by K. J. Dahlen
When he entered his office on the ground floor, Yuri noted with a smile that Mikial was pouring a drink. It was barely eight in the morning but he was pouring a vodka. This was either good news or bad.
When he saw Yuri, he poured out a second glass. Handing his brother the shot glass, they clinked them together and downed the liquid.
Yuri gasped slightly then set the glass down and moved over to the desk. He sat down behind the desk while shaking his head at the heat in his throat burning so early in the day and stared at the man he loved as a brother. “What brings you here at this hour? Don’t you have businesses to run?”
Mikial nodded. “I do but something was brought to my attention that couldn’t wait.” With that, he reached inside his pocket and brought out his cell phone. Setting it on the desk, he waited for Yuri to take up the smart phone.
Yuri picked it up, stared at the image and frowned. “This is terrible and perhaps interesting, but why are you…?” His voice slowed. He remembered now. One night when they were just kids and Mikial had a nightmare. He’d had them often but this night, he had told his brothers his story. Yuri raised his concerned gaze. “Is this…” He couldn’t finish. So this was bad news.
Nodding, Mikal stared down at the desk. “It is the same MO.”
“And this happened when?”
Mikal shrugged. “Just 2 days ago.”
“Do not tell me.” Yuri sat forward. “This happened in Russia.” It was not a question.
Mikial nodded.
Yuri tilted his head at his brother. “How did you get this image?”
Mikal shrugged. “I still have friends in certain places there.”
Yuri let out a sigh. “What do you wish to do about this?”
“What can I do?”
Just then, the phone rang.
Not Mikal’s cell but Yuri’s office phone. He picked it up.
“Hello Yuri,” came a familiar voice.
“Sergi, what can we do for…” His eyes rose up to Mikal as he paused. “This is about the dead woman, correct?”
“Da, is Mikial there?”
“He is. He just showed me the photo.”
Sergi sighed. “That isn’t all.”
“Isn’t it bad enough?” Yuri asked.
“That woman… She is Anosk Valentin’s Granddaughter,” Sergi explained.
Yuri paused. “Your old friend on the Council?”
“Da, and he is… not so well since this happened.”
Yuri looked up at Mikal. “You do know this is of concern to my brother. He…Wait, while I put it on speaker, so he can speak for himself.” He pushed the button then nodded at Mikal.
“Mikal, son. I am sorry this has happened,” Sergi spoke to Mikal through the phone.
“I am too,” Mikal replied politely but he sounded angry. “What does it mean? This killer stopped killing… all these years, correct?”
“Da, you are correct. But this had started a year ago.”
Mikal looked upset to hear this. “A year?”
“Da, but the women were all prostitutes. Not that the fact made them any less important, but now he has killed a Bratva family member.”
“So Sergi, how has the council proposed to solve this?” Yuri asked.
“You must know that we have the best investigative team in all the world,” Sergi replied.
“The Enforcers,” Mikial added.
“Da and they are on their way here.”
“So this is why you called?” Yuri asked.
“No,” Sergi replied immediately. “We will need your man, Mikial here as well.”
“But why?” Yuri asked.
“He is a witness,” Sergi told them,
Yuri looked over at his brother.
Mikial nodded. “I am. I was only eight, but I saw this killer up close.”
“But that’s impossible. The killer would be like what? Seventy years old now?” Yuri asked.
“Well, no…” Mikal paused. “He was a young man even then like maybe 20 years old. So he might only be 50 now?”
Yuri let out a breath. “Ok, we will be there.”
“We?” Sergi asked then rectified it with, “Da, how could I forget. If it affects one brother…”
“…It affects us all,” Yuri finished as he sat back in his chair and stared at Mikial. “I will be there with him.”
“I will send a jet out to get you.” Sergi then ended the call.
That evening, they all came together in Yuri’s penthouse.
Yuri looked around at his brothers. “Mikial and I are heading to the home country later this evening.”
