The Innocent Target

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Vincent moaned in the darkness that nauseated him. He remembered some yelling and some jolting pain hitting every muscle in his body. He remembered the lights going out of Frank's eyes and he remembered... Odette. His heart pounded in his ears and an irritation that won't be released until the curtain around his eyes would fade. He pushed past to find any exit and finally, in a small distance, a flat line of light formed. He reached out and a blast of it, hit his face. He flinched, blinking rapidly, catching the bright lit room. The surroundings smelled of its drugs and he instantly realized where he was bedded now. The green warm blanket on his body while he laid in a very comfortably thin, blue hospital gown. There were the ECG wires running from his neckline to his chest and an IV attached to his left hand connected to a clear bag of saline solution. He felt a little cold but mostly uncomfortable.

Looking around the room, he found a small figure, bent over his bed with head resting face down in the mattress beside him. Hair flowing to one side and one hand holding his free one loosely. He couldn't help the twitch of a smile that clicked at his lips. He moved his cold hand and it rubbed the thumb along her knuckles. She moaned awake and blinked with sleepy eyes, fixing her hair.

"Oh, hey." She smiled, sitting up and fixing her maroon high neck sweater, "How do you feel?" She sat by his waist on the bed. He was still grazing his thumb on her knuckles.

"Alright." He mumbled with a nod.

"Good. You were shot for real this time. No grazes." She chuckled, "But just a week of bed rest and then you'll be back to being you."

He kept staring at their hands and was too busy in his thoughts.

"Vincent?"

"How did you know?" He asked.

"Know what?"

"About Frank and I."

"I'm texting the person who told me. He'll be here soon. He'll explain some things out. But, I figured it out, mostly." She cupped his hand in both of hers.

"How?"

"Well, the first time I met Frank, he kept talking like his heart was broken. I thought it was love but something felt off so when he asked me out on a date the instant I left, I thought I'd clear my views. I'd researched on him that night. Found a few articles about him doing his business and all but then I came across a scandalous article that'd been removed from many newspapers when it was written and found out that Arnold's wife accused him of having an affair and quite possibly having a child outside of their marriage. It was buried out because they decided not to separate and all." She bit her lip, "I thought it'd be something to get out of him. I mean we were looking at the possible Morris' after us." She chuckled, "Well, we were there and he got to a topic saying that his brother's dead. The scandal was true and that his brother was dead. That his father had to kill him down along with his mum because they would've tarnished his reputation but then through all that bullshit, he finally said the right thing that got me wondering. He said that if his father could, he would bring his brother back and choose him over Frank." She grinned, "Just acted on a hunch after that. Took your hair sample and his and ran a lab test. Apparently I know a guy." She sucked in a sharp.

"You're smart." He nodded.

"Vincent." She sighed and he finally looked up at her, "I know this is a lot." She leaned in and kissed his cheek.

The door was then knocked on and she allowed entrance. A tall man with a buff chest, dressed in a grey suit and a darker grey winter coat. His black and white hair gelled back with a square yet wrinkly face. His eyes thin but a sharp brown as he eyed the two.

"Arnold." He whispered.

"He told me everything." She licked her lips and he felt more confused than he did at the compound.