A Daughter's Will
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.
A/N: Here's Chapter 8, out sooner thatn expected. But it doesn't matter much tome. A finished chpater is a finished chapter, and I'm not going to wait for a certain amount o time, before throwing out another. I want this fic done and completed faster than "An Orphan's Life" took, because that was a VERY long time, and I flet bad for making people wait. Anywho, here's the next chapter. Hoepfully, 9 and 10 will be out soon as well. Until then. R&R and I'll see you next chapter... And PLEASE review... I'm starting to think this fic isn't going over well... Really unmotivating...
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As Jennifer walked into her house, she noticed the red light blinking on her answering machine. She let out a sigh, wondering why people only called her when she wanted to lay down and relax, instead of her lonely days. She reached down with her free hand as she walked by, her hands full of mail, her purse, and Caterina's dress, and pushed the "play" button.
She continued on her way as the machine beeped and began playing her messages.
"Jenny, darling, it's mother again! I was just calling to see if everything's okay and if you were all right. We saw on the news the horrible thing that happened to Dorothy Winner, and we read in the paper about Caterina. I was hoping you were nowhere near either of them during all of this. Anyways, sweetheart, just give me a ring as soon as you hear this. Let your dear mother know you're fine... And maybe give me some more dirt, if you heard any about the Winners. Hugs and kisses, dear. I love you, bye!"
Jennifer rolled her eyes, as she sifted through her mail, the machine beeping to signify the end of the message and continuing on to the next one.
Why did her mother have to fill in the typical catty rich housewife stereotype? Why couldn't she just be happy with her money and life and find something better to do with her time?
Jennifer sighed again as she got halfway through her letters and seeing nothing but bills. How did she have so many, when she owned her house, and required very few things?
"Hey, Jen... It's Cat... Um... I was just calling you back like I said I would do... I really have nothing more to say, though. I'm still pretty peeved about the whole thing. Anyways, I'm just driving around, trying to clear my head... If you want to to talk, just give me a call. I probably won't answer right away, but I will get to it. I am checking my voicemail every half hour or so. Just to keep in touch and all. So, if there's an emergency, or something happens with my parents... I'll get to the calls, so yeah... Er, um... Bye, then."
The machine beeped loudly again, before moving on to the next message.
Jennifer stared at it glumly, having heard the sadness in Caterina's voice. She knew how upset Caterina was about the whole half naked pictures of her all over the newspapers. It was an added bit of stress that her friend really didn't need. She knew Caterina was going crazy from planning the wedding, and any extra problem that came along really was pushing her even closer to the edge.
Jennifer could only hope that her friend was much stronger than she was currently acting and would allow herself to handle the current issues better and get back on her feet.
She looked to the answering machine when she heard Theo's voice.
"Hey, Jen. Just calling to say hi and apologize for not calling you sooner. I know we sort of talked last night, but there wasn't much said, considering the situation. Also, I never actually has the chance to even talk to you about the party. There's just been so much going on these last couple of days...
Er, anyways, my dad called me earlier this morning and apparently, the circus is coming back to town in February. Some sort of anniversary of something. And he wanted to know if you were intersted in performing again during that month or whatever. Or even come on over and visit. He said he couldn't get ahold of you, so that's why he's making me the messenger.
Anywho, just call him as soon as you can and talk to him about this. He's really excited, for some strange reason. And I'll hang up now, since I really don't know how long this message thing can stretch. Just give him and me a call and... stuff... Bye."
The machine beeped loudly again.
Jennifer made a face at the noise, as she mulled over what Theo had just said. Tke circus was making an unusual stop in the Sank Kingdom this year. She wondered what the occasion was.
She looked to the answering machine when she realized that there hadn't been any noise from it for a while. She walked over to it and glanced down to see if that was the end of the messages.
Just then, there was static, and what sounded like a muffled voice. She strained her ears to listen to whatever it was.
There was what sounded to be a young girl's voice coming in and out. Every other word was hard to hear. "H-heim...shhirjein... Sister... frgmech... Call soonishdefem... Please..."
