Trellis Page 22

  “If any of this is true, and I am highly suspect, why are you telling… us?” Colin asked.

  “I need help. I want to stop the Doctor. I want to free those people and stop them from acting as human sacrifices for different world governments. I want to close that place down… for good.”

  Colin shook his head back and forth, “That doesn’t answer my question. Why us?”

  D mumbled, “I have been asking myself that same question.”

  “What makes you think we can help? I mean you must think we can help you if are confiding so much information,” Jase asked her as he made air quotes when he spoke the word ‘information’.

  Harper stood up and in agitation, he

  glowered at her, “You people are insane if you believe this woman can control people and read people’s minds. I mean think about, why wouldn’t she control us to do what she wanted! Think about it. And just for one Doctor on an imaginary island somewhere?”

  Then as if his mood changed, he walked to the refrigerator, opened it, grabbed a tub of butter, lifted the lid up, and threw it on the floor.

  “Hey!” Colin snapped as he went to retrieve the lid.”

  Harper then began to scoop the butter out with his fingers and eat it.

  D then stood up, then one by one looked each man in the eye and asked, “Do I have your attention or do you all want to eat butter?”

  She released her mind grip on Harper and he slowly pulled his buttered digits out of his mouth focusing on his goopy fingers and tasting the greasy butter in his mouth.

  “What the!” He thundered, running to the sink, spitting, and rinsing his mouth out as fast as he could.

  Doc then reasoned with some information that he had filed away at some point in his life and shared it with the group, “There was a Doctor Jose Delgado. He performed some crazy research studies on animals and implanting devices in their brains. It controlled moods and could create a false sense of free-will.”

  “Really? Jase asked, “Then why haven’t we heard of him and his research?”

  “I don’t know, maybe you need to read more. It was started in the 1950’s and his biggest case study with a bull was done in the 1960’s I believe. He actually could make a bull passive by implanting this devise and introducing radio frequencies.” Doc continued.

  D interrupted, “That is what I use, or should I say hear, frequencies. Like a movie, I can orchestrate in my mind.”

  Quietly under his breath, Sloan muttered, “Except me and Colin right? You can’t control us?”

  D looked up at him with confidence, “True, for now. I assume me not being able to read your thoughts or control you, is a temporary side effect. I have never been able to use my power on Colin.” Then she looked around the room at the men, “I need willing participants to help. If I use people I force against their will then I am no better than Dr. Salvaggi. I will not be compared to that evil man.”

  Harper took his seat again, glaring at D. His mind was suspicious and angry, but he believed her.

  The men discussed what they had heard while she waited in Colin’s bedroom. Of course, she could hear most of the conversation, straining to hear Colin and Sloan’s thoughts through the other men’s minds. She was tired and wanted to sleep in her own silent bed. When was this going to be over?

  While D sat on the bed listening to the men discuss their partnership she couldn't help but wonder what Colin was thinking. Did he believe her? Honestly, believe her? Did he think it was a made up story? She hated that he was so hard to read and had to depend on what she was hearing from the other men’s thoughts.

  The door opened and Colin came in by himself carrying a kitchen chair. He shut the door behind him and sat on the chair facing her.

  "I am not saying we completely believe you, I am not saying we don’t. We have some apprehension. I want to know what you know about Peter Coughlin and his involvement, who else do you know is involved and is there anything you left out."

  D took a breath. She looked slowly around the room and noticed the bible on the nightstand. "Do you believe that book?" She asked him.

  "Yes."

  "Every word?" She continued.

  "Yes. Why?"

  "I was never taught about this God of yours. We never had the choice..."

  "What does that have to do with now?" He asked.

  "Well, doesn't he tell you to help others that can't help themselves? The people that are being raised there cannot help themselves. They don't know any better."

  "Look I am not saying we aren't going to help, but I will not go in blindly and I will not risk the lives of the men out there. I want to know all the details you have. You can trust me to do what is viably right. I mean, you are asking us to believe a crazy story, one we have never heard before and possibly risk our careers and our lives. Can’t you understand why we would be hesitant on the testimony you have given us so far?"

  D then took another deep breath and began singing like a songbird. She began explaining in great detail everything she knew. This was the first time in D's life she had ever talked to anyone about her life and the secrets she kept. Little did Colin know he would be in that room for hours. Soon Sloan, Harper, Jase, and Doc would be crowded in the small bedroom listening to every word she was saying. She could actually place pictures in Harper, Doc and Jase's mind; however she still had to be quite descriptive with Sloan and Colin.

  Soon they would have more knowledge than they ever wanted about the landscape of the government systems in place. There was no turning back now. By listening to her, they were essentially bonding together in an agreement with D to stop that evil Doctor on the island and bring the entire Trellis Project to an abrupt end.

  Chapter Twenty-Three~

  Walking in to Binder Book Store with her new team in tow following behind her she saw Mr. Zhao standing behind the counter and he gave her and the men the stink-eye. D thought again to herself that she wished she knew Chinese.

  "Company, Siena?" He asked judgingly.

