Dictator s Daughter (22 page)

“I don’t know. We have to hope he will make a
mistake. We have to look for the opportunity, and once it reveals
itself to us, we have to jump on it. Keep your eyes and ears aware
of all your surroundings and wear your disguises. My father will
already be in Northtown. Keep a low profile and don’t bring
attention to yourself.”

“Eliwese, does your father realize what will
be on the blackmail video?” Sean asked.

“Not everything. The most important part of
the video is the information about the infiltrators within your
government; men my father has put in place to make a takeover
easier. I don’t think anyone suspects my knowledge on the subject.
Frankly, if the plan fails, and the tapes are aired, your country
will be turned upside down.”

“Do you name specific people?”

“Yes. It’s very important your couriers do
not watch these videos. Your mother’s and sister’s lives are on the
line. If my father thinks for a second the secret is out,
everything falls apart for your family. I couldn’t bear that
happening, after you already lost your father.”

Sean thought quickly about whether or not he
should tell her about his father. He decided against it. He also
debated asking Eliwese if she knew about his mother’s past
affiliation with her father. He didn’t, though. Sean knew there
wasn’t time to worry about her loyalties. He felt confident she was
being truthful with him; he hoped she was being truthful with
him.

“I will make sure the couriers understand the
importance. You rest now; Ryan and I need to go.” Sean leaned
forward and gently pressed his lips to hers and then he stood and
left the room.

**********

Two men in black suits cuffed Sara’s hands
together in front of her and led her down the dark corridor of the
palace. She was weak from the lack of food due to not eating
anything she’d been given. The fear of the food being drugged had
killed her appetite, but now the effects of her choices were making
her head spin.

The memory of her previous time in the palace
came back to her like it was only yesterday.
Some things never
change,
she thought to herself. The damp musty smell was the
same, the décor was the same, the evil residing was worse.

The men stopped at a door, pushed a small
cold key in her hand and shoved her inside. The door slammed shut,
darkening the room. She felt along the wall and found a light
switch, switched it on and turned to investigate the room. Lyndee
lay crumpled up on the floor in the corner. Sara rushed over to
her. With her handcuffed hands, she twisted her daughter’s
shoulders carefully to see her face.

At first glance, Lyndee appeared to be dead.
Sara watched closely and saw the faint movement of Lyndee’s chest.
She was breathing but was unconscious and had been beaten terribly;
bruises and dried blood spattered her face. Sara looked upon her
daughter with tears of joy and anger all at the same time, but she
didn’t dare move her for fear of broken bones. She glanced around
the room and saw a sink, toilet and a pathetic excuse for a bed.
This was nothing but a prison cell.

Sara, still holding the key that had been
placed in her hands by the guards, struggled to unlock her own
cuffs. Once she succeeded, she unlocked the cuffs from Lyndee’s
wrists.

She saw some cloths by the sink. She ran one
under cool water and gently washed the dried blood off Lyndee’s
face. She didn’t want to hurt her by pressing too hard. The gentle
massaging awakened her.

“Lyndee, Lyndee are you alright?”

Lyndee let out a painful moan as she tried to
reposition herself.

“What did they do to you, baby?” Sara asked
in a whisper.

“Mom,” Lyndee said opening up her eyes, “is
that you?”

“Yes, it’s me.” She choked on the lump in her
throat. Her daughter was bruised and broken; it tore her apart to
see her like this. “Tell me where it hurts.”

“Can I just tell you where it doesn’t?”

“Do you think anything is broken?” Sara asked
with her heart aching to take away the pain.

“Ribs…head…maybe leg…why didn’t they just
kill me?”

“Oh honey, I worried they had.”

“He said he killed Dad. Is it true?” Lyndee
looked into her mother’s eyes and saw the answer without hearing
any words. Lyndee also saw a deep strength in her mother’s
tear-filled eyes.

“Where does your head hurt?” Sara asked to
avoid a direct answer.

