Dictator s Daughter (8 page)

“Eli, Eli, wake up, you’re dreaming.” Sean
gently shook her shoulders.

“Get away from me!” She started yelling and
swinging her fists at him. The sheer panic all over her face was
like nothing Sean had ever seen before.

“Eli, it’s Sean, you’re safe.” She landed a
hard blow to his jaw which made him switch into defense mode. He
dodged more attempts and finally grabbed her wrists and restrained
her.

“Let go of me you son of a bitch!” She had
wiggled a foot free from the bedding and began kicking Sean in the
stomach knocking the wind out of him.

Sean rolled over on Eli and pinned her down.
They were both gasping for breath. He used his legs to hold hers
down and the weight of his body to restrain hers. He still had a
hold of her wrists and he stretched her arms high above her head.
Their faces were inches apart. Still engulfed in the dream, Eli
began to cry. Sean listened with great pity and tried to calm
her.

“Leave me alone…Get off me…. Stop hurting
me…Don’t do this.”

“Eli it’s OK, wake up, you’re safe.” Eliwese
opened her eyes to see Sean’s face nearly touching her own. The
swimming going on inside her mind was dizzying as she tried to
figure out why they were in this position. She couldn’t breathe
very well because of the weight of his body on hers, but she didn’t
care. She was safe. A little squished, but safe.

Eliwese was fully awake now and Sean slowly
moved off her, releasing his tight hold. They were both out of
breath and pulses racing.

“Are you alright?” Sean asked.

She nodded her head and looked away from
Sean, wiping her eyes, “Did I say anything?”

“Not really, you just seemed to be in a fight
with someone. Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“That was something; I’ll have bruises to
show for it.”

“I’m very sorry; I didn’t know it was you.
Did I hurt you?”

“It’s nothing,” Sean said with a smile.

Eliwese looked at Sean and saw the sincerity
in his eyes. The same genuineness she saw the night she arrived at
his house. Maybe it was the strong attraction she felt for him, or
perhaps it was the complete trust she had for him that helped her
say what she wouldn’t have normally said.

“When I was at the underground, before I
crossed, three men beat me.”

“Three men?”

“Yes, well, actually four. Somehow I knew
they weren’t going to kill me, but the fourth man wanted them to
hurt me terribly so I would wish I was dead. I lost consciousness
but when I awoke later the fourth man was the only one in the room.
I knew what he was going to do to me and, yes, I wished I was
dead.” Her eyes shut with the visions of the beating so fresh in
her mind.

Sean was speechless. He reached his hand out
and took hers into his own. He placed his other hand on top and
squeezed gently in a protective manner. Eli looked up at Sean and
smiled sending tingles all the way to his toes.

“Thank you, Sean.”

“For what?”

“For being here.”

“Where else would I be?” he joked. Her
seriousness unnerved him.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

Sean lay back down and stared at the ceiling.
His heart was still racing. He could tell by the way she was
breathing that her heart was racing too.

“Why did you flee?” he asked.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“No death warrant, no heat, it doesn’t make
sense. You have to understand, it’s my job to find out why crossers
flee. I’ve been doing this for five years now and everyone opens up
to me.”

“I bet I’m the first female you’ve had.”

Sean smiled at her for acknowledging her
gender to him, and also to the other way her statement could be
taken. “You are the first.”

“I’ll probably be the last one, too.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. Let’s get some sleep.”

**********

Across the border in Rendier, a grand scale
deception had been uncovered. Victor Rawlings reclined in his
executive chair at his ostentatiously large desk with a drink in
his hand. His wife, Elinore, sat across the desk from him with her
hands clasped nervously in her lap.

“Did you know about this?” he asked her.

“No. It’s all her.”

“No, it’s both of them.”

“What are you going to do with your
daughter?” Elinore asked her husband.

“Which one? The missing one or the
decoy?”

“Elaine, the decoy.”

“Once we locate Eliwese, Elaine will portray
her sister once again until Eliwese is fit to be seen in public.”
He thoroughly intended on pounding some sense into Eliwese once he
got his hands on her.

Elinore didn’t say anything.

