by Mike Gomes
She walked away and quickly blended into the fabric of the hotel. Gabriella moved smooth and freely between guests throughout the hallways of the hotel.
Entering the elevator going up to the floor that held Victor, Gabriella reached down feeling the 38 in its holster, ready for action.
As the doors of the elevator opened, Gabriella held her position for a moment, making sure the way was clear. She knew that coming off of an elevator was a perfect ambush site when someone knew you were coming. Being pinned in small box gave the advantage to whoever was on the outside.
Exiting the elevator slowly, Gabriella moved down the hallway, looking as inconspicuous as possible while checking the room numbers before stopping outside Victor’s door.
Knock knock knock
"Coming," came the voice from inside the door, Gabriella stood motionless while she waited.
"Who is it?" asked the voice from inside as the peephole went dark, letting Gabriella know the man was looking out at her. He did nothing to hide the Russian accent to maintain his position.
So easy to just shoot him now, Gabriella thought to herself. Though she didn’t as she knew the probability of witnesses was greater in this situation.
"I'm here to discuss your bill, sir," Gabriella answered, putting on a Brazilian accent. “Seems your information may be incorrect."
Pausing for a moment, Gabriella saw the man’s eye stay on the peephole before slowly retracting.
"Okay," came the man's voice from inside.
The door mechanism clicked, letting Gabriella know the man inside had released the lock.
Her plan was simple, enter the room, talk about the information that had been given, then flirt with him so he lowered his guard. Then when the opportunity arose, she would strike him hard and then remove the 38 resting against her thigh, firing two quick shots. She could then exit the room, and forward the message to Nikolai that the job was complete.
The door moved open slowly and the man showed his face, he eyed her with a quizzical look. The behavior wasn’t out of place for man in his position.
"I want to get some sleep, so can we make this quick?"
"Yes, sir, we’ll move things along as quickly as possible." Gabriella gave the man a large smile, like all hotel staff are instructed to do.
Swinging the door open wide, Victor stepped back to allow Gabriella to enter.
As her training kicked in, her eyes quickly started scanning the room with her first step through the door, checking for possible weapons or danger.
Whack!
The room suddenly went silent with the impact of Victor’s fist in the side of Gabriella's head. The room glossed over and became blurry around the edges as her eyesight started to fail her. Stumbling to the side, Gabriella bumped into the wall. She tried to recompose herself so she could pull out her weapon. Again, the powerful fist crushed the side of her skull before she had a chance, and she dropped to the floor.
Slamming the door behind him, Victor moved in on Gabriella, kicking her hard in the midsection, causing her to gag for air.
"I knew Nikolai would send someone, I just didn't think it would be the Mantis," Victor snarled as he stood above her. "What were you reaching for? Have you got a little gun tucked under there?"
Reaching down, Victor pulled up Gabriella’s skirt, seeing the 38 tightly pressed against her thigh, and removed it from the holster.
"Well, what do we have here then?” Victor taunted. "I guess this makes my job easier. I don’t have to hide the traces from my own weapon now, thank you for being so accommodating, Mantis. I'm gonna kill you with your own gun. And then to make things right, I’m going to go and kill Nikolai with it too."
Rolling over and trying to focus her eyes, Victor’s face went in and out of focus. Gabriella tried to compose herself as the barrel of the 38 stared directly at her, which was the only thing that was clear through her misty vision. One simple pull of the trigger would send a small bullet sliding through the barrel, and depending on where it pierced her skin, it could determine whether she lived or died.
"Do you still want to check my information, darling? Victor smirked, waving the 38 at her. "Consider yourself lucky I’m not some pervert who would take advantage of you in this situation."
"Nikolai is watching you," Gabriella winced with pain as she spoke through gritted teeth. "He's coming for you."
"I don’t care what Nikolai does."
"You will when he finds you," Gabriella tried to buy more time with conversation to let her head clear.
"Why are we speaking English? You know Russian," Victor exclaimed.
"I don't speak Russian." Gabriella touched the side of her head, feeling for blood.
"Are you trying to tell me you're not the Mantis?" Victor asked. "Don't play me for a fool, woman. Nikolai had a loose tongue. He told me all about you. It doesn't take a genius agent to realize that you would be the one he would call when he went on the run.”
"I was sent by Nikolai, but I'm not the Mantis. The Mantis is just a male fantasy of an urban legend, the ultimate woman that they want to believe can deliver justice."
Laughing loudly, Victor smiled at Gabriella and tilted his head to the side. “Sure, there are men who believe that. But I'm not one of—"
Knock knock knock
A muffled voice from the other side of the door was heard, "Hello, is everything okay, sir? One of the other guests said that they heard a commotion."
Recognizing the voice, Gabriella knew it was the concierge from the front desk that helped her earlier.
"Everything's fine, I’m trying to sleep," Victor snapped. "Go away."
"He's trying to rape me," Gabriella yelled, causing Victor's gaze to lock onto her before he looked to the door.
As soon as Victor’s gaze left her, Gabriella took the opening and kicked out hard, she caught his wrist that was holding the gun, knocking it from his hand.