Jennifer frowned in confusion not getting the few words she made out. Sister? Call?
She shrugged this off as the message ended and went on to the next one. It must have a wrong number or a bad call from a cell phone. Whoever it was would probably call again.
"Hey, my cousin!"
Jennifer looked up and smiled at the familiar sweet voice coming from the machines speakers. It'd been a while since she'd heard it.
"It's been a long time, my dear! The boys and Hagan say hi! I've been meaning to call you, but I've just been so darn busy! I'm sure you have been too! I'm actually a bit bummed out that you weren't home to answer, but I suppose you're busy at work. Oh, well.
Anyways, I was hoping that we could meet up somewhere. You know, catch up and whatnot. Oh, and momma Une wanted to see you too and... well, everybody, actually.I guess she hasn't talked to anybody for a while too, ha... So, um, give me a call whenever you get this, so that we can arrange something. I hope to see you soon! Love you lots, cousin! Bye!"
Mariemaia's voice rang out and carried over for a while, until the machine's loud beep cut her off. The robotic voice then told her that she no longer had any more new messages.
Jennifer smiled some more after hearing Mariemaia's voice. It had been a long time since she'd last spoken to her distant cousin.A very long time. She wondered how she was doing. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed her cousin until now. Was it really three months since she'd last seen her?
She reached out to pick up her cordless phone and dial Mariemaia's number. She glanced over to her couch and stopped dialing upon seeing the dress. She really should call Jacob first and let him know that she got his little favor done. She smiled, secretly amused at how she'd gotten it done so fast, and how stupid he'd feel at thinking the job was going to be hard.
Sure, she'd gotten lucky and happened to be in the same dress shop as Caterina. But that was all circumstance. She still did it. He didn't have to know any details or the story on how she'd gotten it.
She hung up the phone and then picked it up again, dialing Jacob's cell phone number. Oh, how fun it'd be to pester him.
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Caterina stared blankly at the road ahead of her. She'd come to the dead end street about an hour ago, and was now just sitting there thinking.
Whenever she was upset, she tend to want to drive nonstop. For some strange reason, it calmed her. Something about the open road and never quite knowing where you were going always comforted her. It was a mini adventure, an escape when she couldn't take any more problems going on in her life.
Right now, though, she was starting to feel horrible again. It really did seem hopeless for her.
It was only a matter of time before the papparazzi found her, or the news reporters, and pound her with irritating, rude, and offensive questions and comments. This latest "sex scandal" was great gossip for them, and the timing couldn't have been any better. It was like someone knew about her mother, but wanted to overshadow it and make her look stupid. Maybe it was a ploy to sabotage her wedding.
Not that there was much needed to do so, as it was already falling apart before her eyes anyways. The newest chruch she had managed to find the other night cancelled her reservation upon seing the tabloids. The caterer merely laughed in her face when she finally went to schedule an appointment. The florist seemed to be the only sympathetic party, however, they were still agitated about her choice of flowers, so that meeting didn't go too well. Pierre was obviously amused when she stopped by to drop off Jacob's measurements for the third time, and she didn't stick around long enough to hear what he had to say. She was tired of the stares and snickers and just wanted to get away for the rest of the day.
And here she was, sitting in her car, hiding from the rest of the world. Was this really her life? What the hell had happened? She'd never had so much problems going on at once before. When trouble started, she shook it off and went on her merry way. Nothing really bothered her much before, until a few months ago. What had happened to cause such a change?
And then it clicked.
Jacob had proposed to her in September. And she had immediately started the planning. Yeah, she was excited and happy, and couldn't wait to become Mrs. Jacob Peacecraft.
But now that she thought about it...
The riots had progressed even worse the last year, as well as the crime rate going up. None of this had been Jacob's fault, but they were a part of it. Because of the riots, it was hard for her to get the things she'd wanted for the wedding. And Jacob was hardly around to get much of his opnion on anything.The rest of the gang had been busy, Theo with working nonstop, Jen and Elysia constantly doing things for the orphanage, her friends off doing their own thing... She'd literally been thrusted into a tough situation with very few people to fall back on and help her.
