by Raven Rivers
“For what?”
“Oh, come on. I could smell another woman all over you when you carried me out of that cave. It was no secret that you were sleeping with other women. Loose, ones, too.”
“I made mistakes,” Yuri sighed. “I was so angry that you were going to the prom with Calvin McMillan, of all people, that needed something to take my mind off of it.”
“Yuri, you know I didn’t have a choice in that,” Jade fired back. “I was forced into it and look how it turned out.”
“Enough about that,” Yuri said, waving his hand dismissively. “Tell me more about your escape. You survived on your inheritance?”
“I used most of it to buy a small house and a new car. The rest was slowly drawn down to help pay for college classes. I worked, but it wasn’t enough.” Smiling up at him, she shrugged and said, “In the end, my writing took off and I’ve been very comfortable ever since.
“That’s quite a story. You’re a strong woman.”
“I just did what I had to do to survive. I think we all do that.”
“Do you mind if I ask why you never told the police what really happened to Jeff and Tony? I know they ended up in the hospital, too.”
“Probably because they deserved it. They watched Calvin beat me and did nothing to stop it. I think the reason they never pointed to Karl and Luka was because they knew they deserved it, too.”
“Well, I appreciate you keeping quiet about it. Karl and Luka are good guys. They would have done some serious time for the savage beating they gave those two, even if they did deserve it. Do you ever regret leaving?”
“No,” she answered with sincerity. “I regret how I left things with you, but I had to leave. I had to get away from you. It hurt so bad knowing about the other women. I had to get away from my parents, too. But, more than anything, I had to get away from… you know who.”
Staring at her intently, Yuri stated quietly, “And I believe that leads to the very conversation we’ve been avoiding, my sweet. How long has Calvin been sniffing around?”
Sitting up and wringing her hands in her lap, she forced herself to admit that the man who had once tried to kill her had come back into her life. She swallowed hard, feeling all the happiness of being with Yuri evaporate. “About a month and a half ago I was leaving a book signing and I felt someone run their hand down the length of my back. When I turned, no one was there. I had a bad feeling about it, but I let it go. To be honest, I have PTSD and sometimes overreact.”
“And what else?”
“I woke up to my security alarm going off shortly after that. When I looked out my window, I saw someone in the shadows. They were just standing there staring at me. I swear if I could see them, I’d bet they were smiling.”
“You called the police?”
She nodded. “I did. They took a full report. They’ve been really nice and agreed to start making extra rounds in my neighborhood.”
“Anything else?”
“Well, I also found a small length of rubber hose laying on the hood of my car, very similar to the one he used to beat me with all those years ago. The instant I saw it I knew it was him. I gave it to the police but they couldn’t pull any prints from it.”
An expression of fierce protectiveness slowly came down on his face. “Is that everything? Has he tried to contact you by phone or e-mail?”
“No direct contact, but he did send one final message loud and clear.”
“Tell me, Jade. Tell me now.”
“Two days ago I found a note taped to my front door. ‘It’s time to finish what we started’ was written on it. I handed it over to the cops and hired some security. I really don’t want to, but it’s looking like I’m going to have to sell my house. He knows where I live, Yuri! I can’t sleep knowing that.”
“I understand,” he said, soothingly rubbing her back as she continued to speak.
“I don’t know how else to handle this. The police have been so nice to me, but only because I’ve made somewhat of a name for myself. I don’t think they really believe Calvin is behind this. And, sure, I’m doing okay financially with the writing thing and all, but I can’t afford to have around-the-clock private security forever. I just… I don’t know what to do, Yuri.”
“You need to set evil against evil.”
“Oh, stop. You aren’t evil. But you do know how to deal with somebody like Calvin.”
“What do you need?” Yuri asked bluntly. “Anything you ask, consider it done.”
“I need your help flushing him out.”
“You want him trapped or killed?”
