Chloe snorted. “We wouldn’t want to run into any more crossbreeds with long fangs now, would we?”
“Just get moving,” Damien demanded with embarrassed annoyance.
Chuckling, Chloe began to backtrack. She felt more at ease with Damien following her. She was angry once more at Dirk for not sending Damien with her. If he had sat her down and explained what James had said she could have pled her case. If he hadn’t believed her, or been skeptical, she would have willingly gone with Damien.
The man could be so insensitive at times it made her blood boil. He didn’t need to drug and frighten her, he didn’t need to sequester her away with mountain man Mitch. He was going to have a great deal of explaining to do when she returned. There was an obvious rift between the two. She wondered sadly if it would heal.
The two walked together companionably in silence. Chloe knew exactly where she was headed. Easily, she found her way back to the lake, except this time she followed the dry edge, keeping from the water.
“Are you sure you know where we are?” Damien asked skeptically.
“Relax, tiger, it’s not like I’m you,” she replied cheekily.
“Very funny. You’re lucky I’m here to protect you,” Damien grouched. Absently he swatted at a few bugs. “Damn! Three hundred dollar shoes!”
Chloe laughed when Damien scraped his shoe against a nearby rock. “Looks dangerous, Salvator…killer poop!”
Damien scowled at her. The two continued on. It wasn’t long before Chloe spotted the two planes tied at the dock.
“Someone else is here,” she declared, stopping.
“It’s all right, Chloe, don’t be afraid. More than likely it’s Dirk,” Damien replied, though she noted he removed his gun, and the look on his face was decidedly dangerous. Chloe realized for the first time in her life that Damien was dangerous. The thought made her shudder.
“What should we do?” she asked.
“Stay behind me,” Damien demanded.
The two crept into the chalet, easing open the front door. An odor assaulted them, the stench of someone sick, or perhaps dead. Chloe kept a firm grip on the back of Damien’s belt loop. They noted Mitch lying motionless on the couch.
Chloe’s hand went to her mouth. If he was dead it was her fault. He couldn’t have protected himself in his defenseless condition. Damien reached out a steady hand to check for the pulse at the base of the man’s throat. He breathed a small sigh of relief.
“It’s slow, but steady. He’s alive, must be sleeping,” he whispered to Chloe. Chloe’s head dropped in grateful relief.
“There you are!” came a loud, deep voice. Damien spun, raising his weapon high. The man took an involuntary step back, eyes wide. “Well hell, Damien, what gives?”
“Deegan?” Damien said with obvious relief, though his eyes narrowed.
The man had his hands raised only to lower them, a grin spreading over his face. It was more than apparent he was relieved to see them. “Expecting the boogeyman?”
“Dirk, the boogeyman, same difference,” Chloe muttered under her breath. Damien scowled at her.
“Dirk’s busy,” Deegan replied.
“Story of my life lately,” Chloe again muttered with annoyance. She realized she had wanted to see Dirk. She wanted to discuss this with him in front of Damien, or behind him… where it was safe.
“Hey, listen, I’m sorry about your Dad. That’s real tough he had to die like that,” Deegan said, offering his condolences.
Chloe was very grateful Damien had mentioned to her that everyone thought James to be dead; it was for his own safety.
“Yeah well, we’ll get the bastard,” Damien replied, every inch the grieving son.
“No doubt,” Deegan replied, casting a hard stare in Chloe’s direction.
Damien’s gaze settled onto Deegan and the cruel look he was giving Chloe. “Chloe, why don’t you go to the kitchen and put this stuff back,” Damien suggested, handing her the pillowcase as he holstered his weapon. Chloe nodded, grateful to be released from Deegan’s obvious wrath. It looked like Dirk had been busy, she thought bitterly.
Chloe moved slowly around Deegan, her fear apparent. Once past him she scooted into the kitchen on a sigh of relief and settled the pillowcase onto the table. She began removing items, until a small smell of recognition came fleetingly to her senses.
