Dragon's Kiss - 4. Chapter 4

Vincent sat in the armchair across the leather couch watching Haje. Peaceful in sleep, dark hair spread on the soft pillow he’d found in Shin’s bedroom, Haje seemed too young to have suffered so much. It couldn’t be easy losing a twin brother.

He didn’t have siblings but he had lost friends along the way. Good friends, Vincent thought, memories of his military days flooding him. His teammates were men he’d considered brothers. He’d lost most of those brothers during missions, each death leaving a black mark on his soul. Each black mark teaching him never to make a promise he couldn’t keep, yet here he was again, making the same mistake with Seol Young.

He wondered what losing Shin was going to teach Haje.

Sipping the coffee Haje had made in the kitchen earlier, Vincent remembered how Shin’s eyes had lit up with joy every time Haje called him. The week before the accident, he’d accompanied Shin to a meeting with the Strassen Foundation Director, Vivian Strausse.

Shin’s phone had rang while he’d been in the middle of a heated discussion with Vivian. It had been a sight to see. Shin pounding Vivian’s glass desk, wisps of his dark hair escaping the ever-untidy ponytail he liked to wear. Shin’s eyes were wild as he fought to make Vivian understand his position. One glance at the caller ID on his phone had dissipated Shin’s angry tirade. The change had been so abrupt it had even surprised Vivian.

They’d watched Shin excuse himself and answer the call with a wide smile and his voice warm where it had been hard and unbending. Haje had been on the other end of that call.

That kind of love, or bond, would leave a terrible mark on Haje’s soul. Worse than the one he carried around caused by his broken promises, Vincent thought with a sigh.

He’d made the right decision calling Jaxton Donovan. Haje didn’t need the burden of his brother’s past. Giving Jaxton the drives from Shin’s server was a good decision.

Haje shifted again on the couch, this time a soft moan escaped and dark eyes blinked open. Vincent watched Haje bring his right hand up to touch his forehead.

He set his mug on the coffee table and picked up the bottle of water. He got up from the armchair, went around the coffee table and sat on it so that he was closer to Haje.

“Can you sit up?” he asked when Haje wiped a hand down his face.

His question jolted Haje up in a panic. “You drugged me!”

“It was for your own good.” He opened the bottle of water and held it out to Haje. “Does your head hurt?”

“What did you do?” Haje countered, his eyes flashing with anger and accusation. “Why would you need to drug me? I thought you were going to kill me. Gods, I shouldn’t have trusted you.”

Haje swung his feet over the couch and started to stand up. Vincent knew he wasn’t ready for standing and watched with a sigh when Haje sat back on the couch with a plop.

He held out the bottle of water to Haje again. “This will make you feel better, take it, and then we can talk. I’ll tell you what you need to know.”

“Is it drugged?” Haje asked staring at the bottle of water, disgust twisting his face.

Vincent ignored Haje’s petulant expression and pressed the water bottle into Haje’s hand. The cold water would help clear Haje’s head, force him to pause long enough for Vincent to explain.

Haje rubbed his forehead again and stared at the water with skepticism.

Vincent winced and said, “The water is not drugged, take it, your headache will go away. You need to hydrate.”

“Why did you drug me?” Haje asked his jaw set in a stubborn line. He set the bottle on the coffee table beside Vincent.

“To protect you from yourself, and your brother’s secrets,” Vincent said. “Someone wants you dead for knowing too much. I think the less you know the better your chances.”

“Knowing too much,” Haje scoffed. “Don’t you think it’s too late? I can’t forget the things Shin talked about in his video, about his research and the people who died. I know his investigation got him killed. We need to find this Zavier and get him arrested.”

“Stop,” Vincent ordered. “Forget what Shin said, Haje. The foundation is handling the investigation and once they sift through the data in Shin’s drives-

“Sift through,” Haje cut him off shifting his gaze toward Shin’s study and gasped. “What did you do?”

Haje stood reaching for the walking stick Vincent had propped on the right arm of the couch. He used it for balance and hurried to the study.

Vincent winced when he heard the walking stick hit the wooden floor. Haje returned to the living room a few minutes later.

“Oh, you’re such an asshole,” Haje roared. “All this time you’ve been acting as though you care, but you don’t, you’re just concerned about the Strassen Foundation and your paycheck. How much did they pay you to find Shin’s server?”

