by Beth Abbott
Roman glanced up at him.
“Will you be in the photos too?” He asked.
Hollywood’s heart swelled, and he wanted to wrap the toddler up and protect him from everything bad in the world.
“Would you like me to be in the photos?” Hollywood held his breath, praying that Roman would be on his side when it came to Hollywood getting close to his mama.
“Yeah, I think that would be good.” Roman yawned, and Hollywood looked over at Kellen who was following their conversation with half a smirk on his face.
“Then I’d like that very much.” Hollywood grinned at Kellen, knowing he was probably sounding like a sappy jerk, but not caring in the least.
“Ken, too.” Roman said sleepily. “Mama likes him.”
Hollywood scowled over the top of Roman’s head, as Kellen rolled on his seat in silent laughter.
“Niko likes me.” Kellen teased, when Roman’s head lolled back, as sleep overcame him.
“Yeah, well, she likes me more!” Hollywood flipped Kellen off. “So, no getting any funny ideas.”
The noise from the doorway had his head swinging around, and Alex and Sophia stood in the opening.
“Good news.” Sophia smiled, coming to sit next to him. “Niko has a mild concussion, but she’s not confused or sleepy any more. They’ve agreed to release her, as long as I keep an eye on her for the next few hours.”
Hollywood nodded, breathing a huge sigh of relief.
“Where is she now?” He asked Sophia, desperate to get a glimpse of Niko.
The last glimpse he’d had of her was when he’d lowered her into the hole under the wall. By the time they’d been able to leave the warehouse and go in search of the women, and in particular Niko and Roman, Niko had already been taken away by ambulance, and Roman was being cared for by Ellen Roberts.
“Niko’s just getting dressed. She’s only a little way down the corridor, so she’ll be here any minute.” Sophia smiled at his impatience.
When the door opened again, Hollywood almost jumped out of his skin.
“Hey, guys. We were just in the area, and thought we’d stop by and congratulate you on a job well done.” Ryan Tucker and Gregor Diminov were the last people Hollywood expected to see.
“How many planes did you have to take to be ‘just in the area’?” He asked, guessing that with Alex and Sophia involved, Tuck and Gregor were never going to be too far away.
“Just the two.” Gregor grinned. “But as it’s our team’s first official mission, can you blame us?”
“I guess not.” Hollywood nodded.
“So, who’s this?” Tuck grinned at him. “A bit young to be recruited into the Guardians, isn’t he?”
“You’re never too young to learn to fight crime.” Kellen shook his head. “Take Spiderman… not even out of high-school, and he was flying around town on his webs, saving old ladies, and taking down the bad guys.”
“So, maybe we’ll recruit him in, what? Ten years?” Gregor chuckled.
Hollywood was just staring down at the child who reminded him so much of his mother, when he heard a commotion in the corridor.
“I just want to see my son.” Hollywood could make out Niko’s anguished voice. “Please?”
Hollywood was furthest from the door and he had Roman in his arms slowing him down, so by the time he got to his feet and ran into the corridor, there were already a dozen people yelling and pushing each other around.
“What the fuck’s going on?” He yelled, causing everyone to stop and turn around.
Roman stirred in his arms but thankfully didn’t wake.
“Roman!” Niko yelled, and Hollywood pushed forward to get mother and son reunited as quickly as possible.
When he was just feet from her, a man brandishing a gun pushed him back.
“What the fuck are you doing with that thing in a place like this?” Hollywood demanded, shielding Roman as though the guy was about to shoot him. “Let me give Niko her son, and then we can sort out whatever is going on.”
The man didn’t step away, although he did point his gun upwards, and that just served to leave Hollywood even more pissed.
“Will you get the fuck out of my way.” He snarled. “I want to see Niko. This is her son.”
A second man stepped in between Hollywood and the asshole waving the gun around.
“Sir, I’m sorry but that’s not going to be possible.” The guy held up his hand to show he was holding a police badge. “I’m afraid Miss Federova needs to come with us for questioning.”
“Why?” Hollywood demanded. “She just helped us bring down a human trafficking asshole! She deserves a medal, not an interrogation.”
“That’s yet to be established.” The officer smiled politely. “And the sooner we can start questioning Miss Federova, the sooner we can get this matter cleared up.”
“Christ, can’t you give her one minute to see her kid?” Hollywood stared at the officer, imploring him to be merciful.
“One minute?”
The man stepped back, pushing his officer out of the way.
Hollywood stepped forward quickly, and Niko almost fell into his arms, one hand on Roman’s sleeping face, the other holding on to Hollywood like he was her life vest on a stormy sea.
“Will you look after him for me until they release me?” She gazed up at him with tears in her eyes.
“Of course, I will. It’ll only be a few hours, I’m sure.” Hollywood smiled. “They’ll figure out you haven’t done anything wrong, and they’ll let you go.”
“I think we both know that’s not true.” She whispered. “But thank you for saying it.”
“I’ll arrange for you to have a lawyer.” Hollywood promised. “Don’t talk to anyone until they arrive. And don’t let them fob you off with one of their free legal assholes. We’ll get you the best, I promise.”
