by Beth Abbott
“It sounds like a good plan.” Kellen nodded. “And I wish we could do more to protect them all, but there’s really no way we can help, and still maintain our cover.”
Micky sighed.
“I know.” She conceded. “And I didn’t mean it to sound like I was passing responsibility for this to you. The blame for this lies firmly with Sergei. His craving to get more money and more power is to blame for all of this.”
“Well, hopefully, by the time we get off the ship on Sunday night, we’ll take all of Sergei’s money with us, all of the hostages, plus the weapons at the warehouse, leaving him having to explain to the people he owes money to how he’s fucked them over.” Abram grinned. “It almost makes you want to stay behind to watch him get what’s coming to him.”
“Almost, but not quite enough.” Micky nodded. “Well, I need to get back downstairs to see if the women have organised themselves.”
She stood up and moved towards the door.
Kellen’s hand on her arm stopped her in her tracks.
“Have confidence, Micky.” He smiled at her. “You need to act like your normal self or Sergei will guess something is up.”
Micky nodded.
“Oh, I’ll act like myself.” She promised. “And that asshole won’t know there’s anything going on, I assure you.”
She turned and headed for the door.
Abram opened it first and checked the hallway was empty before Micky slipped out.
As he closed the door behind her with a click, she headed for the stairs.
How in God’s name was she supposed to act like nothing was going on, when her heart was hammering out of her chest, and her hands had developed a permanent tremor?
She glanced at her watch. Four hours until fight time.
She had to figure it out by then!
Chapter 32 – Hannah
“Hey Kellen.” Hannah connected the call straight to video. “How’re y’all doing out there?”
“We’re all good, Hannah.” She could see the grin on his face. “Kris and Abram are downstairs in the entertainment area trying to set up the wi-fi booster and the surveillance cameras as we speak. Is anything coming through yet?”
Hannah looked at Abbey who shook her head.
“Not yet, sugar.” Hannah frowned. “We’re already set up at this end, so as soon as the booster and cameras are switched on, the pictures should start coming through.”
“Ok, well give it a few minutes.” Kellen suggested. “There might be one of a dozen reasons why they’re not up and working yet. They wouldn’t be able to connect them if there was anyone working anywhere near the ring.”
“How long until the fighting starts?” She asked, looking at her watch.
It was still only just after five o’clock in the UK, so it must be just after seven on the ship.
“We’ve been told to be ready to go downstairs at about eight-thirty.” Kellen explained. “We don’t know who will be fighting first, or who we’ll be fighting. I think they’re going to draw lots or something.”
“Have you seen any of the other teams yet?” Danny leaned over Hannah’s shoulder.
“We saw a couple of guys when we first arrived, but mostly they’re keeping us apart.” Kellen grinned. “I guess they want us to have our first real glimpse of the opposition just before the fighting starts, to keep the suspense heightened.”
“And what about the General’s daughter.” Hannah smiled. “The hot brunette who had your eyes lighting up back at Drago’s place. Have you run into her yet?”
Hannah heard what must have been Drago and Zach laughing in the background, but it was Kellen’s blush she noticed more. Hell, the guy really did have the hots for the Russian chick!
“Yes, we’ve made contact with Micky Koslova.” Kellen grinned. “She recognised Abram immediately, so we were able to get a meeting with her. She knows exactly what’s going on, and she’s totally up to speed.”
“What was her reaction when you gave her the General’s message?” Hannah asked.
“Shock, I think.” Drago spoke. “She was obviously upset to find out that her partner was dead. She and Andre had been undercover together for a long time. And I think that’s partly where the shock came in… I don’t think she had any idea how long she’d been undercover. When we told her that we were going to get her out of there and that her time in the military was up, she was quite obviously taken aback.”
“I think she was undoubtedly relieved.” Kellen nodded. “Since Andre’s been out of the picture she’s been completely alone. That must have left her feeling extremely vulnerable.”
