by Raven Rivers
Ripping the metallic wrapper off the granola bar, Jade shook her head. “I don’t think I ever envisioned a time when my books would be this popular.”
“Are you kidding? I read all your stuff. You’re in my top three writers.”
Mandy was what Jade thought of as three-cup perky. Her quick smile and upbeat demeanor were things most people only achieved after their third cup of java. She had to laugh at the enthusiastic response. “And here I thought I was writing primarily for a small niche audience.”
“Oh, hell no,” Mandy fired back with a laugh. “Your demographics are really good. You’re pulling in the traditional murder mystery crowd as well as true crime, thriller, suspense, and, surprisingly, a bit of the paranormal audience.”
Shocked, Jade tried to wrap her head around that little nugget of information. “I never would have thought that.”
Her line began gathering steam again, so she got back to work doing the whole meet and greet thing. Two hours later, her hand sore from signing autographs, they began packing up to head to the next signing. Jade was in the middle of boxing up the unsold copies of her latest novel when she abruptly stopped with a book in her hand. She looked around nervously, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching her.
“Do you need some help with that box?”
Shooting Mandy a quick glance, she realized she was probably just overreacting and wondered if she’d ever outrun the paranoia caused by her tragic past. “No, I’ve got it. Thanks anyway.”
“Doesn’t look like you have many copies left anyway,” Mandy smiled. She was right. Only ten books remained of the two hundred they’d set up with. Thankfully they had more in the van and, if all went well, they could sell just as many at the next signing.
“Yeah,” Jade smiled back, trying to shake her sudden anxiety.
“We’ll get you to your next stop in record time.”
While carrying the box of leftover books outside to the van, Jade felt something on her back. She couldn’t be sure, but it felt like a hand quickly running from her mid-back to her rear. Stopping in her tracks, she looked over her shoulder in alarm. With the number of pedestrians navigating the busy New York City sidewalk, she didn’t see anything but a blur of faces, and none that she recognized. Turning back around, she quickened her pace to catch up with her assistant, writing it off as either an accident or a pervert. Each explanation was about as likely as the other in her opinion.
Jade was exhausted by the end of the day, despite Mandy pumping her full of coffee. She’d been in this predicament more than once. She hated being physically and emotionally shattered, yet too wired on caffeine to sleep. Now she was too keyed up to write, which meant TV would be her escape tonight. Unlocking her front door, she reset the security system before peeling off her coat and scarf. Sighing as she dropped down onto her small sofa, she closed her eyes for a brief moment.
Something soft moved against her hand. Popping her eyes open, she pulled Sir Kitty onto her lap and scratched him behind one ear. The fluffy white fur ball with a long black stripe running down the right side of his face was a rescue and her closest friend. Being single and not dating for the last ten years or so was bad enough, but having few friends—and none that were close—was worse.
Picking Sir Kitty up, she gently blew into his face. His eyes closed and he mewed his pleasure. Weird cat for a weird woman, she thought with a small smile. Laying him back on her lap, she smoothed her hand over his soft fur.
“What would I do without you?”
Petting Sir Kitty was her happy place. All the horrible memories stayed at bay when he was in her arms. Unfortunately, with Sir Kitty, the moment never lasted very long. After getting a few seconds of love, he wiggled out of her grasp and strutted off to sit in the window seat where he began licking his paws.
Sighing, she picked up the remote and decided on a movie, which proved pointless since her mind drifted to the exact place she didn’t want it to go. After briefly entertaining the idea of hiring a cult to brainwash her past away, she dismissed it as too outlandish. Ideas swirled in her mind of being abducted by a rogue government agent and forced to—no, she wasn’t going to come up with material if she couldn’t concentrate long enough to get it down on paper.
Her mind then wandered to her biological mother’s death. She had passed away when Jade was five, and if she tried hard enough, Jade could almost remember the feeling of being in her arms and the way her voice sounded when she sang to her. Her real mother’s face was now something she only knew from a couple of photos her adoptive father had given her.