Was it really worth getting the wedding done in this time? Should she even bother continue trying to make it happen? Jacob had seemed pretty apprehensive lately about any "wedding talk". And he was constantly hinting at how much he wished Lisette could be there to witness the occasion.
She leaned forward and rested her forehead on the steering wheel, getting more upset. She fought back the tears she felt springing to her eyes, telling herself that she was a Winner, and that she needed to be much more stronger than this
She turned her head to the passenger side of the car when she heard her cell phone begin to ring. She wondered who would be calling her at the moment. Jacob was busy guarding Elysia, and she really didn't think Jennifer would be calling her back anytime soon.
Despite the voice screaming in her head not to pick it up, she reached out and grabbed her phone anyways. She was really curious to see who'd want to speak to her. She blinked in surprise at seeing a number she'd never seen before on the phone's display. Was her mom calling her from a different phone extension at the office?
"Hello?" she answered breathlessly, sitting up and brushing her hair back from her face.
"Caterina Winner," a deep voice she'd didn't recognize stated, more than really asked.
Caterina frowned, wondering who this person was. Was this one of the hotels she called, asking about a reservation for her wedding reception? "Um, yes?... Who is this?"
"That's not important," the man on the other end replied roughly.
There was a pause where Caterina stared off into the distance confusedly, trying to figure out who the hell had gotten a hold of her number.
"I thnk it's safe to say that you've seen the pictures of yourself last year," the man continued.
Caterina immediately grew angry at that, her eyes narrowing. "Look, buddy, I don't know how you got my cell phone number, but I'm not accepting interviews, nor propositions, you sick, disturbed perv-"
"That's not why I'm calling you, Winner," the voice interrupted. " I just wanted to let you know that it was me who was responsible for putting those out there"
Caterina's jaw dropped in shock at what she heard. Was that true? Or was he just saying that to get something more out of her. "You what!"
"My organization is the source of those pictures... We put them out there for a reason. Two, actually."
Caterina tried to take this in, not wanting to believe any of it. He has to be lying. No way is this guy for real!
She leaned back in her seat and crossed her free arm around her self. "Uh, huh... And those reasons are...?"
"Well, for one thing, to push back the little incident with your mother on the back burner. We don't need publicity on us. We'd rather distract and make people talk about something else."
Caterina started to feel sick to her stomach at where this was going. Even if he was lying, what he was saying was still unnerving. "A-and the other reason?"
"Why, as a warning to you, of course." He paused, apparently expecting an answer, but she had nothing to say. He laughed a little at her silence and went on." You see, we're looking for a certain somebody you know. And we all know that you know where she's at. And judging by all of those pictures, it appears that you're quite close to her." His voice suddenly grew low and serious, nearly sinister. "I want you to tell me where she's at. Maybe turn her over to us."
Caterina tried to hold back the fear that had risen in her chest. She glanced around nervously, not knowing what to do. Why did she have to park in the middle of the woods? Did he really mean what he said? Did he know about Elysia? Was he really referring to her?
She tried to not sound as scared as she felt. "And if I don't comply?"
"You see those pictures?... There's more where those came from. Far worse, might I add. And they're not just of you. I think Mr. Peacecraft would be highly upset at seeing himself plastered all over the city naked and... well, some other unflattering pictures. And that little blonde girl running around with your little friends' beau? You know, Mr. Barton. Oh, my, wouldn't she be upset if these pictures of them cozied up together got out."
Caterina's eyes widened as she realized who he was talking about. "But you can't prove that they even did anything together. They could just be perfectly innocent."
"Oh, really? Well, wouldn't it be a sad little spin regardless? Think about it: 'Mysterious Peacecraft Lookalike friend of Caterina Winner scorned in a vicious love triangle!'... Believe me, Caterina, the world is a very easy place to manipulate. You take a few things out of context and see the delightful uproar it causes."
"Don't you dare call me by name again!" she hissed through her phone. Caterina could practically see the evil smirk on his face as he said that. She struggled on how to deal with the anger, hurt, and fear that was raging inside her. " I think I've heard enough."
