Deception: Redemption...Is A Bitch (Book Four)

Chapter 8

Dina had been eavesdropping, the walls were a lot thinner than at the Archive. Kay, Mike and Cameron were sitting in the common area.

"Well?" He had wanted to go in and help, realizing after being reminded by the women that Jessalyn was more than capable of taking care of her guy and to just sit back, it was time that his brother had someone else to lean on. Dina had a very cautious optimism.

"I think she got through to him. It sounded like it. Maybe, this will be it Cam. He has to regain something of himself at some point. The sooner the better, what we have to do now is not going to be easy. He has to be strong, the old Jonathan. Not this person masquerading as your twin." Cameron shot a scowl towards his producer. "Don't say it isn't so, your twin has not been here since he got out of prison and you know it, we've all seen it."

He couldn't argue that fact, it had been hard being the one to keep the group together alone. He'd always leaned on his twin. Jonathan was the protector, he kept them safe and fought for them, especially when they were younger. Cameron remembered all the times his brother had stepped in to take the blame so Sebastian would take his rage out on him rather than his 'little brother'. Standing up to his father to ensure the entire company's health and well-being. If he had left it in the hands of their father Cameron was fairly certain there would have been more accidents, some he was sure weren't accidents in the first place.

He was swirling his tea in his cup, memories running like movies through his mind. The near misses, the beatings, the condemnations. Jonathan always being the buffer and then when Gunter had come on board he stood with his twin. Always there keeping them safe, both of them. Wait. What the hell?

The memories were coming faster, he was looking at them from a different perspective. Jonathan had come across Gunter in a bar just after he turned eighteen. It was weird really. They weren't looking for a set designer and for some reason this big oaf had wheedled his way in and convinced Jonathan he would be an asset for the show. Sebastian was furious and meant to strike out at his brother stopped only by the big man placing himself between the two of them. At the time Cameron didn't take notice.

He went over several more incidents in his mind. Gunter was always there, in the way, keeping the worst of the beatings from doing actual permanent damage. Sebastian backing down rather than getting into it with the big man. Why didn't he just fire Gunter then, he was searching his memories, trying to recall how those events went down. It couldn't have just been his knowledge, he had to learn on the job. Cameron remembered the day he and Jonathan had to explain the Disappearing Boy act, he didn't really understand it. If he was an expert in magical design he should have known, it was a basic trick, just showy for dramatic license.

He was coming to a very bizarre conclusion and he needed to talk to Jonathan to make sure he wasn't seeing something that wasn't there.

Kay had been keeping a careful eye on her magician. Something was going on in that complicated mind of his. She wouldn't push, not yet. Trying to get him to return to bed was impossible, he said he had to think some more, figure things out. Well, that would give her some time to do some set up of her own. She indicated to Mike it was time they got their op up and running. They hadn't had much time to even discuss what exactly they would do in the mad rush to get here, to this bunker. It was well set out, all the amenities of home but make no mistake it was a bunker, to withstand an assault.

Dina watched as the two agents went into one of the back workrooms. She decided she would sit with Cameron, make sure he had someone if he needed her. She had stood in for his missing brother, keeping him on track in his desperate attempts to have him exonerated. Jonathan was still in a bad place and she made the decision she would continue to support the man, it was the right thing to do.