by Anna Collins
There were a couple places in this house that were off limits, and one of them was his office. I had said earlier to myself I needed to get back in there and look at the photo. I had a feeling that if he had anything of importance, then he would hide it someplace where he could reach it in a hurry. It wasn’t going to be on any computer. I wasn’t going to be able to crack the code. I needed to find something to open the computer. I was going to make sure every stone was turned over.
The door closed and I was this close to getting up and leaving this room on my own power. But I figured I should stay right where I was for the time being. I still had a lot to learn about my father, but everything had pointed to a man of honor and character. He had been hailed as a modern day Robin Hood. I wasn’t sure what to believe, but these reports were in perfect contrast to the way he had been described to me. Killing didn’t seem to be something he was even remotely capable of, yet Leslie had very clearly stated one of the soldiers had been made an example out of in the most extreme way possible.
It was no more than 10 minutes later I was reaching for the IV in my arm, pulling it loose. I didn’t want the drug to be affecting my good judgment and the instincts I held onto for dear life. I had no interest having my mind muddled. Not thinking clearly was what got us into this mess in the first place. Tristan should have seen clear to send me to some doctor who wasn’t reclusive or out of his mind. I didn’t know the reason why he took this man at his word. It didn’t go any further than the communication of a few emails for him to make his decision and bring me here.
I took a deep breath and reached for the rail beside the bed. I used it to steady myself as I stood up. I still had the gown on. I took it off, seeing myself in the reflection of the glass behind the door to the bedroom. I stepped over to it, looking at the bandage but there was no discernible image of any blood seeping through.
I had to rely on what I could see with my two eyes. I was giving them way too much power and to do that was making it easier for them to keep me shrouded in mystery. I couldn’t allow my body to keep me prisoner in a room which had soothing colors, but also gave the impression of a jail cell.
I found the clothing in my closet, and I chose a pair of black slim fit Levi jeans. They were exactly my size. Putting them on was a bitter struggle, but I still managed. It had taken me a bit of time. I was exhausted and had to sit down on a nearby chair; it resembled to be of a Victorian type. Everything here was beautiful and antique. It was the perfect combination of conventional and old style tastes.
I had given no more thought to what Tristan had to say, but in the back of my mind, I knew he was onto something. It was the way the guards were looking at us. I could only hope Tristan wouldn’t cause too many problems getting too deep into Spencer’s business.
I went to the window and tried to open it, but it was sealed shut. It wasn’t old. It was quite new with the logo of Venmar on the window. There was a lock on the window, and I tried to turn it, but it wouldn’t budge. The only way out of this room was by the door. I had to believe somebody was out there watching for the great escape.
I put my hand on the doorknob, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to find it was locked. I was tempted to make a fuss, scream and throw a tantrum, but it would only bring considerable attention to me. I had to think this through, look at it from every angle and not feel threatened. I did look down, and my hands were shaking, but I was standing on my own. I was stubborn, but I felt I had to take that first step.
I was a little winded by the time I got back to the bed with the Egyptian cotton sheets curled around me like a second skin. I lay there thinking about my predicament, and I could not for the life of me figure out what to do next. The only thing I had any control over was the way I was immersing myself into my father’s shoes. It was still hard for me to adjust to my mother finding him the least bit attractive. He didn’t have that same kind of power over me, but maybe it was because I was immune. I did have a connection to him stronger than any lover.
Chapter 30
I was still feeling fuzzy around the edges. There was this slight disorientation which most assuredly came from the effect of the drug running rampant in my system. I didn’t know why I took the IV out, but it felt right.
I had fallen asleep, unable to rouse myself from the vivid dreams and outstretched hands trying to wrap around my throat from behind. I felt a momentary panic when I couldn’t breathe and opened my eyes to darkness. At first, I thought I had slept through the day, but then the pressure against my face was like somebody gave me a reason to survive.
My hands found someone pressing down on my pillow over my face. Anybody else and they would be screaming and thrashing like mad, but I had to remain as calm as possible. I wasn’t going to get anywhere letting my mind become unstable. I made it my mission to give them the impression my fight had long extinguished.
My fingernails scratched the person who was doing this to me, and I heard a grimace of response. I tried to determine if the pressure was strong enough for a man or a woman. There were just not enough variables to put all the pieces together.
“Why won’t you die already,” the voice was muffled, and the pillow had made it impossible for me to get a better understanding of why this person was doing this to me.
I let my hands relax, and then I lay back and pretended the job was done. I did nothing to incur this person’s suspicion. I became completely still, and I breathed with whatever oxygen I had left in my lungs. By not struggling, I was able to keep myself from becoming just another victim. In retrospect, I might have been better off fighting my attacker, but it would only make them more determined than ever to see this thing through. Once they figured I was gone, then the pressure on the pillow would lessen.
