The Prodigal Sun: A Novel

by S. E. Meyer

  “It’s me, Jacob, I’ve been calling for hours!” Jacob’s anger pierced through the phone connection as he bellowed into Adam’s ear. “Look Adam, I am not sure what you did to me last night, but I know I would not have handed over almost everything I own of my own free will. I will fight this to the fullest extent of the law! You will not get away with this…”

  “Settle down Jacob, I am out of the country right now and…”

  “Already spending my money, no doubt!” spat Jacob, cutting him off.

  “Jacob, as soon as I get back I will come see you in New York, okay? We can talk about this and come to some sort of agreement. I have something I can offer you that I know you'll be interested in.”

  “You have nothing I want!” Jacob was yelling so loud that Brent, and several others passing by, could hear his voice raging through the phone.

  “Au contraire, my friend; I have something that you would be willing to spend every last cent you ever made in order to acquire it. Power Jacob, I’m talking about absolute power. Let’s talk when I get back and I will show you exactly what I mean.” It was either Adam’s words or his new ability of persuasion trickling through the telephone connection that calmed Jacob down. Either way, it seemed to settle him down enough to back off for a few more days. The rich will always have a soft spot for the “p” word. Power was everything,, with power comes money, and with money comes more power Adam thought while waiting for Jacob to respond.

  “When will you be back in New York?”

  “A few days Jacob, trust me, I will call you the minute I arrive.”

  “Good, that gives my lawyers a few days to drill holes in the contract you made me sign.”

  Adam hung up the phone as they made their way through the security check and customs. Adam opened the exit door leading out into the street in front of the airport and Brent followed him into the nearest cab. “Downtown,” Adam said to the cabby “Radisson Edwardian.”

  There was just a hint of dusk’s light making its way through the sliver of opening between the curtains of their posh hotel room. It was deathly quiet except for the tap, tap of Adam typing on his PDA phone. They had spent the last few hours making financial arrangements in the U.S. where the banks were still open for business. Unable to sleep, they spent the rest of their time discussing plans. Suddenly the hotel room phone rang.

  “Yes?” snapped Adam as he picked up the receiver.

  “Mr. Adam…?”

  “Yes.” Adam replied hastily before the caller could finish the last name.

  “This is Steven Riley of Riley’s Auction House. I was just calling to confirm your arrival to the auction today at 10:00 Am this morning.”

  “Yes, we will be attending.”

  “Good, good, we’ll see you at ten o’clock then shall we?”

  “Yes,” Adam said again and hung up the phone. He looked at his watch; it was now 7:12AM. He turned to Brent.

  “That was the auction house.”

  “I know, did you forget I can read your mind?” Brent smiled a playful, yet evil smile, as he spoke.

  They made their way down to the restaurant and had breakfast while arranging transportation to the auction house. It was a short drive and within the hour they were registered and seated in luxurious chairs in room three of the prestigious sales building. Wait staff continued to make rounds and take complimentary drink orders. There was an elderly woman to Adam's right that was already working her third martini and seemed to handle it as if it was an everyday routine. The waiter looked over at Adam and made eye contact for a second. A shudder ran through Adam’s body. He decided he didn’t like the waiter at all and wished he would leave. He was abnormally tall. A guy like that should be playing basketball or something, not serving drinks. He thought to himself. There were quite a few other people beginning to show up and the room soon became crowded. Brent looked down at his printed brochure of the items being sold that day. They would have to wait for a while since the item they wanted was #21 on the list. Brent and Adam sat patiently as wealthy patrons made bids on antique watches, jewelry, and other ancient artifacts that were of no interest to him. It started to get warm in the room and Adam and Brent both grew impatient. The items that were being auctioned off were on a table that stood on a rotating piece of floor and wall at the front of the room. As the items were sold, the section rotated out of view and the next item to be sold was revealed from behind the wall on an identical table. Adam pictured employees in that back room, preparing items and moving the sold items to a safe place, while placing the next one on the table before it was rotated into view for bidding. He thought what a tedious job that must be, recording winning bid numbers and matching them to items. Forwarding that information along to the cashier via computer and then adding the next item to the table, only to do it all over again. Of course they get to see and handle some intriguing items. Adam was getting bored as he waited. The auctioneer pulled him from his thoughts.

