Russian Law (Law Series ) (Volume 1) (14 page)

She
gave him a smile that was all teeth while one of the men bagged his selections
like he was at a supermarket. He almost expected to be asked paper or plastic?

What
no receipt?

He
took the bag from the Mr. T look alike with one hand and with the other grabbed
hold of Elena and led her away.

Lucas
only had to wait two minutes before she spoke, “I can’t believe you just made a
deal with the Bratva.”

He
couldn’t tell from the tone of her voice if she was scolding him or admiring
him. Lucas assumed it was the former.

Chapter 14

Yuri
Volstov listened
as his challenger spouted off his political views. How the man had gotten
elected was beyond him. He was nothing but a conformist. Falling in with the
crowd like the sheep he was, following others ideals. Their country was a great
one and the man was allowing the United States to walk all over him and set the
rules that they should live by because they think they know better. He was
extremely disappointed at how much of a coward the President was, but he wasn’t
surprised. Yuri hadn’t put much stock in Sergei Smirnov’s abilities. The
spineless man allowed his countrymen too many liberties. It was time the
country took back the power shown to them by their ancestors. Now was the time
to show the world who they are, let them not forget who the greater nation is.

When
he is sworn in, his first act as President will be to return Russia to its
former glory. Some freedoms would need to be sacrificed regrettably, but it was
for the greater good. He was sick of sitting on the side-lines watching his
beloved country get turned into another America. Before you know it, there will
be no law at all and he couldn’t – wouldn’t - allow that. The problem with the
current administration was that there were too many people making decisions,
the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing. Only one man can set
the laws and that man will be him.

The
Soviets had it right the first time, the people may call it a dictatorship but
he called it progression. In today’s politics, power, support and money is what
made the difference. He had many financial backers, others that could see his
dream of another golden age of Russia. To make the others think twice before
waging wars against them. They will once more be the feared nation, no one
would dare cross them. He would succeed where the others have failed. He only
had to remove Sergei Smirnov from his seat before he could put his plans into
motion.

Then
the world had better watch out because the new Russia - his Russia - will be
strong and less forgiving. His Russia will not tolerate interference from those
on the outside who would want to change their way of life like the United
States had the rest of the world. America was like a plague transforming the
world into drones, carbon copies of their failing society. His Russia would
allow no such failings. If only Sergei Smirnov was not in power.

He
smiled cruelly into the darkness. It was already in motion. His loyal men were
out securing his future – their future. Men, who used their high positions
within their great agencies to further his cause and he was humble. It was a
great honor for so many to put their trust in him, to look to him for
leadership and he will not dare let them down.

Each
of his men risked their careers, their very lives every day and stood to be
named a traitor should their actions be known. He admired them for their
courage, their fortitude and he will reward all of them in his administration.

He
would also pay tribute the fallen, like Igor Zimtovich who had known too much
and had to be silenced. Yuri hadn’t enjoyed ordering the man’s death but
Zimtovich had held the smoking gun, the one that would put them all in prison.
His intel was what had made all of their plans possible. Of course leaving the
body for the American’s to find had been unavoidable as they hadn’t anticipated
the quick response from the police and had almost been their downfall but
Yuri’s trusted second had taken care of that problem.

And
would take care of any other issue that would arise. The man was intelligent
and resourceful and had he not shown his devotion to Yuri’s cause, Yuri
would’ve been concerned. The man was as blood-thirsty as an Vampire would be
and as cold-blooded as any reptile. Yuri had witnessed some of his techniques
and even now shuddered when he thought of them. But he was most glad the man
was on his side, uniting for a common goal.

Only
a select few knew the scope of their takeover, the steps taken to ensure their
plan succeeded. It was for their protection as well as his, the fewer who were
privy to all, the less loose ends there were to clean up when it was over. Now
all there was to do was wait while the American, Ducane completes his job and
clears the way for Yuri to be President.

It
was a shame so many had to die in his pursuit of supreme and absolute power and
domination. Good agents like Nikolai Nagregor who ranked high on the list of
men Yuri admired, men who could not be bought or threatened – there were so few
of them left. Even men like Pochenchov had their uses, but that was the price. Soon
his Russia will be here and will be a power to be reckoned with.

Chapter 15

As
soon as
she and Lucas were well away from Solntsevskaya, Elena stopped and leaned
against the closest brick wall. Her legs unable to hold her vertical any longer.
Her heart was still pounding in her chest. She had been up close and personal
with Iosif Simonov, Solntsevskaya Bratva – the brotherhood’s highest ranking
mob member. The man who had ordered Professor Alan Thomas’s death. She wondered
briefly if he even remembered who Alan Thomas was or the destruction his death
caused the woman he loved and left behind. She saw Carey’s face in her mind and
felt a sharp pain in the vicinity of her heart. She hadn’t seen Carey in over a
year and a half when she had walked out of Elena’s office after she had
regretfully told Carey no arrest would ever be made in regards to her husband’s
murder. That the man who had ordered the hit was untouchable, that she had to
make do with the lackey that had performed the deed and who was now dead, a
victim of apparent suicide.

She
could still see Carey in her mind sitting there, a young woman of twenty-four -
widowed. Her corkscrew red hair just brushed her shoulders, her blue-green eyes
held unshed tears. She had tried to be brave but Elena had seen the pain behind
her eyes.

Carey
Madigan-Thomas, a once art history graduate who had married her professor
husband before moving with him to Russia to catalogue the artifacts inside the
Kremlin Armory. While there Carey had discovered that over twenty percent of
the artifacts were fakes and had immediately gone to the authorities. It was
soon learned that the mafiya had been making copies of the treasures inside the
Armory and substituting them. She had learnt the hard way never to cross the
Brotherhood. She had lost her husband and was made to watch helplessly from her
hiding place as Alan was tortured and ultimately killed.

