Best Laid Plans

by Stylo Fantome

  “You realize all of this wouldn’t be necessary, if you’d just stayed with her in the first place,” Kingsley pointed out.

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  They parked a couple blocks away from the hotel and suited up. Every piece of gear Marc had listed off was eventually attached to his body in some way; even the shotgun was resting against the length of his spine, the crowbar right next to it. He pulled on the final strap of his new flak jacket, tightening it as much as possible.

  “So, how do you want to do this? Set up a standard stakeout? Case the hotel, sweep for other -” Kingsley started while they walked down the street.

  “Let’s just worry about getting to her before anyone else does, okay? Once we do that, we can talk about the plan,” Marc said.

  “Right.”

  They came around a corner, exiting an alley and coming out onto a main road. Lily’s hotel was across the street and a couple doors down. They’d only walked a few feet when something caught Marc’s eyes. He swung out his arm, slapping his hand against Kingsley’s chest, stopping him. He stared for a second longer, then grabbed the other man’s tie and yanked on it, dropping them both to the ground.

  “What the fuck is that!?” he hissed, crouching down and scurrying to the front of a parked car.

  “I can’t see anything, move,” Kingsley said, shoving at his shoulder. Marc let the Brit get ahead of him, and watched as he pulled a small pair of binoculars out of his pocket.

  “Tell me everything,” Marc instructed.

  “Looks like four Escalades. Tinted windows. Diplomatic flags. Small contingency of body guards – seven … no, eight,” Kingsley listed off.

  “Byki,” Marc whispered. Bratva bodyguards. He yanked the binoculars away and looked through them. He recognized some of the men on the other side of the street, he’d spent time with them in Liberia.

  “The doors!” Kingsley snapped.

  Marc shifted his gaze, watching the front of the hotel. One door had opened, then a second was pushed open as well. A man in a black suit came out – another bodyguard. Then another. Then the pig himself, Ivanov. Marc clenched his jaw, preparing himself for what he knew was coming.

  She looked pissed, and she wasn’t wearing any pants, but Lily was in one piece, and that’s what mattered the most to him. She had her wrists pinned behind her back and the men on either side of her were holding her arms, almost carrying her down the steps. Her toes barely brushed the ground. She wasn’t struggling, smart girl, but her mouth was moving double time, and if he hadn’t felt like puking, Marc would have smiled as he imagined the things she was saying.

  “Go get the car,” he stated.

  “Huh?”

  “Go get the fucking car. Now!”

  While Kingsley took off back down the alley, Marc watched the scene unfold. Ivanov was saying something to Lily, holding her face between his hands. She was scowling and trying to pull free. He laughed at whatever she said, then moved his hands, cupping her breasts. Marc’s vision turned red.

  He dies first.

  She spit in Ivanov’s face, and when he went to rub the saliva way, she kicked him in the balls, sending him to his knees. One of the bodyguards grabbed her by the back of the head, yanking her back by her hair. Marc could hear her shriek all the way from his hiding place, and he grimaced.

  Ivanov eventually stood up. She got slapped across the face, twice, then everyone was instructed to load up. Marc balanced on his toes, ready to sprint if necessary. If Kingsley didn’t show up soon, Marc was going to try to take over one of the cars. Or hitch on beneath one. Anything. He couldn’t lose them. Couldn’t lose her.

  The cars began filling up with people, with Ivanov and Lily in the third car. Then car one started to pull away. Then car two. Marc stood up and started walking forward as car three began to roll, but then a car squealed to a stop next to him. He turned to see Kingsley leaning across the seat, pushing the passenger door open. Marc dove into the vehicle.

  “They’ve got her,” he breathed, buckling himself in. “Ivanov is with her. She looks pissed.”

  “Doesn’t sound good.”

  “No, they’ve never seen her pissed. I’m almost scared for them.”

  They wove their way through Tangier, keeping three cars between them and Ivanov’s entourage at all times. Kingsley got on his phone, started barking out questions to any informants he knew, trying to figure out where she was being taken. No one seemed to know anything – Ivanov’s presence in Tangier was a surprise. Why would he be there, if he’d taken a hit out on Lily?