I held my breath, hoping my body would not betray me showing my chest rising and falling. I had my eyes open, and I saw somebody wearing their emotions on their sleeve by the way they had their back towards me and was almost openly weeping over me. This was someone who was not used to getting their hands dirty. I remained to stare at the ceiling, and I heard his footsteps as he left the room.
I waited an unspecified amount of time and then I turned towards the door and who might be standing beyond the threshold. I heard what sounded like a scuffle outside the doors. A gun went off. It jerked me in place and made me almost feel like I was jumping out of my skin. Shooting a sideways glance to the door, the person coming through was beside themselves with worry.
“Oh, my God… I am so happy to see you are alive. I feared for the worst. There are those here who take exception to you being his daughter. They have been treated unfairly and being a number with no praise for their work has gotten the best of them. This could be about something else. I have tried to eliminate any harsh feelings, but they feel justified coming after you. You couldn’t fight back, and you were practically a sitting duck. They won’t be bothering you anymore. I have made sure only my most trusted is in charge of keeping you safe. It has become painfully clear there are forces at work here beyond my understanding. I’m going to have that person sequestered to a private room where we can discuss things in a more in-depth way,” Leslie said as she sat down and took my hand. She had this look of confusion to see the IV was not attached to my veins like it was supposed to be.
“It must have come undone when the person tried to kill me,” I said as she smiled and took from her bag the instruments she would need to reconnect it to my vein.
“I know you’re worried about your father, but you don’t have to be. I also know this drug makes you feel strange, but it’s for your own good. I have grown very fond of you, Willa and I don’t want anything to happen to you on my watch. I would think Tristan would be here to take care of your every need. What was so important he would leave your side at a time like this?” She asked me as I tried to come up with something believable. I didn’t want to make it look like it was some kind of story.
“He was hovering over me, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I know
you think we should be connected at the hip at all times, but I felt like I needed some space. I’m not trying to make anybody’s life any harder than it already is. I promised myself I would not submit to the cold and clammy hand of death on my shoulder. I will always be a fighter. Tristan will come back again after he has some time to himself. I understand you’re worried, but his dedication has never been in question,” I said hoping she would believe me and not go searching for a man who was after answers of his own.
“If I had known he wasn’t going to be with you, I would have left you with something to communicate with me. This radio is tuned to a frequency which reaches only me. If you find out anything about the password to open up his computer, then I need to know about it immediately. The danger is real. We have to be vigilant, and the best way to avoid getting caught with our pants down is to be fully informed. If it’s at all possible, we can find out who is doing this and then stop them before they get close enough to do anything,” Leslie said sounding like she had my best interests at heart, but there was that lingering doubt in the back of my mind.
It could have been Tristan who had made me feel susceptible; as if I couldn’t trust anybody besides him. It felt wrong not to give Leslie the benefit of the doubt considering everything she had done to keep me alive. The dedication to Spencer and his family was more than any doctor I had ever met. It was almost like she was a woman with a one track mind.
“I had to play possum. It has never been enough for me to stay still and do nothing. I have been watching everyone around me walking on eggshells. I was on the outside looking in, but now I feel like I’m on the inside looking out. I don’t know if that makes any sense. I feel more like a prisoner in this home than I did when I was outside these doors. I see no reason why you have to lock the door. It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anybody from getting in anyway. I’m just grateful I’m still breathing,” I said holding onto the bed frame to lift myself into a sitting position to give her the indication I was not an invalid.
“I don’t know how much I have to stress this all over again, Willa. I’m not going to let you destroy all the good work I have done to keep you from succumbing to a poison of an unknown origin. I see in you the potential to be like your father. You need the chance to fully flourish into the woman you want to be. I have made it my personal mission to see you through this one way or the other. The doors are locked for your safety, but it is not near foolproof. The windows are secured, and nobody is going to get to you without going through the two men I have entrusted with your safety,” Leslie said as she sounded more like my father.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m in your debt, but depending on you is a little hard for me to agree to. I would think in the event of him being incapacitated he would have put something into place. There has to be somebody he trusted with the business to step in when he was in no condition to do it himself,” I said seeing her lip quiver, giving me the idea that what I saw was a woman who was caught red handed. She had to find a way out of the trap which was metaphorically biting into her ankle.
