by Duka Dakarai
Dalton nods. “What else did he say?”
“Bortsov is afraid but he can’t remember why…..he just knows he is. And he is afraid for Sky. He wanted her to know that.”
The three guys exchange knowing looks. Storm gestures towards the kitchen where Brains and I are passing away the time with mundane chores. “I am assuming we don’t pass on that little gem of information.”
“Agreed”
***
Hours have passed by but I have not noticed so engrossed am I in my investigation. I must address that niggle that haunts me playing constantly in my mind. It is an itch I cannot reach…..until now.
“Oh my God! There she is. I’ve found her.” I leap up excitedly pointing at the screen on my laptop as the team rush into the living room at the sound of my squeals.
“Found who, Sky?” Brains scans the screen bewildered.
I point again at the face of the exotically beautiful, raven haired woman. There is no mistaking those violet almond eyes. “It says under the photograph that her name is Natalya Asmik. She is the woman who attacked me in the powder room at the Hilton. But how is she connected to all of this? I’m calling Jack.” I reach for my mobile beginning to make the call.
Kane clamps a hand over mine disrupting the process. “Are you really sure it is the same woman?”
I huff, snatching my hand free. “She attacked me, Kane. You didn’t see her. I did. I’m making the call.”
***
He never could resist her. So when she had turned up at his security gates that night, although surprised by her sudden reappearance, he had immediately indicated for her to be let in, despite the lateness of the hour.
She had swayed those irresistible hips across the room knowing each slow step tortured him, making his cock ache for her. Natalya Asmik, the mistress of his brother, Georgy Bortsov.
“What do you want, Natalya?” He had asked but he already knew the answer. Of course he did. She played both brothers so well.
“I missed you, Alexei. I couldn’t stay away.” She climbed onto his lap, trailing nibbles across his jaw. He had groaned deep in his throat.
“Wait.” He eased her off him. “Why did you attack the journalist? And the girl…..was that you,too? I need answers, Natalya.”
She had pouted, running a slow scrape of her tongue across her bottom lip, teasing him. She folded to her knees before him, looking up with those violet, almond eyes. “Later, Alexei. I promise. But first I have a little gift for you.” And with that, she unzipped him, placing her sweet lips around the head of his cock.
***
Alexei Bortsov grimaces as the memory floods his mind behind his clenched eyelids. Natalya had put him here, in this hospital bed….tried to kill him. He nods to himself. He cannot escape the truth. He had been lost in her….rocking his cock into her warm, inviting mouth….when the first furnace of pain had catapulted through his entire body. As the second wave struck, unconsciousness came.
Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie ~ Russian Proverb.
He almost smirked as the words left his mouth.
“Did you say something? I didn’t catch it.” The nurse stopped as she made to exit his room.
He shakes his head. “I was talking to myself. Can you ask the Police Officer on guard to come in please?”
Moments later, the door opens with a man framed in the doorway. Alexei leans his aching body in his direction. “Can you get a message to DCI Jack Mercer? Tell him I need to speak with him…..and tell him to bring Sky Sinclair.” He whispers, croakily.
He slumps back into the bed, closing his eyes. Within a short few minutes, sleep seduces him.
***
DCI Jack Mercer shots a look at his partner, DCI John Keaton as they pull up in the driveway of Meadow House in Kingston upon Thames. He had thought it would be better to not inform Kane in advance that they were here to collect Sky and take her to the Chelsea and Westminster. But now he was having second thoughts about his decision.
John Keaton grins. “You should have told him. You know that now, right?”
“State the fucking obvious, why don’t you?” Jack growls.
John raises both hands in surrender. “Just saying. Well, let’s get this over with. Just remember to duck!”
A few short minutes later, Jack Mercer finds himself in the unenviable position of nose to nose contact with a very angry Kane. For a brief second, Storm and Dalton consider letting this confrontation run its course, before Brains intervenes. Reluctantly, they pull Kane away. Pity though, this looked like turning into some early afternoon entertainment….and besides, Jack Mercer had it coming.
Jack Mercer treads carefully. “She will be with us the entire time. And there is a uniformed guard on the door. Remember that this is my case, Kane. And if she is happy to go, then so be it. Alexei won’t talk without her. We need her there.”
I nod reassuringly towards Kane. “I’ll be fine. And the sooner we can move the investigation forward, the better. We are all stir crazy here.”
Kane scrapes a hand through his hair. He shoots a look at his team. “Ok, fine. But let me take you. Jack and John can follow in their car.”
I shake my head and sigh. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll go with you. Anything for peace”
***
Despite the greyness of his pallor, Alexei Bortsov is a very attractive man. And he oozes confidence and power, all qualities that draw women to him like moths to a light bulb. Five minutes in his company and I find myself also magnetically pulled in. He has not really spoken yet apart from the usual cursory introductions and general pleasantries.