“She’ll probably be glad to see the back of Lebedev.” Hannah nodded. “He’s quite a sinister character from what I can tell.”
“He’s not pleasant.” Drago agreed. “There’s a level of civility when you talk to him, but you get the feeling it’s paper thin. He’d give the order to have you killed without blinking, and not even remember you five minutes later.”
“All Micky is worried about at the moment is the women that are being trafficked.” Kellen explained. “It seems as though Lebedev is going to give some of them to the fighters each night as a reward for winning, and I don’t think I need to explain what most of the fighters will expect them to do. Micky is doing her best to protect the younger girls, but it means the older, more experienced women might have to offer themselves as sacrifices to keep the teenagers from being raped.”
“Shit.” Hannah whispered, her stomach churning. “Is there nothing we can do to stop it happening?”
She felt Danny’s arms come around her from behind, and she ran her fingers over his hands.
“I wish there was.” Kellen shook his head. “Even if we abandoned all plans to get the arms and Lebedev’s money, we have no way of getting the women off the ship yet. The Russian sub is supposed to be in place on Sunday night, so we just have to get through the next forty-eight hours, and make sure we win every fight. At least that way we can halve the number of women who’ll be harmed.”
Hannah literally felt sick to her stomach.
“Do what you can, Ok?” She whispered.
“You know we will, Hannah.” Kellen nodded. “Is there anything else we need to know about?”
“The Russians have confirmed that they have a team in Kaliningrad ready to take possession of the weapons, and as promised, the sub will be waiting to intercept the Atlantic Carousel whenever you give the signal.” Hannah explained. “Once they’ve got you far enough away, you’ll transfer to a Royal Navy vessel, and be transported back to the UK.
“The Russians and the British Navy are working together?” Drago asked. “You must have extremely good contacts.”
“It does help that JT’s father-in-law, Joseph, does a lot of consulting in Whitehall.” Hannah conceded. “His little black book is almost as good as mine.”
“Hannah?” Abbey interrupted her. “We’re starting to get some pictures through.”
“Hold up, guys.” Hannah held her hand up to halt the conversation. “We’re getting some pictures, and it looks like Abram and Kris managed to get all four cameras up and running. I’m guessing they placed the cameras before they set up the booster, because they’ve all gone live at once.”
“What are you looking at, Hannah?” Kellen asked.
“Well, it looks like we’ve got the ring from two different angles, another picture looking at some of the chairs, and the last one is set back so it takes in the ring in the background and some of the other chairs, but also has what looks like the exit beyond the ring.” Hannah squinted at the screens. “Does that sound like the right set-up?”
“That was what they were planning when we left them to it after lunch.” Hannah heard Zach confirm. “Hannah, is Sacha there yet?”
“Not yet, Zach.” Hannah stared at the screen, wondering why she couldn’t see Zach in the picture. “She and Vicky were taking the kids out for tea. I think Drew and Tony were picking them up and bringing them back here.”
“Can you let me know when she gets there? I’d like to video chat with them before I go downstairs.” Zach appeared to sit up behind Kellen and she could just make out his face.
“Of course, I will. We’ll try and give you some privacy to have a family chat.” Hannah smiled. “Ok, is there anything else we need to do before tonight? Or is there anything else you guys need from us.”
“A few prayers wouldn’t go amiss.” Kellen grinned. “Beyond that, I think we’re good.”
“Then we’ll sign off for now, but we’ll be available at this end twenty-four/seven, y’hear?” Hannah stared at the screen. “Whatever you guys need.”
“Thanks, Hannah.” Kellen smiled. “We’ll be back on with an update just before we go down for the fight.”
Hannah watched the screen go black before flopping back in her chair, forgetting that Danny was still sitting behind her.
“I didn’t think they sounded too nervous.” She whispered. “What do you think?”
Danny kissed her on the cheek.
