Flame

by Romig, Aleatha

  He reached for one of my breasts and ran his thumb around the nipple before inspecting the pink upon his thumb pad. Next, he gently turned me, inspecting each bruise and cut as if he could see through the makeup Miss Warner and the doctor had applied. He even examined my most intimate areas. “You have been hurt. You need to heal.”

  “I understand if you don’t want me.”

  Without responding, Mr. Ivanov stood and walked toward the door, the one where the others had left. With each of his steps, I imagined the cell, the men, the smell, and the hunger. This room smelled of expensive things. In this room, there were partially filled platters with all different foods. The leftovers could feed all of the girls in the cell for a week, and more than likely, these people would throw it away.

  Tears filled my eyes. My hands and legs began to tremble as I wrapped my arms around my midsection and pictured my return to Miss Warner.

  “A coat for Miss Miller,” Mr. Ivanov said to someone beyond the door.

  I stood, my chin down, knowing I’d failed and he was sending me away.

  A moment later, he returned. I saw his shoes.

  “Look at me.”

  I did. I looked up to see the cape I’d worn draped over his arm.

  “You are appealing.” He scanned me from my hair to my toes. “I believe you’re worth the investment.”

  “You’re not sending me away?”

  “No. I’m keeping you.”

  I stared up at him.

  “Trust me,” he said, “I am not an easy man. I will not retain a broken woman beside me or allow her to raise a child in my home. You will heal. Physically because it’s important for the baby. Mentally because I enjoy a challenge. Along the way, you will become strong, and all the while, bend only to me and my wishes.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I want you whole, and I will make you that way. In return you will owe me, not for the money for as you said, that isn’t yours, though you will be taken care of. You will forever owe me for the gift of your child. Is that clear?”

  My head bobbed as gratitude blossomed within me. “Yes, Mr. Ivanov. Thank you.”

  This transaction should be demeaning. I was a commodity and that reality should be mortifying. Compared to where I’d been, I wasn’t humiliated. In a strange new way, I was elated.

  I was being bought, not for hundreds of dollars but a million.

  No, I was being purchased for the invaluable price of my child.

  I couldn’t comprehend or have any way to understand what my future would hold, but as long as it included my child, I would be all right—I wanted to believe.

  “Do we have a deal, Miss Miller?” he asked.

  Mr. Ivanov didn’t need my permission. I was all too aware of the inequality of my position. Nevertheless, the mere fact he asked boosted my confidence.

  “Yes, Mr. Ivanov. We do.”

  “You may address me as Andros. We’ll work on the rules once we return home.”

  With his thick accent, I couldn’t be sure of where he called home. “May I ask where home is located?”

  “Detroit.”

  How different could it be than Chicago?

  As he wrapped the cape around me, I said, “Thank you, I’m Madeline.”

  Patrick

  Present day

  We had eyes watching everywhere. My current concerns were Ivanov’s retreat as well as Elliott’s ranch. The real-time satellite images were transmitting to Chicago. Reid’s ability to multitask had never been more appreciated than it was now. Garrett had an open line of communication going with him. It would have normally been me, but I had enough voices in my head as we moved closer and closer to rescuing Ruby.

  There were numerous choices for airports in the area. The four of us landed southwest of Corpus Christi at a private airport. It was less commercial, primarily used by corporations, the kind of airport that saw CEOs, CFOs, and the like, arrive with family—or perhaps mistresses—in tow for an investor-paid trip to the beaches of Texas.

  January’s temperatures were still cool enough to keep the traffic down. Things became extremely busy once spring breaks rolled around.

  Elliott’s plane carrying Hillman landed at a small private airport inside the city limits of Corpus Christi. Though he didn’t travel this way often, Marion Elliott was influential in this state and the airports capable of handling his planes vied for his business.

  The Sparrows in charge in Chicago decided that while they were fighting battles there and in Detroit, I needed more manpower. To assist, Mason coordinated with some Sparrows near Houston.