"Au contraire, my dear, I think you haven't heard enough at all. You see, because the pictures will just be a start. The longer you wait to tell us anything, the more violent we'll get. That incident with your mother? An accident. Pure stupidity on the part of a cocky colleague of mine. But he was just a rookie. Imagine the wrath of someone who's surpassed him. And we won't just go after your parents. We'll go after your little friends, and co-workers. Even your precious fiance. His family already has an incapcitated child. What's one more?"
Caterina drew in a sharp breath at that. That was more than just an idle threat. That was...
"You heartless monster," she said, not being able to think of anything more meaningful than that.
"Maybe, I suppose. But that depends on who you talk to. Now, then, I think I've explained my position fairly well. It's up to you to make the next move. I'll give you some time to think about everything I told you. Really let it sink in. I'll call you back when your first deadline approaches. Now, I must tell you ahead of time that I'll be getting less pleasant each phone call. That's to be expected. But, since this is the first time, I'll let you know when your deadline is to answer."
Caterina stared blankly ahead, not believing what was just happening. This time, she couldn't hold back the tears. "When is it?"
"You have until the middle of february. Seems like a long time, but it really isn't. That's only six weeks. Six weeks to look at your friends and family and determine who's more important, and who or what you're willing to sacrifice in the name of protecting the girl. I know how hard those things can be. So, I'll leave you alone now. Don't forget what I said. Remember, you have until February. Then, something far worse than a picture of you covered in a bedsheet will happen. Adieu!"
The phone clicked and went silent.
Caterina sat paralyzed in her seat, trying to get this through her head. She slowly lowered her phone down and let it drop from her hand, clattering on the floor.
Was he serious? Does he really have the power to do all of those things he said?
She sniffled a bit and leaned forward again onto the steering wheel, beginning to cry. What was she going to do now? Should she say anything to her father? Or Jacob? What could they do? And what if they got hurt, because she told them?
Her cries soon turned into sobs. She just wanted to drive, think, and take a break. She didn't need this.
Why did she answer her phone?
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Elysia awoke in Theo's bed, yawing a little as she stretched out in the bed. It' d been a long day and night. She felt surprsingly well rested, considering she hadn't gotten to bed until three that morning, and it was now nine o'clock.
Jacob, Shane, Wufei, and Duo had all worked together in sneaking Elysia out of the Preventers' Hospital quickly, and, hopefully, unseen.
Since Elysia was the only victim of the New Year's Party who could talk about the incident, and her life was clearly in danger, Shane had taken extra precautions with her. He'd been trying to talk her into getting in a witness protection type service, but she'd refused. Heero wasn't much inclined to that either, as were the rest of the people in the room who'd heard his suggestion. The public opnion was that if she's going to be in danger, then everybody would be there to help her and place their lives in danger as well.
It was only fair.
So, Shane was forced to come up with an elaborate scheme to get her out of the hospital, without anybody who may be watching aware that she was leaving.
But he came up with a fairly simple plan.
Have Jade take Elysia from her room under the guise of more tests, switch her with a decoy nurse when she goes to change behind a curtain into a "special" hospital gown, take the "nurse" from the room and have her clock out, as if Elysia had just finished working a night shift, and then have her take the stairwell down to the parking lot, escorted by Wufei.
Jacob had waited in the car and was watching for any potential attackers. He was ready for anything. Shane and Duo were waiting at certain points in the hospital, just in case, someone intervened and took Elysia to a different part of the hosptial and ruin the plan.
Thankfully, everything went well.
Jacob had managed to get Theo's apartment key, so they didn't have to go through the whole security thing to get into the gated complex.
They walked in, after Jacob had done a thorough room search, that is, and she went straight to bed. It wasn't that she was overjoyed at being in Theo's place after so long. She just wanted to lay down in an actual bed for once. It'd been a good two and half straight days since she last slept in her own bed. She hated the hospital bed with a passion. It just wasn't the same as home.
She now got up and sat at the edge of the bed, taking in her surroundings. She'd been to Theo's apartment a few times, and only once went into his bedroom. That was the night she'd first felt sick.