He beckons for me to sit closer to him. I do so as he reaches to take my hand in his. He thumbs across my knuckles before speaking. “Sky, tell me you are safe. I am afraid for you.”
“I’m safe.” I nod.
“And you understand that I am not the one who wants to bring you harm?”
“I think so. I mean, yes. I do.”
Jack and Kane exchange frustrated looks. Jack speaks first. “Alexei, tell us what you know. We don’t have long before you’ll be too tired to talk and need to rest again. We’re not risking Sky’s safety by to-ing and fro-ing at your beck and call.”
Alexei grunts his dissatisfaction. “Alright, alright. I can give you a name. I don’t know if she planned this on her own…..I doubt it. Part of me is still reluctant to tell you. If it was just me alone that was the target, I would not tell you. You understand? I would sort this out my own way. But after the attempt to harm Miss Sinclair…..it had got out of hand.” He breathes heavily, resting for a moment.
“Got out of hand? So the prostitute was just collateral damage….is that what you are fucking saying?” John Keaton growls. “Tell that to her family!”
Alexei shakes his head sharply. “I have not forgotten her. She was happy and alive when I left her. She was drinking champagne, dancing……I did not harm her. Whatever you think of me, I am not a monster. There is one person who was also there that night……and also the night that I too was poisoned. My brother’s mistress…….”
I interrupt him. “Natalya Asmik?”
Alexei snaps his head in my direction. He nods quietly.
I press on. “You are certain it was her that poisoned you? Did you see the syringe….or…..?”
“Unfortunately, she was the last person I saw before the pain and then blackness……it can only have been Natalya. We were alone in my study.”
“She attacked you?” I try to urge him quickly as I see him tiring.
“No, she did not attack me. She made it easy to distract me……use your imagination.” He leans his weary head, his eyelids beginning to flutter.
“Alexei! Alexei!” Jack Mercer barks towards him to press on. “Is Georgy behind all of this? Is he pulling Natalya’s strings? Why would your brother want you dead? Money?”
Alexei shakes his head softly, never leaving the comfort of the pillows. “To stop me……”
I
clasp his hand tightly, leaning my face to his. He mumbles inaudibly. I press my ear close to his mouth. “Alexei…..to stop you? To stop you doing what? Please try.”
He whispers so softly that I can barely hear the words. “Your papa, Sky…..I know who killed him……” The words fade away into slurs as he loses his fight against consciousness.
His words hit me with the force of a freight train. My legs collapse beneath me as retched sobs convulse through me. I fall across his body as my own screams echo in my ears. Words spew from my mouth “No! Alexei…..tell……me……wake up……wake…..” I try to shake him awake as Kane lunges at me, pulling me away and lifting me into his arms. I wrap myself around him crying into his neck. “He must tell…..he must……”
***
I don’t remember getting into the car or the drive back to the Safe House. I do remember lots of voices surrounding me as I was carried inside and taken into a bedroom. I do remember not wanting to let go of the arms that held me as I clung to their comfort. I do remember his soft kisses on my neck as I was pulled tightly against him and soothed to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Kane brushes a loose tendril of hair from my face before softly placing a tender kiss on my forehead. He cups a hand under my chin thumbing my bottom lip. I offer him a quiet, watery smile.
“I brought you a cup of tea. Or I can make you something else?” He smiles kindly.
I shake my head. “Tea is fine. Did you stay with me all night?”
He nods. “Do you want to talk about Alexei? Do you feel up to it? Jack is downstairs. I can tell him to come back later if you want to rest.”
I pull myself up. “I don’t really want to, to be honest. But putting it off will only prolong what I’m feeling right now. And it isn’t just about me. I need to do this for my mother too.” I walk into the on-suite and splash my face with cold water.
As I pat myself dry, Kane is leaning against the door frame. His face is etched with confusion. “I don’t understand. Your mother? What did Alexei whisper to you?”
“You really don’t know? Didn’t I say anything last night?”
He shakes his head. “Lots of words, but they were all jumbled. Fucking hell, Sky, what did he say to you?”
I wrap my arms around his waist and inhale his smell. I reach up and brush a small kiss on his lips. I begin to pull his t-shirt away from his body. “Is this fresh today?”
“It’s clean on this morning, why?” He raises an eyebrow.
I pull it over his shoulders and begin to pull it over my head. “Can I borrow it? Maybe, in some symbolic way, it will pass on strength.”
“It’s a bit late to ask. You’re wearing it now. But if it’s what you need, be my guest. You sure you’re up to talking to Jack?”