“I’m protecting you. The less you know the better it will be for you.”

“Why would you give Shin’s research to the same people who are responsible for his death? Shin thought-

“Shin was chasing the wrong person. He should have gone to my boss with his suspicions; instead he went out on his own, and it got him killed.”

“Shin was probably murdered by your boss. Jaxton Donovan is ruthless about security. Nothing leaks out without his knowledge and Shin’s research belonged to Strassen. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jaxton orchestrated the accident.” Haje ran frustrated fingers through his hair and shook his head. “I have to call Levin. He needs to know.”

“You will do no such thing.” Vincent got to his feet. “Do you really think I’d be here with you if I didn’t know what was good for you?”

“I don’t know why you are here. I never asked for you, you just showed up unexpectedly. I think you should leave now.”

“No.” Vincent crossed his arms against his chest. He wasn’t walking away from Haje Young, not until he found the bastard who’d killed Shin. “You might not trust me, but your mother does.”

“My mother just wants someone to blame if I end up dead.” Haje glared at him.

Vincent felt that stab deep in his heart. “Believe what you like, Haje, I’m not leaving. I understand you’re angry with me for taking away your brother’s work-”

“You understand nothing!” Haje cut him off his eyes bright with tears. “I have to get back home now, there’s nothing for me in this loft.”

Vincent sighed and turned to reach for his jacket on the armchair. The hair on the back of his neck rose and he ducked just as a hefty earthen vase whizzed by his head, missing him by an inch. It crashed on the floor and shattered. He turned to Haje and shook his head.

“Really,” he asked in surprise.

Haje started running for the front door in an awkward rush, half dragging his right leg. Vincent sighed and pulled out his gun from the holster on his waist hidden by his t-shirt. He shot into the leather couch, the sound scaring Haje to a stop. Haje raised his arms up fast and turned; his eyes wide with panic. Vincent aimed his gun at Haje and shook his head.

“Let’s not make this difficult, Haje. I don’t want to hurt you, but you’re making it impossible to do my job.”

Haje tried to talk, but his gaze was riveted on the gun.

“Do I have your attention?” Vincent asked with a cold voice. Haje nodded, never once looking away from the gun. “Good, we’re going to drive back to your mother’s house, and you’re not going to try any more heroics. Agreed?”

Haje dragged his gaze from the gun to Vincent’s steady gaze. He nodded in agreement, his arms still up. Grabbing his jacket off the armchair, Vincent put away his gun with a sigh and strolled to the door. Haje still stood frozen his arms up. Vincent opened the door and turned to look at him.

“Are you coming?” he asked when Haje didn’t move. “You were in such a hurry a few minutes ago.”

Haje dropped his arms and turned to look at him. “You’re such an asshole.”

“I know,” Vincent said with a small smile. “Don’t forget it, come on, your mother will be worried about you.”

*****

The drive back home was tense; Haje sat still in the passenger seat, running the scenario back at Shin’s loft repeatedly in his head. Vincent’s voice had chilled his blood; he’d not been making empty threats. Sneaking a glance at Vincent, he felt a shiver race down his spine and he turned to look out the window. They drove through downtown Colston, he stared at Ricky’s Bar, it was ten o’clock at night and the bar was packed. Two weeks ago, he’d been in there playing darts with Shin. His chest tightened and he clenched his fists when an intense wave of grief filled him. The pain wasn’t dissipating, just getting worse especially after seeing Shin on that video. How dare Vincent take that away from him?

He dropped his gaze to his lap and closed his eyes. He didn’t know whom to trust. Vincent’s actions made him look like his main priority was the Strassen Foundation.

“How long are you going to stay at my house?” he asked.

Vincent stopped the car at a red light and spared him a sideways glance. “Until we catch the person making attempts on your life.”

Haje nodded, trying to reach a finger under his cast. That could take a while and he needed Vincent out of his life as soon as possible. He needed to talk to Levin without Vincent hovering. Staring at his cast, he bit his lip thinking about his doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon. If he could get a message to Levin, he stole a glance at Vincent, worrying his lip. Levin could meet him at the hospital.

