The Russian & Aunt Sophia

by Rita Moreau

  12

  Dominick looked across at his father, Big Pete, who had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly.

  “Yes, I will take care of this problem,” he said quietly in Russian.

  He left the house and made his way to I-95 and headed to Fort Lauderdale to spend the night with Ivan’s daughter Katrina. He pulled the flash drive out of his shirt pocket, looked at it and cursed himself. He was not as technologically adept as Katrina and disliked having to rely on her. He preferred to keep simple, handwritten ledgers of his cash. She assured him it was safer to keep his books and records in this portable electronic format. He had to trust her and this he hated. But, he enjoyed her company, so he returned the drive to his shirt pocket. The attraction was more than just the sex. She was a beautiful woman with a mind to match. Now he wondered if there was another side to her, one he had not seen before.

  He made his plans the day he found out Ivan was talking to the FBI. He would wait for the most opportune time, and it turned out he didn’t have to wait long. He had called the office that day and spoken to Henrietta. She was getting ready to leave the office, and she mentioned that Ivan was still there. He was waiting for the fortune teller. He drove to Boca Vista and parked across from the office. When he saw the fortune teller leave, he entered through the back door.

  “Good evening, Ivan,” he said as he walked into Ivan’s office. In it was a large conference table with models of the upscale properties built by his father. Ivan was standing near the table and was not surprised to see him.

  “We need to talk Ivan,” Dominick said.

  “I want out Dominick,” Ivan said. Then he lit a cigarette and kept an eye on Dominick.

  “I want you to stay away from my daughter. I never wanted her in this life, but you opened that door.”

  “She has a mind of her own, Ivan. She came freely to this life. No one forced her to join the family business, so to speak.”

  “I am going to speak to the FBI tomorrow, and my deal with them includes my daughter whether she likes it or not,” Ivan said.

  “Let’s have a drink, Ivan. I’ll pour the vodka,” Dominick said calmly. Ivan sat at his desk and slowly opened a drawer as Dominick poured the vodka. His gun was no longer there.

  As Dominick made his way back to Fort Lauderdale, he remembered turning out the lights of the office and Ivan sitting in a chair. He looked very peaceful as if he was asleep. The poison he put in the vodka was painless and tasteless.

  Lucky for him, Katrina had once told him that her father was especially fond of having his fortune read with a cup of tea. He soaked some of the tea leaves with the poison and placed them in the bottom of Ivan’s teacup. Then he wiped down the glass that had held the poisoned vodka and disposed of it. Ivan did not even know he had slipped into unconsciousness.

  It was pure luck that the fortune teller had been there earlier. This turned out to be an excellent opportunity to deflect any blame and to pin it on the fortune teller.

  He had always made it a point not to mix business with pleasure, but he could not resist Katrina. When she returned from college, he could not get her out of his mind. The tomboy he had known growing up had blossomed into more than a beautiful woman. They needed an accountant, one they could trust, so he talked his father into giving her the job. After all, Katrina was Ivan’s daughter and Victor’s god-daughter. It turned out she was perfect for the job and today she ran the entire financial side of their operations. She was their Chief Financial Officer. In the beginning, Dominick could not have been happier. But now, it bothered him that someone other than his Uncle Victor knew more than any of them about their financial operation. Not having any children of his own, Katrina was more like a daughter to Victor.

  He was also bothered by the call he’d gotten earlier in the day from Hammerhead. “The toxicology reports are not conclusive as to the cause of death.”

  “What do you mean?” Dominick asked.

  “The coroner does not think the amount of poison found in the tea and his digestive system were enough to kill Ivan. He said he should have been alive when Henrietta found him, not stone-cold dead for several hours,” Hammerhead said. Hammerhead assured him that nothing further would come of it. “Leave it to the lawyers to figure it out,” he said.

  “I see,” Dominick said. “Anything else?” Leaving anything for the lawyers to figure out was not his way of doing business.

  “Well, he also said that for this specific poison to kill someone that quickly, it would have to have been administered by injection.”

