Ultimate Power (12 page)

He had been sitting in the fantastic heated pool of the Ko Phi Phi Don hotel in Thailand. Maddie sat on his lap, only a toddler. She had ink-black hair, and she was looking up at him, smiling. He sat with a stupid grin on his face, squinting in the sun.
 

He sighed, filing the photo back in his wallet. That's when the bad dream that had been his life morphed into a beastly nightmare.
 

His wife had committed suicide, and she had taken his beautiful daughter with her. He found them in the tub, his wife, Tamara, clutching Maddie to her chest. They had worked too hard, but they never had enough money. They never saw each other. Life had gotten too much for her. She laced two sodas with cyanide before they drank it and climbed into the tub together. Her suicide note still sent shivers down his spine.

Tamara accused him of a lot of things. Of having affairs, which he didn't. Of boozing out all their money, which he probably did, memories of that time were vague. Of never having enough time for his daughter, always complaining that he was busy when she wanted a hug. He swallowed. That was true as well.

He used to have recurring dreams of that day, finding Tamara and Maddie in the tub. Maddie would turn around, her dark hair plastered to her face, her lips were blue and her skin pale, and she would ask him in a haunting voice, "Why did you do this to me, Daddy?"

He sniffed and wiped at his nose, took a deep breath. He didn't have those dreams since meeting Alexa. You never closed a chapter of your life, he guessed, you merely accepted what had happened and tried to be a better person and move forward.
 

He believed in second chances.

Alexa opened her eyes as she heard the door open. She smiled when Yumi climbed into the bed and snuggled into her back, cuddling her.
 

"I love you, mommy."

"I love you too, baby," she said, squeezing her hand. She sobbed, the feeling of guilt weighing on her like a heavy blanket.
 

"Can I stay a while?"

"You can stay forever, baby."

She drifted into a state of semi-consciousness where all the chapters of her life came back to haunt her. Anderson Fitch repeatedly hitting her, the blows feeling as real as the day that it had it happened.
 

All the children, always the children haunting her dreams. Dead kids in freezers, dead kids in dumpsters. Their faces distorted in screams of pain, dismembered bodies.

Yumi pointed a blaming finger at her. "You're a bad, bad mommy."

She sobbed as the shame overwhelmed her. She shook her head. "No, I'm not, I'm just doing my best."

Yumi's eyes grew angry, like she hated her. "Well, that hasn't been good enough now, has it?"

"I'll change, I promise."

The little girl walked up to her. "No, you won't. You'll never be a good mommy."

She sobbed.

In the background, she heard a small voice say. "Are you okay, mommy?"

"I'm going to try my best to be a good mommy."

Yumi stood in front of her, her hands on her hips, a scowl on her face. "I'm going to become a monster, just like you! Murderer!"

The voice in the background said, "I know mommy. You are the best mommy I've ever had."

She sucked in a deep breath as she felt someone hug her, then bolted upright in the bed, looking around her, dazed and confused.

Yumi looked up at her. "You were talking in your sleep, mommy."

She grabbed Yumi and pulled her to her chest. "I love you, baby."

The little girl threw her arms around her neck, holding her tight. "I love you too mommy. I love you so much. Please don't cry."

Alexa laughed and cried, wiping the tears from here eyes, planting kisses on Yumi's forehead. "I love you, always remember that."

Allan Sonti picked up the phone that rang on his desk. "Who ordered the hit?" Sam East asked without greeting.

"The Syrians," Sonti answered.

"Why?"

"You pissed them off. That's what happens when you take out their leader and don't wipe out the cell."

"I want the heat off me."

"That will cost you."

East snorted. "Who?"

"Her name is Alexa Guerra, I'll send you her file."

East sighed. "Get the heat off me, Sonti."

"You have my word," he said and disconnected the call. He punched another number into the phone and waited for it to connect.

"Why are you phoning me on this number?" a voice whispered.

Sonti chuckled. "I thought I told you to phone me whenever pertinent information became available."

"Yes. So what?"

"So, my double agent being killed in Kabul isn't deemed to be high enough on your list of priorities?"

The man hesitated. "Look, Sonti. I can't do this anymore."

Sonti gripped the phone, slammed it onto his table, two, three times. He took a deep breath and straightened his jacket, composing himself. "Now you listen to me you useless piece of human excrement. I put you where you are today. I'm paying for your daughter's tuition in the fancy private school in Geneva."

"I know, Sonti, just listen--"

"Do you want to die, Henrie?"
 

"No, I don't Sonti," Henrie Dumas answered, his voice cracking.

Sonti chuckled. "First I'm going to kill that lovely daughter of yours. She's hoping to become a model, right? Oh, I hope she puts up a fight. I'll send you the photos."

Sonti, please--"

"Next your dear little wife, Isabelle. Actually, I'm having second thoughts about that, you would probably thank me for killing her." He chuckled.
 
"Have you ever seen a body once I'm done with it?"

"Yes, Allan," he whispered.

"Fuck you, Henrie," he shouted into the receiver and slammed the phone down.

Neil opened the door a fraction and peeked inside. Alexa was snoring. Good.
 

It had been six days since Alexa's breakdown. He had taken leave, determined to nurse her back to health. He tried to feed her what the doctor had ordered. Lots of proteins and veggies and starch, fatten her up a little, the doctor had said.

She ate a little at first, but two days ago she started wolfing down the food between her naps. That was a good sign.

