidding?” Phillip asked. “Of course I accept!”
“Great,” Miles smiled, and the two shook hands.
Poor Lorna. Her tears could be the result of confusion, or relief. Probably both. She looked a little irritated, too. Phillip hugged her.
“It’s okay, Lorna. Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured her. I was gratified to see he no longer looked haunted by fear. He was filled with relief, and hope.
“You better tell me what’s going on,” she sniffed, giving him a look that said he’d have something new to worry about, if he didn’t hurry up about it.
“I will,” Phillip said, and glanced at us. “Don’t you want to know?”
“We know all we need to,” I replied cryptically, as Miles and I stood.
“Thank you for this,” Phillip said, battling sudden tears of his own. “You can’t know what this means to my family.”
“You better get started and tell me what it means,” Lorna said grumpily.
“We’ll go so you can do that,” Miles smiled. “And thank you, for accepting the position instead of attempting to argue with my wife. You saved us all a lot of time by giving in to the inevitable.”
Phillip laughed at that as he wiped moisture from his eyes, and I did too. Except there were no tears involved in my laughter. I also tried to pinch Miles, but he was too fast for me and caught my hand.
“Take as much time as you need,” Miles told them. “We’ll see you at dinner.”
We closed the door behind us on the way out, and headed upstairs to our suite.
Miles waited until the door was closed and locked behind us.
“Can you tell me anything?” he asked, his eyes alight with excitement.
“Only that we can’t chance them going back,” I answered.
“I gathered that. You’ve got nothing else for me?”
“I have a lot to unlock, then I will,” I said. “I do know that Dillon Graves is a monster, and he has to be stopped.”
“Do you have what you need in order for us to do that?” Miles wondered.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “I’ll know once I examine the truth.”
“It’s a good thing I’m the one with the patience,” Miles sighed, looking much more pained than he was.
“You’re telling the truth,” I replied, and he laughed.
“I know!” he said, and I hugged him. “How much darkness was involved in the truth?”
“Not as much as there will be if I interview Dillon Graves,” I said.
“You know this, but there’s nothing else you can tell me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I do know it, because you asked me a question. But… I don’t know the basis for that knowledge.”
“Your ability both fascinates and tortures me,” he commented. “Phillip was ready to tell everything he knows, and here you are, making me wait for it until after dinner!”
I hugged him harder, then kissed him, then searched the closet for the dress I wanted.
“I want the truth that Phillip knows,” I said. “I want you to have that too, without his emotions coloring his perceptions. So, you must wait. I can tell you this, though. Phillip isn’t guilty of selling classified files.
“I figured, otherwise you wouldn’t offer him a job. Still, that’s good to know,” Miles replied. He used his abilities to remove cat hair from the bed, then lay his suit jacket there.
“I’m really glad. I wanted him to be innocent. But… now we’re going to have to find a way to prove it.”
Miles raised an eyebrow at me again.
“Yet you have nothing more you can tell me.”
“Right,” I said.
“Are you telling the truth?”
“Yes!” I exclaimed.
“Are you still telling the truth?” he teased.
I threw a throw pillow at him in response. Isn’t that what they’re for, after all? Why else the name.
The pillow halted in the air and returned itself to the bed. Miles smiled as I rolled my eyes a little. A glance at the clock warned me we didn’t have time to play around, unless we wanted to delay dinner.
Further teasing and attempts at pummeling would have to wait.
Chapter 16
The threads of truth glimmered and swirled gently, vivid against the smothering darkness. Some stood alone, while others softly spiraled and wound into ropes, then slowly separated again.
There were a lot more threads than when I first visited this place. I recognized most of them as I passed by, but not those which lay directly ahead.
There were so many. I watched as they spun, glittering, lit from within. I passed over several. They held truth, but not the truth I was searching for.
I saw Phillip, excited about his new job. Then his disappointment at discovering how dysfunctional his new work environment was. The disorganization, lack of leadership, nepotism, lack of training, and then the bullying. The misdirection, attempts to undermine, and his determination to fight his own battles. Bottling it up tightly, trying to hold it in, but anger, frustration, and criticism, leaking out and poisoning his family.
It reinforced what I knew, but it wasn’t what I searched for. I continued on. Faster, more rapidly I moved forward, unlocking truth after truth, passing through time…
The threads pulsed with light. They grew more brilliant as they swirled faster, picking up speed, untangling—
The door of the conference room slammed hard.
Phillip Edmunds turned to face Dillon Graves angrily.
“Exactly what game are you trying to play here?”
“What can you possibly mean?” Dillon smirked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.
“Did you know what would happen when that command was executed?” Phillip snapped. “Do you have any idea what you just did?”
