The Assassin's Folly

Jareth had just got out of a meeting when his phone rang. It was Zarah.

“Hello, my love,” he said with a smile.

“Get your ass to my apartment right now!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just do it!”

Jareth feigned sick and rushed to her apartment, his heart hammering. The urgency in Zarah’s voice could mean only one thing: They found out who it is and it wasn’t good news.

When he got to her apartment door it flew open and she dragged him in.

“Did anyone follow you?” she asked, peering out the curtains.

Dimitri and another person were in the apartment, too.

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“The Vice President of your company,” she breathed, “didn’t you say his name was Peter Marshall?”

Jareth frowned. “Yeah. Why? What has he got to do with anything?”

“He’s the one that put the contract out on your life,” Dimitri said and Jareth fell into a chair. “He’s working with Damien.”

“Wait. Damien your boss Damien?” he asked Zarah who nodded.

She looked furious. Her usual beautiful eyes had turned red and her fangs were out.

“I’m going to rip him limb from limb,” she snarled.

“Calm down,” Dimitri ordered. “You’re not going to do anyone any good like that.”

Zarah ignored him.

“So what can we do?” Jareth asked. “Have them arrested?”

“Damien has friends everywhere,” Dimitri said. “It’ll be impossible to arrest him. This Peter guy, we need proof.”

“I have a plan,” Zarah said but she still sounded angry.

Dimitri stopped in front of her and she glared at him.

“Before you tell us anything,” he said, “you need to calm down! You know what happens if you lose control!”

Zarah took a deep breath and her fangs disappeared and her eyes returned to normal.

“Christmas Eve is coming soon,” Zarah said. “We’re running out of time. Jareth, do you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” he frowned.

“Ok. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

-

The last time Jareth had been this nervous was the night he spent with Zarah. It was different this time, though. Knowing the Vice President of his company wanted him dead made his stomach churn. Zarah told him he wasn’t allowed to tell his father that it was Peter.

“You can tell him everything else, though,” she said. “If this works, everything will be ok.”

Jareth had his father over for dinner again.

“How are you feeling tonight, Dad?”

“I’m feeling great,” he grinned. “What’s on your mind, Son?”

“I need you to keep an open mind.” His father nodded, folding his hands and leaning forward. “Someone within the company is trying to destroy it from the top down,” he said in a rush.

His father frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I have it on a good source that someone is planning to kill me on Christmas Eve.”

“That’s not funny,” his father snapped.

“I wish I was joking. Zarah found out. We have a plan, though,” he said quickly, seeing the look of terror on his face. “I just need you to play along.”

“Who is it?” he demanded.

“I can’t say. But I can tell you they own Vlad’s Loans.”

“That new business loaning company?” he asked. “But I was hoping we could merge.”

Jareth nodded. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to. Now, Zarah is going to do something to me at the party. When I give the signal, I need you to cause a scene, believe I’m dead. Don’t let anyone call the police. Wait a day. Zarah will call you when everything is safe.”

“Do you know how crazy this sounds?” his father asked.

“I do but it’s the only way to save the company and my life,” he said seriously.

“Then I’ll do it.”