Dictator s Daughter (24 page)

“Riley executed the raid; he shot his own
mother and then my father.”

“He is a monster, Sean. Nothing and no one
has power over him; in his own mind that is. He threatened me with
the deaths of my mother and sister if I tried to flee your home.
I’m not sure why, but my deductive reasoning tells me Riley is the
one after your mother.”

“Is it possible your father isn’t aware of my
mother’s identity?”

“It’s a possibility, yes, but he’s not
totally stupid either. Let’s get some sleep, Sean.”

“Good night, Eliwese.”

Sean lay in bed thinking everything over.
Riley Stone had emerged from the shadows and had gone from mindless
brute to mastermind conspirator. Sean had feelings of pure
revulsion running through his veins for this man, even though
Victor Rawlings had caused more pain to the masses. The vicious,
brutal, sadistic actions of Riley had Sean worked up to a lather.
Sean would love to expose Riley and open Rawlings’ eyes to his own
inner circle traitor.

Eliwese also lay awake in bed, mulling over
the monumental revelation Sean had innocently offered up; his
mother was her father’s intended bride. If what he’d said was true,
it elevated the situation much further than she could have
imagined. Clearly, Sean didn’t know his mother had actually been
married to her father for a short while. Did it also mean he was
unaware of her royal blood? Of
his
royal blood? He’d said
the information had been kept from him his whole life. Her mind
switched to her father. Would he be willing to actually trade
Princess Sierra Montgomery for her? What was more important in his
mind, keeping his invasion under wraps or gaining more followers by
resurrecting his lost princess?

“Get up, Sean. You and Eliwese need to leave
soon.” Ryan’s face was only inches from Sean’s face.

Sean jumped out of bed quickly and looked
over at Eliwese’s empty bed. She was apparently in the other room
with Dr. Randall.

“I listened to what she said to you last
night.” Ryan admitted. “I have to say,” he leaned closer and
whispered, “it is her fault Dad’s dead.”

“What?”

“If she hadn’t crossed, she wouldn’t have
rooted out Riley in the underground and he wouldn’t have placed her
in our home; so, it’s her fault. It didn’t even matter that Chandra
turned her in.”

“Didn’t you hear everything she said? It’s
not her fault, or yours, or Chandra’s; it’s Riley’s. He has his own
business going. Eliwese didn’t know he operated the underground
until it was too late. It was safer for our family that she
remained right where Riley placed her. Riley was pissed when he
came to pick her up and she was gone, and that’s why Dad was shot;
Riley’s inability to control his anger once he had lost control of
the situation.”

“Ah ha, it’s your fault he’s dead because you
took her and ran. If she’d been there when Riley showed up, Dad
would still be alive.”

“Or, we’d all be dead, did you think of that?
Why does it have to be anyone’s fault? Anyway, it doesn’t matter
now because Dad isn’t dead.” Sean placed his hand on Ryan’s
shoulder and walked past him toward the bathroom.

“What are you talking about? I saw him get
shot!” Ryan’s voice raised in anger.

Sean was about to enter the bathroom when he
stopped and looked across the room to Ryan. “Doc saved him. He’s
alive because of a metal plate he had in his head. Before you get
all mad at me for not telling you, just know it was Dad’s wish that
you not know until later. He wanted you to stay angry with
Rawlings. I’m not so sure that was a good idea; clearly your anger
lies in the wrong place.” Sean entered the bathroom and closed the
door.

“Open up!” Ryan shouted.

Sean opened the door and Ryan pushed his way
inside and punched him square in the jaw. Sean saw tiny lights
popping before his eyes. He cleared his vision just enough to see
another fist flying his way to which he ducked and Ryan’s fist hit
the wall behind. Ryan let out a loud howl and Sean took the
opportunity to bolt from the bathroom.

Dr. Randall rushed in the bathroom to help
subdue Ryan. Dizzy from being punched, Sean sat down on the bed.
Eliwese retrieved a tissue and dabbed at his bloody face. She
carefully sat down beside him and they listened as Dr. Randall
spoke with Ryan in the bathroom. His punch to the wall had broken
his hand, according to Dr. Randall’s inspection, but Ryan didn’t
sound like he cared. He busily interrogated Dr. Randall about his
father’s condition and whereabouts.

