Aleksandr, the younger of the two by one year, had fared better in the genetics lottery, but not by much, and it was easy to tell that they were brothers.
However, Gleb and Aleksandr did have money, along with the desire to be as respected and feared as their late father had been.
Matthews spoke to them in the strip club’s large office. The two brothers sat behind an impressive wooden desk, while Matthews had settled into one of three comfortable wing chairs in front of it. The room’s green carpeting was plush, the white walls looked recently painted, and the artwork adorning them was tasteful.
However, the conversation took place with the office door sitting open. Gleb had broken the door two nights ago, while horsing around with one of the club’s bouncers.
Matthews found the throb of the bar music distracting, but he tried to ignore it as he spoke with Gleb and Aleksandr.
“The men who kill Tanner will be living legends.”
Gleb scratched his balls as he spoke.
“This guy really killed those Australians, even that Brian, the one with the big mouth?”
“Yes, but see, Brian and his men must have softened Tanner up somewhat, and now he’s out there in the middle of nowhere freezing to death. There will never be a better time to go after him.”
Aleksandr swallowed a long drink of beer, belched, then had a question.
“Why aren’t you going after him, Smith?”
“Me? I’m not a tough guy like you two.”
“Yeah, but the more guys we bring with us, the easier it will be to kill this guy, right?”
“Yes, and if you put the word out that there’s a reputation to be gained by killing Tanner, I’m sure that many of those losers out there in the bar will go hunting for him.”
“But we’ll get the credit, right?” Gleb said.
“Of course,” Matthews said. “So, what do you say?”
“What do we say about what?” Aleksandr said.
“About Tanner, will you pay for the gas and supplies we’ll need to go after him?”
“Oh, yeah, Gleb and me got nothing else to do. Once we shoot this hit man, Tanner, everyone will know we’re badasses, like our father was.”
“Great, great, how many men do you think you can get?”
“A dozen easy, there’s a huge biker gang out there. Those guys are always up for trouble.”
There was a scuff of footsteps coming from the hallway behind Matthews, then a voice spoke in a resigned tone.
“Make it two dozen men. I’ll be going after Tanner too.”
Matthews turned in his seat and saw Nikolai standing just inside the doorway.
“What are you talking about, Nikolai? You suddenly have an interest in Tanner?”
“I have an interest in keeping my wife safe, and that idiot Fedor is taking her off on the hunt for this hit man. If I can kill Tanner first, Liliya will stay safe.”
“She’s your ex-wife. You’re only trying to beat Fedor at something. But, whatever, I just want Tanner dead, you and Fedor can work out the details.”
“No, I’m going with my own group.”
Gleb laughed. The sound was reminiscent of a toilet flushing.
“We’ll have an army chasing after this guy, Tanner.”
Matthews nodded, then wondered if an army would be enough.
5
Why Aren’t You Wearing Masks?
Walking along in the cold, Tanner and Sara tried to maintain a steady pace without perspiring under the many layers they wore. As cold as it was, sweating was a bad idea, as it could chill the skin and lower the body’s core temperature.
They had gone through their luggage and found that many of their clothes were too wet to wear, as the luggage compartment took on water after the crash. They had managed to salvage some clothing, and it would have to do until they found shelter.
There were wolves nearby. They could be heard now and then as they howled to each other, and once, Tanner glimpsed a pack of them, but they were just silhouettes against the backdrop of the trees in the distance.
Walking was harder for Sara, whose knee was beginning to ache with each step. To keep her mind off it, she asked Tanner to tell her more about the hunting trip he’d gone on as a boy.
“What was that girl’s name?”
“It was Genevieve.”
“And did you ever talk to her, or chicken out?”
“I talked to her. My voice was shaky at first, but I spoke to her.”
“What did you say?”
“I said my name is Cody Parker.”
Genevieve smiled at Cody, then looked him up and down.
“You’re a little taller than me. How old are you?”
“I’m twelve.”
“I thought you looked young, and you say your name is Cody?”
“That’s right, and I heard you were named Genevieve.”
“Yeah, I was named after Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. She protected Paris from Attila the Hun.”
“How’d she do that?”
“She prayed.”
Cody nodded, but was no longer listening. Genevieve was so beautiful that he found himself mesmerized by her. He snapped out of it when Genevieve waved her hand in front of his face.
“Hey, kid, are you all right?”
“I’m not a kid. I’m just young.”
Genevieve laughed.
“Okay, so, do you like to hunt?”
“Yeah, and I’m gonna get a buck too.”
“A buck?”
“You know, a male deer.”
“Oh, right. I’ve never hunted, but my mom has. She grew up doing it.”
“Can you shoot?”
Genevieve made a sour face.
“The rifle hurts my shoulder.”
The guide of the hunt gathered all the participants together and told them that they would have a chance to sight-in their rifles if they wanted to.