“I haven’t seen anything, and I only wish he did have somebody he could trust to do these things. It’s a bit of a headache. Seeing what he does has made me more aware of what kind of stress he had on his shoulders. This should prove to you that what I asked of you is not unreasonable. There are spies everywhere, and this might be just the tip of the iceberg. With Spencer out of commission, it lands on me to make sure his business affairs are in order. You need to find out who is doing this. I don’t mean to put that much pressure on you, but we are both in the same boat,” Leslie said giving me more incentive to work even harder to crack the code my father had put in place.
“The one thing I have found is that the computer is equipped with a three password limit. Once I have exhausted all three of them, then I can be reasonably sure this whole thing is going to disappear like the wind through my hands. I have to take everything into consideration. I tried the name of the first person he married, but it was for nothing. I wasted that one opportunity thinking his first love would have been his password,” I said seeing she wasn’t very happy and most likely thinking I was playing some sort of game.
“I can’t help you, and I only wish I knew him as well as I did in the bedroom. There was always something missing from how we spent time together. There was nothing I could contribute to the love in his eyes, as he played with my body as he knew it better than I did. I very happily put myself in his hands, and I wear the scars to prove it. Just do your best and need I remind you your safety is at risk? They apparently went after you to get him to lower his guard long enough to bring you here. Do you think they did this for no reason? I’m surprised they haven’t been knocking on the door already,” Leslie said as she was really piling on the guilt like it was my fault I couldn’t figure out his password.
“You know my father is secretive and that can’t come as a big surprise. What you fail to realize is we never spent any more time than a few conversations. I’ve gone over each and every one of them to pick at every word he said to me thinking he might have slipped something while under your care. As you have witnessed for yourself, keeping me here prisoner under lock and key is not going to prevent anybody from entering. I would respectively ask that you keep it unlocked and allow me to move about freely in case I have some kind of inspiration,” I said hoping this would make sense and not feel like I was trying to put one over on her.
“I don’t like it, but I will allow you a certain amount of freedom. There will be a guard on you at all times and the radio I gave you should be only used in case of emergencies. If you find yourself overwhelmed or in danger, then I need you to let me know so I can take the appropriate action. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I didn’t go this far to have it unravel in front of me. I’m only trying to do the best I can under these difficult circumstances. I just need a little cooperation, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask for,” Leslie said as she walked out and I did not hear the telltale click of the lock being put into place.
There was darkness in her soul. It could have come from the death which brought her medical career to a standstill; that was obviously on her mind. I thought about what kind of effect this could have on a person’s psychology. It baffled me she was even able to fully articulate anything at all. I didn’t need any more reason to go digging into my father’s past, but this assassin’s attempt really did put a fire under me.
The drug may have made me feel like I was walking on air, but there was also something strangely euphoric about what was happening to me. I felt this clarity of mind which opened up a path to the very words my father spoke. The venom which spewed from his lips when he found me in his office had nothing to do with personal space. I had to get back into the office for a closer look, but it meant my shadows were going to follow me whether I wanted them to or not.
I had a better understanding of who my father was, but I don’t think he ever showed that side of himself to those he employed. He was a man who didn’t think he had any limitations. He would do whatever he thought was right regardless of what bodies were left in his wake.
I feared I may have dreamed about my true father reaching out for me, but we had never met. There were certain things growing up which made me feel like my dad was not exactly invested. He was never the touchy-feely sort, but I always knew he was there for me whenever I needed him. Boys had no chance of getting close without going through a rigorous interview which felt more like torture. I knew he loved me, but I wasn’t sure how much. He did allow me to leave after I went against his wishes about coming to work with him at the restaurant.
It had been almost three hours since I had seen or heard from Tristan. I knew he could take care of himself, but these were stressful times. If his suspicion was even remotely right, I had to fear for his continued well-being. He must have gotten caught up in something. With Leslie aware of his absence, it did not come as any big revelation she would go looking for him.
Having my life flash before my eyes was not something I was ever going to get used to. There were memories of my childhood and the way my parents had doted on me. It was something I never took for granted. They instilled in me a sense of right and wrong. I had that strong moral fiber to back up what I believed was injustice in the world. It made me more aware of those who were begging on the street for any scrap of dignity they could find.
Unlike some people who walked by them with blinders on, I would stop and converse with them. I had a few dollars to spare. There was the possibility they would only use it for liquor, but I couldn’t live with that kind of jaded look at life. I had to believe somebody I gave that money to would turn their life around and begin again.
I had to take it on faith alone they would do what was right for themselves. The one thing I couldn’t do was stand around and watch them. I had done this once, and it had made me a little less likely to help. That didn’t last for long, and my father had given me all the advice I would need to make a conscious decision.
It was kind of hard to differentiate between the one who raised me and Spencer who was nothing more than a donor. I didn’t know why it was important for me to learn about him, but this exercise had turned out better than I expected.