Chapter 17

My plan was the epitome of KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Find Phillip and kill him.

Samantha had wanted to come with me. Adamantly so.

"No fucking chance in hell!" Had been my reserved reaction.

"But Jake, what if you can't do this alone?"

"Then I am fucked. But only 'I' am fucked. Philip is the only person who knows I'm a talent. As far as he knows, you don't know anything and are just a sexy girl I used my talent on to to get into bed. Either I make it and we are both safe, or I don't make it and you're safe. If I don't go, and he decides to report my existence, we can never stop running."

"That's why I want to help."

"Then stay here, and stay safe. If you come with me all you will do is give him a chance to distract me by getting into your head. I have to win this, and I have to do it by myself."

She stood there, eyes flashing angrily and her body shook with rage.

"I ... FUCKING ... HATE IT when you're right." Then her body seemed to deflate. "But I feel so damned useless ... helpless."

"You're not." I said, wrapping my arms around her. "If it weren't for you getting me out of my house, I'd be dead already. If you hadn't gotten us out of the motel room when you did, we'd both be sitting in jail or dead. You're the brains of this outfit – I'm just the muscle. And this particular job calls for muscle only."

"I know." She said, softly, into my chest. "but I don't want to let you out of my sight. You know I won't breath until you come back."

"Then I'll try to hurry," I said, kissing her lightly, "blue isn't a good color for you."

As I shrugged on my backpack and walked out the door she said, "Jake."

"Yes?" I said, turning to regard her heavenly visage. This was where she would plead for me to come back safely, or, knowing her, perhaps to implore me to come back with my shield or on it – one never can tell with Samantha.

"I'll have you know I look very good in blue."

I love that girl.

The Telekinetic in the lobby, Phillip's driver and bodyguard, who was probably the only other person who knew of my existence, hadn't had his armor up – which only made it easy. The receptionist was also easy to control.

"Mr. Anderson, Your eight o'clock, Mr. Gunther is here." She said on the intercom.

"Thank you, Shelly, send him in."

She really couldn't send me in, being asleep at her desk, but I knew the way. I had been here before.

I paused briefly at Phillip's door, took a deep breath and entered.

"I told you not to be tardy, Alek," said Philip, not looking up from his papers. "It's five minutes after eight."

I called up my sight and identified his aura, the fucker was currently amused. That was when he looked up. I had my eyes closed, so I didn't see him look up, but I saw his fiery outline shift and the amused aura shrank while his anger swelled.

Then the glowing outline elongated and I knew he was standing.

A tendril from his aura shot towards me and I was suddenly aware that he was a veteran Psychic fighter and I had only gone up against Alek, who really wasn't at his best at the time. I had been lucky enough to get the jump on him and he was in a full blown panic after that – not the most effective way to fight.

Phillip could see what I was seeing, only he was doing it with his eyes open. I didn't know if he was going for a gun, grabbing a knife or a bat ... hell, I couldn't even maneuver to fight unless I dropped my sight.

In a panic I sent my whole aura, the entire rainbow slamming against his, forming a massive multiple connection of every aura at once. The connection firm, I opened my eyes.

His eyes were wide, his body rigid. In his right hand was a gun he had been pulling from a drawer.

"How in the bloody hell?" he sputtered.

His thoughts came to me in a rush as every emotion in his aura was connected to mine.

Most telling was that he'd had no intention of bringing Alek into the fold. He was going to milk him for all the information he could, then kill him. Part of me wished I had let that happen, then Alek would have known some of the betrayal my mother had felt.

But there was no use crying over spilled milk, or hanged bastards.

With his entire aura in a forced pairing with mine, he had no tendrils loose to connect to my like emotions. I was in control of the connection. I wasn't sure why he was motionless, but after a moment it came to me – I was not only in control of the connection, that connection was my entire aura connected to his entire aura – I had total physical control of him.

My initial panic squelched, I tried to put on a calm face as I approached him and removed the gun from his hand ... That's right cocksucker ... I do this sort of shit all the fucking time – so there's no need to fight or resist ... I always win.

I was pretty sure my thoughts were not being relayed to him, that inner dialogue was solely for my benefit – So I could have the calm demeanor this situation called for, and, of course, so I could refrain from shitting my pants.

"Oh, please, Philip, have a seat." I said with false cheerfulness as I forced him back into his chair.

"How are you doing this? You're just a fucking TK!"

"That is your arrogance talking, and I've had about enough of your arrogance. Right now I have some questions for you."

Because this sort of interrogation is old hat to me ... no sense fighting it ... resistance is futile ... I am James Bond, Batman and the by-God-motherfucking-Shadow all rolled up into one!

I tried for a surreptitious deep breath to calm my calm and continued.

"Who else knows about me? Don't try lying because I'll know. And you don't want to find out what I do to scum who lie to me!"