  After a situation we dealt with in Colorado about two years ago, Sparrow made it a priority to broaden the Sparrow bandwidth. Keeping small units of men around the major cities gave us an advantage when we were called to other locations, such as today.

  The Houston Sparrows were our eyes at the airport where Hillman landed. Through them, we’d confirmed his landing, departure in vehicles, and that the aircraft was being refueled for a return trip to Dallas. We’d also learned that other than his flight crew, he had one other man with him.

  Reid was still working on facial recognition of that man, as he wasn’t someone that any of us recognized. That also meant that the three men with him in Chicago had gone elsewhere. The obvious guess was Detroit, but at this point, we had capos searching the Chicago area to ensure that they had left our territory.

  As we arrived by car to the airport in Corpus Christi, I received a call from Sparrow.

  “Hello,” I answered, knowing this was the first time I’d spoken to him since deciding to leave Dallas.

  “We’re all here.”

  “Here?” I hoped he didn’t mean Texas.

  “On two. We’re watching every way we can.”

  I let out a sigh. Two was our command center, a floor high in Chicago’s skyline. I was thankful I wasn’t getting an earful and also knew he deserved an explanation. “I left a voicemail.”

  “And spoke with Mason, I know,” Sparrow said. “We trust you, Patrick. Above all, bring me back four Sparrows, and I don’t want to lose the few extras you’ve picked up down there.”

  “We’re prepared,” I said, surveying my men. “Tell me you’re watching the retreat.”

  “We are,” he said. “Hillman’s car entered not more than five minutes ago.”

  Did Ruby know to expect Hillman?

  Did she know who he was?

  Or would it take time to convince her to leave with him?

  “The security at that airport is shitty,” Sparrow said. “We can’t see you in real time.”

  “That’s because we have it running on a loop.” That meant we couldn’t be seen by anyone, in real time or if and when this was reviewed. “I’ll call you once we have her.”

  “Witnesses?” he asked.

  “These Sparrows are persuasive. The staff closed down, and our men reopened, including looping the security footage. No one is here but us and the crew on Elliott’s plane. My plan is for it not to get that far.”

  “We’re here for you.”

  I disconnected the call and went through our plan one more time.

  The airport’s size was to our advantage. Its small-scale workload this time of year was the reason the employees were easily convinced that they were let go for the day. An email from one of the owners stating that since there were no scheduled flights—as far as they saw—the three employees could take the day off with pay.

  It was an easy ruse. Never had I seen it fail. What employee working an hourly wage would argue with a paid vacation day?

  The Houston Sparrows had taken over, appearing as employees when Hillman landed. He didn’t have a clue.

  To our advantage, access to the facility was also limited. There was one two-lane road for customer traffic going in and out and another one-lane road for larger trucks and machinery.

  One of the Houston Sparrows was currently sitting behind the customer desk. The other was keeping guard near the initial en
try gate. If things went right, Hillman’s car would enter the grounds and as they exited the car, we would apprehend Ruby. As for Hillman or his man, my orders were Ruby first, Sparrows second, and the rest was negotiable.

  In all reality, apprehending Hillman for questioning regarding his current or future role in the Ivanov bratva sounded appealing. However, putting a bullet between his eyes was a bit more tempting.

  Garrett came to me. “Hillman’s car left the retreat. It’s a twenty-minute drive with current traffic. There’s no way to be sure who is on board.”

  “Tell Reid to check with the capos listening to Madeline. Maybe she or Elliott has gotten word.”

  Garrett nodded as we all took our positions near the entrance of the airport’s small terminal.

  Garrett returned, his eyes wide and brow furrowed. “Sir, Ms. Miller’s necklace is no longer broadcasting.”

  My circulation went south as I stared at him. “That doesn’t make any sense. She spoke directly to me. She wants to cooperate.”

  “All I know is the signal has stopped.”

  “Try emailing her new email address,” I suggested though there’d been no communication via her phone since she entered Elliott’s car at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport last night.

