Assassin Deception (31 page)

“Deegan?” Chloe asked with seeming confusion. As her lights were snapped on, she blinked against the sudden brightness, holding her hand up close to her face to soften the glare. “Wha…what’s wrong?” It took every ounce of determination for Chloe not to scream in terror when Deegan yanked her to her feet by her arms and glared into her eyes.

“Where the hell did you go?” Deegan snarled, he was enraged.

“Go? Go where? I’m trapped. That was made very clear to me today,” Chloe replied, eyes wide and frightened. “Please, why are you so angry?”

“You left me all alone! I was alone again because of you!”

“No, Deegan, no. I was tired, you were sleeping, I wanted to go to bed. I was too afraid to wake you. I didn’t know if that would make you angry. I never know what will make you angry. Look, now you’re mad because I didn’t wake you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me again. Do I wake you if you fall asleep again? Please tell me, you’re scaring me,” Chloe howled. Deegan’s fingers were pressing viciously into her soft flesh.

Deegan was so close to her his expelled breath panted into her face, moving her hair with each puffed breath of air. His dark eyes flickered with raw emotions that came at him so fast Chloe could almost see both men battling for power.

“Deegan?” she whimpered. She remained submissive in his grasp. Her body shook, trembling with her fear. Her tears fell steadily, wondering if he would once more render her unconscious. “Trevor?” she sobbed instead, remembering Deegan’s words of wisdom she had tucked away.

As if a veil were lifted, Deegan stilled his rage instantly. A calm settled over him; his grip loosened. His eyes softened and he yanked Chloe within his embrace, pulling her head to his unclad chest. Chloe could hear his heart hammering beneath her ear.

“It’s all right,” he soothed. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I thought maybe I had dreamt you, that maybe I hadn’t saved all of us, after all. I woke up and you were gone. Sometimes I dream you are gone. Who will save me if you’re gone?” His hands trailed up and down her ridged back. He shushed her trembling body.

“Trevor?” Chloe asked hesitantly.

“No, Chloe, I’m Deegan. You still don’t understand, do you? Trevor died with his father. His fears and thoughts remain in my mind, his mind. When you call to him, I listen, I hear his pain, your fear.”

Chloe sobbed harder. How could Trevor exist within his mind and yet not exist? Did he even know who he was? The thought continued to crash within Chloe’s head. Something was just not right. How could he be insane on top of being insane?

“Please, Deegan, I’m tired. Please can I sleep now?” Chloe whimpered. Her head had begun to ache.

“Of course, Chloe, go back to sleep.” Deegan tilted her head back and claimed her lips passionately. Chloe stiffened. She whimpered, pushing at his broad shoulders. She loathed his touch. He discovered her mouth, tasting, exploring. He fondled and rubbed intimate places, edging their way into her clothing uninvited. A large hand tightened onto a taut breast, rolling the nipple between his thumb and finger. He grinned as it came to life.

“Please, Deegan, no,” Chloe cried when the kiss ended. She jerked herself from his embrace, wincing as her nipple throbbed. As she broke free of him she inched away, her hands rising to her chest. Both were panting heavily. His close proximity reminded Chloe of just how large he really was.

Deegan breathed in ragged breaths. He wiped her tears from his chest. The back of his hand pressed to his lips to make a fist.

“Good night, Chloe. I won’t wait forever, but I will give you a little more time, just a little. You’ll get used to me, want me, I know it will be very soon,” Deegan said. Stiffly he turned and walked from her room. Chloe heard the door lock behind him, and breathed a small sigh of relief.

Her limbs shaking, she climbed onto the bed, her arms wound tightly around her quaking knees. She wondered for a moment if she should find a new hiding place for the bolt, then decided against it. Deegan seemed determined for her to take up a more stereotypical role. Though she would be unable to cook, there was no doubt she would be taking up more of the household chores. No doubt she would be doing laundry eventually if she stayed put.

Chloe remained in her clothing. After what had occurred between her and Deegan, she was too fearful of changing. She remembered how she had awoken to him perched on her bed that morning. Instead of sleeping, Chloe remained awake most of the night, planning. She determined either way, live or die, this was to be her last night as a captive. Tomorrow she would set her plan into motion.

* * * *

Throughout the next day Chloe had been able to squeeze intermittently behind the armoire and remove the last bolts.

For the most part Deegan had left her alone, confident she was trapped with him and uninterested in trailing her about, thinking she would settle eventually if left alone.

He must still be imagining she would come to care for him, want him and seek him out from sheer want of human contact. He must have been sure that was how it would be; it had been the same for him…until the doctor betrayed him, rejected his friendship. Chloe supposed he figured she was lucky she had him.

Chloe had been pacing with agitation. All she needed now was a distraction. She had one in mind. Her thoughts grim, she took a breath to compose herself. Chloe entered the kitchen. Her posture was the essence of poise and calmness. Her large brown eyes were innocent pools of acceptance.

“Deegan, may I please make myself some hot chocolate?” Chloe asked him. Deegan was sitting at the large round table, sipping the strong black coffee he liked and reading an old newspaper. To Chloe he seemed perfectly content, as though this entire situation was normal.

Deegan studied her thoughtfully, then shrewdly. “I suppose. I doubt you’ll make yourself sick. Although in case you were stupid enough to try that I’ve taken the liberty of removing anything dangerous. Know this, Chloe, if you become ill, here is where you’ll stay, here is where you’ll die.”

Chloe was more than aware of that. Her face remained calm and neutral as she nodded in acceptance of his words, though her insides were seething. She would give anything to see his sorry dumb ass lying motionless, moaning in agony on a couch with a bucket before him.

