Messenger In A Battle by Joel Pierson

Author:Joel Pierson [Pierson, Joel]
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781450226066
Publisher: Booktango
Published: 2010-05-04T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

My head is spinning as Stelios drives us away from the luxury home that was actually our holding cell. Now, it seems, Consolidated has the power to alter our thoughts and our perceptions. Of course, I should have known that from the beginning. It was one of their operatives who sent me the false assignment to warn Rebecca in the first place. All of this makes me even more disappointed in myself for trusting them today.

“There’s no escaping this, is there?” I ask Stelios as we head back to the dock.

“You are a free man,” he replies. “Unlike Calvin Traeger, I won’t hold you against your will. Your rental car is parked near my boat, and if you wish, I will take you to it and let you drive away from here, putting all of this behind you.”

“But?” I ask him.

“But to do so would exact a great cost. They have your young traveling companion, and the combination of her unyielding protection of her father and her lack of physical strength is a vulnerability they are certain to exploit. They want that evidence, and while you and I would never dream of harming a young girl, they would do so without flinching. And when she breaks, she’ll give up the name of your friend, the attorney who safeguards that evidence. Rescuing Miss Haiduk has to be our first priority. Once she’s safe, you can decide whether to fulfill your part in all of this. But know this: everything Wolfson told you is true. If Consolidated succeeds, it will have a lasting impact on the world’s economy and political situation, and on the ecosystem of the region. No one should have that much power.”

I’m dismayed, as I listen to him, to realize that what he’s saying is true, and the only reasons I have for wanting to leave here are personal—fear, apathy, selfishness. And while those are all good survival tactics, they hardly earn me a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. I must defer to Rebecca on this. In the end, she has a lot more to gain or lose than I do.

I turn to her. “I won’t make this decision without you. This is your father, your life we’re talking about. After we make sure Cassie is safe, if you want us to leave here and not look back, I’ll honor that. But if you want us to help these people do battle against your father’s company, I’ll stand by your side.”

Her face tells the story of her painful uncertainty. Many seconds pass as she contemplates it, and I wish I had the power to read her thoughts, the way she does mine, so she wouldn’t have to voice them. Finally, she speaks. “I wanted to believe him tonight. Mind control or not, I wanted so much to believe everything he said. About accepting me, about welcoming me back, about letting me pursue my studies again. It’s been years since he’s spoken to me that way, and it was so wonderful to hear him.

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