Wanted Dead

4

    Lea stood in front of his closed bedroom door, her emerald eyes smoldered holes into him. Sol felt his heart stop. There was no point in pretending he wasn't an assassin. He could see it in her eyes, she knew everything. She had read the letter from Father Jean-Louis, he was positive of it.

"Are you going to kill my family?" She asked.

"Have you done anything that would make me want to?" He turned to face her directly so he could study her. She was dressed in a dark green dress that made her cold eyes pop. Her hair was piled atop her head in coiled braids, a style that did not really suit her. She wore a brave, indifferent face but Sol noted her hand was resting on the door knob behind her. She was afraid to be alone with him. She was afraid of him.

A wry smile drew upon Lea's face,"That depends on what incites a man like you to kill."

"Money," Sol replied simply.

"Some would pay a lot of money to see  you dead," Lea said casually after a few moments. Sol was not surprised that she knew of him but he was surprised she knew how badly governments and royalties wanted him. That was the sort of news only those involved in politics and stock markets would know.

The air between them was tense, riddled with uncertainty and fear. Their minds dared the other to move and neither wished to.

In a situation like this, Sol would throw her to the side and put her to sleep in a few simple moves. He would flee the scene and leave everything far behind. But there was nowhere to flee to and even if there was, he wouldn't get very far. This was it. The end of his life. He supposed he had many regrets but he decided not to think on them until the bitter end.

There was still a chance. Perhaps a bribery would work.

"How did you find out my true identity?"

"River. She ran outside screaming about a man who'd been caught by a bear trap and was bleeding out in our living room. She left your pack right beside the back door and I had enough time to rifle through it," Lea said.

"That's awfully rude," Sol could tell she was fighting a smile.

"Perhaps."

"Are you going to tell your father?"

"Would you kill me if I planned to?"

"Perhaps."

That made her chuckle and she bit her lip. It wasn't really funny and Sol didn't understand why it amused her but he waited for her to say something else.

"Lucky for you, I'm good at keeping secrets. Also, no one will believe the word of a fourteen year old girl over the word of a man. Society doesn't bend for women, it breaks for man."

She was right about that. Sol's eyebrows shot upwards at her intelligent words.

"Plus, by now, you'll have hidden the evidence," Lea nodded to his pack that lay on the armchair behind him, clearly emptied,"If you're smart it's underneath one of the floorboards and I don't have enough time or opportunity to go searching for it to prove myself."

Sol swallowed. She was incredibly intelligent for a young girl. Far more so than he could have ever expected. If she were older she could easily bring his downfall with a little more plotting and much more manipulation.

"How many people have you killed?" Lea looked him up and down.

"That's a secret."

"I won't tell anyone."

"I won't tell you," Sol said, limping towards the bed to grab his cane where it rested.

Lea's had slid off the doorknob so she could cross her arms. Her body language and demeanor had change completely. Her eyes were no longer cold. Instead, they sparkled with the gleaming mischief he had merely glimpsed the first time he saw her. The sudden change suggested she no longer saw him as a threat. In fact, she looked at him like he was a toy, a play thing underneath her control.