Her overbearing stand-in parents never had children of their own. They pushed Jade mercilessly to become an honor student, insisting she needed high marks to get into a good college. She’d later find out it was because they were hoping for a full scholarship. They controlled every facet of her life, including the clothing she wore, and rode her constantly about her weight. They were all about appearances and fitting in with their socially elite white friends. Part of her suspected they’d adopted her to been seen as a normal American family since a couple with no kids might have drawn talk. To Jade, she felt like their possession rather than a person. It went on for years, generating deep-seated anxiety and frustration. She felt that she was being pressed into a tight mold, and it made her increasingly miserable. Even now, she struggled with self-esteem issues stemming from the repeated message that she wasn’t acceptable in any way, shape, or form. She wasn’t allowed to be who she wanted to be. She was allowed to be who they wanted her to be.
The only person in her life who ever understood that was Yuri. He had a wonderful sense of humor, though he only seemed to express it around her. With everyone else he remained stone faced and rather cold. With her, however, he let his guard down and could be playful. He’d often make light of a situation by doing silly things. She recalled the time he’d waited until her mother had left the room before pulling her hair down and messing it all up again. He once rummaged through her drawers, pulled out mismatched socks, and slipped them on her feet knowing her parents definitely wouldn’t approve. She’d been so thrilled with the act of defiance that she’d worn them all evening. Yes, she loved it when he did things like that. It was the kind of innocent mischief that helped her keep perspective in a such a stressful environment.
He studied with her after school three days a week. Her parents didn’t like him and made no effort to hide that fact, but they were just glad to see her studying. As the school year wore on, her and Yuri grew even closer. He became the rock she clung to when the waves of life were crashing into her. He was always there and engaged. It was that closeness that saved her life when the chips were down. Shaking off the memories, she headed for the shower, thinking she might give sleep a try after all.
Chapter 9
Only Half Smart
Yuri
Waking in a foul mood from his sleepless night, Yuri heard the sound of laughter coming from his kitchen. Trisha was still there, just as he suspected she would be, and appeared to be having a blast making breakfast with Luka. Karl was also there, watching as Luka taught the girl how to make a traditional Russian breakfast. He wasn’t surprised to see Luka or Karl as he trusted them with his life and had given them a key to his apartment. Mikael also had a key, but he’d been assigned to tailing the thieving accountant. He was the stealthiest of Yuri’s three men, able to tail somebody for weeks without being spotted.
“Oh! Did we wake you? I’m sorry,” Trisha said apologetically at the sight of Yuri.
“No, no. No worries,” he replied, smiling politely and trying not to appear as grumpy as he felt.
“Morning, boss!” Luka smiled, cracking an egg into a bowl.
“Boss,” Karl greeted simply along with a nod as his English wasn’t very refined.
“Boys,” Yuri nodded back. “I have business to attend to,” he added as he grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to his balcony with his laptop
.
Opening his e-mail, he gave Victor Sonovo a progress report on their accountant. Reginald Williams had come highly recommended by Andrei Orlov. Hence, nobody had expected him to be running his own racket on the side. Since Andrei had taken over the East Coast operation, things had gone sideways more than once. Yes, Andrei seemed sharp, but in recent years he’d grown lax and had made several bad decisions. Sonovo was right in replacing him.
He picked up an encrypted e-mail from Gustov, a longtime member of the bratva in charge of his own working unit. Each had an area of expertise, but they got stuck with shit jobs at times because of geographical proximity. Gustov had recently moved into managing the legitimate businesses that Victor used to launder their money—a restaurant and a nightclub they had acquired from Andrei Orlov when he was nudged into retirement. Yuri handled mostly white collar type activities, which meant they pulled fewer jobs but generated higher revenue. Times had changed, and most of the men in his crew were not only good with computers, they were well versed in financial matters. That’s how he discovered Reginald was skimming.
