I look out the window and steady myself. I don’t have time to be emotional right now. I have business to take care of. When Avery announces that we are nearing Del Rio, I once again stand and head into the lavatory to splash some water on my face and get my head together. Avery comes out to greet me again once we land. He looks tired. I slip my jacket on as he starts talking to me.
“Should I keep her on standby, sir?” He asks.
“Yes, but I will most likely not leave until sometime tomorrow.” I reach in my jacket and pull some money out of my wallet. “Prepare the plane and go get a room in town. Keep your phone on.” I say handing him several hundred dollar bills.
He starts to protest the amount but I arch my brow at him and he stops. “Thank you, sir.”
I grin and exit the plane, heading through the airport for the third time in two days. When I get outside, I see Elkins immediately. He frowns as I approach and I know that he sees the blood on my clothes. As soon as he slides behind the wheel, he stares at me.
“What the hell happened?” He asks with furrowed brows.
I shake my head. “Just a fight.”
“Are you hurt?” He asks, looking me up and down.
I shake my head again. “My ribs are a little sore but…” I glance at him and smirk. “You should see the other guy.”
Elkins laughs and shakes his head as he pulls out of the airport. We breeze through the border again and make our way to Cordoza’s estate.
“Are you sure you want to play your hand. Couldn’t she just sneak out if she sees us again?”
“I need to approach Cordoza tonight. Dimitri will have already called him. Hell, Cordoza probably already knows who I am by now anyway. We need to negotiate this. I am not quite sure what Dimitri will have said or what he promised him but Dimitri knows me well enough to know that I would approach Cordoza right away,” I say, watching him nod.
“Alright man, I trust you. I just don’t want that slippery witch to get away.”
“She won’t. Cordoza is a smart man. He won’t cross Dimitri.” He glances at me and I grin. “And… he won’t cross me. By now, he knows what I am capable of and he knows my connections. He won’t risk it.”
He nods again as we pull up to the Cordoza estate. As the guard makes his way to us, Elkins turns to me with a smile.
“It’s show time!”
I grin as the guard taps Elkins window, telling him to roll it down. When he looks inside he stares at me, a mixture of anger and fear on his face, truthfully, he just seems angry. Yes, you remember me, don't you?
“I have business with Mr. Cordoza,” I say with a steely expression.
“He is expecting you,” he says as he motions for us to pass inside.
I smile. I bet he is. Elkins parks the car and I snatch my briefcase from the backseat, and this time when we get inside, one of Cordoza’s guards quickly grabs my case from me. I can’t help it. I laugh. I would imagine Cordoza ripped them all a new one for allowing me that close to him with not just one but two weapons as well as the other items I had that could have hurt him. His guards are frowning at me and I reach over and tap my case with a smart-ass smirk on my face.
“I will expect this back in perfect condition,” I say as I run my hand down my tie.
The guard starts to say something but Cordoza is already in the room, laughing. “Your case will be taken care of, Señor Livingston, but you understand why I must have them hold it,” he says, putting his hand on my shoulder, leading me into his office.
“I understand completely,” I answer, smiling at him.
As we all walk inside, he motions for Elkins and me to sit as he leans against his desk. I grin again, knowing I do the exact same thing to people. He starts shaking his finger at me with a wide smile on his face.
“You, Señor Livingston, have lied to me.”
I arch my brow and cross my legs. “About what?”
“You are connected… Bol'shoi,” he says, arching his own brow at me. “Why didn’t you tell me you are with the Komarovski family?”
I roll my shoulders. “Because I’m not.”
He looks at me confused. “But Mr. Komarovski has called me.”
“Dimitri is my brother.”
“Ahhh,” he replies with a nod before chuckling again. “I thought Bol'shoi was a myth, one of those Russian legends aimed to scare people.”
“No, I’m not a myth and I’m sure what you have heard is true,” I say, brushing off my pant leg.
