by KJ Dahlen
Sergi turned and walked over to one of the four cars waiting for them.
The men all split up. They all rode in SUVs, as was custom Viktor supposed here in America. In Russia, they all used SUV as well or sedans.
Soon, they were on their way into the city.
When they arrived at the hotel, Viktor was able to appreciate and welcome the end of his long journey. As he got out of the vehicle and stretched his limbs in the underground parking lot, he could see Sergi walking toward the elevator. Going to the back of the SUV, he gathered his belongings and walked toward where Sergi and Misha were waiting.
Once they all got in the elevator, it whisked them up to the top floors. They all then gathered in Yuri’s penthouse.
When all his men were present, Yuri called down for food. Before the food arrived, Yuri poured them all a drink and welcomed them to his city.
Viktor slammed his drink back and felt the burn of the vodka all the way down to his stomach. Even though the vodka was top notch, he still felt the burn, but he enjoyed the feeling of the slow burn. The vodka gave him a second breath after such a long trip. He looked over at Sergi. “So, we know why we were called in, but we’ll need the information you brought us over here on. I was told you had a starting point?”
Sergi nodded. “We have a diary of the woman he took hostage twenty six years ago. She was Vatali’s daughter and that’s how we came into the picture. Kosta is married to her daughter now and she can probably tell you more. We have a man downstairs under guard that thought to procure his own line of women and was on his way to setting up his own empire from Tegan’s example. He has told us some but not all of his plans and we feel he has much more to tell us but he isn’t saying anything yet.”
Viktor turned to his man Deter and smiled. Deter would get whatever this man knew. Giving him a nod, he turned back to Sergi. “Maybe Deter can help with that. Deter can get his secrets.”
Sergi nodded. Before he could say anything, the doorbell rang.
The food had arrived and for a while, they all sat down and ate.
By then, the jet lag had taken hold and Viktor felt tired. He could see his other men were tired as well.
Sergi nodded as if he knew the situation. “I think what we have for you will wait for a while. You and your men need some sleep. Why don’t you take a rest and we can get together later? We’ll give the information you require after supper and you can begin then.”
Viktor nodded then glanced over at Kosta. “Will your wife be up for a visit later this afternoon? I would really like to speak to her. The more facts we have going in, the better we like it. My man Matvey has already started on the information we were able to begin with but to know where to find this man we have to know his secrets as well.”
Kosta struggled with his request. He didn’t want anyone speaking to Salt but he knew she would want to speak to him. She wanted this man caught for what he’d done to her mother. He nodded reluctantly. “Da, she will want to talk to you as well.”
Viktor smiled at him as he felt the man’s reluctance. “I will be gentle with her. I would never disrespect her or you. I am only here to get answers.”
“I know that and so does she,” Kosta admitted. “But she was shot the other day and I worry over her.”
Viktor glanced over at Sergi, then to Vatali and frowned. “No one mentioned she was injured. Is she all right?”
“Da, she will be, with time,” Sergi told him. “She took a couple of bullets meant to kill Mikial’s wife, Pepper. Pepper and she had been friends since they were both small children. They lost touch after her father murdered her mother and took her away. The trauma of the event took Pepper’s memory for most of her growing up years and they just found each other again. Then this problem came up with Alexi and we found out about Tegan Averin.”
Viktor got a sense of dread deep in his soul. This case wasn’t going to be a cake walk and there were lives at stake here. If this man had been here building his empire for this long, they had a lot of work to do to tear it down. But it would have to wait at least another day. He shrugged. “Between what we get from Kosta’s wife and this man Alexi, we should be good to begin our search.”
“Then get some rest and we’ll convene this later today.” Sergi nodded to him.
“Da, I think I will,” Viktor agreed.
Yuri motioned toward the door. “You and your men are on the floor beneath this one. You’ll be shown to your rooms and I’ll have the paperwork we have sent down to you, so you can review it before we meet this afternoon.”
Viktor nodded and grabbing his bags, he moved toward the door. He followed Kosta down the hall to the elevator and then to the floor below the penthouse level. He took one of the rooms Kosta pointed to but before he could go to the door, Kosta grabbed his arm.
Viktor looked down at the other man’s hold.
Kosta wouldn’t let go.
No one touched him in this manner in the world he lived in. He raised his gaze Kosta.
“My wife Sahara means the world to me.” Kosta stared into his eyes as he spoke, “I would die to protect her, even from her newly found Grandfather. I know you came here to hunt down a man who stole her mother, but I also know this same man might still be looking for Sahara. He might want to take her instead. I want you to know if that happens, I will kill him with my bare hands if need be. She will be safe from him.”
Viktor stared at him for a long moment then said, “She belongs to you, I get that. I came here to hunt down this man and find him I will. My job is to destroy everything he has going and I will do that. Just don’t get in my way. Protect your woman if you think she needs it. Just know that what this man does to these women is criminal and I will set them free to get whatever life they might have left. Every woman out there in your world or mine should have the right to say no and every man out there should respect that. There is no honor in what he does and he will learn that very important fact of life. Men like Tegan Averin shouldn’t be allowed to breathe and by the time I catch him, he will know what I mean to do to him. When I end his life he will know the reason why.” Viktor pulled his arm free of Kosta’s hold and walked to his door. Without looking back, he opened it and went inside.