He spent the rest of the drive home formulating plans to get a message to Levin without Vincent finding out. Elaborate plans that included coded messages and strange clothing just to get out of the house. When Vincent pulled into the driveway, he got out of the car and limped to the front door. He’d left his walking stick in Shin’s study and his leg was throbbing.

Seol met him at the door, she pulled him into a short hug and touched his jaw her eyes full of concern.

“Was it hard for you?” she asked looking at him expectantly.

He frowned confused about what she was talking about for a moment. Then he realized she was asking because of Shin. “It was okay, nothing unusual. I’m a bit tired; I think I’ll go to bed.”

“Did you eat?”

“Yeah,” he lied. Vincent walked in behind him and he tensed. “I’ll be in my room.”

“Haje,” Seol started but he stopped her with a soft kiss on her cheek. “Okay, go get some rest.”

Ignoring Vincent, he went up the stairs as fast as he could manage.

*****

The next morning at seven o’clock, a soft knock on his bedroom door woke him. Expecting Vincent, he opened the door reluctantly only to gasp in surprise when he saw two of his friends from work. Kyle Jackson and Declan Plec.

Kyle jumped on him giving him a tight hug. Haje laughed as the scent of old spice, fresh coffee and fresh pastries enveloped him.

“Look at you,” Kyle stepped back, his hands on Haje’s shoulders. “You look like shit.”

Haje chuckled and said, “Geez, thanks, Kyle, nice to see you too.”

“He’s just jealous that you get to sleep in and not show up to work at eight on the dot.” Declan held up a bag of pastries and a tray with coffee cups from his favorite coffee house. “Chai latte and scones for you, Kyle said we should try and have breakfast with you since you’re not in the office for another one month.”

Haje smiled at Kyle and stepped aside to allow them into his room. He was about to close the door when he saw Vincent seated in an armchair down the hall reading a newspaper.

“Who is the hunk in the hall?” Kyle asked sitting on the couch.

Haje closed the door when Vincent glanced up and leaned on it.

“Vincent Chandler,” Declan said setting his goods on the wooden table, “the Strassen security golden boy after Jaxton.”

Haje stared at Declan in surprise. “How do you know that?”

Declan emptied the bag, handing Kyle his donuts and placing a croissant on a napkin for himself. “Come over and eat, you really do look terrible. What have you been doing with yourself since you left the hospital? I thought your mom would make sure you ate.”

“It’s been tough.” Haje shrugged and pushed off the door going to sit on the couch beside Kyle. “I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”

“Grief can do that to you,” Kyle supplied sipping his coffee. “You should have seen my dad when we lost mom. I was afraid we’d have to put him on a fluid IV.”

Declan scowled at Kyle as he held out a scone wrapped in a napkin to Haje. Taking the pastry, Haje frowned up at Declan. “How do you know Vincent Chandler?”

Declan sat in the armchair taking his own coffee. “Do you remember the unpleasantness we had last year? The tech systems I developed for the law firm doing that big case on drugs.”

“Oh yeah,” Kyle said turning to look at Haje. “That’s before Declan came over to work on our floor. Weren’t you almost kidnapped or something?”

“Yeah, Vincent was my security.” Declan smiled at Haje. “He’s very good. I hear they’re still trying to find out who attacked you and your brother. Security is tighter than normal at work. It’s taking a mountain of paperwork to get down to the sublevels. We can’t even call Tom.”

Haje stared at his pastry. “Has he shown up at the office since my accident?”

“Nope,” Kyle shook his head. “There’s a rumor going around-

“Kyle,” Declan stopped him with a censuring glare.

“What?” Kyle turned to Haje guiltily. “I’m sorry; I wasn’t supposed to say anything.”

“What’s wrong?” Haje asked.

“He has a right to know.” Kyle insisted looking at Declan. “Wouldn’t you?”

“If you don’t start talking I’m going to,” Haje stopped looking for a suitable threat; Kyle laughed when he couldn’t find one. He turned to Declan and demanded. “Just tell me already.”

Declan placed his cup on the table and sat back. “The rumor is that Shin was working outside the foundation. He was planning on leaving with his research and selling it to another company.”

“What?” Haje shook his head. “That’s not right.”

“We don’t believe it’s true but last night, they got these drives from his loft. We all got a day off because of the information they found. That’s why we decided to come over,” Kyle shrugged and sipped his coffee. “We were hoping maybe you knew.”