“Riley will find her, he always does. He has
a sixth sense about these kinds of things.” Victor stated absently.
Riley always amazed him with his ability to locate traitors. He
must be part bloodhound.

“I don’t like Riley,” Elinore stated
boldly.

“I don’t care.”

He seemed to be irritated with her now.
Elinore took her cue to leave. She stood and bowed her head
slightly in dismissal.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“It’s clear you no longer wish to be bothered
by my presence. I will retire to my chambers.”

“Oh no you won’t, sit back down. This whole
ordeal is your fault, so you’re going to suffer through the trial
right along with me.”

“My fault?”

“Yes, I’ve heard the silly ideas you’ve put
in her head. ‘Be strong, hold your head high, resist in silence.’
Didn’t you think about the consequences of your actions,
Elinore?”

She was silent. She wasn’t aware he knew she
had said those things to Eliwese. Her heart raced inside her
chest.

“You’ll stay right here with me and suffer
until I tell you to retire to your room.”

**********

Sean got up early the next morning and went
out to chop wood. His nerves were on high since guessing and
confirming Eli’s gender. He had a lot of pent up emotions he needed
to deal with. He still didn’t know why she was fleeing or why there
wasn’t any heat on her head.

He hauled the wood in the house and when he
entered the living room, he found his family grouped around the
television like moths to a streetlamp. He quietly placed the wood
in the box and joined them.

“The eldest daughter of Victor Rawlings is
reported missing this morning.” A photograph was in the top corner
of the screen displaying a beautiful woman with long wavy auburn
hair and dark eyes. Sean was mesmerized by her appearance. He
didn’t even realize the dictator had a daughter that old. Sean
knew, like most people, there wasn’t an heir apparent due to the
fact Victor Rawlings didn’t have a son, but Sean had no idea
Rawlings had such a beautiful daughter.

“Details are still coming in and searches
have already begun in Baylend for Eliwese, centering on the town of
Slaterville. If you have any information…”

The volume dimmed down to complete silence as
Ryan held the button on the remote. “I bet there is a huge reward
for
her
.”

Lyndee responded with, “Ryan, she’s the
dictator’s daughter; of course there would be a huge reward. She’s
his oldest and without her he has no hope for an heir.”

Sean added, “I didn’t even know Rawlings had
a daughter that old, and so… beautiful. Why would she be
missing?”

“If Victor was my father, I’d run too,”
Lyndee said.

“How do you know she ran?” Ryan asked.

“Maybe she was kidnapped?” Sean
suggested.

Sara spoke for the first time. “Victor
Rawlings will want everyone to think she’s been kidnapped, that way
his presence will be justified here in Slaterville. We must all be
on high alert and Sean you’ll need to be aware that we could be
raided at any time. You’ll need to act accordingly. However, there
is no sign of an impending raid as of yet, no P.I.’s, and no influx
of Rendierian patrol cars. Lyndee, you have a crosser coming this
afternoon. Once she gets here, you’ll need to be wary also.”

Ryan jumped in with, “That must be her! You
know, Lyndee’s new crosser; it must be Eliwese Rawlings.”

Paul answered Ryan, “I doubt it; this one is
in her late sixties.”

“Hey, Sean,” Ryan had another idea, “maybe
Eli knows something about Rawlings’ daughter?”

“Ryan, you’ll need to do the errands for your
mother for the next few days.” Paul attempted to pull Ryan’s
attention off of Sean and Eli.

Sean was glad for that. He did intend on
asking Eli what she knew, but he didn’t intend on telling Ryan any
of it. He left the front room and headed to his upstairs room.
Instead of entering his room, though, Sean opened the linen closet
door and slipped inside the small opening. He entered his
surveillance room and walked over to the mirror to observe Eli.

Eli lay on the bed reading a motorcycle
magazine. She’s after my own heart, Sean thought. He loved
motorcycles, too. Sean had a sudden realization,
Eli must be
Eliwese
. It would explain why his father had referred to Eli as
the hottest crosser they had ever housed. Eliwese Rawlings, Victor
Rawlings’ daughter, in his house, in his bed.

He was sleeping with the dictator’s
daughter!