Although I admit that I was a bit curious about what I do to scum who lie to me.

NO! ... no curiosity ... no doubts ... I am "Da Man" ... you do not want to lie ... if someone lies to me it is a horrible thing to behold ... the rending of clothes ... the gnashing of teeth...

Well, I'd read those phrases in bible ... they had to be something bad.

"N ... No one." Philip said, trying not to. "I've kept you a secret, to use you to lure out some of your father's old connections. I could kill them and report I had found them on my own. When your usefulness had run it's course, I was going to kill you and add your mother to my harem – until I found out she was a fucking talent."

"Then you put a bullet through her brain."

"No! That must have been Alek ... I ... I didn't even know she was dead until this morning."

Shit ... now I had figure out what I do to scum who lie to me.

"Then why didn't you know Alek was dead as well?" I said as I pulled off his neck tie. "Now you are going to find out what I do to scum who lie to me." Him and me, both.

I pulled his arms to the back of the chair and tied them tightly with his necktie. His primary weapon was his mind, which I had currently rendered impotent. But his gun had shown he wasn't adverse to a physical attack. I wanted him immobile in case he got physical control again.

Fuck that ... he will never be in control again ... I have done this a hundred times and I always win ... don't even try to fight it ... resistance is, as I said before, futile!

Kneeling, I pulled off his shoes and used his socks to bind his feet – I thought about using them for a gag, but he had to be able to talk.

His eyes showed fear.

That's right, Skippy ... fear me...

"Who else is within earshot of this office?" I asked, checking the lobby to make sure the bodyguard and his secretary were still out.

<Obey me ... Bitch... >

That one I did send down the link.

He tried not answering, but couldn't help himself.

"It's ... it's been ... soundproofed."

"Good."

I walked up to his helpless form and placed the side my index finger right below his nose. Jamming it into the right angle where his nose met his upper lip, I pushed as hard as I could, in and up.

Don't laugh – that fucking hurts.

Try it. Now imagine someone else doing it to you ... no ... harder than that.

He screamed. I started to stop, then remembered my mother lying on the cheap carpet of a cheap motel room having met her end feeling terrified and betrayed.

I pushed harder until his screaming had nearly caused him to hyperventilate.

"Are you going to lie to me again?"

"No."

"Good – now I will ask again. Did you shoot my mother?"

I don't know – I just wanted to hear him admit to it. I wanted him to know, when he died, that I knew. And I wanted him to know that I knew, because I had made him tell me ... that I had beaten him.

Well ... and because I am Jake the interrogator ... no one can lie to me ... this is my forte ... incapacitating my enemies ... I do this all the time and no one escapes...

Or something.

"Yes! Yes, I did. But I didn't have a choice. She knew Alek had betrayed her and was going to kill both of us."

Something didn't seem right so I checked his bonds, they were tight.

"You know, every time you try to tell a lie to make things go easier for you, it will just make them go harder."

"What do you mean? That's what happened."

I waggled my index finger in front of his face. I wasn't sure I could break him, but I wasn't ready to quit trying.

"I swear!"

Why wouldn't he just admit it? I jammed my finger under his nose again and let him scream for several minutes.

"Okay, okay ... I shot her because she was a talent and you just can't reliably control a talent against their will."

Which was exactly what I was doing to him. Something wasn't right. I checked the bonds again, and closed my eyes to recheck our connection. It was good.

What was I missing?

"You won't get away with this." He suddenly said.

"Of course I will, I do this sort of thing all the time."

"What the hell are you talking about? You've had the ability less than a year."

"Oh, well I mean that I will do ... hold on ... I'm asking the questions here."

"Regardless, do you really think my people will let my death pass without retribution?"

"But who will they retribute against? No one, but you, knows that I exist."

"So far, but what records do you think they may come across?"

Oh Shit ... he had written something down. I looked at the file cabinets in his office, wooden and polished to a high gleam, they would take hours to search through – even then, he may have a file somewhere else.

All my bravado slunk away to hide in the corner.

"If you don't kill me, then they won't be likely to go to too many lengths to bring you in. Why, I believe the head start you get while I attempt to free myself would most likely buy you all the time you need. With your talent you should have no problem staying under the radar."

He was right. There was no way I was going to find any file on me before the bodyguard and secretary woke up. As soon as that happened I'd be toast.

"Where's the file, you son of a bitch?"

I was still in control, I could make him tell me.

"I'll never tell you. And I've hidden any memory of its location where you'll never get to it. Not in time. Those two out there won't sleep forever."

I rummaged his thoughts – the memory of the file itself was there, but nowhere could I find its location. It was as though it didn't exist, but I had seen the memories that proved it did.

"Don't test me. I've got more tricks up my sleeve than a finger under the nose. Do you have anything here I can shove under you finger nails?"