* * *
Holly came to slowly. Her head throbbed. Her body was sore, everywhere, though she didn’t remember why. Had she drank too much? She could hear the sound of water rushing. Or—waves crashing on a shore. She inhaled. The air was salty.
She opened her eyes. There was a blanket on her. Her eyes darted from coffee table to window to the rug on the floor. As she took in her surroundings, she recalled the last thing that happened—a woman clocked her in the head.
Then why was she laying on a sofa in what appeared to be a living room? That did not connect with how she’d come to be there. She wasn’t tied up, either. Nothing made sense. The place was friendly and inviting. A fire was currently burning behind a grate in the wall. There were two other armchairs arranged around the sofa where Holly was lying. A kitchen just off the room was well appointed with appliances, included a kasé brewer and a coffee brewer. She was in someone’s home. She sat up, hearing voices approaching. She looked down at her body in dismay, noticing that she was still in the impractical dress she’d worn to the soiree.
The voices got closer. She furrowed her brow, wondering why in the hell she’d been knocked out and brought to a house. It didn’t make sense. Who would do that? If she was a threat to the Shadow Coalition—she remembered the woman’s tattoo—why didn’t they just kill her or torture her. That’s what they’d been attempting to do all this time. Why change their M.O.?
Briefly she considered hiding or pretending to be asleep, as the voices got closer, approaching from a hallway just off the room. She didn’t have any of her weapons, so she was at their mercy anyway. However, anything could be a weapon, if push came to shove. Time ran out to hide, so she sat on the couch, waiting, the blanket still covering her legs. Whoever took her obviously didn’t consider her a threat or else she’d be tied up. That was insulting enough. So, this person would see her there, sitting on the couch in an unthreatening way. She would lure them into a false sense of security, and then she’d use the lamp on the nearby end table as a weapon. She’d get some answers first. Then make her move, and run.
“Holly, dear, you’re awake,” a very familiar voice said.
“Dad?”
Her father sauntered into the room, wearing cream colored linens and a hat, looking like an ad for an expensive liquor. He sat down in an armchair. A Centau woman came into the room with him. She was tall and stately and possibly more beautiful than Trip Taurus. “It’s been ages,” her father said, smiling, his white teeth brilliant against his tanned skin. Holly hadn’t seen him in ages, it was true.
“Yes, it has,” Holly responded, bitterly. He hadn’t come to her trial and that still bothered her. “Missed you at my trial.”
He waved a hand, dismissing her concern, something he’d always done—correcting her about what she thought or felt. She didn’t hold him against him, adults were like that to kids, quite often. But it bothered her once she knew her own mind. He shrugged. “I’m sorry about that. But I knew you were strong. Didn’t need me there, interfering.”
“Yes, I’m sure your interference was what you were worried about. Not the publicity or how it might have reflected on you. Former cop’s daughter kills her husband.”
“I’m glad you did it.”
Holly blinked. “Glad I killed Grafton?”
“I trust you, Holly. And I wanted to kill him myself, quite often. He was sleek. Charismatic. He hid a temper. And I know that he took it home to you, that temper.”
“Excuse me, who is this woman?” Holly asked, suddenly realizing they were discussing some quite personal stuff in front of a stranger. “I’m Holly. And you are?”
“Sonal,” she answered in a deep, powerful voice.
Holly waited for her to say something more, anything more. When she didn’t, Holly sat back. “OK, Sonal. Lovely to meet you.” She knew the Centau expected her to be satisfied with that answer, and so she pressed further, for more information. “And what do you do around here? Servant?” That would upset both Sonal and her father. She felt exactly like a petulant child.
George simply laughed, and Sonal looked at him, a bemused expression smudging her Centau features. “She’s my second in command. And well, since your mother left, a bit more than that.”
Holly started. The comfort of her father’s presence had caught her off guard. She’d drifted into complacency, feeling safe and secure in some remainder from her childhood, despite the fact that she’d been kidnapped and brought to his home on what she knew to be Itzcap. The crashing waves, the scent of the sea, the open windows, and the sunlight and breeze streaming in through the open windows, all pointed to that location.
“What the hell, Dad. Why did you have me kidnapped?”
“Oh Holly, don’t resort to black and white thinking. We both know that it doesn’t work. I spent years on the police force trying to apply it to situations that had no business having it applied to them.”
She stood up and paced around the couch. Her feet were bare on the cold tile and she wished she wasn’t in a goddamn dress. It would make escape ridiculous, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. “I was expecting the Heart to be something unexpected. A corrupt Centau like Sonal, or a young woman my age, perhaps. But not my own damn father.”
“I didn’t raise you to talk like that,” George said. “I don’t like it in my ranks and I certainly don’t love it spilling from the mouth of my daughter.”
“You tried to have me killed, Dad. A lot. I’m only alive because I outwitted and outfought your stupid henchmen. And thousands of kids, Dad? Working as your slaves. I mean what in the hell?” She was standing behind the sofa, leaning over the back, jabbing her finger at him. The words were just spilling from her mouth.
“Weren’t you glad I made you take all those self-defense courses?” He said with a smile. He took off his Panama hat and twirled it in his hands. One leg was crossed casually. Beneath the hat his graying hair curled with a small amount of perspiration.