“I don’t know.” Haje shook his head giving up on the scones and the latte. His appetite suddenly disappearing, this was his fault. If he hadn’t found Shin’s computer none of this would have happened.

“Well, don’t worry about it too much. I’m sure Vivian Strausse and Donovan are just being overly cautious. Shin and Virgil are not the only ones dead from sublevel research. They found Henry Knight shot at his house a day ago. Can you believe it? Maybe that’s why our boss has been MIA. He’s hiding out from this maniac.”

Kyle’s speculation made him worry for Tom Purcell.

Tom was part of the project Shin had been working on, the last department head. Project Terra department heads, Haje thought thinking about the information he’d read in Shin’s reports. Virgil, the biologist, Henry Knight, the physicists, and Shin, the engineer, which left their boss Tom Purcell, the computer programmer, maybe Zavier wanted the whole team gone for good.

Gods, he really needed to know what other clues Shin had left. His brother believed in fail-safes, Shin had to have known Strassen might find his server.

“Haje,” Kyle reached out and touched his arm. “Are you still with us?”

He nodded just as the door opened and Vincent appeared.

Declan stood up quickly. “We gotta go,” he said glancing at his watch. “Vincent told us you need your rest. So we won’t take up more of your time.”

Haje glared at Vincent for that. Kyle was more leisurely in his goodbye.

“Don’t be a stranger,” Kyle told him. “If you need anything, we can go out, get some drinks or whatever you like, grab dinner and watch a movie.”

Haje hugged him and watched them leave with short waves. “Why did you let them come in if you were going to be chasing them out after ten minutes?”

“Twenty,” Vincent said coming in to the room and closing the door. “I thought you might like to see them.”

“Why do you care?” Haje asked shaking his head.

He returned to the couch and stared at the coffee cups still on the table. Picking up his chai latte, he took a small sip of the hot liquid. The taste wasn’t the same, he thought with a sigh. Until the accident, he’d stopped every morning at the Arabica café right across the Strassen building and bought the order Declan had brought in. Two coffees and a chai latte, a donut, a croissant and two scones, the cashier always made sure he got fresh pastries. Unless he was away on a trip, that order had been standing, part of his morning routine, now it seemed like a lifetime away.

“Haje,” Vincent said quietly. He glanced up to find Vincent seated in the armchair across the couch, Declan’s coffee cup stood abandoned on the coffee table before him. “We have to talk.”

“Are you going to threaten me with a gun if I say no?” Haje asked.

“I’m sorry for that, but you were being difficult last night.” Vincent shifted in his seat and leaned resting his elbows on his knees. “You have to understand, my job is to keep you alive, Haje. No matter what, I can’t compromise that mission.”

Haje dropped his gaze to the table and shook his head. “And giving Shin’s drives to your boss was part of protecting me.”

“It was,” Vincent said quietly. “Your brother’s research was important to a lot of people, but his only priority was your safety, Haje. I failed him that night he died. Therefore, I made a promise not to make that mistake again. I need you to know that I’ll do anything to protect you.”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that last statement. The expression on Vincent’s face spelled trouble if he tried to argue, so he nodded in understanding.

Vincent stood and left his bedroom without another word. His tall figure forbidding in black today, Haje felt torn between hating and liking Vincent’s cool confidence.

Haje sat back on the couch lost. Trusting Vincent was going to be harder than he’d thought. Every time he closed his eyes, he kept remembering hard blue eyes and a gun leveled on him. His phone beeped in to the silence and he sat up, eyes flying open. He’d barely looked at his phone since Shin death. Too many sympathy messages and they all seemed to say the same thing. His phone beeped again and he sighed standing up to go get his phone from the desk by the window.

Sweeping his index finger over the screen, expecting to see another sympathy message, he was pleasantly surprised to find an email alert. He had a message from…Shin!

Glancing at the door, half-afraid Vincent was going to rush into his bedroom; he grabbed his laptop off his desk and hurried into the bathroom. Locking the door, he sat on the toilet seat and logged on.

Shin’s fail-safe, he thought when he opened the message. Shin must have set up a trigger on his server to ping him a message if something happened to it, like when they’d gutted the drives out of the floor.

L.S.M / Locker 10/356

“L.S.M.,” Haje murmured staring at the message.

