Deadly Silence (complete) Chapter 113

Watching movies with just his daughter, even though they didn’t say anything, brought Samuel an odd sense of comfort. Vivian had grabbed a throw blanket and curled up on one side of the couch while he sat on the other. It was near the end of the first movie he caught her nodding off. So when the credits began to roll he switched to the next one in the series without being told. Soon after it’d begun Vivian was asleep.

Not wanting to risk waking her, Samuel let the movie continue to play in the background as he leaned back and closed his eyes. His daughter had gone to Laurent when she couldn’t sleep only to nod off within minutes; this was much the same thing, he figured.

She didn’t seem to want to be left alone, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Even with everything that’d happened this past week, none of it should have made someone who preferred being left alone suddenly want company. Vivian continued to remain a mystery he couldn’t quite figure out.

Samuel must have dozed off because he was jerked away when his phone began buzzing. Rubbing his face with a hand, he noted the movie was nearly over as he fished his phone out and answered the call. “Yes?” He murmured, casting a glance at his still sleeping daughter as he rose to his feet with a low grunt from stiff muscles.

“Hey, Dad,” Sebastian began, sounding a bit off. “We ran into an old friend tonight. You should come by and say hi.”

Still in the living room, Samuel looked over at his daughter again but she hadn’t moved. It felt wrong to leave without saying anything, but he also didn’t want to disturb her sleep. “Will this friend be in town for long?” He asked in a low voice as he moved to stand just outside the living room, where he could still keep an eye on Vivian but without fear of accidentally waking her by talking.

“Depends if their family finds out about what they’ve been up to,” Sebastian replied after a few seconds. “You should hear the story they’ve been telling us.”

Another glance towards his daughter and Samuel let out a sigh. “Alright. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The call ended and he was already dialling another number, which rang once before being answered. “…Sir?” Tyrell’s low voice came through, sounding like he’d been woken from a dead sleep. Samuel checked his watch and realized it was nearly four in the morning; of course the man had been asleep.

“I need you at the house,” he said, keeping his voice casual. “Your day is starting early.”

“Yes, sir. Be there in ten,” the bodyguard replied before disconnecting the call.

Samuel waited just outside the living room and ten minutes later Tyrell appeared, stopping just in front of his boss. Even after being woken up all of a sudden and asked to come in to work he was dressed to impress with nothing out of place. Maybe he slept fully clothed and standing up?

“I need to head out for a bit,” Samuel began, turning his head to look over at Vivian. “Keep her company until she wakes up. Make sure…” he trailed off, as though he’d decided mid sentence it wasn’t what he wanted to say. “I’d rather she stay home from school today, but if she decides she wants to go make sure she gets there safe, and stay close by.”

“Of course, sir. Anything else?”

Samuel hesitated for a second. Tyrell had told him about the conversation they’d shared after she’d woken up in the school’s infirmary — how there might be something on her phone that could explain certain things. The problem was Samuel didn’t want to be ‘that parent’; the kind who invades their child’s privacy by demanding to go through their phone. Then again, doing so could help him keep her safe. “For now, no. I’ll send word if something comes up.”

“Very well. You can count on me.”

Giving the man a nod, Samuel walked away. It didn’t feel right, leaving his sleeping daughter in the care of anyone else, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Sebastian wouldn’t have called and insisted on needing to be there without a good reason.

The place his sons were supposed to head to after the job was half an hour from the house, and with almost no traffic at four in the morning Samuel made good time, arriving in just under twenty-five minutes.

He entered the building to find his eldest son waiting. At a glance, Samuel saw nothing wrong with him — no visible injuries or changes in stance or movements — and felt some of the worry he carried whenever he sent his sons on jobs begin to ease. As he stepped closer, he noticed there was blood splatter on Sebastian’s face and, depending on the light, also noted some on his clothes as well.

“What happened?” Samuel asked, keeping his voice casual when he felt anything but calm. All they were supposed to do was talk to the family, nothing more nothing less. Why was there blood?

“Come,” Sebastian said as he turned and motioned for his father to follow. “It’ll be easier with Gabe to tell his side, too.”

Both his older sons were alive. The worry eased even more only to tighten again when Samuel caught sight of his middle son.

Gabriel had one arm in a sling and the forearm and hand of the other covered in bandages. The doctor — Trent Polanski, the same one who’d taken care of Gilbert’s gunshot wound — was busy placing a brace on Gabriel’s bandaged arm.

“What happened?” Samuel repeated, this time his voice sharp.

His sons recounted what had transpired during the job, leaving their father with more questions than answers. “So who were they?”

“That’s the fun part,” Gabriel began, wincing when the doctor gave his arm a finally pat. “Wait til you see the two we brought back.”

“Doctor?”

Doctor Polanski turned to Samuel and gave a nod. “He’ll live. A few hairline fractures in the right forearm, and his left hand … it’s easier to show you the x-rays than explain, but let’s just say he’s not allowed to use it until it’s healed or I’ll personally strap him to a bed and not let him leave.”

This was one of the reasons why Samuel liked this doctor; he didn’t try and explain anything in medical jargon, and didn’t put up with anyone ignoring his instructions. Doctor Polanski wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and do what had to be done when it came to keeping Samuel’s people in good shape. “I’ll be happy to help if that happens,” he chuckled, turning his attention back to Gabriel, who was grimacing as the doctor left the room. “Let’s see the two you brought back.”

Slipping off the examination table, Gabriel didn’t bother grabbing his shirt, which looked like it’d seen better days, and just led the way from the infirmary to the interrogation room.

Opening the door, Samuel stepped in and looked at the two men who sat in chairs facing each other. Both were gagged and strapped to the chair they were sitting on, though one had a large bandage wrapped around his leg.

Eyes moving to take in the two men, Samuel noted he didn’t know the one without injury; he looked somewhat familiar, but most people in their line of work looked familiar at this point. The second one, the one with the injury, however, was another story.

“Ivan Sokolov,” Samuel said after a beat, his mouth in a hard line as he removed the gags from their mouths. “I hope your family doesn’t know what you’ve been up to.”