Lyndee motioned to the side of her skull.
Sara felt gently with her fingers and easily found a goose egg
sized bump with a large matting of dried blood. Sara had Lyndee
look up at the light to examine her pupils. They appeared to be
normal. Lyndee’s cuts and abrasions were most likely from being
shoved around. She had whip stripes on her back and rope burns
around her wrists and ankles. Even her neck showed signs of having
a rope around it at some point.

Sara knew with a sickening feeling in her
stomach her daughter had probably been raped. She didn’t want to
think about it but the thought kept pushing its way back into her
head. She didn’t want to ask Lyndee; she couldn’t. As soon as they
were out of there, she would take her daughter to Dr. Randall.

But when would that be?

A few hours went by and the door opened.
Riley entered with two brutish looking men flanking both sides.

“The plan has changed. Your sons are going to
give up Eliwese after all; and to think that Paul died protecting
her. And you, Lyndee, wouldn’t talk no matter what we did to you.
You wouldn’t give up the hideout. But your brothers are going to
give her up now. They are weak, just like I thought they would be.
Seems like there was a lot of needless brutality here, don’t you
agree?” His smile was cruel.

“They are trading us for her?” Sara
asked.

“They think they are.”

“What?”

Riley walked closer and his bodyguards stuck
to him like glue.

“Sit down Sierra. Sit down and I’ll let you
in on a little secret.”

Sara reluctantly sat down on a wooden
chair.

“Only one of you will be up for release. So
when the deal goes down, they will have to choose which one of you
gets to go.” He stepped up closer to her. “Now, here’s the best
part: your sons are going to agonize over the choice but in fact,
there really isn’t a choice. Victor wants Lyndee for himself and I
want you. Your valiant sons won’t ever stop trying to save you so…
they will have to be killed.”

The bodyguards were waiting for Sara to jump
at him. When she did, they quickly subdued her and held her at a
safe distance.

“Let go of me!” she yelled. “You’re a
spineless bastard, Riley! Let me pound on you like you did my
daughter! What’s the matter? Are you afraid of me? You said you
want me. Are you going to have to have your buddies hold me down
every time you rape me? Or will you just tie me up like you did
her!” Sara yelled so hard her voice cracked.

Riley walked right over to her and stood
inches away from her face. “If that’s what it takes.”

Sara had prickles run up and down her spine
as the pure devilry of his words penetrated her to the core.

“You are not acting like the royalty that you
are. You’d be wise to straighten up or you might find yourself six
feet under.”

“You might as well kill me. I’d rather be
dead than endure anything you have to offer me,” her eyes fell to
his waistline, “no matter how small it is.”

Riley straightened up his back and looked
like he would hit her. Then Sara watched as he seemed to cascade
through different emotions. He went from angry to dejected to
longing and then back to angry in a matter of moments.

“We leave in one hour,” he said as he turned
away and headed toward the door.

So much had happened since the morning. Sean
and Ryan had arrived in Northtown, without incident, and had
accomplished most everything on the list. Now, late in the evening,
Sean was ready to call Dr. Randall. He sat on the hotel bed with
his cell phone in his hand, turning it over and over. He
contemplated on the events of the day. Thoughts ran through his
mind of possible overlooked items but he couldn’t think of
anything.

He thought about the funny moment when a guy
at the mall tried to pick up on Ryan. They had worn their ‘female’
disguises, as Eliwese had suggested, and apparently Ryan made ‘one
hot babe’ to use the exact words of the unlucky would-be.

The surprised expression on that guy’s face
when Ryan punched him in the gut was priceless. Ryan was no
weakling and his power-packed punch followed up with his high
pitched retort of ‘asshole’ had Sean chuckling as he sat on the
bed.

He entered the numbers in the phone and Dr.
Randall’s familiar voice answered with a recorded message. “You’ve
reached the office of Dr. John Randall, our office is closed. If
this is an emergency, please call the hospital. Otherwise, press
one to leave a message.” Sean pressed one, thinking to himself how
odd it was he didn’t know Dr. Randall’s first name was John. He
hadn’t even thought to ask. The line started ringing and Dr.
Randall answered.

“Hello, how did it go?”

Slightly taken aback, Sean stuttered an
answer. “F-fine. I think it went fine, I mean.”