“What I did?” Dillon snorted a little. “I didn’t lower the program’s firewalls and expose valuable classified information to a competing company.”
Phillip’s eyes smoldered with anger as he pointed at Dillon.
“Those were your orders I was following!”
“What orders?” Dillon asked, his smirk still intact. “I have nothing to do with your program.”
“Don’t you?” Phillip shot back. “Play stupid all you want. I’m done. We’ll see how arrogant y
ou are when I go to security with this.”
Dillon’s eyes grew cold and taunting.
“Have you ever wondered what happened to the guy you were hired to replace?”
Phillip glared, but didn’t answer.
Dillon smiled slightly, but there was no humor in it.
“His name was Elliott Reams. Until his death.”
He gave that a moment to sink in, as Phillip continued to glare silently.
“But we’ll get to that in a minute. We’ll start with Aaron Fellows. He held this position before Elliott. His story is so much like yours, it’s sad really. He made the mistake of going to security, and admitted he lowered the firewall and exposed classified files. For some reason he thought they’d care when he claimed I told him to. Unbelievable. And so sad. He lost his job, and—you should look him up. He’s under investigation by the Department of Defense, actually. I’m sure at the hearing he’ll tell them the same thing, that I made him do it. They’ll care just as much as the Intersect security officer did. Because poor Aaron is the one who executed the command. There’s irrefutable proof of that. All there is to implicate me… is Aaron’s word.”
“And mine,” Phillip shot back. “Even you ought to be smart enough to realize that eventually security is going to pick up on a pattern here.”
Dillon continued as if he didn’t hear a word Phillip said.
“It’s pitiful. I wonder what would possess Aaron to do what he did? Maybe the DOD will find out. Maybe not. Aaron will lose his clearance though. So much for working in the defense industry without one, and with this on his record. He’ll be lucky if he doesn’t face criminal charges. It’ll take a miracle, really. I happen to know those will be pressed by Intersect, once he’s found guilty. Still, that would be preferable to charges of treason. If only he had the option of choosing one or the other.”
“You have got to be kidding!” Phillip snapped.
“Look Aaron up in your spare time, before you do something stupid like go to security and accuse me of issuing an order which you executed,” Dillon replied.
“Why are you doing this?” Phillip demanded to know. “Who are you really working for?”
“Intersect, of course,” Dillon replied in words, but his eyes told another story. “Elliott though, he didn’t believe it. No… I liked Elliott. He was a fun guy, and great at following directions. But, he was also nosy. He was sure I had a deal worked out with a competing research company. He did some research of his own, and decided he knew which one. Whoever he accused didn’t care for that. They liked his attempt to blackmail them even less. It’s too bad. He didn’t have to end that way.”
Phillip gave Dillon a long look, then turned toward the door purposefully.
Dillon closed the distance between them in a flash, and blocked him. They stared each other down, Phillip’s eyes fiery, and Dillon’s filled with ice.
“You don’t want to do that, Phillip,” Dillon said, his voice eerily calm. “You think you know what you’re messing around with? You have no idea. See, Elliott was lucky. All he had to worry about was himself. You, though… you threaten this guy, he won’t go after you. No. He’ll go after what matters to you most. It’s what he does. That’s how he chooses his targets. Have you ever wondered why abductions have increased in the surrounding area over the last few years? Ever worry about your wife being the next? How about your kids? Don’t underestimate this guy, Phillip.”
Phillip’s eyes bored into Dillon. Then he glanced away, rubbed his forehead, and slugged Dillon in the face.
Dillon was dazed, and stumbled back a step.
“You stay away from my family,” Phillip said heatedly. “If you come near them, it’ll be the last thing you do!”
“Me? You think I’m an abductor, or hired killer?” Dillon snorted, rubbing his jaw. “I’m warning you, Phillip. You do what you’re told, and nothing else. You stay put and do your job, and your family has nothing to worry about. But you go and tell anyone a word of this, if you go to security and try telling them, if you try transferring, or leave Intersect… Don’t do it. Not unless you want to get rid of the wife without the bother of a divorce. You don’t believe me? Do the research, Phillip! Read about Elliott Reams. Ask yourself if you can live with it when something worse happens to your family.”
“If anyone comes near my family, I’m holding you responsible!” Phillip shouted.
“A lot of good it’ll do you then,” Dillon replied mockingly. “You care what happens to them? Then shut up, stay put, play dumb, and do what you’re told, when you’re told!”
“I’m not going to be your fall guy!” Phillip growled. “You’re not going to use me to expose classified information! Never again!”
“I’ll use you, with or without your participation,” Dillon smirked.