“Yuri, I bring you grenki,” Karl said, joining him on the balcony and handing him a plate. “You will eat with me.”
“Spasiba, Karl.” Taking the small plate, Yuri pushed his laptop aside and Karl took a seat beside him. “The girl seems to be enjoying her stay so far.”
“Trisha? Yes, she is a fun girl. She seems to like Luka.”
“I noticed,” Yuri chuckled, looking inside and noting the playful banter continuing between the two. If he wasn’t so hung up on Jade, he might be a bit jealous.
“Does she know who we are?” Karl asked.
“I didn’t come right out and say it but I didn’t hide it, either,” Yuri answered, picking at his breakfast.
“Luka says she’s very smart. I don’t see it,” Karl shrugged. “If she were anything close to smart, she would have figured it out by now. We’re having the boutique store on seventy-third bring over clothing for her. She acts like a girl on vacation. All happy and giggly.”
Looking at his best friend, Yuri snorted a laugh. “She’s probably being treated better here than she has been in a long time.”
“Do you think Williams will pay back the money he stole?”
“I don’t think he’ll give it up voluntarily, but he’ll probably lead us to where he keeps the cash. Mikael is on his tail now. When we get word, we move. Leave the girl with Luka, since she obviously likes his company.”
“We are not really keeping her, are we?” Karl asked with a hint of concern.
Chasing down a bit of grenki with a long swallow of coffee, Yuri shook his head. “Permanently? Of course not. Just long enough to get my money back. Our money back.”
“She is beautiful though, no?” Karl smirked, glancing inside at Trisha.
Yuri’s phone sounded before he could respond. Grabbing it, he opened a message from Mikael.
“Pull the car around, Karl. Mikael’s already tracked him to a warehouse outside of town. It’s one of Don Nash’s properties.”
Twenty minutes later the two of them pulled up alongside Mikael’s SUV and slipped out to have a look. They quickly spotted Reginald’s BMW parked by itself outside the rundown warehouse. Yuri tapped the driver’s side window of Mikael’s SUV and his comrade rolled it down so they could speak.
“How long has he been in there?” he asked quietly.
“Close to a half an hour,” Mikael answered, shooting him a serious look.
“Wait here,” Yuri instructed. Mikael nodded and rolled his window back up.
“What is taking him so long?” Karl questioned as they stood watch, assessing the situation. “If he is just here to grab the money, why does he not take it and run?”
Sighing, Yuri thought it over before replying, “If he did hide his money here, this is probably someplace he feels safe.”
A red sports car silently pulled up behind them and Anthony Nash confidently stepped out. The arrogant asshole didn’t even bother bringing bodyguards.
He was a higher up in the Italian mob with more than a few people gunning for him, yet he brazenly strutted around the city as though he were invincible. One of these days, Yuri mused as he watched Nash take a sip from his iced coffee, somebody was going to take him out.
“Morning, gentlemen,” he greeted with a smirk. “How’s it hanging?”
“Enough with your silly American euphemisms, Tony,” Yuri fired back. “We have a serious problem.”
“Yeah, about that. Once your boy Mikael told us he was skimming from you guys, we had a little look around and, guess what? He did the same thing when he was with us. My old man probably ain’t running as tight a ship as he once did. Things would be a lot smoother if he’d just step down and put me in charge already.”
“Your problems are not our problems, Mr. Nash.”
“You’re being all kinds of assholy here, Yuri,” Tony scoffed. “Need I remind you that your boss is now my brother-in-law?”
“That doesn’t make us family,” Yuri was quick to point out. He still couldn’t believe that Victor Sonovo had married Don Nash’s daughter. Though, in doing so, he had united the two gangs.
“Well, it sure as hell doesn’t make us enemies. Right now we’re both after the same guy, so working together makes sense.”
“He is right,” Karl chimed in, his eyes still locked on the warehouse.
“Where’s your crew?” Yuri asked.
