Dictator s Daughter (18 page)

“Are you ready to get out? I need to change
your IV bag.”

“I can stay right here while you change
it.”

He sat her forward and eased his legs out
from under her and stood up. He stepped out of the shower and
turned to look at her. She looked so fragile and weak. He hurried
off to retrieve a new IV bag, the thermometer and another
antibiotic injection.

He brought them back, went to work on the IV
and then readied more towels for later. He climbed back in the tub
with Eliwese who was leaning up against the wall with her eyes
closed. Her tank top was completely soaked leaving nothing to the
imagination. He repositioned himself and cuddled her back down into
a more relaxed position.

“We have a big task ahead of us,” she said to
him. “I have been working it out in my head, trying to imagine any
variables my father might throw at us. I’ve been thinking of backup
plans and Plan Bs and Plan Cs. I do feel confident we can pull this
off and you’ll get your mother and sister back.”

“You said that after it’s all said and done
we would leave the country. Where would we go?” Sean asked her.

“The Caribbean of course,” she said with a
smile.

“Why there?”

“Plenty of places to hide.”

Sean checked her wound and found all of the
scab had fallen off. He reached over to the thermometer on the side
of the tub and helped her sit up so he could get a reading of her
forehead. Her reading said one-hundred three. She was looking at
him with half open eyes and her lips were parted. He couldn’t help
notice how beautiful she was, even with matted wet hair and no
makeup. In fact, he hadn’t ever seen her with makeup on except in
pictures.

She held his gaze and reached with her left
hand and placed it on the side of his face. With her thumb, she
traced the outline of his mouth, gently pressing on his lips.

He became very aware of himself all of a
sudden. She was sitting right on him and he knew she must be aware
of him also.

“I have only ever wished for a guy like you.
But you only existed in fairy tales and storybooks. The first day I
arrived at your home, I was in such pain; there wasn’t a single
cell in my body that didn’t hurt. Then you walked in and I knew
everything would be fine…”

She leaned closer to his face and kissed his
cheek with her hand still on his other cheek. He supported her head
with his hand and turned his mouth to hers; she brushed her lips
past his and his mouth followed. They connected and kissed softly
and gently for a few moments. Her fingers traced his ear and
eyebrow and then they moved into his hair; it felt so natural and
right. His only concern was her well-being; but he figured that if
she was leading the show, she must be alright with it pain
wise.

She pulled away slightly from his mouth.
“Sean, you are my first.”

“What?”

“You are the first man I’ve kissed. I should
say you’re the first man I’ve wanted to kiss. Not even the other
Shawn held that desire in my heart. I worried I would never want to
be around another man; but since I saw you, I’ve wanted to kiss you
for so long—” Their mouths were magnetically drawn to each other
again.

The water sprinkled gently on their bodies
and the fan blew cool air on their heated flesh. Eliwese felt
transported to her remote beach with crystal blue water and
cloudless skies. She was lying on a large beach blanket with Sean
and they were soaking up the warm sunshine with their naked bodies.
In her mind's eye, she was relieved she was finally able to go to
this spot in her mind on her own terms and not just to escape
brutality.

They continued to kiss passionately, yet
reserved, for a little while longer until Ryan’s voice severed
their connection.

“I see how it is; you two just wanted me to
leave so you could be alone again.” Ryan sounded a little
perturbed.

Eliwese laid her head down on Sean’s chest
again, exhausted and breathing rapidly. Sean leaned his head back
against the wall, his heart beating fast.

“That was fast Ryan.”

“Time flies when you’re having fun; but I
don’t have to tell you that.”

“So, how did it go?” Sean asked Ryan trying
to keep his voice level.

“I might ask you the same.”

“Did you email my father?” Eliwese asked
raising her head off of Sean’s chest.

“Yep, do you want me to help you out of the
tub or do you guys have this under control?”

Sean replied with, “I think we have it under
control, Ryan. Don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out.”
Sean hinted.

“Fine.” Ryan turned and left the room.

Eliwese laid her head back on his chest. He
took in a big breath and let it out slowly.