Her mind dug deeply into the recesses of her memories and she shuddered suddenly. It had been the smell of a man’s cologne when she had been blind and defenseless. But where? It wasn’t Damien’s.
Her hands stilled when another sight caught her eye. Curiously, Chloe stared at the vase on the table. The buttercups were gone, replaced with carnations, her mother’s favorite. How did they get there? Certainly not from Mitch. Chloe reached out to finger one, caressing a petal.
“Pretty, aren’t they?” Startled, Chloe jumped and spun around to face Deegan. With worry she looked past him for Damien.
“Damien?” she called. The once fleeting smell was more prominent. The cologne was strong, though not overpowering. It would have been a nice, even pleasant scent, if she didn’t associate it with death.
“Your mother’s favorite, weren’t they?” Deegan asked casually. He advanced on her slowly. “They were my own mother’s favorite, too.” He continued towards her as Chloe moved backwards.
“Damien?” Chloe called, now frantically. A feeling of dread settled into her belly like a heavy stone.
“Damien is indisposed,” Deegan said, chuckling.
“What did you do to him?” she whimpered. Her hands worked nervously before her, sensing his intent.
“He’s not dead. I don’t kill innocents, only the evil.” Deegan’s eyes suddenly changed into a sinister expression.
“I didn’t kill James,” Chloe pleaded, hands splayed in supplication.
“I’m aware of that, Chloe…I did.” Deegan lunged for her, but she dropped to all fours and scooted under the table. He sent the chairs flying in an effort to get to her.
“Salvator!” Chloe screamed as he flipped the table. Seeing an opening, she darted into the living room. To her dismay she noted Damien on the floor. He was as unmoving as Mitch, a small trickle of blood at his temple. Chloe fell beside him and tugged on his limp arm, trying to wake him. She pleaded desperately for him to get up. She noted both of his weapons were missing.
“He’ll be out for a while. I shot him up after I hit him,” Chloe heard from behind her. She spun about, though she remained seated on the floor. It was useless; she could never outrun him or overpower him. The man was as large as Damien and Mitch. His anger radiated towards her.
Chloe could feel her heart pounding against her chest. She wondered if Damien would wake to her lying near him, cold in death. It was too much to bear; what had she done to deserve this?
“Why?” she begged. “Please just tell me why.”
Deegan crouched before her. He gripped her jaw cruelly. His angry expression sapped her strength, stole her breath. “Your father murdered mine, Chloe. He shot him down in cold blood in front of my terror-stricken mother and me. Your father killed innocents, but he died before I could grow up. Someone needs to pay for what he did.”
Chloe trembled under his wrathful eye. James’ words came to her. All he ever wanted was to protect her from her father; it seemed he had failed. “What are you going to do with me?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Saying that, Deegan lunged for her, grabbing a fistful of her shirt and pulling her to him. Chloe screamed as she was thrown over his broad shoulder. She beat at his back to no avail; he ignored it. With easy steps she was taken from the chalet down to the dock. Brutally, he threw her into the plane.
“Please no, don’t!” Chloe cried out, clawing frantically at the window.
Deegan started the plane. “I remember my mother crying out the exact same thing to James. No one listened to her; I won’t listen to you either.”
The roar of the engine sounded as the plane picke
d up speed. They were airborne. Chloe was trapped.
Chapter Eighteen
“Please, Deegan, I don’t want to die,” Chloe begged.
“Neither did my dad,” he responded gruffly.
“I didn’t kill your father, I was only a child.” The memory came to her uninhibited, James’ wrath… ‘He botched the last hit, Samantha; he took out the wrong man! Killed an innocent brutally in front of his wife and young son. They're traumatized…’ Chloe understood only now James had hid the remaining family members to protect his own family and her.
“I was only a child. But I remember everything as though it happened yesterday. I remember my mother’s screams, my father’s blood. Your father’s cruel, evil eyes.”
“Deegan, I’m sorry you were hurt, I’m sorry for your family. My father hurt a lot of innocent people, including me,” Chloe said.
“Yeah, I heard he beat you pretty bad,” Deegan admitted.
