Dimitri's Moon (13 page)

“I was so scared. I wanted to fight but I had to protect my sisters.”

His hands caressed her back. “You did just fine, baby.” Her slight body trembled. Dimitri glanced at the entry to the kitchen as her father entered, his face drawn tight in anger.

“Ilanderae Rogue Nycks,” he said in a low but forceful tone.

Dimitri allowed Landi to pull away a bit but she did not step out of his hold. “Yes, Papa?”

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“Chandra said that man was there again with a friend. Is that true?”

“Yes, Papa.”

Her father stepped closer and halted. “Are you…are you okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Dimitri was there to intervene.”

Brown eyes flashed toward him. “You were there?”

“I was in the store getting some things before I came here. Luckily, I was in the right place at the right time.” His heart soared as Landi’s arms tightened around him.

“Thank you. My daughters mean the world to me.”

Dimitri understood. “I don’t think they’ll bother your family again,” he announced.

“Why do you say that? Even the cops said they couldn’t do anything without proof.”

His eyes narrowed as he remembered the panic on Landi’s face.

“I had my proof when I saw the fear that filled Landi’s face.” Dimitri kissed the top of her head. “So I talked to them, man to man.” Calvin Nycks was silent for a moment, assessing.

“Come with me, Dimitri. I’d like a word with you.”

Immediately, Dimitri did so. He released Landi and moved toward the tall, thin man who was the father of the woman he loved.

“Yes, sir.”

Landi listened as her mother asked Dimitri questions. She was positive they were similar to the ones her father had asked before dinner. If they were, Dimitri didn’t appear to mind. She sat beside him, her sisters across the table, and her parents at each end.

“What about you, Dimitri? Do you have any siblings?” Her mom asked him.

“I used to, ma’am. I lost my brother in a helicopter crash about a year ago.”

Landi looked at Dimitri and saw the sadness in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Sheba said.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Do you see your parents a lot?”

“As often as I can. Family ties are very important to my family, as I see they are in yours. I don’t see them as often as I’d like since we live on opposite coasts.”

“And church?”

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Landi wanted to sink beneath the floorboards. Her mom had no sense of boundaries.

“Greek Orthodox, ma’am.”

“And you have family in Greece?”

“Yes, ma’am. I visit them often as I can as well.”

“Do you speak a different language?” Chandra piped up.

“Yes I do. I speak a few.” Dimitri placed his golden eyes on her sister and smiled.

Chandra grinned at him and Landi saw the admiration her sister just developed for Dimitri. Not that she blamed her. “I want to learn.”

Chandra pursed her lips. “Spanish, Italian, Russian, Chinese, everything. Greek also.”

“That’s wonderful, Chandra,” Dimitri said. “Are you working on one now?”

She stuck out her lower lip. “No. I don’t know which one to start with.” Chandra took a drink. “What did you learn first?”

Landi snuck a glance back at Dimitri to see if she needed to interrupt. He didn’t seem at all uncomfortable. There was a relaxed smile on his face. So she got up for dessert.

Dimitri’s deep soothing voice followed her. “I grew up speaking both Greek and English. I learned Latin first in school and then Italian.”

“Wow!” Chandra breathed.

Landi fought the urge to ruffle her sister’s hair; instead, she took away the dinner dishes and placed the dessert before her.

“Whichever you feel the strongest about is the one you should start with,” Dimitri told her.

“Thank you,” Chandra said with a huge smile.

“My pleasure,
glikiá adelphí
.” He winked at Chandra. “That means ‘sweet sister’.”

Landi smiled as a blush covered Chandra’s face. As Landi placed a piece of triple-layered chocolate cake before Dimitri, she whispered, “Thank you.”

He winked at her, so quickly she almost believed it was naught but a figment of her imagination. “This looks wonderful,” he praised.

“Thank you, but I can’t take credit for it. Shandra and Chandra made it special for tonight.” Landi served herself last and sat down to eat. As they enjoyed the cake, her mom still plied Dimitri with questions. When they’d had their fill, he answered them all. He surprised Landi by insisting on helping clean up. They were finishing up when her parents walked in. Landi could hear a Disney movie playing in the
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living room. As she wiped down the middle counter station, she caught a glimpse of her sisters on the sofa. Each holding a stuffed animal, they laughed along with the film.