“We should probably—” Sean started to
say.

“Not yet,” she paused, and placed her hand in
the center of his chest. She slowly flexed and contracted her
fingers on his skin. “I just love everything about this moment,
right here, right now with you and I wish it would never have to
end.” She covered his mouth with hers again. They kissed
passionately for a few minutes more and then Ryan knocked on the
door to hurry them up.

Sean let out a loud groan of disgust and
said, “We’re fine, go away.”

Ryan didn’t say a word.

Eliwese smiled and said, “We better get
out.”

Sean repositioned her and then got up and
wrapped a towel around his waist, securing it tightly to hold any
unsightly bulges in place. Then he turned off the water and the fan
and helped Eliwese out of the tub. He began to wrap her with a
towel.

“Take my tank top off first.”

His heart skipped a beat and helped her sit
down on the closed toilet. He grabbed the IV bag and bundled the
tubing and then helped her remove her arms, one at a time,
threading the bag and tubing as he went. He couldn’t help looking
at her chest as he draped a towel across her. He bent forward and
kissed her gently on the forehead.

“Come on. Let’s get you dressed.” He helped
her to the bedroom where Ryan was waiting, tapping his foot against
the table.

Sean noticed the clock right off the bat. It
was only eight o’clock which meant Ryan had only been gone for two
hours.

“Ryan, why are you back so soon? You should
have been gone for at least three hours.”

“You would’ve liked that, huh? Get dressed,
and then we’ll talk.” Ryan exited the room and shut the door.

Sean helped her over to the bed and she sat
on the edge. He dug through the drawers and found the last pair of
boxers. He helped her take off her wet ones. The towel she held to
her chest was now the only thing hiding her from him, yet it
covered just enough. He helped her put her feet into the dry boxers
and she stood up so Sean could pull them the rest of the way
up.

She sat down again and Sean looked for
another shirt. “I’ll have to look in the other room for a better
shirt for you.” He left the room still wearing the towel around his
waist.

He entered the kitchen where he saw Ryan
leaning up against the cabinets with his arms folded. Sean met
Ryan’s eyes immediately. Ryan had a look of disgust on his face as
he looked at Sean.

“I need a different shirt for Eliwese. Can
you help me find a short sleeved one?”

Ryan never took his eyes off of Sean. He
reached over and magically produced a pair of scissors. The
expression on his face never changed.

“Cut off the sleeve, moron.”

Sean took the scissors from Ryan and glared
at him.

“What’s your problem?”

“Oh, nothing much, just that I’m off doing
important things to save everyone’s necks, and here you are ‘making
out’ with the collateral; who, I don’t need to point out, is
married.”

“Don’t talk about Eliwese like that.”

“Like what? Collateral? Or married? Get your
head out of the clouds, man. Don’t go making this harder on
yourself than it has to be.”

“What?”

“If you’re too attached to her, you’ll
jeopardize the tradeoff. I won’t allow that.”

“Oh, listen to you now. You are all guts and
glory.”

Ryan straightened up tall and stood toe to
toe with Sean.

“My priorities are in the right place. How’s
yours, Sean? I may be smaller than you but from where I stand, I’m
the bigger person right now.”

Sean turned away from Ryan and walked back to
the bedroom.

After cutting the long sleeved shirt a bit,
Sean helped Eliwese put it on and buttoned it up. He cared for her
wounds. He kept thinking about her and the way she kissed him. His
mind turned to Ryan and his description of Eliwese; collateral.

And married.

However, Sean knew Eliwese would end her
marriage in a heartbeat. It wasn’t her choice to marry Prince
Vasilios. She didn’t love him. But between him and her, there was
definitely something. He felt it. He saw it in her eyes.

Once he had finished bandaging her up, he
pulled up the sheet and bent over to tuck it around her body. He
gently pushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her
ear. His fingertips continued on down behind her ear and then
followed her jaw line, till he reached her chin. She closed her
eyes and Sean leaned forward to kiss her cheek right next to her
mouth. She turned her lips toward his but he pulled away before
they made contact.

