Leaving The Way: Book Two (The Way Trilogy), стр. 25
The last cell on the right is where I’m headed, and when I arrive, Tom Cress and is wife Melanie are huddled in the corner, clinging to one another.
Slipping my keys in the lock and opening the cell door, I order, “Up, let’s go!”
The two only hesitate for a moment before they obey my command, following me into the interrogation room. Directing them to sit in the two chairs on one side, I take the chair on the other.
Drumming my fingers on the metal table and getting a kick out of the evident fear on their faces, I decide to get straight to it. “How much did you know about your daughters planned attack on the church, Tom?”
His eyes widen, almost as if he wasn’t expecting me to ask that, although I can’t imagine why. No way they didn’t know. I look to Tom and motion for him to speak.
“We…I…our daughter had nothing to do with thattt.” He stutters on the last word, but was it because it’s a lie, or because he knows it doesn’t matter if it’s the truth.
“Bullshit! Don’t fucking lie to me. You two are both traitors to the church, traitors to God, meaning both of your lives are forfeit. Telling me what I want to know only determines if your death comes quickly, or if I get to make it very slow, and very painful.”
Melanie has tears pouring down her dirt stained face, and Tom visibly shudders with my declaration.
Tom slides his arm around his wife’s shoulders before trying to convince me again. “I know it doesn’t matter what we say, but I’m telling you she had nothing to do with the attack, and she didn’t tell us anything leading up to her escape. Although, that doesn’t mean we didn’t know something was going on.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. “Go on, Tom. Your answers could earn your wife dinner tonight.”
He looks to his wife, his eyes bleeding with compassion, and it makes me laugh, the act forcing his eyes back to me. “We knew something was going on, but she told us nothing. I think she did that on purpose so we wouldn’t get in trouble if things went south. When she said goodbye to us before the ceremony, it was more like a final goodbye.” He pauses, looking at his wife once more before he continues. “I’d planned to tell the Vater, but I couldn’t interrupt the ceremony, and then before it was complete the compound was attacked. What was I supposed to do?”
He sounds convincing. But do I really believe a father would turn on their own child? I guess it’s possible, but if that’s the case, then I won’t get to make Anna Cress’s parents suffer anymore, and where’s the fun in that.
Rising from my seat, I usher the two back to their cell before turning and heading back down the walkway. As I close the door, I hear Tom Cress yelling.
“I want to see the Vater! I have the right to see the Vater.”
Fuck your rights.
chapter 9 - My Other Three O’Clock
DAVID
After questioning Tom and Melanie Cress, I had no choice but to fill the Vater in, and unfortunately, he believed Tom’s claims. I was ordered to release them both, but I waited two days just out of spite, claiming I had been too busy to deal with the paperwork. I had also been forced to move Ash Booker to a cell in the bunker a few days ago, not only was she starting to smell rotten, but the elders were starting to question my methods. It didn’t mean I couldn’t torture her at all, but it did mean I was limited on what I could get away with, and it meant no more bonding with Tara, at least not through torture.
It’s been nearly two weeks since the attack on the compound. The construction department has made a lot of headway on the north wall, so things are just starting to go back to normal. There’s still a need for heightened security on that end, but Elder Smith estimates that project could be done in about two weeks. They’ve simultaneously been conducting repairs on the main building, but that’s a little more difficult. So we might be looking at months before the work is done.
This morning I had woken up to another summons to appear before the council. Most likely it’s another security debriefing. They have been calling for those about once every couple days, so before I headed out, I made sure to grab all my notes.
Now, I make my way through the main building, past Vater Henry’s office to the ceremony hall. The change in venue is my only indication this meeting might not be about security. The last few meetings have been fairly casual and held in the Vater’s office, or yesterdays was held in the bunker, as the elders wanted to visit the prisoners.
As I approach the doors, Elder Thompson stands waiting. He took a pretty good blow to the head from a chunk of ceiling in the attack, and with the exception of a bandage on his forehead, he seems mostly recovered now.
“Excellent, I had hoped you would arrive early,” he says, as I eliminate the last few feet of distance between us.
I extend my hand to shake, and the elder returns the gesture before filling me in on why he wanted to speak to me.
“I have some information I think you might be interested in. The boy that was seen with Anna Cress in Bonham, and then again the night of the attack, was spotted in Greenville. That’s a town about…”
I cut him off before he can finish. “I know where it is. And if he was spotted there, I have no doubt she is with him.”
He nods his head in agreement as I run a hand across the top of my head. “That means she’s with Diablo, not the Titans, Elder. Which means we