Picking at the thread on the bed covering, she thought over his question. “I want him… neutralized. I want to be free, you know? Free of worrying what he’ll eventually do to me. Free to live a normal life. Free to have a family someday. Do I want him dead? If that’s the only way I can have that freedom, then, yes, I want him dead.” Feeling the bile rising in her throat, Jade struggled to deal with her emotions.
“If dead is what you want, dead is what you’ll get,” Yuri assured her. “I’m leaving Karl with you while I figure out what’s going on. You’ll listen to him and do as he says regarding your safety.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, wiping away the tears that had begun to form in her eyes. “How else can I help?”
“I’m going to give you my email address and you’re going to send me all the details of those incidents you told me about. Don’t leave out a single thing. I also need all of your personal information. Your phone number, home address, professional affiliations, employment information… anything that might help us piece together how he found you. I know you’re a rising star in the literary world, but he shouldn’t have been able to find your house that easily. He probably got it from your publisher somehow, but just to be thorough, make a list of anyone new you’ve spoken to in the last few months.”
“That might take a minute.”
Leaning over, he kissed her chastely on the lips. “Take however minutes you need, just know that one of us will be with you until this whole ordeal is over. You can dismiss your private security. You have us now and we won’t let you down.”
Jade threw her arms around him and smiled. “Thanks, baby. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Pulling back, he looked down at her with a stern look. “No more running, lyubov moya. From now on, if you feel the need to run, you run right into my arms.”
Swallowing thickly, she nodded.
Chapter 19
Security
Yuri
Two dark SUVs carrying the woman he loved and his own private three-man army pulled up to her house. Jade squirmed in her seat, looking out the windows suspiciously. Yuri couldn’t blame her for worrying if Calvin was spying on them. Her place was a nice two-story house with topiary trees on each side, lots of rose bushes bursting with blooms, and a swing on the front porch. The style was very much Jade. She slid out of the vehicle when he held the door open for her. Inside the house, Yuri was greeted by same cat he’d seen on her phone. Squatting down, he stared at the small animal and it responded by hissing at him. Yuri hissed back. The cat licked its paw and Yuri mimicked its behavior. Standing, the little furball walked up to him and rubbed its body against him.
Jade bent down beside him. “Wow. Sir Kitty seems to like you. That’s a rarity. He normally doesn’t like anyone.”
Turning his head to look at her, he rumbled, “We speak the same language.”
Her face lit up with a smile. “You’re really cute when you want to be.”
Glancing up at his men, Yuri saw they weren’t smiling, though they clearly wanted to. Mikael was stifling a laugh with his hand while Karl stood next to him doing the same. Luka, who Jade had been thrilled to see again, stood with his hands in his pockets trying his hardest to conceal a grin.
Ignoring them, Yuri rose to his feet and commented, “You have a very nice home, Jade.”
“Thank you. What’s your house like?”
“I have a large apartment, actually. It can get a bit lonely sometimes.”
“Have you ever thought about getting a cat? They’re wonderful companions.”
Yuri laughed and replied, “A grown man living alone with a cat? You should know firsthand that I’m not gay.”
Jade laughed along with the other guys. “You always were a comedian.” When the laughter died down she glanced at Yuri’s friends and added, “I suppose you always come with an entourage these days?”
“Rarely the three, unless it’s important, like today. I usually have one of them with me, though. It’s an unfortunate necessity for a man in my position.”
“I’m sorry your life has an element of danger that makes having a bodyguard necessary,” Jade told him. She leaned in close to whisper in his ear, “Though I guess I can kind of relate to that now.”
“Don’t feel bad for me. My life is the direct result of the bad choices I’ve made, unlike yours.”
“I feel like I’m making your already dangerous life all the more dangerous. Just be careful. Regardless of what you do for a living, you don’t deserve to be hurt or killed.”
He smiled slightly. “I’ll heed your warning, lyubov moya. Now, let’s get started, shall we?” Whispering in her ear he told her, “Remember what we discussed.”
