Dictator s Daughter

by Angell, Lorena

  “So did Dr. Randall and Suzzette,” Sara added. “At least neither one of them left spouses or children behind.”

  Jacquline questioned further. “Why would Riley kill his own mother?”

  Sean said, “That is the million-dollar question, Jacquline. What we do know is Riley secretly operates the underground network, shipping defectors across the border, defectors with death warrants on their heads. Dad didn’t know he was dealing with Victor’s head of security; Eliwese was unaware of Riley’s duality until she entered the underground and Riley placed his own mother in our home. So far, the only people who have known he was a traitor have been crossers. For a price, he offers them life and freedom. In exchange, they keep their mouths shut about him. Eliwese was threatened with the lives of her mother and sister if she exposed him.”

  “Well, that would be easily remedied, wouldn’t it?” Jacquline suggested. “Ok, this explains why Victor Rawlings would be unaware, but it just seems there is more to it. Why would he help his own mother cross and then kill her?”

  Sara sat forward on the couch. “Jacquline, you’re right, there is more to this story. I raised my children with the knowledge that I, their mother, was once a crosser. It’s true. However, I never revealed the real reason I defected.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lyndee asked her mother.

  Ryan scooted to the edge of his seat, although Sean knew Ryan had heard many things already from the conversation with Eliwese the night before.

  “Honey, I have kept this a secret from my children because it wasn’t necessary for any of you to know the whole story, but now it is. I crossed the border running from Reginald Rawlings’ son, Victor. I was being forced to marry him.”

  “What?” Lyndee half laughed.

  “That’s right. I went to school with Victor and Riley and we’re all close to the same age. I had no interest in either one of them. They were cocky and arrogant, the same as they are now; I kept to myself as much as I could. However, Riley took an interest in me; the more I ignored him, the harder he pursued. When I was eighteen my father approached me informing me Reginald’s son had chosen me to be his bride and I refused wholeheartedly. My father respected me and took my answer back to Reginald and died almost immediately. I was told his heart failed, but I knew better, I knew the moment Reginald seized me and forced me to take up residence at the palace, he’d been murdered.

  “I could have been forced to marry Victor right away, but Victor didn’t want me that way. He wanted me willing. So he decided to court me and try to win my affection. It was in that time period I learned the real reason Victor had selected me to be his bride; Riley wanted me. Victor had always been jealous of Riley, yet he had no reason to be. Riley had grown up in a simple home with only modest things. Victor had everything and anything he wished for, but he was not content. The only thing that made Victor content was being one step ahead of Riley.

  “Riley was Victor’s best and only friend and Riley felt honored to be the future dictator’s only friend. That’s what he told me when I questioned his friendship to Victor. Once Victor moved into authority, Riley would rise to the top with him and have power too. But, Riley loved me, and his best friend, his only friend, was stealing me away from him.

  “Now, before any of you develop a soft spot for Riley, consider this: Riley cornered me on several occasions with an offer to help me escape, but the catch was I had to marry him. We were caught talking together by Reginald and when questioned as to our situation, Riley told him I had come to him for help with escaping.

  “Riley knew I would be imprisoned and beaten because of his lie, yet he said it anyway. His ugly self-serving character was as present then as it is today and I paid dearly for his lie. I was locked up and beaten regularly by Reginald. He thought I would eventually become a willing bride by force, but what actually happened was the beatings put me in contact with Dr. John Randall Roth. I still bear the scars on my back.

  “He took care of my wounds and broken bones after every beating. And when I decided to end my life by starvation, he was ordered to nourish me intravenously. He was repulsed with the abuse I was receiving so he took it upon himself to help me cross the border. And it was successful, for a little while.

  “Back then, crossers didn’t know where they would be staying, only that some Slaterville citizens took in defectors for pay. We were flown out in groups and dropped over the lake. I have always told you your father saved my life; he really did.

