Her Hero: Next Door

by George H. McVey

  Raisa laughed at that, thinking he’d been every bit like a man last night. Without even saying it her face burned. Nova noticed and laughed. “That good, huh? Don’t answer, I don’t want to know. It’s been so long for me I don’t need to feel jealous of you and Thorn.”

  Raisa noticed the quick look of sadness that flashed across Nova’s face then was hidden behind her professional bodyguard look. There was a story there she just knew it but now wasn’t the time to ferret it out. She nodded and headed for the bath. She’d ask Kris later, maybe he knew why Nova was heartbroken.

  Chapter Twelve

  R aisa sat at the coffee shop just down the street from Charlotte’s Spa. She and Nova had spent the morning shopping and getting all the things Raisa needed clothing wise and health and beauty wise. They’d stopped by the spa to buy some of the makeup that Charlotte had given Raisa the night before for her date. She’d felt so beautiful that she wanted to be able to recreate that look and a few others that Charlotte’s makeup artist had shown her. The highlight of the trip had been when Nova refused to let her buy her unmentionables at the department store, instead making her go to an upscale private lingerie store that had taken the two of them into a private room and had a model with close to Raisa’s dimensions model several sets as well as some very sexy sleepwear for them. All the while feeding them champagne and strawberries. Thankfully Kris had hired James and the town car for them as well, as now sitting at the coffee shop they were still slightly buzzed. Which made sharing about last night with the two women who had helped make it happen easier for Raisa.

  Both women laughed as she told them about putting the hostess in her place and fanned themselves as she told them about the walk down the boardwalk and the kiss that almost lead to more. They both ground their teeth when she told them about her apartment, the letter from Gregori and the way the police officers had reacted.

  “I’m so sick of that man,” Charlotte said through gritted teeth. “His wife is a customer of mine and that’s the only reason I don’t have to deal with him. He doesn’t bother me because he doesn’t want to upset her. But he makes doing business in this town harder than it has to be. Plus, his wife is the sweetest woman. She doesn’t deserve what he does to her.”

  Raisa turned white. “Oh please don’t tell her about me. I don’t want to make her feel worse.”

  Charlotte patted Raisa on the hand. “Oh honey, you don’t need to worry about her. She knows what her husband is. She tells me all the time she prays daily that someone will shoot him dead and set her free. She knows all about his mistresses and the fact that most of them never had a choice about coming to his bed. She hates him but just like the other girls she is too scared to leave him. She might have if her father hadn’t disappeared. She’s convinced Gregori killed him but there’s no proof.”

  Nova spoke up. “Well if Kris is up to his usual standards he’ll pull Volkov’s little empire apart brick by brick until the man either gives up or gets himself killed.”

  Charlotte looked around. “Let’s not discuss what Kris does besides flowers here in the open, ladies. He isn’t really supposed to do any of that on the mainland.”

  Nova smiled. “He has authorization this time. Just some limited parameters. No wet work, if you will.”

  Raisa wasn’t sure what they meant by limited parameters and wet work, but she was worried; both these women seemed to think that Kris could handle Gregori. Didn’t they know that no one ever won against Gregori? How could Kris? He was just one man and Gregori had a literal army willing to do his bidding just for the price he paid them and the perks he allowed them.

  “I wish he’d just let it alone before he gets himself killed. I could live with having to be in that man’s bed if I knew Kris was alive and able to find someone else to love. I don’t think I’ll be able to stand it if he’s killed because of me.”

  Charlotte looked at Nova. “She doesn’t know?”

  Nova shrugged. “He told her, but knowing Kris he downplayed what he does for the government.”

  “You take her to Mac and tell him I said show her who Kris is.”

  Nova shook her head. “Not sure he will. You know how he is about keeping that division secret.”

  Charlotte was the one that shook her head this time. “Kris told me his family was allowed to know. That’s why I know. You know because of who you married. I’m certain that Kris has already informed Mac of how important Raisa is to him.”

