Assassin Deception (8 page)

Chloe turned once more to begin her journey home. A new destiny awaited her, no more secrets or worries. A clean slate.

She watched as James’ limousine entered his own driveway and pulled to a slow stop to wait for her. Chloe waved happily as James exited the car, followed by Dirk and Damien and a few bodyguards.

Her step quickened in anticipation. The book in her back pocket didn’t feel as overwhelmingly heavy anymore. Her dread had dissipated, now that she knew what she was going to do with the book. She could see James smiling at her. She chuckled, noting the drink in his hand. Whiskey, no doubt, even this early.

A thunderous noise imploded into her head, deafening her. The box she held against her chest went sailing into the air, ripped from her surprised hands as she was sent flying from the blast that erupted from behind her.

The entire house exploded, propelling her forwards. The heat of the flames reached her, overwhelmed her, singeing her hair and clothing. She could hear glass shatter behind her, the popping sounds of the potted plants when they erupted one by one as the heat surrounded them. Her own scream rasped her throat as she flailed wildly for solid ground.

The box she had been holding crashed onto the side of the lawn ahead of her, spilling its contents. The ancient doll's face shattered and scattered in pieces like a jigsaw puzzle, its one cloudy blue eye rolled, then rested amidst the dirt, rocking once, twice, settling like a finely cast marble.

Chloe hit the driveway hard. Her breath was knocked from her and she was unable to gasp in more when her slight body bounced, then landed once more, scraping along the pavement, tearing and ripping at her clothing.

Off to the side she could see Damien running for her in slow motion, she could even make out her name on his lips in his fear. He was followed just as slowly by the others from the car. She mentally begged Damien to hurry, she was terrified, she needed him.
Salvator,
please come, help me.

Chloe’s head slammed down against the blackened pavement on her second impact, all went an eerie darkness, sending her into oblivion.

Chapter Four

“Daddy!” Chloe screamed. The car was on fire, an inferno on the road a short distance from her home. She could feel the heat licking her flesh and clothing. Billowing flames and blackened clouds pooled around the driver's side window where her daddy should be sitting.

Chloe was running, but her bones hurt too much. She slowed until her pain forced her to a complete stop, her little chest heaving. She remembered her daddy had hurt her the night before in her ribs and she was unable to run any farther.

She sobbed in confusion, a tiny fist pressed to her mouth. Cars weren’t supposed to explode, and yet flowing vibrant colors of death danced before her terrified eyes. A sickening stench of burning meat rent the air.

Chloe could hear her mommy screaming, her granny yelling, the sound frightening her further. She stood motionless, trapped in fear. Where should she go? What should she do?
There was no place to hide out in the open.

Mommy? Daddy?

Her tiny chest heaved in and out frantically, hurting her. Her fear was overpowering, the pressure to breathe became almost unbearable; her tiny ribs ached. Her thoughts jumbled, her head ached, she became irrational.

She hurt, she hurt so much. Suddenly, Dirk was before her, his powerful frame shielding her line of vision from the horror she was witness to, blocking the overwhelming heat of the flames. His gentle hand rested reassuringly on her quaking shoulder. A soft finger trailed along her wet cheek.

“You’re fine, sweetheart. Chloe, baby, you’re fine. I’m here. Dirk is here for you, honey.” Chloe heard his familiar voice from a distance. She felt so strange, as he suddenly seemed to disappear as fast as he had appeared. In fact all light vanished with him.

“Dirk, please help me,
I need you!”
Chloe cried, searching for his voice amidst the overpowering darkness. Where had he gone? Why had he left her?

“Chloe, I’m here!” Dirk thundered, jarring her from her frightened hell. A large hand clasped her jaw, forcing her to focus.

Startled into reality, Chloe opened her eyes at the deep command in his voice. Chloe always listened to Dirk, it was important. All her life it had been stressed it was important to obey this man without question. “Dirk?” she whimpered, sensing he was close.

“I’m here, sweetheart, I’m here for you.”

“Where, Dirk?” Chloe asked, frightened. Everything was so dark; she couldn’t make out his form. She could scarcely make out the noise of a breath of another from a short distance. She cocked her head, listening to the strange sounds: shuffling noises, a slight cough.

“I’m here, Chloe,” Dirk replied, and pulled her into his arms.

“Please, put the light on. I need to see you,” Chloe whimpered. She buried her face in his warm neck, smelling the rugged cologne that was uniquely his. His voice was comforting, his large hands rubbed at her back, but she needed to look into his eyes, eyes that had, in the past, soothed her with their gentleness and quiet strength.

She felt Dirk stroke a thumb over her cheek; he settled her face between the palms of his hands. 

“Chloe, I want you to close your eyes,” Dirk commanded. Chloe complied. “Now, honey, open them slowly and look at me.”

She fluttered her eyes open, batting her lashes as she tried to focus. She gazed about searchingly. “Dirk, it’s too dark, I can’t see you,” she whimpered once more, feeling dazed and confused.

“Chloe,” she heard James say. He sounded agonized.

“James, where are you? Please turn the light on, I’m scared,” Chloe sobbed, reaching through the air for him, needing him, his comfort.

“Don’t be afraid, sweetheart, you’re safe.” She felt her flailing hand captured.