“That’s impossible,” Phillip said firmly.
“Is it?” Dillon replied thoughtfully. “Have a look at the audit logs. See for yourself how impossible it is.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Phillip said flatly.
“Nothing is impossible, Phillip. Except implicating me in anything. That, now, that… is impossible. You, however. I certainly hope security never takes a good look at what you’ve been up to. I hope you have the sense not to tip them off and rouse their curiosity. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself in Aaron Fellows’ shoes, and your family… in Elliott’s.”
Dillon’s cold, unwavering gaze was convincing. Phillip paled slightly, then pointed threateningly at him.
“You stay away from my family. If anything happens to them…”
“If anything happens to your family, it will be a direct result of your own choices,” Dillon snapped. “I suggest you give this some thought. Do some research. Then decide if the cost to yourself and your family is worth going to security over.”
Dillon turned, walked out the door, and closed it behind him.
Phillip sat in his cubicle, staring in disbelief at the information on the monitor in front of him. He moved rapidly through the information displayed there. He wiped away the beads of sweat that appeared on his forehead, and tried to control the panic that filled him.
“This is impossible,” he muttered, but the records told him otherwise.
He heard voices passing by. Quickly exiting the troubling screen, he pretended to work. But there was anxiety and uncertainty in his eyes.
“I’ll be up in a little while, I’ve got some work to do first,” Phillip said to Lorna. “Bills to pay.”
“Oh… alright. I’ll see you soon then,” she replied, puzzled. She didn’t question, she only kissed him and left the room.
Phillip watched her go, his face etched with worry.
When her steps faded on the way upstairs, he turned to his laptop. He searched first for Elliott Reams. As he read the articles, the Facebook posts from friends and family, the speculation, the certainty that the official conclusion was wrong, the condition of Elliott’s body when he was found… Phillip grew pale. He swallowed hard, and his hand shook as he brought up another window and searched for Aaron Fellows.
The panic and desperation in Phillip’s eyes multiplied as he read.
At last he closed the web browser, pushed back from the desk, and covered his face in his hands.
He prayed for help, but the fear never left his eyes.
Phillip reopened the web browser and began a search for security monitoring.
Phillip turned down his street. He saw the car parked across from his house, and the muscle-bound guy who stood leaning against it. Phillip gave the guy a hard look as he pulled into his driveway. The guy smirked back.
Phillip parked in the garage and pressed the button to close the door. Then he leaped out of his vehicle and hurried into the house.
“Lorna?” he called anxiously.
“I’m right here,” she replied, stepping outside the kitchen and into the hallway where he stood, trying to control the panic that engulfed him, and the relief which made him weak.
&nb
sp; “Where are the kids?” he demanded fiercely.
“At the kitchen table,” she replied, surprised and a little alarmed by his intensity.
“The alarm wasn’t on,” he suddenly realized.
“No, I… guess I forgot to turn it back on, after I went to the mailbox.”
Phillip’s eyes flamed with fear-induced anger.
“I don’t want you leaving this house, do you understand?” he shouted. “I tell you things, and you just blow me off! How hard is it to follow simple directions? Stay inside, and keep the alarm on! How hard is that!”
Lorna cowered against the kitchen doorway.
I rapidly unlocked the remaining truths, anxious to complete this phase of my mission and get back to Miles and our friends. I didn’t like being in this place of darkness, and it was with relief that I looked at my rings and prayed for release. With a blinding flash of light, I was back on the loveseat in our suite at the estate, with Miles’ arms around me.
I stirred, and Miles looked into my eyes.
“How was it?”
“Not so bad,” I replied, taking a deep breath.
“Please don’t need sleep,” Xander muttered to himself, rocking back and forth in his seat anxiously. “Please don’t need sleep!”
Jenny backhanded his arm, and I laughed.
“You must feel pretty good, then,” Miles said. He scrutinized my face one more time, and relaxed.
“I am. Sleep can wait,” I assured him.
Xander wasn’t the only one who looked relieved. John and Annette did, too. I sympathized with all of them, including Miles. Having access to this information and having to wait to study it, made this one of the longest evenings ever. I hurried to divulge what I knew.
“Dillon Graves used Aaron Fellows, Elliott Reams, and Phillip Edmunds to make classified research available to a competing company.”
“So not another government?” John asked.
“No, not unless Dillon lied to Phillip,” I replied.
“He could have, but it makes sense,” Miles said. “There’s a lot of money to be made in pharmaceuticals. Especially if a company bypasses the time and expense of doing the research themselves.”
“Even if the research isn’t complete, they could piggy-back and use the information to move ahead in their own research,” said John.
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