Blood Money

22

Trevor comes into the hospital room several hours later. The lights are off so he thinks that Danielle is sleeping. He turns on one of the lesser lights and finds Danielle staring unseeing at the wall with tears streaming down her face.

"What is it, Danielle?" Trevor finds his voice far more gentle than he's ever used with her before.

"I know who is trying to kill me. I know who killed my parents. Who killed my grandparents. Who killed my husband. Who killed nearly an hundred innocent people just to get to me."

Trevor sits down and gently takes her hand. "Who is it?"

"Get me a computer and I'll show you. You need to know."

"Why do I need to know?" Trevor asks confused, Danielle has made it very clear that this person is hers to kill. He hands her his laptop. He's already read the encrypted message that she sent him. Then he erased it.

Danielle pulls up a search and shows him various images of the woman shown.

In spite of himself he inhales sharply. The resemblance to Danielle is obvious. "Who is she?"

"A dead woman. At least that's what I was always told by my parents and grandparents. My aunt."

"So, why are you showing her to me?" Trevor tries again.

"If I'm like a cockroach almost impossible to kill, she is like a plague. The only way to stop it is by destroying it, but she's even worse than me. My parents thought they had killed her more than twenty years ago." Danielle clicks on a certain photo.

"Oh, shit." Trevor says hoarsely. Danielle gives him a weak smile. "It's a trap."

"Yes, a very clever one. You can't let him know that you know anything about this or you'll end up dead too."

"Danielle, I'm not going to leave you high and dry now." Trevor hisses through his teeth. Anger boiling in his veins.

"I can't stop you from doing whatever, but I would rather you didn't place yourself as a target. I already got your father killed, I don't want to get you killed."

"Can you kill her?" Trevor demands.

"Like I am now?" Danielle shakes her head. "I need a safe place to hide until I am up to form." Danielle looks at Trevor, "I have someplace, but I'll have to go completely off grid. I left you a message. It gives you directions for certain things I need you to do for me."

Danielle can no longer look at him. "I am counting on you doing these things for me. If you don't follow my directions or are followed, I'll be dead. Of course if you betray me, then I'll be just as dead."

"I'm not going to betray you," Trevor leans over and gives her a kiss on the forehead.

"Everyone betrays me. Keep Jeremiah safe, I rather like him."

"I will." Trevor has this insane feeling that he's saying his final goodbye to Danielle. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Trevor. I'll do my best to avenge Max. Don't worry about avenging me."

"Danielle, there won't be a need to avenge you." Trevor says his voice thick with emotions he's not ready to confront.

Danielle gives him a small smile, "Thank you for that. Let's see if this cockroach has life in her yet."

"Stop calling yourself a cockroach."

"You know that's my name, as an assassin. I don't know why you have such a hard time hearing me call myself that."

Trevor shakes his head, "Who gave you that ridiculous name anyway?"

"My parents. And it's not ridiculous. Cockroaches are damn hard to kill."

Trevor gives in. She's right. After all she's been through he has to agree, she's like a damn cockroach.

That night, Danielle escapes past Chet's men and makes her way out of the hospital. Soon she finds a car and breaks into it. In no time she has it going and is on her way out of the city that has become a death trap for her.

She only hopes that her trust in Trevor isn't misplaced. She hopes his desire to kill his father's killer is stronger than the allure of the money to kill her. That and his honoring of his father's wishes.

She only makes two stops on the way. The first is to fill the gas tank and the second is to go to one of the caches she has and picking up money and weapons.

Once she's out of town she uses some of the money to buy supplies to hide her identity.

The next town over she ditches the car she stole and steals another one. She doubles back not all the way, but enough to throw off any pursuit.

Most people hiding go west so she intentionally heads south east.

Stopping only long enough to eat and take cat naps when she can't drive any longer without the break. After long hours of driving she finally pulls into the little used dirt road of a little known cabin she bought years ago. It's untraceable to her.

She takes out the food she bought to take care of her needs and trudges into the cabin.

The cabin is small but well cared for. Danielle puts away the perishables and heads to the bedroom. Not even bothering to strip she sinks down gratefully onto the bed. She hurts like hell all over and couldn't take the pain medicine as long as she was driving.

She pulls her pack over to her and digs out the water and pain pills. Popping them into her mouth she downs them with the water. Then exhausted strips down and gets under the covers. The last thing she remembers is feeling the cool sheets as they slid against her warm body and how good they feel.

She wakes to the feel of sunshine on her face. That and a noise woke her up. She holds herself completely still just waiting for the noise to come again. It does.

Danielle slides off the bed as silently as she can. She ignores the pain except for the wince she allows to show. She carefully slides her shirt back on then takes her gun and drifts out of the room.

"Trevor," she holds the gun to his head and he raises his hands in surrender. "You better have a damn good reason for being here."

"I do. You need someone to help you get better. That's what I'll be doing."

"You brought them here didn't you?"

"If I had you'd be dead. I made sure that I wasn't followed."

"You've been away from your territory for a long time, Trevor. You should have gone back."

"I couldn't. Chet suspects me of knowing something. If I go back I'm just as dead as you are."

"You fucking fool. What about Jeremiah?" Danielle is pissed as hell. 

"No, Jeremiah is too guileless to hide anything. Chet knows that. For a mafia leader that's a real weakness, but he makes it work for him."

"You are a double fool if you think Jeremiah is guileless. That man has more secrets than I do. Did you tell him?" Danielle demands.

"No, no one else knows." Trevor assures her.

Danielle lets out a sigh of relief with that. "You bring your phone and computer?"

"No, I destroyed them both after following your directions. Everything will be just as you wish when you are ready to go."

Danielle takes the gun away from Trevor's head. "You better have bought some grocery's because I wasn't planning on anyone extra."

"I added them to what you already bought."