Deadly Interpretations

by Andie Alexander

  “No,” Boris said. “It was invented in India, and a similar game was invented in China.”

  “The historians are all wrong. It was invented in China,” Mr. Wing contended.

  I couldn’t believe it. They were going to bomb shopping malls to kill innocent people and were more worried about where the game of chess originated? Who cared?

  “That’s beside the point,” Boris finally said. “We need to make the United States sit up and take notice. No one will blame our countries, and the economy of the United States will fail. That guarantees that the United States will no longer be a super power and each of our countries will reign, finally able to compete for the top spot and take over the smaller countries. It was a great idea, Mr. Wing. I’m so glad we can do business together.” He shook his hand while I did the interpretation.

  “When?” Mr. Wing asked.

  “Wednesday, two days from now,” Boris said. “At noon, eastern time. Is that enough time?”

  Mr. Wing nodded. “I think so. I need at least one of my people to go to Central Park to be killed, just to throw off the scent from my team.”

  “I’ll do the same.” He leaned forward. “Anatoli. I don’t trust him. He’s on assignment in Vermont.”

  Did he say Vermont? Uh-oh.

  I said the Chinese to Mr. Wing and he faced me, speaking in English. “Weren’t you in Vermont over the weekend?”

  “Yes,” I said in English.

  Boris reached out and touched my necklace, speaking in English. “When did you get your necklace fixed?”

  “While in Vermont. They have great jewelers up there.” They also made sure your little trick didn’t kill me, I wanted to add.

  “Why did you go to Vermont?” Mr. Wing asked. These men were being awfully curious about my trip to Vermont. Interesting.

  “I was on vacation with my boyfriend after what happened to Elizabeth. I needed to get away and he took me there to see some of the sights.”

  “Did you visit with anyone while on your trip?” Boris asked me.

  So this is what this was about. They wanted to know about Pablo.

  “Yes. Pablo Arturo invited us to see him in Albany on the way back. He wanted to meet the new Arabic interpreter. He’s a friend of all of us in the interpreting booths.” Yes. I was a good liar.

  “What else did you do while on your trip?” Boris asked.

  “We went to a park, and I slept most of the rest of the time at a hotel. When I’m stressed, I sleep.”

  “My wife used to do that, too,” Boris said with a grin.

  Something suddenly struck me as odd. I hadn’t seen his wife, Natasha, for a long time. She wasn’t even at the party on Saturday night. She was always the life of all the parties, to the point of being obnoxious. I wondered where she went.

  “Is Natasha doing well?” I asked.

  Boris hid his laughter. “As well as can be expected. She’s…communing with nature right now, up north of here.”

  Mr. Wing laughed, also speaking in English. “Yeah. Her and her big mouth.”

  Something seemed wrong but I couldn’t put a finger on it. “I didn’t see her at the party on Saturday.”

  Boris sat up. “She went to visit some friends. We heard things she shouldn’t have known, so we sent her on a vacation…permanently.”

  Permanently? I wondered what she knew and if she was being held somewhere. Interesting. So he’d take his own wife and remove her from the situation because she got too close. I swallowed hard thinking about it. He may even have had her killed for what she knew. But then again, I seemed to have death on the brain. Surely, he wouldn’t murder his own wife.

  “I think we’re done here.” He looked toward Mr. Wing. “We need to have another meeting before Wednesday.”

  “Agreed.” They both stared at me. What did I do?

  “I think she needs to stay here, just to keep things honest,” Mr. Wing said.

  Boris nodded. “I agree.”

  “Wait. I have to go home. I have a life and a job, you know. I’m supposed to have steak for dinner.”

  “Not anymore.” Boris stood and walked to the door. “Oleg. Find a room for our guest.”

  “But I really want to go home to my bed. Jim’s waiting for me for dinner.”

  Mr. Wing started to laugh. “No, he’s not. It’s time to find another boyfriend, Harley.”

  I couldn’t believe my ears. “Why do you say that?”

  “He’s been…” Mr. Wing changed to speaking Chinese. “Detained.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, in Chinese.