  I ran my palm over my hair. “Distractions. We’ll worry about Madeline later. First, we have to succeed. Ruby isn’t spending any more time with Hillman than this drive, not without Madeline or...” I hated to say his name. “...Ivanov present.”

  I fucking hated Ivanov for crimes I’d yet to confirm. I knew Hillman, knew him and his father, and knew many of their multitudes of sins. That entire pack of McFadden trash deserved to be rotting in jail or six feet under.

  Tension pulled the muscles of my neck as we waited. The eerie silence of the mostly empty terminal magnified as if a drumbeat were pounding out war signals. Breaking the silence, my phone vibrated.

  Shit. I didn’t want to talk anymore. My mind was set.

  SPARROW appeared on the screen.

  I could let it go to voicemail.

  Begrudgingly I pushed the green icon. “What?”

  “He’s not using Elliott’s plane.”

  “What?” I asked, my alarmed gaze drawing Garrett’s attention.

  “Listen carefully,” Sparrow said. “He chartered a flight from a local company. They’re flying out of a rinky-dink airport west of your location. The flight is chartered for three people. Patrick, my gut tells me that he’s double-crossing Elliott and Ivanov. That flight isn’t going to Detroit. It’s headed into Mexico.”

  My mind was spinning. My daughter was close, so close. It was one thing to think she was being taken to Madeline. It was another to have her taken out of the country.

  “Send us all you have on the airport and the charter company,” I said, louder than necessary. Looking around I said, “Cars now.”

  Our destination was fifteen minutes away. Taking off immediately would get us there mere minutes before Hillman.

  “Three,” I said aloud. “Hillman, Ruby, and the one man with him.”

  “Something’s bothering me,” Garrett said as Christian drove along dusty, isolated roads.

  “What?” There were too many things bothering me to count.

  “Where is her bodyguard?”

  I turned to him. “Her bodyguard?” Yes, Madeline had mentioned someone.

  “Think about it. Does Sparrow allow Mrs. Sparrow to go to the fucking bakery without someone?”

  He was right.

  “Mrs. Murray used to go out by herself, but that hasn’t happened in nearly two years and what about Mrs. Pierce?” He sat taller. “I don’t have kids, and I know Ivanov isn’t her parent, but damn, I don’t see him as the kind of guy who leaves a sixteen-year-old girl without someone.”

  “Madeline said Ruby would be safe.” I tried to think back. “When I asked about Ruby being alone, she said other than school, she never is. She mentioned the staff and named one man, Oleg or something.”

  “Then why are there only three on the charter? If Hillman and his man are present along with Ruby, where is Ruby’s bodyguard?”

  “Hurry,” I said to Christian.

  The land was flat and the sun high, allowing us to see. As we neared, the structures came into view. The small airport was barely an airport. From a distance, it looked more like a pole barn surrounded by a chain-link fence. There was one small plane near the makeshift terminal.

  Our two cars were approaching from the east. Coming from the southwest, a large SUV could be seen kicking up dust.

  “Sir, that has to be them,” Romero said, directing all of our attention.

  “So much for the element of surprise,” I said. We’d make it to the airport entrance first. However, if we went in, they wouldn’t. “Forget the airport, this is going down now.”

  The landscape was empty and dry for as far as the eye could see, fields waiting for their next planting and harvest. It was more open than I’d like, but sometimes we didn’t get what we wanted. Sometimes we took what we got.

  “Pass the airport, Christian,” I said. “We’re going to play a good old-fashioned game of chicken. Guns out and ready.”

  Madeline

  Wearing the same pale green robe as this morning, I stood against the wall in Marion’s home office listening to both sides of a conversation as he spoke fast and furiously to Andros. It was the magic of speaker phones. It was as if we were all in the same room.

  My thoughts were scattered—as erratic as the men’s conversation.

  Ruby.

  Antonio Hillman.

  Ruby.

  Andros was on his way back to Dallas, and for once, I wasn’t upset to see him.

