KILTED DESIRE 2 - Russian Roulette (15 page)

His limbs collapsed beneath him. His body on top of hers,
his lips kissed hers, his hands stroked her hair. He rolled to her side, with
his arms tightly wrapped around her.

“That was amazing. I’m sorry it did nae last very long, I’m
kind of oot of practice.”

“Are you kidding? I don’t think I have ever made love that
long. Wow, that was great,” she replied, as she lay stroking his face.

“Damn, do yer have tae go haem tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I sure wish you were coming with me though.”

“Maybe, I can
come
tae visit yer
soon.”

“I hope you do! You’d be very welcome.”

“I think yer great. I just wish yer did nae live so fer away.
I dinnae have a private jet,” he said, smiling at her.

“We’ll work something out, don’t worry. I’m not letting you
slip away, Scott.”

“I think yer pretty amazing, too.”

They lay in each other’s arms, and talked for over an hour,
until Tiffany fell asleep. It had been a long day for her. Scott held her
tight, and it wasn’t long before he was fast asleep too.

The following day went by quickly. They decided not to go
out. In fact, they stayed in bed until lunchtime. Soon after lunch, they were snuggled
back in bed again until it was time for Tiffany to start her journey home. They
reluctantly made their way to the airport. There was a sense of sadness between
them, but also a sense of excitement for their new found relationship. They
both deserved some happiness on the romance front, and they both had a good
feeling about how things were going to pan out. They arrived at the airport and
soon Tiffany’s plane was ready to go. It was time to say ‘goodbye’. Scott
pulled her close to him and kissed her.

“Thank yer so much fer coming. I had a great time and I’m
going tae miss yer.”

“I’m going to miss you too. We’ll work something out, we
have to. We’ll see each other again very soon, I just know it.”

“I hope yer reet! Take care, have a safe flight.”

“Bye Scott.”

She kissed him one last time.

Neither of them wanted to stop, but knew they must. As she
walked away, Scott was sad, but still smiled. He was confident that this was
just the start of something special.

It was now August. Scott and Tiffany continued to talk and
text every day, but as of yet they had not gotten together again. They both really
wanted to see each other, but logistically, it was not yet possible. It was
Wednesday evening, and Scott had just finished teaching his last class of the
night. As he approached his locker to retrieve his belongings he could hear his
phone beeping. He looked at it; he fully expected to have received a text from
Tiffany. Instead, there was a voice message. As well, there were several missed
calls from Jim and Linda Robinson. Scott retrieved and listened to the message
from Tiffany. She asked him to call her as-soon-as he could, but not to worry.
So he sat down in the locker room and dialed her number.

“Hey Tiffany, I got yer message. What’s up?”

“Hi Scott, there’s nothing wrong, so don’t worry. It’s just
that Mom had been calling me all throughout the day. She was worried because
Kyle hasn’t called her for two days. She said she tried to call you a few times
too.”

“Aye, she did. I just noticed a few missed calls from her.”

“It’s fine now. I just got off the phone with her. Apparently,
Kyle just called, so she’s stopped panicking for now.”

“That’s guid. So is everything going okay fer him over
there?”

“Yes, it seems to be going fine. He has called home most
days. Mom made him promise that he would. But, he forgot to call yesterday and
well, you know the rest.”

“Och well, these things happen. When is he due haem?”

“He’s been gone almost a week. Let’s see, I think that Mom
said he gets back this Saturday afternoon, to LAX.”

“That’s cool. So yer parents will be able tae stop worrying
after Saturday?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Although I’m sure they’ll find something
else to worry about.”

“Och, it’s only because they care.”

“I know. So, what are you doing right now?”

“I just finished up at work and I’m getting ready tae drive
haem.
How aboot yer?”

“I’m sitting on my deck, looking at the ocean, and drinking
a margarita. And I am just about to read a book.”

“Sounds guid.
Well, I’ll let yer read
yer book. I’m going tae head haem now but I’ll give yer a call a wee bit
later.”

“Okay Scott, drive safe.”

“Bye.”