Chloe took down a sauce pan. “Why not use the kettle?” Deegan asked, his demeanor helpful. “It’s easier.”

Chloe turned. Calmly, she took two carton containers from the double stainless steel refrigerator, splashing a generous amount of first one into the pan followed by a dollop of the other. “I like to cook it slow, it tastes better with lovely warm milk and a splash of cream instead of flavorless water.”

Chloe took down the hot chocolate mix from the cupboard. She added two heaping tablespoons to the sauce pan, stirring slowly, deliberately concentrating on the task at hand. Once in motion she realized there would be no going back. Do or die. She was committed. For a second she clutched her medallion to give her the strength of her family. She could do this; she needed to be home.

Hiding her actions with her back turned to Deegan, she turned up the natural gas as high as it would go, scalding the chocolate milk to a rolling boiling point. If she failed, Deegan was certain to kill her. She took a deep breath and set her plan in motion.

“Oh dear, I spilled some.” Chloe reached for the tea towel, unobtrusively bringing it closer to the flames. Her heart hammered under her breast. Her hands shook; it was time. Now or never.

Chloe lit the fabric. Once the towel was engulfed before her, Chloe screamed as though terrified. She dropped the towel onto the counter and moved back, taking the boiling hot chocolate with her.

Deegan was in action immediately. He dropped his paper, spilling his coffee when he jumped to his feet. His mug smashed into pieces when it hit the ground, the chair clattered to the floor behind him. He raced to her side and reached for the towel, intent on throwing it in the sink, but screamed himself when Chloe threw the scalding milk directly into his face, burning his eyes.

His hands came up too late. He dropped heavily to his knees, howling out his agony. The sauce pan whacked him across the back of his head, sending him face forward into a cupboard, then clattered to the ground.

Chloe was running. Her breath came in labored gasps as she shoved her way behind the armoire. She could hear Deegan’s bellows of furious rage and she gritted her teeth. She didn’t have much time.

With a strength born of desperation, Chloe heaved her weight against the solid piece of furniture. It tipped slightly, then settled back into place. Chloe heaved again, her panic rising. She hadn’t realized it would be so heavy. No wonder Deegan hadn’t worried about the vent. He must have been certain she would never be able to move the heavy piece of furniture.

“
Chloe, you’re dead!”

Chloe shoved harder and harder, bracing her legs back behind her against the wall, gaining leverage with each inch, pushing, shoving. The armoire teetered, and then tipped while Chloe screamed with exertion. She then jumped to the side as the massive oak cabinet crashed to the ground, parts of it smashing and flying free, glass shattering. Chloe was on top of it instantly. She pulled at the metal covering she had loosened and threw it to the side when it came free.

“Dead, Chloe, dead, dead, dead!”

Deegan was coming for her. Chloe wriggled her way into the narrow vent, her elbows pulling her along, pressed to the insides of the metal, her sneaker-clad feet climbing and slipping up a small slope of the almost horizontal cave tunnel, trying to gain a good grip. It was a tight fit.

As her feet disappeared inside, she heard Deegan jump onto the fallen armoire with a loud bang; more glass shattered. Chloe had never crawled so fast on her belly in her entire life.

“
Chloe!”

Deegan reached into the vent as far as he could, but she was just inches beyond his grasp, his long fingers stretching, wriggling, reaching, to no avail. His fisted hands then bashed the inside walls brutally, smashing down in his enraged frustration. The noise vibrated up through Chloe’s knees and elbows. His enraged face was a twisted, hate-filled death mask of pure evil intent.

“You’ve killed us, Chloe, all of us! I’ll get you up top, down here. You can’t stay in there forever! I’ll smoke you out. I’ll fill the vent with poisonous snakes, scorpions, bats. You’re dead, you hear me, dead,
dead!
” Deegan thundered. His voice trailed after her as though an echo, yet Chloe realized it was because he was screaming the same word over and over.

Chloe crawled faster, shuddering. She needed to make it out before he did. She had no idea how long the tunnel was; she could be crawling for hours, days. She would be doomed if he were waiting for her at the other end.

It was then Chloe heard a familiar sound. A sound that shot terror into her soul. At first she had thought Deegan had fired his weapon into the vent, but he hadn’t. It was the sound of an explosion, and it was coming from behind her. She paused, listening, wondering if he had tossed a grenade into the enclosure.

Chloe heard a terrific rumbling from within the cave. A tremor vibrated up through her fingers, toes, reaching her teeth to chatter them together. An eerie creak rattled around her. The vent shifted and groaned. Her breath all but stilled, Chloe turned to look behind her. Her eyes widened in horror as the vent behind her slowly began to close. The sound of twisting metal as it crushed together almost stopped Chloe’s heartbeat. The explosion had set off a chain reaction. The mountain’s weight was collapsing the vent.

Chloe pushed forward faster, her hands clawing the metal, her grip slippery from her sweaty palms. “No, no,” she whimpered. An image of being crushed to death invaded her thoughts. She dug her toes in harder, propelling her further. She clamped her lips shut.

The noise of the twisting metal was deafening as it came closer, closer. Chloe was screaming. She could see the light of day at the end of the vent streaming through foliage. It wasn’t too much farther, perhaps she would make it. Maybe…The noise following her didn’t instill much hope for her survival.

Chloe reached the end, panting heavily. She pushed at the metal cover. She couldn’t turn to kick at it and she hadn’t much leverage. The vent continued to collapse behind her, gaining on her quickly.