Sean reached with his hand and took hold of
hers. “My father survived the bullet to the head.”

“Dr. Randall told me on the way here
yesterday.”

“Well, don’t tell Ryan you knew before he
did, he’ll go ballistic on you, too.” Sean rubbed his jaw.

“I’m so happy he survived. Now we just need
to get your mother and sister back. You’re going to have your
complete family again, Sean.” She smiled brightly.

Sean stood up before the dread set in. “We
best get going then.” He wanted his family together, sure, but he
also wanted Eliwese as part of the package.

A short while later Eliwese had become an old
man in a wheel chair and Sean had transformed to a girl. “We’ll be
back in a little while,” Sean said to Ryan and Dr. Randall.

They exited the room and made their way to
the busy lobby. Guards in black suits were positioned around the
perimeter of the room and by the front doors. Sean and Eliwese
spotted Jacquline in the lounge talking to Riley.

“That’s the girl I told you about.” He
whispered to Eliwese. They exited the hotel and proceeded down the
block to the conveniently located bank.

Upon entering, they asked for the branch
manager and were led to his office.

“How can I help you sir?” The manager, Mr.
Weston, was clearly fooled by Eliwese’s ‘old man’ disguise.

Eliwese said with her best old man
impression, “We need privacy first. Would you please close your
door and blinds?”

Mr. Weston looked from one to the other and
narrowed his eyes in disproval.

She dropped the façade and continued, “Sir, I
am Eliwese Rawlings, Victor Rawlings’ daughter and I don’t want
your employees to see me. If you’ll please oblige to my privacy
request, I’ll take off my disguise for you.”

Sean mused at the expression on Mr. Weston’s
face as he heard the delicate female voice coming from what
appeared to be an elderly man. After a moment of contemplation, he
stood and did as Eliwese asked.

“I don’t understand. The news said you were
found and taken back to Rendier,” he said over his shoulder as he
pulled the cords of the blinds.

“Sir, I would love to give you all the many
reasons why my father tells lies, but we are short on time. We need
to open a new account for Sean Cutler and to add his signature to
my existing account.” She motioned up to the lovely young woman
behind her. He smiled nicely.

“You’re a man?” Mr. Weston’s head tilted
sideways with his eyes squinting again making Sean wonder if Mr.
Weston needed corrective eye-ware.

“Yes, sir.” Sean used his most masculine male
voice. “It’s a good disguise, right?”

“Indeed. Well, I’ll need identification from
you, um, Mr. Cutler, and I will need to make a positive face ID on
you. Would you remove,” Mr. Weston motioned big circles with his
hands, “all that?”

After thirty minutes, they left the bank. Her
account balance of forty-thousand dollars had been cashed out and
deposited in Sean’s new account and his name was added to her
existing account.

They were on their way back to the hotel when
Sean’s cell rang.

“Yes?”

“Don’t come back, just go to the mall,” Ryan
said in a strained voice and hung up.

“What is it, Sean?” Eliwese asked.

“Let’s hail a cab. We’re not to go back;
something must be wrong.”

Sean waved down a taxi, and they climbed in,
placing the wheelchair in the trunk.

“The mall, center court entrance,
please.”

It was only ten-thirty am when they arrived
at the mall. The meeting wasn’t until noon.

“Let’s go check out the courtyard, Sean.”

He pushed her forward through the near barren
corridor. Most of the shops had only just opened and shoppers were
sparse. The courtyard was located in the center of the two story
mall with balconies, escalators and a full ceiling of glass to
allow in natural light. A set of elevators climbed between the
escalators creating a wall where a semi-private area was
located.

“That’s where he’ll position himself, I’d bet
money on it.” Eliwese spoke under her breath.

“Eliwese, what will happen if Ryan doesn’t
show with the laptop? What will we do?”

“I don’t know. I’ve spotted a guard.”

“Where?” Sean turned his head feverishly.

“Sean, look into my eyes. Now, without moving
your head much, locate the vacant store with darkened windows to
your right, up a level, with a man in a black suit standing in
front. Do you see him?”

“Yes, and another directly below him, and
another suit behind you, across the courtyard.”

“This is a good sign that the meeting will
happen. They are preparing for it.”