Chloe looked out her window and watched the huge hills pass swiftly by beneath them. Once again she was being stolen away. Only this time by a lunatic who sought revenge. She was certain he was taking her away to kill her. Her hands rested in her lap, her shoulders slouched. There was nothing she could do aboard a plane while they were up so high. She didn’t want to attempt to make it crash, she didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to jump. A terrifying thought suddenly occurred to her.
“Please, Deegan, don’t throw me out.” She looked at him in horror. She could imagine the terror of spiraling, spinning out of control, the agonizingly long, though exceptionally brief moments before crashing to her death, the wind racing to invade her lungs, stopping her breath, impaled by a tree, smashing onto rocks. Her lifeless, broken body being feasted on by wild animals. Damien would never find her. The images were too much; she began to shake.
Deegan leveled a cruel look onto her. “It would have been a fitting end for your father. To suffer the way I suffered for years, feeling like I was falling from a precipice, nothing to hang on to, no one to take my hand, offer a comforting word. The all encompassing aloneness while pondering your actual fate. But it would be too quick. I have a better revenge in mind. I want you trapped like I was trapped. I was alone, alone within my thoughts for years.”
“What are you going to do to me?” Chloe whispered fearfully. The man before her wasn’t right in the head, she could see that, sense it. His mind was not all there, not rational. There was something disturbing in his voice, there was something beyond angry revenge, something she just couldn’t put her finger on. Something very strange and even more frightening.
“I have a place where no one will ever find you. I’m going to lock you away like I was. It took years of planning, building. Killing James, then capturing you. I had thought for a while of capturing you both together, but you needed to be alone, experience what I felt.
“Besides, James is no innocent, not by a long shot. I hated him for stealing us away. My mother had been so afraid. We were helpless, or so he thought. But I fooled everyone, everyone. Even smug-ass Dirk. Can you believe he really thought it was you who killed James? What an idiot. They’re all alike, you know, every one of them cutthroats. Turn on you in a second.”
“That’s not true, Deegan. They take evil lives, not innocents. You took evil lives. Now you want to hurt me. I’m an innocent. I’m not to blame for what my father did. I couldn’t stop him any more than you could have. If you kill me you’ll be just like him,” Chloe said, weeping as she tried to reason with him.
“Ah, but you see, there’s the beauty of it. I’m not evil like your old man. I’m not going to kill you. I thought about that for a long time, I had to work that out, think it through. Finally I realized I didn’t need to kill you for my revenge, yet you needed to be away from people.
“Evil begets evil. If I put you away I save others from you, my father is avenged, and I haven’t harmed an innocent. I realize you can’t help who you are, Chloe, but this way I can watch you. This really is for the best.”
“Locking me away is going to hurt me. I want my family,” Chloe pleaded.
“So do I!” Deegan snapped in outrage. His voice dropped an octave as his eyes twisted into a sinister expression. “Thanks to you I will never have another. I’ll spend my days taking care of you. No wife, no children, do you even understand I how much I hate you?”
Chloe recoiled. “Damien will come for me, he will find me.”
Deegan shook his head, once more all smiles. “No, no he won’t. I’ve had this planned for five years. It’s perfect. The perfect hideaway in the middle of nowhere. Wait until you see your new room. I painted it pink, you like pink, right? Oh, it’s nothing like the grandeur of James’ home, of course, but it has a bed and washroom. I even picked out some clothes for you.”
“You’re insane,” Chloe whispered.
“I’m smart, and generous. You’ll come to see that. Aren’t you grateful I spared your life? Can’t you see how this is for the best? Your dad wouldn’t have spared my life. I had been just a terrified little boy; at least you’re a grown woman.
“But I can still understand how helpless you are against me. I had understood how frightened my mom was compared to someone James’ size. I couldn’t blame her for not being able to take us away; she was as trapped as you are. You’re lucky I possess mercy. See how much better I am than he is? In time you’ll grow to appreciate what I’ve done for you, you’ll see.”
