CHAPTER 40- FINDING HIS ACHILLES HEEL

Are you sure about this Lisa?" Karl asked over the phone for the second time that day.

"Trust me I am."

"Then where is it!"

"Keep searching and stop whining. It's a small metal key."

"Aren't all keys?"

"This one has a red holder with an L."

"This better be here, they're coming back today."

Karl has been busy searching Hades bedroom for hours now and there had been no sign of the key that Lisa spoke of. Still it wouldn't hurt to keep looking.

Hades got into the plane just after she had entered with Archie in her arm.  They were sitting side by side in the private suite. An hour later and was busy working on his phonebook.

It helped to get his mind off certain things and a bored Archie kept circling round Allison's feet whilst she rested her head on the plane seat, her eyes closed. Asleep? He couldn't tell. Reaching down, He carried Archie up and the puppy gave a small playful bark indicating he was in the mood for some fun.

"No I don't think she'd let me be friends with you. I'm a bad influence afterall." He said, a smile finally creeping up his lips for the first time that day. He gently placed the dog on Allison's laps, then sent him a wry man-to-man sort of look.

"Lucky guy." He told the dog with a smug smile.

Hades pressed a button on the seat that would recline her into a more comfortable position for sleep. A soft sigh came from her lips as she resettled her body on the seat and now it was back to the tablet on the table.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

HAMILTON MANSION

11:00AM

"Karl?"

Allison called out once she got to her bedroom but disappointingly received no response. Hades had immediately taken another car to the office the minute they arrived. No doubt to rectify the problem with Emerald Glamour. Now where was Karl? Didn't she tell him to be here by morning? She decided to call him but he wasn't answering. She decided to reach Sera via the house telephone.

"Sera?"

"Yes Miss?"

"Have you heard from Karl? I can't seem to.....Oh!" A surprise gasp escaped her lips as she felt a hug from behind. She immediately hung up.

"Welcome back princess."

"Where were you?"

"Is that any way to say how much you missed me?"

"Okay I'm sorry..." she smiled. "...you know I missed you, I don't have to say it."

"How was the conference?"

"Hmm all good."

"I saw the news." Karl said.

"Mmm" was all she could say awkwardly. He must have no doubt saw how Hades took care of the situation.

"Seems like you two bonded well enough over there." He frowned.

"What? No! You know how much I hate him and I still do." She said, defensively.

Really now? She couldn't lie that sometimes she felt some of the hate was slipping away only for it to come back in full force whenever he started acting like an asshole again. More like her hatred for him was flickering.

"If you say so."

"Yes I do and guess what?" She went behind the curtains and brought Archie out.

"What the heck?!"

"I got a dog, yipeeee!!!"

He smiled at her cheerful childishness.

"Hello little guy." Karl waved. "What's its name?"

"Archie..."

Later the next day, A tall wounded man was led by two other men into the house with a woman who was part of them, walking behind.

"Careful," Timwick said as they lay him down on the bed.

"He's in pretty bad shape." Karl said.

"I said he would be, didn't I?" Came Lisa's voice. "Being kept underneath that gold mine might have not been healthy not to mention the harsh treatment melted on him." She added.

"He'll be fine after a few medications." Karl said.

"He's waking up!" Timwick alerted.

"Wh...where am I?" Came Davian's crusted voice.

"You're safe with us boss." Timwick said.

He tried to sit up. "I need...water." He coughed and soon, he was handed a cup of water which he greedily gulped down into his throat.

"Do you remember anything?" Karl asked.

"Ofcourse I do but I'm confused, how did you guys find me?"

"She helped." Karl replied, referring to Lisa.

"Miss Val?" Davian was surprised to see her.

"Yes," she nodded.

He shook his aching head to rid him of the pain but nothing seemed to be working at that moment. "He did all this to me. That son of a bitch!"

"What's the next step boss?"

"First, how much has changed since my disappearance?"

"A lot." Karl smiled, knowing he wasn't going to like this. "Seems that Allison didn't die in that crash. Right now, she's a famous jeweler and your uncle, is currently her husband."

"What?" Davian's jaw gave way In surprise.

One hell of a revelation! What a great way to be welcomed back from prison.Wait till you hear that your henchman also has feelings for her.Karl thought.

"I can't believe this!" Davian said.

Last heard on the news four years ago was that, she was involved in a ghastly car accident and was rushed to the hospital. Whilst still in coma, knowing well enough of what Hades was capable of, he alerted both Karl and Timwick to make her life miserable if she were to survive and that night, his psychopath of an uncle had him in chains.

Please...He begged that night.

Pray she survives that accident. Just pray Davian. came Hades voice echoing off the walls as He casually went through a few torture equipments that Davian dreaded the impact it would cause should they have contact with his skin.

But I had nothing to do with her accident.

Not directly ofcourse but guess who broke her so much that she was trying to run away in an attempt to start life anew after cheating on her like a rabid dog with her best friend?

Please uncle, we're still family, you can't do this to me please.....

Davian came back from his memory lane an even angrier man. So all those suffering was for nothing and while aware that she survived, He didn't set him free. He had the balls to get together with her and leave him to rot in that dungeon?

"What now boss?"

Davian let out a sigh. Killing his uncle was a war he couldn't win and there was no use getting all delusional about it but he had a much better way. The bastard was surprisingly invincible.