  “It didn’t take long for Reginald to find me. His spies were everywhere and one spotted me, I was captured along with Paul. We were both taken back to the palace with Paul placed in the dungeon and I was set to marry Victor.

  “Dr. Randall was fixing me up after my arrival back to the palace when he told me about a new plan. It would free both me and Paul. It involved an exploding car crash and a couple of dead bodies from the morgue. Paul and I were locked away in the infirmary closet for a while as the plan transpired.” Sara blushed at the thought and smiled shyly.

  “Jump ahead now to a few months ago, when Riley discovered the crosser home he had been dealing with and the man named Paul was none other than my Paul. Our home was scouted out and Riley got the confirmation photos. He told me this yesterday at the palace. He’s been planning the raid on our home for months.

  “Eliwese’s crossing was not his idea, but he used it to his advantage. He placed her at our home so he could snatch her and me at the same time. Only it didn’t work out that way, and Riley nearly exploded when Victor gave the order to let me go at the mall. That wasn’t the plan. When the tables turned, Victor served himself without any regard to Riley, once again. The two of them are at war with each other; except one of them doesn’t realize it.” Sara concluded.

  “What was your name when you lived in Rendier?” Sean asked.

  “Sierra Montgomery.”

  “When I met Victor Rawlings, he said I had Sierra’s eyes. I didn’t know who he was talking about. Why didn’t you ever tell us about your past?”

  “The decision at the time and all through the years seemed like the right one. It would be nice if we always knew exactly how each choice would affect us in the future, but it doesn’t work that way. I think the biggest regret I have is that I never told your father about Riley Stone. If I had, maybe he would have recognized the name or he might have been more wary of accepting crossers from anyone named Riley, but I didn’t fully understand the level of Riley’s feelings for me.

  “Sean, ever since you became old enough to drive I’ve had you run the errands. Before that, I used Paul’s brother Sam and his wife. I have lived in fear of being found for all these years. Dr. Randall’s been my ears and eyes on many occasions, even though he lived in constant fear of being found too.”

  Ryan commented, “So, Dr. Randall became a crosser too. I’ve always wondered how he tied into our family or why Dad trusted him so much.”

  “Me too,” Sean added. “It was just one of the many questions I never asked.”

  Lyndee said, “I knew about Dr. Randall. He confided in me a couple of years ago. He didn’t tell me much but enough to know he had helped Mom cross.”

  “Technically, Dr. Randall didn’t become a crosser. He was a Baylend citizen who worked as Reginald Rawlings’ personal physician. He went into hiding after our deaths were faked and we had been successfully brought across the border.”

  Sara inhaled a deep breath and let it out as if she had cleansed out her whole soul. “I’m tired of living this way. I’ve raised you with lies and deception. I’m so sorry.” Her eyes had filled with tears again. Lyndee put a painful arm around her mother.

  “Mom, you’ve done an excellent job raising us. You’ve only done what you felt would protect us the best.” Ryan and Sean agreed with their sister and comforted their mother. Jacquline watched with envy.

  Sara accepted the love and compassion from her children with bated breath for she still hadn’t told them everything. Hopefully she wouldn
’t ever have to expose the rest of the saga. That vault door closed a long time ago and it would take an act of God for Sara to consider revealing she had actually been married to Victor for a short while and conceived a child. The thought had crossed her mind to end the pregnancy all those years ago, but if she had, she wouldn’t have her beautiful daughter.

  Chapter 15

  As the day went on, Sean thought about what he would say to Rawlings once he received the call. He hoped Eliwese was alright and not being mistreated. He missed her terribly and still felt he had let her down at the mall. He pondered over the account his mother gave of her life in Rendier and the cruel irony that was Eliwese’s life. Sara had escaped the dictator all those years ago, but some other woman took her place and Eliwese was born into the nightmare.

  Later on over dinner, Ryan asked Sean, “So where does this leave us now?”

  “We wait. We can’t touch the hundred mil till the morning.”