  Injection, he thought as he drove. Was someone watching him that evening? Katrina had not said much to anyone about her father’s death. He did not see any sorrow.

  He spent the night with Katrina. As she slept, he watched her and wondered if he really knew this woman.

  13

  “Hello?” I said as I picked up the phone while Aunt Anna was visiting Aunt Sophia who was now staying in the presidential suite in the most expensive hotel in Boca Vista. Ernie had enough former secret service men guarding her round the clock and assured her she was plenty safe.

  After a pause, I heard, “This is Katrina Petrolia, Ivan Petrolia’s daughter.”

  “Katrina, this is MC Mahoney … Sophia’s niece.”

  I could hear Katrina weeping now.

  Katrina was silent on the other end. “Are you in trouble?”

  “Yes. I think I know who killed my father.”

  “Where are you?” I asked.

  “I am in Fort Lauderdale, but I am driving to my father’s apartment in Boca Vista. He called me the day he was killed, and told me to call your aunt if I was ever in trouble.”

  My psychic sense alerted me to the great danger that awaited Katrina if she entered that apartment.

  “I want you to listen to me Katrina. I don’t want to scare you, but do not go to your father’s apartment. I want you to meet me at a bar called Hotel Florida along the A1A,” I said and then gave her directions to the bar.

  “I can be there in the next half hour. I’ll be wearing a red ball cap. If you get there before I do, ask for Ernie, the bartender.”

  “Okay,” Katrina said. “Thank you. I am so afraid.”

  “I want you to stay calm. I’ll see you shortly.” I quickly called Ernie and told him about Katrina.

  “I’ll be looking for her,” Ernie said.

  “How will you know what she looks like?” I asked.

  “I know,” was all Ernie had to say.

  “Of course you do,” I replied.

  “She looks like a model, tall, blonde, and willowy with great hair. She is Dominick Kosomov’s girlfriend. They meet at one of Dominick’s properties, a house in Fort Lauderdale. She is more than a girlfriend; she is also their accountant, their Chief Financial Officer.”

  “Then she would know a lot about their operation. So, you have been watching Dominick and her?”

  “Yes,” Ernie said.

  “This has something to do with the other night when I was dancing with the senator?”

  “Yes. See you shortly, MC. Oh, and MC, be careful.”

  * * * *

  Katrina arrived at the bar. Ernie had called in another bartender to take his shift. No surprise that the guy looked military I thought as they walked toward Katrina.

  “Miss Petrolia, my name is Ernie, and this is MC. Follow me. You are safe with us.”

  Ernie led us both to a waiting black Ford suburban which was being driven by another of Ernie’s military type men.

  Ernie held the back door open for Katrina and me and he got in the passenger seat in the front. Katrina reached over and grabbed my hand and I was suddenly overtaken by a powerful emotion. At first, I thought it was fear, but it was not. It was something else. Something that didn’t fit.

  “You made the right call, Katrina,” I said as I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to take over. I could see Dominick and Katrina, and they were both running. Only Dominick was running from Katrina.

 
I looked at Katrina, and when she released her grip, I saw a flash drive in her hand. She passed it to Ernie. He placed it in his shirt pocket as they turned into the drive leading to the convent.

  Once again, we were all gathered in the bomb shelter room. Ernie had called ahead and put together a meeting. Sister Hildegard and Sister Matilda were sitting quietly. Velma had just checked for spiders and sounded the all clear. Aunt Anna arrived soon after we did and took a seat next to me. Louie stayed with the car. Oh, and Izzy, Velma’s pet iguana, was scampering around the room as well. “He was running around the office going crazy. I couldn’t leave him,” Velma said. He scurried past me right under the table. I stuck my head under the table, and thanks to my DNA I could hear him loud and clear, “I’m helping Velma watch for spiders.”

  With Katrina sitting at the head of the table, Ernie stood, “Everyone, this is Katrina Petrolia, Ivan’s daughter. On the day her father died, he told her to reach out to Aunt Sophia if she was ever in danger. That is why she is with us today. Katrina?”

