Questions for Answers

Chapter Twenty Four

"What do you mean he's the reason for all of this? What happened?" I asked slowly losing patience.

He paused before taking another seat in front of me, "Let me ask you something. Why are you really here, huh? You want revenge? You want to kill me?"

I shook my head, "No, I didn't do all of this for revenge. I came here looking for answers. All I want to know is why they were killed. Why did they have to die? I don't care about anything else."

He seemed as if he was weighing the pros and cons of telling me as I watched him silently stare at me. After a good thirty seconds, he slowly nodded, "Okay...I'll tell you everything."

I was shocked at his answer, but grateful nonetheless. Could I really trust him to tell me the truth though? It wasn't like I had any other options but to trust what he was about to say. I had no one else's word to go on. I was eager to learn the 'why' after all these years. This was finally it.

He crossed his arms, "As you know, I hired your parents as assassins. They pulled a variety of hits on people with no problem. I could always count on them if I needed the job to be done swiftly. They got rid of people for me, erased all the information they had on any of their electronics, and got rid of them in a way as if they had never even existed. Things were fine until they started questioning who I was having them kill and why."

He took a seat and continued, "So they started poking their noses in business that didn't concern them and one night on the job, they not only neglected to kill who I had instructed them to, but they let him live in hiding and gave him a bunch of money to disappear. Of course, I ended up finding out. Anyway, they went through the files on his computer and discovered that he, along with a few other employees of mine, had been building a case against me."

"What kind of case?" I asked.

"It's my turn to talk now, dear. You see, I employ millions all across the globe. Under an alias, one of my businesses is called Stonehenge Enterprises. It's a real company where they handle minor issues, but my personal employees, like your parents, handled the more serious tasks. So no one would be suspicious of those who worked with me closely, I made fake work badges for all of them and would even have them work in the buildings when they weren't out doing a job for me. I instructed the real employees at Stonehenge to deny the fact that any of my close employees ever worked there if someone were to call and ask about them. That's how I found out about you. It was strange after I had them killed; your parents. Years went by and it was radio silence. I wasn't even thinking about them anymore. And all of a sudden, I get a call from a lady who works at one of my businesses in America, and she tells me a young girl was asking about a Richard and Vivian Ashton."

I shook my head, disappointed in myself. Knowing that if I had just stayed put as my mother had instructed, he probably wouldn't have figured out who I was until I was super close to finding out what I needed to know. Everything that came after that phone call was truly all my fault. All of it. The threats and danger all came after I continued to search for clues on my own, despite my mother's note telling me that it was all over.

He seemed as if he was trying to read my body language. Nonetheless, he continued, "They kept you hidden for a good, long while, but their luck ran out. You would think that they'd stop looking for evidence once they brought a child into the world, but your parents were determined. So, ever since that phone call, I had you followed. Told some of my associates to keep a close eye on you. It's strange that your parents left behind that book. I was told that the police took everything in as evidence. And the police know better than to cross me. Which brings me to the reason why what happened to your parents had to happen. I have everyone, every law enforcement, every government agency, military, country, you name it, in my pockets with one simple threat. The kill switches."