  Raisa was looking at the two of them like they were speaking a foreign language. Charlotte looked at her. “Raisa, tell me what Kris told you on the balcony again. When you asked him why he was helping you.”

  She sighed, thinking of those strong arms and that first kiss. “He said every rose had its thorn to protect it and he was mine.”

  Charlotte nodded and gave a pointed look at Nova. “Take her to Mac, tell him I said to show her who Kris is and what he can do. She’s worried about the man she loves, Sparky, and she shouldn’t be.”

  Nova nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

  Raisa frowned. “I don’t understand; why aren’t you two worried? Why do you think Kris can beat Gregori?”

  Charlotte looked at her and took her hands in her own. “Oh honey, we don’t think he can beat Gregori. We KNOW he can. It’s what he does best, defeat the worst men in the world and usually on their home turf. Go to Blackguard and talk to Mac, you’ll see. But remember that Kris is the good guy; he only defeats men determined to make the world a terrible place. Now tell me what happened after you went to bed, because darling, you’ve got that glow that only a really good night in bed can give ya and I could use some of that kind of excitement in my life. Even if the man involved in the story is my oldest friend’s son and his beautiful sexy girlfriend.”

  After the story was all told and the women had given some pointers for driving Kris even crazier next time, they all left. Nova looked at the clock. “It’s too late to go see Mac today. I’ll set it up for tomorrow morning.”

  Raisa nodded. “That’s fine. I want to go and get my things moved and try some of these oils that Charlotte told me to soak in and wear some of my new things when Kris comes home.”

  “I think I’m going to be really happy I brought my noise cancelling headphones and computer with me. While you and Kris play hide the salami, I’ll listen to some good action flicks on eleven!”

  Raisa blushed before she and Nova started giggling like school girls. When they arrived back at the apartment building they hurried upstairs, both their arms full of Raisa’s bags. There were still more in the car and James told them once they were in the apartment to call him and he’d bring them up. They couldn’t take as much as they should have been able to because Nova insisted on keeping one hand clear in case she needed to protect Raisa.

  Once she got her clothes moved and had soaked for half an hour in the fragrant combination of rose and jasmine oils leaving her skin smooth, glowing and fragrant. Then she quickly dressed in some of her new sexy under things, this time a vibrant blue in color, and pulled on her new jeans and a simple but elegant plunging neckline blouse. She then grabbed an apron and headed into the kitchen to fix a traditional Russian dish for her man when he came home, which Nova told her would be in about an hour. He’d texted while she was in the tub soaking.

  She had Nova helping her slice mushrooms for the stroganoff when suddenly Friday sounded an alarm. “Security Breach, approaching front door, three tango’s, armed.” Nova reached for her firearm as the front door exploded open. Nestor entered the room and pointed a square gun like object at Nova. And the woman began to scream and shake uncontrollably as the sound of arcing electricity could be heard mixed with her screams. Raisa turned and started heading for the hand plate on the back wall of the hall when she felt herself be lifted off her feet. She smelled cigarette smoke and vodka before hearing Bad Vlad Volkov growl in her ear, “Come along kitten, Cousin Gregori wishes your presence.”

  She kicked and screamed until she was face t
o face with Nestor. “Hello, Kitten. I told you I’d see you again. Now come along or I’ll have to hurt your friend here some more.” He picked up an unconscious Nova and tossed her over his shoulder. Raisa still resisted, dragging her feet until Nestor stopped and took her face in his hand, squeezing. “Come along nicely or I’ll knock you out. It will upset the boss but not too much, I think.”

  “What are you going to do with Nova?”

  “Oh I figure the boss will give her to me, seeing as how we can’t leave her behind to tell the florist who has you. After all, with the door shut and the stove off he’ll think you all just ran out for some ingredients at first, won’t he?” Then the man laughed. “I sure hope she’s as much of a firecracker when she wakes up as she seemed to be. I haven’t had a real feisty woman in a long time. They all seem too scared to resist me.”