“Before you say anymore, just remember cell
phone conversations can be monitored. Caution would be a good idea
and names should be left out.”

“I understand.”

“Someone would like to talk to you.” Dr.
Randall handed the phone to Eliwese.

“Hello, has everything on the list been
accomplished?”

Sean was elated to hear her voice. “Well, not
everything, there’s some banking I was unable to do.”

“I understand. Tell me about the location for
the seminar.”

“Oh, it’s a fabulous place with seating and
standing room for hundreds of people. I also liked the internet
capabilities. The scenery is wonderful with unobstructed views for
many yards in every direction. I noticed a lot of strange people
walking around talking to themselves.”

“Perfect. What about spectators near the
seminar building, have you seen any?”

“Yes, I began to wonder if I was in a parade
what with all of the spectators on the rooftops. They even brought
their field glasses to take in the sights.”

Eliwese chuckled a little. “You are very good
at describing the not so obvious.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, there is a special
place I want to show you. We’ll go there after the seminar. It’s
absolutely perfect for what we need it for.”

“Excellent.” Her voice revealed to Sean she
was smiling.

“I can’t think of anything else, I guess I’ll
see you tomorrow?”

“Perhaps. I’m going to give the phone back to
its owner now. Good bye.”

Without a chance for Sean to respond, Dr.
Randall got back on the phone.

“Would you meet me at the front door in ten
minutes?”

“What?”

“Ten minutes, the front door, meet me
please.”

Sean sat with his jaw hanging open as the
line went dead. What front door? Was he talking about the entrance
to the hotel? A sudden surge of energy rushed over him. He realized
they were already in Northtown and he jumped up and bolted to the
door. Ryan exited the bathroom as Sean rushed by.

“What the…. where are you going?”

“I’ll be back.”

“What about your disguise?”

“No time.”

“Well, take your cell with you, moron.” Ryan
tossed the phone to Sean and he caught it with one hand.

Sean walked briskly down to the front lobby
and scanned the few people present, but didn’t recognize anyone. He
decided to position himself on a sofa beside a large fireplace
which allowed him an unobstructed view of the front entry-way.

An excited family of four entered the lobby
and walked to the front desk. Then a business man walked in, and
then a clingy man and woman, another business man, a group of
flight attendants and two pilots, an elderly man in a wheelchair
pushed by a woman, a family with twin toddlers, and a group of
teens dressed in business attire; but Sean never saw Eliwese or the
doctor. He kept checking the time; every passing minute deflated
his anticipation and excitement. Fifteen minutes passed by and
brought heavyheartedness with it; he must have misunderstood Dr.
Randall.

His cell phone rang. “Hello.”

“I apologize for the confusion. I won’t be
able to meet you. I’ll talk to you later.”

Sean walked aimlessly from the lobby to the
lounge and sat on a barstool. He rested his folded arms on the top
of the polished surface and made eye contact with the
bartender.

“What can I get you, sir?”

“Just a cola, please.”

“Oh, big day tomorrow and need a clear
head?”

“Something like that.”

The bartender left and returned with a tall
glass of ice and a can of cola. “On the house.”

“Thanks.” As he sat there sipping his soda,
he peered at the mirrored wall behind all the colorful bottles of
liquor. He could see most of the people seated behind him without
even turning around; a few happy couples sat at tables for two, a
group of what appeared to be male coworkers having a good time were
positioned in the center of the room, and a group of ladies sat
over near the door eyeballing the table of male coworkers.

It astonished Sean to think these people who
were engaged with their own lives were oblivious to the impending
danger awaiting him tomorrow. The happy customers were not
concerned about rotten politicians, over-zealous dictators, or even
the fact their town had snipers positioned on almost every rooftop.
Their social lives were the main focus in their minds and Sean sat
in heavy contemplation thinking about the extreme differences
between himself and everyone else.

He sipped his cola, lost in his own thoughts,
when something caught his eye. Off in the corner of the lounge sat
four men in business suits and one of them was Victor Rawlings!
They were simply sitting in a booth having a drink like it was
nobody’s business.