by Watkins, TM
“Put the gun away KC.” Walter whispered as he removed the holster and handed it to the approaching guard. “The authorities will arrive and you don't want to be seen waiving it around.”
I slipped it back into the back of my jeans, watching the guards as they pretended to search for Amber. There was no use, with the flames still eating away at the car no one could get near it. She was dead and that was all there was to it. I mourned her loss, she had been a good friend to me, for the most part at least.
I could feel someone tugging at my pants, I turned to see Dorian. He pulled the gun away and handed it to the security guard that was standing beside him. Discreetly it passed between the two men and the guard turned away, walking back into the building. Dorian smiled at me, turning to look as the fire engine arrived.
“She came here to black mail you KC, as a valued employee of this company she knew that you were able to gain access to highly sensitive information. When she had the money she dragged you down here and was going to shoot you when the darn thing misfired, can you believe it?”
“Not really.” I laughed slightly, pulling away from Walter's firm grip.
“Well it's true, you saw it for yourself. Then the car just miraculously exploded, strange don't you think?”
I rolled my eyes, watching as the flames were doused and the car was nothing more than a black shell.
“There will be nothing that they can find, I doubt they will even find a body.”
Dorian grinned smugly and turned back to the view of the wreckage.
“No, I'd say that the car just exploded for some unknown reason.”
He was clearly mistaken if the cops would buy that load of hooey.
I had sat on the steps for an hour as I watched the investigators take dozens of photos, the wreck was lifted onto the back of a tow truck and hauled away. The side walk was covered in water and black charring, yet there was no Amber. Dorian's words about them not finding anything was correct. The flames had disintegrated any evidence of there being a body or a bomb which made me wonder what it was made of. Walter and I had been interviewed along with Dorian, the guards and all of the witnesses. It painted a uniform picture of a woman who was holding me at gun point, a bag of unknown contents in the other hand. Some people had reported seeing money flying into the air at the time of the explosion but like everything else, it had been burned up.
The cops had put all of the accounts together and formed their own conclusion. To my disgust, Dorian was right. The cops crazily assumed that the petrol tank had exploded and created a blistering inferno which nothing could survive. Clearly the experiments into exploding gas tanks meant nothing. I couldn't believe that the cops would be so stupid. Then again, maybe they didn't want to investigate it, maybe they accepted the lie because it served their own darker purpose. They wrote it off as an accident and even though I was utterly stunned, I said nothing.
“What are you going to do now?”
Walter smiled as I leaned on his shoulder, watching the cops remove the crime scene tape. It was no longer a crime scene, it was now a mess and nothing more.
“Well now that I'm free of her I might just continue on at the coffee shop. I like it there, rather relaxing.”
“Dad will be so proud.” I chuckled.
“Does it look like I care?”
I lifted my head and shook it, catching the view of a familiar figure across the road. Chet smiled at me and turned away, obviously happy that things were okay with me now.
“What about you?” He looked at my hair and frowned. “May I suggest you find a hair dresser?”
“You too?” I scoffed. “I think it's an awesome cut.”
My eyes darted to Dorian who was chatting with a cop, it seemed that it was a friendly conversation about something completely unrelated to the recent event. He glanced over at me and offered a sweet smile, one that made me want to crumble.
“I think I might just hang around here for a while.”
Chapter 45: Hairs to you kid
Dorian ran his fingers through my hair, frowning at it.
“Not sure on the brown KC.” He mumbled.
Walter rolled his eyes and tilted the chair back, stretching out to view the city. I shrugged and settled against Dorian, wrapping my arms around his waist. The morning had been a rough start and it wasn't even ten am yet.
“Oh, the necklace. You don't need to wear it any longer.”
I sat up and looked at him and his smug smile. He removed it from me and gently twisted and turned it, revealing the center black section was in fact home to a little camera.
“You bastard.” I grinned.
“Who wanted to ensure you were safe.”
“Jeez you didn't watch when I was in the bathroom, did you?”
I could hear Walter making odd eww noises, Dorian was shaking his head with a grin.
“Whilst I might be a pervert I do actually draw the line at certain things, that being one of them.”
“Good.” I groaned. “Are the stones real?”
Dorian shook his head again and I couldn't help but laugh. Walter's comment about it looking like costume jewelry was right. The elevator binged loudly, for once it actually announced an arrival rather than the constant malfunctioning it gave me.
“Sounds like company has arrived, shall we?”
I sat up from his body and looked at Walter, we both shared the same look. Worry. Dorian stood and took my hand, leading me out to the entry. Waiting for us was the guards who had been sent to retrieve five packages. Chet instantly hugged me which wasn't a surprise. No, the surprise was everyone else did too. Everyone as in my father, Tilley and her mother Ilene. Even Frank hugged me which was the strangest thing ever. The most affection he had ever shown me was a playful punch on the arm when I graduated high school and his words, way to go squirt. Then they all hugged Wal, the poor thing looked like he was going to die of embarrassment.
