Chapter Thirteen: Midnight
I wracked my brain for what I knew about Daniel. I grabbed paper and pencil and at the top of the sheet I wrote one word:
Assassin.
That was loaded enough without anything else being added to it. What else did I know about him? He had a daughter and an ex-wife. That was neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, but having a daughter he couldn't see upset him a great deal. He'd not said much about his ex-wife, other than she wasn't chasing him around the country. I guessed she was another thing that had been left behind because of what he did. That fitted in with being an assassin. You couldn't lead a normal life if you were being sent to despatch others. People could come looking for you in retribution and if you were easy to trace you wouldn't be a discreet killer. But if he couldn't be in his daughter's life, then what chance did I have of successfully being any part of his? However, he was giving me the option of finding out and making the choice. He'd also warned me that being part of his world would mean that I would have to leave everything behind.
Everything.
That was another loaded word. We were only two words in and already I was aware that this wasn't a decision I would be making lightly.
Then, there were the more mundane things. He ran to keep in shape, he drank espresso, he drove a Jaguar and he worked on computer systems. He liked astronomy; he'd started a degree in astronomy but had dropped out when things changed. He hadn't said what those things were though. The running, coffee and the car were insignificant. The astronomy and the computers though, they could be. After all, there wouldn't be too many places that ran degree programs in astronomy, perhaps there was a potential trail there?
What about the fear of him that I used to have? Now and again I got a flash of it, particularly when he smiled. Was that significant? I dismissed it; that was just me not knowing him at first and getting a little scared of what he could do to my insides with nothing more than a devastating smile. Even his cologne had the capacity to mess with my head. It was potent, a walking narcotic to which I was helplessly addicted, I saw that now. Before my accident I'd trawled the perfume counters in Port Angeles trying to identify what it was. I'd decided it must be Calvin Klein's Eternity for Men. I kept a bottle of it in my bedside drawer to spray on the bed. Ironically, I'd discovered it helped me to sleep. So much for that year off guys, here I was sat on the sofa trying to work one out!
My head dragged up the fairy story of Rumplestiltskin and I mused whether, having worked him out, he would vanish in a puff of smoke or fall through the floorboards with anger at me having discovered his big secret. Was Daniel Mitchell even his real name? Had he given me any reason to doubt that it was? No, but in his line of work aliases were probably something he used all the time.
These people who were trying to warn me off him, who were they? He'd told me that he didn't want to hurt me, so why had they said he did? And what about that comment that Daniel said made other day?
"Who says they're the bad guys?"
OK, so maybe there was more that made him dangerous than just being an assassin. Something happened to him a while back, something that had messed with him emotionally and had made it hard for him to be close to me. Torture? Had Daniel been captured during one of his assignments and tortured? That would certainly make for a messed-up individual. Were they trying to warn me off because they knew he was emotionally unstable and there was the potential he could hurt me through that? Of course, all he needed was the love of a good woman - step up Stephanie Chambers!
I wasn't stupid; I knew it would take more than love to put a victim of torture back together again. He'd told me right from the start that it was good sense to stay away from him; perhaps he was sparing me from the hornet's nest of emotional baggage he was dealing with? Would I want to be with someone who was unable to give much out? There was always the hope that he could in time return my love and that was the clincher: He had me. As long as I believed there was that hope, I would stay.
But this wasn't just about emotional scars. There were the stark warnings from whoever the shadowy characters were in the stairwell. They'd said that Daniel wanted to kill me and that death was what happened to people who got tangled up with people like Daniel. Although he'd alluded to other members of his family, he'd never specifically mentioned anyone else other than a 'brother', who he'd said wasn't really his brother. Was his 'brother' a fellow assassin? Were they members of a group, bound together as a 'family', not by blood ties but by shared experience? That was entirely possible. Maybe this was some rehabilitation program that he was in? A place where wounded assassins went to get better? Again, that could fit.