He watches me and I see his eyes zero in on the blood on my jacket. I re-cross my legs and look up at him. I know the types of things that were said about me. I was cruel and unafraid. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do, well, except actually kill someone. But I never needed to. I loved making people fear me and seeing them tremble when they saw me coming. That often frightened people enough to leave me and Dimitri alone. If I had stayed in Chicago though, I know I would have completely lost my way and I would have eventually killed many people.
“So how do you want to do this?” I ask, needing to get down to business.
“I do not want to hand her over to you tonight.”
I nod. “That is fine with me. I would prefer to do this in a way where your son thinks she just left. I can’t have him trying to seek out revenge. I am sure you do not want a war over some slut who is using your son for protection.”
He narrows his eyes. “I respect you, Señor Livingston, and the family you come from, but do not come in my home and threaten me,” he states in a stern voice.
“It was not a threat; it is a fact,” I reply unfazed by his anger. “If Junior tries to seek revenge, I will be forced to defend myself and my family.” I tilt my head at him, eyeing him. “He doesn’t strike me as someone who understands this way, much as my son does not. I don’t want to hurt an innocent. Do you?”
He shakes his head and sighs. “I have arranged for my son to go with some of my men to check on another property. I will keep her here. She believes she is safe.”
“Have her write him a note of some sort, saying she left, that she is sorry but she can’t live this way. Some bullshit like that so when he returns, he will not suspect that I have her. He will be brokenhearted, but trust me, I am doing him a favor.”
He nods. “That will work. When and where do you want my men to bring her?”
I turn to Elkins who pulls out a crumpled piece of paper from his pants pocket and hands it over to Cordoza. Cordoza reads it and smiles as he glances over at me.
“This is a good place,” he laughs and shakes his head.
I smile, knowing he has probably used this location before as well. I stand up. “Have her there by noon,” I say, walking over to shake his hand. He takes it firmly in his.
“I can’t imagine why Dimitri would let you go. You seem like you would be an invaluable asset to a family.” He squeezes my hand firmly as he stares into my eyes intently. “Are you considering a return to this way of life?”
I smirk and let out a soft laugh. “No, not at all, but I have unfinished business with her.”
He nods and then chuckles again. “I almost feel sorry for her.”
“I don’t,” I reply coolly. “She made her bed, now it’s time she lie in it.”
“If you should ever consider doing some side work…” I immediately start shaking my head. “Fine, fine.” Cordoza raises his hands in defeat.
If he only knew what Es and I went through to leave, and what I have had to do to leave Bolʹshoĭ behind me. There is no way I can manage this type of lifestyle now. Besides, I don’t want to. I am happy with my life and the direction it took. I tap his shoulder and offer him a genuine smile.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Cordoza,” I tell him before turning around and nodding at Elkins, who stands up.
Cordoza waves his hand and the guard holding my briefcase walks over to us, handing it back to me. Elkins comes up next to me, glancing around the room. We briskly leave, heading out to the car and making
our way back to the motel.
“Holy shit, Charles! Watching you do your thing is a freaking work of art!” Elkins says with a hearty laugh. “That damn Cordoza wanted to hire you for God's sake!” He shakes his head as he continues to laugh.
I smile and then look out the window, thinking about tomorrow and what we will need to do. This will end soon, and hopefully after that, I can retire Bolʹshoĭ for good.
Chapter 27
I am up before Elkins is because I am completely amped and ready to go. I am in my jeans and sweater, and some cheap black shoes. I open my briefcase on my bed and run through the items in there, tracing over the things I plan on using. By 9:30, I toss a pillow at Elkins and laugh when he starts cursing.
“Get up, Benny. I want to leave soon.”
“It’s still early,” he says, looking at me with sleepy eyes. “What are we gonna do there but wait in the damn heat.”
“I want to be there early in case there is a problem. Now get up!”
