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Jace crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged before looking at me. Are you going to be okay with Victoria being here?
She’s just a child. She needs guidance. I don’t know why he wouldn’t just send her to Knightstown. She can be around a lot more children her age, and she would have a better life than living in the heart of the mountain, I projected my thoughts back to him.
“Something’s not adding up,” Remy said out loud his eyes narrowed on Senator Bowen. “Micah and Patrick, can you take Alex and Victoria back to the apartment?”
Micah nodded. “Come on, Victoria. We’re watching movies but the girls are doing some kind of arts and crafts.”
“I’m not going anywhere! I’m staying here,” Victoria said mutinously.
I could see that Victoria wasn’t going to go willingly so I compelled her to follow Micah, Patrick, and Alex. I could feel Jace pushing comfort and reassurance onto her. She stood up and left.
“See you at dinner, Dad?” Victoria asked her father expectantly.
He nodded dumbfounded before he looked at us suspiciously. “What did you do to my daughter?” he asked the moment she left the room.
“Nothing that would harm her. We just put her at ease.” I shrugged nonchalantly. I knew my flippancy was irritating the great Senator.
“Now that Victoria isn’t here, we were wondering why you want to send your daughter here instead of Knightstown. The facilities there are more conducive to a growing adolescent girl than in a mountain facility in the middle of now where. Knightstown has the best teachers around. Low student to teacher ratios. An excellent music, sports, and educational program. In short, she would probably adjust better there.” Remy stated frankly.
“There’s not much here for children here. They have one play yard outdoors that they can’t even use now that the weather is setting in. This facility was built with training in mind, not entertaining children.” I added
“There are children in this facility, and Victoria is…was a child that adjusts to any situation and adapts to it with ease. She’ll be fine with time.” Senator Bowen seemed to want to convince himself just as much as us.
“There’s still something you’re not telling us,” Jace said suspiciously as he perched on the side of the desk. Can we ask what happened to your wife and why she feels responsible? What gift does she have?”
Remy sat down and guided me to sit on his knee.
Senator Bowen looked down at his hands. “My wife died in a car accident three weeks ago. She was driving back from picking Victoria up at a friend’s house. Victoria’s a good kid. She’s also feeling the strain of being in the spotlight at all times. She doesn’t, didn’t lead a normal life. There are restrictions that she has and freedoms we can’t give her. Not while I’m in office. Her grades were suffering, and we found out she skipped school that afternoon. My wife finally found her and was on the way home with her. They were having an argument, according to Victoria. She said she was in the back seat and my wife started yelling for her. She said my wife could hear her but couldn’t see her. She vanished, and when my wife looked back up, a drunk driver crossed over the median and hit them head on. My wife was killed on impact and my daughter only suffered minor contusions and abrasions.
Since then, I’ve experienced her…gift a few times. One moment she is there, and the next she’s not. I can hear her, and she says she can hear me, but she…blinks out.”
“Invisibility,” Jace nodded. “When the gifted come into gifts, they can be volatile. They don’t know how to control their gifts. The frustration from normal growing pains combined with something they may not have been exposed to can be difficult.”
“But you’re still
evading our original question and not being completely upfront with us. Why here and not Knightstown?” Remy was like a dog with a bone. I knew he wasn’t being callous, but I also knew his natural distrust of people motivated him at times.
Senator Bowen set his jaw in determination. “The bill for registering the gifted will be up for review in January. If it passes, I would be required to register my own child. I will not register my child. I’m not proud of my stance before. I have realized the error of my ways. Especially now. I am ashamed to admit to have even taken a test to verify if my child was my own because I’ve never had a gifted individual in my family, ever. I didn’t even know you guys existed until those videos started surfacing.
“One of the exemptions they will be giving to registration is for the government contractors that already had certain wordage in their contracts. Paul was one of them. The federal and state government cannot enforce new laws on them due to the secrecy of their program. Everyone here is exempt from registering.”
I exchanged a knowing glance with Remy and Jace.
“So, a government official is finding yet another way to scam the system,” Remy snorted. “It’s not like Victoria is employed here. Who is her guardian while she is here?”
Senator Bowen cleared his throat like he was hesitant with what he was about to say. “There are several levels not being utilized in this base. Since finding out my daughter is gifted, I’ve done my research, and I’ve been making plans just in case the votes don’t go our way. Paul’s facility is also unique in the fact that he is allowed to accept donations from private sectors. My daughter will be coming with a nanny, and several staff members would be added to the facility. The children will have more options for entertainment by the end of December.”
“So, the moral of the story is, with enough money and power, laws cannot touch you,” Remy huffed.
“Mr. Murphy,” the Senator said to Remy. “I’ve seen your financial records. I’m well aware that you’re not a pauper, either, and I know charges brought against you as a teen were dropped once Will stepped in. So, the moral of the story is, with enough love, you would do anything to protect your child or the ones you love,” Senator Bowen said in clipped tones.
Remy stood up and glared at Senator Bowen. “The charges against me were because I did do anything to protect someone I loved, and Will didn’t wave money to make it go away. He made sure I got the justice I deserved.”
I placed a reassuring hand on his arm, then spoke. “I don’t like the fact that you obviously did some snooping on us, but I know what its like to want to protect the ones you love, so if Will and Paul are okay with Victoria being here, then I have no issues.” I took Remy’s hand and led him away.
“It’s not Thanksgiving without football.” Jaxson was bouncing up and down on his heels. “Are you coming? We cleared out training room and it’s ready.”
“I’ll come to watch.” I laughed at his excitement.
