by K. J. Dahlen
“You will never leave this cage alive.” Sazon gripped the bars with white fingers. “I will see you in hell first.”
“My mission isn’t finished yet.” Michael curled his lip in disgust. “You can’t kill me until I finish my mission, then we’ll see who dies and who walks away from here.” Then he walked carefully over to the cot holding his arm close to his injured ribs and laid down. Closing his eyes, he ignored the men on the other side of the bars.
When the six men left the gym, they found four other men waiting outside, Yuri’s security men. He assigned them guard duty. He put one man outside the room Michael was in, another man at the back door and he put the other two men in the woods at the back of the parking lot. He bid them to watch the area well as they didn’t know what to expect and he wanted to be prepared for the worst.
Then he turned to Pappy’s men. “If you’ll follow us back to the hotel you can get food and drink and a place to rest. We may have a battle to prepare for and you need the time to wind down and get ready.”
Recon nodded and glanced at his men. Then he looked back at Yuri. “The battle may be sooner than you realize. We didn’t see anyone following us but Gunner had this feeling of dread. Now when we were in the sandbox his feeling of dread was something we learned to be alert to. It saved our asses on more than one occasion.” He shrugged. “You may not believe in it but we do.”
Yuri slapped the other man on the back. “Who am I to turn my back on something like that? Believe me I do not. Some things cannot be explained and sometimes feeling are all we have between us and certain death. I have a network of people all over the city that can keep watch for us. If they notice anything out of place, they will alert us and we can be ready for anything Michael has planned.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
When Yuri got down to his office later that day the sun was almost gone. The rare colors in the sky held his attention for a moment then he opened his office door and found someone waiting for him. Someone very unexpected.
He closed the door behind him and walked over to his desk. As he sat down, he studied the woman sitting there. “This is unexpected. To what do I owe this visit?”
Vernita Choo watched him as intently as he watched her. Her dark almond eyes narrowed as she thought about what she would say to him. She was a small woman due to her Asian heritage. Her long black hair hung down her back and she was dressed well, befitting her position. Her nails were polished a deep red that matched the color on her lips. Her eyes however were hard and cold. “I heard something interesting today.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” Yuri asked.
Vernita shrugged. “I’m not sure it has anything to do with you. I just wanted to tell you what I heard.”
“Okay, what did you hear?” Yuri asked. He hated playing these kind of games. Normally, he would throw her out of his office but Vernita Choo was part of the Council now as she was taking over her father’s position in the Triad and he had to move carefully if he didn’t want a war on his hands. She wasn’t known for her stability.
“Well this afternoon, I heard a warning about looking out for some strangers coming here looking for a man named Michael. I didn’t think too much about it as it didn’t concern me or my part of town.”
“Then why are you here?”
She smiled but the humor didn’t meet her eyes. “It still doesn’t concern me but I thought you might want to know there are seven men in the city searching for this man Michael. They arrived after I heard the warning. So needless to say, I was concerned. They haven’t learned anything yet but I have some people watching them. No one in the city will give them any information.”
Yuri stared at her for a moment then gave her a single nod. “Give us a day and then you can let them know who has him. We will take them down.”
Vernita went to get to her feet then sat down again. She hesitated before she asked, “What did this Michael do anyway? I’ve never known you to do something like this before. He hasn’t been here for but a few days and has done nothing to raise your interest yet. Well, nothing that I know of anyway and I have knowledge of all parts of this city.”
Yuri paused then told her part of the truth, as he knew it, “Michael is a serial killer and he’s been running loose for the last fifteen years. His last victim was an eighty two year old man who he stabbed in the back then took his time to torture.”
Vernita’s eyes went glacial. “His last victim?”
“We’ve found evidence of five other murders he’s committed. All young women and men with their whole lives ahead of them.”
“Why the old man then?”
“He was searching for something that never belonged to him. When he found it, he let the old man bleed to death.”
“Do his friends know?” Vernita’s fingers curled into tiny fists.
Yuri shrugged. “Somehow, I doubt it but I could be wrong. They may have no idea of the monster inside him. This man has no soul but he hides it well.”
Vernita got to her feet. “I will wait twenty four hours then I will spread the word that you have this man Michael. The Council will hold you responsible for any bloodshed in this matter if the problem spills over to the streets.”
Yuri got to his feet and stared at her. “It won’t. We will take them down quickly and quietly. I will protect my city and its people.”
Vernita nodded and walked to the door. Exiting the office, she never said a word.
A few minutes later, the door opened as Pappy and Deke joined him. Sergi, Nikoli and Misha joined them as well.
Pappy and Deke leaned against the wall while Sergi, Misha and Nikoli took the chairs on the other side of Yuri’s desk.
“Well, what’s the plan boss?” Deke finally broke the silence in the room.