  "Yes, Mr. Zhao." She answered.

  Zan was placing books on a shelf slowly watching the exchange with his uncle and D. He was clearly jealous of the new men here with D and he was sizing each one up wondering if D had an interest and any of them. She had never brought people back to her loft (at least that she let Mr. Zhao and Zan remember).

  Colin stepped up and reached out to shake Mr. Zhao's hand. When Mr. Zhao saw this, he slowly reached up and limply shook Colin's hand. Colin burst in to a sentence of Chinese and Mr. Zhao's face lit up. He answered something back in his native language and D couldn't help but be impressed by Colin.

  Jase mumbled something about being a showoff.

  Mr. Zhao looked at D and his face soured again, "How you get smart friend?"

  The men looked shocked at Mr. Zhao’s rudeness, D did not, she was used to this behavior.

  Mr. Zhao pointed his long finger at Colin and asked him, “Where you learn Chinese? From American?” He smiled knowing that the answer would undoubtable be no.

  Colin knew he was being drug into something but he wasn’t sure what, “Well, I guess I learned it from my mother and father. I have known it as far back as I can remember.”

  “Interesting.” Mr. Zhao answered and went back to wiping the dust off the shelves. He mumbled something in Chinese as he turned from them and Colin chucked.

  D bit her lip, then exchanged a look with Zan turning towards the stairwell. She could see that Colin had the biggest grin on his face, which made her wish she could erase everyone’s memory and send them all away.

  She headed up the stairwell with the men following behind and her edginess begins all over again. She had never let anyone into her world, unless she needed them to cook or clean. If she could manipulate everyone's thoughts she would turn the men away and make them forget this, they are all in too deep for that now, though. She reached her door, looking at everyone she motioned for them to turn around away from her so she could punch in her code and unlock her do
or privately. Once she entered in the doorway, she gestured for them to sit on the couch.

  The men look around, no doubt impressed by what they were seeing. The long white leather couch and row of clocks and maps on the wall was something to behold. She also had a kitchen that would make any cook drool. They would fall over if they knew she never, ever cooked--- or cleaned for that matter.

  "I am going to go change my clothes. Will you all be okay out here?" She asked not wanting to leave them alone.

  They nodded still looking around at the walls.

  "Wait, do you have a TV? I would like to catch the news."

  "No, well not in here. In my bedroom and you aren't going in there." D was regretting letting them come this close to her and her sanctuary. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake.

  As D dressed and contemplated about the mistakes she had made this week. She looked down at the bandage on her stomach and for the first time she realized how close to death she actually came and if she had died no one would have known about Trellis. The secrets would have died with her and it could have been years longer before Trellis was dismantled. She knew she had to be more careful. Cross every T and dot every i. She ran her fingers over the feathered wings branded on her hip and knew that whatever happened from this point, all efforts had to be focused at stopping Dr. Salvaggi and stopping him from experimenting on the clones as if they were lab rats.

  The men were studying the maps on the walls and discussing what they were thinking about all these new revelations D had shared with them earlier.

  They knew by the impressive loft, with its high priced décor that they were dealing with someone that had access to a lot of dough. No one lived like this, they thought, at least no one they knew. They also knew after being in the military for as long as they had, that to the average ear the information D shared sounded farfetched, but they held their own government secrets and physical scars as well. Deep down, even if they didn’t want to say it out loud, they believed her, at least partially.

  D returned and the men quieted down.

  "So what do you suppose we do first to find the island?" D asked.

  "Well, we need maps of government facilities in the Bahamas. I assume that is where you were since when you escaped you landed in somewhere on the Southern coast of Florida. Then next, we need a map of blacked out areas. When an internet map is searched, there are actual blacked out zones that cannot be zoomed in on. We will need those if there are any in the Bahamas.”

  "What if is in the Bermuda triangle?' Doc quipped up. He had an experience there once when he was in Flight school and he wasn't about to relive it any time soon.

  "I have no idea," D answered.

  “We will need weapons and a way to get there, by boat or plane..." Colin continued hoping someone would chime in with an idea.

  Jase answered, "Well my plane is out of commission for good, remember?"

  Colin answered back while rubbing the knot on his head, "I won't be forgetting that anytime soon."

  "I strive to give memorable trips." Jase joked back.

  Colin didn't laugh.

  "Too, soon?" Jase smiled.

  "Yes." Colin answered stone-faced.

  D walked over to the dining area and hesitated. She did not want to show her weapon stash. She had collected many over the years, mostly taking them from people, okay, she took all of them she came across. She was ashamed at what she had accumulated but she knew she needed to show the men what she was holding out on them. She knew they would have a lot of questions and probably think more poorly of her than they already did once she showed her weapon’s room.

  "You all need to follow me." She directed, feeling heavy hearted.

  Following her through her bedroom, the men looked at one another in amazement at her large poster bed with the wrought iron railing and stairs. When they entered in to the bedroom closet they were amazed again at how messy it was. She continued to walk to the entry of the laundry room and knelt down. She pulled a rug back and turned a knob on the floor and a door popped open revealing a stairwell. She could tell the men were leery, she didn't blame them. She flipped a switch and it lit up to reveal a clean well-built high tech room. This room consisted of Punching bags, exercise equipment, walls covered in mirrors, and a well-built and organized wall of weapons and an assortment of other things she might need on a mission.