Gabriella kicked up hard again, with both feet this time, winding him, and sending him stumbling backwards into the wall. She leapt to her feet and swung another kick at him, this time aiming for his face. She connected with his cheek, splitting it, sending a stream of blood pouring out. Victor stumbled again and fell to the floor, clutching both his head and his stomach.
"Help!" Gabriella screamed, pulling the door open as fast as she could.
The concierge saw her battered face and torn skirt. He didn’t try to stop her as she ran down the hallway, out of sight.
Chapter Twelve
"I didn't expect you back so soon," Antonio smiled at his wife, wiping his hands as he walked from the barn. "You always were the best shot."
"I never even got shot off," Gabriella admitted, placing her hands on her hips as she stared at her husband.
The sun held itself high over the ranch that had been cobbled together over many years, they’d tried to create a paradise that could be lived in without fear from the outside world.
"So, what happened?" Antonio asked as he walked forward and placed his arms around his wife, hugging her tightly.
"I don't know how the hell he did it, but he did it." Gabriella lay her face tightly against her husband’s chest. "He figured me out. It was like he was waiting for me."
"Don't give me too much information, we know that only leads to bad things."
"I won't. But I think my initial contact may have laid out his exit plans too clearly to this guy in the past," Gabriella sighed. "He's a man that clearly has some training, but the way he was waiting, he knew what was gonna happen, it's almost like he knew when it was gonna happen."
Pulling himself back from his wife, Antonio took her hand and led her to a small bench that sat outside the opening of the barn.
"Just sit down and try to relax."
"I must've zigzagged the globe twice getting back here. I don't know if this guy’s following me or not." Gabriella looked to her husband. "Like I said, he's had training and he's clearly got some talents in the field."
"Then we need to be
prepared incase he shows up here."
Gabriella shook her head in disagreement. "No, I don't think we need to do that. This guy had a target of his own. I was sent by that target to take him out," Gabriella explained. "The joys of international espionage."
"Did he try to kill you?" Antonio asked.
"Yes," Gabriella nodded her head. "I got lucky. Somebody intervened by accident and gave me the moment I needed to get out. I didn't stop running until I got here. Planes, boats, trains, cars, and doubling back three different times to see if he was following. I haven't seen anything of him since I made the initial run."
"So where does that leave you with this mission?"
"It's still active," Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "I just don't know if I want to be back in on it."
"This guy must have given you quite a scare." Antonio pulled his wife closer to him. "You’ve faced a lot of tough people over time, but I’ve never seen you react like this."
"This guy is highly trained and highly skilled. He’s a KGB prodigy. Just like I was supposed to be," Gabriella sighed. "It seems like he's got no feelings and no connection to anything. He's a stone-cold killer with the mind of a genius. I can’t outthink this guy."
"Sounds like one of those guy's that can plan things out for years ahead of time. Play the long con for as long as he has to. We can tap into the airports and run facial recognition on this guy, see if he has followed you or not."
"I'm terrified of the fingerprint that it's gonna leave if we do. If he picks up on that, he can probably trace me right back to the ranch," Gabriella said. "We don't need any shit like that."
"So, Mantis, what do you think we should do now?" Antonio asked.
"I think we should have a nice meal, then I think we should make love." Gabriella smiled and winked at her husband. "Then I think we should just make sure that we’re prepared. Nothing crazy, just checking to make sure our perimeter alerts are still set up and we have the firepower we need… if we need it."
"That's not much, sweetheart. I still have a lot of contacts with my buddies. We could set some of them up in the mountains with heavy cover, they could just watch the area for us for a few weeks."
"I don't want to let on where we are," Gabriella said. "If we do something like that, everyone will know where we are. And once other people know that we’re here, we're completely screwed."
"They'll never let us just live like normal people, will they?" Antonio asked, though he already knew the answer. "We need to do something, Gabriella. Please tell me that you're always gonna be carrying a firearm on you and you’re going to keep yourself on high alert."
"I've got no problem with that, I just don't want this guy changing our entire life. I’ll let things cool down for a few weeks, then I need to get back out there and go after him. Eliminating him now is more about me than the one who hired me."
"A survival mission. Taking care of all the loose ends and making sure that no one can get to you." Antonio nodded his head in agreement. "Wouldn’t be the worst idea for us both to do this one together."
Gabriella shook her head, disagreeing with her husband, and stood up from the bench. Turning to face the broad-shouldered man, Gabriella looked into his eyes, feeling a twinge of the guilt from the passion she still felt for Nikolai.
"Sometimes I think you're more saint than man." Gabriella smiled at him. "I would never put you at that level of risk, or even put us in a situation where you could die from my mistake."
"I’d happily die for you, Gabriella. I’ve told you a thousand times, you're the only thing that gives my life meaning."
"And you give my life meaning. That's exactly why I can't let you be part of this. If something were ever to happen to you…" Gabriella stopped herself as the tears welled up and her voice cracked with emotion.
"Come on, Gabriella, it's not like I'm some first timer. I know how to handle situations like this," Antonio insisted. "We find the bastard, we put two sights on him, and we pop his head like a watermelon."
Despite the disturbing image, Gabriella let out a long laugh and smiled. "You really do paint a picture with words don't you."
