“Psst! Which family do you work for?” I mumble and he shakes his head.
“No one! I’m American.”
“Doesn’t mean you don’t work for someone; I saw your markings on your hands.”
He shrugs, “I like tattoos.” Suddenly he whips me down another hallway, this one with a white tiled floor and white painted walls. It’s so stark it burns my eyes, causing me to blink a million times taking it in.
A guard rounds the corner, walking towards us, staring at his phone. I stutter to a stop but Beau doesn’t slow down, just grips my hand tighter as he uses his free hand to aim his gun and shoot the man in the head. I shuffle along behind him like a disoriented tail of some sort.
“Holy shit!” I gulp as we pass him by. “Should we just leave him there?”
“Fuck, you’re right, but where would we put him?” He stalls and looks around, stopping at a door in the corner. “Over here! Grab his feet but don’t hurt your back,” he orders, and to my surprise, I listen, and help him as he pulls the body to a door.
He takes out a plain key card, swiping it over a piece of the wall next to the handle. To everyone else it looks like there’s nothing there, but when the key hits a certain area, a blue light shines and the door unlocks.
“Holy crap, where are we?” I grunt as he scoots the guy into the closet.
“Perfectcore.”
“Perfect what? What kind of name is that?”
“I’ll explain it to you later once we’ve gotten out of here.”
“But wait, why are you helping me if you work here?”
“The job was a front so I could find you; my dad got it for me when he asked for my help.”
“Why would your father want me? Oh, wait, was he a buyer?” I gasp, getting upset all over again.
“God no! He’s not a saint by any means, but he wants to make amends for some things he did in his old life. Now stop talking and come on!”
Beau peeks his head out the door and then motions for me to follow once the coast is clear. He doesn’t grab my hand this time and I actually have a chance to get away if I wanted to, but I don’t want to. I think he’s really here to help me, so I plan to stay next to him like white on rice.
We make our way down another hallway. Beau tries to get me to run, but I can’t, I’m too exhausted already.
“I’m so sorry; I’m going to get us caught!” I whine, almost in tears at the notion of having to stay here longer. God knows what Chek will do to me if we get caught.
“It’s okay, and no, you’re not spending another day in this place if I have anything to do about it. Now shush.”
I swear if he shushes me one more time I might attempt to punch him. I may be tired but I’ll muster up what little energy I can to get him to stop that annoying sound.
We hear two men approaching us, speaking Russian and there’s nowhere for us to hide this time. Beau comes to a halt, moving me so that I’m hiding behind him and holds his gun up, ready to shoot. I’m more confident about trusting him now that I see he’s literally put his life in front of me to save mine. Not many men would do that for a woman they don’t know.
Two guys a little bigger than Beau stride down the hallway, but they’re not distracted with their phones like the last guard and notice Beau right away, yelling at him to put his gun down in Russian.
“Nyet.” Beau barks back angrily and shoots. He hits one man and the other guy gets a shot off before Beau is able to kill him as well.
“Fuck, those gunshots are probably going to alert more men; we have to hurry!” he pants, gawking at me with wide hazel eyes.
Nodding, I pull my big girl panties on and push aside the winded feeling I’m experiencing to move my feet as hard and fast as I can to keep up with him. We leave the dead bodies in the middle of the floor where they fell and storm the rest of the way down the hallway.
We turn the corner and are forced to come to a stop. We’re at the very end of the hall and faced with two nondescript white doors.
“One’s an elevator; the other is stairs. We can’t take the elevator. It has cameras and we’ll be stopped the moment they see our masks.”
“All right then, I’ll do my best to follow.”
He swipes his card over the wall again and the door clicks open. We’re through it and barreling down flights of stairs so quickly I feel like I could sit on my butt and slide down. After three floors I have to stop, pulling on Beau.
“I-I’m so-sorry. I can’t go anymore. I feel as if I will pass out, my head…it’s light and dizzy.” I hold my forehead with one hand and grip the railing with the other.
“Can you hold on?”
“Yeah, I believe so.”
“Climb on my back then and I’ll take you down, you just have to hold on, and close your eyes so you can concentrate and not get sick.”