  Maybe he didn’t take out the hit. Boss man Stankovski …

  They followed them to the outer reaches of the city, putting more and more distance between them. Marc put on his radio, strapping the apparatus around his neck. He set the channels, then tossed the other radio into Kingsley’s lap.

  Get ready.

  The small motorcade pulled in behind what looked like an abandoned medical center, in a sketchy neighborhood. No one was on the streets, and the apartment buildings surrounding them also looked to be mostly abandoned. Kingsley cruised by, with Marc laying back in his seat, invisible from the outside. They went down the street, took two lefts, then headed up the small street that ran parallel to the one they’d just come down.

  They parked in front of a squatty apartment building and Marc hopped out before the car even stopped rolling. He got into the backseat and began hauling out the rest of their gear. He watched as Kingsley took off his suit jacket and began putting his “work” clothes back on – black knit sweater. Black flak jacket over it. Black slacks. Black gloves. Then he put on his radio.

  “You hear this?” Marc checked, pushing down on the device that rested against this throat.

  “Good to go,” Kingsley’s voice whispered through the ear piece.

  “Okay, once I get across the street, leave the mics on. I’m just gonna find an entrance and go. You set up, get a view. See if you can find what room they’re in, help me out. You see shit go down, start shooting, okay? Don’t worry about me, just take out anyone standing in her way,” Marc instructed.

  “No problem. You sure about this?”

  Marc stopped for a second. He’d never gone into a job so unprepared, before; well, not counting the whole last week. Usually, when he was going for an extraction, or a heist, he knew the property backwards and forwards. He knew most of the individuals who would be on the property. He had a route mapped out, multiple entrance points, and multiple exit points. He had a plan.

  He knew nothing of the building he was about to enter, he had no clue how many men would actually be inside, and he had no idea what kind of condition Lily would be in once he found her.

  He had no plan.

  “Positive. Let’s go get that wildcat,” he sighed. The two men nodded to each other, then Marc took off jogging.

  Hold on, Lily. Don’t say anything that’ll get you shot. I’m coming. Just hold on.

  DAY NINE

  Well, if this ain’t a bitch …

  Lily sighed, resting her forehead against her bicep. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, trying to alleviate the pressure in her legs. She had an itch between her shoulder blades that was threatening to drive her insane, but she couldn’t reach it.

  Her wrists were handcuffed together and hooked to a chain, which was hanging from the ceiling.

  It was fitting. Her week had begun with her being chained up. Now it was ending that way. Possibly ending permanently. She leaned her head back, looking to see where the chain was attached. A heavy metal plate with a ring in it was bolted to the cement ceiling, with the chain running through the ring. She furrowed her brow, examining the metal plate.

  Hmmm.

  Ivanov was pissed. At the hotel, he’d tossed both the fake room and the room she’d booked for herself, and he hadn’t been able to find the diamonds. She’d had multiple guns shoved into various parts of her anatomy, and she’d been smacked around plenty, but she hadn’t said a word. Not
one word since they’d left the hotel. It drove the other men insane, earned her more hits, but still she kept her mouth shut.

  Lily used the time to think. How was she going to get herself free. She was wearing her bikini and the sleeveless shirt, that was it. Not even shoes. She had no firearms. She was chained up. Once again, just like the beginning of her week, the only weapon she had was the diamonds. She was the only person who knew their whereabouts.

  I have to get out of here. But how? God, this would be easier if Marc was here.

  She kept staring at the metal plate, then her eyes followed the chain, all the way to the handcuffs she was wearing. Then back up again. She licked her lips and glanced around. She was alone in a room on the third floor of a building, the windows all facing an apartment building. No one could see her. She took several quick, sharp breaths, then let her legs go completely limp, forcing her wrists to catch all her weight.

  “Fuck!” she hissed, biting into her bottom lip as she got her feet back underneath herself.