Scott gathered his things together and headed towards the
parking lot. As he was driving home he thought about Kyle and his Russian trip.
If it hadn’t been for this guy’s foreign excursion, he would have never met
Tiffany. Scott was glad that the trip seemed to be going well. He knew it was
nothing really to do with him, but he still felt a little responsible.
Especially now that it was his new girlfriend’s parent’s that he personally
advised about the trip. Like Jim and Linda, he too would be relieved when Kyle
got home.

Two days later, on a Friday afternoon, Scott stood in his
kitchen and pondered what to make for dinner when he received a call from
Officer Maloney. The Officer told him that Keith Green had agreed to a plea bargain
deal and pleaded guilty to the Aggravated Vehicular Assault charge. The police
had two of the three men who were in the vehicle with him that night, who
agreed to testify against him. In return, the assault charges against them
would be dropped.

Green’s attorney had realized he didn’t stand a chance in a
trial and he advised his client to take the deal. That was, all other charges
against him would be dropped if he pleaded guilty to the most serious offence.
So, because of this and his previous record, the bully would be spending the
next ten years behind bars. He was happy with the outcome and thanked the
Officer for the call. Scott smiled and continued to search through his freezer.

The following morning Scott got all of his household chores
done. After lunch, he mowed the grass and tidied up his yard. When he finished,
he sat down on his couch with a beer and turned on the TV. He never called
Tiffany on a Saturday when she was at her store, since it was her busiest day.
So, he planned to call her later that night. As always though, he sent her a
quick text to say he missed her.

Later that afternoon, about 5:00 p.m., Scott received a
phone call. He didn’t recognize the number.

“Scott, this is Jim Robinson. We’ve got a problem. I’m at
the airport with Linda and Kyle wasn’t on the plane. We haven’t heard from him
since Thursday. We’ve tried his cell phone and Tom’s. We can’t contact either
of them. Do you have any ideas?”

“Okay Jim, have yer spoken tae the airline tae see if he was
on the flight? Maybe yer just missed him somewhere in the airport. Or maybe his
missed his connecting flight.”

“It is pretty busy here. But, I don’t think we could have missed
him. And, he had plenty of time in between flights. We checked the status of his
flights online before we left home. Everything was on time.”

“Okay, check with the airline tae find oot if he was on the
plane. I’ll try tae contact Tom. I have a couple of numbers fer him. Is this
yer cell phone that yer calling me on Jim?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Jim, see what yer can find oot from the airline. And I’ll
call yer back in a few minutes.”

“Thanks Scott, bye.”

Scott tried to call Tom, but he had no luck. The first
number was just ringing out and the other one went straight to voicemail. Scott
left a message. He asked Tom to call him urgently. There wasn’t much else he
could do. A few seconds later, his phone rang. He grabbed it hoping it would be
Tom. It was Jim again.

“Scott, he wasn’t on the plane. He wasn’t on the plane that
left Russia either.”

“Okay, is it nae possible that he may have stayed fer a few
extra days?”

“It’s possible, but I doubt it,” Jim replied, sounding very
worried.

“What about his friend? Was he due to fly back to L.A. on
the same flight, as well?”

“Yes he was.”

“Jim, try the airline again. Find oot if Alexei was on the
flight. Do yer know if Tom was due tae fly back on the same planes?”

“No, Tom wasn’t flying back with the boys. He told us as
soon as he watched them on the plane out of Russia, he would be finished. He
had somewhere else to go.”

“Okay that’s fine. Yer need tae find oot aboot Kyle’s friend
though. Ask if he was on the plane.”

“I can’t even remember the kid’s name. Andrei something,
wasn’t it?”

“Alexei Pavlyuchenko,” Scott replied. He could tell Jim was
getting upset.

“Yes that’s it. Okay Scott, I’ll try that now.”

A few minutes later Scott’s phone rang again. Just like the
previous time, Scott grabbed it quickly, hoping it was Tom, but it wasn’t.

“Scott, Alexei was on both of the planes!”

“So he was on the plane and yer did nae see him there at the
airport.”

“No, we didn’t. But we weren’t really looking for him and it
is very busy.”

“Jim, we need tae contact Alexei tae find oot what’s
happening. Do yer have a phone number fer him?”

“I think we
do,
somewhere. I’ll ask
Linda.”

The cell phone connection went dead. Scott wasn’t sure if
they’d been cut off or if Jim had hung up to talk to his wife.

