*
Kendra got the driver to take her to the airport with Cliff. She wondered why the pilot had opted to a small airport instead of staying at Sacha’s building. She was a little concerned that she hadn’t heard from Sacha at all. Wasn’t like him. Even if he was in a meeting, at some point he’d text her back. Maybe he was out of cell range. The driver dropped her off at the airport, by the hanger that the helicopter was kept in. He’d been there before so he knew it.
She trusted him. Cliff held her hand. She stopped outside the hangar wondering why the chopper was inside and not outside ready to go. Seemed suspicious.
She called Viktor. “I’m not sure about this,” Kendra said.
“What’s wrong?”
“The chopper is inside the hangar. We’re scheduled to take off. He knew I was coming.”
“Okay. Wait there. Let me get in touch with Sacha’s friend Nik.”
“Have you heard from Sacha?”
“No, I haven’t. If he’s on his way back to New York State then he might be out of cell range,” Viktor said. “Or he let the battery die. He does that sometimes. I think it’s an unconscious habit so people can’t get ahold of him.”
“Okay. If you aren’t concerned, I won’t be.”
They disconnected. She stood outside the hangar. Cliff was bouncing around her, jerking her arm. “Stop, Cliff. You’re hurting me.”
“Sorry.”
He stopped for a few seconds then started again. He was only five, but still. She needed to think and his little body spasming around her wasn’t helping.
“Cliff.”
“Sorry.”
She stared at her phone willing someone to call her back. She felt exposed out here on the tarmac. When no one did for a few minutes, she decided that they were in less danger inside than they were outside. She entered the hangar. Cliff picked that moment to let go of her hand. He’d seen something interesting across the tarmac.
“Cliff,” she yelled.
Then she was pulled into the hangar. A hand went over her mouth.
“Get the boy. She’ll cooperate if we have him.”
It was a male voice. She didn’t recognize it. At least Viktor knew she was here. Hopefully, they weren’t going to take her offsite, but she wasn’t hopeful to get out of this alive. She wished she could have talked to Sacha one more time. She struggled. She bit the hand over her mouth then kicked backwards into his shin. The person’s grip loosened. She ran out the door. She didn’t see any sign of the man and she hoped that Cliff was giving him a hard time.
She raced around the building. She must have wounded the guy well enough that he wasn’t following her. Rounding another corner of the building, she saw Cliff kicking at the man. She thought he caught him in the balls. Good boy. Kendra smacked the man from behind.
“Run, Cliff! Away from the building.”
He did and ran right into Nikolai. Who had brought the cavalry. Airport security had rolled onto the scene. The man who had been trying to get Cliff put up his hands. He was taken away.
Nikolai came over to her. “You okay?”
“Yes, but I can’t run away anymore. Is there anything I can do to stop this madness? My life is disrupted, so is Cliff.”
The little boy returned to her. She picked him up because he was shaking. Viktor pulled in at that moment. He climbed out of his limousine.
“Kendra, Cliff. Everyone’s okay.”
“How is Alia?” Kendra said.
“Home and fine. False labor, but they aren’t concerned. I can take Cliff back with me.”
Kendra looked down at the boy. Might be safer to have him out of the way. “Will you be okay to go back with Mr. Kozlov?”
Cliff nodded. “They let me call them aunt and uncle.”
Kendra smiled, whatever made him feel better. She handed him to Viktor. “Thanks.”
“I have a feeling this is in everyone’s best interest. Including my wife. I think she really likes Cliff,” Viktor said.
He climbed into his car with Cliff then drove away. Kendra turned back to Nikolai just as the other man was led out of the hangar.
“Who gave me up?”
“The pilot. He told us they blackmailed him, seems he likes prostitutes, the ones he can tie up and spank,” Nikolai said.
Kendra rolled her eyes. “Guess you can’t trust anyone.”
“You can trust me, Kendra.”
“I know.”
He motioned for her to walk with him. “What did you have in mind? I don’t want you to take things into your own hands.”