“Ixion’s ghost, Dad.”
“Those weren’t my orders, ever. But you’ve been the biggest pain in my ass now for months, Holly.”
“Likewise.”
“That said, I’m pretty damn proud of you.”
Her facade cracked a little and some light seemed to spill in. “For what?”
“For single-handedly bringing down the Shadow Coalition. My coalition, basically. My organization.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Of course I’m mad. You’ve destroyed my revenue stream.”
“But you were enslaving children,” Holly said, plainly, almost like she was yelling at a child. She felt like she was back in school, trying to get a stubborn kid to just listen.
“The Centau teach kids to fly at similar ages,” George said, motioning to Sonal. She nodded slowly, appearing stately even as she relaxed in an armchair next to George.
“It’s not the same thing,” Holly said. “Their family units are completely different as well. We can’t apply Centau values to humans, as much as I would love to in certain circumstances.”
“Well, that’s how morals are, Holly. We apply rationales to our actions. Context matters. There are too many variables for clean answers, and I know you know this, because I taught you these ideas as a child.”
“Yeah, but mom was also there giving me structure and boundaries and a damn backbone to say no when things were clearly wrong. Like enslaving children.”
“That is why she left, eventually.”
“Good for her,” Holly watched him for his reaction to what she said next. “Does she know you tried to have me killed multiple times?”
George put his hat back on. “Wasn’t me, Holly. I swear it. It was the Hands.”
Holly waved a hand at the woman next to him. “Sonal is a Hand.”
“She’s a head Hand, and my number two.”
“Did Sonal gave orders to kill me?”
“No, not at all. The Hands who did that are . . . Indisposed.”
“You
killed them.”
“No, no. I didn’t.”
“You had someone else kill them,” Holly sighed, annoyed with the hair-splitting.
“How many people have you killed?” Her father asked quietly.
Holly could see that he was beginning to get annoyed with the conversation. It was how their long discussions would go when she was younger—she never stopped probing and he would eventually run out of answers that satisfied both of them. He stood up.
“You’re annoyed. I understand that. The revelation will take some getting used to. But I have faith that you can get through it in time. When that happens, we can have some discussions about what happens next.”
“What happens next? Are you going to keep me prisoner here, Dad? Really?”
He pursed his lips. “I still haven’t decided. You know I’m the Heart. There are only two choices with that—either I stop being the Heart, or you join me.”
“Never in a million years. I will never join you, Dad. If you keep being the Heart, I’ll stay your biggest enemy.”
He frowned. “Let me show you to your room, Holly. Sonal and I also bought you some clothes while you were sleeping.”
“While I was knocked out,” Holly muttered, loud enough for George to hear. She followed him and Sonal through the hallways of the large cliff-side house. “This is a beautiful location. I guess when you’re the center of a mad shadow organization, you need a place that fits the role.”
“I agree. Glad you see it that way. It’s paid for. So if you decide to join me, it’ll be yours.”
“I’ll never join you,” Holly said.
They passed through the hallway and came to a room with a view of the ocean. It was small, but had comfortable furnishings. There were some shirts, trousers, and a jacket on the bed.
“Here you go. Bathroom there. Food is down the hall where we just came from. Oh and we took out your earpiece and the communicator.”
“That’s kind of a violation, Dad,” Holly said. Not to mention everything else. “I don’t appreciate it.”
“You’re right. But we can’t have your crew tracking you,” he said. “So we’ll just leave so you can change and get used to the idea of this whole thing. It’s a bit hairy, but I know you’ll manage.”
“Bye. Thanks for the clothes.”
George and Sonal closed the door behind them as they left. She scanned the room to see if there were cameras or other devices that would broadcast what she was doing.
She went into the bathroom just in case, taking a change of clothes along. Once inside, she searched her hand to make sure the freckle was still there. It was, just by her prominent wrist bone. God I hope they can find me. But she wouldn’t wait around for that.
She changed into the clothes, surprised they fit, but what the hell, it wasn’t that hard to figure out what size a person was, especially if you had taken them prisoner and they were asleep on your couch. On the one hand, Holly longed to stick around and find out her dad’s plans. On the other, this new information made her a bit worried that her father was a deranged lunatic. What else could he be capable of? Would he hurt her if she didn’t join him?
From her window, it would be a crazy drop to the ocean below. But she could climb along the ledge and get somewhere, anywhere but here. And then figure out her next move. Improvisation. Easy as cake.
She had nothing in her possession, so once she’d dressed and put on the boots and everything, Holly went to the window and opened it.
She poked her head out the window and came face to face with Aimee Voss.
28
Holly jumped back, recovered from the shock, then leaned out the window. “Voss, what the hell?”
“I followed you.”
“How long have you been following me?”
Voss shrugged, looking guilty. “Since your party.”
“OK, I want to know why, but we can discuss that later. Right now, I’m trying to get out of here.”
“This is where the Heart is, right?”
Holly hesitated. What could she say? “Yes. This is where the Heart lives.”
“And you’re just going to leave? You’re not going to destroy him? I thought that was what we all wanted.”