  She looked up again and smiled. It had hurt like a bitch, the metal from the cuffs cutting into her skin, but it had worked. Several small cracks had formed in the rock around the plate. She stood upright on her toes, gripped the chain between her hands this time, then dropped herself again. She winced, the cuffs still scraping, but it wasn’t as bad as before, and there were definitely more cracks.

  This could work.

  After several more drops, her left wrist was bleeding, the crimson liquid trailing down her raised arm. Either she was going to rip the plate out of the ceiling, or she was going to be able to slip free of the cuff, dislocating her thumb and ripping off a layer of skin in the process. She wasn’t sure which would happen first, and she didn’t really care. As long as she was free.

  “Liliana!”

  The door burst open and Lily got back onto her feet. She lifted her arms up as high as they would go, trying to relieve some of the pain in her wrists. Ivanov waddled into the room, and several large men filed in after him.

  “Did you bring breakfast? I’m starving,” Lily sighed. Ivanov chortled and laughed as he dragged a chair across the room so he could sit in front of her.

  “Were you always this funny, Ms. Lily? I wish we would have talked more,” he snickered.

  “Eh, I don’t think you’d get my sense of humor.”

  “True.”

  “What is this about? I mean, I enjoy a bit of kink as much as the next girl,” Lily joked, shaking her chains for emphasis, “but this is a bit extreme.”

  “Liliana, you cannot disappear with my diamonds and not expect me to be a little upset,” he replied.

  “Disappear? I told you what happened, you know what happened. I did the best I could, he had me chained to him! I still finished the job. I still made it here, I can still make it to Moscow,” Lily snapped, her teeth clenched together.

  “That will be unnecessary.”

  “Why? I don’t understand. I got away from him, I kept them safe,” she stressed.

  “Yes, that is what you say. But where are diamonds?” he asked.

  She swallowed thickly.

  “Safe.”

  “We searched your room and the other room. And entire hotel. No stones. I would very much like to see them,” he told her. She took a deep breath.

  Plan. Plan. Stick to the plan.

  “Let me go,” she said.

  “Impossible.”

  “I’m the only one who knows where they are, I hid them somewhere,” she told him.

  “And why would you do that? If you are innocent like you claim.”

  “Because I knew you probably wouldn’t believe me, and I am not going to die in this country. Not for those stones. Not at your hands,” Lily swore.

  “We shall see about that. Alexei,” Ivanov snapped his fingers at one of the men in the room, gesturing for him to come forward. The young man stepped towards her and without hesitating, he wrapped his hands around Lily’s neck and squeezed.

  “You’ll never find them! You’ll never find them!” she managed to shriek before her air supply could be cut off. The choking stopped, but he didn’t remove his hands. Lily stayed on her toes, staring at Ivanov out of the corner of her eye.

  “Tell us where they are, Liliana. Our reach is very far. You wouldn’t like to see your family hurt,” he threatened. She just barely stopped herself from laughing.

  “You don’t even know what my last name really is,” she hissed.

  “Alexei.”

  The young man in front of her squeezed her neck so hard, her blood immediately began to rush to her ears. She shook her body back and forth, trying to break free, but he was like a tree trunk. Unwavering. So she hiked back her leg and kicked him in the nuts, as hard as she could. Like she was trying to make a 300 yard field goal. He let out a string of Russian words that could only be curses, then fell to his knees. Lily hacked and coughed, sucking in air.

  “Let me go … and I’ll take you … take you to the stones …,” she gasped.

  “Tell us where stones are, and then maybe I let you go!” Ivanov yelled back.

  “No. I’m not dying here. I will not die here,” she breathed.

  “You will die, and it will be very slow, and it will be very painful, I assure you,” he threatened. The young man managed to get to his knees, his face beet red, his own breathing haggard.

  “Why the theatrics, Ivanov? You barely ever left the safe house in Liberia. Now you’re flying all the way to Morocco? Threatening me, when if you’d just let me go, the diamonds would be yours. Why?” Lily asked.

