Dictator s Daughter (25 page)

“Right. Be careful,” Sean said to Ryan.

They left the store and headed back to the
main courtyard. They walked slowly and deliberately with a purpose.
Sean’s heart pounded in his ears and his hands were cold and clammy
as he held the laptop. He glanced over at Eliwese discovering her
complexion was pale as a ghost. He took her hand in his and made
her stop.

“Are you ok?”

“Compared to what?” She smiled slightly. “No
time for pain or sickness now.” She took a few more steps and
stopped abruptly taking a sharp intake of breath which startled
Sean.

“What’s wrong, Eliwese?”

“Riley.”

Sean scanned quickly to try to find Riley but
the many busy shoppers blocked his view. A break in the crowd
revealed three men in suits, standing with their feet shoulder
width apart. They were positioned right in front of the toy store
where many mothers with children bustled in and out of the entry
way. Riley stood in the middle and wore a vindictive smile on his
face. Sean assumed the other two brutish looking men were
bodyguards.

Sean and Eliwese walked forward to the men
and stopped just short of three feet from them. Riley glared at
Sean, the smile left his face, as recognition replaced it.

“It’s you. A bit on the daring side for you
to climb out of your hole where you could have been picked off so
easily.” Riley’s low growling voice was cool and harsh.

“Too bad no one, including yourself, realized
I needed to be picked off.”

Riley scrunched his eyes together bringing
his eyebrows to near touching. “Jacquline is not your type.”

“And you think she’s yours? You’re old enough
to be her father.”

Riley stepped forward so that their toes
touched. Riley’s height was a good four inches taller than Sean and
he was attempting to establish his dominance. Sean would not give
Riley the pleasure of seeing him shrink.

Sean had visions zipping through his head of
Riley and the horrible things he had done to Eliwese. He thought
about the other Shawn and how he was shot in cold blood, dying in
Eliwese’s arms.

Sean reached down into the furthest, deepest
storage of courage and spoke to Riley in a quiet, calm voice, “You
are the lowest son of a bitch on the face of the earth, Riley, and
I will take you down,” Sean poked Riley in the chest with his
finger, “if it’s the last thing I do.”

Riley tossed his head back and laughed
mockingly at Sean. He said to Eliwese, “This is your protector?” He
laughed again and turned his attention back to Sean. His voice went
darkly serious. “You shouldn’t make threats with no intention of
carrying them out.”

“Oh, I meant every word,” Sean said
confidently.

“Really, then try this on for size, you
shouldn’t make threats you have no
possible
way of
completing. Eliwese is in my charge now, not that she ever left
it.” Riley’s eyes never left Sean as he said, “Oh dear, didn’t she
mention this to you?”

Sean said nothing.

“I’m the one who arranged her crossing with
your father.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Sean had to
get control of his emotions. If Riley was aware of half the
information Sean knew about him, he would kill him to keep the
secrets safe. This was not the time to expose Riley.

Riley leaned his head to the right side of
Sean’s head and whispered in his ear. “Try this on for size then, I
killed your worthless father. I made sure your mother was covered
with his blood and brains.”

Sean took a deep breath, trying hard to keep
his cool, but there wasn’t much of that left in him. If it wasn’t
for the fact he knew his father lived, Sean would’ve tackled Riley
down to the ground and killed him with whatever he could get his
hands on.

Instead, Sean spoke carefully. “You are
everything I imagined you to be, Riley; pathetically trying to
provoke me to attack you. Only cowards shoot defenseless people in
the back of the head. What you don’t know is my father lived, so
it’s impossible his brains splattered all over my mother. So I
guess that makes you a low life liar and a coward; oh, and a
heartless bastard for killing
your own
mother.”

Riley’s stance went rigid and his fists
clenched tightly to his sides. Sean got the impression Riley was
under strict orders not to harm them before the meeting, otherwise,
Riley might have pounded Sean right then.

“All this harsh judgment from a boy who was
too stupid to realize his fiancée was a spy.” Riley moved slightly
over to Eliwese. He pushed one foot in between her feet and placed
the other one between Sean and Eliwese. He leaned his malevolent
face to her ear nearest Sean and said in a voice loud enough for
Sean to hear, “Did you tell him about us? Did you tell him you are
carrying my child who will become the next dictator? Maybe we
should tell him about the many times I’ve had my way with you. I
know you enjoyed it as much as I did. Well, I take that back;
almost
as much as I did.” Riley allowed his lips to touch
her earlobe and Eliwese shuddered under his arrogant attempt to
anger Sean.

