“Not as hot as it’s going to be.” Ivan muttered, but Yuri had launched into telling Aleksei what they had been up to all afternoon and no one seemed to hear him, which was just as well. It would be better to broach the subject when everyone had had a good meal and some alcohol to relax them a bit.
Chapter 26
Crystal gasped as she hit the floor, she’d been trying to bounce to her purse to retrieve her cell-phone and call for help. It hadn’t rang in some time, which wasn’t uncommon. Her friends were never pushy, if she didn’t answer the first or second ring they’d assume she was busy. But this was one of those times she was busy and would rather have not been; would have rather had nosy neighbors or parents. Anyone, even a jealous stalker would have been welcome.
Her legs stung where he had hit them with the crop to get answers from her the two times the phone rang, and she prayed none of the calls had been Daniel. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was almost time for him to call again and she inch wormed herself across the floor to her bag, grabbing the shoulder strap in her teeth. If he came out of the kitchen, she knew he’d likely kill her on the spot, he’d been in there for some time, rattling around, cooking something that smelled good, despite her situation.
The bag fell on her head and she grunted, just thankful it hadn’t fallen on the floor and made a noise, even more thankful when the phone fell out right in front of her on the rug. Shifting so she could move it with her feet, she shoved it under the rug and then slid it as far under the couch as her toes would push it. The ringer wasn’t all that loud, kept that way at work so that it didn’t annoy her boss or any of the customers and she hoped he wouldn’t hear it anymore. Now to deceive him. The spare phone in her coat pocket, the phone connected to her Goth friends. That one did not have Daniel’s number in it, and she didn’t mind him finding it. He came out of the kitchen and saw her, then made a sound of aggravation at her.
“Stupid whore. Why you are trying to call for help?” He pulled her upright, then looked at her expectantly. “Where is phone? I heard it ring earlier, but I did not think you would try to reach it. Now I know that I was wrong, so where is it?”
Crystal nodded towards her coat, and her secondary phone, which were right next to where her purse had been placed, thankfully. He took the phone out and examined it, then eyed her suspiciously. “No missed calls…how can that be?”
She tried to tell him, but the bit garbled her words, tried to explain she had it set up that way, but he wasn’t listening or even looking at her. He was too busy skimming her addresses and phone numbers, clearly looking for any link she might have to Daniel.
“You do not have Daniel’s number?” He asked, glancing up for her answer. One blink, and it was true, she didn’t have Daniel’s number, in that phone, anyway. “How is it you talk to boyfriend if you have no number? Oh, I see, he dumped you. Used you like whore you are and then walked out. At least boy has some sense.” He tossed the phone on the table by the sofa and went back into the kitchen without another word and Crystal breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She had at least expected some punishment for turning her chair over. He seemed to like that—and to be damned good at it as he knew just where to hit to make it hurt the worst.
She’d kicked her high-heels off at one point and he’d given her a few sharp swats with the crop on the bottom of each foot, reminding her he would decide when she would unclothe, not she. When he had let her up to relieve herself he’d stood over her, watching her as she did just that, ignoring her clear humiliation. Then, while she’d straightened her skirt afterwards, he’d gone through the medicine cabinet looking for any goodies and found her sleeping medicine, which he had pocketed. To be honest, she wasn’t sorry, he looked as if he could use a good nap, but then it occurred to her he probably meant to use it on her. At least she’d be unconscious whenever she died, that was a bit of a comfort, though not much. Before they departed the bathroom, he had directed her to remove the nylons, but only those, nothing else and she had complied, shivering all the while. The spring nights were still chilly in the upper Midwest, and there was even a promise of snow in the air, she could smell it as he frog-marched her back to the chair in the den.
He came for her now, picking up the chair with her in it and carrying her to the dining table where, she was surprised to see, he had already set her a place at the opposite end from his own. “In my country, food is scarce, so big meals are special. People who do not partake in meals are seen as rude, and you would not want me to think you rude, would you?” Crystal shook her head, then blushed and blinked once and he smiled. “Good girl that is what I thought. I will bring you food and untie your hands but you will not try to escape, nor will you do anything else stupid, da?” Two blinks. “Okay, then, let me go and fetch food.”
