by Beth Abbott
“Mercenaries?” Luciana was struggling to keep her voice even.
“Yeah, well, some of those ex-military security guys. Guns for hire, I suppose you could say. One of them was related to one of the soldiers who was sent in the first place.” Hilary shrugged. “I don’t think he was very good at his job though, the soldier. Luis Castille shot him before they could get away.”
“He did?” Luciana was struggling not to fist-pump.
“Yeah, him and another guy got shot by Castille as they were helping people onto the helicopter.” Hilary nodded.
“Were you there when it happened?” Luciana asked curiously.
“No, I wasn’t. The girl with the rich daddy and the rest of us got out on another helicopter before the shit hit the fan.” Hilary shrugged. “But what I just told you definitely happened. I got it from someone who was there, and we all flew home together on Sophia’s daddy’s plane.”
“Sophia? Her daddy was the one who got you all out?” Luciana probed.
Hilary startled.
“Yeah, but you can’t use her name. I was told I mustn’t mention the names of the others I was travelling with. Or else, y’know?” She explained.
“We can keep that totally off the record, for sure.” Luciana smiled. “So, he flew you all home?”
“Yeah, once the rescue helicopters got back, it was complete chaos.” Hilary wasn’t above hyping up the drama! “The two mercenary guys had been hit in some kind of shoot-out with Luis Castille, so when they got back to the airfield it was all hands-on deck to get them triaged and onto the plane. Gregor’s Russian military friends took over and cleared out the compound.”
“Gregor?” Luciana prompted.
“Yeah, Sophia’s dad, Gregor Diminov, the Russian mega-billionaire. But you can’t use his name either.” Hilary pointed out. “Well, he paid for the whole thing.”
“So, it was the Russian military who killed Luis Castille, is that right?” Luciana kept the smile on her face even though she thought it might kill her.
“No, it was one of the mercenaries who killed Luis. The same ones that killed Rafael and his men in the river.” Hilary explained with a satisfied nod.
“They shot both Rafa and Luis?” Luciana clarified.
“Yeah, that was what I heard.” Hilary nodded confidently. “They deserved it too. Raping, murdering bastards! I was told that Luis took half a dozen shots to the head. Blew his face to pieces! It couldn’t have happened to a nicer fucker, either!”
Luciana took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
She casually reached down beside her and picked up her purse.
“You know, sometimes people aren’t exactly what you think they are.” She pointed out.
Luciana placed her purse on her lap and reached inside for her gun. Without pulling it out she slipped her other hand inside, reaching for the silencer and screwing it firmly in place.
“I mean, did it ever occur to you that Luis Castille might have a family somewhere? That he might be someone’s father, maybe. That he might have people who loved him?” She asked quietly.
“Puh-lease!” Hilary scoffed. “He was a drug-dealing piece of shit, who didn’t care for anyone or anything but himself.”
Luciana’s eyes narrowed at Hilary’s words, but the woman didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy calling Luis Castille all the mother-fucking sons-of-bitches and many other names in her admittedly expansive vocabulary.
When she ran out of steam, Hilary glanced to the side to see Pedro putting his phone away.
“Are we done?” She asked, confused.
Luciana smiled at the American.
“Oh, ‘we’ are far from done.” Luciana pointed between herself and Pedro. “You, however, are completely done.”
Hilary tilted her head to one side, obviously trying to fathom what exactly Luciana meant, and in doing so, completely failed to spot Luciana’s gun being pulled from her purse, silencer in place.
It was only as Luciana raised the gun to head height, pointing it straight at Hilary’s face, that the girl actually realised what was going on.
“But… why?” She whispered, obviously still clueless as to why someone might want to shoot her, especially not here in an upmarket Los Angeles hotel.
“Unfortunately for us both, Luis Castille was, in fact, my beloved papa.” Luciana said quietly. “And if you think he was a mother-fucking psycho… you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet!”
Without hesitating, Luciana lowered her gun and fired two shots, one into each of Hilary’s knees.