Croaking out a dry laugh, the well-dressed man tossed his coffee cup on the ground. “If you think I’m the kind of guy who needs a crew to jerk some whiny little accountant up by his testicles, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“What’s in that building?” Karl prodded, nodding at the warehouse.
“There’s an underground floor vault that holds around a million dollars. Our family thinks of it as a little emergency fund. My best guess is the jackass blew all the money he stole from us on drugs. That, or he gambled it all away. He’s probably looking for one final score before he blows town.”
“We have an inside man at his bank,” Yuri told him, trying to forget the comment about the underground floor vault. Stupid move on Tony’s part, telling a fellow criminal where to find a secret stash of money. Now he understood why Tony’s father hadn’t put him in charge. “He believes Williams may have stashed money there.”
“Inside guys are a real asset,” Tony responded, grinning like a fool. “We should team up sometime. Bank jobs are my specialty.”
“How about we solve our mutual problem and then talk business?”
“You’ll learn there isn’t anything civilized about me,” Tony smiled. “But that does sound like a plan. I’ll go down first and try and talk to him.”
“Nyet! I don’t want trouble with Sonovo if something should happen to you. We go together. Try not to get yourself shot.”
“Hell, I don’t think Reginald even owns a gun,” Tony chuckled.
“You’ll do as I say,” Yuri hissed.
“You’re a real tight ass, I hope you know that, Yuri. I’ll bet you’re no fun at parties.”
Pulling out his side arm, Yuri took the safety off. “You’d be correct in that assumption, Mr. Nash.”
“Jesus, Yuri, you don’t have to be so formal and shit. You act like an old crusty dude and you’re not much older than me. Call me Tony.”
“Fine, Anthony it is.”
Karl laughed and Tony growled, “Now you’re just trying to piss me off.”
“I never imagined it would be so easy,” Yuri smiled.
“Great, just what I need. Another Russian who thinks he’s a goddamn comedian.”
“Do you know that you have a tendency to whine?”
“Let’s get this business over with so I can kick your ass properly.”
“Business before pleasure, that much I can respect.”
Tony opened his mouth like he was going to bite back but closed it again. Instead, they made their way down from their vantage point to the sm
all grouping of warehouses below. Circling around the building in question, Yuri quietly turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. Pushing it open, he walked into the dimly lit interior with Anthony at his back.
A stale, musty smell hit his nostrils, dragging up memories of a cave filled with horror. Shoving it roughly away, he instructed Karl to wait outside and headed for a set of steps leading to the upper level. If the slimy accountant somehow made it out, he wanted Karl there to intercept him.
Tony tapped him on the shoulder and gestured across the room. There was a lone desk, but he could see something that looked like it might be an opening on the far side of it. They stealthily made their way over to it. Looking down, he could see it was some kind of tiny room. From the size he guessed it might have at one time been a bay used to change oil in an automobile. At the bottom, Reginald was bent over, moving cash from a safe into a duffel bag.
“Hey, dumb ass,” Anthony called down. “If you can take a minute off from robbing us blind, we’d like to have a word with you.”
Reginald’s head swiveled around to look up at them and all the color drained from his face. “This… this isn’t what it looks like.”
Anthony’s voice turned steely. “I’d be hard pressed to come up with any other reasonable explanation for you breaking into our safe and loading our cash into that there bag. Now get the fuck up here and bring the money with you.”
The man hesitated, stalling for time, which was the exact wrong move to make with someone as young and impulsive as Anthony. “Don’t make me come down there and get you.”
Grabbing the last few stacks of cash, he crammed them in the bag and began climbing up. Yuri could see him trembling in fear, as well he should be. Tossing the bag down at Tony’s feet, Reginald pleaded, “D-D-Don’t shoot me. The money was too much of a temptation. I got stupid.”
Grabbing him by the neck with one hand, Tony walked him to the center of the room with Yuri following behind. “From what I can tell, you’ve been fucking stupid since the day we brought you on board.”
