Aftermath (14 page)

Nico arranged everything, from their point of entry, right down to the time allotted to get the job done. They hadn’t used any of their private aircraf
ts, which was smart. They were taking a risk for Giuseppe’s personal vendetta, hitting the Russian on his turf was certain to cause problems with their Baltic allies if any of them were
fingered
or worse, caught
by Russian police
.
This was strictly a personal payback, but there could be no more.

Nico had the last word. He needed to reiterate,
“We’re in mourning. Home in our beds as far as
the authorities are
concerned. Keep the fucking hats on and
those
gloves
, too –and whatever you do, don’t fuck this up, Geo!
No fingerprints,
nothing stupid.”  Then he removed
a case of
co
ntact
lenses
from a backpack
and passed each a pair of
brown ones
, “Put them
in and k
eep
them in until we get home, then flush them, c
apisce?”

That was an hour ago. They were now in
a nondescript van being driven by Nico’s contact along Michael’s Square. Alfonzo listened to the two cousins’ usual banter. Giuseppe
shared his dislike of Russia and Nico sounding more like his father responded, “Because you do not like the man, do not disparage his country. Russia is a beautiful place, but like every country it has its shameful secrets. Poverty
and greed
.”

“It is ugly and
ostentatious.”
Giuseppe snort
, “And those ugly gold onion domes sitting atop buildings
are
horrendous.”

“An Italian architect Bertolomeo Rastrelli designed that
ugly
palace.”

Giuseppe went silent.

“Visit during June eleventh and July second
and experience
the White Nights. It’s
cool
.” Alfonzo int
erjected, thinking of
a b
usiness
trip
where he got to enjoy the sights with a local client and was fascinated that during this time of year
there
was perpetual daylight
. The inability to differentiate night from day due to its latitudinal location was truly a sight to behold. H
e’d heard
about this natural phenomenon and
being present during the occurrence was awesome. He planned to bring his family one day.

“No grazie.” Geo waved at his cousin, “Dinners and women; women are dinner, they’re the only foods I need to live.”

Alfonzo snickered, “
Po
etry from the mouth of an un
romantic
jackass
.”

The van rolled to a halt in front of a stretch of multi-story townhouses on Mikhailoskaya Street
.
The driver
pointed to
a
number above
one of
the
d
oor
s
,
“That’s the place,
number ten.
It’s
unlocked
and
Fedrik is sleeping on the third floor, second door to the right.” He said in
passable
English.

Nico pat the driver’s shoulder, “Thanks. Disappear for
thirty
minutes then come back, understand?”

The driver nodded, “There are guards on each floor, but they will remain sleeping.” He winked, “Very strong
sleeping pills. The cameras are disabled, it is ready.”

Nico nodded, “
Half an hour, n
o later.” Then he exited the van followed by his cousins.
Cloaked i
n shadow they hurried to townhouse ten to the
entrance
.

Alfonzo reached inside his jacket for the weapon concealed there and went to the side as Nico w
ent in
without incident. He followed and Giuseppe took up the rear. Nico of course knew the lay-out, it was his job to know these things and he led the way up the stairs of the finely decorated home as if he lived there.

Alfonzo scanned every corner of the corridor for anything lying in wait, but it’s as the driver said. The occupants appeared to be asleep, in a very deep sleep, judging by the eerie quiet.

“Second door to the right
,
” Giuseppe reminded Nico when they reached the third landing and h
is cousin
hesitated
.

Nico’s foot paused.
He heard s
omething
. Someone entered the house. They stood very still and listened as voices filled the lower level.

Workers
making
a shift change. They
didn’t
have much time. The countdown was on. Nico peered in the corridor and found it empty then marched to the designated door. It opened with a slight twist of his wrist and he glanced inside. On a bed with a woman lie Fedrik,
without a care in the world. The stench of sex and
booze also emanated from the musty room and Nico wondered if the man used antiperspirant because
the funk was disgusting.
He nodded to
Giuseppe to go in
, w
aited for Alfonzo to do the same, cast one last look up the hall then
quietly l
ocked the door.

The men below would not wake their boss. It’s usually how they operated. When it was time to leave then they’d deal with the lot.

Giuseppe walked to the bed, tapped the man awake and when Fedrik came alive, Giuseppe
’s
fist
is what he met.
The woman stirred, did a little moan then continued to slumber.
Alfonzo couldn’t stifle
the
chuckle.
Women!

“Miss me?” Giuseppe asked as the man struggled to sit up holding his jaw.

