by K. J. Dahlen
“Are you going after him?”
“I won’t have to. Ivan is too pissed to let him get away.”
“Just to be on the safe side, I think we should look into this as well,” Yuri advised. “I don’t want to start a war on the streets of New Orleans with the Ukraines but if we don’t do something about this, we will appear soft and no one takes advantage of us. Nikoli would never allow that.”
“True enough, but I’m going to keep my eye on Talli as well,” Barshan informed him. “Jerome might go after her now that her mother is gone.” He growled then remembered something. “I should have listened to the devil on my shoulder. It told me there was something off about this deal and he hated the man. He tried to tell me there was something off about Jerome.”
Yuri chuckled. “You should always listen to that little devil. Seems he knows more than you do.”
Barshan grumbled a Russian curse word and gripped the phone a little tighter.
“Hey don’t get mad at me about this.” Yuri placated the other man. “I have a devil on my shoulder as well. I think we all do. You saw the trouble my devil got me into when Raven told me she was carrying my child. Because of him, she almost left me.” Yuri paused then added, “I think we all picked up that fucking devil when we were living on the streets of St Petersburg. We should have left them there but instead, we carried them over here and now, we’re stuck with them.”
“I just have a feeling this isn’t a done deal,” Barshan explained. “There’s something this man Jerome wants and he’s using us and the Ukraines to get it. He also doesn’t care if he starts a fucking war to get it.”
“That makes him dangerous,” Yuri agreed. “And dangerous men cause nothing but grief and death.”
“It will also make him a dead man,” Barshan declared.
“Watch over the woman until we know what we’re after here,” Yuri ordered. “I knew Christophe personally and this malicious scam on his name and family is inexcusable. Until we know his game plan, we have to protect our city and our reputation.”
“I’ll continue my background checks and you do the same. If something pops up in your search, let me know.”
When the call ended, Barshan gathered his things. Closing his laptop, he grabbed the case and slid it inside. Going to the door, he shut the lights off and walked to his car. As he walked from the club to his car, his senses were alert as always, checking for anything unusual. This had become second nature to him. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, so he took his time and an alternate route back to the jewelry shop.
The lights in the strip mall were out for the night and he didn’t see anything wrong with that. It was late. He went around to the alley behind the mall and drove slowly just to check things out. When he got to the back door of the jewelry shop, he frowned. Slamming on the brakes, he shut the car off and stared at the door for a moment. It should have been closed but it wasn’t.
He opened his car door and grabbed the gun on his hip. He never went anywhere without being armed. He’d learned that lesson the hard way and it’d almost cost him his life. Slowly, cautiously, he closed in and without touching the opened door, he noted the broken lock. Entering the back door, he made his way forward.
He paused to listen to any sounds that didn’t belong but he didn’t hear anything. He ducked into the office but it was dark and he couldn’t see anything out of place. He didn’t want to turn on the lights yet until he was sure everything was okay. He slipped into another office and paused to listen for a moment before he reached out to snap on the lights. When the lights illuminated the office, Barshan gasped and lowered his weapon. Kneeling down, he saw Talli lying face down on the floor in a small pool of blood.
Glancing around to make sure no one else was there, he brushed her hair back and saw a bruise on her forehead. Then he saw a lump on the back of her head and bloody strands of hair.
“Fuck a duck.” He swore softly then felt fear in his gut. He wondered at the feeling for a second, then shook it away. Leaning over her, he checked for a pulse and found one. Reaching for his phone, he called Yuri back. “We got a problem,” he told the other man as soon as he answered. “I found Talli Janick knocked out and her office ransacked when I got here.”
“Damn. Is she okay?”
“I don’t know. Can you send Sazon over to check her out? Tell him to come in through the back door. I’m gonna look around and see if anything is missing but I don’t want to leave her on her own until I know what’s going on.”
“I’ll send him over right away. Call me when you know more.”
A short time later, Sazon and Roman came through the back door.
Sazon went to Talli and began to check her condition out.
Roman joined Barshan and asked, “Is anything else wrong here?”
“I haven’t heard anything. I think whoever did this is long gone,” Barshan replied. “I don’t know what happened yet, but I mean to find out.”
Roman glanced over his shoulder and noted Sazon had Talli sitting up, so he turned back to Barshan. “I’ll watch over you guys. You need to go to her.”
Barshan knelt beside Talli and watched as Sazon cleaned the blood from her forehead. “Are you okay?”
Talli glanced over at him and nodded shortly. Staring at the floor, she wouldn’t met his eyes.
“What happened here?”
Talli raised her head and glared at him for a moment. “Don’t you know?”
Barshan studied those fiery emerald eyes. He felt some hardening in his body and tried to make it leave. This woman was infuriating, yet she made him feel odd things. He frowned. “Why would I know what happened?”
Talli just glared at him for a moment.
Barshan sat back on his heels. “You think I did this?”
Talli kept glaring at him. “You were the last person in the shop tonight. You or the other guy.”
