Chapter 52 – Memories – The Fire
Chovanek would pay, even if it took him fifty years to do it.
It didn't take Bronev quite that long, but, after many years of biding his time, following orders in Targent, leading Chovanek into a false sense of security, he finally found the perfect opportunity to strike. But it wasn't going to be easy. In fact, it was quite the contrary...
25th August 1999
Leon had been working for Targent for about sixteen years and had worked his way up the ranks and had made a friendly connection with Chovanek, after years of trying to gain his trust and constantly telling him that what he had done was 'for the greater good of finding the Azran'. He was chief lieutenant, second in command, and almost had full control over Targent. Almost. The only person standing in the way of his carefully formed plan was Chovanek.
Leon had it all figured out. He knew exactly how to gain control over Targent and get his sweet revenge for his kidnapping and the murder of his wife in one fell swoop.
But there was one problem. One very big problem.
Leon was friends with Chovanek's wife; the very person he needed to kill in order for his plan to work. Leon had always been quite close to Paloma Altava; they had been pen friends since they were at school. Leon had stayed with her and her family when he went on a foreign exchange trip when he was sixteen. Leon had been invited to hers and Chovanek's wedding. Having been repositioned in Prague, after Chovanek had married his beloved Spanish girlfriend, for the sake of his work, Leon had visited Paloma in hospital ten years ago after she had given birth to her first child, a baby girl, who she had graciously named Emmeline after Rachel's middle name. Leon had also visited after the birth of her son, Daniel. And now he was going to kill them all.
Leon debated on whether he should go through with his plan. After all, Paloma was a good friend of his and didn't deserve to die. She was completely unaware of her husband's true occupation, as he had told her that he had made all of his money through being a successful property developer, and that Leon was his partner, which was a downright lie. Chovanek and brutally murdering people and tearing families apart all the time, completely unbeknownst to his wife. Leon thought hard. "I want revenge on that man, but I don't want to kill my friend..."
After a while, he had decided on his course of action.
And we all know the tragic results of his decision.
26th August 1999
Everything had been planned out to the letter. Chovanek would be away in Ireland to review the Grounds of Rebirth and to see if anyone had missed anything. Leaving Leon in charge. Paloma had gone on her yearly visit to her sister's place in Santiago Del Compostella. Leon's next destination. His flight was booked. He would get the necessary materials upon his arrival. He had ensured that everything at Targent headquarters would hold over until he got back.
He was ready.
Physically ready.
But not mentally ready.
27th August 1999
Leon was outside the Van De Garde house. The home of Juanita Van De Garde, Paloma's sister. He was armed with everything he needed to set the fire. All security cameras in the area had been dismantled and stolen. All he needed was for the back door to be unlocked so that he could sneak in and set the trap, escaping afterwards. He wore nylon gloves and a black mask. No one would recognise him. No one would be able to prove it was him.
Right on cue, the door opened, and a teenage girl, who looked around thirteen, took a bag of rubbish out and put it into a trashcan. She returned inside, and didn't shut the door behind her. "Perfect," Leon thought, approaching the door cautiously.
He suddenly heard voices again and ducked in behind a trashcan. The teenage girl exited, with a twin buggy with a baby and a young toddler in it and a little girl beside her. A very familiar little girl. Leon's heart sank. "Emmeline..." he thought.
They four children walked off down the road towards their local park. Leon emerged from behind the trashcan and sighed heavily. He began to doubt his plan again for the hundredth time. "I can't kill the girl if she's not in the house. I'll have killed her mother... she'll be a half orphan..." And yet, his body had different ideas to his mind, as it wandered into the open back door and into the kitchen.
He reached into his rucksack and pulled out a candle and a line. He attached one end of the line to the end of the candle, and the other end to the gas cooker. He then pulled out a lighter. His hand shook as he did this. He suddenly heard voices again. Paloma was chatting away to her sister in Spanish.
"I had to keep Daniel here, I think he has a temperature..." was a rough translation of Paloma's voice. He heard footsteps approaching the kitchen, but didn't wait to see who entered. He had already lit the candle and ran out the back door without a backwards glance.
He ran down the road, taking care to slow down and blend with a group of tourists whenever he saw what he assumed to be a local. His heart hammered with the guilt of what he had just done. He looked over at the park and saw Emmeline again, being pushed on a swing by the teenage girl, laughing and swinging back and forth happily, completely unaware of what had happened. For now.
Leon sighed. "What have I done?" he asked himself. "What have I done to those poor children over there?"
And before he could think any more about it, he heard it. The explosion that changed everything, for him and those children. And especially for Chovanek.
His plan had worked perfectly, and yet Leon still let a tear pour down his face. His plan had worked perfectly; Chovanek had now lost his wife and son and would have to live with it for the rest of his life. And Leon would soon be the leader of Targent. As soon as he got his alibi to check out and his 'innocence' proven to Chovanek, he would ask Chovanek to step down as leader, for 'his own sake', and Leon would take over.
And yet, right now, Leon's thought's stayed with young Emmeline, who was left with nothing in all of this but an evil father who wouldn't be able to look after her. Leon knew that much.
His plan had worked perfectly, and yet he still felt ten times as miserable as he did the previous day.