“I have no desire to do that, but there must be something I can do. Can I confront Lopez with cops as a backup? I’ll wear a wire.”
“I can’t allow a private citizen to get involved.”
“Would you rather I go in alone?” Kendra said. She was done with this. She wanted to get on with her life. Get back to work. Stop this nuttiness. Get Cliff back into a routine. She was tired.
“No, I don’t want you anywhere near Lopez,” Nikolai said.
“Your choice. At some point, I’m going to take matters into my own hands. You can be a part of it or not.”
“You could get killed.”
“Or I could defeat him. Get the evidence you need to put him away,” Kendra said.
She had to convince him. When they messed with Cliff she was finished. No one messed with Cliff. He wasn’t her child, but she felt like a mama bear anyway. She’d raised him from infancy. He was going to have a better life than she had. No two-bit politician was going to take that away from him.
Nikolai sighed. “Let me talk to my boss. You in a hurry to get anywhere?”
“I’ll wait right here while you clear this with him or her. I’m not going anywhere until I know I can take care of this situation.”
***
Sacha pulled into the driveway of his house. Something didn’t feel right. There were tire tracks in the little bit of mud. He hadn’t been up here and he hadn’t invited anyone. He drove faster over the dirt road hoping the suspension could handle it. He must get to Kendra, but there was no car when he arrived at the house. His phone began to buzz with a backlog of messages. He looked at the screen. Kendra and Viktor had called him.
“I better check on Kendra, first.”
Sacha left the car unlocked, but took the keys with him. He entered the house and some part of him knew that she wasn’t here. He checked every room.
“Kendra?”
No answer.
“Kendra?”
Where could she be? Out hiking? Out walking? He called her phone, but it went right to voicemail. Technology was great when it worked. He called Viktor instead.
“Where have you been?” Viktor said.
“What happened?”
“Kendra came back to Manhattan to pick up Cliff because Alia was in the hospital. Alia is fine. Cliff is back with us. I left Kendra at the airport.”
“Airport? Is my pilot bringing her back?”
“I haven’t talked to her. I left her with Nikolai.”
“Nik? What was he doing there?”
“Maybe you need to talk to Nik or Kendra,” Viktor said.
With assurances that Alia was fine, Sacha hung up. He dialed Nik’s number. He didn’t pick up either. Sacha decided to drive back to Manhattan or to the airport. He wasn’t sure where to go. He tried calling Kendra again. No answer. He left her a message.
What was going on? He hoped nothing had happened to Kendra. He would never forgive himself. He was supposed to protect her. He’d told her that he would keep her safe. At least she’d gone of her own accord. No one had kidnapped her. If she was still with Nik then she was safe.
Sacha fueled up the car the next chance he got. He tried calling Kendra few times, but he was out of range for a chunk of the trip. He called Viktor after he fueled up the car. He didn’t like being out of touch like this.
“Where were you today anyway?” Viktor asked.
He’d never told his brother about the
son he gave up for adoption. He couldn’t tell him over the phone. Not right now. “It’s a loose end I’m tying up. Nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried, but Mama said you haven’t been over in a while,” Viktor said.
“I figure she’s got her attention on you, Alia and that impending baby,” Sacha said.
He leaned on the hood of the car. This might have been the tiniest gas station he’d ever seen. Only two pumps and the guy at the register inside was probably standing here when they built it so they gave him a job. Might have been when Ford was still building Model Ts.
“She is, but she hasn’t forgotten her other son.”
“Okay. I’ll visit.”
“You should bring Kendra.”
“Kendra and I aren’t dating.”
“No?”
“No, we aren’t.”
He wasn’t going to explain to Viktor about the contract. That sounded creepy, even to Sacha. His brother wouldn’t approve. What happened between him and Kendra was between them and no one else. Bringing her to his mother’s place would only make it seem like there was more. It was a business arrangement, mutually beneficial. There would be too many questions if he acted as if Kendra was his girlfriend.