Sean shook with rage and his blood boiled.
The anger he had for this man was incomprehensible.

Eliwese came to Sean’s rescue before he
exploded. She brought her hand up between Riley and herself,
placing it in the center of his chest. Her fingers gently massaged
as she pushed him away slowly. She peered in his eyes and tilted
her chin upward and said in the calmest, surreal voice, “You know,
Riley, you can only fool yourself for so long before it catches up
with you. I’m not pregnant… anymore.”

She rubbed his arm in a friendly way, almost
a comforting manner.

His eyes had gone cold.

“Don’t worry, Riley,” she said calmly. “You’d
be a horrible father.”

Riley’s whole demeanor changed. He
straightened up taller and his face turned red with ferocity. Sean
worried Riley was about to hit Eliwese. His bodyguards must have
picked up on the same vibe because they stepped forward and flanked
Riley on each side.

Riley turned to Sean and said, “Our business
is finished! I’m going to thoroughly enjoy killing you and your
worthless brother.” He turned back to Eliwese and with the backside
of his fingers he gently stroked her cheek. “And as for you,
sweetheart, it sounds like you and I have a lot to ‘get on’ with
tonight.”

Riley snapped his fingers and the two
bodyguards grabbed Sean and Eliwese and ushered them to the center
courtyard. Sean didn’t see Riley slip off in another direction. The
bodyguards led them between chairs and tables, strollers and high
chairs, all happy shoppers unaware of the threatening danger. They
came to a stop in the very place Eliwese figured her father would
center himself.

“Sit down, please,” a low calm voice came
from the man who had his back to them. They were escorted to the
other side of the table and seated. The guards stepped back a few
paces. A couple other guards stood on either side of Victor
Rawlings with their holstered guns visible inside their
jackets.

Sean looked at the man seated across the
table. This seemingly simple man held so much power, so much fear,
that his people would bow down to him and do whatever he bid. His
bodyguards, snipers and undercover spies all would act on any
command he gave; like mindless drones, as Ryan would put it.

He looked to be in his late forties with dark
brown hair with platinum strands growing over his ears. His eyes
were deep brown with bushy eyebrows nearly touching in the center
of his forehead. He had a prominent yet handsome nose and a crisp
jaw line. His double-breasted midnight blue suit made Sean angry
because he figured the money to buy such an expensive suit probably
came from the exploits of Eliwese.

The one thing which stood out as unusual to
Sean was a bruise on his lower left jawbone. Victor had thugs to do
his dirty work, so why would he have a bruise?

Victor rested his elbows on the arms of the
chair with his hands in front of his jaw. His fingers intertwined
and his index fingers extended straight up resting on his lips.
“Well, well,” he said leaning forward and moving his hands down to
the table, “The mysterious son who held my daughter captive.” He
clicked his tongue in disgust at Sean. “You have Sierra’s
eyes.”

Sean had a confused look on his face. He
didn’t know anyone named Sierra.

Victor Rawlings smiled. “Your mother’s real
name is actually Sierra. Didn’t you know that? You have her eyes
and,” he paused and lightened his voice, “her mouth.”

Sean’s heart dropped to the soles of his
feet.

“You would have been my son, my heir, if not
for your pathetic father.”

Oh, he insulted the wrong man, Sean thought
as he sizzled with fury. “Mr. Dictator, sir, I happen to have my
father’s DNA, not yours.”

“Your father is
dead
. Again.” Victor
leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

Sean was confused. “My father is alive and
he’s someone you’ll never measure up to.”

“Riley killed him personally. He’s dead.
You’ve been hiding in your cave a little too long and aren’t up on
current events.”

“How current are we talking about? I just
spoke with my father yesterday. Has he died since then?”

“Hmm. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d
miraculously evaded death.”

Sean felt as if he might be winning the
argument until Victor delivered his next comment.

“Too bad you’ll never get to see him
again.”

Sean scooted out to the edge of his chair,
ready to bolt across the table and wrap his fingers around the
pathetic man’s throat.