Sheba patted Dimitri on the back. “I commend your mother for raising such a helpful young man.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” His deep voice flowed over Landi and melted away the lingering tension.

Landi looked at her father who poured himself some more coffee and leaned against the counter she’d just cleaned.

“I like him, Landi.”

“Do you really, Papa?”

“Yes. I really do. I like the light he puts in your eyes.” He reached out and touched her arm. “We’ll finish up out here. You take your young man to the sunroom. We’ll be there in a bit.”

Holding his gaze, Landi waited until her father gave her another nod. Placing the towel down, she touched Dimitri’s arm and led him to the sunroom.

“Beautiful home your parents have, Landi.”

She nodded. “Sit in the hammock with me?” She wanted nothing more than to crawl inside his skin and just let him totally surround her.

“Thought you’d never ask.” He walked beside her toward the Hatteras hammock where it sat on a cypress stand.

“Normally, it’s outside; but in winter, they bring it in.” She was babbling and she knew it. Landi climbed on and sighed contentedly when Dimitri snuggled up against her. He slipped his arm under her neck and allowed his fingers to caress her shoulder. Her head rested against him as she looked out the skylight above them. Stars broke through the black velvet sky. Dimitri’s lips brushed her temple, sending electrical impulses through her body. Her eyes drifted shut.

When she woke, Dimitri was gone. She was alone in the sunroom with a pillow and a blanket over her.

Ten

Dimitri ducked as floodlights swept the area. The wet grass soaked through his shirt. Rain fell in torrents around him. Squinting through the downpour, he made out the almost invisible man next to him. Osten, known better as Baby Boy. As one, they moved quickly to the next cover and waited for the next imminent sweep of the floodlights.

Sitting low against the rock, Dimitri adjusted his hold on his weapon. In his ear he heard one click before Harrier’s voice sounded in an almost non-existent whisper. “Next sweep of the lights and we move on the compound.”

Dimitri swiped his hand over his forehead, smearing the black paint there. His body was ready for the go command. The familiar thrum of adrenaline surged through him. He loved the rush. At this round of lights, the men ran toward the crumbling compound. They were silent as they checked the first room.

Shaking his head, Dimitri rid himself of the excess water in his hair. Wiping his hand off on his pant leg, he looked at Harrier and waited for his signal on when to proceed onward.

Weapons ready, the men moved out, quickly, silently, and effi-ciently progressing down the corridor. Dimitri had taken point and he froze at the sound of scuffling feet. Giving the “hold” sign, he immediately put his hand back on the underside of his gun. He identified three different sets of steps. Signaling the number he heard, he pressed his back against the wall briefly before spinning so he faced down the hall. With three quick pulls of his trigger, three bodies collapsed on the floor.

“Nice and quiet. Well done, Merlin,” Harrier said as he moved past and took point. They only paused to capture the image of each man on the camera.

“Not him,” Dimitri whispered as he flipped the third man back over.

Deeper and deeper the team drove into the twists and turns of the old fortress.

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“Holy shit!” Jeb’s southern drawl exclaimed. He was up ahead a few doors. “I think I just found these bastards’ ammo storage. They’ve got a shitload of weapons.”

The men converged on the room. Dimitri shook his head. Where the hell did people get the money to buy such huge amounts of artil-lery?

“Rig it,” Harrier uttered as he opened a crate and lifted out an automatic machine gun.

Without a word, Dimitri got to work setting claymores and bricks of C-4. Swiftly, he rigged each corner and placed more charges through the room, arming them all. “Ready. This shit is gonna blow hard when it goes. We’re gonna want to be on the other side of the compound.”

“Always did like to make a big boom, didn’t ya, Merlin?” Ghost teased.

Dimitri flashed him a grin, knowing full well Ghost could see him courtesy of the dim light inside this musty smelling place. “You know it. Bigger the better. Although in some cases, that’s not so.”

“Just get it done, Merlin.” Harrier’s voice was low and business-like but not tense. “We have to find Al Riyad.”

“Done.” Dimitri stood and picked up his gun after shoving the now empty bag into a side pocket of his pants.

