Switched (12 page)

     "Yeah. He refused
to allow us to use her as bait unless he was involved somehow. The only reason
we're allowing it is because he's an ex-Marine. Special ops. A real bad-ass
evidently," Brocco explained. “According to his military records anyway.
And don’t worry about Alexi. He’s out of town.”    

     "Couldn't you guys
have used an agent in place of Laura?" he asked hopefully. “She’s an old
friend, you know? I saw how Victor was toward her…”

     "We considered it,
but as I explained earlier, if we want to lure Victor out, we need the real
Laura Stanton. You said yourself your guys have seen a picture of her courtesy the
PI, Ted Agares." Brocco shrugged and turned toward his partner. "Now
Lou is going to shoot you, right side of the chest so make sure your chest is
open for a shot. It will bruise."

     Richard looked at Agent
Salazar warily, then back at Brocco. "I thought you said it wouldn't
hurt?"

     "You're a big guy,
you can take it. It only hurts a little, and Lou’s a good shot."

     "What if he
misses?"

     Agent Salazar laughed.
"I won't."

     Brocco chuckled and
shook his head. "You just do what you need to do. Call Victor and tell him
he's not going to like it, but Laura is Alexi's bitch now."

     "And if he asks
about the PI? Alexi would have never sent a PI..." It was a nitpick, but
one that Victor was sure to spot.

     "Tell him you
think the PI might have been working for the Feds to nab Alexi."    

     "You have an
answer for everything." Richard shook his head. The more real it all
became, the more nervous he felt. The muscle under his left eye twitched.

     "You should get
going. Your entourage will be missing you soon." Brocco tossed him a
carton of Winston's. "Don't forget the smokes you went out for and your
phone."

     Catching the carton, he
set it on the counter and finished putting his shirt on over the vest. Then
pulled his jacket on over that, checking to make sure no one could tell he was
wearing the vest in the mirror on the wall next to him before he went. He had
his own room at the hotel so the other guys wouldn't see him take it off or put
it back on tomorrow. When he was sure he was covered, he grabbed the carton,
took his phone from the female agent who held it out to him, and headed toward
the door.    

     "Don't flake out
on me Rich," Brocco called after him.

     Richard shook his head
and left the back of the storefront by the side door and found himself back in
the ally among the dumpsters and drizzling rain. It had been twilight when he
got there and now it was dark.  Clutching the carton of cigarettes to him, he
walked back down the street back toward the hotel. He paused to look at his
phone which had been programmed to show calls and texts to a contact simply
known as Joe in MA. Obviously Joe was Brocco, Richard recognized the number. He
browsed the text messages quickly to make sure he had the story straight.

     Frank and Jason, his
two henchmen, were both standing outside smoking when he reached the front of
the hotel. You couldn't smoke anywhere anymore.

     "Christ man,"
Frank said. He was the shorter of the two and wore his dark hair slicked back
with far too much gel. The reality was that Frank looked like he worked for the
Italian mafia, not the Russians. He wore a black jacket, a black t-shirt, a
pair of jeans and pair of black boots. "Where'd you go to get the smokes?
Fuckin' other side of town?"

     "Corner
store," Richard said, motioning behind him, then added in a cautious tone,
"I was so long because I stopped to take a call. I think we have a
problem."

     Both men looked at him,
waiting.

     "Alexi
Amelin," he said matter-of-fact. Crossing his arms over his chest he was
painfully aware of the bullet proof vest under his black button down shirt and
black coat. He hoped it didn’t show.

     His statement was met
with a blank stare from Frank and a disgusted look from Jason.

     "Who the fuck is
that?" Frank finally asked.

     "Only one of
Kolknov's arch enemies if there is such a thing. Good thing they're on opposite
sides of the country or they'd have killed each other by now," Jason said,
shaking his head.   Jason dressed like Richard in black dress pants, black
button down shirts, and black boots. Though his shoulder length blond hair was
unruly alongside Richard’s crew cut.