  “Item number 20,” called out the auctioneer, “we will now be taking bids on item number 20.”

  The table swung around to reveal a 3000-year-old statuette of a lion. The crowd gasped and immediately bids began to flow.

  “Ten-thousand now, do I hear twenty, twenty we have and thirty?”

  The amount continued to climb until finally things slowed at around half a million.

  Finally. Brent and Adam thought together. It’s almost time. Brent took another look around the room, surveying the competition.

  “I do believe we came prepared, I can’t imagine anyone outbidding us on this,” Brent said to Adam telepathically.

  “No we should be fine.”

  “Going once, twice and sold to the young lady in the front for six-hundred and fifty-thousand.”

  “Okay, we are now going to start the bidding on Item number 21. Who will open the bidding? Let’s start at fifty-thousand, shall we? Anyone, fifty, fifty?”

  Brent and Adam were not paying attention; they were still staring at the table and waiting for it to rotate to reveal the pyramid. Someone finally bid at fifty-thousand and soon there was another bid for one hundred-thousand.

  “Why isn’t the table rotating, where’s the pyramid?” Adam asked Brent, not expecting an answer.

  “I don’t know, something doesn’t seem right.” Brent responded in a whisper with a worried expression. He could feel his heart rate quicken.

  Adam raised his hand.

  “Ah, and yes we have one hundred and fifty-thousand now to the gentleman, and who will give me two?”

  Adam couldn’t help himself. The anticipation was tearing at his mind and he yelled out to the auctioneer in a loud voice. “Where is the item?”

  The auctioneer ignored the comment and continued to request bids.

  “Where is the item?” Adam repeated as he stood up and everyone turned to look. The auctioneer stopped for a moment.

  “There is a brief summary on all items being sold today in your brochure. The item is being prepared and will be viewed shortly. If you do not sit down immediately I will have you removed.” The auctioneer held a stern look on his face and the two armed guards at the front of the room took a step towards him. Adam sat back down. “Alright, but I’m not bidding again until I see it!” Adam crossed his arms in disgust.

  “It will be up soon,” said the auctioneer, before going back to his request for bids. “Do I hear two-fifty?”

  The auction floor phone rang and an assistant answered it. “We have one million,” she said, trying not to look surprised, but her jaw was hanging open.

  “I’m telling you Brent, something is wrong,” spat Adam in Brent’s ear. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “I know, I feel it too.” Brent looked around the room and began rubbing his hands together nervously.

  “And I had a very strange feeling when that waiter looked at me. Almost like he knew why I was here.” Adam spoke in hushed tones and was still leaning in towards Brent.

  “What waiter?”
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  “The extremely tall one, he’s standing over there” Adam pointed in the direction of the other wait staff mixing drinks. “Huh, he was there a minute ago.”

  “We have one million, do I hear two?” the auctioneer continued in a surprised tone but quickly re-gained his composure. Someone from the back row raised their hand and the auctioneer started requesting three million, which he got from the anonymous phone bidder. The rotating table had not moved and was still displaying item number 20. “Do I hear five,” the auctioneer continued and the man in the back raised his hand again. The telephone bidder bid ten million, with no other bids for several minutes. That’s when the auctioneer started to finalize the bidding with the item still not on display. “Ten million once, ten million twice…” came the auctioneer’s voice

  “Fifty million,” yelled Adam in frustration as he raised his hand, “but you better display that item immediately.” A rumble of low murmurings began to spread through the attendees over the amount that the item was fetching.