Elena
had received flowers and a sympathy card from Carey though after news of
Nikolai’s violent death reached her. Most likely from Carey’s contacts within
the museum and art world in Moscow and if memory served correctly Carey had
been settling in back home in the United States at the time.

Elena
had never gotten close to a witness or victim before Carey. But there was
something about Carey and her situation that had hit home for Elena. It had
been Alan’s death that had made Elena think about Nikolai and what she would do
if something ever happened to him. She had looked at the scared and grieving
Carey and looked into her future.

Elena
sensed movement nearby and looked up at Lucas. That’s right, she thought. It’s
here and now and they had bigger problems. What happened with Carey and Alan
Thomas was long over.

“Are
you alright?” Lucas asked, watching her face in glow from the street light.

Elena
nodded. “Yes, he’s a horrible sadistic man. I’ve seen what he does to people.
Or should I say has done to them. One case in particular is always in my mind.
A friend’s husband – the museum friend I told you about, her husband was
tortured and murdered in front of her eyes.”

Elena
shook her head savagely, clearing her thoughts and the horrific crime scene
that had sprung to mind. Her eyes narrowed as she folded her arms beneath her
breasts and she scowled at him. “I can’t believe you just traded SVR Intel to
the Mafiya.”

Lucas
rolled his eyes. She had berated him for half an hour after they had left Iosif
and his ears were still burning.

“Well
we have guns now don’t we?”

Elena
flung her arms up, exasperated. “Still none of this makes any sense. We’re no
closer to learning who is involved and why this is all happening.”

She
was tired and hungry, she had been awake all day yesterday and all through last
night and now it was well past midnight. The cold didn’t help either and just
made her even more miserable. Lucas swung his arm around her shoulders and
pulled her close placing a kiss on her forehead. It was fast becoming a regular
gesture to soothe her, he realized. 

“I
know. I’m frustrated too,” he looked about the street before spotting an
establishment still open. “Come on in here and we’ll rest.”

He
hauled her into a darkened nightclub. The interior looked like the setting for
some vampire movie. He soon understood why when he saw the Goth-looking
strippers, several who were taking their customers behind dark curtains to
perform private shows for them.

Lucas
thought he should get Elena out of there as quickly as possible. When he looked
at her though he decided against it, she looked overly tired. Dark circles were
under her beautiful grey eyes and he was the cause of it. She flopped down in a
booth in the back where there was nobody around, all the partygoers up front or
in a private room.

He
watched as she took in the room around her and was surprised at the lack of
interest on her face. She was either too far gone to care or she was used to
seeing this kind of thing, hell they weren’t that far from Europe were they?

He
sat back and thought about their current situation. It had all started over six
months ago when Nikolai Nagregor arrested one of Alvin Pochenchov’s buddies.
There was no denying that. Lucas assumed the man had traded information with
Nagregor for a leaner sentence. Now Nikolai knew something and was bound by his
ethics to investigate. What he found ultimately led to his death and he was
murdered to keep that Intel safe. Intel that he believed involved some sort of
incendiary device what with Ducane’s involvement.

“What
I don’t understand is why they killed Nikolai before finding what they were
looking for. What the hell did Nikolai have that they wanted so bad?”

He
expressed his concerns out loud. It was what he would do being in the same
circumstances as their perpetrator. There was no valid or sensible reason to
kill the one man with the answers, particularly one who had something important
to lose, like Elena.

Elena
thought about that. “I honestly don’t know. I never saw Nikolai with anything,
at least nothing that stood out as important.”

“I
doubt it would something that would jump out at you. If the information is as
important as I think, it’ll be hidden in something innocuous.” He pinned Elena
eyes with his. “Where would Nikolai hide something he was afraid someone was
after?”

He
thought about his training and wondered where he might hide something he didn’t
want found by the wrong people. He also added in the factor that Nikolai knew
it was someone in the Intelligence field so he would have been overly cautious
about where he hid his Intel. The usual locations were out of the picture. The
man would have been exceedingly paranoid.

Elena
brow furrowed, “Trained people couldn’t find it what makes you think I’d know?”

“You
were his wife,” he stated matter-of-factly.

A
waitress walked over to them and they put their conversation on hold. Elena
immediately asked for a strong drink, she needed it after the night she had. To
think when she had arrived at work yesterday morning she had sighed at the
mountain of paperwork on her desk and thought it was going to be a normal day.
She had been happy when Vladimir had finally taken her off probation. Never
once did she think that the day would end up like this, sitting in a strip club
with a man she hardly knew, talking about a conspiracy that involved Nikolai’s
murder and the possibility of rogue agents in her agency.

Better
make that a double, she thought and told the waitress.

The
waitress smiled at them before returning to the bar. If she thought it odd that
a man
and
a woman walked into the club she didn’t let it show. Elena
shivered at the thought that men might find it a turn on to watch this kind of
things with their partners. She and Nikolai certainly never needed help in that
department.

She
looked about the room again relieved to see she was the only female beside the
dancers. She also noted that there was no TV, so with any luck they would not
be recognized. Not that they were in danger of being so, she thought as she
watched the red lipped, raven haired and black
stiletto wearing burlesque
dancers on stage performing their seductive moves designed to entice and
excite. No one was looking in their direction and if questioned later wouldn’t
be able to confirm or deny that she and Lucas had been there, let alone pick
them out of a line-up.