"Neil, is that you?" he heard her call softly from the bedroom.

He walked inside. "Yes, baby."

She sat up. "I need to get up."
 

"You need to rest."

"How is Laiveaux?"

"He's fine," he said, tucking her fringe behind her ear.

She nodded sleepily and yawned. She crawled into his arms and he rocked her gently, until he heard her breathing slow down.

He tucked her into the duvet and stood up, leaning against the wall, watching her.

Sometimes she would have nightmares. Struggling against some assailant, thrashing her arms. She would call out names that he knew, some that he had never heard of. She probably dreamt of Anderson Fitch beating her. Callahan hunting her. The day her dad had been shot in front of her. He shrugged. She had always rationalized away her pain. Yes, she was okay, don't worry, let's get the job done. But still, he knew that it must have gotten to her, the events in their lives were too traumatic not to.
 

She started whimpering in her sleep and sat bolt upright in bed, sobbing.
 

He touched her brow, she was burning up. He went to the bathroom and fetched a wet facecloth and sat down beside her, wiping the perspiration from her brow. She clung to him, her shoulders jerking as she sobbed.

He rocked her gently. "Cry, Alexa. You need to get it all out."

"Get what out, Neil?" she sobbed, looking up at him. "Why am I feeling this way?"

He pulled his fingers through her hair, rocking her from side to side. "The gypsies call bad memories
Chimera
. We envision them as animals with human traits, like clever, calculated monsters." He leaned back against the headboard, pulling her to his chest. "They're evil spirits that are out to haunt your thoughts."

She wrapped her arms around his body, calming down. "So, how do you defeat these...
Chimera
?"

Neil shrugged. "You face them in your dreams."

"How long?"

"As long as is necessary. Until you're not afraid of them anymore. Until they disappear."

She lifted her face to his. "But I need to work."

"Why?"

"Because there are people that need me."

He chuckled. "And what about myself and Yumi? We need you too."

She lay head back down on his chest. "That's different and you know that."

He stroked her head. "How is that different, Alexa?"

She shrugged. "Because you'll always be here with me."

He chuckled. "We need you to be healthy Alexa. You're a part of our lives, and it would hurt us to lose...the old Alexa." He sat up and put her head on the pillow. He fumbled in his pocket and put out a hand containing two pills. "Here, drink it."

"What is it?"

"Ketamine. It's all I have."

"I don't need it."

"You do, drink it. It will help you sleep."

She sat up stubbornly. "I don't want to sleep."

"You must. You need to defeat the Chimera. It's the only way you'll get healthy."

She tucked her fringe behind her ear. "I'm not sick." Her face was sunken and sallow, the rings beneath her eyes darker than he remembered.

Neil pushed her back into her cushion. "Alexa, you're very, very sick. Your brain has shut down. It has had enough. You've been living on adrenaline since you were a kid - fight or flight. You must rest."

She sighed then popped the pills into her mouth. He handed her a glass of water and she threw her head back and swallowed them. She curled up into the duvet. "Don't go far," she whispered.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll always be here, baby."

She nodded, then closed her eyes.

Neil groaned as he felt someone poke him in his ribs. "Wake up, sleepy head."

He stretched out his arm as and yawned, rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
 

Alexa sat next to him, fully dressed. "How did you sleep?"

He sat there, staring at her. He probably looked like a lunatic, but he didn't care. Alexa was back. The past couple of weeks had done wonders for her, she had transformed in front of his eyes. The color in her cheeks were back, and her eyes were sparkling green again. Her figure had become voluptuous, all the curves and volume was back, the way he remembered her.
 

She put her hand on his chin. "I made breakfast."

He raised an eyebrow.

She giggled and kissed him, deeply. "Okay, I went to buy breakfast."

He pulled the covers away. "Great. Not that I criticize your cooking skills."

She laughed and led him to the kitchen. She wore a tight-fitting jeans and her favorite black leather jacket. Her ass mesmerized him. Fresh coffee was brewing, and there were two plates and polystyrene containers on the table. The smell of omelets and bacon drifted through the room. She opened the containers and slid the omelets onto the plates.

"There something that I've always wanted to ask you," Neil said, pouring the coffee.

"Shoot."

"How come I always get food poisoning when you cook, but you eat the same food and nothing happens to you?"

She shrugged. "If you grow up with Bruce, anything that comes in a pot is considered edible. I guess all those years made me immune."

Neil chuckled. "How you feeling?"

She smiled and popped a forkful of egg into her mouth. "I'm good and you?"

He looked at her, smiling. "I'm good. Should I wake Yumi?"

"I dropped her at school. You overslept."

"Thanks."

She winked seductively. "It's just you and me."

Neil grinned. "Just us?"

She licked her lips. "Fancy breakfast in bed?"

He jumped up. "Let's eat later."

She giggled as he lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Alexa was back.

Interpol HQ, Lyon, France

Military Attache to the President of France, Henrie Dumas sat at Bruce's desk, his leg bouncing up and down. He glanced up at Bruce as he spoke, biting his fingernails.

Bruce was having a hard time calming himself down. He stood up and walked to the large glass window separating his office from the open plan area where his agents worked. He spun around on his heel. "Allow me to summarize, see if I have my facts straight."

Dumas closed his eyes and nodded his head.

"You have been a mole in the office of the presidency for the past three months."

Dumas nodded, biting his lower lip.