  “Yes sir, of course.” The auctioneer’s eyes were wild with excitement, although he was trying to maintain his composure. His thoughts were on the percentage of money he would earn on the day’s transactions. He waved to an assistant who disappeared through a side door. The female assistant was still on the phone and motioned to the auctioneer.

  “One hundred million!” she said and there was a gasp from the crowd. Adam could feel a drop of sweat roll down his forehead. Finally, the assistant that had left through the side door returned and whispered something into the auctioneer’s ear.

  “I’m sorry we’re having a small mechanical problem with the viewing table. It will be fixed in just a moment.” The auctioneer’s voice trembled along with his hands while he spoke. Just then the table began to rotate. “Ah here we are, one hundred million do I hear two—“ He was cut off by his own gasp as the table turned around to reveal an auction house employee, lying bound and unconscious across the table that was otherwise empty. The cry from the crowd was thunderous as the guards ran to the table while calling on their radios.

  “He’s dead!” One of the guard’s called out.

  At that moment, metal bars dropped down covering all exits, allowing no-one to leave. The auctioneer raised his hands trying to calm the crowd, who were now on their feet and stampeding towards the barricades. “Everyone calm down, just calm down. The police are on their way.” People were pushing towards the barred doorways in alarm, a few in the front began to get crushed against the bars as panic overtook the crowd. Adam and Brent were both dumbfounded, their jaws hanging loosely. Adam re-gained his composure and walked up to the two guards with Brent close behind.

  “What the hell is going on here? I have a right to know.”

  “I’m sorry sir, just remain calm, the police are on their way.” The guards were trying to work their way into the crowd towards the barricades and calm everyone down. Adam immediately made eye contact with one of the guards and forced himself into his mind.

  “Tell me what happened!” There was a faint flash of blue across Adam’s eyes.

  “I-I-I don’t know, really. All I know is item number 21 is missing. Two guards were overpowered in the back room and we have one dead employee. That’s all I know.” Adam could tell he wasn’t lying.

  “You must let us out of here!” Adam demanded.

  “I can’t!” The guard held a terrified expression as Adam’s anger became more apparent.

  “You will!” Adam’s eyes flashed brightly with an electric blue.

  “No, really I can’t, the doors are locked from the outside when there is a security breach. We are all stuck here until the police arrive.” As the guard spoke sirens could be heard faintly in the distance.

  “I can’t believe this!” shouted Adam. “I could catch the thief if you let me out of here right now! I know who did it!” he roared. Adam could feel the presence of the tall waiter diminishing as he reached out with his mind. “You’re letting him get away!” Adam screamed. The fear of losing the precious pyramid was making him lose control of himself. A vein was pulsing above his temple and his face was a deep red. He reached for the guard’s gun and they both fell over onto the floor in front of the body of the dead employee. People stopped pushing against the bars and turned to see what was going on. Adam managed to wrestle the gun away from the guard and was now holding it to the guards head. “I want to get out of here now!”

  The other guard started speaking to Adam. He held his hands up with palms forward. “Look, take it easy there. There is no way out until the police clear the building and let us out. There is absolutely no way out, do you understand? Just take it easy and give me the gun.”

  “There has to be a way out, there has to be,” mumbled Adam, nervously looking around the room. Just then the guard Adam was holding spun around and grabbed the gun. They both fell to the floor and the gun went off with a deafening explosion inside the small room. Adam felt Brent cry out to him in his mind. He looked behind him just in time to see Brent fall backwards onto the floor, dead, a bullet hole just above his left eyebrow. “Look what you’ve done!” Adam cried out. “Just look at what you’ve done!” He crawled towards Brent with a painful expression on his face as he pulled himself across the floor, a string of drool left the corner of his mouth. He tried to reach Brent with his mind, but there was only darkness. Brent was gone. “You are all going to pay for this!” Adam yelled as he got up and spun around. Just then, multiple red dot laser sights appeared on his chest and forehead. Realizing he was not strong enough to control the minds of an entire special forces team, he dropped to his knees. “This isn’t over,” he mumbled as the MET's CO19 team stormed through the door and threw Adam, face first, onto the floor. Adam smiled through his freshly cut, bleeding lip as they handcuffed him with a knee on his neck.