Theo had very few items in his room. There was just his bed, a small black dresser to the right side of the bed, a small nightstand on the left, and a t.v. stand tucked away in a corner. Nearly everything was black, except for the standard white walls and beige carpet.
Elysia smiled as she saw that despite the bareness of the room, Theo's dresser, t.v. stand, and night stand were littered with picture frames. She looked at each one, studying all the people in them. Most of them were family portraits of Theo, his brother and sister, Gabriel and Rene, and Trowa. One had all of them, plus Catherine's family, all five of her daughters in front, the oldest, Misha, tugging on Theo's hair, making him cry. It was pretty cute, considering how long ago that was, and how old Theo was at the time. It seemed a bit too close to the time before his mother had been murdered. Rene was still a baby and being held by Trowa, while Gabriel was sitting down, holding a big bag of cotton candy.
She glanced around at the rest of his pictures, smiling when she came across the one of him kissing her on the cheek, while she had a look of surprise, mixed with happiness on her face. He and Jennifer had planned it. Jennifer pretended to take a solo picture of Elysia, then had suddenly shouted "Now!" to which Theo came up from behind Elysa, and kissed her.
Elysia hadn't known who had kissed her, until after the camera's flash blinded her and she turned to see him laughing at her. That was on one of their many dates to the nearby park. That particular day, though, they decided to have a simple barbecue for whoever was able to get away from work and eat. That was one of the best days she'd had, a memory she relished. Everybody had been so happy and carefree. Not one person had to worry about anything at the time. They were all just enjoying each other's company.
But just a few days after that, the riots had gotten worse. This was when the fires had started. And the violence was increasing.
If only she could go back to that time between her life at the orphanage and now. After she'd found her father... she was content with her life. That was her only goal in life. To have a family. And she'd gotten it, what with the close-knit ties of the former gundam pilot's and their families, plus Elysia's blood relatives. Everything was nice for once in her life.
But now...
She turned in the bed to face the nightstand and noticed a picture she hadn't seen before. She crawled on the bed and grabbed it curiously.
It was a framed picture of Trowa and Theo's mother, Kate.
Trowa looked much younger in it. It seemed to be a photo from when the pair had been dating, since there were no rings on their fingers.
Trowa had his arm wrapped around Kate's shoulders, a big smile that Elysia had never seen him make on his face. Theo's mother was sharing the same grin, her eyes sparkling, as she was holding onto Trowa's arms around her with her left hand.
Both were obviously really happy. Trowa had an expression that was actually odd to see, considering how he wasn't too expressive, unless it came to talking about his children.
But Elysia couldn't take her eyes off of Theo's mother.
Katelyn Therese' Kusherenada was so beautiful. Her light brown, almost blonde hair was down, falling in loose waves down her shoulders. And her light, gray-blue eyes were, again, shining, almost as if she never had pain in her life.
Elysia noticed that out of all the kids, Rene was the one who most resembled their mom. Her hair was slightly darker, but her face was exactly like Kate's. She wondered how Trowa felt looking at his daughter each day, seing the face of his lost love.
She then made a face, realizing that it was probably the same way her own father felt, seeing as how she looked so much like Relena.
She looked away from the picture, and stood up, deciding that it was best for her to go get something to eat. Maybe, if she was lucky, Jacob would be fast asleep from having to watch over her all night, and wouldn't hear her if she were to sneak out to get some breakfast from her favorite restaurant down the road from the orphanage.
She slowly opened the bedroom door and peeked out, looking towards the living room. Jacob's legs were dangling over the edge of Theo's navy blue couch, and she was pretty sure she was hearing his soft snoring.
She took a cautious step out of the room and leaned a little towards the room, straining her ears to hear any potential change in Jacob's breathing pattern. When there was no difference, she straightened up and grabbed her purse, which was sitting on the floor outside of the room. She cringed when her car keys jingled slightly inside her small brown purse. She froze quickly, and waited, hoping that Jacob was still asleep. She waited ten agonizingly long seconds, before concluding that it was indeed safe for her to leave.
