let his mind go completely blank.
***
They had sat in silence for a long time, buried in their own thoughts. Lily could really have used a hug at that moment, but being handcuffed to a chair wasn’t conducive to hugging.
“I hope he comes back soon. I’m getting really hungry,” she said when her growling stomach broke the silence.
“Me too,” Landon said staring off into space.
“So what have you been thinking about,” Lily asked curiously.
“Oh, nothing,” Landon said only telling half the truth.
“He’s coming,” Lily said listening. “I think he may have someone with him. I can hear someone’s thoughts, but they aren’t his.” Landon sat up on his guard and Lily turned towards the door to meet their captors. The door opened silently and two men walked into the grey room. The muscular man who kidnapped them led the way and looked very satisfied with himself. The other man, on the other hand, looked livid at the sight of Lily and Landon.
“YOU IDIOT,” he screamed at the man in black. “What do you think you’re doing to these kids?” He seemed to be calming down for a brief moment, but then raged on at what he saw next.
“YOU HANDCUFFED MY OWN SON? YOU’RE FIRED! GET OUT! OUT, OUT, OUT!” The man in black slinked back into the wall like a chameleon and slithered out the door.
“Dad?” Landon’s voice was filled with confusion and anger. Mr. Turner pulled a slim, black cell phone out of his suit jacket pocket.
“Tim? Oh, Brad. Is Tim there? Oh, never mind Mack’s on his way down. He should have some handcuff keys on him.” He was cooling down and his face was no longer red. When he snapped the phone shut he turned to Landon and said, “Hey, how are you doin’ son?”
“You haven’t shown your face to us in months and that’s all you have to say?”
“What do you want me to say,” he said flatly. “You want me to grovel? Is that what you want?”
“No,” Landon replied glaring at him. “I want a father.”
For a brief second Mr. Turner looked hurt, but a moment later his face was smoothed over to stone.
“Sorry about all of this,” he said motioning to the handcuffs and then around the bleak room. “It’s so unfortunate Mack has such bad manners. It’s not the first time that guy has messed things up, so try not to take it personally.”
“We won’t,” Landon said flatly.
“Good. I certainly wish I could have met your friend under better circumstances,” he said smiling at Lily. “It’s Lily, right? It’s a pleasure to meet you my dear.”
Lily wasn’t sure why, but something about the way he said it made her skin crawl. This man knew who she was and he must know about her gift. There was no way she could trust him, even if he was Landon’s father. Instead of risking giving away her feelings when she spoke, she forced a smile at the grinning man. An old, scruffy faced man entered the room, handed two keys to Mr. Turner and then turned and left as silently as he had come. Once Mr. Turner had uncuffed Lily and Landon, he escorted them through a maze of hallways to a brass elevator. He punched the “lobby” button and the elevator lurched and then plummeted down to the selected floor. By the time they reached the lobby, Lily felt like her stomach had risen and become lodged in her throat. She took a deep breath to steady herself as she exited the elevator into a sleek, modern foyer. It was very well decorated with charcoal greys and deep purples with accents of black. It was small, and held only a front desk and a few plum purple velvet chairs.
“Please wait here while I arrange for transportation to your hotel,” Mr. Turner said motioning towards the chairs.
Lily sat down in the chair closest to her, but Landon refused to sit, and stood facing his father with his arms folded across his chest. The angry expression was gone from his face, but it had left a residual irritation behind. Lily couldn’t think of anything to say that would help the situation, so instead she reached over and put a hand gently on his arm. He smiled at her briefly, but quickly returned his attention to watching his father who was returning from his phone calls.
“Alright you two,” he said happily. “I’ve got a room for each of you at the Venetian. The reservation is under Landon’s name. Everything