Back to the stairwell. The man had told me to stay in the sunlight, that I was safest there and quoted the Bible at me, which I'd never bothered to follow up, not being inclined to read things I didn't really believe in. But perhaps I could ask Heather about that? She was a Pastor she'd know why it was significant. And sunlight, why sunlight? I'd seen Daniel in sunlight; he'd been at my house several times during the day. He wasn't restricted to the hours of darkness. Although perhaps it was metaphorical and referred to the dark world that Daniel lived in? A world where you couldn't live openly in the sunlight like everyone else. Daniel had been envious of Mike for that reason.
And what about the trap that Daniel and his forces were supposedly guiding me into? What if in finding out what I needed to know brought me in possession of knowledge I really shouldn't have? What if this knowledge put me in so much danger that I really had no option but to cross the line for my own protection? Was that what they meant? That finding out would put me at the centre of the spider's web and any thrashing to break free would only bring the hungry spider to me faster? That was plausible and would be one good reason to stop now and cut the threads while I was still on the outskirts. But the spider could find me wherever I was on its web and perhaps it was already too late? That fish hook was in and perhaps that spider's venom was already working through my system. A cold shiver went down my spine. This was far bigger than I'd anticipated. In only a few minutes my head had hit upon a few big ticket items as far as Daniel was concerned.
But before I'd had chance to figure anymore out or even talk to Daniel about my suspicions, Bex was at my house and organising my birthday. She was bringing 'the girls' to me.
"A girl's night in. I've sorted it with Mike. He's going to take you out the night before and then the night of your birthday, we'll come over, watch some movies, drink some wine and have some fun."
There was no saying 'no' to Bex once things had been 'organised'. It was a miracle with her that anything had; which was probably why she took such umbrage if you messed with her plans. I felt duty bound to go through with it, but a night with a group of drunk teachers, wasn't top of the list of fun ways to spend my birthday.
My concerns about Daniel had interrupted another night's sleep, so I was awake when my phone's red light indicated that I'd received a text message at the crack of dawn on my birthday.
A little bird tells me it's your birthday!
I smiled and replied to Daniel.
Yes, 27 today.
Back the reply came.
Happy Birthday! I'm 32 tomorrow.
We had birthdays next to each other? Another message came.
Meet you at midnight?
I laughed; I couldn't meet him anywhere at midnight, but plans hatched in my evil brain.
I'll be here at midnight, you can come over. Don't know what state I'll be in though. Bex has arranged a party.
He'd be arriving later and the promise of him had turned my dread of the drunk teachers into something bearable. In truth, it had been a fabulous night and we'd spent most of it screaming with laughter, when Bex hooked a karaoke unit up to the TV and we'd all been rock goddesses for the evening. They'd left around eleven thirty and everything was looking good for his arrival. Well, apart from one thing. Me. I'd had one too many. OK, perhaps six too many and I was very, very drunk. I was also desperate to unwrap the gift I really wanted for my birthday… Daniel. He may be trying to ensnare me into his own trap, but I too was capable of weaving my own web around a hapless male. I wasn't clueless in the art of seduction and tonight, Daniel Mitchell would be getting trapped right back. OK, so getting awesomely drunk had left me slightly compromised and the plaster cast sticking out from under the black negligee wasn't my best look; but I was giving this my best shot and this time I'd left off the perfume.
I was still upstairs getting ready when there was a tap on the bedroom window. I stumbled over and yanked up the blind. He was there!
"What're you doing there?" I slurred.
"Saving you the trouble of going downstairs." He grinned and motioned for me to slide the window up, which I did. He flicked himself in and I stuck my head out, looking up and down.
"Were you hanging off the roof?"
"Yes, why?"
I shut the window, exerting a little too much force on the well-oiled runners and sending it crashing back down. "Oops." I giggled. I turned back to face him. "Normal people don't hang off roofs."
"I'm not normal people."
"True. Did they teach you that at assassin school?" Assassin came out with a few too many s's.
Daniel's face darkened. "It's not a joking matter."
Uh oh… I was not off to a good start. "Sorry. So Happy Birthday!" I trilled, overly brightly; my brain was a champagne-fuelled mush.