“No? You borrowed my club for her fundraiser. You brought her to your cabin. I know for a fact that you’ve never brought a woman there.”
“I’m just protecting her,” Sacha said. “You protected Alia.”
“And now I have a ring on my finger and a baby on the way.”
“Not happening to me. When this is over, she’ll be gone. I’m sure she’ll be happy to get back to her life.”
He didn’t mind Kendra there. He was getting the benefit of companionship and regular sex. More regular than the one time he did have a girlfriend. This was with no strings. No expectation of marriage or taking the relationship further. Kendra was already living with him, but that was temporary.
Viktor chuckled. “You keep telling yourself that buddy.”
This conversation was getting on his nerves. His brother acted as if he knew everything in the world. Just because he was older and had done a lot to raise Sacha, didn’t make him his father. “I don’t want to talk about my relationship with Kendra. I just want to know what happened today.”
“What happened after I left? Don’t know. I haven’t talked to Kendra. We have Cliff. He’s safe. Alia is okay. The rest is your concern. Alia is calling me. We’re taking Cliff to the park.”
“He likes the park.”
“For not being in a relationship with Kendra, you’ve taken a lot of interest in her little brother.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“I didn’t even know that you liked children.”
Once upon a time, he hadn’t. Wanted nothing to do with them. Lately he’d been more and more interested in them. Not to the point of having one, but only because he didn’t think he should be a single parent. If he had a kid, he wanted him or her to be raised by both parents. Sacha felt he’d missed out with his father being dead. This was one of the reasons he wanted to find his own child. He needed to make sure the kid was okay.
“I’m going to go now, Viktor. I’ll talk to you later.”
He pulled out onto the road and a car followed him. Odd. This was a country back road. The car sped up and came closer. “Back off buddy.” He doubted the guy’s insurance company would want to repair this car. The car came closer and closer.
“Holy shit,” Sacha said when the other car hit him.
Chapter10
Kendra stood in the police station, in someone’s office, while a female police officer taped a tiny microphone into her bra. It was a dot that even Kendra would be hard-pressed to find on her own mocha skin.
“Even if they search you, they shouldn’t be able to find you.”
“What if they followed me?” Kendra said “What if they were watching me?”
“We sent a decoy for them to follow. You wouldn’t be here if any of the cops on the case thought that you’d been followed.”
Kendra blew out a breath. She had never been this nervous in her life. She wished she could have talked to Sacha except that he’d probably talk her out if it. She’d been buoyed by his voice in her voicemail. She had hesitated to call him back, but now she was sorry she hadn’t.
His voice would ground her and at the very least she’d have a good friend when this was all over. A friend whose advice she could trust. He was a smart man and would give his opinion freely. She could use a friend like that. She could probably use a husband or lover like that, but knew that was in the cards for her. She’d never settle now. Not after having Sacha treat her well.
“You ready for this?” the office asked.
She put her blouse back on. “As I’ll ever be.”
The female officer opened the door. Nikolai came in. “I have some last minute instructions for you,” he said.
“I’m listening.”
“Last chance to back out,” Nikolai said.
She couldn’t. She’d been on the sidelines in this situation too long. She wasn’t one to sit by and let everyone else do the work. No, this was her fight and she was going to take it right to Lopez. No matter how scared she was. “No. You have my letter?”
“Yes, but I think you’ll be fine. We’re going to be right outside and meeting him in his office at City Hall ensures your protection. In a back alley we might not be able to keep you safe. You sure we can’t tell Sacha?”
“No, don’t. He’ll talk me out of it.”
“He’s going to be pissed when he find out.”
“I’ll deal with Sacha. There will be no repercussions.”
Unless, she died then all bets were off, but she didn’t think that would happen. She didn’t want to think that would happen. She’d prepared paperwork to give custody of Cliff to Viktor and Alia. They had the home and the lifestyle to raise a child.