“Ok, that’s time.” The senior officer stepped forward again. “We’ll have someone from child services come and pick up the boy.”
“The fuck you will!” Hollywood took a step back. “He stays with me, at his mother’s request. The lawyers will have papers drawn up within the hour to back it up.”
The man turned to Niko for confirmation.
She nodded, pointing to Hollywood so there could be no doubt who she was talking about.
“This man will be taking care of my son until you let me go.” She nodded. “His name is Landon Hillwood. There’s nobody else I trust more to be Roman’s guardian.”
The officer shrugged and nodded to one of his officers who slipped plastic handcuffs onto Niko’s wrists, securing them behind her back.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” Hollywood smiled at her, his heart breaking at the fear in her eyes. “We’ll have you out of there by tomorrow at the latest.”
As the police marched Niko down the corridor and into the elevator, Hollywood could have howled at the pain ripping through his chest.
He turned to find the man he trusted with his life standing right behind him.
“Tuck, I don’t care if it costs me ten years’ wages.” He begged. “Can you get her a lawyer that will get her out of this mess?”
Tuck put his hand on Hollywood’s shoulder and held on firmly.
“I have a feeling Niko is going to be a part of our family for a long time to come.” He smiled reassuringly. “Have we ever failed to look after one of our own?”
Chapter 65 – Niko
Niko sat at the table in the small interview room, head slumped forward and leaning on her forearms. She’d probably never been this tired in her life, not even when Roman was a new-born baby, and not inclined to sleep at night.
She glanced up at the clock in the windowless room. Three o’clock.
Excellent.
What the clock didn’t tell her was whether it was morning or afternoon, and she had no idea what day it was.
She thought it must be at least the third day of questioning, as three o’clock had come and gone many times already, bu
t she couldn’t be sure. In the sleep-deprived state she was in, she could have hallucinated the clock ticking, just as she was hallucinating the door opening now.
Were they going to ask her more questions? Were there any questions they hadn’t already asked at least a hundred times?
‘Did you know what your brother’s activities were?’
‘Do you know who supplied his drugs?’
‘Who was he selling the women to?’
‘How were his arms shipments sourced?’
Over and over, she had answered the questions, honestly and in as much detail as she could.
There’d been a pattern to the interrogation. Two hours of questions followed by one hour of alone time. Two more hours of questions followed by one hour of alone time.
Countless times her lawyer had protested that her treatment didn’t meet with the terms of some convention or other, but that didn’t seem to carry much weight around here.
Niko guessed it wasn’t often that they had the chance to interrogate someone who had been so close to the top of a particular organisation like Ilya’s. They were obviously overly excited at the opportunity.
Only once had they actually allowed her to leave the room for more than a toilet break.
On that occasion she’d been taken to a cell where she’d been able to lie down and sleep for a few hours. Well, four hours to be precise, before they’d woken her and taken her back to the interview room to answer more questions.
She heard footsteps crossing the room and tried to make her eyes focus.
Maybe she hadn’t hallucinated the door opening after all.
“Miss Federova?” It was a man’s voice.
Niko tried to lift her head, tried to open her eyes, ready to answer more questions, but her body didn’t want to co-operate. Her mind was willing, sort of, but her muscles, limbs, even her eyelids were refusing to take instruction.
Everything hurt, yet despite that, she hadn’t complained once.
Niko understood that to these people, she was almost as bad as her brother.
‘Why didn’t you try and stop him?’
‘Why didn’t you try and run away?’
‘Why didn’t you go to the police?’
They just didn’t understand that when you were in the middle of a hurricane, you were just grateful for the moments of peace and quiet. Take one mis-step and you were just back in the pandemonium, being flung right and left, up and down.
It was one thing to risk your own life, but quite another to risk your child.
If that made her guilty of Ilya’s crimes, or complicit in what he’d done, then she’d just have to take whatever punishment they handed out. She sure as hell wouldn’t fight them.
“Miss Federova, are you Ok?” She didn’t recognise his voice, but his accent was American.
The man sounded concerned.
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled. “I didn’t hear the question. What was it?”
“I asked if you were Ok.” His voice was right in front of her face.
“Sure, I’m Ok.” She tried to smile reassuringly, but her lips refused to co-operate. “Do you have more questions? I can do more questions.”
“Miss Federova, my name is Ryan Tucker, and I’m part of the Guardians.” His voice was gentle. “Have you heard of us?”
“The Guardians?” She murmured.
Hollywood and Kellen were Guardians, weren’t they? Or was she still confused.
“I’m taking you out of here, Niko.” The man continued. “I’m taking you home.”
Niko made a herculean effort to raise her eyelids to look at him.
Dark, greying hair, warm brown eyes that crinkled at the corners, and a nice smile. It felt like forever since anyone had smiled at her.
“I don’t have one.” She whispered.
“Don’t have one of what, sweetheart?” The man looked confused.
“A home.” Niko couldn’t make her voice any louder or she thought she’d cry. “I don’t have a home.”
“Don’t worry about that.” The man smiled when he spoke. “We have somewhere for you to stay for now, and then you can decide what happens after that, when you’re all rested up.”
Niko looked at him in confusion.