The dark countenance lifted and changed to the devastating smile. "And to you. I see you've already been celebrating?"
"Yes, but I saved a bottle for us." I made a grab for his hand to pull him out of my room. But he pulled it away so quickly that it was a blur.
"I don't drink." He fixed me with a look that was like being dazzled by headlights. "Stephanie…" By his sad, soft voice I knew what was coming. "Champagne? You dressed like this? You know I can't give you what you want."
I dropped my eyes and metaphorically waved a white flag. "You can't blame a girl for trying." I sighed and swayed. "Most men would've gone for it."
"I'm not most men." He whispered. "I can't respond to this, this is… too much. If I did…"
There it was I knew the answer to this. "You might hurt me?"
He nodded. "Strong emotions produce reactions in me that I can't always control. Start small and build up, don't go in full throttle. You look amazing, but this is wasted on me right now. Get changed, I'll go make you some decaf."
He went downstairs and inside a petulant part of me threw her teddy out of the crib at not getting what she wanted. Damn! I was desperate for him. But I took his point, start small and build up. I pulled off the black negligee and exchanged it for regular pyjamas, now cut off at the knee because the lower leg wouldn't go over my cast.
I wrapped my bathrobe around myself and made my way carefully down the stairs one at a time, walking into the living room and sitting down on the sofa. I'd not had the opportunity to get him a card or a gift, even though I'd have liked to. His birthday was April 6th I'd remember that from now on.
Not only did he bring me coffee, he brought me toast too.
"You're not having some?"
He shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
"I don't need to be hungry to eat toast." I said; toast was perfect whatever time of day or night it was. I bit into the warm bread. There was a lot to be said for the simple pleasures of coffee and toast. "Thirty two huh?" I said, looking over at him and forgetting not to speak with my mouth full. "You're getting on a little." I smiled and he did too.
"Twenty seven? You're equally getting on. Don't parents start expecting that you'll settle down at this age?"
"Oh yes." I sighed. "She's marrying me off to everyone. What about your parents?" Then I remembered. "Oh, sorry, you can't be in contact with them."
"I already did the marriage thing, remember? They wouldn't have pressed again."
"Can I ask what happened there?" If there was any future in us as a couple, I needed to know what went wrong first time around.
"It was stupid, I should never have said yes to her." He sighed. "I was very young. The responsibility of being a father weighed heavily on me and it was something she wanted to do, just to be able to get rid of her name without too many questions." He looked at me; perhaps I'd furrowed my brow a little because he continued. "I'd better tell you the whole story. At least it's part of my life that I can talk about."
"I won't tell anyone."
"I know you won't. I want to say thanks for staying quiet about me. I expected you to crack tonight, but you didn't."
"What? Have you been listening to me?"
"I haven't, but the person who shields you can hear every word you say. How are the headaches by the way?"
"Better. They can hear me all the time?" That made me worried.
"Don't be alarmed, anything you say stays strictly between the three of us. It doesn't go anywhere else."
"There are two people looking after me?"
"Yes."
"One here and one at school?"
"No, they work as a team. I really hope you can meet them one day."
"But that wouldn't be until I decide which side of the line I want to be on?"
"Correct."
"So what was with the shield?"
"We discovered that something affects it, so we're keeping it lighter."
"What does?"
He shook his head and smiled. "I can't tell you that."
"So tell me something you can. Actually, just start from the beginning and tell me everything." He grinned, there was no chance of that, I knew. "So your birthday is April 6th and you're 32 years old. I stated. Where were you born?"
"Just south of San Francisco."
"Did you grow up there?"
"Yes." His smile became very knowing. "Don't try and search for me on the Internet, you won't find me. I've been very thorough in removing all traces."
"You've done that?"
"It's part of this new life."
"Sounds like a plotline from Men in Black."
He laughed. "That's not an unreasonable comparison."
"What? Aliens really are living among us? Are you an… Oh! You don't kill space aliens do you?"
His face creased into laughter. "Life would be a whole lot more exciting if I did. No, I don't kill space aliens." That amused him greatly.