Eliwese felt extremely nervous. She had
listened intently to the news report and to the ensuing
conversation which followed between the Cutler family members. Ryan
wasn’t to be trusted, Lyndee knew too much and Sean was wonderfully
naïve about Eliwese’s existence. He had referred to Eliwese as a
beautiful woman and hearing his voice say that gave her goose
bumps.

**********

Chandra dialed the number, barely able to
contain herself.

“What?” The man’s voice boomed over the
phone.

“I’ve got a good one.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know where the dictator’s daughter is.”
She was giddy with excitement. The reward money would set her up
for many years to come.

Riley Stone took a long pull on his
cigarette. This was all working out perfectly with his little spy
playing right into his palm. She’d been more than willing to
accommodate his requests.
Only one more strategic move to
make,
he thought,
and
then I will go marching in on
my white horse and ‘rescue’ Eliwese; and bring Sierra back to where
she belongs—with me.

He played along with his little traitor. “You
know where she is?”

“She’s the teenage boy at the Cutlers’.”
Chandra was so proud of herself. The cussing out she’d received
from Eli the night before had really ruffled her feathers. She
couldn’t help notice how much Eli stared at Sean, too. But when she
saw the news report, it clicked completely.

“I’ll see about confirming it and I’ll get
back with you. Keep your position and your mouth shut.”

“Gotcha.”

**********

Lyndee’s new crosser was named Beth. From the
looks of her, she could have been a hundred years old. Sean’s first
impression of her was ‘bitchy witch’ and his sympathies went out to
Lyndee. He also wondered why anyone so old and cranky would need to
or want to cross the border.

Ryan suggested perhaps the ‘old woman look’
was just a disguise and it was really Eliwese Rawlings under all
those wrinkles and gray hair. Sean discounted it saying the
wrinkles looked pretty real to him. But Ryan had followed up with
something about the realistic rubber and silicone masks that are
available now. Sean thought it better for Ryan to suspect Beth than
to suspect Eli. Sean went in search of his father to try to remedy
the situation before it escalated out of control.

“What is it Sean?” Paul said from his office
when Sean knocked.

“I need to talk to you.”

“Come on in. Is everything alright?”

“No. I know about Eli.”

Paul sat up straight in his chair and an
interesting expression crossed his face. “What exactly do you
know?”

“You know what I know.”

“I’m not sure I do.”

“Eli is Eliwese.” There, he said it.

“How did you find out?”

“The news report, all the bits of advice from
Eli, the fact that a teenage boy was staring at my body, and when I
confronted Eli about being gay the question was dodged; it left me
feeling that Eli is Eliwese. Now you’ve just confirmed it.”

“Too many clues.”

“Why did it take so long for the news to
report her missing?” Sean wondered.

“I guess you’ll just have to ask her that; I
don’t know. But Sean, please be careful; you and I are the only
ones who know her identity. Your mother may have figured it out
now, since the news report, but she hasn’t said anything to me. Dr.
Randall knows her gender but not her identity. He’s a smart man
though; he’ll figure it out, too.”

“I thought you and Mom discussed everything.
Why would you allow someone so important and risky into our home
and not tell Mom?”

“You know Sean, there is so much more to this
than you will probably ever know. Your mother didn’t need to know
the identity of the girl. It would’ve only stressed her out. She
only needed to know that the female crosser needed to keep the
disguise at all costs. Now, I’ll tell you the same thing; Eliwese’s
disguise is top priority. I’m working hard to get her arrangements
together so she can leave.”

“What about Ryan? Isn’t that his job?”

“Sean, I can’t have Ryan working on this one.
You heard him, he’s money hungry. Go take care of her. The heat is
on.”

Paul watched as Sean left the office. His
mind went back to the night he found Sara in the ice. Her
determination to escape the Rawlings’ mirrored that of the young
lady upstairs; only Eliwese’s injuries were substantially worse.
Sara once told him Victor would be a far worse ruler than his
father, Reginald, and she was right. Victor was worse in every way
imaginable; Eliwese was proof of that. The only thing Paul didn’t
understand was where did Eliwese get her defiance from?
Rebelliousness on this scale would need to be fostered, even fed,
by someone; but whom?