  He popped open the trunk and dumped Nova’s unconscious body in it, removing her firearm and checking her for weapons while letting his hand roam all over her body. It made Raisa mad that he was acting in such a way and she prayed that when Nova woke up she’d kick the giant’s ass for him.

  Vladimir opened the door and motioned her into the car. As she climbed in she saw another of Gregori’s enforcers sitting on the far side, a small handgun pointed at her. Nestor had started to get in the car beside her, as Vlad ran around to climb behind the wheel, when Raisa heard the sound of a motorcycle racing up the street. Nestor looked back and slammed the door shut. “Go now!”

  Before Vlad could put the car in gear the window beside his head shattered and a hand reached in, striking him hard on the temple causing him to drop the keys. The person struck him again and he slumped over with a groan. The man beside her lifted his weapon and pulled the trigger which made hardly any sound surprising Raisa, until she realized it was silenced so no-one would report a gun shot. The man outside the car dropped and both Nestor and the other goon opened their doors and stepped out. The guy on Raisa’s left suddenly cried out as his knee bent the wrong direction from a boot slamming into his knee cap, there was a crushing sound and the man was on the ground screaming. Nestor started around the car when there was a popping sound and he dropped to the ground, blood running out of his arm that had held his gun. By that time Vlad was recovering and opened his door to get out. When his leg was outside the car the door suddenly slammed into it three times in quick succession. He cursed and clawed at his shoulder holster trying to free his handgun. There came those three quick pops again and he screamed as blood splattered from both his shoulders. Then the back door opened and Raisa was being pulled out of the car. She couldn’t see his face but she knew beyond a doubt that it was Kris and he’d just taken out three of Gregori’s men including Nestor. “Raisa,” came his muffled voice, visor still down on his helmet, “Where’s Sparky?”

  “Nestor threw her in the trunk, she’s unconscious.”

  Before Kris could walk around to the trunk Nestor popped up on the other side of the car and a loud bang sounded and Raisa saw the bullet hit Kris in the chest. He staggered back and spun her behind him. She heard his gun go off twice more and Nestor fell to the ground, a bullet having shattered his wrist and another through his leg. Kris walked up to the front of the car and opened the driver’s side door and reached inside. The trunk sprang open and Nova climbed out. “Where is he? Where is that giant bastard?”

  Kris pointed at the side of the car. Nova marched to her bike that was out front and reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a handheld taser. “The asshole tased me unconscious, then threw me in a trunk.”

  She stomped up to Nestor who was lying on the ground, his teeth gritted against the pain of the three bullets Kris had put in him. She knelt down and pushed the hand held taser up against the metal teeth of his blue jeans’ zipper and then she pushed until it wouldn’t sink in anymore and the sound of the crackle of electricity could be heard before the screams and curses in Russian from Nestor’s mouth. “Teach you to taser me, you prick. I hope I roasted your weenie right off.” Then for good measure she kicked him square in the crotch. When she pulled away Nestor was puking on the sidewalk as well as bleeding.

  Kris looked at Nova. “You sound?”

  “Yeah, now what?”

  “Get her in the garage, I’ll be right there. Time to bug out.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah if the man is crazy enough to try this in broad daylight, it’s time to keep her safe while I take the fight to him.”

  Nova nodded and took Raisa by the arm. “Let’s go, Raisa, nothing left for you here.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait for the police?”

  Nova shook her head. “That didn’t help last night, did it?”

  “No, but they tried to kidnap us this time.”

  “Don’t worry, they aren’t going anywhere. Hospital maybe, but that’s it.”

  There came a loud thump behind them and Raisa looked back to see Kris drop the other two gangsters beside Nestor as the interior of their car billowed with flames. “If I were you boys I’d move away from the vehicle.”

  He climbed on his bike and fired it up, turning in a circle and heading for the garage entrance. Just as the door closed behind Raisa she heard the sound of sirens heading their way.