Chloe sat quietly, her mind rapidly thinking. Once the plane landed she needed to escape. If he sequestered her away Damien would never find her. Eventually he would kill her, or the unbearable loneliness would. She envisioned a dank, lonely cell. Solitary confinement for years upon endless years.
She was young and healthy; it would be a slow, brutal, inhumane demise. No wonder Deegan seemed insane, though Chloe honestly couldn’t imagine James hiding a child and his frightened mother away into a life like that, no matter what they had witnessed. James could never be so cruel; she wouldn’t believe he had been.
Chloe’s thoughts again shifted to Damien. He would spend eternity trying to find her. So would Dirk. She knew how badly Dirk would want to find her. He would take responsibility for this. Damien would be so angry with him. It would tear them apart, affecting the entire family.
The shift in the plane alerted her that they were landing. A small, beautiful lake came into view. They skimmed over the massive amount of tree tops. Deegan would have to be well versed in the arts of landing a plane on such a tiny waterway. He would need every ounce of concentration to land them.
Chloe took a deep breath. Deegan was huge. She would never be able to overpower him one on one. This was her ace in the hole. She wouldn’t get a second chance, she needed to act now. With resolve, Chloe steeled her thoughts against dying. The pontoons hit the water, bounced then touched down, settling with a whooshing sound. Chloe threw herself at him.
Deegan had been unprepared for the assault. The small plane pitched to the right while he struggled to gain control. Chloe sunk her teeth into his shoulder.
Deegan howled in agony. With one hand, he shoved her against the side of the plane. She bounced back, clawing at his eyes. Deegan balled his fist, with the intent on rendering her unconscious.
The blow glanced off Chloe’s chin as she turned her head. She came back swinging. Her left fist connected with Deegan’s eye. Deegan released the controls and lunged at her. Chloe’s feet came up into his midriff.
The plane spun sharply, almost upsetting itself. Water splashed up at the windows, blurring their view of beyond momentarily. Deegan grabbed a handful of her shirtfront and yanked her closer. He backhanded her viciously across the mouth and cheek, slamming her hard into the door, then released her.
Stunned, Chloe shook her head while Deegan once more attempted to get the plane under control, yelling violent obscenities. They were off course and heading for the large bank full of rocks.
Regaining her senses, again Chloe was at him, screaming her ra
ge and fury aloud into his face. How dare he blame her for things a cruel, evil man did? How dare he control her the way she had been controlled her entire childhood?
She didn’t have a mother growing up either; at least he had his mother. Because of his insanity they would both die, alone, no family, no loved ones. If he thought he hated her it was nothing compared to the rage she felt towards him. James had treated him like family; Deegan threw it away when he shot him.
If he hated what he had become it was his fault. He had been trapped as a child. He was a grown man now, capable of making his own choices. He was the evil one. He hurt someone who trusted him. At least her father never played his father for a fool, never befriended him, then tricked him.
How could he shoot an unarmed, helpless old man? He had murdered another in the limo after cutting the brake lines, a man he had called friend. He was responsible for his own actions, just like her father had been.
They were both disgusting, pathetic shells of men, pretending at being human, pretending nothing was ever their fault, while innocents suffered. He disgusted her. He was the evil filth James had spoken of.
Before long Chloe realized she was pounding into hard unresisting flesh. Deegan wasn’t even defending himself. He took blow after blow and never raised his hands while Chloe’s fists began to ache at her assault on his powerful rock hard arms and chest.
Exhausted and sobbing, Chloe sat back, her eyes wet from her enraged tears. She saw blood drip from Deegan’s nose down his chin. He didn’t bother to wipe it away as it fell to stain his shirt. Her jaw shook with her fury when he looked at her. Her eyes cast her blame.
The plane had slowed and banged gently against the rocks, rocking over the water, drifting.
“I used to watch you with Damien when I first came to James. I’m not much older than you are, you know,” Deegan said, his voice was soft, gentle, and unthreatening. “You looked so young, innocent, and beautiful. The highlights in your hair are dazzling under the summer sun. No matter the season you always smell like a fresh spring breeze.
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