“They sounded fine.” He reassured her. “Another hour and the adrenalin will be pumping so fast they’ll be itching to get down to the ring, so they can kick some ass.”
“You’re kidding.” Hannah spluttered. “Why would they want to fight?”
“Honey, this is the sort of shit they were trained to do in the military.” Danny smiled. “You’re sending them in to do a job they know they’re well qualified for. It’s like business as usual.”
“Heaven forbid I ever start to think of men beating each other up as just ‘business as usual’.” Hannah scowled at him.
“If it was up to you, we’d all be wrapped in cotton wool and use water pistols instead of guns.” Danny snorted a laugh.
“If it was up to me, you guys would be permanently wrapped in Kevlar, and your enemies would use water pistols instead of guns.” Hannah grinned at him. “You guys would be armed up to the eyeballs with AK47’s!”
“Honey, you do know that when you talk about guns and Kevlar, you turn me on so badly, don’t you?” Danny winked at her.
Hannah jumped off the seat.
“Is there anything I ever do or say that doesn’t turn you on?” She chuckled.
“Nope.” Danny shrugged. “And that’s just the way I like it!”
Chapter 33 – Sacha
“On a scale of one to ten, where one is calm like a Buddhist monk, and ten is freaking the fuck out… give me a number.”
Sacha sat on the sofa in Hannah’s house, with Drew sitting on the coffee table in front of her, quizzing her on her frame of mind.
“I’m probably at about a six.” She rolled her shoulders as she tried to ease the tension in her neck.
“Well, that’s an improvement on where you were ten minutes ago.” Drew sighed. “But I’d still like you a little bit lower than a six before you speak to Zach. He needs to know that you’re cool and collected, and that you have absolute faith in him.”
Sacha took a couple of deep breaths and rolled her shoulders again.
“Close your eyes, and picture in your mind what I say, Ok?” Drew instructed.
Sacha was mostly trying to humour Drew, because if he thought she was going to miss an opportunity to speak to her husband because her stress levels were too high, then he was out of his freaking mind.
She obediently closed her eyes and relaxed her facial muscles.
“I want you to picture white, fluffy clouds.” Drew instructed.
Sacha tried to keep a straight face as she pictured big marshmallow clouds.
“Now try to picture animals frolicking in the clouds like they were meadows.” Drew instructed.
Sacha nodded her head, imagining the funny creatures.
“Can you see what they’re doing?” Drew asked.
“Mmm.” She murmured.
“Describe it to me.” Drew instructed.
“There are a pair of rainbow coloured unicorns, humping.” She smiled. “They’re really going at it.”
Sacha cracked an eye open.
“Was that the sort of thing you were aiming for?” She smirked.
“What’s your number?” Drew scowled.
“Four?” Sacha chuckled.
“Yeah, I’ll bet!” Drew threw a cushion at her.
“I’m fine, Drew, honestly.” Sacha grabbed his hand. “You forget that Zach and I have been through this sort of separation before. I know how to handle Zach, and I most definitely know what to say to him so that he goes on a mission in the best frame of mind.”
“Drew knows that, Sacha, or you wouldn’t even be here.” Hannah’s voice came from the doorway. “He just likes to give us all these pep talks or ‘calming sessions’ whenever there’s a chance we might freak out.”
“Well, I can assure you that I’m in no danger of freaking out when I speak with Zach.” Sacha crossed her heart, promising them she was telling the truth. “Now, later on when I’m watching the fighting, I can’t promise not to get worked up then.”
“Nobody would expect you to stay calm then.” Hannah nodded. “But as they won’t be able to hear us while the fighting is going on, you can freak out as much as you like.”
“Sacha?” Abbey’s voice came from the next room. “Zach is coming on line for you.”
Sacha hurdled the coffee table, almost leapfrogging Drew in her haste to get to the office where, hopefully, Zach would be on screen for her to see.
She’d just entered the room when Zach’s face appeared on one of the laptop screens.