He carried out tray after tray, even bringing caviar and funny little thin pancakes. She hadn’t had this much food in her pantry and she looked at him with utter confusion. “I ordered it from local Russian grocery, they were more than happy to deliver, but I had to tip them well. I used your credit card…I hope you do not mind.” Not that he cared, she could see it in his face. “Now, eat up, we have long night ahead of us.” He removed the bit, untied her hands, and went to his end of the table.
“There…there’s nothing to eat with.” She said, her voice soft and hesitant, as he had not indicated if she could speak.
“Nyet, no way was I going to give you sharp instrument. You will have to eat with your fingers, but I have provided you with towel to wipe them off.” As if that made it any better.
“I…I handle money all day…my hands are filthy…” She said but he shrugged and helped himself to some of the black fish eggs, rolling them into one of the pancakes and then devouring it in two bites only to make another immediately. “I…I’ve never tried caviar…what is it like?”
“Try it. If you do not try at least little bit of everything, my feelings will be hurt…and then you will not like me at all.” As if I like you at all anyway, she thought, glad he couldn’t read her mind. He went back to eating, shoveling his food down with gusto, and she wondered in silence how long it had been since he’d had a traditional Russian meal. She’d seen orange caviar at a banquet when her Russian studies class had ended, a little celebration the instructor put together. To her eyes, the orange had looked more appetizing and she asked him about it, forgetting her place entirely, for a moment. “Black caviar is best, Beluga if you can find it, but is very expensive, and rare. Beluga have almost been farmed into extinction for this little egg.” He held up one of the marbles in his fingers, gently, then popped it in his mouth. “Orange caviar is shit. Cheap. Could come from any sort of nasty mud fish, and these days usually does.”
She picked at everything but did try each item as he had instructed. Still, she couldn’t help but feel she’d be throwing up later and the idea of throwing up borscht was somehow almost as unappetizing as eating it. He seemed satisfied with what she’d eaten, thankfully, and when he came to get her he did not take the chair, simply bent and unclipped the shackles holding her cuffed ankles in place. Before she could thank him, the position was getting uncomfortable, he was forcing the bit between her teeth and prodding her towards the stairs. This would be the worst of it, she knew, if she could just make it through this, then she’d survive. Or so she tried unconvincingly to tell herself.
Chapter 27
It was ten minutes past midnight, and Ivan could hear him pacing up and down the hallway even though his footsteps were feather light on the thick carpeting. Sliding away from a sleeping Rosa, he covered her up and pulled on some boxer-briefs before opening the door. “What’s wrong, Yuri?”
“I can’t get Crystal on the phone…it’s not like her to not answer. Don’t worry! She doesn’t have me listed in her phone by my name. She’s got me under the name of one of her colleagues at the bank, a man she’d never talk to in a million years…” Yuri said and Ivan heard Rosa stir sleepily and put a finger to his lips.
&nbs
p; “Downstairs, you do not want to be waking her…she can be little bit…grumpy.” Ivan gave a nervous glance over his shoulder. In truth, if disturbed, she could be an absolute beast that even he was a little frightened of. Though, if he woke her the right way, his tongue traced across his lips and where a wicked smile had formed, all might be forgiven. “How long have you been calling her at midnight?”
“Every night since we got here, to Rome, I mean. Well, actually I call her at five minutes past and then she answers and talks to me on the way home. She answered tonight, but I was supposed to call her back…tuck her in…she’s been feeling lonely. Only…now she does not answer. It’s like she got to the apartment and just…vanished.”
“I am sure there is good reason, Yuri.” Ivan said, and he really wanted to mean it, but inside he suspected it was not the case. “Go to bed,” He looked up at Aleksei, who had just come downstairs looking sleepy and confused. “It looks as if you have been missed.”
“Is something wrong?” Aleksei fetched himself a drink of bottled water from the fridge.