“Aren’t I going to prison?” She asked.
“No, honey.” He reassured her. “There’s not going to be any prison for you.”
Niko watched in confusion as one of her interrogators walked up to them and unfastened the lock that had been keeping her hands chained to the table. A few more seconds and her feet were free of the chains around her ankles.
She looked up at the American waiting patiently.
“Who are you again?” She asked, still in a state of befuddlement.
He grinned as he took her arms, and gently lifted her to her feet.
“Just call me Tuck, Niko. Everyone does.”
As she regained her feet for the first time in probably six hours, Niko wobbled unsteadily, causing another man to rush forward to help her.
“Niko, this is Gregor.” Tuck smiled. “He’s been helping me arrange your release.”
“Thank you.” She murmured, knowing she’d probably forget his name.
“Where are we going?” She asked. “I need to find my son. He’s with a friend.”
“Don’t worry about anything.” Tuck helped her shuffle forward. “There’s a whole bunch of people waiting outside to greet you.”
Niko was hardly able to stand, let alone walk, but with the help of these two strange, but oddly happy men, she managed to hobble along the corridors and out of the interrogation suite.
As soon as she was through the doors, the sunlight hit her eyes, and she winced at the sudden brightness.
“Is it afternoon?” She asked, suddenly realising which three o’clock the clock had been trying to hint at.
“Yes, Niko.” Tuck reassured her. “You’ve been here for two and a half days. I’m sorry we couldn’t get you out sooner, but even with government backing, the Hungarians insisted they had to interrogate you before they’d let you go. There was nothing we could do to stop them.”
“It’s fine.” She tried to smile. “They were very nice about it. I’m just really tired right now.”
“Just a few more minutes and we’ll have you in a car on the way to the airport.” The other man reassured her. “You’ll soon be able to sleep for as long as you like.”
Niko was just about to ask why they needed an airport, when a door opened, and she heard her son’s voice.
“Do you think mama will like the flowers?”
“Roman?” She gasped, trying to see past the man in the doorway.
She tried to make her legs work faster, but they rebelled.
“Hey, steady now.” Tuck cautioned. “You’ll see him in a couple of seconds.”
All of a sudden it was as if everyone in front of her stepped aside all at once, and she could see Roman, held in the arms of the most gorgeous man on the planet.
She shrugged off her helpers and staggered the last few feet alone, falling into Hollywood’s outstretched arm as she gathered them both up in a hug.
“Baby boy, how I’ve missed you.” She kissed her son’s face repeatedly until he started to giggle. “Are you Ok, Roman?”
“I’m fine mama.” He smiled. “They said you had a boo-boo on your head.”
Niko smiled tiredly.
“I did.” She nodded. “But I’m all better now.”
She glanced up at Hollywood and smiled shyly.
“Hi.” She whispered.
“Hi.” His smile made her feel like she’d won the lottery.
“I don’t suppose you’ve got one of those kisses going spare, have you?” He murmured. “I’ve kinda missed them.”
Niko clamped her mouth shut and shook her head.
“I haven’t brushed my teeth for days.” She murmured through closed lips. “My breath must be rank.”
Hollywood slipped his hand into her hair as he held he
r face steady.
“I don’t give a …” He just stopped himself. “I’ll hold my breath, I promise. But no isn’t an answer I’m prepared to accept.”
He lowered his head and placed his lips over hers in the gentlest of touches.
Niko could feel her body melt into his, and for the first time in days, hell for the first time ever, she felt truly safe in a man’s arms.
No fear, no worries that her brother would catch them and punish her.
“Mama, you smell bad.” Roman’s little voice broke into their moment, and she pulled back, embarrassed.
“Yeah, I guess I must.” She tweaked his nose. “I haven’t had a shower in so long.”
“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.” Hollywood handed Roman to Kellen, so he could scoop Niko up in his arms and carry her. “There’s a bathroom on the plane, and we can be up in the air in under an hour.”
Niko relaxed against Hollywood’s chest as she wondered what sort of planes had bathrooms.
“I haven’t got our passports.” She said suddenly, realising she wouldn’t be able to fly anywhere.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart.” Hollywood smiled down at her. “We’ve got them. They were in the glove-box in Ilya’s Mercedes. You’re all good to go.”
Ilya! She wanted to snarl. He’d killed her parents and her beautiful sister, and yet she’d never suspected. How stupid did that make her?
“You know you’ll never have to live in fear of him again, don’t you?” Hollywood murmured. “He’s gone.”
Niko tilted her head to look up at him.
“They wouldn’t tell me when I asked, but I assumed he’d be dead.” She said without emotion. “Who had the honour?”
Hollywood stared into her eyes, and she knew he was deciding how honest to be.
“He took four bullets.” Hollywood said quietly. “One of them was mine.”
“Then yours is the one I’ll remember.” She nodded. “That makes you my own personal hero.”
Niko felt Hollywood’s lips on her hair as he carried her the last few metres to the car.
Ilya was gone, she wasn’t being prosecuted for any crimes, Roman was safe, and she was being carried in the arms of the most wonderful man she’d ever met.
Did life get any better than this?