“Sure,” I utter breathlessly.
He steps down a stair and I carefully climb onto his back, wrapping my hands and legs around him as tightly as possible without choking him. I lay my forehead on his strong shoulder, resting my eyes and I start to bounce as he takes the stairs two at a time now without him having to wrench me along.
It hurts as my bones are jostled all over, but it’s better than the torture they put me through in this hellhole. I can tell each time he hits a new landing, as he has to take three regular steps. We get to the fourth and his body comes to a stop, him panting, “All right, climb down.”
I slide over his back, opening my eyes to take in the dark alleyway before us.
“I don’t get it, we were in concrete halls, then all of the stairs, and I didn’t even feel us go through a door.” I glance back and there is indeed a door—a very big, steel door that I should have heard and felt us go through.
“I’m pretty sure when you closed your eyes towards the end you passed out. I had to hold your hands on my neck to keep you balanced.”
“You were holding me?”
“Yeah, if you don’t remember that then you definitely passed out. Your body still has a lot of healing to do. We were in the very middle of that building behind us on the seventh floor.” He points upward. “The owner had a complete level built of concrete to hold you securely—crazy fucker. We still have to hurry, but we should be able to walk quickly now and arrive at my flat before they realize you’re missing.”
“Okay, the sooner we’re away from here, the better.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
We remove our masks and then hold hands like an excited couple hurrying home together so we don’t bring any unwanted attention to us. After a swift ten minute walk we arrive at a plain, brick building with a black side door. We go through it and up a flight of stairs to get to his place.
What is it with foreigners and stairs?
Beau and I arrive inside; the apartment’s only decorations are a few very nondescript essentials. A brown suede couch, coffee table, laptop and pop-up bed.
“Charming,” I slip and he chuckles.
“It served its purpose. We won’t be staying here anyhow.”
“We aren’t?”
“Nope. You lie on the bed and get some rest. I’m going to shower and change. Oh, and whatever you do, do not go out that door. They’ll be looking all over the country for you and I don’t want them finding you when I’ve barely gotten you free.
The pop-up bed and couch look like heaven on earth compared to the concrete floor I’ve been sleeping on. I make myself comfortable on the fluffy couch while he heads down the small hallway.
I must drift off because when I open my eyes, Beau is busily clicking away on the computer in a fresh set of clothes. I’m finally starting to feel a little rested. I’ve been so exhausted and my body hasn’t felt normal at all. With the extra sleep, my mind’s getting quicker and I no longer feel like I have to lie down for long periods to get a little energy.
“Errerrm,” I clear my throat, waking up. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting us a jet.”
“A jet? Just who are you and who sent you to find me exactly?”
“Oh yeah, my names Beau. My father, he used to be a part of the Bratva. You’ve probably heard his name before—Victor.”
A gasp escapes me at that name, “Holy shit! Your father? You’re a Masterson?”
“Yes, my father, and no, I go by a different last name.”
“Oh my God! You’re Tate and Viktor’s cousin?” I practically scream and he nods.
At his nod, I leap off the couch and tackle him in a huge hug. “I fucking love your family! Thank you, my God, thank you so much for coming and saving me! Where is my Nikoli?” I ramble excitedly.
“Nikoli?”
“Yes, he’s the one who contacted your father, right?” I ask curiously.
“I have no idea; sorry but I don’t know who that is. I’m not really a part of that family. I know some stuff about most of them, but I don’t speak to anyone.”
“Oh. You are here to bring me back to them though, right? I don’t get it why you would help if you aren’t close to them.”
“Yes, I’m bringing you home. The short story is, my mother and I went to the U.S. when I was a baby. I guess my mom found out my dad was this crazy gangster after she was pregnant and made him send her back to the states so we would be safe. She had him promise to leave us alone if he really loved her to keep us alive and not take on any possible retribution directed towards him. My father and I speak occasionally, and he was nice enough to put me through private school. This last time when he called he said my cousins needed a favor, that you had been taken, and that no one knew who I was so he could get me a job and get me close to you. When it comes down to it, they’re my family; so of course I agreed to help out.”