  Kris was livid. He’d been on his way home from looking over the three Syndicate stash houses he planned to target first when Friday had sent an emergency alert to his phone complete with video feed of Volkov’s men bursting into his apartment and taking Raisa and Sparky. He’d hit a hundred miles an hour weaving in and out of traffic arriving in front of the building just in time to stop them from driving off with the women.

  He hadn’t killed any of them though. That had been harder to do than he’d imagined when he’d agreed with the rules of engagement given to him during the mission brief. However, he’d made sure the local emergency room would be busy for a while. He pulled his bike into the building garage and looked up to see Raisa and Sparky come out of the stairwell heading toward him. He yanked off his helmet and caught Raisa as she ran to him, smothering her face in kisses. “Are you alright?”

  She had her hands roaming on the front of his tactical suit. “Yes, they didn’t hurt me. Are you? I thought you got shot?”

  “I’m fine, sweetheart, my gear is top notch. There’s not a scratch on me. Now, everyone in my garage, please.”

  He pulled Raisa into the back of his personal garage and Sparky followed, lowering the door. Raisa looked at them as a red light came on overhead. “What are we doing here?”

  Kris smiled and faced a small plate with a button on the back wall. He pushed the button and a green beam came out of the sensor above the button focused on his right eye. “Identity confirmed,” came a robotic voice and then the rear of the garage raised showing a well-lit stairway heading down. He smiled at Raisa. “Remember what I told you? Always have more than two ways out. “This is my last resort escape route. We go down the stairs and then two blocks west to my bug out vehicle. We’re heading to a safe house.” He took her hand and started down the stairs. Sure enough, they were soon heading up another set of stairs and into an old warehouse two blocks away from the apartment building. The moment they came up into the building Kris pulled his phone out and punched a button. “Friday, set apartment security protocol Zeta.”

  “Zeta initiated, complete lockdown, powering down all systems to minimum. Motion sensitive turret activated.”

  “Transfer your presence to safe house Lima. Arrival time estimated thirty minutes.”

  “Affirmative, transfer initiated, see you soon.”

  Then Kris hit another button as they all climbed into the tan and brown Land Rover sitting in the middle of the warehouse. Kris started it up and hit a garage door opener. The roll-up door in front of them opened and he pulled out onto the street heading out of town. He handed his phone to Sparky. “Sync it for me.”

  She nodded, and they heard a beep come from the radio. Kris pushed a button on the steering wheel and the phone dial
ed. “Blackguard Security, how can I direct your call?”

  “Human Resources.”

  “One moment please.”

  There was a series of clicks and then “Human Resources, how can I help you?”

  Kris took a breath, “Asset authentication.”

  “Proceed.”

  “Tango, Hotel, Oscar, Romeo, November 317 Lima.”

  “Asset Verified. How can we assist you, Thorn?”

  “Mission update. Primary residence compromised. Asset is safe. Proceeding to safe house Lima. Request medical, meet us there in twenty.”

  “Hold for control.”

  There was another series of clicks and then Mac’s voice came over the line. “What’s happened, and why do you need medical?”

  “Gregori sent three goons including Morozov to abduct Raisa; Sparky took an extreme hit from a taser. I want her checked out just as a precaution.”

  “You and Raisa are alright?”

  “Five by Five, which is more than I can say for Nestor and his boys.”

  “Fatalities?”

  “Negative, they’ll be spending some time in the hospital but all were alive when we left. Heading to Lima. I initiated Zeta at the apartment but I need a transfer crew to bring the contents of both bedrooms to the storage facility.”

  “Not Lima?”

  “I think Gregori has men watching the place. I don’t want to lead them to the safe house if we can help it.”

  “I’ll send Eagle with them.”

  “Sounds good, tell my team to go on operational standby. I may need them before this is over.”

  “Got ya. When is operation De-syndication beginning?”

  “Already begun.”

  “Keep me informed.”

  “Hey Mac, send several sets of full tactical gear for Sparky. If she’d been in gear and not civies, that taser strike would have been unsuccessful.”