The Lies You Told Me

Chapter 30

Kai’s POV

We woke up early the next morning, and grabbed our stuff. We didn’t need much, just a few bits to keep us going. Katana said goodbye to her family whilst I packed the car. I didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable, so I sat in the back, and put my headphones in. I bit my lip as Black treacle started playing. Of course that was the first song to play.

I know I shouldn’t be focused on her, but Katana looked beautiful. She was just wearing a black crop top, black cargo pants pulled up high around her waist, and combat boots. Her hair tied up in a long braid, with a few pieces of hair left free to frame her face.

Katana got into the car, and after throwing a gun into the seat next to her, and quickly looking back to check I was there, she drove off.

We drove in silence the whole journey. I carried on listening to my own music, leaving Katana to her own thoughts.

I felt a twinge in my shoulder, and subconsciously reached up to touch my scar. It had been years since I'd thought about my father, and the scar, but seeing Katana's scars the other night had made me think about it again.

I'd always been scared of my father. I never understood why my mother stayed with him. I could only remember him hurting her. There had never been any kindness, or love between them.

My father had usually left me alone. Things only got bad when he came home drunk. That's where the scar came from.

Flashback
I heard screaming outside my room. I grabbed Mr Dino, and opened my door, to see my dad screaming at my mum. I frowned. This wasn’t an uncommon event. But I hated it. I ran out, still clutching Mr Dino, and stood in front of my mum. I wanted to help her, to protect her.

“Stop it dad, stop it. Don’t hurt mom. I don’t like it.”

My dad shoved me onto the floor, and grabbed me by the neck. I heard a scream from my mom behind me, and her whispering my name.

“What the fuck did you say, you little bitch?” My lip quivered. I was terrified of him.

“Leave mom alone. You’re hurting her!”

He slapped me across the face, leaving a red mark. He then grabbed a knife from the coffee table, and sliced through my shoulder. I let out a scream, and started crying. I held Mr Dino tightly – he made me feel safe. My dad caught me hugging him, and tried to grab him from my arms. I held on as tightly as I could, but I heard a ripping sound. My dad was holding Mr Dino’s head, and stuffing was falling out onto the floor. I burst into tears, and ran at my dad, kicking and punching him, trying to get him to stop. He easily slung me to the side, and pain shot though me as my body hit the floor. My dad walked over to my mum, and hit her again. And again. I screamed at him, but he just ignored me, and my screams faded away.

“Robert... Please. Stop.” My mother whispered. “You’ll... You’ll hurt... You’ll hurt the baby.”
My dad stopped, his fist next to her face.

“Layla, what the fuck did you just say?”

“I’m... I’m pregnant. Robert, please...” she whispered, fear filling her eyes.

“I don’t want your fucking child. The first one was bad enough. Fuck you, Layla, I’m leaving.”
“Robert, please...”

“You’re just two unlovable idiots, and you’ll die alone.” He kicked me out of the way. I heard the door slam shut, and that was the last time I ever saw my father.

I flinched at the memory.

He had left the moment he found out my mom was pregnant. The baby had later died due to complications with my mom’s cancer. He couldn't be bothered to deal with the baby or my mother’s cancer, so he simply left. And ever since then, my mum and I had been struggling to survive. But, now, I was able to send money home to my mum to help pay for the treatment, and she was getting better. I missed her. So much. But at least I was helping her.

We arrived at the house at midday. We pulled up before we reached the driveway - we didn't want to be seen on the way in.

We broke the hedge surrounding the house, and snuck down the side of the driveway, ducking whenever we heard a noise. Eventually we reached the house, and hid behind a giant flowerpot to discuss the plan.

Katana pulled out the map of the house that Yelena had given us.

"I'll go to the west wing of the building, and fire a gunshot. You'll be hidden in the vents here." She pointed to the map. "When Dante comes running to see what happened, I'll escape into the vents and come and meet you. Then we'll drop down into his office, steal the disc and escape." I nodded. She handed me a gun, and I nervously took it.

"Just in case." I nodded again, before we separated.

I crept around the side of the building, careful to avoid anyone. Eventually, I found the vent on the side of the building, and opened the hatch, before sliding in.

Every step I took echoed around the vent, and it felt like the entire house could hear me. I cringed every bang and crash that I made, until I reached the intersection above Dante's office, where I stopped and waited for Katana.

A few minutes later, I heard a gunshot echoing through the house. I smiled, happy that the plan was going well so far. I looked down through the vent, and saw Dante start, before getting up and walking out the door.

Another few minutes passed, and I heard banging from the vents. I slowly pulled out the gun, before breathing a sigh of relief as I saw it was Katana.

"Hey Kat... Ana," I whisper, trying to keep it casual. She nodded, and looked down into Dante's office.

"He's gone?"

"Yup. A few minutes ago." She unscrewed the bolts keeping the vent closed, and gently moved it to the side. Then, she jumped down the hole, and rolled over to lessen the fall. She paused for a moment, waiting for me, before looking up, exasperated.

"Come on," she whisper - screamed up at me.

"I can't... I can't do that!" She rolled her eyes.

"Swing your legs over the side." I followed her instructions.

"Lean backwards onto your hands. Push off, and I'll catch you. Simple."

I laughed a nervous laugh.

"Yeah. Simple." Still, I did what she said, and jumped down into her arms. She caught me, before quickly putting me down, and stepping back, leaving some space between us.

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Katana turned around and started sorting through Dante's desk.

"Whatever footage was deleted from the security cameras... Dante's hiding something. Whatever it is, we might be able to prove that Dante is a fucking dickhead."

I walked over to the desk, and started sorting through everything with Katana.

"I've found something!" Katana exclaimed, pulling something out from a cupboard under Dante's desk.

She was holding up a disc in a clear box, sealed closed with black tape. There was a name crossed out in black Sharpie.

"That looks dodgy. Must have something on it."

She cut the tape open with her knife, and took the disc out, before sliding it into the computer. It opened up a video file - security footage.

"It's the interrogation room. Why would Dante hide anything on there?"

"Maybe he just... Did something bad? Like... Killed someone or something?"

"He wouldn't hide that. That's a daily occurrence. No one would care about that."

We carried on watching the tape, and 2 men walked in. One of them was Dante, the other I didn't recognise, but Katana did. She went pale, and looked shocked.

"That's... That's... Robert."