Chapter Two
Viktor rested for a couple of hours and then got up. When he opened his door, he found a large manila envelope waiting for him. Looking down the hall, he saw more envelopes in front of the other doors. He picked his up and taking it into his room, he went to the kitchenette and made a pot of coffee. Before he looked at the information, he poured himself a cup of hot coffee.
Then he sat down at the small table and opened the package.
He then began to read the words of a dead woman.
Viktor cleared his mind and began reading the words without any emotion churning in his belly. The man she described was nothing more than a figment in his mind and he did not become real to Viktor until he got a sense of what kind of man he really was.
It was on almost the last page in the first book that he got somewhat of an idea who he was dealing with. Galina had written about an encounter with an MC group. She called them the Ghost Fire Riders. She talked about a forgotten warehouse on the east side of Lake Pontchartrain, near the town of Covington. A warehouse lost in the swamps of the lake. That no one ever comes there, as they’d been afraid of the MC who took over the place, but she states Tegan felt safe there. The locals called the place Ghost Swamp and the MC fights hard to keep the people away from them and whatever they are doing out there.
Viktor made a note of the place as it could give them a starting point in their search for this man Tegan.
Sipping his coffee, he thought about what kind of woman this Galina was back then. She was a warrior at heart he could already tell this just by reading what she had written. He hadn’t liked what Vatali had done to her, but he knew enough to know Vatali was old school. He was older than most of the men he knew today, and he knew the other man was set in his ways, as were mos
t older men.
The one thing they seemed to all have in common was the fact they were all stubborn bastards that didn’t like to hear the word no. Even his own daughter’s words told him that much.
Going to his suitcase, he pulled out a place map and began looking over the terrain of the area of the lake. He studied the different routes in and out of the area. Then he grabbed his laptop and brought up satellite photos of the area. He printed pictures of the area so they could study them later but as he was looking at one such photo he thought he found what he was looking for. Zooming in, he found himself looking at the warehouse and it seemed to have some recent activity around it. Snapping screen shots of everything he could find, Viktor printed them out for future study later.
He was about to move on when he heard a knock on his door. Heading to the door, he opened it to find his man Adrik. He peeked down the hall and saw Andrey and Matvey coming down to meet them. Looking the other way, he saw Grisha, Ivan and Deter waiting outside their doors. Viktor gathered what he thought he would need and followed his men down to the elevators. They picked up Pyotr along the way and as a group, the eight men stepped on the car lift.
Pushing the button for the floor above theirs, they were whisked up to the penthouse floor. When they got off they were met by two of Yuri’s security men and Viktor expected no less. When they reached the door to the penthouse, another man stood there. He opened the door and allowed the eight men to enter.
Yuri greeted them as soon as they entered the apartment. When he showed them into the living room area Viktor found the rest of the group waiting for them to arrive. Sergi held out his hand and Viktor shook it. Then he turned to introduce his team.
Viktor turned and watched Kosta hovering over a small woman with dark hair. He gazed down at her with a look in his eyes that led Viktor to believe this woman was his wife Sahara. She was the woman he wanted to meet. She would be the one who could tell him what kind of a woman her mother really was. He took a moment to study her and he found himself almost envying Kosta for the look she had in her eyes when she looked at him. Her whole face glowed with love for the other man and that was something Viktor never thought he would find.
He walked over to Kosta and Sahara.
Kosta stiffened as he watched the other man draw near. He Stood between Viktor and his wife. Crossing his huge arms over his huge chest, he glared at the other man.
Finally, Viktor broke the uneasy silence. “I am not the enemy here my friend.” His words were low and guttural. “I will not disrespect you, or her or anyone in this room. I’m here to find and destroy someone who should never have been born.”
A small hand came out from behind Kosta and when her fingers entangled with his Kosta took a breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he took a step to one side, exposing his wife to Viktor’s gaze.
He turned his face to hers and was stunned by her beauty. Her eyes shown and her skin looked pale but it had a glow of love for the man standing next to her that showed.
Viktor held out his hand to her and she took it. “My name is Viktor Andronikov. I am a Bratva Enforcer otherwise known as a Nomad. We travel from place to place taking care of business for the Bratva.”
“Hello, my name is Sahara Grigori. I’m sure it was my grandfather who called you into this mess and I apologize for that.”
“Please don’t be sorry for calling us in.” Viktor stated. “This man needs to be stopped. And after reviewing the diaries your mother left, I am happy to be here. It will be my pleasure to tear his world apart and end his reign of horror.”
“What do you need from me?” Salt asked him.
“I need to know what kind of woman your mother was.” He told her. “I have an idea through her words. She wrote to you in her diaries, but I need to know from a daughter’s point of view what kind of woman she was.”
“She was the best mom I ever knew,” Salt told him. “She was warm and loving and tried to teach me everything she thought I would ever need to know.”