  What I didn’t understand was why Marion trusted Antonio Hillman. I’d asked to go with Antonio to retrieve Ruby. It wasn’t that I wanted to spend time with Antonio. It was that after our little confrontation in the hallway, I had a gnawing feeling about him, one that lingered throughout my morning shower and beyond. The entire time Marion and I were out and about the ranch, I felt it remaining in the back of my mind.

  Marion dismissed my concern, telling me I didn’t know him.

  I didn’t.

  That wasn’t the only reason I didn’t trust him. His proclamation of our earlier meetings and comment about watching had me on edge. I definitely didn’t feel comfortable having him with my daughter. The only reason I didn’t protest more was that I believed no matter what, she’d be accompanied by one of Andros’s trusted men. I hoped it was Oleg.

  Since Ruby had been little, we never left the bratva or traveled without a guard. Even alone, it was why I traveled with Mitchell.

  I knew the men were Andros’s way of keeping track of us and me, a pair of eyes to report our every move. I also knew that if necessary, those men would protect us. Their devotion had less to do with me and more to do with their respect for Andros and admiration of Ruby. Even men with stone-cold hearts were influenced by a precious child.

  As Ruby grew, I worried that they’d see her as a woman and not the child they knew. I was led to believe it was why Andros didn’t assign new men to her detail, but ones who had known her most of her life.

  Marion was listening to Andros as he simultaneously spoke on his cell phone. “Holy hell,” he said, stilling Andros’s speech. “Antonio never returned to the plane. I’ve just been in contact with my flight crew. They’re still waiting.” His head shook. “The pilot said the airport is a ghost town. No one is there. The crew, everyone, is gone.”

  My circulation thumped within my ears as my heart beat at untold speed beneath my breastbone. “That doesn’t make sense,” I said softly. “Where is he? It’s been too long.” The temperature around me seemed to cool, my bare toes and fingers filling with ice.

  The last report Andros had received was that Hillman was on his way to the island retreat. It was when his entry had been authorized. The expected report alerting Andros that they’d left never happened. It was then when Andros ca
lled back to the house staff.

  Why had he allowed Antonio to enter?

  It wasn’t a question I could ask without meeting Andros’s current wrath. To say he was enraged was an understatement. I understood. I felt the same. My rage, however, rarely erupted; instead, it festered inside like a cancer eating away until gaping holes remained. If anything happened to Ruby, there would be nothing left.

  I’d be empty.

  Andros’s speaking echoed off the walls, coming in bouts of English and Russian.

  That was why I was summoned. Not to tell me what was happening with my own daughter, but to translate when Marion couldn’t understand.

  I’d been literally seconds from entering a freshly filled bath when Eloise banged upon my bedroom door. After all the time outside in the wind and dust, I had wanted to soak, relax, and cleanse myself for dinner and mostly for Ruby’s arrival.

  It wasn’t unusual for me to shower and bathe multiple times a day. It was just something I did, finding a sense of solace under a spray or soaking. I felt rejuvenated under the sensation of warm water and invigorated by the scents associated with the ritual: bodywashes, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and gels. In Detroit I had an entire shelf dedicated to lotions of all scents. It was a love I’d instilled in Ruby at a young age. After her baths, we’d pick a scent. When she was a child, strawberry was her favorite. Apple had always been mine.

  All Eloise said was that something had happened that had to do with Miss Miller. That was all the information I needed. Without question, I turned off the tap, wrapped the robe around me, and hurried down to Marion’s office.

  Now that I knew the emergency, I wasn’t thinking straight. I hardly noticed the language of Andros’s rant. I’d heard him lecture before in both Russian and English, and more frequently, in a mixture of the two.

  Therefore, it wasn’t Andros who would cue me to translate but Marion.

  “What did he say?” he’d say softly as Andros yelled.

  With my arms wrapped around my midsection and tears teetering on my eyelids, I replied, soft enough that Andros didn’t think I was interrupting and yet loud enough for Marion to hear.