A location, he thought, Shin had sent him a location. It would have to be somewhere they both knew, a familiar place so that it wouldn’t be out of routine, or so that it wouldn’t stand out. Geez, they hadn’t hang out so much the past few months, other than going to the marina to take care of their Dad’s boat.

“Lakeshore Marina,” he said with a wide smile. Of course, the marina offered public lockers; he’d used them before to store gear he didn’t need. Excitement had him standing up ready to drive down there. He stopped when he thought about Vincent seated in the corridor, dodging his every move.

The moment Vincent discovered that Shin had sent him a message, whatever information Shin had left in that locker would end up with Jaxton Donovan. He couldn’t allow that. He sat down on the toilet seat with a sigh.

What to do, he wondered. Last night, after the incident with Vincent, he’d been too scared to think straight. This morning however, he stared at his laptop, his thoughts were clear. He needed to talk to Levin, if he included the police in the investigation, Vincent and the Strassen Foundation would have to share information. That meant he needed to get to the locker at the marina before he talked to Levin. Problem was how was he going to get there without Vincent?

He sent Levin a quick email. They would meet at the Doctor’s plaza across the Lake Memorial Hospital. Returning to Shin’s message, he memorized the numbers and deleted the email and the message on his phone just in case Vincent snooped. Now all he had to do was get to the Lakeshore Marina.

A solution presented itself when he went downstairs thirty minutes later. Showered and dressed for the day, he found his mother in the kitchen making eggs while she chatted with Christina. Dumping the bag of pastries and coffee cups that Declan had brought him into a trashcan, he sat at the kitchen table eager for Seol’s cooking.

“There you are,” Christina said when she saw him. “You haven’t been in this kitchen at all mister. I was starting to think you’re avoiding me.”

Haje smiled and glanced at Seol. “I’m sorry for missing meals.”

“We’re making omelets.” Seol reached for a plate looking at him with a frown. “Want one?”

“I’d love one.” He returned her smile accepting the coffee mug Christina placed on the placemat before him.

Seol nodded in approval and flipped the omelet in the pan. “The manager at the marina called yesterday when you were out. He heard about what happened to Shin, they were apparently good friends. Shin left a few things with him and I was going to pick them up. Do you want to come along? We’ll go to the marina, and they head to your doctor’s appointment. I want to have a talk with him about your meds and eating habits.”

Shin had anticipated last night’s events.

Sipping his coffee, he flashed his mother a small smile and nodded. “Sure, I’d love to come.”

*****

While Seol and Mr. James, the Marina manager, talked, Haje excused himself and left the main office. The lockers were by the back entrance, which then led to the docks. He strolled down the corridor casually. Vincent sat on a bench in the waiting area watching him.

Haje paused by a picture mounted on the wall, he studied it as he would a painting in an art gallery. Acting fascinated by the high wave of water caught on camera threatening to crash the lone boat sitting on calm waters. He stood there for a few minutes, until he caught sight of Vincent talking to a small girl. Haje hurried out the back door and ran to the lockers lining the wall on his right.

It took him a few minutes to find locker number ten. The lock was a small keypad that he typed in the last three numbers in the message Shin had sent him. 3-5-6, the lock clicked and swung open. Sitting in an open briefcase, he found a phone attached to a circuit board with a short cord, and an SSD drive clipped on the circuit board. A small envelope was stuck on the drive. Before he could reach for the note, the back door banged open and he almost jumped out of his skin. Reaching into the locker, he slammed the briefcase closed and took it out, slamming the locker door closed.

“What are you doing?”

He whirled around barely holding his gasp, his grip on the briefcase handle tightened. Vincent stood a few feet away watching him. How long had he been standing there?

Haje swallowed down the bitter bile in his mouth with a grimace and nodded to the locker. He felt like a delinquent student answering to the principal.

“They sent me to clear Shin’s locker. Shin left some,” he frowned wondering what Shin would leave in a briefcase at the marina. “Uhm-

“Your mother is done with the manager. Let’s go.” Vincent waved the way to the back door.

Haje let out the breath he hadn’t known he was holding and started walking. When he passed Vincent, he brought the briefcase up to his chest and hugged it tight. They were going to his doctor’s appointment after this. He wasn’t going to let the briefcase out of his sight until he saw Levin.

*****