The woman’s gasp and scream of pain didn’t last long as she crumpled to the floor in front of Luciana.
“Stop… please…?” Hilary gasped as Luciana pointed the weapon again with intent.
“You like head-shots, hmm?” Luciana murmured, squeezing the trigger over and over until all she could hear was the click, click, of the empty chamber.
Hilary’s body flew backwards from the impact of the close-range shots, and landed sprawled on her back, a pool of blood forming on the carpet beneath what was left of her face.
Luciana stepped closer and glared down at Hilary’s one remaining eye.
“How’d you like those fucking head-shots?” She snarled.
Pedro’s arm around her shoulders brought Luciana’s attention back to the situation.
“Come on, Lucky.” He smiled at her. “We have a Russian billionaire to visit.”
Luciana nodded, picking up the woman’s purse, from where she removed Hilary’s wallet with her ID in it, and then snatched up the piece of paper Hilary had given her and stuffed them both in her pocket.
“Gather up everything else and meet me at the car.” She didn’t spare the corpse a second glance. “We’ve certainly got a busy time ahead.”
Chapter 20 – Tuck
Tuck opened the door to his home and watched Gregor, Tulli, and Lara climb out of the big SUV.
On the far side, Charlie and Joel climbed out, and once Gregor had retrieved the rented wheelchair from the trunk, Charlie leaned in and lifted Mischa out, placing her gently into the chair.
Joel was instantly by her side, holding her hand, and though Tuck could see the tension throughout her body, once she held onto Joel, Mischa seemed calm enough. Certainly, she was a whole lot better than she’d been in the hospital.
Candy stepped past him and walked towards Tulli and Lara, giving each of them a hug.
“Welcome, ladies.” She smiled. “Come on in, and let’s get you settled.”
As Charlie pushed the wheelchair around the car, Candy crouched down, so she was the same height as Mischa.
“Hello, Mischa.” She touched the girl’s hand. “Do you remember me? I’m Alex’s mom Candy. We’re so pleased you’ve come to stay with us for a few days. I hope you’ll be happy here.”
Tuck saw the muscles in Mischa’s shoulders relax, but still the girl said nothing. It was still early days, he reminded himself.
Tuck shook Gregor’s hand as he approached.
“Can I give you a hand with the bags?” He offered, nodding back towards Gregor’s car.
Tuck sidestepped the ladies and Charlie and headed back to the open tailgate of the SUV.
Tuck stared at all the bags.
“How did they amass this little lot in only two days, when they’ve hardly left your house?” He whistled.
Gregor grinned.
“Two bags are full of their new clothes, shoes and personal stuff like shampoo and whatever.” Gregor smirked. “One bag is full of all the supplements Sara wants the women to take before and after meals, to help them keep the food down and also to get their strength back. And those two freezer bags are full of meals that my housekeeper cooked in advance of being banished on an enforced vacation with her family.”
“Did you think we wouldn’t feed Tulli and her sisters?” Tuck frowned at Gregor.
The Russian chuckled.
“I’ve been to your house several times Ryan, and always left with my belt loosened
a notch.” He smiled. “No, I just thought that it would be pointless keeping them at my place where they’d go to waste. Marcy is an excellent cook, and if it saves Candy or yourself an hour or two in the kitchen, I thought it would be a small gesture.
Tuck grabbed a couple of the larger bags while Gregor grabbed the rest.
“Come on.” He headed towards the house. “Let’s drop the bags where they belong, and head to my office. There have been a few developments you need to be aware of, plus Sophia will be calling in about ten minutes to have a video-conference with us.”
“Sophia?” Gregor stopped in his tracks. “My Sophia?”
Tuck turned and stared.
“Do we know many other Sophias?” He puzzled. “I mean, there’s Sophia Loren, of course. And there’s Sofia Vergara... But if Candy’s around, we don’t mention her. I pretend I’ve never heard of her.”
Gregor smirked.
“I’m guessing there’s a story behind that statement, but I won’t ask.” He headed towards the door. “So, assuming it’s my Sophia, and she’s calling about these developments, would I also be correct in assuming I’m not going to like what you’re going to say?”