There were several targets lined up in an area before a hill. As always, the sighting in of rifle scopes turned into a shooting contest. To everyone’s surprise but his grandfather, Cody Parker was the best shooter by far.
When Cody finished, he received many “Attaboy’s” from the men, and to his delight, he had gained a female fan.
Genevieve came over to him with a huge grin, then kissed him on the cheek.
“Wow! Cody, you’re something else with that rifle.”
Cody smiled back at Genevieve, neither of them noticed the man staring at them. Rather, he was staring at Genevieve, as he had been doing all morning from a spot in the woods. The man was stalking her, and when the time was right, he planned to make Genevieve his next victim.
“A rapist?” Sara said.
“And a murderer, he had killed in Colorado before coming to Texas. The girls there had been only eleven and thirteen.”
“What happened to Genevieve?”
Tanner was about to answer Sara when something attracted his attention. He pointed east, where the land sat higher along a ridge.
“Look! Do you see that, that flash of sunlight?”
Sara covered her eyes with her hand, then broke into a smile.
“That looked like a small plane landing.”
“It was. There must be an airfield over there.”
“How far away is that?”
“Four miles, maybe a little less.”
“I say we check it out.”
“Yeah, but stay alert when we get close. Anyone living out here probably doesn’t want visitors, and we have no idea what they might be up to.”
“You mean drug smuggling?”
“Maybe, but there’s some reason they’re out here in the middle of nowhere.”
That reason involved the kidnapping of a fourteen-year-old girl named Polina.
The abductor of the girl, Pavel, flew her to a secluded location where he believed no one would be searching for her. Pavel landed his small plane atop a large frozen lake that was some distance from the lake where Tanner and Sa
ra had crashed. This lake was surrounded by sloping land on all sides, as it sat atop the ridge.
There were people living in the area, but they numbered less than a hundred and made their homes farther back in the woods.
The lake tended to overflow in springtime, and in the winter, the icy wind coming off the frozen lake was brutal. So, people in the area built their homes along the streams that weaved through the woods, where the trees acted as a natural windbreak.
As Pavel carried Polina from the plane, the teen stirred awake.
“What’s going on?”
“You’ve been kidnapped,” Pavel said. He was clean-shaven, as he had discarded the phony beard he’d been wearing.
Polina seemed to have no reaction to the news of her kidnapping. Pavel looked down at her, wondering if she had drifted back to sleep. When Polina’s fist connected with his nose, he let out a grunt of annoyance and dropped her onto the ground.
Polina attempted to stand, but the drug Pavel injected her with earlier was still having an influence on her. She found it difficult to maintain her balance. Polina staggered, dropped to one knee, staggered again, then fell on her stomach.
When she glanced up, she saw two men approaching with guns holstered on their hips. The men were wearing fur hats with earflaps.
When they spoke to Pavel, they did so in Turkish. Polina didn’t speak Turkish, but had heard the language spoken between students and one of the teachers at her school. She recognized the language when she heard it.
One of the Turks, the shorter of the two, reared back his boot as if he were going to kick Polina in the side. A sharp rebuke from Pavel froze the man. Afterward, Pavel helped Polina to stand.
When Polina looked at Pavel, she frowned. His nose had not bled. Her punch seemed to have had no effect on the man.
“You’re all in a lot of trouble,” Polina said in Russian.
Pavel smiled.
“Because of who your grandmother is?”
“That’s right. She’s important, and you’ll go to prison for this.”
“We will never be caught. If you’re a smart little girl, you will be quiet and give us no trouble.”
“I’m smart enough to know that people will be looking for me, and they’ll find me.”
Pavel extended an arm and gestured about at their surroundings.
“Look about, Polina. You are no longer in the city and there is no one around for many miles.”
Polina gazed left, then right. Other than a large tent with a fire burning near it, she saw nothing but the lake, woodland, and the small airplane she’d been transported in. The realization that she may never be rescued sent a chill of terror through her, but then a question popped into her head.
“How did you get the limo away from Stas?”
“Your chauffeur is dead. I broke the man’s neck to prove we were serious.”
Tears sprang from Polina’s eyes.
“You murdered Stas? You bastard!”
Polina tried to strike Pavel again, but this time the man’s hands were free, and he blocked her attempt with ease, then backhanded her on the chin. Polina’s blond pigtails went flying in all directions as her head was rocked backwards.
She would have fallen again, as the impact of Pavel’s hand stunned her, and made her taste blood.
But, Pavel lifted her up once more, this time, to toss her over his shoulders in the position called a fireman’s carry. Polina fought to stay awake as she watched the ground flow by while Pavel marched into the woods.
After Pavel stopped walking, Polina felt an odd sensation and clutched onto Pavel. She was falling. No, not falling, but going down a ladder while lying over Pavel’s shoulders.
As her head cleared, she felt rope being fastened to her right wrist, then saw a knot being tied that only a knife could free her from. She was in a large deep pit that had a rotted wood floor and dirt walls.
