Joe leaned forward. "Yes, but who is in charge? I need names."
"I don't have any for you. Nicholas was my sole contact. After completing the first mission, I didn't spend a lot of time at the headquarters. He had me constantly on the move from one city to the next. I didn't even have a permanent place to live. I've been sleeping in hotel rooms for the past year."
Joe sighed. "So, it had been ingrained in you that your targets were a threat to the government, to your country? Did you ever question it?"
Slowly, he shook his head. "No, I didn't. Now, I wonder why, but I just trusted what had been said to me."
As Joe rubbed his chin, he stared at Jordan, making him feel like the man could stare past his flesh, bones, and tendons, and see his heart beating.
"I wonder about that, as well," he murmured. "In fact, I find it fascinating that you didn't question anything. You're obviously highly intelligent, so it seems so odd to me that you would just follow someone's orders to kill another without having some concerns."
When Joe put it that way, visions of a horse being led around by the reins flashed in his mind.
Why had he been so trusting? Had it been because Nicholas was the first one there and had been kind to him, forging something resembling a friendship? Or had it been something else completely?
Upon reflection, he'd never really liked the guy, and he chalked up his trust in him to Nicholas being the one there for him when he woke up without any memories.
He heard laughter carry on ocean breeze outside and couldn't help but think the guffaws of his unit down on the beach sounded like true friendship.
Nicholas hadn't been there because he had Jordan's best interests at heart. He'd been there to further Group Nine's agenda.
Joe interrupted his thoughts. "Walk me through a hit, Jordan. From the moment you received the assignment until after the assassination had been completed."
"I'm not going to use yours as an example because it became completely fucked up when I saw Ava. My brain scrambled and short-circuited in ways I couldn't even imagine. I thought I had become sick with the flu or something. At one point, I considered I had developed a brain tumor. I was so close to pulling out, but figured if I could just get through it, then I could get some much needed time off."
Joe's lips turned up in a grin. "How hard can it be to kill a man in a wheelchair, right?"
He couldn't help but chuckle. Yes, the handicapped man had brought him down, and it served as a lesson never to underestimate anyone, ever again.
"That's fine, Jordan. My assassination attempt was not one of your finest moments. Tell me about one that went flawlessly-I want every detail."
His mind wandered back to San Francisco, which seemed like a lifetime ago, but in reality had only been a couple of weeks in the past. Frankly, it made him uneasy confessing to a murder, as Joe could turn him in. However, he also knew that if he didn't, he doubted he'd walk out of here alive. Even if he did tell Joe every detail, the man still didn't have reason to trust him. A man's word didn't hold much credibility anymore, especially when it came from someone like him.
"In San Francisco, I watched my target for about a week. I figured out his schedule and his habits. It just so happened that he met with a couple of prostitutes twice a week at the same motel, where the two lived. They called themselves Drake and Rihanna."
"How original."
"That's what I thought. Anyway, the hit went off without a hitch. Drake and Rihanna left when I told them to, then I killed the major. I slipped out the back of the hotel without a problem, then walked a few blocks to Nicholas' car."
"Where did you go, then?"
"Protocol was that he'd take me to a motel, which he did. I had a shower, then we had our hypnosis session."
Joe's eyebrows shot up so high, they looked as if they may jump right off his forehead. "Hypnosis?"
"Yeah. The handlers use hypnosis to get all the details of the mission that the assassin may have missed. They say it is to make sure neither the mission nor the assassin was compromised."
Joe's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Interesting. So, for instance, killing someone in a public setting can be highly stressful. Although you try to take in everything around you-people, cameras, and the such-you can never be certain if you pulled off the job with one hundred percent anonymity, but your subconscious knows because it records all details of all interactions and situations."
"Yes, that's exactly what I was told."
"And did your handler have a specific word he used to help you into trance?"
"Yes. Assassino."
Joe furrowed his brow. "Really? If my recollection of Italian serves me right, that mean assassin."