Tuck waited for Gregor to pass through the door and then kicked it shut behind him.
“Very astute, my friend.” He headed for the kitchen. “But shall we wait until Tulli can join us to start the conversation?”
They deposited the freezer bags on the kitchen counter, and Tuck led the way up the large staircase to the first floor.
Tuck watched Gregor look around him as he seemed to be admiring the way the house was laid out, with a long wide hallway, and the open doors on either side showing off the lovely large bedrooms.
Along the walls were photos of the various family members, similar to the ones they had downstairs, but where the ones on the ground floor were full of adults and kids laughing and having a great adventure at family parties and the like, these ones were individual family portraits and group photos, with lots of hugs and smooching going on. It was as though the guys had thrown off the Alpha cloaks and were just being husbands and dads for the day.
Tuck loved these pictures the best, as he always thought that he’d never seen the men look happier.
Gregor stopped at a group photo with a large number of smiling adults, and four or five little kids with a young teenage girl.
“Are these all related?” He asked Tuck, obviously recognising some of them.
“Yeah, by marriage at least.” Tuck pointed at the picture. “That’s Luke and Ellen, with their two sets of twins. Behind Ellen are Luke’s parents, who are standing next to Jenny, who’s Sara’s mom, which is why Sara and Marcus are standing there. Jenny is the bride in the picture, as can be guessed at by the cream coloured dress, and the distinguished guy looking very proud to be standing next to her is former Colonel Joseph Bailey. He’s Alice’s dad, which is why you have Alice, JT, and their two kids, Joanna, or Joey as she’s known, and Andrew.”
“So, Sara’s mom is married to Alice’s dad?” Gregor clarified.
“Yeah, about two years ago, give or take.” Tuck nodded. “They’re based in London, and Joseph still does a lot of work for the military, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be retired.”
“You have a lot of well-connected friends.” Gregor murmured.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Tuck chuckled. “Sara’s dad is also a politician, who having been almost assassinated a few years ago, is back in the cabinet and tipped for the top job before the next election.”
“Douglas Winston is Sara’s father?” Gregor glanced at Tuck in surprise.
“You know your British politicians, then?” Tuck turned and tapped on a door-frame before placing the bags just inside with a big smile for his wife.
“There haven’t been too many assassination attempts on politicians in the UK in the last ten years.” Gregor shrugged.
“Thank the good Lord for that!” Gregor spun around to see Sara standing in the doorway.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
“Gregor, it’s fine.” She smiled and patted him on the arm. “My dad’s doing just fine now. In fact, the assassination attempt helped him put things in perspective and take the stick out of his ass! He’s actually quite a nice person these days, and he’s actually getting really excited about becoming a grandfather for the first time.”
Gregor smiled as Tuck snorted.
“Listen, Sara, do you think you could pry Tulli away from her sisters and get her down to my office in a few minutes? We need to let her know what’s going on.” Tuck asked.
“Ok, but can you look after her once she’s there? I really need to give Mischa another examination, and she’s calm at the moment, so it would be a good time.” Sara explained. “And if you’re going to give Tulli any bad news, make sure Gregor’s holding her hand while you do it. There’s only so much shit a woman can take, y’know?”
Tuck grinned.
“I’m sure Gregor is up for hand-holding duty.”
Gregor smiled.
“A man knows what he’s good for, and if that’s the role you’ve assigned me, I can think of a whole lot worse.” He bowed slightly, not a hint of a smirk anywhere near his face, which impressed Tuck no end.
“Come on.” Tuck turned towards the stairs. “Let’s get set up for that videoconference with Sophia Loren.”
Chapter 21 –Tulli
As Tulli sat in Tuck’s office waiting for the video feed to go live, she heard the main door open and bang shut, and a loud female voice complaining.
“Just for one minute, can you keep your hands to yourself?” The woman griped. “I’m sure I can walk thirty feet without your hand on my ass!”
