Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (23 page)

Stopping,
closing
his
eyes
he
began
to
speak.

“Love
is
patient.
Love
is
kind.
It
does
not
envy.
It
does
not
boast.
It
is
not
proud.
It
is
not
rude.
It
is
not
self-seeking.
It
is
not
easily
angered.
It
keeps
no
record
of
wrongs.
Love
does
not
delight
in
evil,
but
rejoices
with
the
truth.
It
always
protects,
always
trusts,
always
hopes,
and always
perseveres.
Love
never
fails...”

With
that
he
took
a
step
to
the
right
allowing
his
son
to
see what
was
in
front
of
him.
It
was
his
mother’s
grave.
Philip
looked
at
his
son
in
contemplation.

“Corinthians
13,
verses
4-
8,
13.48;
this
is
what
your
mother
read
to
me
on
the
day
we
were
married.”

Lee's
eye
went
back
to
the
grave
where
the
words
of
scripture
his
father
had
quoted
were
engraved
on
a
headstone
accompanied
by
his
mother’s
name,
date
of
birth
and
along
with
this,
he
read
his
own
birthday.

The
two
men
stood
in
silence
for
a
moment
as
they
both
paid
their
respects.
Philip,
to
the
woman
he
loved
and
wanted
to
spend
his
life
with,
but
was
unable
to
save,
and
Lee
to
the
woman
that
saved
him
by
giving
up
her
life.

Moments
passed
and
the
two
men
slowly
began
to
reconcile
the
emotions
that
had
been
stirring
from
within
them.
There
was
a
bunch
of
plastic
flowers
in
a
small
brass
vase
sitting
in
front
of
the
headstone.

“Your
brother
left
you
something.
Look
in
the
pot.”

Lee
removed
the
flowers
from
the
vase
and
inspecting
inside
saw it
was
full
of
water.

“A
bit
unnecessary
for
plastic
flowers,
I
think...”
Philip
uttered
from
behind
him,
so
he
removed
the
vase
from
his
mother’s
grave
and
completely
tipped
the
water
out
and
stuck
his
hand
inside
to see
if
there
was
anything
within. There
was
a
small
water
tight
container
stuck
to
the
bottom.
He
removed
it,
already
aware
of
what
the
contents
were.
He
presented
it
to
his
father
to
make
the
discovery.
Philip
slowly
opened
the
box
as
Lee
was
keeping
a
careful
eye
to
make
sure
his
father
didn’t
damage
anything
inside.
As
they
both
peered
into
the
open
box
they
saw
it
was
in
fact
the
circuit
board
they
were
seeking
to
make
the
hard
drive
work.
Philip
handed
it
back
to
Lee
and
he
put
it
in
his
inside
pocket.
The
two
men
paid
their
final
respects
to
Josephine
and
left
her
graveside.

Returning
to
his
apartment
that
night
with
the
hard
drive
and
the
circuit board,
Lee
carefully
opened
the
drive
and
reattached
the
circuit
board;
then
closed
it,
sealing
it
once
again.

As
his
laptop
booted up,
once
again
he
connected
the
drive
to
the
computer,
this
time
turning
it
on.
As
the
system
loaded,
Jennifer
came
into
the
room
and
appealed
to
him.
“What’s
going
on?”

She
sat
patiently
and
listened
as
he
told
her
about
the
events
that
had
been
surrounding
Tom
and
what
they
had
uncovered.

When
he
finished
telling
her
everything,
Jennifer
was
extremely
nervous
and
uncomfortable
with
the
news.

“I
think
we
should
call
the
police!”

“The
people
involved
were
above
the
police
and
no
one
can
know
what’s
going
on
if
there
is
to
be
any
chance
of
finding
my
brother.”

Lee
took
Jennifer’s
hand
and looked
her
in
the
eyes
,
reassuring
her.
“Jenny
I
need
you
to
trust
me
on
this.
It’s
my
brother.
He's
not
only
my
brother,
but
he's
my
best
friend
and
my
hero
and
I
need
to
be
the
one
to
find
him.”

Jennifer
conceded
to
Lee's
judgment
,
knowing
him
only
to
ever
speak
like
this
when
his
mind
was
made
up. She
wanted
to
stay
to
comfort
him
in
his
time
of
need,
but
appreciated
he
would
not
be
able
to
offer
up
any
information.
She
conceded,
“I
truly
love
and
trust
you.
I'll
go
to
bed…
Don't
be
too
late.”
she
stood
up
kissed
him
on
the
lips
and
left
the
room.

Turning
his
attention
back
to
the
computer
that
was
fully
booted
at
this
stage,
he
began
opening
the
drive
on
his
computer
and
found
all
the
files
that
his
brother
had
previously told
him
about. He spen
t
the
whole
night
reading
about
Project
K
and
all
the
related
missions.
Reading
dossiers
and
reports
on
everything
associated
with
Project
K.
He
even
found
all
his
brother's
reconnaissance
reports.
Buried
deep
in
the
files
he
noticed
a
folder
called
Corinthians.
He
opened
it
and
seeing
inside
there
was
a
video
file,
he
hit
play.