“James, I can’t see you, why can’t I see you? What’s happened to me?” Chloe asked. She ground her fist at her eyes in frustration; once more she blinked hard.

“You’ll be fine, Chloe. You received a horrific bang to your head. It appears to be affecting your sight. The doctor says you’ll be fine. Just rest. We’ll take care of you, I promise.” Chloe could hear the tremor in James' voice.

“Am I at the hospital?”

“No, sweetheart. You’re home, here in your own bed,” Dirk replied.

He never allowed them a trip to the hospital. The thought crashed into Chloe’s head like a tsunami. “Why didn’t you take me to the hospital?” Chloe asked in a small, tight voice. This was the worst she had ever been injured in her life. She should have been taken to the hospital.

“Chloe, it was no accident the house exploded. There was a bomb. A deliberate attempt on someone’s life. The police are asking too many questions as it is. It’s safer for you here, with us; we can protect you better. A hospital is too open, too easy to access. I want to keep everyone as close as possible for the time being,” Dirk explained.

Chloe swallowed heavily. She doubted the police even knew she had been injured in the blast, or that she even existed. James would have covered it up. What if she had died?

A horrible image of being placed into a glass case and covered over with cement came to mind. The many fountains James had in the backyard were all situated over cement.

Chloe sobbed at her terrifying thoughts. No one in the outside world would ever miss her; she had no other family and very few friends James deemed good enough for her. They were her family, they loved her, they must love her. It was a coincidence her father had been killed by a bomb, only a horrible coincidence. Dirk must be right, they could protect her better here…and yet she had been injured under their protection.

“It’s all right, Chloe. Don’t cry. You’ll get your sight back. Please don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of you, I promise.” Damien pulled her from Dirk’s arms to cuddle her into his own. She felt his chin settle onto the top of her head.

“Don’t leave me,” Chloe whimpered, clutching at him. Hearing his soothing voice settled her thoughts. Of course she was safe. Damien would never allow anyone to hurt her on purpose. He was a grown man, a very powerful man. Built as powerfully as Dirk now. She wouldn’t let her mother’s suspicions and insanity get to her.

The book was full of lies. These men were her family, they loved her. Damien had always loved her. It was just shock that was disrupting her thoughts. She remembered he had raced to her after the explosion, without thought or fear to himself. They all had.

“I won’t ever leave you, babe, you’re stuck with me,” Damien replied.

Chloe could envision the soft smile on his full lips. She pictured his handsome face while her head lay against his warm chest. The subtle scent of his cologne drifted from his neck to tickle her nose.

She breathed him in, calming within his arms, her hands trailing along the familiar contours of his back and hips. She pulled his arms more snugly to herself. Damien lowered her back down and settled her head onto her pillow. He caressed a few tendrils of hair away from her cheek. He pulled her covers up, enveloping her in a dark world of seeming safety, but she remained unsure.

“I hurt all over, Salvator,” Chloe sobbed. She felt so vulnerable without her vision, without Damien’s arms wrapped around her. Her head was pounding, her ribs ached. It seemed all of her bones throbbed, as her mind cried out its misery and fear.

An odd feeling of entrapment encompassed her. Even if she wanted to leave she would be unable to. There would be no escape to anywhere that wasn’t supervised, controlled.

“Chloe, I’m going to give you something to help you sleep, to help with the pain you’re in. Don’t be afraid, someone will always be close by. Trust me, honey. You trust me, don’t you?” Dirk soothed.

Chloe nodded with a soft affirmative, then felt her arm held gently but firmly in large hands. She felt the coolness over her inner arm from a sterilizing pad and Dirk slipped a needle into her vein.

A fuzzy sensation flowed into her mind as the liquid flew through her blood. She grew groggy; her tongue felt thick, her limbs heavy, her thoughts a sea of rolling fog. The tenacious grip on her surroundings slipped.

Her father had drugged the frightened woman before he had killed her. How would he have known to do that, how much to give her? Had Dirk taught him? Who had taught Dirk?

Her mind battled the thought. She was loved, wanted. Not one of their hits, a mark. She quashed the thought angrily. Her father was the evil one. Instead a distant, hazy memory of when she was younger drifted into her confused mind.

She was six and her bones hurt. She didn’t understand why her father had been so angry, she had done nothing wrong. She had been playing with her dolly on her bed, chatting to it about her upcoming birthday, the cake and presents promised to her. James was giving her a white Shetland pony; Dirk had promised her a porcelain doll to add to her collection.

Chloe’s father had stormed into her room, bursting through her door, and he grabbed her up from the bed, a crazed, angry look on his face. His furious eyes settled onto her and he pounced. Her mother, her face bloodied and ashen, was screaming at him, terrified. She pleaded it wasn’t worth it, they would work it out.

Chloe had added her own howls of terror when her father struck her behind the head painfully, pulling at her hair, slamming her onto the bed. His slap to her face had drawn a fine line of blood from her tiny nose. Her mother was pulling at his arms, begging him to stop, saying she was sorry.

Chloe’s father had never hit her before, even when she was naughty. Why would he hurt her now?
Why now?
And why did he look like he was crying? Her daddy never cried.

Chloe had been vaguely aware when the agony of the blows had ceased, and yet her body felt as though on fire. She was covered in a blanket and Granny was racing her to James’ home. She was too afraid to even whimper.
No noise!
The words slammed into her head like an explosion.