Dorian guided everyone into the boardroom, a salacious smirk hidden from their view but enough that I could see it. We were yet to christen the table but I knew it would happen pretty soon.
My father seemed rather cautious but I knew why, he didn't know what was going on. All that he knew was that he and the entire family had been summoned here. And by summoned I mean told to get in the car. Dorian stood at the head of the table, flicking a button that turned the glass nearly black, darkening the room. Lights shone around the skirting, showing that he was doing something at the cabinet on the far wall.
“As you know there was an incident this morning.”
“Do we?” Tilley gasped.
“We do.” My father sighed as he spoke. “Amber is dead.”
It didn't surprise me that he knew, word moved fast in certain circles and he happened to be in a few of them. Dorian flicked on a television screen, one that showed footage of the external areas of the building, namely the front of it. I watched the whole thing play out again, this time from the cameras perspective. I knew why Dorian was doing this, he wanted my family to see what happened, how calmly I dealt with Amber. They all gasped in shock when the car went up in flames, almost like they had never seen an explosion before. I knew it wasn't true. Frank and Chet had seen a few in their time. The screen paused and the lights rose slightly, allowing for better vision. Dorian leaned on the cabinet and stared at my father, wordlessly telling him to suck it up and eat humble pie. My father cleared his throat as he looked from Dorian to me, offering me a pained smile.
“We are all glad that the both of you are safe. Katherine you are a great spy.”
His eyes darted to Dorian who hadn't budged. It was sad that my father was being forced to be open with his feelings. He was a hard man who showed little emotions, mostly because he'd had a lifetime of being screwed over in that department. I understood, I was never really okay with the lack of love and affection from him but I accepted it now that I could understand him better.
“You did a great job, we... uh, I am proud of you.”
&
nbsp; “Thanks.” I said quietly.
Dorian finally moved, satisfied with forcing appraisal out of my father. He pressed a button and a new image came up, one of lines and hexagons. It kind of looked like a chemical structure.
“No one outside of this company and in particular the scientific department has seen what you are about to see. This is why project x is hidden. It is a toxic serum that is dangerous and is slowly taking the life of my sister. I understand that you were not aware of what it was when you were approached by your client but understand that he was. He knew what this product could do and is doing to Eva. It has the potential in theory to turn back the clock on wrinkles and essentially stopping it for a really long time and that's why he wants it. You could almost call it a modern version of the fountain of youth except that somewhere it went wrong. Ordinarily when a product is created it is trialed for years before it is tested on human subjects but unfortunately Eva became impatient and injected it into her system.”
The screen flicked and instantly I was shocked. I had seen Eva and she looked beautiful at the product launch yet the picture of her was terrible. She was almost grey in skin tone, looking drawn out and haggard. Her skin appeared to hang off her bones and it looked like she had lost all her muscles. Eva looked like death was taking her away. I looked around the table, the twins were shocked and staring at the screen, my father was looking though it was under protest. Walter was trying to not look at it and Tilley and her mother were wincing, their hands covering their mouths.
“This is what I returned to when I came home from an overseas business trip. This is why project x is dangerous, this is what it does.”
The screen flicked with another picture, one a little better but not by a lot.
“The serum has caused severe blood loss in her body and if she does not have regular transfusions she will return to her former, abysmal self.”
“Is there any hope for her?” Tilly asked, her voice a soft quiver.
Dorian flicked off the screen and let the lights rise to a normal level.
“There is, the product in her body is seen as a bacteria and the scientists are treating it as one. Eva is responding well to the antibiotics and it is hoped that if she continues to have such positive reactions to the treatment then she will be well again with a little more time.”
“And what do you hope for the future of this serum?”
“More research and proper trials. Sending my sister to the other side of the planet when the testing is being done.” Dorian grinned and everyone let out a pained and forced laugh. Awkward? Oh yeah.
“Now that you understand the situation, I hope that if you hear of anyone that is interested in getting their hands on it you will alert me to the fact.”
There was a murmur of agreement around the table, everyone understood now. Dorian wasn't being greedy; he was doing what was right.
“Moving forward, as you are aware Katherine is now living with me. Does anyone hold issue with that?”
My jaw went a little slack. Not just because he openly challenged everyone at the table to find a reason to complain or protest but because he called me by my real name. Not once in the entire time of me being around had he ever called me Katherine. Okay sure, he called me Kasey because that was what he knew was expected but since the revelation of my true identity, he always called me KC. Why was it different now?
Chapter 46: Take two
No one protested, not a word was said except for my father who grumbled that I was old enough to decide what I did with my life. My family had been gone for about half an hour now, the meeting had taken a distinct turn after Dorian's challenge about my living arrangements. I told my father that I didn't want to be a spy any more, that after losing my best friend and almost losing Walter, I didn't think it was worth it.
Then it was the most bizarre moment when Tilley agreed with me but her reason was vastly different. She was pregnant, to her target of all people. Frank had rolled his eyes, stating that it was only a matter of time before one of us got knocked up. I was quietly grateful that it was Tilley and not me, I could imagine what my father would say. But instead it was princess Tilley and daddy was not impressed. I grinned as I leaned on the window in the boardroom looking at the ground below. The people were specks but I could make out that they were cleaning the side walk.