He glares at me for a moment before sliding out of bed, and within forty minutes, we are out the door and headed to our meeting place. As Elkins accurately assessed, it is hot and he mopes in the car with the A/C running until we see the dust from an oncoming vehicle. As it approaches, I recognize it as one of the many cars that were at Cordoza’s estate. Elkins gets out of the car and comes to my side, glancing up at me as I stare at the car approaching us.
“You sure about this?” He asks and I nod, not looking at him.
Elkins and I use intimidation and fear to get what is needed and, in all honesty, we rarely have to do that anymore. Every so often someone will attempt to challenge me but it usually doesn’t take much to strike the fear of God in them. Elkins is superb at what he does and can wipe out a person’s life with a few keystrokes, but what we are doing now is totally different and completely out of his element. Which leads me to the stark realization that although I am familiar with this type of thing, he isn’t.
“Benny.” He turns to me and I can see the nervousness written over his face. “I will take care of this. You won’t need to do anything, but I need her to believe that you will. I won’t make you do something you will regret and… I will protect you,” I say sincerely. “After this, Bolʹshoĭ retires for good.”
And for the first time since I have known him, he just nods, there are no snide remarks, no witty comebacks, just a low breath as I answer his unspoken fears. The car parks not far from us and the door opens. A large man with an Uzi steps out and motions for someone inside to come out. Sonya slides out and stops when she sees me. I smirk and tilt my head slightly, watching as she tries to get back in the vehicle but is pushed out by another guard. They walk her over to me and I can see fear on her face.
“Mr. Cordoza offers this woman as a peace offering between our families and hopes that you will consider doing business with him in the future.”
“Thank Mr. Cordoza and tell him I will consider his offer, and will let my brother know that he was cooperative in this matter.”
The guard nods as Elkins comes up behind Sonya and begins tying her wrists together with the rope I carry in my case. The guards step away and Elkins pulls her hands down, forcing her low so that he can lean in close to her ear.
“Shit’s not so funny now, is it!”
I pull out my knife, running my fingers along the blade as she watches me, her eyes wide with fear. Once the car drives away, I start walking away from our vehicle, motioning with my knife, much the same way Dimitri had yesterday. We walk to a small clearing that is isolated from the road. When we get there, I hear Sonya gasp and I know it is because she sees the shallow grave. Elkins walks her in front of the grave, holding onto the rope binding her. I turn to her and my look is lethal.
“So we meet again.”
“But I helped you, I let Rachel go. I helped you,” she repeats, panicked.
“A bout of consciousness does not garner you a free pass.”
She starts to say something else but I raise my hand and shake my head. I bring my gun out and walk over to her. I touch her right cheek with the tip of my gun and her left cheek with the tip of my knife as I look menacingly at her.
“We can do this the easy way,” I say, tapping her cheek with my gun. “Or the hard way,” I continue, tapping her other cheek with my knife. “Now personally, I would enjoy cutting you and leaving you out here for the animals to scavenge. They will smell your blood and rip you to shreds. It’s the least you deserve for what you have done.”
“He used me too, I…I was abused by him for years,” she stutters.
I frown and shake my head. “No, you can’t lie your way out of this. You spent months gaining Rachel’s trust, used her to get into her house, violated her already weakened trust of people and were an active participant in her kidnapping. You knew what Dante was planning to do to my son, yet you did nothing to stop it before it happened. You can sell the abuse story to the little boy you were screwing around with, but not to me.”
“I cared about Rachel. I loved her. She was my friend but I had to do what Dante wanted or he would have killed me. I was afraid, he hurt me too. I was scared…I...I had nowhere else to go!”
I stare at her for a moment. Most of these women have nowhere else to go. I hear Estelle’s words echo in my head. Part of this whole shelter thing Estelle and I are doing is supposed to help battered women. Is she one of them? I can’t kill some victim of domestic violence and then open a shelter for women like her. I close my eyes, having second thoughts when Elkins shouts.
“You lying witch!”