“This must be serious?” Barshan looked concerned.
Yuri nodded as he looked over at Mikial. It was his story to tell.
Mikal stood and grabbed the bottle of Vodka on the bar counter and then lined up 5 shot glasses. “You all have been my brothers since I was nine years old. If you will remember, one night when we were in one of those abandoned warehouses… I had another nightmare and that time, it was very bad…” he paused and poured the five shots then he spoke again, “I told you all why I was there, an orphan at the time.”
The men in the room all stilled. They did remember, how could anyone forget such a horrible story.
“We remember,” Roman spoke quietly.
“Has something happened concerning… that?” Sazon wanted to know.
“Da, it has.” Mikial turned from the bar. “They…” he paused then started again, “They have dead women, all of them match what happened… before.” He then motioned for his brothers to come and get their shots.
The men all looked stunned at this news. Then each one rose and came to the bar.
“But that was so long ago!” Barshan exclaimed as he came closer and grabbed his glass. “They cannot believe—”
“They do not believe anything,” Mikial cut him off. “They say I am a witness. In fact, I may be the only one from what I read on the internet in the Russian newspapers of these murders.”
Roman grabbed his shot. “So it might be the same killer as the one that…”
Mikial nodded. “Yes, the same one that killed my mother, thirty years ago.”
Silence fell in the room as the blood brothers all stood with their shots.
Finally, Mikial raised his glass.
In silence, his brothers raised theirs.
“Salu!” Mikal announced and downed his shot.
A moment went by, as all the brothers remained silent. They felt for Mikial, to have to relive that horrible event in his life. Maybe this would be the closure that he never had. Each man privately hoped so.
“Salu!” His brothers all finally joined him raising their glasses and downing the clear heat in their shot glasses.
Chapter Four
The White Building in Lubyanka Square, Moscow, Russia
Heading down the hall, Andrey and the team followed Viktor.
They had just touched down on the tarmac, only thirty minutes ago. They had no time to even adjust to the time change as they hopped into the Limos sent for them by Sergi. But they were all used to this sort of thing, doing what they all did for the Bratva. It didn’t seem to faze any of them as they all strode behind Viktor through the familiar huge lobby and up the spiral stairs.
They all then entered into the main room of the Bratva council through the ornate double doors bearing the Eagle Star Symbol of the Bratva organization.
Viktor then broke off from his team to approach the area where Sergi, Yuri and Mikial were standing. Kosta, Yuri’s man was in attendance as well.
Andrey wondered what this part of the Bratva was doing here. He knew them all as they had worked together on a couple of missions. They had all stayed in Yuri’s hotel before as well. He briefly thought about those missions. Did this murder case somehow involve them?
Viktor had a short discussion with them, then he went over to where his men stood.
Andrey knew that in chambers, Viktor wouldn’t brief them on why Yuri a
nd his men were here. They would have to wait and see as this unfolded.
Sergi headed to the council table, where ten men sat in various chairs along the massive table.
Andrey looked the men over. These powerful Bratva leaders each had rule over a different Province within Russia. He paused though in his perusal. One member was missing, as there were usually 12 that included Sergi in that count.
That one member was a man Andrey knew fairly well. He wondered what this meant to the case. Why was Valentin missing today? Considering the last time this happened, it had happened in Valentin’s province. The same place Andrey was born and raised. The same place where his life had changed forever, one cold afternoon.
The members, who were in attendance, were all looking at something as each had a file in front of them. Their expressions varied but not by much. Some looked stone-faced while others looked a bit pale. At least three looked angered.
If Andrey was right, they were looking at the murders. This all was unsettling to him. He knew that today that black hole he had thought to shore up was going to open and he just hoped it wouldn’t swallow him whole. He took a deep breath and sat down.
Suddenly, all the men in the room turned to the doors as another man came in.
