Scars Of Defiance (14 page)

He waited for several more minutes for the word that they’d
found her, but it never came. Flicking his cigarette in no particular
direction, he whirled around on his feet and headed to the door.
If you want
something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Victor entered the home and was immediately flanked by two
guards for his protection — from whom he didn’t know. Everyone here was
adequately subdued. Three adults sat on the sofa, each bleeding in some way.
The sight made him feel powerful. Anyone who thought they could defy his father
and hide crossers deserved to be caught and made to suffer.

One of his top bodyguards lay on the floor in front of the
couch.

“Get him out of here,” Victor said to no one in particular.
Two men stepped forward and pulled the injured man away.

“Sir, we’ve searched everywhere. The perimeter guards
reported that no one left the premises during the raid. She’s not here.”

Victor turned to the three bleeding adults on the sofa. “I
know you’ve been housing Sierra. Now where is she?”

The Duck Tape was ripped off their mouths. Martha replied
with a snide remark, “Thanks, honey, now I won’t have to wax.”

Zachary spoke up. “It’s true we housed a female crosser, but
she’s already gone. Once they leave our home, we don’t know where they go.”

“Liar!” Victor roared. One of Victor’s guards stormed over
and backhanded Zachary across the cheek. Victor liked the unspoken
understanding he had with his men. They could almost read his mind. Almost. “I
have it on good authority that your younger son is housing Sierra. Where is his
bedroom?”

Zachary’s eyes looked in the direction of Paul’s room off
the living room. Victor followed his direction and walked over to the entrance
of the room. Slowly, he investigated the room. Quite simple:  a double bed, two
end tables, a lone armchair in the corner by the window, and a closet. He
looked in the closet to see organized shelves and compartments. Victor studied
the wood floor in the closet and throughout the room for tell-tale signs of
secret trap doors, but he didn’t see anything. No strategically placed rugs to
hide one. No unusual patterns to catch his eye. Victor left the room.

“Where did your son go? Clearly he didn’t sleep in his room
last night,” Victor said to Zachary.

“He left with the girl already.”

“Yes, but when?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“Your son was seen here late last night. I’m losing my
patience with you, and when that happens, people start to die.” One of his
guards shouldered his automatic rifle and aimed it at the three terrified
people on the couch.

“He left during the raid,” Zachary conceded.

“Impossible. My guards have been watching and saw no one
leave.”

“I assure you they did.”

Victor began barking out orders, “Search every garage and
woodshed in the near vicinity. They haven’t gone far. Find them.” He turned
back to Zachary. “Defying Reginald Rawlings is a crime punishable by death.”

“Only in Rendier,” Zachary stated calmly. “Killing people in
Baylend because Rendierians escaped under Reginald’s nose will only encourage
the anti-authoritarian governments to issue an investigation. I don’t think
your father wants that kind of publicity.”

The arrogance Victor possessed was inherent to his
upbringing, but his lack of wisdom due to his young age of eighteen coupled
with his uncertainty about his father’s wishes stayed his hand. Otherwise, he’d
have given the orders for all three to be killed.
Someday,
Victor
thought,
when I’m ruler, I won’t be afraid of killing traitors in other
countries.

*****

Paul and Sierra had reached the end of the tunnel where a
ladder stood before them and a trap door up above.

“Where does it lead?” Sierra whispered.

“It’s a garage with a get-a-way car.” Paul reached up to
unlatch the door, but the sound of footsteps above made him stop. He looked at
Sierra and placed his finger on his lips to signal her to be quiet. He reached
past her and twisted the light bulb over her head until it went out, leaving
them in complete darkness.

They both listened as footsteps sounded above their heads.
Muffled voices spoke unintelligibly. Their hearts raced with the terror of
being found. Then the steps faded and they heard a door close.

Paul reached for the light bulb and twisted it back on. The
low light washed over Sierra’s petrified face, and he was filled with anguish.
He took her into his arms and held her trembling body.

“That was too close.”

“Are they gone?” she asked into his chest.

