Alexander

Sisters and Suspicion

"So, you're the man of my sister's dreams. I must say it's nice to meet you, Eli." She extends her hand and I shake it.

"Likewise. Dakota, can I have a word with you?" I pull Dakota to the side. "Why didn't you say your sister was coming and is she staying?"

"Relax. It's only for a couple of days, I've missed her."

"Fine. Only a couple of days." She hugs me and goes running over to her sister.
Great I'm surrounded by women, I can say bye bye to my manhood.

Since Dakota has her sister to keep her company, I figured I could return to work for a few days. Dakota agreed and thought it would be a good idea for her and her sister to bond. So, I go to go check on Blythe.

"Hi, how's it going?" She smiles as soon as she sees my face. Blythe looked surprisingly happy.

"Mr. Eli, are you following me?" She jokes. Blythe puts one hand on her hip and I could tell that she definitely had personality.

"Not at all, but I must say you look happy." Just as I say that, I notice a bruise across her neck. She notices me looking at her neck and then turns her back to me.

"So, what can I get you?" She goes back to cleaning glasses.

"Nothing, actually, I was looking for Vikki."

"You just missed her." Suspicion rises in me and my eyebrow lifts. "She left about 10 minutes ago."

"Really? Did she say where she was going?"

"No. Even if she did, I wouldn't be able to tell you for employee personal purposes." I respect Blythe, I'm beginning to understand why Blane trusted her to be his girlfriend.

"I understand." I get ready to leave, but before I do, Blythe stops me.

"Eli. You're not some deranged psycho are you?" I laugh.

"No, I'm just closest to the big guy." With that I leave. Vikki would never just leave work early like that. I wonder what has gotten into her.

Stepping into the parking lot, I take a minute to look around. There's no trace of Vikki, not even the slightest clue to let you know that she was here. Something isn't right and I can tell.

I needed time to evaluate everything that's been going on and I didn't want to do that at home because I didn't know Lori that well and at the moment don't trust her character. I couldn't go back to Texas because the goons were probably there. Although, you should never underestimate your opponents and they could be long gone. I needed to relocate, and I knew just the place- New York.

When time was closing rapidly on the time of my mother's death, she took me aside and had a talk with me. My mother told me her real name and my dad's real name. She told me that whenever my father needed to take time to figure things out, or get work done without anyone trying to kill him, he would go to his location in New York because there were so many people there, and it would be hard for his enemies to find him.

I called Dakota. "Eli......" I knew that she was near her sister because she didn't call me by my name and her voice lowered to a whisper.

"I have to get out of state for a while to handle some business. Can your sister stay for......I don't know, a week, maybe?"

"A week? Where is it that you're going."

"New York."

"What?!" I didn't want her to think I was abandoning her, or leaving her to be a sitting duck. Even though she had been on the run with me for a couple of days, she wasn't prepared to be on the run without me, you never truly get the hang of being on the run.

"It's just a week. I'll be back before you know it. You know, let's do this, when I come back I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

"Anywhere?" She asks for confirmation.

"Anywhere."

"Paris. I want to go to Paris." I think about how beautiful it would be to take her to Paris. All the romantic lights, even the language itself.

"Paris, it is."

"Good, and Alex.......stay safe." I let her voice linger in my thoughts.

"Will do."

While Dakota was gone, we had only been apart for four days, and since her sister was here, I returned to work for only a day. In those four days I had thought that I was going to lose my mind, but here we were about to be go a week without the company of one another's presence. One can only hope we stay strong.