“Ryan is really worked up about something.”
Sean said as he got up and looked for something to wear.

“I know how he feels.” She said quietly.

Sean smiled over his shoulder.

There were no more clean boxers in the drawer
so he put his pants on without any. He hung up all of the wet
clothes in the bathroom and directed the fan to blow on them.

Sean opened up the bedroom door and let Ryan
back in. He came in, with a purpose, and sat down in the
armchair.

“We have a problem,” he announced. “In the
email, I asked for four days, but he demanded the day after
tomorrow. Can this plan even work in that short amount of
time?”

Sean was so anxious to hear Eliwese’s answer
that he didn’t pick up on the problem. Eliwese closed her eyes and
took in a moderately deep breath, which seemed to pain her to do
so.

“What do you mean when you say you asked for
four days and he demanded sooner?”

“I got a response from the email really
quickly and I answered back.”

“Where did you send the email from?” she
asked Ryan.

“I didn’t go to Northtown. I went back to
Slaterville and used the resources I am familiar with. I figured it
would save time.” Ryan’s shoulders raised and his neck stretched
tall as he explained his actions.

“That wasn’t the plan, Ryan.” Eliwese said
quietly and disappointedly. She pushed her head into the pillow and
closed her eyes.

“I didn’t figure it mattered where I did that
stuff.” He snipped arrogantly.

Eliwese talked aloud to herself with her eyes
shut. “He tracked you down through the email correspondence. He
knows where you were, that is why he felt confident in bumping the
date up. An email sent one way takes longer to track, but a volley
of emails… it was a mistake to send Ryan.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Sean. Sean
didn’t know what to think. He looked over to see Ryan fidgeting
nervously.

“I just didn’t think it mattered
where
things were done. I figured saving time was more important.”

“Well, that just shows what you know,” she
answered back harshly. “Please tell me you sent the emails last and
then left town immediately?”

“Yes, that was your request.” He emphasized
on the final ‘t’.

“Well, the fact that this cabin hasn’t been
blown up yet means you did something right on your little jaunt to
town.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and let out a
‘humph’.

“You, no doubt, shopped at local stores.
Someone who knows you probably saw you and talked to you. The cell
phones you bought are no good. You can throw them away. Don’t even
turn them on; they can be traced to us. You most likely went to
someone’s house to email the letter. If that is the case, you will
be responsible for their deaths. The IP address attached to your
email will be like following breadcrumbs. There is a method to my
madness, Ryan. Don’t think for a moment you can second-guess my
plan. If you ever want to see your mother and sister again, don’t
figure
anything!”

“You know, if I had all the information up
front, I could have understood the importance of it all.”

“All you had to do was follow the
instructions exactly. If you don’t plan on doing that from now on,
then we have no use for you.” Eliwese shut her eyes. “Did you get
the other things on the list?”

“Yes.” Ryan answered.

“What kind of vehicle did you buy?”

“I couldn’t find one for sale.”

“So, you
didn’t
buy a vehicle?”

“No.”

“Just now, when I asked if you got everything
on the list, you said ‘yes’. A different vehicle was
on the
list
. Again, it was a mistake to send you.” She tried to pull
her thoughts together. “Ok, umm, bring me everything you
bought.”

Ryan got up and left the room. Sean was
floored by what he had just heard between the two. He didn’t know
what to say or even how to react. He just stared at Eliwese with
newfound admiration until Ryan came back in toting many shopping
bags. He proceeded to dump them out all over the floor as if to
prove to her he could do something right.

“Ryan, help me sit up.”

He did as she asked and she scanned the items
on the floor. Her gaze stopped at the cell phones. Ryan must have
read her mind because he scooped them up and moved them out of the
way.

“Add more to the list, Ryan: Four cell
phones, two hotel rooms, adjoining if possible, two different
cars,” she paused, “that’s all for now.”

She looked at Sean. “We have a new deadline,
thanks to Ryan. Would you set up the camcorder so I can get the
video made? Ryan, get together all of the makeup and hair supplies
and help me into the bathroom.”