     Richard nodded. If
either of these guys was destined to give him any problems it would be Jason.
Jason was the only one who knew almost as much about Kolknov as Richard did,
though Richard still had seniority.  He’d have to be careful if he wanted to
keep them from knowing he was working with the feds to bring Victor down.

     Sure enough, Jason had
questions and still appeared to be disgusted at their lack of information after
ransacking Agares’ office late that afternoon. When they got there it was
suspiciously empty and the one club they’d visited after that offered no clues
either. “How do you know?”

     “When I was waiting in
line to get the smokes I got a call from a guy I know who’s into the scene out
here. He told me he knew Laura, but she hasn’t been at any of the clubs in a
couple of years. Evidently her new boyfriend is Alexi Amelin and he doesn’t do
the club scene. Not his thing.”

     “Jesus Christ,” Jason
whispered.  Then added loud enough for a passerby to hear, “Victor wants us to
take the bitch from Alexi Amelin? This just got fucked up.”

     Richard stopped himself
from laughing. No, kidnapping wasn’t
fucked up
in Jason’s world, but
putting himself in the line of fire of Alexi’s gun-toting posse was where this
guy drew the line.  Richard bit his tongue and instead said, “I’ll call Victor
once I get to my room and see how he wants us to proceed.” 

     Jason nodded and lit
another one.

     Richard gave them a
tight grin, lit his own cigarette and smoked it there on the sidewalk with
them. When they were done, they each slipped back into the hotel and went to
their separate rooms.

     When Richard was sure
his door was locked and everything was quiet, he took a deep breath and dialed
Victor’s number.

     Victor answered quickly
enough. “Richard, you have found Laura?”

     “I did, but you’re not
going to like what I found out.”

     “Well, you tell me and
I’ll tell you if I like it or not,” Victor said.

     To Richard, his own
voice sounded a bit nervous and shaky. “Laura Stanton is with Alexi Amelin. I
found out where Laura will be in the morning and we’re thinking we can snatch
her after her appointment.”

     The other end of the
line went dead silent.

     “Victor? You still
there?” Richard asked, his stomach twisting.

     “This makes no sense.
Why would Alexi send a private investigator?”  Victor sounded suspicious.

     In his minds-eye,
Richard imagined Victor’s eyebrow arching like it did when he thought something
was fishy. “I asked the same question. We think it might have been the feds
looking into Alexi.”

     He swallowed hard and
closed his eyes, waiting for Victor’s reaction.

     “Hmm. You get Laura and
bring her back, I’ll deal with Alexi. He took what’s mine. He probably told her
to take my money, too. That’s why she left me. It makes sense now. He must have
promised her great things.” Victor sounded resolute and sure of himself.

     Richard almost breathed
a sigh of relief, but caught himself. The lie was falling into place. Now
Victor would think all those years ago that Laura had been coerced by Alexi and
it was Alexi’s plan to take her all along. He wasn’t going to correct Victor.
No, instead he agreed with him. “Probably.”

     “You deal with it and
call me when you have her,” Victor said. Then there was a click and the phone
went dead.

     Richard set his phone
on the dresser, and then left his room to find Jason. Jason’s room was just
down the hallway and to the right. He knocked and immediately Jason opened the
door and let him in. The first thing Richard noticed was the
Glock
sitting on the bed.

     “You should put that
away or keep it on you when you answer the door,” he scolded.

     Jason looked back at
the gun on the bed and shrugged. “I looked out the peephole, saw it was you.
What’s up?”

     “I found Laura Stanton
and I have it on good authority she has an optometrist appointment at the North
Glade shopping complex tomorrow morning at eleven. We can grab her then. I
called Victor, told him about Alexi, and he told me to do it. Grab her. She
drives a new, black, Ford Explorer. Optometrist’s office is called North Glade
Optometry. We find her car, we find her. We should get there early to stake out
the office and surrounding area.” He didn’t pause for even a second. The more
in control he sounded, the more likely it was Jason wouldn’t challenge him.
Jason was the type who waited for someone to falter before pouncing. He didn’t
argue with authority though.