  Far from it. He thought to himself. Far from it.

  seeing is believing

  “Frank!” Yelled John through the thick metal, “are you okay? Wake up!” He and Jennifer pounded on the doors, but there was no response from Frank. They slid the heavy deadbolts and unlocked the doors. “Frank!” John yelled again as he and Jenny ran across the room. Frank looked pale, lying on the bed, and Jenny looked like she was going to be sick.

  “Oh John, maybe we’re too late, is he still alive?”

  John took Franks hand and felt a pulse. “Yes! Yes, he’s alive.” John slapped Frank’s hand lightly. “Frank, wake up, are you okay?”

  “Hello John,” came Frank’s voice inside John’s head. It was weak, but John could make out the words as they entered his mind. “Thanks for coming, I knew I could count on you. Don‘t let go of my hand, I‘m too weak to communicate unless we‘re touching.”

  “Are you okay? What can I do?”

  “I’ll be okay now that you’re here. I’m just very weak, communicating with you just about killed me I think, zapped every bit of energy I had left. I‘ll be a hell of a lot better once you get me out of here. I am sure you have a lot of questions, which I will be more than happy to answer, but first we have to get out of here as soon as possible and I need your help.”

  “Sure, anything!” John was studying Franks face, looking for a sign of outward consciousness. Jenny was looking at John with a strange expression on her face.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Frank’s talking to me, remember I told you he did that before? It happened back in his office at the lab?”

  “I can’t hear anything.” Jenny shrugged. Her concern for Frank quickly switched back to John.

  “I know, it’s like he’s speaking directly into my mind.” John touched the side of his head as he spoke.

  Frank’s voice streamed through his head again. “John, tell her to grab hold of my hand.”

  “He wants you to hold his hand.” John took Jenny’s hand and placed it in Frank’s.

  “Um, okay” said Jennifer apprehensively. She took hold of Frank’s hand. It was cold and limp. A small
shudder went through her body and she closed her eyes. She could hear him now, just like John said. Faintly, but she could hear him in her head.

  “I just wanted to talk to you for a minute so you don’t think John’s crazy, alright?”

  “Okay,” Jenny responded quietly, nodding. She was staring at Frank’s motionless body. John could see the look of shock and amazement on Jenny’s face.

  “I can explain better once I get out of here.”

  “Can you hear him now?”

  “Yes, I I…” Jenny was at a loss for words.

  John turned to Frank and grasped his hand again.. “Frank, what do you want us to do?”

  “Well John, I need you to grab a few things from the next room.” Frank described the vials John needed to get, along with two needles. Everything was sitting on a stainless steel tray table in a small room around the corner. John got what he needed then ran back to Frank’s side and grabbed a hold of his hand again.

  “Good, now you will need to give me an injection in my arm. Twenty cc’s from the one with the blue label, make sure you only give me twenty.”

  John grabbed a syringe and filled it with twenty cc’s of the clear liquid. He moved closer to Frank and held the needle to Frank’s skin. His hand was shaking. “I don’t know what I’m doing Frank!” John pulled the needle away and hung his head in frustration.

  “It okay, there’s a large vein just below my elbow, you’ve worked with animals in the lab enough John, I’m not much different. Just find the vein and push the plunger, hurry.”

  John half closed his eyes as he tried lining the needle up again. He stabbed the needle into Frank’s arm and quickly depressed the plunger.

  “There, that should only take a few minutes. Now the next one, adrenaline.”

  John filled the next hypodermic and lined up again, slowly pushing the fluid into his vein. John and Jennifer watched Frank’s body as it began to come around. Frank’s arm twitched a few times and then his entire body began to shudder. After several minutes of slight movements Frank opened his eyes, cleared his throat, and spoke in a raspy voice.