Dictator s Daughter Read Online Free Page A

Sean taking the night shift and his mother the day. Dr.
Randall came twice a day, giving medications and changing bandages.
Eli’s swollen eye had reduced and the smaller cuts were
healing.
    Sean kept watching the news for any clue
about Eli, but nothing stood out, no reports of missing individuals
or abductions, and nothing to imply scandal or illegal activity.
Sean’s father had said the heat on Eli’s head would be huge, but
Sean couldn’t see any. Usually missing persons reports preceded the
arrival of a new crosser or were posted shortly after; but not this
time.
    In the meantime, Sean’s older sister Lyndee
finished up with her crosser, Janice. After Janice had been shipped
off to parts unknown, Sean found a moment to talk with Lyndee.
    “What did you find out about Janice?” Sean
watched his twenty-six year old sister go into automatic mode. She
had assisted crossers two years more than him.
    “Janice felt secure enough in her position to
question Victor Rawlings about dubious activities happening in the
palace,” Lyndee’s brown eyes closely resembled her mother’s.
    “Did she give you details?”
    “A little. She said she was Victor’s personal
secretary and her responsibilities included making appointments for
wealthy men and collecting money. She was to place the money in a
certain bank account. She started to question Rawlings about the
appointments, not even knowing what they were for or why money was
paid up front. He dismissed her for questioning his authority.”
    “That sounds like Rawlings.”
    “Right, but before the end of the next day,
she had to go into hiding because a death warrant had been issued
on her head.”
    “Clearly, Rawlings didn’t want her blabbing
what she had discovered,” Sean deduced.
    “I never got the skinny on your crosser,
James.”
    “Oh, well I’m kind of thinking Janice and him
were involved in the same thing. James said he suspected Victor of
money laundering. He was on the accounting team and the other
accountants told him to look the other way and not say anything,
but James couldn’t. So he questioned Victor about the origins of
the many deposits of large amounts of money, and the next day he
had to go into hiding.”
    “So what do you think they stumbled upon?”
Lyndee asked.
    “I don’t know, but Rawlings sure is going
overboard by telling the world his country is financially secure.
Why he’s laundering money is a mystery to me.”
    “What do you think happened to your new
crosser?”
    “I don’t know yet. I’m almost afraid to find
out.”
    “Janice told me most people who work in the
palace or around the dictator have an escape fund set aside for the
moment they realize there’s a bullet with their name on it.”
    “Huh, we save money for college or new
trucks, in Rendier they save money to escape.”
     
    It had been a week since Eli arrived and his
injuries were mending well. He hadn’t had any more nightmares since
the first night and Sean had coaxed some conversation from the boy.
Sean could hardly wait to learn more about Eli and ask him detailed
questions; not just questions about comfort or hunger like, ‘can I
get you a drink?’ or, ‘are you warm enough?’ So far, the only
conversation they had centered on was the subject of the king-sized
bed and evacuation procedures. Eli had asked Sean why there was
only one bed in the room and it was clear to Sean that Eli was
uncomfortable with the two of them sharing a bed. Sean explained
that if a raid took place, it wouldn’t look as suspicious. Separate
beds in an adult’s room was a surefire sign of housing crossers.
Sean used the opportunity to explain the evacuation procedures to
Eli.
    “In the event of a raid, your safety is
number one. If I say jump, you do it. No questions, no hesitations,
agreed? We have a number of escape routes out of the house and, in
the event we need to flee, I’ll choose the safest one. You’ll need
to trust me completely and not