Barshan scowled. “I wouldn’t do something like this. I have no reason to sneak into your shop and knock you out. What purpose would that serve me?”
Talli felt tears forming in her eyes. “I don’t know.” She whimpered as she closed her eyes and she groaned. “It’s been so hard these last few weeks. I’m not sure what happened. You and the other guy were the last ones I saw before I woke up just now.”
“I left here with Ivan two hours ago. I’ve been at my office until I left to drive past here and found the back door open. I came in and found you on the floor.” Barshan looked over at Sazon and asked, “Is she going to be all right?”
Sazon nodded. “She’ll have a headache but she doesn’t seem have a concussion. Someone hit her from behind and she smacked her forehead on the file cabinet when she went down.”
Barshan got to his feet and reached down to assist her to her feet.
When she rose up, she swayed and grabbed his arms to steady herself.
“Are you good now?” he asked.
Talli nodded. Her head was pounding as she searched the room for anything out of place. When she didn’t find anything wrong she frowned and stumbled toward her workshop. When she hit the lights, she gasped as she stared around at the room.
Papers were strewn all over the floor, cabinets were left open and files piled on the desk were a mess. She went over to the large safe in the corner and found the doors open. Swinging the door open further, she swore. There were three empty trays inside along with seven other trays that hadn’t been disturbed.
Barshan came over and stared inside. “What was in the empty trays?” he asked.
“Several hundred thousand dollars in precious jewels,” Talli murmured. Grabbing ahold of the safe, she leaned onto it to hold her up. “Damn it, what the hell is going on here?”
“I don’t know yet, but we will find out.” Barshan stared her. “In the meantime, I think you need some protection.”
Talli shook her head and moaned at the sudden movement. “I can take care of myself.”
Barshan studied her face. “I think this shows that you nee
d some help.” He looked around the room. “I didn’t do this and I don’t think Ivan did this either. He didn’t have a reason to come back here.”
Talli sobbed against the door of the safe. “But how do I know that?” she asked. “I don’t know either of you and Russell cheated you both. How do I know you didn’t do this to get some of your money back?”
Barshan reached inside his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Let’s find out.”
An hour later, Ivan joined them with two of his men. When he entered the office, he frowned as he noted the disarray. “What the hell is this?” he demanded of Barshan in Russian.
Talli got to her feet and glared at the other man. “I have to ask you a question. Did you come back here tonight and try to get some of your money back?”
Ivan stared at her for a moment before he turned his head to glower at Barshan. “Is that what you think?”
Barshan shook his head. “I know better and I don’t think she meant to insult you. I drove past the shop and found the back door open. I came in and found her unconscious and some of her inventory is missing. I know I didn’t take it and I doubt that you would either which leaves us with the question of who broke in and who took her stones.”
Ivan turned to her and asked, “Was there anything significant about the missing stones?”
Talli shrugged. “Not really, many of the stones on display in the store are fake. I do it this way, so my customers can choose their own stones for purchase before I set them. I keep the real stones in the vault. I was just closing up for the night when someone came up behind me and the next thing I knew this guy…” She motioned at Barshan. “…was waking me up in the other office.”
“And what makes you automatically link Barshan and I with that?”
“Well, the two of you were in earlier pissed as hell about having fake documents that puts you in ownership of this store with me.” Talli shrugged. “I don’t know either of you personally and I have no idea who else would have done this.”
Barshan heard something in her voice that didn’t ring true. “What do you mean you don’t know us personally?”
Talli glared at him and shrugged, refusing to comment.
“I know of one other person,” Ivan murmured. He glanced over at Barshan to see him agree.
“What about Russell?” Barshan asked.
Talli rolled her eyes. “He knows better.”
“What does that mean?’ Ivan asked.
Talli turned to him. “From the day he met my mother, I didn’t like him. There was just something about the man that creeped me out. He kept glaring at me when he didn’t think anyone was watching.” She got to her feet and faced both men. “I apologize if I blamed you for something you had nothing to do with. I didn’t mean to insinuate you were less than honorable.” Rubbing her temples, she turned away from them. “I would appreciate it if you both would just leave now. I need to call the police and I’m not sure you want to be involved in the upcoming investigation.”
“May I make a suggestion?” Barshan asked glancing warily over to Ivan. “Maybe you should wait to bring the police into this until we have more information.”
Talli frowned. “Why? I have nothing to hide from the authorities. I mean in case you failed to notice this important fact, I am the victim here.”
“I’m not saying that you have to hide anything and I think we all recognize what’s right in front of our eyes,” Barshan assured her with a glare. “But I think we need the chance to do our own investigation. Ivan and I can get more info than the police can and we can do it quicker too.”
Talli stared long and hard at the two men. “Why would either of you do that? Help me I mean. You have nothing to gain. According to my father’s will, I cannot sell part of the business to either of you.”
“Then you have nothing to lose either,” Ivan suggested. Looking around he commented, “I assure you I did not do this.”