She nodded, recalling the instructions he’d given her on the ride there. They were to speak nothing of Calvin McMillan until the men had searched the house top to bottom. Leading Yuri into her kitchen, the two made small talk as planned while Mikael, Karl, and Luka got to work poring over the place. Karl returned moments later with an infrared camera in his hand. Rather than saying anything, he simply handed them a note that read: Looks clear. Infrared scan didn’t pick up anyone hiding.
Yuri gave a thumbs up, signaling the go-ahead to begin the second sweep. Jade watched in fascination as Karl moved around the house, as did the others, poking into flower pots, checking the inside of her curtain rods, behind furniture, and just about everywhere else. They were very thorough, with the sweep ending back in the kitchen. Mikael came down off one of her kitchen chairs with something he’d pulled out of her overhead light fixture. Between two fingers was a tiny electronic device with wires sticking out of it. Rather than destroying it, he pulled out a small case and sealed it up.
“That will neutralize the listening device for now,” he said. “I need to check your phone, computer, and other electronic devices for spyware.”
“Holy shit, he seriously bugged my house?” Jade gasped.
“I can’t say as I’m surprised,” Yuri said. “He’s obsessed with you. Now, let Mikael do his job.”
Jade sighed. “Knock yourself out. My password for everything in my life is ‘yurisgirl.’ No apostrophe.”
Hearing that filled Yuri’s chest with possessive pride. Images flashed through his mind like an old-fashioned picture show: Jade smiling at his dim-witted humor, her making him promise not to get shot again, encouraging him to make love to her. These thoughts and more blinked through his mind as he looked across the table at her. For a man deprived of tenderness, it was heady stuff. Swallowing thickly, he tried to stay in the moment.
“Come, Jade. Now that it’s safe to speak openly, let’s work on figuring out how Calvin has gotten this far.”
“You sure it’s safe? That was the only bug?”
“If there were more, we would have found them. It’s not our first time doing this,” Luka assured her.
Taking a quick minute to brew a pot of coffee for everyone, Jade settled back at her kitchen table with Yuri, Karl, and Luka so they could finally get down to business while Mikael sequestered himself in her office to root through her electronic devices for spyware. One thing kept running through her mind, and that was Calvin McMillan having been in her home. The thought made a sick feeling churn in her stomach.
“Yuri, do you think he planted the device the night my security alarm went off?”
“It seems likely. When your alarm went off, it might have been because he breached it.”
“He may have even done it when you weren’t here, then reset the alarm,” Karl pointed out. Your system is an older model now and a bit easier to tamper with.”
“It was what I could afford at the time.”
“It will be upgraded,” Yuri assured her. “I’ll take no chances with you. I almost know better than to ask you this question, but would you consider staying in my home until this is sorted?”
“I suppose your place is like Fort Knox,” Jade mused.
“It’s very secure, yes.”
“I’d like to stay in my own place. If he thinks I’m intimidated, he’ll never stop.”
“I understand, but it’s more important to stay alive. I’d like you to reconsider. You’ve already told me that you don’t feel safe here. That you’re losing sleep.”
“That’s true, but with a new security system and your guys watching my place, I’m sure I’ll feel better here. Besides, I want to do it right this time around. If we’re going to give this thing between us a go, I want to take it slow and not rush into things. Hard to do that if I move in with you already.”
“Fair enough,” Yuri sighed, “but I must ask you one more time to reconsider.”
“Why is it that Russian guys are so persistently stubborn?”
“We’re very dominant,” Yuri smiled. Karl and Luka agreed with him.
“I’ve noticed.”
He responded smoothly, “You are, no doubt, used to dealing with American men. There’s a saying about Russian men that perhaps you’ve heard. I think it goes something like we don’t take no for an answer. In our world, no means yes, and yes means… well… anal.”
