To Leap From Heaven [A Romantic Thriller]

10.

Since his re-assignment, Carl had become more withdrawn, and at times acted hostile towards his superior and colleagues. He performed his duties most admirably, but never went the extra mile. His colleagues had, on numerous occasions tried to engage him in conversation, but he shunned efforts at camaraderie, and they eventually stopped. They left him alone, and that suited Carl perfectly. He appreciated being left to himself, because it gave him time to think, something he never stopped doing. Despite his constant miserable mood, there was one thing which made him happy, and it was the fact that he was not part of the President's detail who had to accompany him wherever he went.

That would have taken him away from his beloved Catherine. He went so far as to request night duty because it gave him time to spy on her without interruption. Carl had, whenever he could, and when no one was around, taken up his post under Catherine's window, and there he stood and watched the square of light for hours, wondering and speculating about what she was doing, wearing, and eating. It was only when her light went out when he continued on his rounds.

Carl's shoulders were hunched, and he walked with a stoop as if he was carrying the world on his shoulders. His eyes shone like a maniac's, and his eyes were fastened to the ground as if he would find answers to the world's problems buried in the grass. His face was drawn like that of a monk in prayer, but he was far from praying, he was cursing. He cursed everyone and everything. He hated having been born to a drug addicted mother, and having been, at his birth, left at the doors of an orphanage to die, or to be rescued and raised by strangers. The orphanage had always made him feel cold and lonely, and it was a feeling he could not shake.

Carl felt betrayed, betrayed by the ones who were supposed to love and care for him. He felt robbed of a loving, caring nurturing warm home filled with childhood kisses and gentle hugs. The brutality of his start in life was deeply etched into his memory, and the scars would not heal. And when he thought he would be able to heal through the act of romantic love, along came a handsome nobody and took his place as her driver, which meant there was no opportunity to spend time with Catherine. He despised Matt, and swore he was going to make him suffer. In fact, he was going to make them all suffer for what they had put him through. First, he would track down his parents, and kill them, and keep Matt for last. And he was going to torture him, and make him scream and beg for his life.

The thought lit up his soul, and an inner glow spread within him. Only then he would deal with Catherine, but he hasn't decided what to do with her. She was aware of how he felt about her, and threw him under the bus at the first sight of a handsome face. She was the one in whom he had placed his hopes and dreams of future happiness, only to be ignored and betrayed in a callous manner. She had smashed his dreams to pieces, and that was unforgivable. He had nothing left to live for other than his hatred which he kept alive like a burning bush, and revenge which would be sweet. He was busy laying his tracks, and should the time come, his plans would run smoothly.

His steps were slow, and his mind was in a loop, thinking the same things over and over again. In his own mind he was completely rational, and his plans for revenge justifiable.

-•-

On entering the mansion Matt, unobtrusively and cat-footed, slid into the President's study. The secret door to the outside world was usually a button hidden behind books lining a bookshelf. It would be located on the shelf behind the desk, because should the President be in danger, the distance from his desk to the wall would be the shortest, and the button too would be at eye level. Matt went straight to the rear wall, and while standing up he removed a few books, and his search paid off. The button was where he expected it to be, but he did not press it, because that was for another day. He replaced the books, and left the way he came.