Talli took a deep breath and when she exhaled, she told them, “Gentlemen, I appreciate your offer but I can’t accept it. My father was a simple business man who made this place his legacy to the world. He chose not to associate with anyone else and I gave him my word that I wouldn’t either. You both have ties that I don’t want or need and I hope that doesn’t offend either of you but this is my place now, and I’m asking you to leave.”
Barshan could see the rage forming on Ivan’s face and knew he had to defuse the situation quickly. “Ivan and I are just business men working here in this city. I understand your reluctance to partner with either of us but we are just trying to help you.” He looked around the office mess. “I also think whoever did this was looking for something. Any idea what he was looking for?”
Talli ran her fingers through her hair wincing when she hit a sore spot. “I have no clue. If this was Russell’s work, he missed all the bigger stuff.”
“What do you mean?” Ivan frowned.
“The stuff in this safe is worth a lot of money but the other safe in the room where you found me is worth much more. That safe wasn’t even touched.”
“Do you have any idea where Jerome might be?” Barshan asked. “When I saw him earlier, he told me he was leaving town. He made the comment that it was too painful for him to stay without your mother.”
Talli scoffed then glared at him. “The man always was a liar.”
“What are you saying?” Ivan asked.
“I’m saying he used my mother. He never loved her. I really don’t think he even liked her but boy, oh boy, he loved her money. He also loved the fact she owned part of this business. Yep, he sure loved that right up until the day she died. He came in here the next day and began going through the books and trying to tell me how to run things.”
Both men glanced at the other then back to Talli. “What happened then?” Ivan asked.
Talli shrugged. “I threw his lying dumb ass out the front door. He brought the police around with him claiming he owned half the store as my mother’s widower and I told the officers about my father’s will. I had Thomas bring the papers with him and when the police left, they escorted him out the door. He was more than beyond furious. I told him never to come back.”
“How did he take that?” Barshan raised a brow.
“Not well,” Talli admitted. “That was a few weeks ago. When he phoned me last week, he was nice as pie until I told him I was going to sell my mother’s house and that he needed to leave. I gave him until this weekend to get out.”
“Is there anything of value at your mother’s house?”
Talli shrugged. “I imagine he’s taken everything of value he could get his hands on. When I moved out and into my own place, I took what I wanted. She had her own jewelry but I imagine that’s gone by this time. Those are pieces my father and I created for her and they should have been returned to me as her only child when she died but I know I’ll never see them again.”
Ivan glanced at Barshan. “Would you mind if we checked out your mother’s house with you?”
Talli frowned. “You want to do that tonight?”
“I think it would be best.” Ivan nodded.
Talli shrugged. “Ok then, let’s go.” Looking around she added, “I can come back and call the police afterwards. I guess.”
Ivan frowned at Barshan then left the office with the rest of the group. He motioned for one of his men to stay along with Barshan’s man to watch over the place until they got back.
CHAPTER THREE
When the black town car pulled up in front of Claudette Janick’s home, Talli stared at the structure with loving eyes. She’d grown up in this house and it still held fond memories for her.
Ivan sat on one side of her while Barshan sat on the other. Neither man was willing to let the other be alone with her and Ivan had insisted on them using his car.
When they all got out of the vehicle, Talli reached inside her purse for the keys.
Walking up to the front door, she noted that Ivan and Barshan were right behind her. When she t
hrew the door open and hit the light switch, she gasped in horror at the sight before her. The foyer floor was covered in glass and tiny mirror pieces. The hall mirror and several photographs lay in ruins on the parquet floor. Stepping through the mess, she entered the living room area and stared at the chaos she found there as well.
The furniture was ripped apart and turned over. The carpet was torn up in several places. The artwork on the walls were torn to shreds or missing. There were huge holes knocked in the walls as well. Someone had been searching for something but was unable to find it. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she gazed around the room in a daze.
“What the fuck happened here?” Barshan asked.
“I don’t know. It didn’t look like this a few weeks ago before my mother died,” Talli whispered. She walked over to the stairs and walked up each step as if walking to the gallows. The upstairs wasn’t in any better shape than the downstairs had been. Each of the rooms was ransacked. The last room at the end of the hall had been her parent’s room. She reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open.
The room was in utter shambles. Bedding from the bed was shredded on the floor, lamps overturned, pictures were smashed on the floor, glass and debris covered everything. Here too, huge holes had been knocked out of the plaster on the walls. The closet doors were open and half pulled off their moorings. Every piece of her mother’s clothing was torn up and left lying in a huge pile on the floor. Bleach had been dumped over the entire mess of fabric. She cried out at the sight of a broken vase lying on top of her mother’s clothes. There were ashes were scattered all over everything.
Talli stumbled over to the bed and sat down staring at the mess. Defeat bowed her shoulders. “Why?” she whispered brokenly. “Why would he do this?”
Barshan knelt beside her. “I don’t know why anyone would do this.” He looked around the room. “It looks like he was looking for something. Do you know if your parents had anything of real value here?”