My eyes shoot open and I catch just a glimpse of a smirk, the same one she had at Cordoza’s and that’s all the confirmation I need to tell me that she was trying to lie her way out of her fate. I don’t hesitate as I bring my knife to her neck and make a large gash. Blood spews everywhere, on me, on Elkins.
Elkins spews out an array of curse words as he drops her tied hands and steps away from her, wiping blood away from his eyes. I take a step back and kick Sonya in the stomach, pushing her into the shallow grave.
“Go to the car, Benny!” I yell as I look at him. His eyes are wide as his eyes dash from me to her. “NOW!” I shout but he stands there, unable to move. I jump into the grave and look up at him. “Benny, please, go to the car!” I say softer and he shakes his head slightly and turns around, moving quickly to our vehicle.
I reach below Sonya and release the rope binding her hands and she immediately moves her hands to her neck, trying to stop the inevitable. I stand up and wipe my knife on my jeans and stare at her pleading eyes. I bring my gun out and arch my brow at her and she nods slightly. I don’t blame her for wanting the easy way, bleeding to death is not the way I would want to die. I cock my gun, but before firing, I lean down.
“I will give you the easy way out because you helped Rachel in the end but know this…You are here because no one screws with my family!”
She closes her eyes as I stand straight again, ending her misery. I snatch up my rope and quickly exit the grave, sticking the gun in my waistband while I make my way to the car. I glance at Elkins, who looks like he is going to be sick. I take a deep breath and pull out my briefcase, setting it on the hood of the car. I gently place everything inside and set it back on the seat. I walk to the driver’s side where Elkins is and open the door, squatting down before him.
“Are you okay?”
He doesn’t say anything, he just stares blankly in the distance. I move my hands in the car and grab his legs, planting his feet on the ground. I then grab the towel I threw in the car before we left and start wiping the blood off his face and then help him out of the car. I open the back door.
“Lay in the back, Benny,” I tell him, calmly.
He crawls inside and lies on the seat, bringing his hand over his eyes. I shut the door and pop the trunk. I quickly grab the shovel and make my way back to Sonya. I start moving the dirt back in the grave, covering her bleeding body. I am operating on pure adrenaline
and not thinking about what I just did. I know what needs to happen and am summoning up every last bit of Bolʹshoĭ to the surface because I need him right now so that I don’t mess anything up. Once she is covered, I start making my way back to the car. I toss the shovel in the trunk and take one final look at where Sonya is lying before getting behind the wheel.
As I am driving, I keep looking back, checking on Elkins. I am immune to this kind of thing. Being around Dimitri, I have witnessed much worse, but Elkins hasn’t. Maybe I should have done this by myself? But he said he wanted to, no, he insisted he was coming with me. About midway to the hotel, Elkins sits up in the seat. He is still pale as he looks outside the window.
“I’m sorry I put you through that. I will understand if you no longer want to work with me,” I say with sadness in my voice as I stare at him in my rearview mirror.
He turns to face me. “I’m sorry I turned into such a wimp about the whole thing.”
I smile widely and then laugh. “I have been around this type of thing so it doesn't affect me anymore, but it did in the beginning. I forgot what that was like. You have nothing to be ashamed of.” I raise both of my brows for emphasis. “Benny, I’m really sorry you had to see that.”
He nods and lets out a deep breath. “Let’s go back to Sacramento and don’t you ever send me to this shithole ever again.”
“You got it!” I reply laughing, knowing that we are okay.
We drive in silence for a while and slowly his color starts coming back. Soon, he lets out a loud breath, causing me to look at him. He brushes his hand over the hair that is sticking to his forehead and gives me a smile.
“You know I could get used to you being my driver,” he says, amused at my expression.
“Yeah, well, don’t hold your breath on that one,” I reply with an eye roll.
He grins and looks outside the window again as we drive the rest of the way in silence. When we pull up to the hotel, he starts to get out but I don’t.
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