  “Yeah, but then what?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Jacquline’s phone rang, making everyone jump. After a short conversation, Jacquline hung up and looked over at Sean.

  “That was Riley. He wants to meet me in the lounge.”

  Ryan’s ears popped right up. “Does he usually call you like this? Do you normally meet him in the lounge?”

  “Yes. I didn’t detect anything out of the ordinary in his voice. I am going to go down and find out what he wants.”

  Ryan walked quickly over to her and gently grabbed her arm. “Be careful, Jacquline. Act like you usually do, don’t give anything away.”

  “I’ll be careful, Ryan,” she said tenderly and left the room.

  One hour went by, then two hours, and still Jacquline hadn’t returned. Sean thought he would check on Lyndee and his mother’s injuries. He was shocked at the amount of bruising on Lyndee’s body. These injuries were Riley’s doing and now he was with Jacquline; he hoped she was alright. Ryan was obviously agitated and had been pacing the floor since she left; Sean wondered what Ryan must be thinking. Sean helped his mother clean Lyndee’s abrasions and put new bandages on.

  Finally, Jacquline returned. Ryan rushed over to her when she entered the room. “Are you ok? Did he hurt you? What did he want?”

  “I’m fine, but you’re not.” She motioned to everyone in the room. “Riley wanted to see the surveillance videos for the time frame you arrived back here at the hotel. They are trying to find you. I did get some information out of him. More like, he volunteered it to me. He said they would be staying here tonight because the business meeting today went sour and now he has a few loose ends to tie up, four to be exact; I assumed he meant the four of you.”

  The rest of the evening played out with Ryan talking with Jacquline about her family and interesting childhood; Ryan was clearly smitten. Sara and Lyndee joined in on the conversation, asking questions and having a semi-good time. Jacquline seemed right in her element.

  Sean sat off to the side with his mind on Eliwese. If she could only hold on until tomorrow, he’d rescue her, and become the fairytale prince she’d spoken of. She deserved a knight in shining armor for once in her life.

  A few floors up and almost directly above Sean, Eliwese stared across the room to the French doors. The tiny balcony held two small chairs and an even smaller round table. She knew the Presidential Suite was on the top floor of the hotel with no way of escaping unless she meant to escape life permanently. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

  Her view out the window was of the night sky. Large puffy clouds illuminated by the full moon soared past one at a time. Sitting on the floor with her back up against the wall, she reached her hand up to her face and felt her cheek and eye and the rapid swelling. She couldn’t take deep breaths for the sharp pain; another cracked or broken rib, no doubt.

  Those clouds were so soft looking and ethereal. If only she could climb on one and be removed from this hellish life. Riley made sure she remembered, with full clarity, what her life had been like before. Now she had all new bruises, just like old times. But it didn’t matter, Sean and his family was whole again and safe from harm. A pained smile spread across her face as she recalled Sean’s bravery toward Riley and her father. He didn’t hesitate to dish out insults, and he certainly didn’t shrink away from a fight. She only hoped he did as she instructed; transfer the money and get out of town.

  Her guilt began to invade her mind making her fret about her reasons for crossing in the first place; to take her father down. It seemed she was farther away from that goal now than she was prior to crossing a few weeks ago.

  Eliwese’s body jerked tensely as the door opened and her father entered. He held a laptop computer in his arms and stood for a moment surveying Riley’s handiwork. A devilish grin formed on his face and Eliwese’s hair on the back of her neck raised.

  “Riley never lets me down,” he said confidently.

  “Yeah, well he’s losing his touch; he didn’t even rape me this time.”

  Victor’s eyes narrowed and his brow knit together. His chin dipped a fraction of an inch and he glared at her intensely. She wasn’t sure what to think. Was her father upset Riley didn’t complete his task or was he upset that Riley had raped her in the past? She stared at her father trying to guess his thoughts.