“I know, but your ass looks so much sweeter with my hand on it.” Danny’s British accent was unmistakable.
Hannah appeared around the doorframe, and smiled at the assembled group.
“Hey guys.” She gave an embarrassed wave as she realised they’d all been listening. “How’re you doing, Tulli? Are you and your sisters feeling Ok?”
Tulli smiled.
“We’re doing much better, thanks. Everyone has been so kind to us, it’s almost overwhelming.”
“Glad to hear you’re all recovering.” Hannah glanced up at Tuck. “Isn’t the feed live yet?”
“It should be by now.” He admitted. “Maybe Sophia hasn’t dialled in yet?”
“Or maybe you haven’t cast the feed to the TV set?” Hannah leaned forward and hit a few buttons on Tuck’s laptop, and the big-screen TV lit up with an image of Sophia and Alex, obviously lounging on his hospital bed, looking very cosy.
“Hey guys!” Hannah waved at the laptop camera.
“Oh, hi everyone.” Alex sat up a little straighter, as Sophia moved a couple of inches away from him.
“How’re you doing, son? Shoulder healing well?” Tuck grinned.
“It’s healing just fine, dad.” Alex grinned. “They’ve confirmed that I’m going to be discharged later, so we’ll be heading straight up into the mountains, to CJ’s place.”
“Your mom is going to come by and visit with you before you leave, and the security team will be waiting around back as we discussed yesterday.” Tuck confirmed. “All your stuff is already packed up for you, and will be in the car ready.”
“Sophia?” Gregor leaned forward. “You look tired sweetheart. Are you sure you’re taking time to rest?”
“I’ve been trying to tell her the same thing, Mr Diminov.” Alex glanced at Sophia with a look of pure ‘I told you so!’. “She thinks she can survive on a couple of hours on a sofa each night.”
“Hey, Papa.” Sophia blew Gregor a kiss. “I’m fine, really, and we’ll be out of here in a few hours. Once we get where we’re going, we can have all the down time we like, so please, don’t worry about me.”
“Sophia, the day I stop worrying about you is the day they embalm me, so humour me, hmm?” Gregor tried to look stern. “Take better care of
yourself, Ok? You’ve had a rough time lately, and need to give yourself a few days to recover.”
Tulli leaned forward slightly, so she was in camera shot for the first time.
“Alex?”
Alex leaned closer to the screen, so he could see who was speaking to him.
“Tulli? Is that you?” He beamed. “I almost didn’t recognise you. You’re looking so different.”
Tulli blushed.
“It’s amazing what a bath and some clean clothes will do for a person.” She smiled shyly. “Alex, I just wanted to thank you for everything you did for us. And to say I am so sorry you were hurt helping Mischa. You were so very kind and brave. I just wanted you to know how much we appreciate you, and how much we know we owe you. If there’s ever anything I can do to repay your kindness, you know you only have to ask, and it’s yours.”
“Tulli, I was just doing my job.” Alex protested. “I’m really glad you’re all safe and unharmed, but you really don’t owe me anything.”
“Alex, if that was ‘just doing your job’, then the Marines can’t possibly be paying you enough.” Tulli insisted. “And my offer stands. Anything I can do for you, just name it. Such as it’s worth.”
“Thank you Tulli.” Alex nodded. “I appreciate it.”
“Ok, can we get back to the purpose of the call?” Tuck said firmly. “I’m sorry to do this, but we’ve had some news come in early this morning that’s alarmed everyone involved, and convinced us that we’re taking the right steps to keep you all safe.”
“Go on… spit it out then.” Hannah was closest to him, as always sitting on her husband’s lap, regardless that there were empty seats. “Tuck, you know I don’t do well with suspense.”
“Ok, well, the FBI have warning flags out with all sorts of different agencies, looking for any unusual movement through the border of any of the trucks connected to Luciana Vega and her cartel. They stopped twenty different vehicles yesterday, but nothing unusual and nothing illegal was found.” Tuck explained. “Which was a red flag all of its own.”