“Wow!”
“Yep.”
“Can I please use a phone?”
“Not yet, we need to get you to safety first.”
“What about you? Aren’t you worried they’ll come after you?”
“Naw.”
“Not even a little bit? You saw what they did to me.”
“I’m a cop, mouse,” he answers automatically and I damn near choke.
“You’re a cop and you’re Victor’s son?” I burst out laughing after the words come out at how ironic that is.
“Yes, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t laugh at me. I just risked my life to save you.”
“I’m not laughing at you, I promise. It’s just so funny—the irony—considering you’re a cop and your father is as corrupt as they come. It’s like the ultimate payback.”
“I wanted to prove to my mom that I’m not like him.”
“Well I’d say you did a good job.”
“What happened to the sweet, quiet girl I was visiting back there?”
“She started getting better and found out she’s going home!”
“Fair enough,” he chuckles, his smile making him even more charming.
“So what’s the plan now?”
“Well I have some more clothes for you here. My father had a guess at your size. I thought he was nuts when I first got the clothes, but I discovered he was right about you being a sprite. Once you change, I have a friend of the family named Roman that I’m supposed to call and he’ll give us a ride to the jet, according to my father. This is really all his stuff, well besides the laptop, I was just borrowing it.” He gestures to the place.
“Okay, umm, am I allowed to take a shower alone? I haven’t had one since I was taken.”
“Of course. Use whatever you’d like. The clothes for you are hanging in the bedroom connected to the bathroom. You can even lock the door if you want, and I promise to give you some space.”
“Oh and Beau?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“No worries, Sabrina; I’d do it all over again.”
FOURTEEN
NIKOLI
No one is too old for fairytales.
-Unknown
the next day…
I jump out of the shower at Tate calling for me. He
usually knocks, and if I don’t answer, leaves me alone, so this must be important. Wrapping the plush towel around my waist, I hurry to open my bedroom door.
“What is it?”
“We need to go man. Vik just called and said our uncle wants us to head to the old airport. His jet’s about to land.”
“Are we on security or just greeting him? I wonder if he knows anything.”
“I have no clue. Vik just said to be there in twenty, and that Uncle sent a jet and then hung up. I damn sure plan on finding out if he knows something if he’s there.”
“All right, let me dress,” I reply and he leaves my room, closing the door behind him.
Before I would’ve worn a suit at the prospect of seeing his uncle, but since he’s retired I just throw on some faded jeans with a plain black T-shirt. I no longer answer to him or Gizya, only to Tate and Viktor now thankfully. I slip on my running shoes at the front door and make my way as quickly as I can to Tate’s black Tahoe.
Climbing into the jacked up beast, I slam the truck door and he turns to me. “You good, man?”
“I got a few hours of sleep; it’ll suffice,” I shrug and turn up the radio. ‘Angels Fall’ by Breaking Benjamin plays and it tugs at my heart, making me think of Sabrina. Hell, everything makes me worry about her.
“I’m so sorry about all of this,” Tate speaks over the music.
“It’s not your fault that he wouldn’t tell us where she is. It doesn’t matter now anyhow since I already killed him.” I shrug. “Now we need to find another lead, we need this master person he kept speaking of.” My sister couldn’t believe it when I told her Chek was dead. I thought she would freak out over me killing someone; instead she hugged me until it was hard for me to breathe.
“Wish I knew a name or something. Fuck!”
“I know; me too.” I watch the beautiful green scenery of Tennessee float by as we drive out towards the old airport we all prefer to use. “Did you hear from your brother again after you came and got me?”
“No.”
I hear movement and turn to find Vishna and Emily in the back seat. I’m so distracted I didn’t even notice them. This is a serious security issue when it comes to keeping Tate safe. “What are you girls doing with us? This could be dangerous!”
“Tate said we could come, that he thought it was his uncle visiting.” Emily perks up.
“Fine, but you both stay in the truck until we know it’s secure.”
“We will.” She responds quickly and my sister keeps quiet. I know they probably won’t listen to me and will do whatever they want to.