He leaned over and said the last part conspiratorially. Jade couldn’t help but laugh along with Karl and Luka. Although she’d never heard that saying in particular, it seemed fairly accurate. Russian men were indeed persistent.
Mikael poked his head into the room and made a report.
“I’m still running scans but it looks like your phone had spyware running in the background. So did your desktop. I’m working on your laptop right now. It’ll just take a while for me to know exactly what we’re up against.”
“The fucking idiot wasted his time messing with my desktop,” Jade huffed. “I haven’t used it in over a year.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of this, Ms. Jade,” Karl said. “I promise you that.”
Chapter 20
Stolen in the Night
Jade
Crawling into bed with the new security system ordered and Karl downstairs standing watch, Jade felt the safest she had in a very long time. Snuggling down into her blankets, she tumbled off to sleep with Sir Kitty lying on the duvet at her feet. However, something woke her out of a dead sleep in the middle of the night, and it sounded like a cat crying. The second some of the fog cleared, she realized it was her very own Sir Kitty. Bolting upright, she looked at the dark form outlined in her doorway.
“Karl, is that you?”
“Afraid not, bitch.”
Recognizing the voice right away, even after ten years, Jade dove from the bed and tried to grab the baseball bat near her closet. Before she could get to it, the light flashed on. She turned just in time to see an elbow attached to a beefy arm move from the light switch. Sure enough, Calvin was standing there, his hand around Sir Kitty’s throat, her cat’s body squished between his forearm and side. Sir Kitty was wiggling helplessly, trying to get away while making a strangled noise. Calvin’s face still looked the same, but he’d gained a noticeable amount of weight and his hairline had receded some. His boyish good looks were long gone, but she could still tell it was him. His eyes still held that same dark cruelty.
“Calvin, what the hell are you doing? Put my fucking cat down!”
Gripping the animal tighter, he stated flatly, “I’m not hearing the love, Jade.”
“Jesus. Fine, I’m sorry. Will you please put my cat down?”
“That w
as real sweet, but no, I won’t put your fucking cat down. You’re coming with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. We both know how that turned out last time.”
He tossed the cat aside and Sir Kitty smashed into the wall. When Jade moved towards him, Calvin pulled something shiny from his pocket. In that instant, she realized with horror that he’d graduated to guns at some point over the last ten years. Her eyes crawled up from the gun to his arm to his dead eyes. Shock ripped through her body. All those years ago, it was his eyes that had spooked her. His gaze was penetrating and cold. It was enough to wonder if there was a human being in there at all.
“Why did you come back after all this time?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“I’m here to claim my bride, of course. I came to take what was denied to me.”
Holding up her hand slightly, she tried to reason with him. “Think about what you’re doing, Calvin. You don’t want to go to jail over something that happened ten years ago, do you?”
The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. “I’m not going to jail. Give me a little credit. I got away before. I’ll get away again.”
“I got away, too,” she pointed out, backing up a step while frantically scanning the room for something she could use as a weapon.
“Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice. Come to me, Jade.”
“Karl! Karl! Get up here!” she screamed. Calvin chuckled, amused by her cries for help.
“It was so much fun bashing his brains in after all these years,” he grinned maniacally.
Stalking across the room, he grabbed her and threw her face first onto the bed. She fought him with everything she was worth, but when he stuck his knee into the small of her back and began to apply pressure, it sent searing pain radiating up her spinal cord.
“I’m not that stupid fucking gangster trash you still have the hots for. You don’t tell me no.”
He zip tied her hands behind her back in one swift move. Jerking her up, he placed some kind of thick strap over her mouth, forcing it between her lips. When he began to ratchet it down tightly, she knew true pain. It felt like the skin at the corners of her mouth was going to tear open. Grabbing her by the nape of her neck, he waked her downstairs where she saw her Russian protector lying on the floor in a crumpled mess. Karl looked like he’d been bludgeoned, a pool of blood still forming by his head. She tried to get to him, but rough hands dragged her away.