Just as she put her hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it, she heard him call out, "I hope you don't plan on leaving here without me. Because then I'll be forced to handcuff you to a chair, and we won't have to worry about you sneaking off anymore."
Elysia let out a sigh defeatedly and dropped her hand to her side." How did you know I was going?"
Jacob sat up on the couch and looked at her over the top, his eyes red from his lack of sleep. "I'm a light sleeper, Elysia. You know that." He sat up even more and stretched his arms over his head. "Anyways, I knew you were already awake, when I heard noise in Theo's room. You tend to stay in one spot when you sleep, so if there's any noise, you're either moving out of bed, or are doing something I choose to not think about."
Elysia made a face at the comment and reached out for the doorknob."Yeah, okay, that automatically gives me a free pass to do whatever I want today, without my little watchdog near."
Jacob raised an eyebrow at her, amused by her reaction. "Oh? Is little Ms. Goody Two Shoes actually threatening to do something bad? Oh, me, oh, my, somebody alert the authorities!" He raised his hands up, waving them erratically, as if he were actually afraid of her.
Elysia grew angry by this and opened the door. "See, that little insult cost you a damn good omelette. Now, I get to have two to myself and you get to starve!"
She took a step out into the hallway, but was stopped, by Jacob's arms wrapping around her and yanking her back into the apartment. As she stood there trying to process Jacob's lightning speed and how the hell he managed to grab her without her even realizing he was there, he slammed the door shut, and locked it. He turned and fixed a glare on her.
"Do you have any idea how stupid that just was?" he nearly shouted at her.
Elysia narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Stupid? For opening a damn door! What, am I supposed to walk through it?"
Jacob stood in front of her, blocking the front door, and crossed his arms. "You can't, I repeat, can't, just walk out a door anymore. I have to check it for you!"
Elysia stared at him as if he were one of the "special" kids at the orphange."Check what! That the door doesn't creak? This is ridiculous!'
"Ridiculous!" This seemed to set him off. He looked away, rolling his eyes at her, as she apparently didn't understand what he was getting at. "Someone could be standing outside of the door with a gun, just waiting for you to step out. Or there could have been a bomb planted on it. Or some other terrorist device. These people can come up with anything, you know. And we have to be prepared for it. And this includes checking the damn door, before we step out to go somewhere!"
Elysia crossed her arms at that, and tapped her elbows irritably. "Oh, yes, because you seeing a bomb, before it goes off in 30 seconds will really benefit me." Her sarcasm rang high in the room.
That, of course, pushed Jacob's anger even further. "Elysia, don't you get it?" he asked, his eyes flashing at her.
Elysia made a face at the question. "Get what? That you guys are all paranoid over nothing? That you're all wasting time and money 'protecting' me? I haven't done anything wrong, nor intend to do anything to anyone. I am not a threat, and am therefore not a target. It was all just a bunch of random accidents. I'm perfectly fine and safe."
Jacob's eyes had widened in shock at each sentence she'd said. When she finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a bit, hoping to get some sense into her head. "Elysia, people are after you, whether you choose to believe it or not. There are men out to kill you. You may not view yourself as a threat, but they do. And they'll stop at nothing to ensure that you're dead. They want you out of the way. They want to destroy your life, and the lives of those around you!" He leaned closer to her, staring her directly in the eyes. "If you care at all for your life, and the life of the child you're carrying inside of you right now, then you'll accept the protection that my father, as well as everybody else, feels that you need. You'll suck it up and deal with the annoyances as well as you can, because in the end, we're all here to make sure that you live. I don' t think it's too much to ask of you to not be so damn selfish, when everybody else isn't."
Elysia's eyes narrowed. "Sefish? Selfish! I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for Uncle to send people out to 'protect' me! I didn't ask for everybody to flip out and start a huge investiagation! I didn't ask for any of this! All I wanted was to go to a stupid party with my family and friends, have some fun after a long year of work, and maybe have a couple dances wth the love of my life! I didn't want to get drugged, walk in on a robbery in process, or nearly die two times within two days!" She was starting to cry at this point, the tears pouring out of her eyes.