“What kinds of things would those be?” Viktor asked as he sat down opposite her. Kosta sat down beside her but Viktor ignored the other man.
“Well let’s see...” Salt tipped back her head closed her eyes and thought back to her childhood, to a happier time when she felt surrounded by her mother’s love. “She loved to dig in the dirt and plant the seeds that would someday grow food or flowers. She said we should use the senses God gave us and live off the land in a way He would approve. She often told me it took more time to strike someone than it took to help them instead. She was a firm believer in Karma and that whatever we did in life, the consequences would come back around. If we were evil then karma would haunt us the rest of our days, but if we were good and kind then karma would reward us, day after day.”
“What else did she teach you?” he asked.
Salt then looked at Viktor. “That words often spoken in anger were the ones that hurt the worst. She said her father was usually a good man but when he lost his temper, his words and actions were harsh and unbending. She said that when he didn’t believe her once he tossed her aside for nothing more than his pride and that when he turned his back on her she lost all respect for him. It took her a long time to forgive him but in the end, she finally did. She told me she could forgive him for his part in what happened because if she hadn’t she never would have had me. She told me she would never regret having me in her life. She was a caring woman who lived a life not many would want but through all the hardships, she survived. I never went hungry or left the house dirty. She always gave me a kiss goodnight and when I got big enough to help her, I did. She never considered work that hard. As we worked side by side she would tell me stories of her growing up in Russia.”
Viktor smiled as she reminisced about her mother. From what she had written and Salt’s words, he painted a picture in his mind. Galina Anishin was born a woman of rare breeding who adapted to a strange and difficult new life. A life she hadn’t thought about or wanted but she had made the best of her situation. She had been as strong willed and stubborn as her father, soft and caring as a mother and she had survived the living hell of being abducted. She had been quick and clever in getting away from her Captor and sly as a fox in avoiding recapture.
Viktor knew enough about Galina now to begin his search. He lifted Salt’s hand from her lap and raised it to his lips. Even as he never pursed his lips, he brushed them over her skin. Then he released his hold.
Salt’s hand slipped back to her lap and Kosta glared at the other man. Viktor smiled and gave the other man, Kosta a nod of acknowledgement. “Thank you for speaking to me. I think I would have liked to meet you mother. She sounds like a remarkable woman. And I hear congratulations are in order. I want to wish both you and Kosta a very happy marriage. May it be long and give you both exactly what you want.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him.
“I know this is not something I should probably speak to you about but is there anything you would like to know from Alexi. My friend Deter is going to question him about his business practices. We need to know what he has in common with Tegan.”
Salt hesitated then looked over at Kosta. Looking back at Viktor she asked, “Could you find out if he murdered my mother? I strongly have reason to believe he poisoned her, to separate us.”
Viktor felt his heart stop beating for a moment, then he felt a rush of rage swamp his insides. His face never changed but his eyes did get colder. A fact Kosta was quick to notice. But he just narrowed his own eyes as he stared at the other man.
Viktor turned his head and saw Kosta knew what was going through his mind. He nodded slightly then turned back to Salt. “Of course I will ask, and if he had anything to do with her death I will tell you.”
“Thank you,” Salt said.
~*~
An hour later Sergi, Yuri, Deter and Viktor stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall to a special room Yuri had set up.
As they opened the door
, they saw Alexi Lexor. He was tied to a chair in the middle of the room. He was battered and had dried blood covering almost his entire body. His clothes were torn and deep bruises covered his skin.
“What the hell is this?” he swore.
“We have a few more questions,” Sergi stated.
“You know damn well I’m not going to answer your questions. Where is my representative from the Ukrainian embassy?” Alexi screamed out. “As a Bratva, I deserve that much.”
“You are lucky to be alive at all.” Yuri growled.
“I had nothing to do with the attack on Salt, if that’s what that lying bitch is saying.” Alexi groaned.
“No one was asking about that although the evidence is pointing that you did indeed set that up. We know it and you can deny it all you want but we know the truth.” Sergi glared at Alexi. “I want to introduce you to some friends of mine from Russia. Viktor and Deter. They belong to a group you may have heard about, The Nomads.”
Alexi paled as he stared at the two men staring back. He studied them carefully then looked back at Sergi. “Why are they here?”
“They are looking for a man named Tegan Averin. I believe you know the man.”
Alexi wet his dry lips. “What makes you think I might know him?”
“You, Demi and McKenna knight were seen together. Now McKenna Knight is beyond our asking her about him and Demi hasn’t shown up yet so all we got to ask is you.” Sergi nodded. “So we must ask you the questions we need answers for.”
“And if I tell you I don’t know the man?” Alexi bluffed.
“Then Deter keeps asking the question,” Viktor assured him. “He is well versed in getting people to tell him the truth. He will get the truth from you, I assure you. The only question left to answer is how much pain can you stand before you give in to his questions?”
“What do you say we find out?” Deter asked. He took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Linking his fingers, he cracked his knuckles and tightened his hands into hammer fists.