“I’ll give you some privacy.” Abbey smiled at Sacha, ducking out of the room and closing the door quietly behind her.
“Zach? Can you hear me, baby?” She sat immediately in front of the screen, looking around for an obvious microphone.
“Hey gorgeous.” Zach grinned at her. “I can see and hear you perfectly.”
Sacha blew him a kiss and smiled.
“How has your afternoon been?” She asked. “Hannah said that the cameras are working, ready for tonight.”
“Yeah, everything is in place at our end.” Zach nodded. “We’re just waiting to go downstairs in a little under an hour.”
“Will you definitely be fighting tonight?” She asked, trying to keep her voice light so he didn’t get worried about her.
“As far as we can tell, Lebedev likes to draw lots between the teams to see who fights whom.” Zach shrugged. “Whoever fights tonight won’t fight tomorrow, so it really doesn’t make much difference whether you go first or second. Either way, we have to win every fight.”
“You will.” Sacha nodded confidently. “You have all the skills to go out there and do the job right. I have every confidence in you.”
“Thank you, baby.” Zach blew her a kiss. “That’s all that matters to me.”
“So, tell me…” Sacha grinned as she leaned in closer to the screen. “Does Kellen really have it bad for Micky Koslova? That’s the rumour, and what all the ladies want to know.”
Zach snorted a laugh.
“With everything going on out here, all you want to know about is Kellen? For real?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“Damn straight it is!” Sacha scoffed. “You’ve been busy over there getting everything ready. We, on the other hand, have had little to do except gossip and make up rumours. For some reason, though, I don’t think this one is far off the mark.”
“Ok, well, if I’m honest, I don’t think it’s far off, either.” Zach laughed. “Every time he sees her his eyes light up, and I swear the guy blushes.”
“You mean like you used to do whenever you saw me?” Sacha teased.
“Exactly like that. And what do you mean, ‘used to’?” Zach huffed. “You still have that effect on me now.”
“Like you do to me, sweetheart.” Sacha reached out and touched her fingertips to the screen.
“Anyway, I’m sure you’ll be delighted to know that he’s gone for a short walk to get some fresh air.” Zach winked at her.
/> “Oh?” Sacha grinned. “Alone?”
Zach shrugged.
“Don’t know.” He smiled. “But even if he started out that way, I get the feeling he may have found himself some company by now.”
“Tell me what she’s like.” Sacha urged. “Is she as pretty as her photograph?”
“I wouldn’t know, honey. I didn’t see her photograph.” Zach grinned. “But, yeah, she’s really attractive. Not to be confused with my wife who is stunningly beautiful.”
“Bless you, Zach, but you don’t have to try and make me feel better just because you said the woman is attractive.” Sacha laughed. “I asked for your honest opinion, so you don’t have to be apologetic about giving it to me.”
“I know, but I was trying to put it in perspective.” Zach smiled. “If you’re the only ten I know, which obviously you are, then Micky is maybe an eight?”
“Ok, so we know she’s pretty hot stuff.” Sacha nodded. “But what is she like?”
“She’s smart.” Zach said thoughtfully. “She’s articulate, speaks English fluently, and she has a sense of humour. She’s obviously very caring, and she’s doing everything she can to minimise the harm that could come to the hostages.”
“I don’t know how she manages to stay sane and pretend she’s unaffected by everything she sees every day.” Sacha sighed. “I couldn’t cope with it.”
“No, but you haven’t been through the training she’s been through.” Zach pointed out. “The training regime their agents undertake is extremely tough, especially for the women.”
“Do you think she’d be a good match for Kellen?” Sacha grinned, back in matchmaker mode.
Zach nodded thoughtfully.
“You know, I think they would make a pretty good match.” He nodded. “They’re both tall with almost black hair, so they look very similar. I think Micky has blue eyes, though, and we all know Kellen’s are steel grey.”
“They’d make cute babies.” Sacha smiled.