A wife huh? He thought. Who could have imagined his uncle settling down and starting a family.

He always knew it was suspicious the way Hades defended Allison at the beach resort back when she was almost assaulted. What better way to hurt a man than in his Achilles heel? Does Hades even have one?Could Allison be his Achilles heel? Only one way to find out and if it ended up not being the solution, her death would bring him solace for all the torture he suffered for the past years.

"I need Allison out of the picture." He said, firmly. "Bodyguard? Make sure to do your job."

Karl felt a painful tug on his heart. Wasn't this the whole point from the beginning. Brace up Man and stop slouching. He scolded himself.

"Consider it done." He nodded.

Allison was supposed to go get some dog food for Archie that afternoon. Whilst driving, she noticed through her rear-view mirror that a certain black car kept trailing her. At first, she didn't know what to make of it but when she increased her speed, she noticed they did same and that was when she knew something was amiss. What's going on? She thought, nervous. Hopefully, I'll lose them in the main road. She took a turn and decided to go the other way.

"She's turning." Timwick said.

"That's not the way to the grocery shop." Karl said. He was the one driving.

"She suspects us. She's planning to lose us in the highway." He added.

"What do we do?" Timwick asked.

"We can't afford to fail this mission, take out her tires."

"On it."

Allison heard two gun shots she it frightened the soul out of her but she was unharmed. That was when she noticed both tires at the back of her car were punctured. Oh no! This was bad! Especially now that her car was still on high speed. She desperately tried to bring the car to a stop but it finally lost control after the front tire received another bullet causing the car to swerve off the road and crash into a tree.

"Dead?" Timwick asked. They both stared at the badly damaged car a few meters away.

"Probably." Karl shrugged. "Let's get out of here."

Hades was in the office that same afternoon when he received an unexpected call from the hospital.

"Yes?"

"Is this Mr Lenshaw?"

"You're speaking with him. What seems to be the problem?"

"Well sir, your wife was rushed in today."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"She suffered a car accident."

A car accident? How was that even possible. His thoughts was in a frenzy as he drove down to the hospital. The Doctor had said that she crashed into a tree. She was an excellent driver, how could such a mistake have happened? When He arrived at the hospital, he was taken to her ward. Thankfully, she wasn't in bad shape. She was sitting on the hospital bed with a nurse examining her. No bruises or injuries both external or internal.

"Are you sure she's alright?" He asked the nurse.

"Ofcourse sir, one hundred percent. You can take her home after a few hours."

"Hmm."

"I'll be on my way now sir." The lady curtsied and left.

"Do you feel okay?" He asked.

"Mmm" She nodded.

"What really happened?"

"I was attacked Hades."

"Attacked? By who?" He was alarmed.

"I don't know. Some person in the car driving behind mine. They shot at my tires. I think someone wants me to die."

"You're not going to die. I'll look into this and involve the police." He assured.

She only nodded, absentmindedly.

Where is Karl?

Why hadn't he come to visit her since? Hadn't he heard the news?

Long after she was discharged that night, Karl refused to take any of her calls and it scared her. Was he okay? The very next day, She decided to pay him a visit where He lived. To her surprise, the house was comfortable, too comfortable and luxurious for a simple bodyguard. When she walked in through the front door, He was sitting on a couch, a lit cigarette in his hand.

"You smoke?" She asked, baffled, waving the smoke away with one hand she clutching onto her designer purse with the other.

"Yes princess, this and a lot more things you don't know."

"Haven't you heard that I almost died in a car crash?"

"You look agile enough."

"What? Why the sudden indifference and why haven't you been around?"

"That's because I quit."

"What? What do mean? What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"What about us?"

"Us?" He scoffed, mockingly.

"Well...I...narrowly survived an accident and I still need you around."

"Ofcourse you do, you always will but why do you need me around Allison?"

She couldn't find a proper answer. Maybe because the truth would be too selfish and it was.

"Can't speak? I should have known." He shook his head.

"It's not like that."

"It's exactly like that Allison."

He called her by her name yet again. She painfully noticed, she was used to being addressed by the nickname he gave her. Why does she feel so scolded now?

"I'm sorry Karl." Was all she could say.

"No you're not. The sucker was right, all you needed was a man-toy and I happened to be there at the moment."

Her eyes welled up with tears. It was true that she didn't love Karl but that didn't mean that she wanted their friendship to end on such a harsh note.

"I'm sorry. I...I don't want you to think I used you. We can still be friends. I just don't want us to part ways like this please."

"Why? Because you want to feel better about yourself?"

"No Karl." She waved her head. "Because I have no friends and because I don't want to lose a genuine one."

Damn it! She was making things worse. He thought. He was anything but a genuine person much more a friend. The fantasy was fun while it lasted but now was time to put his head back on track. If for anything, he should kill her there and then and finish the plan but no. He had to wait till he received orders from Davian.

"I'm sorry Allison."

"What?"

"Leave."

"You wouldn't be so cold to me. It's not like you. It's Hades isn't it?"

"What?"

"He threatened you to leave didn't he? That explains everything. How could he?"

"It's not Hades."

"You don't have to lie, I know what he's capable of." She wiped the tears from her face before leaving through the door.