  “He’s dead by now.”

  Uh-oh. Oleg was right. But I was in love with him. “Why did you kill him off? He’s a good guy.”

  “He knew too much,” Mr. Wing said in English. “He also kept you from your work and we didn’t like it.”

  “He didn’t keep me from anything.” I wanted to cry, but kept it all inside. “How did he die?”

  Boris sat down beside me. “Oleg had it arranged. Sami’s sort of in our back pocket now, and he’ll do whatever we tell him to do. We guaranteed it with Elizabeth’s death.”

  So that’s why Sami was running toward the interpreter’s booths. Maybe Jim wasn’t dead after all. Sami could be reasoned with. I knew it…I could feel it. He also wouldn’t kill Jim in front of all those people…or would he? So, they guaranteed he’d obey by killing Elizabeth, just like they guaranteed my loyalty by killing Felix. What strange people. I wondered what else they held over Sami’s head.

  Chapter 34

  “Sami? With the Arabic delegation?” I asked.

  “Same one.” Boris started to laugh. “Both of them can die, if you ask me—Sami and Jim.”

  “But I—” I couldn’t say it, but knew it was true.

  “You what? Love Jim?” Boris asked. “Time to move on. Oleg’s available.” He laughed and Mr. Wing joined in.

  My life started to crumble around me. Jim might be dead, my family was being held at gunpoint in upstate New York, and I was being held hostage at Boris’ home. This wasn’t a good situation. I’d counted five guards when I’d walked into the house. Maybe I could beat them all up.

  “Boris,” Mr. Wing said. “Do you think...” He turned to me and started to speak in Chinese. I interpreted it to Russian, because I really didn’t have a choice. I had to do my job. “Do you think Kent will be looking for her?” Mr. Wing asked. “Is it possible that he saw her taken to your car?”

  “Kent?” He looked over at me and spoke in English. “I think we need to move her to a remote location.” He stood up and stepped toward the door. “Oleg.”

  The evil guard ran to the door.

  “Take Miss Black to the alternate site, and have two guards join you. I want her hidden away so no one can find her.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “No touching this one. We still need her.”

  “Yes, sir.” Oleg headed to my seat and took hold of my arm. “Come with me.”

  Considering I had no choice, I stood up. I hated being in this situation. But if I was taken to another location, I probably wouldn’t make it out alive. I had to take matters into my own hands.

  As soon as we were in the hallway, I kicked Oleg and slammed him up against the wall, catching him off-guard. As big as he was, he fell to the floor. Boris and Mr. Wing ran out of the room, but I headed for the front door. I was able to put one foot outside before I was lifted off my feet by a different guard and taken back inside. I saw a car sitting across the road, with someone watching from the passenger’s seat. I just hoped they were on my side.

  The guard carried me to the car in the attached garage, threw me into the back seat, and sat beside me. Another man got into the driver’s seat and backed out of the garage.

  The guard beside me pushed my head to the seat. “Down,” he said. “We’re being watched.”

  I tried to sit up, but he pulled a gun and held it to my head. “I will shoot,” he said to me.

  I had no doubt a
bout it. I was expendable, just like Elizabeth, and this guy didn’t care. He was nothing like Sami—at least I hoped Sami was reasonable.

  I had to use my brains. What would Jim do in this situation? Nothing came to mind, but I could see him in my thoughts, reassuring me. I kept hearing him tell me it was going to be okay, but for all I knew he was dead. If only he were alive to tell me that in person.

  After a while of driving, the guard moved the gun away from my head. “You can sit up now.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked, returning to a sitting position.

  He narrowed his eyebrows. “Why do you care?”

  “I want to know who I’m going to beat up later. It makes it more personal.” I flashed him a grin, but he wasn’t amused. Tough crowd.

  He stared me down, his jaw clenched. “Not going to happen, but you’re awfully bold.”

  “So what’s your name?” I had to make it personal, so the guy wouldn’t shoot me,—I hoped. I had to test my theory one more time.