Jordan smiled. He would like to find one thing on this Earth that was unfamiliar to Joe, but he guessed he'd have to keep searching. Apparently, the guy knew about how hypnosis worked, and had dabbled in Italian at some point. "That's correct."
"Why was that word chosen?"
"I didn't know much about Nicholas, but he had a light Italian accent. It couldn't be a word that I'd hear on a regular basis, but one that would be easy for him to remember. So, that's what he came up with."
Joe stared at him a long while, long enough to make him wonder if he had a booger hanging out of his nose, or if he'd someone grown a third eye. Jordan could practically see the synapses firing off in the man's head as he processed the information and put it into some type of configuration that gave him an 'aha!' moment.
He opened his mouth to speak, but Joe held up his hand, stopping him. He put the gun on his lap, wheeled away from the table and across the room, then back again. After a few minutes of watching Joe repeat the action, Jordan realized it was his version of pacing.
Finally, he glanced over at Jordan. "And you responded well to the hypnosis?"
"Yeah, I did. Nicholas said I was a great subject."
A huge grin broke out across Joe's face. "That's it, then."
Confused, he tried to place the pieces of the conversation in the same order Joe had to come up with what the 'it' could be. However, he didn't find himself successful in the least bit.
"What's what, Joe?"
Joe came back over to the table and laid the gun on the smooth surface. His face had lit up with excitement.
"First, let me explain something to you. People who are good hypnosis subjects are highly intelligent. Their minds are strong; their ability to focus and follow directions far exceed others."
Yeah, he still wasn't tracking. "Okay. So I'm smart."
"Yes. My guess is that somewhere inside of you, there is a supernatural ability. I bet the hypnosis has been used to keep it dormant, as well as your memories."
He furrowed his brow, now thoroughly confused. "Why would they want my ability and my memories dormant?"
Joe shook his head. "I don't know. You don't remember anything before waking up in the hospital?"
"No."
They sat in silence for a moment as Joe's gaze darted around the room, as if the answers to the puzzle would be found written on the beige walls.
"So," Joe continued. "That word is your trigger word, so to speak, which helps you reach a deep state of hypnosis. Is that correct?"
"Yeah."
"My guess is that yes, Nicholas did use the hypnosis to ensure the safety of you and the operation as a whole, but I'd also be willing to bet that while you were under, he reinforced the idea that you did good work with Group Nine, and told you not to question it. He also didn't want your memories to surface, and possibly an ability."
He rarely remembered anything from his hypnosis sessions, so he supposed it could be conceivable.
"Would it be okay if I tried a little hypnosis on you, Jordan?"
He shook his head, done with having people mess with his brain. "Nope. Not going to happen. I don't need you screwing around in there, as well."
"Listen to me. If by chance you end up back in Group Nine, one of the first things they're going to do besides torture you is put you under to see what you know, where you've been, and who has kept you company. If we can reprogram your brain to not accept the trigger word, nor Nicholas' suggestions, you'll truly be free of them. And, if there's a chance to unlock your memories … "
He really didn't want anyone messing with his brain, but what if he went under hypnosis and remembered everything from his life? What if he could go to Ava and tell her that he recalled how she liked her coffee and she preferred a certain wine over another?
And, if they got rid of the power of the trigger word that sent him deep into hypnosis, Group Nine wouldn't have control over him ever again.
"Fuck," he mumbled as he ran his hand over his face. It all seemed like a good idea, but he still had reservations.
Then, he wondered if Joe would be using the hypnosis for nefarious reasons, maybe making him his own personal assassin, just taking Nicholas' place?
He needed someone in the room whom he fully trusted; someone he felt certain wouldn't allow anything to happen to him.
"Fine, but I want Ava here."
Joe nodded. "If she's willing, that's fine by me."
33
A light tapping at her bedroom door woke Ava. Grunt jumped off the bed and began sniffing the floor by the door, his tail wagging so hard, his whole body shook. He started grunting, and she rolled over, hoping whoever bothered her went away.