  Before Ivanov could answer, the man he’d called Alexei got to his feet and slapped Lily, with the full force of his arm. She flew to the side, her legs going out from underneath her, and she howled in pain. Not from the hit, but from the handcuffs biting into her already bruised and bleeding wrists. She struggled to stand upright.

  “You do not question me, girl! I came here for stones, and only for stones! Stankovski’s stones!” Ivanov was yelling, his face turning red. She glanced up, noticing that the metal plate was even looser than before, wiggling in place above her as she moved around.

  “And I want to give you the stones! So let me go!” she yelled back.

  “No. I have other ways of making you talk, stupid girl. Do you like your toes? Because you are about to lose some of them. They will make excellent additions to my collection,” he informed her.

  “Please,” she moaned, reduced to begging. “Please. This doesn’t have to be like this – we were partners in Liberia. We still are. Same team. You don’t have to do this, I will give you the stones. You can come with me.”

  “We are not on same team. We are not even on same field. You will tell me where the stones are, and then you and stones will be given to Stankovski as gift,” he informed her. She frowned. Something seemed off.

  “Why would he want me? Even as a gift? I’m not his type.”

  “As apology, for delay in getting stones.”

  “But surely even he would understand – De Sant is dead, that’s what he wanted, right? He got his revenge. Why would he need an apology from you?” Lily asked.

  “It does not matter! That he became involved is worthy of apology!” Ivanov yelled.

  “Became involved … wasn’t Stankovski always involved?” she was confused.

  “No no no! Now is not time for talking!”

  Something clicked in Lily’s brain. She went still for a second, then stared very directly at Ivanov.

  “He didn’t know,” she breathed. Ivanov frowned.

  “What?”

  “He didn’t know. You told the Liberian gang that Marc stole their diamonds, that Marc was trying to sell them for himself. You must have told Stankovski the same thing. But somehow … somehow he found out. Found out that wasn’t true, that Marc had me and we still had the diamonds. You lied to him, didn’t you?” the pieces fell into place in Lily’s brain.

  “You shut your mouth!” Ivanov yelled, leaping
out of his chair. His anger only confirmed her theory.

  “You were going to keep them for yourself! Tell everyone that Marc stole them, then count on someone killing him, solving that little problem for you. But you didn’t count on Marc being smarter than you. Stronger than you. Stronger than anything you could throw at him!” Lily was yelling back.

  “I will kill you, you whore! You ruined everything!” Ivanov shouted through clenched teeth. Lily chuckled.

  “Oh, you stupid, stupid man. I can’t wait to see who kills you first. Stankovski or Marc,” she sighed, gripping the chain between her hands. Her fingers were starting to go numb.

  “You said De Sant was dead,” Ivanov remind her. Her chuckling turned to laughter and she pulled on the chain, spinning herself in a lazy circle.

  “I lied. He’s not dead. He’s alive. Someday, he’ll find you. And then, he’s going to kill you,” she laughed and laughed, twirling around.

  “Shut your mouth!” Ivanov was almost shrieking.

  “He’s going to kill you. Kill you. I can’t wait,” she kept laughing.

  “Shut up!”

  Ivanov leapt forward, surprisingly nimble for such a heavy man. He grabbed her by her ponytail and yanked her head back. As she was forced into a back bend, he brought around a large knife and pressed the blade hard against her jaw bone.

  “You’ll never find them!” she screamed, gritting her teeth as the serrated edge scratched her skin, drawing blood.

  “You tell me, or I cut off your head!” he was screaming back.

  “Fuck you! I’m not telling you shit!” Lily kept her eyes squeezed shut. If she was going to die by having her neck sliced open, she didn’t want Oleg Ivanov to be the last image she was going to see.

  “I will do it! I will kill you!”

  “Then fucking do it!”

  She could feel the blade, could already feel a trickle of blood running down her neck. He moved the knife, placing it heavily against the side of her throat, right over the throbbing vein there, and she held her breath. Tried to think of something pleasant. Anything. Anything to make dying slightly more bearable. A voice began whispering in the back of her brain, and she almost smiled.