Dictator s Daughter (2 page)

He started his truck and began to drive back
home. Sean loved the small town he lived in with the impressive
mountain ranges framing the valley. The northern Seojo mountains
were spectacular and beautiful, and the southern Trejo range were
rugged and ominous; Rendier lay beyond the thirty mile vastness of
that range along with Victor Rawlings, his dormant military and all
of his submissive countrymen.

Sean looked to the Seojo Mountains and
imagined the wind in his face as he raced down one of the many ski
slopes. Winter would arrive soon and he hoped he would be able to
hit the slopes at least once. Maybe his fiancée, Chandra, would try
to learn this winter.

Sean signaled to turn into the parking lot of
The DoubleScoop ice cream parlor. Chandra worked today and Sean had
a hankering for some Double Chocolate Fudge. After parking, he
entered the busy shop and got in line. He saw his fiancée serving
customers and she caught his eye. He winked and she smiled. From a
reasonable distance, she was every man’s dream.

“How may I help you, sir?” she spoke in her
super sweet voice as Sean stepped up to place his order.

“The usual, ma’am,” he announced
formally.

“You always eat the same thing. Why don’t you
try something else like this Pistachio Dream?” She tried to
tantalize his senses with the wave of her hand.

“Nope, I stick with what I know, and I know
Double Chocolate Fudge is good.”

She scooped up his serving. “So, what are you
doing here?”

“What time do you get off tonight?”

“Really? Are you finally free?” Her eyes lit
up with excitement.

“Yes. I took him to the airport this
morning.” He smiled even though she’d just jabbed his chosen form
of employment. The all too familiar nagging voice in the back of
his mind told him once again, like it had so many other times,
run, stupid, run.

“Well, it’s about time. Six o’clock.” She
handed him the ice cream and he gave her money.

“Do you want me to pick you up?” He
asked.

“No, I’ll come to your house.”

“Alright, see you then.” Sean left the store
with his dessert and sat in his truck to eat it. His mind wandered
to Chandra and their relationship. He met Chandra Stevens at The
DoubleScoop earlier that spring when he stopped in for his favorite
Double Chocolate Fudge. Her beauty and smoking hot body sucked him
right in. She was new to the area with plans to attend the
community college in the fall. Their dating relationship
accelerated and before Sean knew it, he was engaged. He technically
didn’t even propose to her. She simply convinced him it would be
wonderful to be married to him and persuaded him to purchase a
pricey diamond ring for her.

Whenever Sean thought about Chandra, his
thoughts would get muddled. He couldn’t sort out exactly what he
felt for her, and it was too exhausting to try to talk to her about
it. She had a way about her that seemed to smooth out all the rough
edges, yet expose all new ones. Sean attributed most of her
behavior to the fact they didn’t get much time together. Housing
border crossers didn’t allow for much quality time.

Her ambitions of going to college never
materialized. Whenever Sean brought up the topic, she’d say, “I
think the woman’s place is in the home with the children, like your
mother. You’re the man; you should provide me a home to raise our
children.” Nothing made Sean squirm more than the thought of little
‘Chandras’ running around. Yet, she was beautiful, so Sean should
just be happy she wanted him, or at least that’s what she said.

Sean turned out on the road leading him home.
He passed small businesses and shops on his way and a couple of bed
and breakfast establishments. It was interesting how this small
group of businesses had successfully kept the larger hotel chains
out of Slaterville. However, what amazed him further was how these
bed and breakfasts’ helped disguise Sean’s family business. Anyone
watching closely would assume the Cutler’s operated a bed and
breakfast too.

Sean drove his truck down the road toward his
home. He gazed out to the right, at the crisp, blue water of Slater
Lake. Its surface was perfectly calm, like glass, with one lonely
fishing boat situated in the middle. Sean looked out his left
window at the many houses facing the beautiful view. He slowed his
truck down and turned left, into the driveway of his parents’
home.

Sean remembered something Chandra had said
when he first brought her home to meet his family, “You
still
live with your parents?” Her rebuke had insulted him.
He worked here. This was not only his home, it was his place of
employment, whether she liked it or not. However, once they
married, he’d have to figure something else out. She had said, in
no uncertain terms, that she would not live under his parent’s
roof.

