The Fount of Dragon Fire

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Come in!"

Garrett's voice from behind the door of his office in the headquarters that the All Goods had set up did not fill Silvia with the thrill it used to. The rough, gravelly sound that had been so sexy once upon a time hit her ears with a nearly completely indifferent reaction now. The only feeling that was left was determination and the barest hint of wistfulness.

She opened the door and stepped inside, jaw hard and hand clenched tight around the flash drive.

Garrett Goodall was standing in front of his massively messy desk, looking between two different pieces of paper, both heavily filled with writing. It wasn't until she had shut the door and stood there in silence for a minute that he finally lifted his head.

Garrett blinked at the hard look on her face. "Er, Silvia Truett? You're my 4 o'clock?"

"I am." She nodded once.

"All right. What did you need?" Concerned about the expression she wore, he slowly lowered the reports and notes he had been reading to face her fully.

"Mr. Goodall, I have been one of your followers and supporters for nearly two years now. It has been an honor to be part of the All Goods, and it is not an experience I will ever want to change."

"Well, we've been honored to have you." He gave her that smile that once would have made her wild with fanatic adoration. "You seem quite serious today. What's troubling you?"

Silvia held up her hand, showing him the flash drive resting on her palm. "You know Cameron Delaney? The girl accused of killing Yarrow Norcross."

"Yes. What about her?"

"She's my best friend, and she was taken into custody illegally. On this drive is footage of the one of the tortures she was subjected to in an effort to interrogate her."

Garrett took the drive from her hand, frowning. "On this? Are you serious?"

Silvia nodded. "I had help from some friends, who I will not name to protect them, to get her out. That was three days ago. I was told that if I did not hear from one of them in three days, I was to take this footage to be released by the media."

"Then why give it to me?"

"It's known that Camry has aligned herself with the All Goods. That footage shows her torture by Thad Donnelly, chief scientist for the DCS. She was put under his custody by President Chancellor himself. You want the president in your hand? There's your tool to get him there."

Garrett's hand tightened around the drive. Without another word, he walked around the desk, opening the laptop he had closed and pushed back. Silvia didn't join him. She didn't want to see the video. Though she had argued with herself for hours about watching it, she had opted not to do so. There was already one horrific image burned into her brain, she didn't need two.

However, just because she couldn't see what was being played, didn't mean that she couldn't hear it through the lousy speakers of the laptop.

Garrett's expression narrowed, brows furrowing as he leaned in closer, while the sound of Camry's muffled screams scoured along Silvia's nerves like branding irons.

"Is this real?" Garrett asked, shocked.

"Why would I lie?" Silvia was looking away, as though trying to block out the sound of the laptop by not looking at it.

Garrett frowned at the screen for a long moment. He stayed silent through the gargled screams until the footage ended. Then, to her surprise, he asked-