Chapter Thirteen
The sun rose and set for seven days without so much as a flicker on the horizon of anybody that could be approaching. Antonio and Gabriella kept their vigilance high, looking for any intruder or outsider that could be making an approach.
Despite Antonio’s numerous attempts to get his wife to take a vacation, and move to a more public location where they would be able to see anybody's approach easier, Gabriella held firm that she was not going to let the KGB agent take over her life. Especially without even knowing if he was following her.
"I don't like you going into town alone, sweetheart." Antonio leaned on the driver side door of the pickup truck. "It just seems like a smarter idea for us to go together."
"What, so my big bad man can take care of me?" Gabriella flashed a gentle smile. "You know that I'm more than capable of taking care of anything that comes up."
"Safety in numbers, Gabriella. We both were taught that for a long, long, time."
"And I always work alone," Gabriella raised an eyebrow at her husband. "Well, except for the few times that you help me out… but I work better alone."
Antonio let out a small laugh, knowing that his wife's stubbornness was not going to yield, no matter what he said. "Just try to make it fast. If you're not back in a few hours then I'll come over to see what's going on."
"I'm not going to the corner for some milk, Antonio. We're twenty miles from the latest outpost. It's gonna take me at least half the day to get everything going."
"All the more reason we should be together.” Antonio pointed his index finger at his wife in a shooting motion and winked at her. "That's a lot of feed to be thrown into the back of that truck by yourself. We could cut the job in half by doing it together."
"Move that cute ass of yours off the door of the pickup, or I'm just gonna have to kick it." Gabriella laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Come on, cowboy, time to let this cowgirl do everything."
Antonio pulled himself off the car door reluctantly, smiling at his beautiful and feisty wife, who he loved with all his heart.
"You never make these things easy, Gabriella, do you?" Antonio asked the question he already knew the answer to.
Gabriella just shrugged her shoulders and grinned at her husband. As Antonio moved towards her, away from the pickup, she went up to her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
He laughed and shook his head, watching her open the pickup door, as she slid in wearing her typical T-shirt and jeans with no makeup. Smiling at her husband, she gave him a quick wink. “You stay sexy while I'm gone."
The pickup roared to life, kicking dirt up behind it as it went down the dirt road, that was more than a mile long.
Smiling at the woman he loved, Antonio waved his hand as the taillight to the truck drifted off into the distance.
"Nobody can tame her," Antonio muttered to himself, loving the wild nature of the woman he married.
Turning back to the ranch, Antonio tilted his head back slightly, looking at his home and then over to the barn. Each location held an equal amount of work to be done, but as always is the case in ranching and farming life, the livestock came first.
A loud whinny came from the barn, Antonio knew his horse was as ready as he was to get on with the day’s work.
"Hold on, girl, I'm on the way. We gotta move some cows today," Antonio spoke with affection for his horse as he walked over to the barn and through the wide doors. "You anxious to get outside today, girl? Yeah you like to work, don't you, honey?"
"She looks like a good ride," came a thick Russian accent from deep in the shadows.
Ducking quickly into a stall and reaching down to his hip, Antonio felt for the handgun that he realized he had left on the kitchen table inside. The voice was distinct and strong, but didn't give away its location.
"You’re unarmed," said the voice. "There
isn't an escape from here. I have been into your homestead numerous times over the last few days, day and night, and neither you nor the Mantis were able to detect me. I have things hidden everywhere."
"You're the one she was after?" Antonio asked, trying to pull the man into a conversation to keep his mind off the possibility of killing him.
"Yes, she came for me. Seems that she got a call from her old lover. A man who used to be my partner in the KGB." Victor said slowly from the far end of the barn, deep in the shadows. "Did she ever tell you about the love of her life? A Russian agent named Nikolai. The two of them made quite an attractive picture. She was Nikolai's weakness and he was hers. It's no wonder that when Nikolai went rogue he called her to get rid of me."
The name Nikolai meant nothing to Antonio. Thoughts filled his head, trying to remember if he had heard Gabriella speak about a love lost from the past. But as with most people in her line of work, Gabriella kept her past quiet, as did Antonio with so many things to her. Too much information in the hands you care about could only lead to disaster for them.
"You didn't know about Nikolai, did you?" Victor laughed. "A rugged and handsome man, more rugged and handsome than you. He was unflappable. He held a strength about him that you don't hold. He would've been able to convince her to not get in that car alone and go to the store, but you weren't able to."
Antonio held himself still, gently feeling around the stall, looking for an opportunity to find any weapon that he could use against the intruder. Hand to hand combat with an unknown assailant would be difficult, a weapon would bring the element of surprise.
"I know your history too, Antonio. Freelance mercenary, but also extensive training in counter terrorism, and you were hired and brought in for hand to hand combat with the Israeli army," Victor spoke slowly as he walked out into the center of the barn, not hiding himself any longer. "Then you got hurt, and people haven't seen you for a while. Most figured you’d died. You set a nice fire to show that in the bodies you left behind, any one of them could've easily been counted as you. But you are alive, and you’re here right now. I'd like to give you a chance at a fair fight. You can see I'm out here in the open and I'm not hiding."
