Assassin Deception (22 page)

Chloe woke slowly. Her eyes fluttered. She gazed about the large room with curious trepidation, wondering where she was. Realization crashed over her. Dirk’s betrayal slammed into her belly as reality returned. How could he? How could he frighten her like that? They were the ones who had lied to her, she had done nothing wrong. She had said she would leave, yet he stole her and sent her away to an unknown location.
Why?

Chloe rose from the bed, still feeling a touch groggy. She made her way to a solid wooden door. The silver handle wouldn’t turn when she had it clutched in her hand. It was locked.

“Dirk? Damn you!” Chloe yelled. Her fist bashed at the door. “Dirk, you let me out this instant!” She pressed her ear to the door, listening for any footsteps, but could hear none. “Dirk, I mean it. I will never forgive you for this, never!”

Chloe kicked the door and winced as her socked foot connected to the hard wood. She yanked on the handle. Again, she slammed her fist against the hard wood. “Damn you to hell! I hate you!
I hate all of you!
” Chloe sobbed, slipping to the floor. Her forehead pressed against the door while her body curled around itself.

How could they? They were supposed to be her family; they were supposed to love her. Where was Damien? How could he let this happen? He knew what his family was like. Had he changed his mind about her, stopped loving her?

Chloe sniffled. She ground her fists over her eyes. She turned and let the back of her head rest against the door. Her tears stopped flowing. Now was not the time for theatrics. She looked about the room. It was large; a door off to the side could only lead to a washroom. The bed was king sized, yet she had lots of space to wander.

Chloe realized she must be at one of Dirk’s safe houses. Only she wondered if he was protecting her, or felt he was protecting the family from her.

Chloe rose to her feet. A large window showed only trees, rocks, and a small lake in the vicinity. No other housing was visible; she guessed there would be none. When she struggled to lift the large glass pane, she was able to open it only a few inches for fresh air; the backing was screened with metal mesh. On further inspection she could see it was nailed. It wouldn’t go high enough for her to squeeze out.

With a heavy heart Chloe went to the bed and perched on the end, staring at the door. She knew Dirk had been upset. From his look she had seen he had unbelievably thought she had hurt James.

But why? He had known Damien had been with her almost all evening. He had only stepped out for a moment, she wouldn’t have had time. Dirk would have passed her in the hallway, he must realize this. She knew she had been angry and said some things she shouldn’t have, but to actually think she would shoot James, it was insane.

This entire happenstance had become so unbelievable. Her granny was her father’s mother? How could she have allowed James to murder her own child? A strange feeling settled within Chloe’s belly. Was her father even dead or were there more lies they hadn’t shared?

As the thought crashed into Chloe’s mind another, more terrifying memory gripped her. A cold steel knife had been pressed to her throat, a man had her pulled to his powerful chest. She remembered the aroma of his cologne, she remembered her terror of him. It had been real, it wasn’t a dream, an illusion.

The man had somehow seemed familiar, his voice, his size, she remembered confusing him with her father. That was why Dirk had not taken her seriously—he thought her to be delusional. If Dirk thought she was responsible for hurting James he was still in danger, terrible danger. No matter what he had lied about she still loved him, nothing would ever change that.

She remembered her and James’ discussion after she had lost her sight, she remembered everything, all of it. James loved her, James had always loved her, she should have let him explain everything to her.

Chloe flew at the hard wooden door once more. She pummeled it, screaming. James was defenseless. There was no way he could possibly defend himself against anyone at this time.

She must go to him, she must tell Dirk. Somehow she had to get out of here. There must be someone with her; Dirk wouldn’t have left her all alone. Her fists battered against the door until they ached.

But it was useless. The door wouldn’t budge. After glancing about the room, Chloe raced to a chair in the far corner. With every ounce of strength she possessed she flung the chair at the window, expecting it to shatter. The chair bounced off the glass without so much as putting a crack in it, and Chloe’s arms ached with the force of the blow, sending her flying backwards, the chair clattering to the ground.

Chloe slumped to the floor, feeling defeated. She was trapped. Refusing to give in to tears once more, she tried to calm her racing heart. She was the child of a vicious, relentless killer, the granddaughter of a feared assassin. She must have inherited something from either man. Something of their relentless nature. She must not give up. There must be some way to get out of the room…

Chloe lunged to her feet as the door creaked open. With relief, she watched Mitch stroll in, balancing a tray, and raced to him.

“Mitch, James is in terrible danger. I must speak with Dirk, it’s imperative I speak with Dirk.”

“Dirk’s busy. You’re to stay put where I can watch you.” Mitch settled the tray onto a nearby table.

Chloe looked up at the powerful man; his muscles bulged beneath his tight black t-shirt. He was in possession of a large sidearm. For the first time in her life she was aggravated James employed such huge men. She would never be able to knock him down, or do any type of damage.

“Mitch, please, I know you don’t know me well, but James will want to see me, you must understand that,” she said in a soft placating, pleading tone, hoping that might help.

* * * *

“You’re not going anywhere near James.”

Mitch was looking down sternly into Chloe’s haggard expression. He could tell she had been weeping. He could see red marks on her body where she had been battering at the door.

He had witnessed her throwing the chair at the window through a monitor on his computer and decided it was time for an intervention before she harmed herself. The chair had barely missed her when it rebounded backwards. He was uncertain what Dirk had in mind for her, even though the man’s emotions were obviously aggravated.