“Crystal isn’t answering her phone.” Yuri said, staring down at the device as if terrified of it, suddenly, after a few seconds he placed it on the center island where they ate lunch as a ‘family’ most afternoons. “I’m worried about her.”
“Maybe there has been storm and it has knocked out phone service.” Ivan suggested, hoping he did not show his worry. Aleksei and he locked eyes and he knew instantly his half-brother shared the same fear he had; after they exchanged a loaded glance, Aleksei threaded his arms around Yuri from behind and laid his head on the graphic tattoo that told Yuri’s painful life story. “Get some sleep, Yuri. There is nothing to do now but wait and see, she will call you hopefully but you know mobile service has been interrupted with solar storms and leftover radiation from…”
“From the war, I know. I just don’t feel right, not saying goodnight to her. Especially not when she wanted me to call her. She sounded so...lonely. And I know what it’s like to be alone…more than most people do, I guess.” Yuri said, allowing Aleksei to lead him from the kitchen. Ivan stared at the phone as if it were diseased before taking it into the bedroom with him. If something had happened to Crystal, if that something happened to be Dmitri…he didn’t want it to be Yuri who answered the call. Or saw any pictures the sadistic bastard would send, and Ivan knew all too well the tactics Dmitri would use, because they had been in his own playbook during his days in his Uncle Oleg’s crime syndicate.
Chapter 28
Ivan knew that Yuri knew he had the phone, but thus far, his half-brother hadn’t asked for it back. So, at three in the morning when he heard it vibrating in the bedside table, he awoke and reached for it, opening the drawer quietly. He stared down in disgust at the picture messages that had been sent. There, lying he assumed on her own bed, was a very beaten and bloodied Crystal, her eyes swollen almost shut from being hit, her lips torn apart from being bitten.
The message attached to the photos, which he assumed Dmitri had probably forced her to type, read, “Oh, my sweet faggot, how I wish you were here.” Ivan nearly broke the phone, but then put it carefully back into the nightstand, not bothering to delete the pictures. Eventually, Yuri would have to know what happened. When? He did not know. But he did know it would not be this night, nor many to follow. Not until Dmitri was dead or locked up for life. Only then would he show Yuri what had happened to the sweet young woman from Chicago.
Four days later, they received an overnight package in Yuri’s name, but Ivan luckily was the only one present and he signed for it. He opened the cooler carefully, leaning back momentarily to escape the fog from the dry ice, which immediately rolled out like a cloud. When it had dissipated, he cursed and covered his mouth. Inside, stretched on two boards cut crudely from what appeared to be a dining room table, were two pieces of tattooed skin. On one of them was the blue flower he remembered having seen very clearly. In that moment, he knew that Crystal was no longer alive. He wrapped the cooler back up and took it to the room he and Rosa shared, stowing it until he could show both Rosa and Aleksei.
Fortunately, Aleksei’s birthday was coming up, and Ivan convinced his fiancé to take Yuri shopping in the village that very same evening. He then pulled Aleksei straight upstairs. First he shared the pictures with his half-brother, and then the cooler, which despite his medical training sent him flying to the bathroom to vomit. When he returned, smelling of mouthwash, pale, and drenched in cold sweat, he stared down at the cooler in disgust.
“Will you tell him?” Aleksei asked, but Ivan shook his head. Then Aleksei seemed to realize something and nearly collapsed in shock. “God...Ivan if he sent that then he knows exactly where to find us. How long ago was it mailed?”
“Overnight, so he would have probably left America same night. Is hard to get flights to Europe but I am willing to bet he is using private jet. I…” the sound of the door slamming downstairs and feet running up the stairs made them both jump up, and Ivan shoved the cooler back into the closet just before Yuri tore into the room, looking terrified.
“I swear Ivan…I didn’t even see them coming…they just…they…” he was half in tears and half enraged by the look of him.
“Where is Rosa?” Ivan stood, drawing himself up, his rage clear. “Where is my woman, Yuri?”