“I don’t know what you want, Voss. You’re an enigma. At one time I did want to get rid of the Heart. But plans have changed. Move over.” Voss complied, backing away from the ledge. Holly stepped out and followed the blonde cat burglar who was dressed in white to match the color of the seaside home.
“You’re weird. Running away. You could put an end to their shit and all the times you’ve nearly been murdered.”
“How do you know about all those times? Shiro?” Holly asked, keeping her hands on the raised ledge that ran along the house above her.
“I want to lie and deny it, but I can’t. There’s no other option. Yes. Shiro. We talk sometimes.”
It stung a little, to hear that, but it was one of the primary reasons Holly had denied Shiro the night he’d kissed her. “I don’t think I’ll be nearly murdered any more by the SC,” Holly said.
They followed the house around to an enclosed garden and climbed along the top of the thick wall bordering it. “Somehow I doubt that. You had him in your hands. You could do something.” She paused. “Or wait, did you?”
Holly sighed, following Voss along the top of the thick wall. “Can you keep a secret, Voss?”
Voss stopped and Holly nearly bumped into her backside. She turned and looked at Holly. “Why?”
“Just say yes. Can’t you do that?”
“It depends on what it is.”
“The Heart is my father.” She blurted it, knowing that this would be the one time she told someone and that if she didn’t, the secret would eat her alive.
Voss laughed, then saw the look on Holly’s face. “No kidding. Really?”
“Yes. Not joking.”
“He’s tried to have you killed,” Voss observed.
“He claims that was never him. It was the Hands. He didn’t know they were trying to have me stopped that way. And he says they’re gone now.”
“You can’t kill your own father.”
“I know.”
“Can you?”
“I don’t think so.”
They jumped down into the enclosed garden, with Voss leading the way. “This is how I got up there,” she said.
When they reached the far garden wall, they climbed over it and jumped down on the other side. Holly straightened and dusted off.
Shiro, Odeon, Grant, and Charly were standing there in the middle of the road, an auto waiting beside them on the street leading to the house. “Damn girl, you gave us a fright. We were just about to bust into this place when Darius saw you moving. Figured it out: She’s making a break for it. So we waited here.”
“Charly. Odeon,” Holly said, breathing a hefty sigh in relief. “Grant. Shiro.”
“Ms. Voss, what are you doing here?” Shiro asked.
“Shiro,” Voss said, nodding at him. “I followed Holly when she was taken.”
“Convenient, Ms. Voss. Well, it’s lovely to see you, as always.” He tipped his bowler at her.
Grant had been hanging back, looking frustrated. They were all wearing the clothes they’d worn the night she’d been taken. She felt a pang inside at the realization that they’d stopped everything and came after her. She went to Grant, knowing that he’d likely been blaming himself. “This isn’t on you,” she muttered. “But I’m glad you’re still in that suit. Looks good on you.”
“I let you out of my sight for two minutes.” He shook his head.
She grinned. “Now you know how Odeon feels.”
“So what the hell, Holly? Who are they?” Charly pointed at the gate. Beyond it, George and Sonal had walked down from the house.
“Oh no,” she said, then realized there was nothing they could do. She’d gotten away. “It’s the Heart.”
“You found him?” Odeon said.
“He found me
.”
“There is a third choice, Holly dear,” George said as the gates opened.
“Careful guys,” Holly said. “I don’t know what he’s going to do.” Her crew became alert, pulling out their weapons. She heard some of them repeat the word dear in disgust.
George continued. “Sonal brought it to my attention just after we left your room.”
Charly handed Holly her knife. “Brought these for you, just in case.”
“I’m not joining you. I don’t think anything else matters,” Holly said.
George shook his head, his eyes touched with sadness. “You’re sure about that?”
“If you keep doing what you’re doing, I’ll just keep fighting you. But I’m not joining you.”
“You dismantled my organization. The revenue is gone. But this house is still here. If you change your mind, there’s a way to reach me inside. Find it. You find me.”
“What are you talking about?”
He approached her and the crew moved to stop him, their weapons leveled at him, telling him to back off.
He held up his hands. “I mean no harm. She’s my daughter,” he said.
She could feel the air change as they all took sharp breaths. But they didn’t let him come closer.
“Holly, please, I just want to give you a beso,” he said.
She watched him, studying his face for a sign of deceit. There was none apparent, so she relaxed a little. “OK, you may give me a beso.”
Odeon lowered his staff, Charly and Grant both took a step back, and Shiro lowered his sword. She noted that Aimee Voss was on alert, but not over Holly.
Her father came closer, his arms outstretched. He gave her a ferocious embrace, then four kisses on either cheek. “I know you’re waiting for me to betray you. I know you already feel betrayed. And you have every right to feel that way. Because you had no idea what I was doing. And neither of us knew how our paths were crossing. And for that I am sorry.” He backed away, keeping his eyes on her face. She watched him, confused about his erratic behavior. Frustrated that this had just happened in front of her crew, her friends.
A roar began in the distance, the sound of something approaching. Holly looked for the sound, as did her team, their weapons alert again. What was happening?
The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material) Page 85