  "How did a young girl do all this?"

  "I saw it on a movie and I went out and," she coughed, "took volunteers to build it."

  "They didn't volunteer did they?" Jase asked.

  "No..." D answered him looking at the ground.

  "Where did the weapons come from? Did you take them, too?"

  D shook her head yes thinking that they would be angry.

  Sloan smiled, "Well little girl, you just made my day! Unmarked weapons! Weapons that cannot be traced! This is awesome!" He looked like a kid Christmas morning. He walked from weapon to weapon feeling them and searching them over, for what D had no idea.

  Harper who rarely spoke made his first joke, at least she hoped it was a joke, “You are like a weapon kleptomaniac.”

  Some of the men chuckled- Colin did not.

  D wondered what Colin was thinking as he assessed the weapons on the wall. He was cold as stone, again. She wished she could get in that mind of his.

  She was growing tired and quickly. She needed peace for her mind and these men’s minds were not peaceful. Between the thoughts of second guessing her and now weapons she needed sleep and a quiet sleep with no extra brain waves. Her gun wound was starting to ache again and she wanted to climb the stairs to her bed and sleep this whole fiasco away.

  She looked at Colin and nodded at him to follow her up the stairs back to the loft. Once they were back in the kitchen she explained to him that she needed peace. Her brain couldn’t take this much excitement while her body was trying to heal. They would need to leave while she rested.

  Colin shook his head no, “The men whose minds you can read can leave. Sloan and I will stay. If you need something or you pass out or get ill from an infection we need to be here.”

  “I have always taken care of myself. I will be fine.”

  “That was before you found a team of brothers. We are going to get you well, then we are going to find this doctor and shut down his operation. It is time we restore law and order back to our country and from what I have gathered back to the world.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four ~

  After sleeping off and on for the next week, only getting up when needed, D was finally starting to feel whole, again. She awoke to the smell of bacon. ‘Bacon?’ She thought, ‘These people have to go.’

  As she sleepily stumbled to her closet to grab her housecoat she realized that everything in her closet had been organized by color, “Banks,” she sneered. She glanced in the drawer with her underwear and socks realizing they were neatly rolled up, and again, organized by color. She took a deep angry breath. Her laundry basket was empty, her shower had been scrubbed, her toothbrush, and accessories had all been organized by size and function.

  On her way out of her bedroom, she caught a glimpse of her bookshelf and slowly backed up a few feet. Her books had been organized. While she was sleeping just feet away, someone had come in her sanctuary and hadn’t woke her up. No one had ever been this close to her and not disturbed her. Not to mention no one had ever had this kind of freedom in her protected dwelling.

  Her eyes narrowed to slits as she gazed at her diaries on the highest shelf, “Did he read my private thoughts? My secrets?” She climbed the ladder and checked the order of the books on the top shelf, and moved her purple pen that laid in front of them. Nothing looked disturbed and the dust was untouched. “Nothing looks out of place up here. That man is lucky. He gets to live today,” she seethed.

  She stalked to the kitchen with one of the rolled up pair of panties clinched in her fist, with a lawless ireful look on her face and teeth clinched solid. Her breathing was deep and with each
intake of air, she was filling with more anger. She saw Colin wiping up the kitchen counter and starting the dishwasher. Sloan sat at the kitchen counter flipping through her newly attained bible. Her bible, her dishwasher, her dishes, her kitchen, her house! They were getting too close to her world and she wanted them gone!

  “Your plate is the in the microwave.” He motioned towards the microwave as if she didn’t know where it was, not noticing the steam that seemed to be pouring from D’s ears.

  She pursed her lips together and nodded harshly at him. D held up the red pair of panties and asked, “What did you do? Why would you think you could go in my closet -- and --organize my crap, my books, my kitchen, my house!” Truthfully, this was something she wanted done but she wanted to erase the person’s mind that did the deed. How dare he do something she had no control over~ was what she was really feeling.

  Sloan laughed, “Dude, you organized her closet?” Then he looked at D and defended his organizing friend, “He has a problem, some things we just overlook. I know it’s weird but he likes things neat and tidy. It is a sickness. He is a sick man.” Sloan said as his deep voice chuckled.

  Colin frowned at him and curtly ordered, “SSShut up.”

  She dropped the panties on the floor and ordered, “These stay there. Don’t touch them, don’t put them back in a drawer, don’t even look at them.”

  “Someone could trip on them and break a leg,” Colin slurred as he turned to the sink.

  D snarled, “Leave them alone!”

  She loudly grabbed a fork and dramatically heated her plate of food up. As she stuck it in the microwave she made the conscious decision not cover it up, as it began to pop and sizzle all over the inside of the microwave she smirked.

  Colin winced and quietly asked, “Are you going to cover that up? I just cleaned in there.”