Pavel sat her on an old mattress, and there was a small stack of thick wool blankets, some bottled water, a battery-powered lantern, toilet paper, and, incongruously, a toilet.
Pavel saw the puzzled look on Polina’s face and almost smiled. He pointed at the toilet, which was in a corner, at the farthest range of the rope.
“There’s no plumbing attached, of course, but we dug a hole beneath it. This was once a root cellar or a basement. Someone long ago made the foolish decision to build near the lake. The house is gone, likely washed away over the years, but this pit remains and will be your new home.”
Polina watched Pavel ascend the rope ladder and wondered if the man was a gymnast. She doubted there were chimpanzees that could climb the ladder with such speed and grace of movement.
Pavel looked down at her and offered advice.
“Try to remain calm. If you behave, no one will hurt you.”
“When will you send me back to my family?”
“As soon as your grandmother follows our orders.”
“My grandmother will pay you.”
“We don’t want her money. We want her obedience.”
“Please let me out of here.”
“Goodbye, Polina.”
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
Polina hesitated before speaking, as she feared Pavel’s response to her next query.
“Why aren’t you wearing masks?”
Pavel sighed.
“You’re a smart girl. I think you already know the answer to that question.”
There was the creak of hinges, then, a wooden cover fell with a loud thump, covering the opening. That was followed by the sound of something locking the lid in place.
If not for the lantern, Polina would have been in pitch blackness. Out of habit, she reached for her cell phone, but it was gone.
The pit stank of damp earth. Despite its greater size and depth, it reminded Polina of a grave.
Polina tried to be brave, but the tears came anyway. She hugged herself, and as she did so, she felt the patches on her uniform blouse, patches she had earned as a Girl Scout.
In her mind, Polina went over the ten Girl Scout laws.
A Girl Scout is true to her word.
A Girl Scout finishes what she starts.
A Girl Scout strives to be useful and to help others.
A Girl Scout is friendly, cordial, and polite.
All Girl Scouts are sisters.
A Girl Scout is a friend of nature.
A Girl Scout is devoted to her parents, is disciplined, and obeys her leader.
A Girl Scout is thrifty and respects the property of others.
A Girl Scout is clean and noble in her thoughts and actions.
When she reached the last one, Polina dried her eyes and repeated the tenth law out loud.
“A Girl Scout never loses heart.”
Someone would find her. Polina was certain of it. Maybe a policeman, a soldier, or one of the government agents that worked with her grandmother. She would be found and set free.
After all, wasn’t the world full of heroes?
6
Half A Brain Between Them
Tanner climbed up a tree to get a better look at the area where the plane was. He’d seen Pavel backhand Polina. However, he had been too far away to make out any details of the pair, or of the two Turks with them.
“They’ve got a girl or a small woman over there and one of them took her down into a hole.”
“A hole?”
“Yeah, some sort of pit, maybe even a tunnel. It’s hard to see from here.”
“Do you think it has anything to do with Matthews?”
Tanner dropped to the ground beside Sara, his landing cushioned by the snow.
“No, but they’re up to something. The good news is the plane. It’s parked atop another frozen lake. We can force them to fly us out of here.”
“How many men did you see?”
“Only three, but there could be more inside the tent they have.”
They began walking again, and Sara’s limp was more noticea
ble.
“How bad is your knee?” Tanner asked.
“It hurts, but I can push on until we reach that plane.”
“Fine, but don’t push too hard. You may be more injured than you know. Cold weather like this is a natural anesthetic.”
“Let’s just get to that plane,” Sara said.
Pavel had informed his companions that there was a winter storm heading into the area, but that it wouldn’t begin in earnest until after midnight.
“Will you be able to fly in such weather,” asked the smaller of the two men.
“I’ll likely be grounded, but I have the other snowmobile. I’ll return one way or another. Just stay inside the tent, and you’ll be warm enough.”
The shorter of the Turks pointed at the fire, where two blocks of stone were being heated by the flame. The blocks looked like granite, but were soapstone, which held heat well and for many hours.
“Those stones will really work?”
“Yes, but don’t let them stay in the flames too long.”
The taller Turk gazed in the direction of the pit.
“She may freeze down there.”
“Not overnight, and she has the blankets. After we film her crying and begging tomorrow, it won’t matter what happens to her.”
“I don’t like hurting children, but we do what is necessary,” said the tall man.
“Yes, my brother, and that is why we’ll triumph and change the course of history. We are willing to do what is necessary.”
Pavel shook hands with the men, glanced in the direction of the pit, which was disguised to blend in with the ground, then, he turned and headed towards the plane.
“What plane?” Gleb asked. He and his brother Aleksandr were in the hanger with Fedor and Liliya.
“That one, the one with the big red cross on it,” Fedor said, while pointing to his left. “It was an old rescue plane Nikolai bought for spare parts, but I’ve been getting it into shape and she’ll fly just fine.”
White Hell (A Tanner Novel Book 17) Page 3