Eliwese quickly turned her head to Sean.
“Don’t, Sean.”

“Yes, by all means, don’t. In fact,” Victor
snapped his fingers and two men materialized and grabbed one arm
each, “why don’t you
don’t
over there.” He casually flicked
a finger in the direction of the open courtyard.

The men dragged Sean to his feet and ushered
him to the open courtyard, far enough away he couldn’t hear what
was going on. They sat him down at a table and moved away. Sean
felt utterly helpless, sitting all by himself. He felt even worse
for Eliwese who was all alone now. His cell phone began to vibrate
as Ryan called.

“Ryan, can you hear her?”

“Yes…. she’s trying to get Mom released…he
won’t do it…there are one-hundred of his men here in the
courtyard…we will all be shot. There is no point in letting Mom
go…she is insisting.” Ryan repeated tidbits of the conversation
between the father and daughter. Sean looked around the public area
and spotted many dark suited men. He assumed they were all toting
firearms under their jackets like the other guards. It wouldn’t be
like the Rawlings to order his goons to kill the Cutlers right here
in the mall; he would more likely turn the ugly task over to Riley
and he would do it somewhere else and avoid a run-in with the
Northtown police.

Sean watched the motions and body language
from Eliwese and her father. Ryan narrated the scene but it wasn’t
enough.

“Sean, second floor in front of the burger
stand, it’s Mom. He has agreed to let her come down to you, but he
says we’re all dead anyway. Here she comes, she looks terrible.
I’ll kill the bastard myself!”

“Cool down, Ryan. Isn’t there another way for
me to hear the conversation?” Sean asked.

“Maybe, hang up and let me try
something.”

Sean did so as his mother made it to his
table. He stood up and hugged her tightly. They both cried into
each other’s shoulders.

“Oh Sean, you are alright?” His mother wept.
“What about Ryan?”

“He is fine. He is on the second floor, but
don’t look at him. We don’t want to give away his position.”

“Sean, your father, he’s…” She couldn’t
finish.

“Mom,” Sean said tenderly, “sit down, this is
not over yet.”

Sean’s phone vibrated again. He opened it and
heard Victor Rawlings voice talking to Eliwese.

“…you think you can blackmail me? Where in
the world did you come up with that idea? All I need to do is wink
and they will all be shot.”

“Well, after you watch it, you might change
your mind.”

“Why should I do anything you ask me to
do?”

“You don’t have to, father. But if you have
any wisdom left in that over inflated head of yours, you’ll do
this.”

“Eliwese, there is nothing you could possibly
blackmail me with, and you know it, don’t you? But, I’ll watch your
little movie, just to entertain you, darling.”

There was a pause in talking and then the
sound of the video beginning.

“My name is Eliwese Rawlings. I am the
daughter of Victor Rawlings. I was not kidnapped, nor was I
extracted from Baylend. I left my homeland to seek refuge from the
abuse of my father and an elaborate scheme was executed to cover up
my disappearance. One might ask themselves, ‘why would the daughter
of the Victor Rawlings want to leave her plush life?’ The answer is
too complicated to fit on this video. However, what I do want the
world to know is that since I was twelve, my father has used my
body to fund his many arms missions and massacres. He wants an heir
and he accepts large amounts of money from wealthy men across our
nation and yours to attempt to produce an heir through me. In the
company of many wealthy, powerful men, I learned a far greater
scheme that is in the process of completion. Many men, powerful
men, are already placed within the government of Baylend,
strategically positioned to help orchestrate a hostile takeover by
my father. If he is not stopped, many thousands of innocent people
will die. He possesses the financial backing, the manpower and the
nuclear weapons to succeed. To ignore this threat would be
catastrophic. To validate my accusations I implore you to
investigate Senator Thompson, Senator Vilante, Senator Stevens,
Senator Bell, Senator Jorage, Senator Ardell, Senator Williams and
Director Edwards for financial funding from my father in my name,
Eliwese Rawlings. I, in no way, made these contributions to these
men. This warning is valid and true. If you choose to ignore my
words, then heaven help you. If you are to take heed, then you must
first start by confronting the corrupt Senators. The invasion
cannot happen without their help. Please consider my words. Thank
you.”