Sacha was a single guy who wanted to stay a single guy. Kendra blew out another breath. Her heart skittered in her chest. This was real, but hopefully when she was done, Lopez would be gone. The threat to her life would be gone. Cliff would be safe. She had to take care of her family. With her mother safely in a home, Cliff was it. She felt as mama bear about him as if she’d birthed him.
“You’ve never seen Sacha’s temper, I take it. He even scares me and I carry a weapon.” Nikolai smiled. He was clearly trying to lighten the mood.
Kendra waited outside of Councilman Lopez’ office. A secretary shuffled papers and answered phones behind a large wooden desk. An American flag hung on the wall. A sign said it had flown a mission in Iraq. After sweating a few minutes in the outer office, the secretary indicated that Kendra could go in. One more fortifying breath, the she walked into Lopez office as if it were her own.
He sat behind his desk, not looking nervous at all. More like a wolf that had invited a chicken to sleep in his den. Not comforting to Kendra. She’d wanted him nervous.
He wasn’t, she was: never a good position to be in. Fake it until you make it, she told herself. She shook the man’s hand though she wanted to wipe it on her pants afterwards. She already needed a shower just from being in his presence. She had a job to do and no choice about it. This man needed to be taken down.
“Miss Elliot.” Lopez didn’t stand.
“Mr. Lopez.” She didn’t bother with his title. He didn’t deserve it. If she had anything to do with it, he would have it for long.
“What brings you to my office today?”
He plastered on his politician smile. Gave Kendra the creeps. She sat without him offering her a seat. She knew all about power plays. She’d bet Sacha could teach this man a thing or two. “I think you know.”
“Do I?”
“Let’s not dance around the issue. I saw something and you think I’m going to tell about it.”
“What did you think you saw?”
“I know what I saw. I know what I heard.”
“If you think you’r
e going to get me to confess to some drug deal you’re nuts,” Lopez said.
This wasn’t going to be that easy. He probably suspected that she was wired. “But I’m going to go to the police.”
“Why now?”
“Because everyone is safe.”
“Your mother up in that home for Alzheimer’s patients?”
Her blood chilled in her veins, but the place had top-notch security. She’d bet Nikolai was checking on it now. “So you know where my mother is.”
“Yes, I do. And where that cute little boy is, too. I have a lot of power, Miss Elliot.”
“Not once I talk.”
“What is it you want?”
“I want you to resign.”
Lopez laughed. He threw back his head and let out a belly laugh. “You’re a funny lady, Miss Elliot. Anyone ever tell you that?”
She let him laugh, her gaze never leaving his. “That’s the deal. You walk. I don’t talk.”
“I’d bet that there’s something in your past that you aren’t happy with Miss Elliot. I’m going to find it and make sure you don’t talk.”
***
Sacha fought to stay on the road. What the hell was this guy doing? He gripped the wheel. The second time the other car hit him on the corner. Almost made the car spin out. Sacha was thankful for a sturdy car. He sped up to try to get away from the maniac, but the road was windy. The other car was a late model Ford. A tank, but it couldn’t handle the curves the way his Bugatti could. The car was going to be worth every penny he’d have to pay to get it repaired. It would be his saving grace.
Another curve loomed and the car hit him again. Sacha sped through the curve which slowed down the other car. Taking advantage he accelerated on the next straightaway then slowed only slightly to take the next turn. Miraculously, the car was still being him. It slammed into him again. This time Sacha wasn’t so lucky. He couldn’t get his car back in control. It fishtailed right then left. The other car backed off a little. Sacha couldn’t seem to keep his car on the road while another curve was looming.
“Shit.”
To his left was a stone wall. He didn’t want to run into that. To his right was a cliff. Filled with trees so he might stop easily, but at what cost? At this point, he didn’t care about the car. He wanted to get out alive. He wanted to see Kendra and Cliff. He needed to make sure they were safe. He needed Kendra to know something about his feelings for her.
Her Russian Billionaires - The Complete Billionaire Romance Collection Page 31