“Did you worry it wouldn’t go down?”

“Yes. My father is a complicated creature,
and often unpredictable.”

“I don’t know if I like the sound of that. Do
you think anyone can recognize us in our disguises?”

“If so, we would have already been seized at
the hotel exit.”

“We need to behave like shoppers or we’ll
begin to draw unwanted attention. We have time to kill, let’s go
purchase clothing for the meeting.”

Sean spent the next hour with Eliwese roaming
from store to store, killing time. He pondered on the phrase and
hoped there wouldn’t be any killing anytime soon either. The
anticipation in his gut was enough to make him sick, but there
wasn’t time for that now. The lack of communication from Ryan or
Dr. Randall didn’t help matters either.

Once they had purchased clothing, they headed
for the public restrooms. The halls had filled significantly during
the past hour and maneuvering her wheelchair was slow going.

“Sean, I think we should remove our ‘gender
specific’ disguises before we go in the restrooms to change.”

“Yeah, I agree. I really don’t want to enter
the men’s room dressed like a drag queen.” Plus his feet were ready
to fall off after walking in two inch pumps for what seemed like
hours.

Sean finished changing first and exited out
of the restroom to wait for Eliwese. He took the opportunity to
move the abandoned wheelchair out of the main pathway and to scan
his surroundings. He didn’t observe anything out of the ordinary;
just shoppers and families, no suits.

Sean hoped this meeting didn’t turn sour with
machine guns blasting through the crowds of innocent people. He
peered down the large hall toward the center court, imagining what
it would be like to meet the notorious Victor Rawlings.

Eliwese came out of the restroom wearing slim
fitting, stylish jeans with a floral print silk blouse. She was so
beautiful all dressed up in girls’ clothing that he couldn’t take
his eyes off her.

“What are you staring at? You’ve seen me with
no clothes on, yet you never looked at me like this before.” She
seemed mildly embarrassed.

“I’m …um…sorry. It’s just you look absolutely
awesome.” Now he was blushing for being so brazenly juvenile.

“You are something else, Sean Cutler. Come
on, we need to get back. It’s almost noon.” They started walking
toward the courtyard. “Still no word from Ryan?”

Right on cue, Sean’s cell rang. Ryan.

“He has the laptop and he is over at the
electronics store.” Sean looked down the corridor straining his
head to see above the other shoppers. “That way, come on.” He
grabbed her hand and pulled her along quickly.

“Sean, please slow down. I can’t…I can’t move
this quickly.” She was in pain not only from the fast pace but also
from the twisting and bending required to change her clothes.

He slowed, apologizing to her.

They reached the store and found Ryan sans
disguise. He rushed over to them ushering them toward the back of
the store.

“The guards are everywhere.” Ryan had his
hand all bandaged up from punching the wall at the hotel. He
gingerly handed items to Sean and Eliwese. “Here’s the laptop, the
video is in the shared file on the desktop. I made another copy of
the video on this flash drive.” Ryan waved the mini drive briefly.
“I’ll hold it as a backup to our couriers. Here is your earpiece,
although they will probably take it away. Don’t worry; you just
won’t be able to hear us. We will be able to hear you, though.
Right here on the computer is a tiny microphone. They can sweep you
for bugs and wires, but they won’t find anything.”

“Where’s Dr. Randall?” Sean asked.

“They took him,” Ryan replied quickly, yet
quietly.

“What?!” Sean and Eliwese exclaimed in
unison.

“It all happened so fast.” Ryan’s voice was
breathy and trembling. “I was in the one room working on the laptop
when Dr. Randall shut and locked the divider door. I hurried over
to the door and heard loud voices and commotion. I couldn’t help
him and... they took him.”

“Damn it!” Sean raked his fingers through his
hair.

“I watched out the peep hole as a whole army
of guards escorted him to the elevator. He locked me out to protect
me, to protect the information on that,” he pointed to the laptop,
“but there isn’t anything we can do about it right now. Sean, take
her to the main courtyard. I will circle back and position myself
up on the second floor balcony, good luck.”

Sean turned to Eliwese to see if she was in
agreement with the plan. She nodded. Sean was impressed with the
leadership qualities coming out of Ryan.