  “My name is Georgi.” Elizabeth mentioned Georgi, but what did she say about him again? My mind wasn’t what it had been, probably from the terror of everything. I suddenly remembered. He wasn’t much better than Oleg. So I had evil sitting beside me, but knew if I just made it personal, it might work.

  “Where are you from?” I asked.

  “Moscow. No more questions.”

  I wasn’t about to be dismissed. I’d learned that when I lived overseas. “Why not?”

  He glanced toward me. “You talk too much.” He turned his gaze to the front.

  “Where are we headed?” I asked the driver, sitting up.

  Georgi hauled off and backhanded me as hard as he could. My head slammed against the side of the car and I tasted blood. My temples throbbed and I tried to keep my eyes open, but they didn’t seem to want to cooperate from the pain.

  “What did you do that for?” the driver said in Russian. “We’re to keep her safe.”

  “Yeah, but we don’t have to listen to her prattle,” Georgi said in Russian.

  “She knows Russian,” the driver said. “You’re an idiot.”

  “You do?” Georgi asked, turning toward me.

  I nodded. My head ached from where it had hit the car and I closed my eyes again. I couldn’t stay awake if I’d tried.

  Chapter 35

  “Harley,” someone was saying.

  “Jim?” It must have been a nightmare. I was probably home in my bed, just having a nightmare, and was about to be rescued by the hot cop doctor who sometimes wore a tuxedo. Oh, James.

  “No, I’m not Jim,” the man said.

  Rotten luck. It was an American voice, so I opened my eyes.

  “Who are you?” I asked the guy.

  “My name’s Brian. I’ve been held in this place for a week now.”

  I looked around the dark room, with only three small windows letting in a little bit of light from the moon. It felt like we were in a basement, because the windows were really high up. I was on the hard concrete floor. Brian sat beside me, also on the floor.

  “Why is it so dark in here?” I asked.

  “The only light that works is in the bathroom. I keep it off because it just makes the place more depressing if it’s on.”

  “Why are you being held here?”

  “I was working part-time as a guard for the Americans at the United Nations, and had only been there for a week when I was kidnapped and brought here.”

  “Why were you kidnapped?” I sat up and the room started to spin, so I lay back down.

  “You’re not doing too well.” He touched my head. “Don’t get up yet. You’ve been here, asleep, for a few hours.”

  “Why were you kidnapped?”

  “I figured out a plot that the Russians were going to do something to the United States. I overheard something I shouldn’t have, and they brought me here.”

  “Where are we and why did they bring you here?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure where we are, but they keep telling me that I’ll be used as a hostage later on, or they might demand ransom. They weren’t sure.”

  My hand flew to my sore head. That Georgi was going to get it back, full force, and I’d be just the one to do it. “Why would they do that?”

  “My father is a famous businessman in New York and they know it.”

  I stared at him again. “Brian Karlson. Your father is Barry Karlson. They’ve been looking for you all over the United States.”

  “Dad being rich is the only thing keeping me alive.” He touched my sore mouth with his warm fingertips. “You’ve been bleeding, at least on your lips. Does your head hurt?”

  “Like crazy. I think I passed out after Georgi hit me.”

  “Georgi?”

  “One of the Russian guards. I speak Russian—”

  “I know who you are, Harley. You’re one of the best interpreters they have at the U.N. I wanted to meet you, to talk to you in Russian. I’d taken a few classes in it and wanted to see if I had what it took to do a job like yours.”

  I closed my eyes. “If my head didn’t hurt as much as it does, I’d talk to you in Russian.”

  He felt the side of my head. “I bet you have a concussion. My major was pre-med and I should be graduating this semester, if I can get out of here.”

  “Wait, you’re getting a degree in medicine but were working as a guard at the U.N.?”

  “Spring break was late this year, and I wanted something different to do and practice my language skills, so my dad got me in there for a week. I still have medical school and residency to go, but I’ve put in all my classes for undergrad, with a 4.0 GPA, at least so far. I have a few weeks to go in this semester, if I can get out of here.” He looked into my eyes and checked my sore mouth. “I’d say you’re going to have a headache for a while.”