Perhaps that was why he had sent her away, he had wanted to think this through rationally. Dirk’s explanation to him had been very vague, though he had stressed nothing was to happen to her, absolutely nothing.

“Please, Mitch, can’t I at least wander the house, at least for a little while?” Chloe implored. “Please don’t keep me locked away. You must see I’m no threat to you. I hate being trapped. I’m afraid.”

“I’ll think on it. For now you be a good little girl and eat your dinner. You’re gonna have to take my word for it that it ain’t drugged. It’s getting late and it will be time for bed soon anyway. We can talk more tomorrow.”

Mitch turned and strode for the door, but Chloe grabbed at his arm, stopping him. Mitch sighed and looked down at her. Her eyes remained soft, pleading, desperate. In her present state she was bound to try anything reckless and or stupid and dangerous. He couldn’t allow that, he had his orders. His dark green eyes hardened, hoping to instill fear of himself into her.

“Chloe, you don’t want to find out how far I can throw you.”

* * * *

Chloe looked up at him, stunned. Never in her life had any of James’ men threatened her. James would have beaten them senseless. With a heavy heart Chloe realized he wasn’t one of James’ men, he was Dirk’s, and Dirk thought she had tried to kill his father. Chloe took her hand off Mitch’s arm and stepped back.

She gazed up at the huge man a bit fearfully. She was wondering just what damage Dirk would allow him to do to her. She swallowed heavily. The impact of understanding settled like a massive stone within her belly. She no longer had the protection of the family behind her; she was utterly alone.

“I’ll bring you breakfast early and maybe let you look around,” Mitch offered. He turned and strode from the room.

Chloe went back to her bed. Once more she perched tentatively on the corner. She wondered if she and Mitch were alone. It was more than likely; Dirk would need all of his men close and accounted for to brief them on the events he believed to be true.

Chloe tried to remember what she knew about Mitch. He was married with one child, a young son. His wife was annoyed with him. When he had brought her to James’ home, she had come literally kicking and screaming. Only James had been able to calm her, taking the time to pacify her anger.

Narrowing her eyes, Chloe decided ‘mountain man Mitch’ wasn’t very good with women. Her shoulders slumped. What to do? Women’s wiles would never work on him. Crying wouldn’t work, his own wife had done enough of that and the man remained unmoved, almost emotionally detached. He would only laugh if she threatened him with violence.

Chloe’s head began to throb. She rose and went to the washroom, hoping to find an aspirin in the medicine cabinet. There were none. She noticed her toiletries from home were here. Dirk worked quickly.

Exiting the washroom, Chloe walked over to her dinner tray. Perhaps if she ate something it might settle her head, if not her belly. Lifting the lid, she grimaced as a noxious aroma wafted up to invade her nostrils.

Her nose scrunched daintily. She hated macaroni, especially when it was burnt, it smelled beyond horrible. Poking at it, she discovered it was stone cold and clumped together into one giant congealed mass, the entire confection attaching itself to the fork as if it were fused together.

Obviously Mitch was in no possession of culinary skills if he couldn’t handle something as easy as this should have been. Cautiously she sipped at her coffee cup, then spit the liquid back out.

“That’s just disgusting! How can anyone screw up something as easy as instant coffee?”

With loathing her eyes narrowed onto a napkin covering something. She was afraid to look. With trepidation she lifted the edge of the napkin taking a peek, another noxious odor assaulted her senses.

“My God! It’s Dirk’s intention to poison me!” she declared while gazing down at another burnt liquid brown mess she could only assume was some type of dessert. No wonder Mitch hadn’t bothered to drug the food. One taste and she would be dead anyway. Or in the very least, incapacitated! Is this what happened when you cooked instant pudding…or was it burnt prunes?

Chloe went back to sit down. Her mind was moving furiously, her headache forgotten. If Mitch couldn’t cook that might prove to be very useful, she pondered. If she was hungry she wondered if Mitch was.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Men were always hungry. He wouldn’t chance ordering out, too risky. She doubted anything was close by, regardless.

Knowing Dirk, Mitch was under strict orders never to leave her alone, which meant no trips into town. More than likely the freezer, fridge, and pantry were stocked. That would mean he would be stuck cooking, and Chloe would be stuck eating his burnt creations. She grimaced at the thought. Dirk really was mad!

As the sky outside darkened, Chloe climbed under her sheets. She was still feeling tired from the drug and settled sleepily. She remained clothed. She knew beyond doubt Mitch was somehow watching her. She knew Dirk too well; she refrained from looking for the cameras. The room was probably bugged. She hid her calculating expression under an arm slung across her face and put a plan into motion.

“I wish Mitch would let me cook,” she grumbled aloud. “I’m starving. There isn’t any possible way I could outrun him anyway, he’s way too big, I would be too afraid to make him angry. I don’t even know where I am. I feel so sad and alone. I feel so utterly helpless.” It didn’t take much for a single tear to drip to her sheets that she rubbed at while sniffing for dramatic effect.

She hoped Mitch was listening, watching. There were other things she would have liked to say, none very ladylike and definitely threatening. ‘Mountain man’ wouldn’t even see it coming, she vowed. She was leaving, tomorrow. She was going to find Dirk and kick his ass for thinking she had hurt James, then she would find Damien and kick his ass for allowing this to happen and when she got tired of kicking ass she would take her money and leave!