  “What do you mean ‘this time’?” The simple question had so many layers of understanding for Eliwese. In the blink of an eye, her mind opened up to the barrage of enlightenment that was her father’s ignorance. Riley had never been given permission to impregnate her. Her father was genuinely shocked to hear her say, ‘this time’ and it gave Eliwese hope that maybe Riley would finally get what he deserved.

  “What do I mean? I mean all throughout the time you locked me in solitary confinement and accepted money for my body, Riley used every chance he had, for free I might add, and he had many chances being that you placed him as the guard to my room. What’s the matter? Don’t you want Riley to be your son-in-law, father of your heir?”

  The unreadable look on his face scared Eliwese. He walked away from her placing the laptop on the table and initialized the setup of her account. He was here to make her transfer the money back. She hoped with every last fiber of her body Sean had listened to her and moved the money already.

  “What is your password?” he growled at her.

  She spelled it out and he typed the letters as she spoke them, “R-E-V-E-N-G-E.” It was like watching all the little tumblers fall in place when unlocking a safe. Even though the computer screen showed asterisks for the entered letters, his mind was spelling it out. The clicking of his brain coincided with the bank’s information popping up on the screen; an empty account.

  Revenge.

  He whirled around almost losing his balance and marched across the room. “Riley!” he yelled and Riley appeared in an instant. “Pick her up and drag her insolent ass over there.” He motioned to the computer.

  Riley did so and dumped her in a chair. She was in so much pain her breath was gone and her eyes wept.

  “Move it back!”

  She whispered, “Move what back?” She didn’t want to lead on to the fact that she knew exactly what her father was talking about.

  “My money!”

  She looked at the screen and the zero balance of the account and her insides rejoiced. “I don’t understand, didn’t you put the money in my account?”

  “You know I did, where is it?”

  She moved the mouse and pressed on recent transactions. The two transfers were there plain as day; one-hundred million in and one-hundred million out. “It would appear, father, you’ve donated an absurd amount of money to a worthy charity.”

  His hand swung around so quickly that Eliwese didn’t have time to duck. The violent force of his blow knocked her from the chair and to the floor. He kicked her in the stomach and reached down with both hands and grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her easily from the floor to a standing position.

  “What have you don
e with my money?!”

  He shook her violently. She tried to regain her breath but from the kick to the gut, her air was still unattainable. He shook her again.

  She gasped and whispered, “Sean,” she coughed, “Sean got the better of you.”

  Victor released his grip on her shirt and turned away from her as she crumpled to the floor like a scarecrow with its sticks removed.

  Sean slept very little that night. Once the morning hours arrived, he got up and took a quick shower, and went into the kitchen for some breakfast. Jacquline was already preparing some food for them.

  “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for us. Once we’re in the clear, I’ll make it right with you.”

  “No need. It is my pleasure to help.”

  Ryan came in the kitchen yawning, “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing yet.” Sean picked up his cell phone and turned it on.

  “Is it safe to use that?” Ryan asked.

  “Probably not. However, it’s the only way to be contacted.” Sean said as his phone chimed to say he had voice mail. His heart jumped. He called his mailbox and listened to the message. He motioned with his hand for Ryan and Jacquline to follow him in the bedroom so everyone could hear the message at the same time. He reset the message and turned on speakerphone.

  The angry growling voice of Victor Rawlings sounded through the room. “I’ve had enough of you and your pathetic family! That is my money and you will transfer it back today! Or I will kill Eliwese!” The call ended.

  Everyone sat quietly. They looked at each other for a second and Sean said with a huge smile, “It’s going to be a lovely day.”

  “What do you mean, Sean?” Sara asked.

  “Dishing out insults and issuing commands is a sign of loss of control. He’s desperate, and desperate men are foolish.” Sean got up and pocketed his phone.

  “And dangerous,” Lyndee added.

  “I am going to walk to the library. I can transfer money from that location, plus, our other disguises are already in place along with the other car. Jacquline, would you watch the surveillance cameras for Eliwese, Riley, and Rawlings to leave?