***
Jack Mercer looks more jaded and weary than I have ever seen him. That makes two of us. Unusually, he abruptly stands as I enter the living room. His face is marked with concern. He and Kane share a nodded greeting as he leads me into a chair. The others then seat themselves until we are all settled. I feel like I am on display.
Jack coughs lightly. “I’m concerned that you are too involved in this investigation, Sky. We need to pull you back. You have been invaluable but you need to leave it to us now. And yesterday…..”
I shake my head interrupting him. “I’m more involved than you think, Jack.”
“I don’t follow? Alexei agreed to tell us everything if you were there. We have warrants out for the arrests of Natalya and Georgy, and are combing every inch of the city for them as we speak. As predicted, they were not at their residences and have gone into hiding. All airports and escape routes out of the UK are on alert……”
“But that doesn’t answer my question…….and only Alexei knows. That was what he whispered to me yesterday. This is what this whole mess has been about and the whole investigation has been about…….it is not about money or greed. They wanted him dead because he was going to tell me the truth……” I gulp back a quiet sob as Alexei’s words spin around in my mind. I take a couple of deep breathes in an attempt to compose myself.
“That’s enough, Jack. She’s exhausted.” Kane wraps a protective arm around my shoulders.
I pull myself out of his grasp. “No, Kane. I need to finish. This investigation has been about silencing Alexei…..and preventing me from getting to the truth…..and I would have got there in the end. And I still will…..now more than ever. I must. But subsequently, it led to me becoming a target too along with Alexei…….”
“Tell you the truth about what? What did he whisper to you?” Jack urges me on.
“He knows who murdered my father…..” As the words come, so do the tears.
***
When Jack had eventually left the house, I immediately opened up my laptop. The Consultant at the Chelsea and Westminster had informed Jack that Alexei was too weak to be interviewed and that he was to receive no visitors for a full day.
Until he is well enough to communicate, I must play the waiting game. So now as I scroll through website after website, news reel upon news reel, all the emotions surrounding my father’s death are resurfacing. But I must keep busy…..to keep strong. Page after page slowly begin to blur together.
I rake a frustrated hand through my hair cursing out loud. I palm each eye to refocus. The front door slams causing me to jump momentarily as I see Storm enter carrying a wicker picnic basket. He offers his easy smile as he makes his way towards the others in the kitchen.
I hear mutterings of hushed conversation before Kane stands before me, a hand on each hip. “That’s enough for today, Sky. No arguments. You have ten minutes to freshen up then you and I are going on a picnic. You need a break from all of this shit.”
A small strangled laugh traps in my throat. “You and I…on a picnic? Whose mad idea was this?”
He narrows his eyes. “It was my idea actually. You seem like a picnic type of person……woman……and I thought it might help you relax for a while. So, get your ass moving. You got ten…..nine minutes.”
I shake my head, muttering to myself, as I make my way up the stairway. “A picnic with Kane……and that’s meant to help me relax…..”
***
Forty minutes later, as we are heading up Mandela Way towards Tower Bridge Industrial Estate, I throw Kane a bemused scowl. He catches it but only offers a smirk in reply.
“Tell me we are not having a picnic in an industrial estate.” I grumble folding my arms across my chest.
“Not up to your usual high standards, I expect, sweet cheeks….but you are still at risk so open countryside and parks were out of the question. Besides, I’m sure you’ll like it when we get there.” He throws another smirk. I offer no response.
We pull up alongside a detached white painted unit with enormous arched windows, reinforced metal shutters and a discrete gold edged plaque. I lean forward squinting to read the sign - Elite Defence.
“This just gets better.” I shake my head, mocking. “We are picnicking in your office!”
After punching in several security codes, we eventually make our way through various office spaces before Kane leads me down a corridor to the ‘warehouse’. He throws open a singular soundproofed door and ushers me inside. What meets me causes a gasp to escape from my lips.
Inside this vast expanse of space is what can only be described as a replica street scene complete with mock buildings, artificial grass and trees, park benches and several ‘parked’ cars. I am aware that my mouth has fallen loose with surprise. I reach down to stroke the fake grass.
Kane snatches up my hand walking me to the middle of the ‘park’. He begins to lay out the blanket and picnic basket contents. He smirks confidently. “An outside park I couldn’t manage but this is the next best thing, right?”
I fold myself into a cross legged seating position joining him on the blanket. “What is this place…..and why is it in your office unit?”
He points around the immense spa
ce. “We train bodyguards here but also use this place to refresh our own skills. This is ideal for practicing car jack situations, hostage situations…..any number of potential threats. In the other two warehouses we have similar ‘locations’ created.”
“Ok, I’m impressed, Kane.” I shrug a resigned smile.
“Later……we can play hide and seek if you like……or I could teach you how not to squeal in an interrogation…..” He jokes.