“I think so, but we should stay down here for a while. They
are obviously searching outdoor buildings. If we try to drive away right now,
we’ll be caught.”

“We missed our tiny escape window.”

“Yes. It was smaller than I thought it would be. We should
have run into Sam and his crossers, but he must have evacuated his crossers
already.”

“So what now?”

“We wait. We can’t go back, and we can’t go forward.”

“Limbo.”

“Exactly. Let’s sit down at least.”

He sat first and helped her down onto his lap so she
wouldn’t have to sit on the dirt. They kept that position for a long time, till
Paul’s legs went to sleep. She sensed his discomfort and moved to sit beside
him.

“Paul, how long is this tunnel?”

“What do you mean?”

“How far away from your home are we?”

“The tunnel ends four homes away from mine. The garage above
belongs to a friend of my father’s. He doesn’t have any idea about the tunnel,
but he is aware that we keep an escape car inside.”

“Your family is wonderful. I sure hope everyone is alright.”

“Me too.”

*****

“Sir, the surrounding buildings have been cleared. Should we
check the neighboring homes?”

“No. We don’t need to start a panic. Bring the informant to
me.”

“Yes sir.”

Greg Bidell was ushered into the Bronsons’ home, past the
three adults on the sofa who gave him the “if looks could kill, he’d be dead”
glare, and was led to Victor Rawlings, who sat comfortably in the kitchen.

“Sit. Please,” Victor invited him.

Greg did as instructed.

“She’s not here,” Victor said.

“You should have raided last night, when I discovered her
presence,” Greg said. He  immediately regretted chastising Victor Rawlings, even
though he was right. The look on Victor’s face had him worried for his safety
now. He’d need to come up with some other information to satisfy Victor. “I
don’t know where he might have taken her, but I can give you some profile
information about him.”

“Go on.” Victor’s eyebrow shot up in interest.

“He’s nineteen and strong both physically and mentally, but
he’s never taken care of a crosser before. He won’t know what to do or how long
to stay away. He’ll call home. It’s only a matter of time.”

“How well do you know him?”

“Very well. He confided in me. He told me they had kissed.
That’s how I found out he was housing a girl, not a guy. I informed you right
away.”

“Did he sleep with her?”

“They’ve been sleeping in the same bed since she arrived.”

“No, you know what I mean.”

“Oh, oh I’m not sure. He was all excited over a kiss. Maybe
it was more of a make-out, I don’t know. I don’t think they’ve … you know …
done it.”

“You don’t think?” Victor asked sarcastically.

“Paul is not that type of guy.”

“Every guy is that type of guy.” Victor ran his fingers
through his hair. “Alright, you will stay in this house and answer every phone
call and doorbell. When he calls home, you tell him whatever it takes to find
his location, and then call me. I’m going to take all my men back to Rendier to
hopefully hasten his resurfacing. If he feels safe, he’ll peek his head out of
his hole. Then we’ll grab him. If you fail in any way, I’ll be done with you,
permanently.” Victor stood up and straightened his jacket and looked back at
Greg with an evil glare in his eyes. “Next time you tell me what I should have
done, I’ll kill you.”

“Yes sir.” Greg lowered his head. Victor left the kitchen,
and Greg immediately started formulating his plan to find Paul. He knew exactly
where to look and was glad he didn’t tell Victor everything about Paul.

*****

“What time is it, Paul?” Sierra asked.

He looked at his watch. “It’s noon. Are you hungry?”

“I am, but it’s alright. I can wait.”

“No, there’s food back in the crawlspace. I’ll go back and
get some.”

“Don’t leave me, Paul.” The frantic panic in her voice
pulled at his gut.

“It’s a long way back, and your ankle — ”

“What if someone comes while you’re gone? What if you’re
captured? I can wait for food, honestly. I’d rather starve than be left alone
and … risk losing you.”

“Alright, I’ll wait. Tell me about your life.”

Sierra shifted her position and turned to look at him. She
knew he was only trying to get their minds off of the hunger pains. “My mom
died when I was eight. I don’t remember very much about her, except her smile
and tenderness.”

