The Masked Emotions Series Book Five Redux: Loving

Nowhere To Run

LOCHLAN

Lochlan stared at the closed caption feed from his room with a condescending smile. There were seven in total, all sitting around a beautiful mahogany table, coated in a midnight blue carpet of velvet. There were five rectangles painted on it in a semi-circular motion, rectangles waiting to be filled with pieces of cards that could make or break a man, as the cards contained riches beyond their wildest dreams, but they also contained a black hole that could suck every penny from them, leaving them broken and lost. It was the first time Lochlan was able to relax. This was indeed a safe place, a hidden place that was unknown to the Syndicate, and more importantly, that behemoth. Over the past two months, no matter where he went, Mexico, Brazil, China, and even Russia, that man was able to find him. Dealing with the Syndicate was one thing, but him... He was truly a monster, attacking his bodyguards without any hesitation or remorse, and no matter how many people fought him, this man didn't feel pain. This man was didn't falter. Duke Dupree became his living, breathing boogeyman.

Candi told him as much as she could about him, but even she didn't know as much. All she knew was that he was a sadist, his father's attack dog who enjoyed receiving and giving pain, and even his father was afraid of him. He knew he went too far, but at the same time, to him, it was unjustifiable. His quest for revenge blinded him. Trying to keep his secret distracted him, and in doing so, he became the man he hated the most in life – his father, and it sickened him. He hated the fact that he tortured one and killed two women. What made it worse was that no matter where he went, he always saw the two that he killed. They always followed him, were always there. He had trouble sleeping and eating, through fear. He kept having harrowing nightmares of his blind rage, with his hands over that woman's throat as she pleaded about her unborn child or of Samantha's last words which would sweep over him and wracked him to his very bones. At various times of the day, they would walk around him, staring at him, laughing, and poking fun.

Out of all of his victims, out of everyone he killed, they were the only ones who impacted him in such a way that he never thought possible. Perhaps it was because they were the only women he ever killed. A line he told himself he would never cross. Yet that one woman was different, it was her face, her eyes. She looked so much like her. He looked her up, his guilt drove his need to get to know her, and what he discovered just made it worse for him. Her name was Joslin Hanson, stepsister to his boogeyman, and the child she was carrying belonged to Enzio Salazar. Yet having more people who wanted him dead didn't phase him as much, it was her face. He began to study each of her photos posted on her memorial page, each photo he zoomed in and would just stare at it. She looked like his mother. Perhaps that was why it affected him so much.  Anonymously he created a gofundme account and donated a substantial amount of money for her child as a way to make penance, but he knew it wasn't going to make a difference. Right now he needed to focus on the blowback. He needed to be ready, but they keep distracting him.

"You need to start running soon," Joslin told him as she seemed to materialized beside him.

"Yeah, he always seems to find you a week after you settled in," Samantha laughed while walking around the desk.

"I'm just fine right here," he snapped at them before standing up and refilling his glass with whiskey. He walked around them, even though he was fully aware that they were figments of his imagination, but to him, it would be strange to just walk through them. He looked out the window, overlooking the skyline. "I'm safe here."

"That's what you said about Mexico," Samantha laughed, "Then China, Russia, and Germany where you left that pretty piece of ass of yours."

Joslin stood beside him. "It's a shame you left her behind. I think she liked you. However, if I was her, I'd be extremely pissed at you."

"Look, I felt guilty for abandoning Candi in Germany," he sighed, "but I left her two million dollars. It was my way of saying thanks." They tossed him an amusing, condescending smile.