     Jason nodded. “Okay,
sounds good. I’ll call Frank and let him know if you want.”

     “Yeah, go for it. I’ll
see you guys downstairs at eight for breakfast at the place across the street?”
He noticed Jason’s power play of wanting someone under him. Frank filled that
role well, but mostly, Richard didn’t care. As far as Jason would know,
tomorrow morning Richard was going to be shot and allegedly killed and he
didn’t care what Jason and Frank did after that. He’d go into witness
protection and that would be the end of it.

     “Yep,” Jason agreed.
“Goodnight, man.”

     With a brief nod,
Richard left and made his way back to his own room. When he was inside and the
door again locked, he went back to his phone, picked it up and texted Brocco.
I
have the green light. It’s a go.

***

     Kali leaned back into Brad and
stared at the dark wall adjacent the bed, wanting to merge with him, or in the
very least, hide behind him. Letting out the fiftieth forlorn sigh for the
night she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She closed her eyes.

     Brad pulled her close to him and
held her tight.

     “I’m really scared,” she finally
whispered, surprised she was able to utter the words aloud.

     He kissed her cheek. “I know, but I
am not going to let anything happen to you.”

     So many emotions went through her
at once, but it was relief that caused her to start tearing up. She hadn’t
realized just how important it was that he accepted her, past and all. It was
something she never imagined she could get past, or see a potential life
partner getting past either. Still, she had to know for sure. Had to know he
understood just how awful her past was. “Even though I was a crime boss’s sex slave?”

     “Yes.”

     “He abused me, and he let his
friends abuse me, too. My scars are what’s left of the brand and tattoo Victor
put on me. I had them removed. If he ever found out that’s what I used most of
the money I stole from him for… but he owed me that,” she said defensively.

     Brad held her fast, but was silent.

     “Brad?” She turned to look at him,
only to find him staring at the wall, his jaw set. She was pretty sure he was
grinding his teeth. “Brad?”

     Just like that he snapped out of it
and his expression softened. “Sorry, I was thinking about what I’d do with that
son-of-a-bitch if I ever got my hands on him. No guns, no bombs, just me and
him, man to man. I’d kick his ass.”

     She’d seen Brad pull the
strong-silent bit before. It was intimidating. But a pissed off Brad was a
different story altogether. There was something foreign in his eyes she’d never
seen before. Something animalistic and dangerous. Not in a sadistic Victor way,
but just as calculating and cold. Yet when his eyes fell on her they always
softened.

     Brad’s finger traced the scar on
her left shoulder. “I always thought your scar was from a removed tattoo.”

     “Victor used to keep my shoes
locked up so I couldn’t run away. He would lock the house slaves up in cages at
night, or put them in coffin boxes if they disobeyed him or made him angry.”
Her own voice sounded distant and hollow, even to her. “I only had to endure
that once and it’s the reason I’m so claustrophobic.”

     “Kal, I promise I’m not going to
let him get near you ever again.”

     “Don’t make promises you can’t
keep,” she said. With a deep breath she relaxed into his arms and resigned
herself to her fate. It was true. She didn’t trust the FBI agents to save her
any more than she expected Brad to be able to keep her from harm. Not against
Victor. Victor was sinister - evil even.

     He kissed her shoulder, then the
side of her neck, and then her cheek again. She closed her eyes and relished in
how good it felt, in that moment, to be Brad’s. That familiar tingle ran
between her thighs as his hand slid forward over her belly and slowly upward
until he found her breasts. His lips found hers and he kissed her deeply, his
tongue entwined with hers. And she kissed him back with as much force because
in that moment, Victor didn’t exist and she and Brad were the only two people
in the world. Her body was hers now, not Victor’s, and tonight
she chose
to give herself to Brad - completely.