Right off, he looked like cop and he was dressed in a suit, albeit a wrinkled one. He looked nervous as he walked forward and sat in a chair to the side of the room.
Sergi nodded at the man and made his way to the main table where all the other members sat. He turned and faced the room while looking at the men sitting in the Council chambers. “You all are here for a…” He cleared his throat. “Here in Moscow, we have a deadly killer. Most who live here know of what I speak. The Fokusnik- killer.”
Andrey blinked. Magician? They have named him this? This title surprised him, as there had been nothing magic about this killer. He said nothing however.
Sergi went on, “This man…” He motioned to the late arrival, the man in the crumpled suit. “Is FSS Inspector Angus Aldokim and he has been on this case since this string of killings started here in Moscow.”
The man in the drab, wrinkled suit gave them all a brief nod.
“He has all the details that your team should know, Viktor.” Sergi nodded toward Viktor as he announced this fact.
The inspector looked over at Viktor with a curious expression on his face. He didn’t seem to understand who Viktor was.
Sergi caught this. “Inspector… These men are a special team that we have. They hunt down…The evil in Bratva.”
Angus stared at him for a few seconds then he gazed over at Viktor and to the row of his men, including Andrey. Suddenly, his eyes widened as if he realized exactly who they were.
Andrey shook his head. Most never saw them in person. All of Russia knew of them. However, some even believed the Enforcers were a myth meant to scare would be greedy Bratva members from turning, or from cheating the Bratva. Then there were some, who knew for sure they existed. Some innocent people and some not so innocent, who were caught up in these Bratva criminal’s schemes. The men they tracked down however, usually never lived long enough to speak about them though.
Andrey stared at the inspector. Why they had this man here was beyond him. The FSS couldn’t catch a damn dead fly as far as he knew.
Sergi motioned to Angus.
The man looked bewildered and out of sorts as he stood up. He started to speak then had to clear his throat and start again, “It started a full year ago… maybe 13 months as he kills once per month. That is just one of his eccentric patterns and he has many. In your files that was sent to you by the FSS,” Angus said this with a little shock in his voice that such a thing ever occurred in the first place. Bratva and the FSS working side by side. “You will see that the first victim was a prostitute, known as one too. Victim number one, Marika Nickolis, she tended to spend a lot of time at the Red Star Pub, the one she was reported to be at just before she was killed. However, she was found in a motel room, propped up on the bed, with garish makeup and curlers in her hair…” Angus paused as if he needed to compose himself as if remembering the crime scene.
Sergi nodded. “We have all this in the files and Viktor’s team will read it all tonight.”
Angus looked relieved to not have to make anymore statements and started to sit down, then he seemed to change his mind as he spoke again, “It is not publicly known that he has one odd quirk, something he leaves with his victims and it is not in the files you have. We have left it out of all news reports. It is not known by any except a few.”
“He leaves a rose with the victim,” a voice spoke from the other side of the room.
Everyone swung their gazes over.
Mikial Bannonkov stood up, as he was the one to state this.
Andrey also stood up. “Da, and it is always a red rose.”
Now all the men in the room swung their gazes over to Andrey.
Angus looked back and forth at the two men, his eyes widening. “Bud’ ya proklyat! H-how did you both know this?”
Mikial’s gaze met Andrey’s hard gaze. “Because we both have seen this killer, I am assuming.”
“Da,” Andrey answered. “We have. However, I also saw him dead.”
Surprised murmurs hummed around the room. This news seemed to surprise everyone.
Angus’ eyes seemed to pop out of his head as he took a step forward. “You both KNOW what he looks like?” He had paled by at least two shades. He acted as if he hadn’t heard what Andrey had just stated as he seemed preoccupied with the fact that these two men were true witnesses to this horrible killer.
The two men nodded.
“But I must state that it is impossible for it to be the same killer,” Andrey added.
Angus looked entirely lost, baffled and upset as he looked back and forth at the two men as if he were seeing and hearing something astonishing.