  Katrina stood slowly, and with everyone looking at her, she took a deep breath and started talking,

  “As Ernie said, my name is Katrina Petrolia. I am Ivan Petrolia’s daughter. For the last 5 years, I have been the accountant and Chief Financial Officer of the Kosomov’s, and I also have been in a relationship with Dominick Kosomov. I have known Dominick since I was a young child. My father worked for his father, Peter, as his bodyguard. He had been with him since before I was born. I am not naive. I am well aware that my father and the Kosomov’s have had close ties to the Russian mob and corrupt politicians in Russia.

  “When my father moved to Boca Vista with Big Pete to open the real estate office, he told me that he wanted out of the organization. He said his days would be numbered once Dominick gained full control of their operations. That was also when he told me that he had been talking to the FBI and they were offering him witness protection in exchange for his testimony. He wanted me to join him. He wanted me to leave Dominick and testify against the Kosomovs. He said it was not the life he had wanted for his daughter. Since I knew Dominick would kill him if he left; I agreed to talk to the FBI.

  “My father called me earlier on the day he was murdered. He said he had a very bad feeling that he might not make it to the meeting with the FBI the next morning. He warned me that if anything should happen to him to contact Sophia Samos. He asked me to transfer some information to a flash drive. He planned to turn it over to the FBI. I brought a copy of that flash drive and turned it over to Ernie. I am sure Dominick killed my father so he could not talk. I also believe that he is now coming after me.”

  Katrina sat down and bowed her head for a moment and then raised it as if an enormous burden had been lifted from her soul. Ernie got up now and spoke.

  “So, when are you going to arrest Dominick?” Aunt Anna now asked. “This should clear Sophia.” She said followed by a couple of spits to make her point.

  Ernie stood, and I could see the operative mode slip over his face.

  I suddenly realized something. “You’re not going to arrest him for Ivan’s murder,” I said to Ernie. “You want to take him down for something bigger.”

  Ernie looked only slightly surprised and responded, “Katrina has agreed to speak to the FBI. For now, Katrina is going to stay here at the convent with Sisters Hildegard and Matilda. We have men stationed here on the convent grounds to protect her.”

  “So, with Katrina’s information, a lot of Russians heads will roll?” I asked Ernie as we left the convent.

  “That’s the plan,” Ernie said.

  14

  “I think it would be a good idea if Aunt Anna moved into the convent for a couple of days,” Ernie said when he called the next morning. I have spoken to Hammerhead, and he has agreed to the move. I have also talked to the FBI, and they are taking over her case.”

  “He must have been overjoyed,” I said.

  “Ernie, I would like to get to the bottom of this once and for all. Whatever it takes I’m ready and willing and on board. You might as well round up your crew and let’s meet at the convent.”

  “Good, I have been waiting for you to say that and I do have a plan.”

  I was back in place in the bomb shelter room where I’d found my psychic vibes were always turned on high. All the players were present and sitting at the table looking at me. Sister Hildegard had planted me at the head of the table. Almost like Thanksgiving dinner, but I didn’t see any pumpkin pie.

  “Everyone get comfortable,” Ernie said.

  Ernie began by laying out a plan that would involve each of us in some way. In the end, if it worked Dominick and Big Pete would either be apprehended or possibly dead. The usual I have come to expect from participating in these operations with Ernie and crew.

  “MC, we would like you to use your ability,” Ernie said.

  Sister Hildegard and Sister Matilda sat on either side of me and next to them were my Aunt Anna and my Aunt Sophia who had arrived earlier in the day. All the psychics were present and accounted for, the more the better for my psychic sense to work. Velma and Katrina sat next to my two aunts. Rodeo sat next to Velma. Ernie had three operatives standing guard. Izzy was back underneath the large table. Lucky for me he was quiet. Ernie was standing at my side holding an envelope which must have been sealed since he took a minute to open it and then place it directly in front of me.

  “I am going to share some information with you,” Ernie said as he moved the envelope a little closer to me. Sister Hildegard and Sister Matilda and both my aunts joined hands and reached out for mine. I felt like was at church. I took their hands and then looked at them.

