A familiar black car pulled up beside her and she stopped. She got into the back seat knowing full well Xavier and Malie would be in the car.
“You completed the mission quicker than I thought you would.” He commented with a reserved demeanor.
“Why wasn’t Sergei chosen?” She asked not really having anything to say about his last statement.
“He declined.” Xavier answered with clear annoyance.
Coraset laughed and shook her head. “All that planning and the man you wanted in office declined. Does Frederick Erato want a democratic government?”
“No,” Xavier answered. “The current form of government will remain.”
Coraset just wanted to slap the both of them. The exercise was futile. She crossed her arms in pure disgust. “I warned you both. I told you that change wouldn’t come so easy. Oh no, you wouldn’t listen to me.”
Xavier rubbed at his forehead in aggravation.
“How did you switch the vial?” Malie asked as she leaned forward.
“I didn’t. I poisoned his drink with oleander.”
Malie looked at Xavier confused and asked, “Oleander?”
“It’s a flower. It’s very poisonous.” He answered with a short attitude. “What did you do with the vial Brecco gave you?”
“I dumped some of it, and I mixed the rest with the oleander.”
“Why didn’t you follow the plan?” Malie asked out of curiosity.
“Because there was no way I could switch his insulin, and I wasn’t about to start searching for it, either. What are you going to do now?”
“We will continue to move forward with our plans to change Erato.”
“Don’t expect me to help. I don’t believe in what you’re doing, and I don’t care. Brochudo, make sure you drop me off at my apartment.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered cheerfully.
He drove slowly through the Erato Government Center to the western gate. They were allowed through into the Barat Region after everyone’s card was scanned.
When the car stopped in front of her building, Coraset didn’t get out right away. She stared at the both of them. Her face was hot as she considered what she’d gone through the past year and a half. It all started with Xavier and his wife lying only to protect themselves, and now, Coraset could be pregnant as an ultimate end result.
Coraset said to them in a subdued angry tone, “Your lies have ruined my life.”
Xavier and Malie couldn’t make eye contact.
“Hand me your tablet.” Coraset demanded of Malie.
She looked at Xavier and then at Coraset unsure if she should do as she requested.
“Hand me your tablet!” Coraset demanded again.
“Give it to her,” Xavier said as he dropped Malie’s purse in her lap.
She unzipped it, reached in, and handed Coraset her glass tablet. She pulled up the citizen database and typed in an ID number. Rudy’s face appeared, and Coraset turned the table around to show his face.
She remarked, “This is Rudy Remald. He wants to be a helicopter pilot. Xavier, I want you to make sure that happens for him.” Coraset turned the table back around, and she typed in Katarin’s full name. Her picture came up, and she gave the tablet to Xavier. She continued, “Katarin Augustine is in the palace. They are holding her there against her will, and her life might be in danger. I want you to get her released as soon as possible, and I want you to give her whatever job she wants.”
“We’re not doing that,” Malie stated with an attitude.
“If you don’t, I will tell the Erato Constabularies and the Elite Guards about your secret house in Bel Air, and the island getaway in Barbados. I will also tell them about your involvement in the plot to assassinate Dominic Erato, and I will also tell them about your agenda to overthrow the government.”
“You’ll be putting your neck on the line, too. You were the one who carried out the plan.” Xavier reminded her.
“True, but your punishment will be no different from mine. I’m not scared of dying. What about you?”
Malie pointed out irately, “Making demands and threatening a Federation-”
Xavier stopped Malie by raising his finger and stated, “I will see to it they both get what they want.”
“You better work fast. I will be checking on them in a couple of days.”
He nodded understanding.
Coraset continued, “And Malie, if you threaten my stepfather again, I will come after you.”
Without a single hesitation, Coraset got out of the car, slammed the door closed, and never looked back.
PART 4
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Before going back up to her apartment, Coraset stopped into the store in the basement levels of her apartment. She bought a bottle of Chambourcin Reserve and slowly rode the elevator back to her apartment floor. She recalled fighting and running for her life the last time she was in the building.
Even though she was back in familiarity, it was hard to feel like her troubles were over. She had no idea what happened to Katarin, and then there could be a possibility that she was pregnant. Both things were out of her control for the moment, and she didn’t like feeling helpless.
Coraset went to the kitchen and placed the bottle on the counter. At least, she could celebrate being home. She popped the cork, rinsed out a dusty glass, and poured the wine until it was close to the rim. She went over to the refrigerator and pulled the door open. Inside was the old Chambourcin Reserve she had drunk the day she was arrested. She laughed. It sure seemed like her life came full circle as she looked at that old bottle of alcohol.
Feeling somewhat relaxed, Coraset sat down in the panoramic window and leaned against the edge of the window. She sipped on her drink looking out onto the distant afternoon sun.
A soft knock came from the door. She crossed the room, uncertain of whom her visitor might be. She opened the door to find Brecco standing in the hallway. He was holding an old brown hat, smiling at the only family he had in the world. He was glad to see her. He was relieved to see her.
They gave each other an embrace. Tears escaped Brecco’s eyes. Coraset pulled him into her apartment and offered him a drink. He accepted, and she poured him a glass before joining him on the sofa. Brecco felt joyous looking at his stepdaughter. He wasn’t expecting her to get out of the palace alive. He had come to terms that their prior meeting in his apartment was the last time he would see her, and now, he could barely contain his joy.
Coraset explained what happened at the palace. She didn’t tell him she slept with Chancellor Dominic Erato. She felt ashamed and wasn’t ready to reveal that specific detail.
Brecco asked, “Do you think that woman will pin the death to you?”
“She didn’t give an indication she would. What do you think I should do?”
“Get back to your life. That’s how you feel normal again.”
She asked him another question, “Do you think Xavier will help those kids I told you about?”
“Oh yes. You haven’t given him much of a choice.”
“Everything that I’ve gone through is just so crazy, Brecco. It all started with Lea Cassis, and I’ve never done a wrong thing to her or Xavier. I don’t get it.”
“Sometimes life is unexplainably crazy, and that’s all you can do is the best you can. You’re a strong woman, Coraset, and you’ll be fine despite the Senator, Malie Levendro, and all the other folks you’ve dealt with.”
“I hope so, Brecco.”