The room became loud while everyone was whispering and or talking at once.
“Uspokoit’sya!” Sergi called out for then to quiet down.
The room immediately quieted.
“This is why both these men are here.” Sergi looked over at Mikial. “It would help if each of you stated what happened. I do realize this may be painful for you, but this is needed. We need to stop this madman.”
Mikial looked saddened as he nodded and stated numbly, “I was eight years old.”
Murmurs echoed among the men at this shocking statement.
“Da, a small boy.” Mikial nodded as he went on, “I was up in my room. My mother entertained men.” He looked around to meet anyone’s gaze as if he expected some ridicule over this admission.
None came as all of them sat still to listen.
“I heard her scream,” Mikial continued. “It was a sound I would hear in my nightmares for many, many years later.” He seemed to have to compose himself a bit before he spoke again, “I crept down the stairs— to see…” He took a deep breath and went on, “This man had slit her throat, and he was cleaning it up in fact. I was in shock and I also refused to believe what I saw. In my child’s mind, I could not register the fact that she—was dead. He worked on her for at least a half hour, applying makeup and fixing her hair, then he covered her clean neck with a blue scarf…” He slowed as if he remembered it all and was now visibly trembling as he finally continued, “He put a rose in her hand. S-she looked alive, utterly alive. Like I had seen her look the last time she went out to the store. I stayed hidden until he left. I was but a small boy and he was five times my size. Finally, I came down the stairs and looked at her. I tried to get her to speak—I…” Mikal suddenly sat down, as he seemed to not have anything left that he cared to say.
The men at the table and the men in the chairs all looked like stone. To hear such a tale, it seemed to affect even the toughest, most jaded men in the room.
Yuri patted his brother’s arm as tears had formed in his eyes. He did not look ashamed to be displaying his empathy for all to see as a lone tear trickled down h
is cheek. He didn’t even swipe it away.
Andrey had sat and listened his mind and body not riveted by the tale, but enraged by it. The entire time Mikial spoke, Andrey almost dared not to breathe. He knew of what Mikial endured. He knew what his poor mother must have looked like in the end. To think that they had this horrible thing in common and never knew it during the times they had met before… Suddenly, for Andrey—it all slipped. He felt a red rage boiling inside. A rage like he hadn’t felt in a very long time. No apathy was there to cover this feeling as he had covered up and buried the fury for a long time. It had been so long that he had actually believed the emotion was entirely gone.
But it wasn’t, it had been there ne beneath the layers of his growing years, beneath the soldier facet of him, the man he had become. He couldn’t make it go away now, he had no chance to push it down or dismiss it. He had to face the dark cloud again.
Sergi now looked over at Andrey.
Andrey attempted to calm himself. He could not allow these men, well everyone, to see how this had affected him. He stood and turned to look over at Mikial and spoke in a calm, flat tone, “This killer… He did the same to my sister. She was only seventeen years old. I was fifteen. I was not a boy. I came in just as he had her propped up at our kitchen table. His bloody knife still there, his makeup still there.” He paused to take a breath. Andrey vividly saw it all in his mind now… even the blue scarf that their mother had left for her. The colors of this very old memory, abruptly all went from the vague black & white he had faded them to over the years… To full bright tones. He had to pause to gather just the right words that wouldn’t show how much anger he had over this part of his life.
The men in the room all looked very uncomfortable, though they all sat patiently and waited for the rest.
“But I wasn’t a kid,” Andrey finally started to speak again. “Not a man yet, but I was not a child. I fully realized that she was dead. Bylad… I knew she was!” His voice rose. “I got my blade from my pocket, the one I always carried to protect myself, given to me by my father before he died. Without any thought and only feeling anger, I crept up behind him and I slit his throat with all my might. I turned him around as his blood was soaking us both and said…” Andrey swallowed heavily and shouted, “How did that feel, you fucking bastard?!”