“How did she die?”

“I don’t know. I think she was ill, but I’m not sure. My
father was so distraught that I didn’t ever question him. It always made him
sad, so I didn’t dwell on my mother’s death.”

“Was there a death certificate?”

“Yes, but the cause of death was listed as natural.”

“Tell me about your father.”

“He worked for Reginald Rawlings as an advisor. Not that
Reginald ever took his advice, but it looked good to the outside world that
Donald Montgomery was advising him. Once Victor’s eye zoned in on me, Reginald
decided he didn’t need my father for public support. He’d have his son marry
Donald’s daughter and place a Montgomery within the palace.”

“I don’t understand the importance of your last name.”

“The king who was overthrown by Alexandar Rawlings was
married to a Montgomery. She was a distant relation to my father. Once
Alexandar had taken over the country, he began the Montgomery hunt. He had
heard about rebellious factions wanting to assassinate him and place a
Montgomery back in power, so he started killing them all. My father told me his
parents went into hiding for many years. That’s where he met my mother, whom he
would marry at a later date. Somewhere along the timeline, my grandparents died,
as well as Alexandar, and that’s when Reginald became ruler.

“Reginald tried to appear good and wholesome for the first
years of his reign. He urged the remaining Montgomery family to come out of
hiding, although most of them were dead or had crossed the border already.
Reginald gave my father the position as advisor, much to my mother’s dismay.
She died when I was eight, and my father kept his position till the day
Reginald murdered him.”

Paul completed Sierra’s story by saying, “Reginald wanted
you to marry his son because of your last name. He’s struggling isn’t he?”

“He is. He started off his rule trying to be good, but it
didn’t last too long. Now the people mutter against him, and he realizes he
doesn’t have as many supporters as he would like.”

“So, by putting you into the mix, he’ll get his desired
support?”

“Right.”

“If the dissident factions would be satisfied with a
Montgomery in the palace, wouldn’t they be even more satisfied if a Montgomery
was in complete control of the country?”

“What are you getting at?”

“You seem to be the last remaining Montgomery. You could use
your lineage to push your way to the top.”

“To the top of what? Ruling a country? I don’t want that,
never did. I’d have to marry Victor in order to get into the palace.”

“Yes, but the doctor you talked about could poison Victor
and Reginald and then you’d become the ruler.”

“Now you sound like them.” The disgust in her voice alarmed
Paul.

“I didn’t mean to. I’m only saying you could use your name
to rise to the top and get your country back.”

“It’s not that easy, Paul. As much as I want the Rawlings out
of power, many still want them in power. If I succeeded in climbing to the top,
I wouldn’t last long. I’d be assassinated. No one can waltz in and remove
someone from power, except maybe another country’s government. Even then, the
supporters of the dethroned dictator would always be a problem.”

“I guess I haven’t given it enough thought.”

“Well, could someone walk into Baylend’s presidential office
and forcefully take over by killing your president? No. They’d be arrested, and
the internal government would be readjusted, placing your vice president in
charge. It’s kind of like that with a dictatorship too, only the first one to
move up into position would be Reginald’s heir, then Reginald’s top advisor,
then the second top advisor, and so on down the line. As much as the majority
of my country hates being under an authoritative rule, there is a certain kind
of comfort knowing what to expect from day to day. If someone like me tried to
take over, it would cause civil war.”

“Sara, you are the wisest girl I’ve ever met.”

They talked through the afternoon as they sat in the cool
damp tunnel, learning all about each other such as favorite hobbies, foods,
activities and other personal preferences. After a while, she closed her eyes
for a nap, leaving Paul to his own thoughts and his incredibly empty stomach.
His thirst was paramount, and hers was obvious because her voice had gone dry.
All the talking had dried her out, literally.

“Wake up, Sara.” Paul gently nudged her.

She sat up and looked around. Her tongue worked in her mouth
in an attempt to find moisture. “What time is it?”

“Six o’clock.”

She exhaled slowly, “I wonder what Reginald told the people
about me.”