Sean turned his truck off and with graceful
efficiency gathered all of the bags and sacks from the errand run.
He bumped the door of his truck with his hip to close it and
inhaled another deep breath of the clean air. This time the air had
a slight taste of moisture from Slater Lake.

Sean’s muscular build and tall frame easily
carried the load to the kitchen. After he put everything down, he
proceeded up to his room to begin the standard cleaning performed
every time a crosser left. James had stayed in Sean’s room like all
the other males and the female crossers stayed in his sister
Lyndee’s room.

The cleaning process was the same; change the
bed, clean the bathroom, vacuum and air out the room. The thorough
cleaning had therapeutic benefits for Sean. It gave him time to
reflect on the life of the crosser who’d moved on. He would ponder
on their futures and find himself hoping they would be able to
throw off the heavy weight of their past life.

As Sean flipped open the fresh sheet on his
king sized bed, he felt like he was opening up a fresh page in the
ever-continuing saga of defectors from Rendier. Who would be the
next visitor to their home? What kind of life would they be
fleeing? What kind of effect would the next one have on him?

Sean had at least four to seven days off
before he would become responsible for another crosser. Sean’s
father, Paul, understood the emotional toll this job had on the
psyche and the importance of unwinding after sending off a crosser.
Paul was born into this lifestyle and continued with it his whole
life. He knew more about it than just about anyone else; in his
opinion. His compassion was matched only by his mother, Sara, as
she had been a crosser too.

A knock on his bedroom door brought him back
to the present.

“Sean,” his mother stood in the doorway.
“Your father needs to speak to you in his office, now.” She wasn’t
usually that direct and it struck Sean as odd.

Sara was close to the same age as her
husband, Paul, and in equally good physical condition; if not
better for a forty-five year old. She had beautiful long gentle
waves in her dark brown hair and her brown eyes had gentle smile
lines around them indicating a happy life. Her skin was like
beautiful porcelain and her facial features were small and
delicate. It was obvious that Sean’s parents still loved each other
very much.

Sean walked downstairs to the basement where
his father’s office was located. He and his father looked so much
alike, it was amazing. They were the same height, had dark brown
hooded eyes, muscular body type and deep brown hair; except that
Paul had some gray wisdom hairs over his ears where Sean did not.
Many people have said that when he reaches his father’s age of
forty-six he’ll look exactly like Paul does now. Sean wasn’t
bothered by statements like these because his father looked
great.

Paul’s job held the greatest importance as he
dealt with the most dangerous situations of everyone. He talked
with the actual ‘sources’ that helped the defectors flee across the
border. His intuitive senses had to be at their fullest when
dealing with these potentially crooked individuals. One wrong
assumption could mean disaster.

The ‘sources’ had their own methods of
getting crossers past border control; each different, yet
effective. Paul didn’t know how they succeeded in fooling the
border guards, only that they did. The crosser would be at the drop
off point every time without fail.

The border between the two countries was
heavily patrolled by Rendierian soldiers who performed meticulous
vehicle searches. Outsiders could go to Rendier to visit, but
Rendierians couldn’t leave their country without a passport. As a
result, passports were next to impossible to attain, and it was
common knowledge around these parts that Rendierians only left
their country on their way to heaven or hell. So, it increased
Paul’s curiosity as to how his source was always able to cruise
through security unchecked.

As Sean approached the slightly opened door,
he heard his father speaking on the phone. “My requirements must be
met all the way, or we won’t make the pick-up. Are you sure you
can’t wait three more days? What is his current health status?
OK... Alright, we will be prepared for that.... No, we’ve got that
under control. Alright, give me two hours and we’ll meet at the
rendezvous point.” Paul finished his phone conversation and hung up
the phone.

Sean’s stomach dropped; a new crosser would
be arriving tonight. Tonight! No break, no unwind time and no
dinner date with Chandra. She wasn’t going to be happy about
that.

“Come in, Sean. We have an injured crosser in
critical condition I’ll be picking up tonight.”

“Are you serious?” Sean asked in a whining
tone.

“Serious about what?”