Silence descended as they progressed onward. The powerful smell of lye and lime hit his nose. Dimitri shook his head. There was an open doorway leading into a dark room. He met Baby Boy’s gaze and together they entered. One high and one low, they both using night vision.

Bodies littered the floor. Dimitri had been expecting that. The overwhelming lime smell had prepared him. Still, the sight churned his stomach. All ages of both men and women were in various stages of decomposition, a process the lye had sped up as the lime kept the stench down.

Leaving the room, they continued on their way. As they moved toward a staircase, Dimitri pressed the button on the side of his eyewear and the night vision vanished, allowing the genuine faded amber glow to light his way.

“Three in the room on the left. One looks too small to be an adult,” Mav’s low voice intoned.

Dimitri hesitated by the door. They preferred not to eliminate children, so he waited for Harrier’s decision on how they’d proceed.

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“Position of the smallest?” Harrier questioned.

Waiting for the response, Dimitri admired how unruffled Harrier remained. Only his wife Lex, or something concerning her, could his team leader riled. Otherwise, he always maintained a cool head.

“Ten o’clock,” Maverick’s whisper came.

“Small one is yours, Merlin. We secure everyone. Quietly.”

Maverick continued to fill them in. “The other two are at twelve and two.”

“On my mark,” Harrier said and Dimitri knew whoever was on the other two had been identified with eye contact or hand signals.

Dimitri waited, his hand curling around the handle of his Gerber Mark II. At Harrier’s command they burst into the room and immobi-lized everyone in there in seconds. He looked down at the boy in his arms. The child’s eyes were wide with fear as they stared up at him. The boy’s face was nearly buried beneath his large hand. Dimitri saw Hondo and Jeb holding two badly beaten women.

“Tie ’em up,” Harrier muttered. “It’s not my goddamn job to kill women and children who are already getting the shit kicked out of them.”

“
Mmm mmmph
,” the child muttered into his glove.

“Quiet,” Dimitri hissed. The boy did it again. “Kid’s trying to talk.”

Hondo quietly rendered the woman in his arms unconscious and laid her on the ground for Baby Boy to tie up.

Hondo walked toward him and Dimitri heard and felt the boy’s deep trembling breath. Dimitri had to admit, Hondo approaching did tend to strike fear into a person. Stopping before them, he said something to the boy. Dimitri felt him nod.

“Take your hand away, Merlin. I told him if he screamed you’d slice his throat.”

Dimitri did and stood ready to do just that if necessary. Hondo was the only one who spoke any Farsi; they were lucky the child at least understood it. The room was tense as Hondo spoke to the boy.

Hondo met Dimitri’s gaze and said lowly, yet audible to everyone, “He says they are slaves of Al Riyad. They stay here in this room until he sends for them. He says he can take us to the room where Al Riyad receives them.”

Dimitri looked down at met the boy’s big, brown gaze. “Do you trust him?” he asked Hondo.

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“Nope, not totally. But it doesn’t look like Al Riyad treats them well. If this boy can give us a direct route, I say we take it. We should just expect a trap.”

Harrier spat on the ground and nodded. “Tell him we’ll take him with us. He can show us the way, but he has to be tied and gagged.

He can gesture the way.” As Hondo translated, Harrier looked at Dimitri. “Kid’s yours, Hondo. Merlin, tie him up.”

He nodded and sheathed his knife, tying and gagging the boy before handing him off to Hondo. Then, he secured his MP5 subma-chine gun. Dimitri nodded to his teammates and headed for the door, waiting for the rest of them to regroup.

Dimitri was shoulder to shoulder with Baby Boy as they moved through the corridors, Hondo’s voice telling them which way to go.

“Wait.” Hondo’s voice came to him. “Around this corner. First door on the right, his bedroom.”

“Stay with the kid, Hondo. Make sure he stays quiet…and safe,”

Harrier commanded.

“Roger that.”

Dimitri shifted and balanced himself. His hands curled familiarly around the MP5.

“Two jeeps entering the compound,” Maverick announced.

“Whores.”

Maverick was holed up in a high-vantage spot with infrared and his sniper rifle, keeping an eye on their surroundings. Cade also sat in a high position, covering their exit point with an M-60.