“They…men in a van…I just…I went in to look at something…she was on the phone to someone but…then they just…grabbed her and tore off…” he showed Ivan the tag number from the van, written on his arm with the grease pencil from a caricature artist. Ivan looked at it, mouthed each letter, each number to himself five times over and then departed without so much as a word to his brothers. They followed him downstairs to the computer in the living room, a little used device since they hadn’t been able to risk the usage of social media. Now, using skills no one knew he possessed, he set to work. Within fifteen minutes he knew the name of the owner of the van and that was where he would start.
Bounding up the stairs, he met Aleksei and spoke to him in a low, quick way. “Get rid of cooler, get rid of pictures on phone and most importantly, get Yuri the hell out of here. Take him to Cape Town, since we are already expected, I will call my contact there and tell them you are coming in under fire. They will keep you safe, I have no doubt.” He then pushed up the stairs to find Yuri waiting in his room, looking anxious.
“Ivan I want…” He started but Ivan cut him off, shoving the cooler nonchalantly out of sight and further into the closet. “But…”
“Nyet, Yuri. You will go on to Cape Town. This game just became all about us big boys and I cannot risk you getting hurt.” Ivan said, then rummaged through the closet, pulling out black military-style clothing he had used on his night ops when he’d been observing Dmitri. Once more unto breach, old friend, he thought, as he pulled out his razor sharp hunting knife and checked its readiness. He turned and found Yuri still standing at the door, staring at the cooler. “Is nothing, surprise for Rosa. Go, get Aleksei packing, you have very little time. If something happens to me…”
“No…Ivan don’t say that!” Yuri exclaimed, backing away to let Ivan step back out of his walk-in. “Please…don’t ever say that.”
“Yuri…is real possibility. He has taken one person that means more to me than even you. He has taken my woman. This weakens me in ways you cannot know…and you never will so long as I have something to say about it.” Ivan said, sincerely.
Knowing what had happened to Crystal made a knot in his stomach that felt like a twenty-kilo lead weight full of spikes. Yuri’s phone, which was lying on the foot of the bed, chirped and Ivan grabbed it before Yuri could even think to move. Enclosed was a picture of Rosa, tied to a chair, mouth taped shut but thankfully still clothed and seemingly unharmed. The message read, “Oh, are we not going to have good time? She is very pretty Ivan, much prettier, and feistier, than Yuri’s little American whore. I am going to rip her to apart…piece by piece. She will not die so quickly as little Ame
rican did. Nyet. I am going to make this one suffer for your crimes.” Another chirp and another picture showed Dmitri’s hand resting on Rosa’s tight blue-jean clad thigh, his fingers clearly digging in. The second message read, “She really is exquisite. I do not know how long I can stop myself from sampling some real Spaniard.”
“What does he mean by ‘Yuri’s little American whore’? He can’t…not…” Yuri dropped immediately onto the bed and started rocking back and forth as Aleksei appeared to comfort him.
“I am sorry, Yuri, I had not wanted you to find out this way.” Ivan grimaced, though he was itching to have been off five minutes ago, he crouched in front of Yuri. “I never would have had any reason to think he would stoop so low, Yuri. I will make him pay for all of this, I promise. Do you hear me? I promise you.”
“And…and what if he…hurts…” Yuri was sobbing now and Aleksei pushed Ivan out of the way to wrap him in his arms, speaking to him in comforting tones but so softly even Ivan could not hear exactly what was being said. When Aleksei glanced back at him, Ivan gave him a nod and then departed as Yuri broke into a loud, wavering howl, the likes of which he had not produced in a very long time. The sound would haunt Ivan for many days after, as he searched for Rosa, for it gave voice to his own feelings of loss, and of feeling lost without his mate.
Chapter 29
“Relax, I am satiated from what I did to Yuri’s American whore. For now.” Dmitri said, settling himself on a soft pile of sleeping bags and turning on a small, battery-powered wireless radio. Rosa’s eyes, which were the color of golden honey, followed him nervously, then returned to the opening of the cave, which was so far in the distance it looked like it was little more than a mouse’s hole. “Do not bother wondering if people come here, I own it. Is private property. Nyet, pretty Spanish fly, no one is going to save you and I fear Ivan will come too late.”
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