“Usually I get at least a few days’ break
before I get another crosser.”

“Apparently, this one has been in hiding for
over a week already and cannot receive medical help without being
discovered. There’s no option on this one, Sean. This crosser has
an extreme amount of heat on his head. In fact, he may be the
‘hottest’ one we’ve ever housed. You will need to exercise
tremendous caution,” Paul warned. “Now go get your room ready with
level-one medical supplies and I’ll be back around seven
o’clock.”

Sean walked back up the stairs begrudgingly.
His night with Chandra was ruined and he probably wouldn’t get any
sleep either because of the medical condition of his new crosser,
and what did his father mean when he said this one had a lot of
heat? All crossers were
‘hot’
!

Sean worked hard to get everything ready by
six o’clock so when Chandra stopped by they could at least spend an
hour together. He set out all manner of bandages, ointments, gauze,
antibiotic injections, medications (some of which he had just
picked up at the pharmacy), scissors, medical tape and a few other
odds and ends. He didn’t know what kind of injuries this crosser
would be arriving with, but his father had referred to them as
critical, so Sean planned as such.

Six o’clock came and went and Chandra didn’t
arrive. Sean paced the living room in anticipation of his fiancée
and her reaction to their evening plans being squashed.
She’s
going to blow a gasket,
Sean thought to himself.

Chandra finally arrived at six thirty.

“I’m so angry!” She announced as she stormed
past Sean. Her long golden hair flew past Sean’s face. Her
delicious perfume trailed behind her in an invisible presence
making Sean lose focus. “The stupid girl who was supposed to take
the shift at six didn’t show up on time. When she showed up she was
all like, ‘I’m sorry, I had to drive my brother to the hospital to
get stitches.’ Like that’s
my
problem or something. Some
people don’t have any consideration for others! It’s like, hey, I
have a life
too
, you know.” She took a calming deep breath
and her voice softened and turned sickeningly sweet, “But I’m here
now so let’s go.”

It never ceased to amaze Sean how Chandra’s
personality would teeter back and forth with a Jekyll/Hyde kind of
intensity. He chose his words carefully, “Chandra, we can’t go
anywhere tonight. I’m sorry.”

“What?” Her smile faded from her face.

“I have a new crosser arriving tonight,” Sean
hesitantly informed her.

“So soon? It’s too soon... It’s not right...
This isn’t fair!”

“I know.”

“This is
our
night! Doesn’t anyone
ever think about
us
? About
me
?”

“I’m sorry,” Sean apologized further.

“You will just have to say no. You tell your
father
no
this time!”

“I’m sorry. My father is picking him up right
now. Look, I’m not any happier about this than you are,” Sean tried
to convince her.

“You always get a week long break! Why not
this time?”

“I don’t know; apparently it’s an
emergency.”

“An emergency, huh? Can it be any more
important than our relationship?”

“Chandra-”

“How can we even pretend to be engaged if we
never get any time together?”

“I know and I’m sorry, Chandra.”

She pouted as she realized there was no way
to win this, “Well, can we at least go grab a bite to eat?”

“No, there isn’t enough time. My father will
be back any minute.”

“Your job stinks,” she sulked with her bottom
lip jutting out, “like mine.”

Sean didn’t say anything.

“So, that’s it for tonight?” She said after a
short silence.

“I’m sorry Chandra. I’ll make it up to you.”
Sean tried to smooth it over.

“Yes, you
will
.” She whirled around
and left the house.

Sean’s mood turned sour with his fiancée
storming out like she did. Or perhaps it was only the fact he
wouldn’t be getting a break between crossers.

Shortly after seven, Sean saw his father’s
car pull in the driveway with Dr. Randall in the passenger seat.
The relationship between Dr. Randall and Paul went way back. He was
the only doctor Paul trusted to work with their crossers within
their home. Dr. Randall kept the Cutler family well stocked with
medical supplies and he trained both Sean and Lyndee often on
first-aid and basic medical procedures. Sean thought of him as a
nice enough man, but not very talkative about his relationship with
his parents. Dr. Randall never married and Sean supposed him to be
about fifty-five years old. His white hair and horn rimmed glasses
completed his medical professional persona.