Dorian was checking on Eva; it was a routine that he checked on her somewhere in the mid-morning to ensure that she had taken her morning tablets. He had grumbled that she had mood swings and there would be days where she wouldn't want to take them. That she'd rather give up and not want to fight any more. He was the reason that she was alive today, it might have been selfish of him but I understood. Dorian would always protect Eva; he would always be there for her. And if he had to force a tablet down her throat then I knew he would do it, if it meant that it would keep her alive then he believed his actions were justified.
I was now a free person; I was going to remain at the company though it was unlikely that I would be on this floor. Personally I didn't want to take Amy's job and I think that working and living with Dorian would be too much. Though I am sure he will manipulate things to suit his own desire. I could only hope that I would remain strong willed to his dominance. With a satisfied smile I continued to watch the little specks of workers below when something occurred to me. I was a person that believed in the cold hard facts. That there was a reason for everything and everything had a plausible explanation. But Amber's body burning up did not make sense to me at all. I needed a scientific view on this. Maybe Dorian might take me to see Errol if I asked him. Maybe the science teacher could explain it to me.
Sick of the view down and the nausea it was giving me, I looked out across the city. She was a grand old girl, one that had stood tall and proud. I wondered what secrets she held, what she had seen and heard. My family alone could fill several books on the dastardly deeds we did from within this town. Not me any more, I was going to be Polly perch sitter for a while, sitting on the edge of his desk and filing my heavily bitten nails while Dorian played lord and master to the cosmetics world. Walter was going to remain in the coffee industry, ensuring that this little birdie was always kept in her caffeine high. And our baby sister Tilley, she was going to be a momma soon, who would have thought it could be true? Certainly not I. Self-centered Tilley actually caring for another being? It was laughable.
Our father wasn't overly impressed, in one sitting he had lost three agents. But as always he accepted it, not that he had much choice. I was glad to be free of it, happier in my new world already and barely an hour had passed. And the fact that Dorian was still in my life and that he was okay with the lies that had been spun, it made my life a whole lot sweeter. He had suggested starting again, tonight we would go to dinner at El Toro, dinner and dancing and then a long night of fraternizing under the sheets. It was Sunday tomorrow and that meant another morning of sleeping in far too long and then more fraternizing under the sheets.
The sound of the door to the stairs clunked shut, I smiled thinking that Dorian had returned from visiting Eva ahead of schedule. I turned to the door of the boardroom, my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach. Amber was standing at the door looking like she had taken a swim in the river. She said nothing as she fired the gun and then turned to walk away. I could feel the burning in my stomach, my hand touched the pain and as I pulled it away, I saw blood. Slowly my legs buckled from underneath me, my life was being sucked away from me. As I laid on the floor of the boardroom, I realized that my death would be a lonely one. Dorian would return sometime later thinking that all was well when in reality it was far from the truth. He would be too late. He would find one dead body with one bullet wound in the stomach and there would be nothing that he could do for me. How sad, such a terrible death.
Chapter 47: Knocking on heaven's door
I wasn't a religious person. I didn't believe in God because I thought that no God would let a mother walk away from her two small children. I didn'
t believe in any deities because I thought that every injustice in this world was a valid argument against them. So when I saw bright white light and heard my name being called, I thought I was imagining things. It wasn't possible. Heaven didn't exist nor did Hell. To me, every person had their own personal heaven and hell. My heaven was Dorian; my hell was Amber. So what was the reason for this nonsense? Over and over again the person said my name, calling to me. Urging me to acknowledge them. But why? Why did I need to acknowledge something that I didn't believe existed?
It was the same for so long, if time existed I wouldn't know. I couldn't feel time passing like I normally could. Ordinarily I could sit and ponder the world and think, several minutes have just passed that were a complete waste of my life. But not now. Now I was surrounded by pure white light that was too bright for my sore eyes. I couldn't stand to look at it. So I closed them and tried to find some darkness. But the voice wouldn't shut up, constantly hounding me to listen. It was frustrating and annoying and I couldn't understand why they wouldn't leave me alone. I just wanted to rest, could they not leave me be?
Lethargy weighed down on me, it felt like someone had put a set of weights on my shoulders. Crushing, painful, draining. I wanted to cry out with the hurt, I wanted to break free of the burden. But most of all, I wanted to sleep. Sleep until the pain subsided. My whole body became heavy; could I lift my limbs? I wouldn't know. Could I open my eyes again? I didn't want to find out. All I wanted was peace but was I going to get it with the voice that haunted me? It was unlikely.
Over and over again the voice called and urged, whispering and yelling, repeating and refusing to accept my reluctance to obey. The white void that blistered through my closed eyelids and burned through me, there was no darkness for me, only light. It hurt, it hurt so bad that I wanted to remove the pain from my world but I couldn't. Not when I didn't know where I was.