It wasn't that she was angry at Jacob for not letting her go. She understood his position, and why everything was the way it was. She got why she couldn't just go anywhere, anymore, without an escort. She understood that her life was possibly in danger. It wasn't his fault, nor anybody else around her.
But she was was angry at the situation. She was angry that she couldn't just go out and get an omelette, because somebody might be out to get her. She was angry that her simple life had been interrupted by some crazy men who were out to hurt her, and for no actual reason. She hated that she had to limit herself and her normal everyday routine, because some unknown assailants wanted her dead.
She was crying so hard now, that it was hard for her to talk anymore. Jacob saw this, and reached out to her, pulling her close to him as she cried into his chest. He held her tightly as she wept, wishing he could do something to help her. But he knew he couldn't. Not for a long time anyways.
They stood in the embrace for quite some time, he trying to comfort her, she trying to grasp why someone would want her dead.
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Shane tapped his fingers on his steel desk, competely bored out of his mind, as he looked over the newly filed reports he had on his computer.
There was so much crap going on, besides the current situation with Elysia. As a man who not only sold security systems and devices, as well as actually guard people, on top of his many other businesses, he had the responsibility of looking over every reported incident that came along under his supervision. It didn't matter if it was a simple house robbery, or a big problem like the incident at the Preventer's party; if it involved any of his businesses, he had to check it out and personally investigate it.
Granted, he had relinquished much control a while ago to a close colleague of his. That had really been a heavy burden lifted. He's never felt as free as he did that day.
But he had insisted that he at least read every filed report that came along. This way, he'd still have that personal touch and could overlook all that went on underneath him and be able to check for any mistakes.
But with the riots and that party still being a huge deal, those two were really high on his list of priorites. And they were weighing down on his mind right now as he was reading over the "Minor Case" files. How could he possibly focus on a liquor store theft, when a dear friend's life was in danger, and other people's blood was on his hands? On top of that, he had to look over the break-in at Dorothy Winner's office.
It was one of of his top systems that was installed in her building. It was also one of his "best" systems that had been destroyed at the party. And his guards were the ones patrolling the party, alongside the Preventer's.
The guilt was on him, as well as the anxiety at not knowing who or what was behind all of this.
He looked up to his office door when he heard it click and then open.
One of his office assistants was standing there, a slightly grim expression on his face, mixed with nervousness. Obviously whatever he was going to say wasn't something he wanted to say to his boss. "Uh, sir?"
Shane frowned as he leaned back in his chair. "Yeah? What is it?"
The assistant shifted uncomfortably on his feet and averted his gaze a bit from Shane. "There's some news about that man who was arrested the other day in Mrs. Winner's office."
Shane raised an eyebrow and waited. "And it is...?"
The assistant shifted again and looked at Shane, almost sympathetecially. "It's bad news."
Shane sighed and closed his eyes as he began to rub his temples from the headache he was starting to feel. "I'm not going to sit here and play twenty questions with you, Paul. What is it you're supposed to tell me."
Paul, the assistant, sighed as well and held up a folder that was in his hands. "It's all in here... Apparently," he paused as he crossed the room to hand the folder to Shane," the man committed suicide, before he could be questioned."
As Shane heard this, he quickly dropped the folder out of his hands and pounded his desk with his fist. "Shit!... Damn it!" He looked down, placing his hands back on his temples, and shook his head, not believing this.
The man was a key person in finding out who was behind all od the attacks. He was the perfect source to finding out who was after Elysia and the others. And now...
He looked up to Paul, who was clearly afraid of him due to his reaction. "Do yourself a favor and take the rest of the day off. And tell the others the same. I really don't want to deal with work right now. I have an important job to do." He stood up and grabbed his jacket from off the back of his chair. He glanced back at Paul and added," In fact, call the rest of the Maxwell Industry offices and let everybody know that I'm giving them all a paid week off. I don't want anybody working on anything. I want you all to go home and enjoy your lives while you can." He then proceeded to walk out of his office, not caring how ominous he sounded. He had to talk to his dad and the rest of the pilot's about this. A lot was needed to be done now.
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