Fedrik spit and another chuckle sounded, but this time it came from Nico who stood near the door, hands in his pockets and shaking his head. “Bad move.”

A loud cracking noise
came
from Fedrik’s face when Giuseppe socked him
repeatedly
and this is when the woman
a
w
a
ke
ned
.
Alfonzo seized her from behind, and cupped his hand over her mouth. “Ssssssshhhh.” He said to her ear
.

Nico’s eyes already adjusted to the dim lighting and assessed the entire bedroom. Fedrik was a user. The speckles of the white substance dotting the dresser, not to mention the bongs, and multi-colored pills keeping company lie atop
the shiny surface of the night stand.
And if
Fedrik was a
user, the extremely pale woman Alfonzo
kept silent
was as well.

Apparently,
Fedrik liked
drug dependent
women
with
emaciated
bodies and
medicated minds. The woman l
ooked sickly
, attractive only to a
blind
man. Her hips
were extremely
narrow, bones jutted from her ribcage and
her
breasts hung limply just like his flaccid
dick
. He smirked, Ari was curvaceous and womanly,
sof
t and perfect in his eyes.

Shit
!

His body
instantly
reacted
to the carnal image and he cursed himself,
then suddenly
Selange’s face appeared and he slammed
shut the door in his brain
. H
e loved Ari, she was without question the love he sought,
and Selange
was forbidden fruit, tempting and destructive to
his
flesh.
She’d caused him to lose reason
with those innocent eyes
and
seductress’
body
. Ari’s refusal to trust him was his own
doing;
he was the most selfish of men.
No, he would never
journey that course with Selange ever again. The woman
is
where she belonged
.
Alfonzo is the
guy
equipped to handle her
scorching
love
flames
. Nico had flown too close to her sun and like Icarus, nearly perished.

It’s his ex he wanted back
,
but apparently he screwed-up royally and there wasn’t any chance of
a reconciliation it
seemed.

D
ammit Nico,
cut the shit
. Get back to
business
and stop thinking about damn women
!

Nico walked over
to assist
Alfonzo and
the
movement
distract
ed his mind
from
the sudden arousal.
He removed
duct tape from
his
pocke
t, u
nrolled a few inches, ripped it with his teeth and cover
ed
the frightened woman’s
lips. She stared up at him,
and the bloodshot
doe
eyes were grossly dilated. He recognized a junkie and his eyes narrowed into mean slits, causing her pale skin to flush pink and she
quickly turn
ed
away
.

Alfonzo held her immobile as
Nico
bound the skinny wrists
tightly
together
and
then the
ankles. Nico stood, “There’s a closet right over there. Lock her in.”

Alfonzo nodded and Nico returned
to take up post near the door as
the
whacking noises continued.
He watched and listened, ensuring the job got done properly. Had he come alone, the
entire job would have taken lesser time and he’d
be on his way to the airport. But, Giuseppe wanted the hands-on approach and that’s exactly what was occurring as he beat Fedrik
with such viciousness he squint because it was obvious Fedrik was already
dea
d.

Alfonzo
spot
the
door
Nico mentioned and
carried the woman
there and placed her down on the floor.
He put a finger to
his
mouth
the woman found extremely sensual. He was striking for a man and the uniform he wore could not hide his physical
conditioning. It
’s
his posture and the muscles protruding from his neck and hands
which were signs he worked-out
daily.
His whispered words,
“
Stay quiet and you w
on’t
get hurt
,” she believed but she did not trust his friends.

She whimpered, staring at him with trusting eyes
, praying he would not let them harm her
.

She quieted.

It never cross
ed Alfonzo’s
mind to
lay a hand on
the woman. She wasn’t the
ir
target. As far as he was concerned,
she’d give an inaccurate description to
the authorities
.
Besides,
s
he
was strung-out, probably as a result of Fedrik who supplied his prostitutes with drugs
as a means of control. There were Fedrik’s in every city. Giuseppe’s refusal to do business with the likes of him reflected the true depth of his cousin’s soul. They were alike in this respect. Prostitution rings and human smuggling weren’t businesses either cared to partake in
. A
woman’s body wasn’t a commodity to exploit
, especially when there were other opportunities for a savvy man to make money.

Nico’s ears twitched at voices
speaking in
a
harsh Russian dialect beyond the locked door. Nico interpreted the conversation. The men
questioned
why no
body was on
guard downstairs and slept instead
. They were
concerned for their drug-dealing pimp of a boss’ safety
.

Nico glanced
at
Alfonzo
approaching with his weapon drawn
, just as a knock sounded at the door.