Yuri looked at the other men in the room. “Vernita Choo just left my office before you arrived. For those of you who don’t know who she is she is another faction leader living here in the city. This city has a Council where each faction living and working here are represented. This Council protects the city and its people. We have control here and Vernita will be taking over soon for her father. She represents the Asian faction. She came to warn me of seven men looking for Michael.”
“His friends are here already?” Sergi asked. “It didn’t take them long.”
Yuri shrugged. “One of Pappy’s men did mention earlier that he felt they were being followed.”
“What about these seven men?” Pappy asked.
“Right now, they have asked questions and are getting no answers. I asked her for twenty four hours and then to spread the word as to where and who has Michael. Then I suspect the men will come to us, demanding to know where their friend is and why we took him.”
“And will she give us those twenty four hours?” Deke asked.
Yuri nodded. “She will. We have a day before they will know where to come for him but we will be ready for them when they do.”
“What do you want us to do?” Pappy asked quietly.
Sergi glanced over his shoulder at the other two men. “This is not your fight. You don’t have to stay.”
Deke glanced over to Pappy then turned back to the four men they faced. “This may not be our fight but we’re in it now. We can’t just turn our backs to this kind of threat. These seven men might just be saps off the street but they represent a threat, not only to your people but maybe to mine too, someday. We’re here and at your disposal. We all know Michael is the real threat but what do we know about his friends? Is he the only threat here or is he one of eight? I think I’d just as soon wait around until we know for sure.”
Nikoli and Misha turned to look at Yuri.
“He’s got a point,” Misha said. “What do we know about these seven men?”
“This could be a bigger threat than we realize at the moment,” Sergi commented.
“There might be away to check this out,” Pappy informed them. “We could have Trudy do a search.”
“Who is
this Trudy person?” Sergi frowned. “You’ve mentioned her name before.”
“She’s the reason we have the information we do,” Yuri explained.
Sergi shook his head. “I do not like this. This should be handled within our own resources. We should not have brought in outsiders.”
“But we needed this information and she’s faster and better than our people,” Yuri explained. “She is the wife of one of Pappy’s men.”
Sergi thought for a moment then nodded. “Da, let her look and see what she can find but she has only twenty four hours to find whatever she can find. That’s not a lot of time.”
Pappy reached for his phone. “If anyone can get this information, Trudy can. You would be surprised where she can go and what she can find.”
“As long as this information is not shared with anyone else,” Sergi warned him.
Pappy frowned at the threat in his voice. “Trudy knows what she’s doing and she doesn’t like to share what she finds with anyone who doesn’t need to know. She’s very trustworthy.”
“You know this but I do not,” Sergi snorted. “I have no knowledge of you or your people. I don’t mean that in a bad way but I am careful to protect what’s mine.”
“The same as I will protect my people,” Pappy agreed. “You say you don’t know my people. Well, I don’t know yours either. I knew the Bratva was here on our soil but I have no idea what kind of people you are. I only came here to help a friend.” He motioned toward Deke.
Sergi listened to his words then made up his mind. He nodded. “Ask your friend’s woman to find out what she can within the time limit. Hopefully, she can find something we can use to defuse the situation. With Vernita’s visit, we are being watched and now, we know it. If we can’t take care of the problem, they will and then we will have bloodshed in the streets we do not want. If any of the factions within the city settle this matter, we will not only lose our top position but we could lose our place here as well.” He glared at Pappy. “I will not allow that to happen. We have all worked too hard to bring peace to this city and I will not lose that peace over this piece of shit.”
Pappy moved away to speak to Trudy and when he returned after the call he looked a little troubled.
Deke noticed his look. “What’s wrong?”
“Trudy said she missed something when she gave us the paperwork yesterday.”
“What did she miss?” Yuri asked.
“She was digging further into Michael’s past, because she just felt off about the info she sent us when she noticed something she’d missed before. It was a small symbol painted in blood on the victim in the second set of crime pictures. When she went back, she found the same symbol on all his victims except the first one. There was no symbol on Sam Weston and she couldn’t find the pictures from Ivan Petroff. In fact, she couldn’t find any police report on him either.”
“What is this symbol she found on the other victims?” Nikoli asked looking over at Sergi with a troubled look. They both knew the reason why there was no police report on Ivan but they didn’t feel the need to share that information at the moment.
Pappy brought up a photo Trudy sent him and turned the phone, so the others could see it. It was a grizzly picture but that didn’t faze them…what drew their interest was the small round shape. It was a circle with the number eight inside.
“Well this is strange,” Misha commented. “I wonder what it means.”
“She’s looking into it,” Pappy assured them.
“What is there to look into?” Sergi asked with a frown. “This symbol could mean nothing.”
Deke shrugged. “It could mean nothing or it could have a deeper meaning. We won’t know until Trudy digs out more information on it.”
Sergi frowned and glanced at Yuri and the others within his group. “Did this woman give you anything more to go on?”