He waited for a moment before he tried to call Jim back.
Then, his phone rang again.

“Scott, I know we have his number, and his address. But, Linda
doesn’t have it with her and thinks
it’s
back at the
house.”

“Jim, I know
it’s
nae easy, but try
and calm doon. There’s nae point in yer being at the airport anyway, if Kyle’s
nae there. So, go haem and get Alexei’s information. Do yer have a driver with
yer or did yer drive
yerself
?”

“We drove ourselves, we brought Linda’s car.”

“Just be careful on yer way back then. And try tae remember,
there could be an innocent explanation fer this.”

“Okay Scott. We’re leaving now. I am going to drive, Linda is
a mess.”

“We’ll get tae the bottom of this, Jim. I’ll talk tae yer
later.”

As soon as Scott got off the phone with Jim, he immediately called
Tiffany.

“Hi Scott,” she answered cheerfully.

“Hey Tiff. I’m sorry tae bother yer at work. Have yer heard from
yer Mom recently?”

“She tried to call earlier, but I was busy. I haven’t called
her back yet. Why?” she said, sounding concerned.

“Kyle was nae on the plane home. Yer Mom and Dad
are
a wee bit upset. Can yer get up tae see them?”

“What happened? Why wasn’t he on the plane?”

“We dinnae know yet. We
cannae
get
hold of Kyle or Tom. Apparently, his friend, Alexei, was on the flight back. So
yer Mom and Dad are going haem tae try and find his contact details.”

“Okay, I’ll call them right now. Thanks Scott.”

“They were just leaving the airport a few minutes ago. So, they
should be pretty close tae yer.”

“Alright, I’ll call them now.”

“I’m going tae keep trying tae reach Tom and I’ll talk tae
yer later. Drive carefully.”

“Bye Scott.”

Scott knew Tiffany was upset too. But, she seemed to be
holding herself together quite well. He was anxious to speak to Tom; or Alexei;
to find out what was going on.

After a few hours, as Scott sat feeling helpless on his
couch, his phone rang again, it was Tiffany.

“Hi Tiff, any news?”

“No, we haven’t heard anything yet. I’m with Mom and Dad at
their house. They’re both really upset. Did you hear anything from Tom, yet?”

“Nae, I’ve left messages fer him. But, I’ve nae heard
anything at all. Have yer Mom and Dad found oot Alexei’s details?”

“Yes, they tried to call him but he’s not answering, Mom
left a message. We have his address too. He lives on campus at USC. Dad wants
to drive down there now! But, I told him it is not a good idea. He is very
angry and is blaming Alexei. I keep telling him, we don’t know what happened
yet, but he won’t listen to me.”

“Aye, I agree with yer. It’s nae a guid idea tae go
doon
there. Just give it a wee bit of time tae see if he
returns yer calls. Remember, he’s just been on a very long flight, it’s quite
possible he could just be sleeping.”

“Yes, I know. I keep trying to tell my Dad that too.”

“I
cannae
just sit here and wait.
I’m nae guid at that. I’ve been looking at flights, and I can get one early in
the morning. It gets in tae LAX at just after eight. Tell yer Dad I’m coming.
And, if Alexei has nae been in touch when I get there, then I’ll go oot and find
him.”

“That’s great Scott thanks. I really think that will help.
Plus, I need a hug too.”

“Aye, I know yer do, Tiff. I’ll be there in the morning.
Hopefully, by the time I get there, we will have heard something from Kyle.”

“Yeah I hope so. You better go and get some sleep. You have
to be up early.”

“Aye, I’ll try but I dinnae think I will be able tae. If Tom
calls me back, I’ll call yer whatever time it is.”

“
Okay,
and we’ll call you if we
hear anything at all.”

“Thanks, I’ll be there in the morning.”

“Bye Scott, oh and I’ll make sure there’s a driver at the
airport to meet you.”

“Aye, I forgot aboot that. Thanks, bye.”

“Bye.”

Scott booked the flight straight away. He threw some things
in his backpack, and took a quick shower. He tried to sleep but he couldn’t. He
received no phone calls from anyone during the night. Early, Sunday morning, he
set off for the airport. He had looked forward to his next visit to California,
and to his next meeting with Tiffany. But these were not the circumstances in
which he wanted to be making the journey.