  “I think I’m going to need the use of my hands to read what’s in that envelope,” I said.

  “Of course,” I felt Sister Matilda release my hand. Sister Hildegard maintained a grip and then let go.

  I picked up the envelope and took out a piece of paper. I flipped it front and back and then looked up at Ernie with a puzzled look and said,

  “It’s blank.”

  “It has DNA,” Rodeo said. “That’s all you need.”

  “Whose DNA?” I asked the operative looking at me from Rodeo’s handsome face.

  “Okay, this is weird, but hey, what else is new?” I said picking up the blank piece of paper.

  As I sat there holding it, Johnny Carson dressed like Carnac the Magnificent, popped into my mind, the mystic from the East who could “divine” unknown answers to unseen questions. I could see Johnny Carson doing a Great Carnac the Magnificent routine, like I was watching an old rerun of the Tonight Show. So, I put the blank sheet of paper up to my forehead, and everyone became quiet as I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths, something I remember from yoga class.

  That was when I saw it. A table covered with stacks of cash, more cash than I had ever seen in one place. I took a deep breath with the piece of paper on the front of my forehead, I saw a marina and a man standing on the dock.

  I opened my eyes and took another deep breath. My psychic sense told me the marina was in Fort Lauderdale and I knew the cash was sitting on a yacht in that marina.

  “Okay, I saw something,” I said. “I saw piles of cash sitting on a table. I also saw a marina and a man standing on a dock in the marina.”

  “I have the feeling that the cash is on a yacht in a marina in … Fort Lauderdale.”

  Ernie then handed me a second envelope and this time it contained a picture. It was a picture of the man I had clearly seen in my mind. “This is the man,” I said as I held the picture of the man. I had always avoided directly using any of my psychic brain out of fear. It now seemed as natural as breathing. The fear was gone, but I still felt apprehension. It was not something to take lightly.

  “Let’s hold hands,” Sister Hildegard said, and both she and Sister Matilda reached for my right and left hand, one at a time I noticed. Aunt Sophia and Aunt Anna joined in.

  I closed my eyes and went into the room. It
was dark, but I saw a safe in the wall. I opened my eyes and looked at the psychics in the room.

  “Katrina, will you join us,” Sister Hildegard asked. I watched as Katrina tentatively reached for my Aunt Sophia’s hand. I closed my eyes again and went back into that room in my mind’s eye, and when I did, I saw Katrina and a body. I knew the body was dead. I then saw a needle. I jumped back and would have tipped the chair over if one of Ernie’s operatives had not caught it in the nick of time.

  “What did you see?” Aunt Sophia said still holding onto Katrina’s hand which she raised higher. I knew she was sending me a signal.

  “I saw a safe,” I said looking at Katrina who looked back at me with a hard resolve in her eyes. “Katrina, do you know anything about a safe?”

  “In Dominick’s Fort Lauderdale house is a safe. I watched him open it many times. There are many papers in that safe,” Katrina said. “One night when he was called out unexpectedly, he forgot and left it open. I looked inside.”

  “What did you see?” I asked Katrina.

  “Cash, passports and a lot of papers,” she said.

  “Where is the safe?” Ernie asked.

  “It is behind the kitchen refrigerator.”

  “It’s getting late,” Ernie now said. “Let’s call it a night.”

  I said goodbye to my aunts, Sister Hildegard, and Sister Matilda. They stood in a circle around me as my Aunt Sophia took me in her arms and whispered, “You are getting close, please be ever so careful.”

  Katrina watched and then made her way to leave. I instinctively reached out to take her hand, but she did not take it. “You can see things,” she said. “Be very careful, Mary Catherine, your aunts are depending on you,” and then she left.

  Exiting the convent, I saw that Louie was waiting with Ernie.

  Ernie motioned for me and Velma to hop into Louie’s office and Rodeo joined us.

  Once we were seated, I knew another meeting was about to begin.

  “I have more word about the autopsy, ” Ernie said.