  A doctor. Hmmm…it made me think of Jim, who was probably dead. “Well, I think we have to get out of here anyway. I don’t want to die.” I forced myself to sit up. “But first, I think I’m going to be sick.”

  He helped me to my feet and guided me into the bathroom, flipping on the light. I vomited into the toilet and fell to my knees. I really wasn’t used to being hit like that, and I just wanted to take Georgi out.

  “Who’s Jim?” Brian asked, sitting beside me.

  “Some guy.” I sighed. I missed him so much that it made me sick. I wanted to cry, but knew it wouldn’t do anyone any good. “He’s probably dead.”

  “Some guy, huh? New boyfriend?”

  I looked over at him. “New? What do you know?”

  He grinned. “I knew everyone in that place, but they didn’t know me. It’s like a small soap opera, with people inter-dating and everything. You’re about the only one who kept your private life private, so I started digging around. You were dating that loser Billy. Why were you dating him?”

  “He was easy to deal with.” He didn’t need to know any more about why I couldn’t leave Billy.

  “No, he was controlling and a jerk. I saw him being mean to you once and wanted to deck him.”

  I looked at him in confusion. “You were spying on me?”

  He sat down beside me and touched my arm. “Well, you were the prettiest girl in the place. Can you blame me?”

  “But you couldn’t talk to me?” I asked.

  “No, because I was a nobody. You were always talking to the people in the booths, or Felix.”

  I lowered my head onto my arms, covering the toilet. “Felix is dead.”

  “He is? What happened?”

  I closed my eyes and felt a wave of nausea pour over me again, but didn’t vomit. “Boris had him killed to keep me quiet. His driver did it and I was in the car when it happened. They made me watch.”

  “Did Boris kill anyone else?” he asked.

  “Elizabeth.”

  I glanced over at him. He moved his hand away from my arm, looking surprised. “The pretty British lady you worked with?”

  “Yes, the same one. A chand
elier fell on her and killed her.”

  “That’s horrible. I liked her, too.”

  I wiped my mouth and flushed the toilet. That was a lot of work, so I sat back on the floor and leaned up against the wall. “We need to get out of here.”

  “I’ve tried. I can’t get through the windows, but I bet you can.” He looked down over me. “You’re a lot smaller than I am.”

  I checked him out. He wasn’t bad, and with his sandy blond hair and huge muscles, he reminded me of Jim more than I’d realized. I really missed Jim and couldn’t get him out of my head. I hoped he wasn’t dead, but the sinking feeling in the back of my head said otherwise. I wanted to cry, but needed to get out before I fell apart. “How many guards are watching this place?”

  “At least ten that I know of. I think they change shifts at eleven at night.”

  “That’s a good piece of information to know.” I looked at my watch. “Three hours from now, huh?”

  “Probably right. I don’t have a watch.”

  “Well, Brian, leave it up to me. I’ll figure out a way to get out of here. Do they feed you?”

  “Only in the morning and at lunch. That’s it.”

  “Sounds like a bunch of nice wholesome guys. I can’t wait to deal with them.” I had to beat them up, at least, because they’d hurt Jim. I loved him too much to let his death go without punishment. I now had a new mission. Besides saving Scotty and Jonquil, I had to avenge Jim’s death.

  Chapter 36

  “You’re tougher than I thought you’d be.” Brian stared at my clothes. “You’re always so dressed up; I figured you were very superficial.”

  I snorted my laughter. “Hardly. I’m nothing like a beauty queen or superficial. I drive a motorcycle, for Pete’s sake.”

  “I know.” He grinned. “I’d love to ride on that thing with you, but I’d be driving.”

  “No one drives my bike except for me.”

  He started to laugh. “I know that too. I was playing with your sore head.”

  Psycho. I hated thinking about that. “You know a lot about me. That’s scary, you know?”

  “It’s just the way I am. When I find something I want, I have to find out more.”