"Sorry, you were about to tell me your life story and I hijacked it with ET."
He leant back in the chair, spreading his long legs out in front of him. "There really isn't much to tell. I was born, went to school, graduated and went to San Francisco State to study Astronomy, but had to work my way through. That's where I met Helen."
"Your ex-wife?"
He nodded. "I got a job with an IT company in San Francisco. Christmas party, young guy gets swept off his feet by the stunning CEO and before I knew what was happening, she announces that I was going to be a father. Our daughter was born September thirtieth." Daniel seemed to drift off.
"Go on." I encouraged. Delighted and fascinated that he was at last opening up.
"I took my responsibilities very seriously. Helen, however, saw me as simply a way of getting rid of a despised name and having a baby. She wasn't really interested in me. She had her money, her company and she now had her baby. I was just the sperm donor. But my little girl meant everything, so I went along with what Helen wanted: Marriage and looking after…" He had to bite back her name. He looked at me seriously. "It's hard not mentioning her, so if I tell you her name, it's to be guarded with your life." He said it in such a way that meant I could never say no. Not that would ever tell a soul, I cared for him too much.
"I won't ever say." I breathed, feeling like I was about to be given a glimpse of a priceless jewel.
"Thanks. It's Madison."
"That's a lovely name."
"I didn't choose it, it was all Helen. Everything was always all Helen. We got married; I dropped out of college and became a Stay at Home Dad, while Helen worked full-time. I tried my best with Helen, but it didn't work, she didn't invest the same amount of time in me as she did in her company. One day she told me to go. I became an inconvenience when she did really fall in love. When you're very rich and have great lawyers you can do anything you want, I learned that pretty quickly during the divorce. Madison got a full-time Nanny and I got relegated to weekend parent. I moved out, got a job with a rival computer firm and tried to see Madison whenever I could. That was how things were for three years, up until the night of Madison's sixth birthday. Helen wouldn't let me see her that day; she'd arranged some party that I wasn't welcome at. I'd gone to see a band at the Filmore that night and on the way home, everything changed and that's as much as I can tell you. My life after that is the other side of the line."
We sat there in silence for a moment. I hadn't expected to have been given so much. "Thank you for telling me that. I promise I won't tell anyone." I wouldn't. I really had gotten a glimpse of the jewel.
"I hope it helps you to make up your mind in the end. What you find out from now on won't be remotely comforting. You'll find Helen by the way; I can't remove her from the Internet. Helen Mitchell, CEO of Elba Solutions, I'll save you the hassle of working it out. Don't go looking for Madison though. Helen and I did agree on one thing, that there was to be no mention of Madison until she was old enough to choose for herself whether she wanted to be traceable via the internet." He looked at his watch. "I should go."
"Working?"
"No, it's coming up to one o'clock and you need to sleep."
"Stay with me?"
"Not tonight."
"Please? It's my birthday."
"It's mine too, but I'm sorry, not tonight."
"Why?"
"Things are too close to the surface." The pain on his face was almost tangible and then it suddenly gave way to a mischievous smile. "And you time to read up on Helen, as I know you're itching to do."
He was right and as he disappeared into the night, my laptop was on and I was reading up about the CEO of Elba Solutions. She was forty nine and her biography reeked of achievement. She'd never put a foot wrong in business; seeing a gap in the market and steering Elba to great success over fifteen years. Where Madison was everything to Daniel, to Helen she seemed unimportant, her motherhood only mentioned in the last line of her biography. I wasn't very disposed to her for the way she'd treated Daniel; but it would be wrong to speculate about her relationship with Madison. I'm sure Ms Mitchell loved her daughter very much. She unsettled me, and the reason why was in the photographs of her. I saw the same thing time and again; smart suits and brown hair arranged in a simple twist. I looked a great deal like her in my work suits and I hoped very much that that was where our similarities ended. Before I went back to work I'd freshen up my wardrobe and get a few more casual things. Still smart, but looking a lot less like the Ice Queen and more like someone who might go out for ice cream.