Pappy nodded. “She thinks she found a trail to follow. This wasn’t the only symbol like this she found. So far, she’s uncovered several more murders with this symbol. More murders than we can attribute to Michael anyway.”
“How many murders has she discovered so far?” Misha asked.
“Right now, there are ten,” Pappy told them.
“And the police haven’t connected them?” Deke asked.
The other man shrugged. “Apparently not.”
“No wonder your people do not trust the police.” Sergi scoffed. “In cases such as this, they do not have the sense God gave them.”
“She said she would need some time to follow this new thread but that she would get the info to us as soon as she knew it,” Pappy added.
“We may not have that much time,” Yuri added.
“Then I suggest we let her do what she can. She’s quick and she’s the best I know at doing what she does.” Pappy nodded. “She’ll get what she needs and get back to us within the time allowed.”
When Sazon and Yuri got back to the penthouse after securing Michael in the cage, Sazon found Ana waiting impatiently for him. He pulled her down the hall into the bedroom they had stayed in. Sazon leaned against the door and watched her carefully as she paced back and forth. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I want to see Michael.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. That man is just this side of insane and I won’t allow him to hurt you anymore. He’s done enough damage to your family and I won’t lose you to him now. I just found you.”
Ana stopped in front of him and shook her head. “It’s not up to you and you don’t have the right to allow or not allow me to see him. That is my decision.”
“But it is up to me to allow whether or not you will see him.” Sazon growled. “You gave me that right when you asked me to take you. I claimed you in front of my brothers and that also gives me the right. You may not know this but that’s the way we work.”
Ana stepped over to him and laid her hand on his chest. “That may be the way you work but I made an oath to my grandfather as he was dying. I swore to him that Michael wouldn’t get away with what he’s done. Pops begged me to let it go but I swore to him I would see this through.”
“Your grandfather didn’t want you to get hurt,” Sazon explained. “He knew the danger this man presents and he didn’t want that threat for you. You would honor him more by letting us deal with this. We have more information now and we’re waiting for Trudy to connect it all together. We need to give her that time.”
Ana shook her head. “But I can’t. Don’t you understand that? I just can’t.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “My Pops meant the world to me. He took us in when our parents died, he loved us and raised us the way he was raised. He taught us about life and how to honor not only our word, but each other as well. Drago is my brother but I would lay my life of the line for him. I would do that because I know he would do the same for me. When he got married, his wife, Gretchen joined the circle of people I would die for and now, they will have a child and that child is part of them.” Shaking her head she added, “I don’t know if you can understand that but that’s the way it is with us.”
“I do know those feelings. I have them for the four men I call my brothers,” Sazon whispered. “We are all Russian and very stubborn. When they each have brought women into our family, they joined our circle as well and we will protect them from any threat real or not. Michael is a threat to us because he is a threat to you. But I want you to know you are not alone anymore. You don’t have to deal with this matter on your own. I and my brothers will stand beside you all the way. We will see justice served.”
Ana leaned into him as Sazon wrapped his arms around her. “Lean on me little one. I have big shoulders and can carry this load.”
“I know you can,” she whispered. “But I have to see this through. Don’t you understand?”
“Then let me help you,” he argued. “You don’t have to do this alone.”
After a long moment, she whispered, “Ok I can see that. You are so stubborn.”
Sazon
chuckled softly. “I’m Russian what do you expect? But you are Russian too and you are just as stubborn as I am. Our relationship should be interesting to say the least.”
Ana peeked up at him. “Is that what we have? A relationship?”
Sazon crushed his lips down on hers. His tongue pushed into her mouth and their tongues danced back and forth. His hands gripped her hips and he ground his pelvis against hers. When he broke contact with her he stated, “We have more than just a relationship. I’m in this for the long haul. My claim is forever, until the end of our days.”
Ana rested her head against his chest again. The feelings inside her swirled together until she didn’t know if she was coming or going. Her body was on fire and she wanted him in the worst way. “I need you. And that does scare me.”
“Why? Why does that scare you so much? I want you the same way.”
“I’ve never felt this way before,” she finally admitted. “I’ve never wanted anyone the way I want you.”
“You gave me that part of you that set you aside from everyone else and I’m not willing to let you go.”
“Then take me again,” she moaned. She ground her hips into his pelvis feeling his hard erection beneath her. Dammit, she did want him, he was like a drug, she realized. Despite All that was happening, she wanted this.
Sazon picked her up and carried her over to the bed. He lifted her shirt up and off her body. He grabbed her bra and tore it away. Her breasts swung free and her nipples were hard. He bent and latched on to her nipples, drawing first one then the other into his mouth.
Ana groaned and arched her back to offer him more.
Sazon pushed her to her back and laid on top of her as he pressed into her very willing body.
“Please I need you,” she begged him. “I need you inside me now.”
Sazon tore himself away from her for a moment while he finished taking off first her clothes then his own. He then pushed her up onto the bed and joined them with one mighty thrust.
“Oohhhh,” Ana called out.