DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 1

by james

  barstool. Methodically, he glanced over the occupants below.

  And there she was, leaning against the wall, taking another sip of the drink, but

  the amount of pink confection stayed the same.

  Nice front, love, but you need to actually drink a bit.

  Her eyes rose to the windows and again, their light stare caught him off guard.

  “I can’t believe I’m asking you this,” Viktor said for the third time

  Dimitri sighed, kept his hands loosely at his sides. “Who? It’s a name, Viktor, just

  a name.”Viktor’s dark blasphemy made him turn from his study of the mysterious woman

  below and study his boss. Viktor was pale, dark circles under his eyes, eyes normally as

  cold and unfeeling as the devil’s heart. But now, they were worried, creased. The man sat

  on the couch and leaned up on his knees. Dimitri merely waited, knowing there was no

  rushing his boss.

  Viktor’s shoulders rose and fell as he clasped and unclasped his hands. In a low

  voice, he said, “Elianya. I need.…”

  Dimitri’s eyes slid closed. Taking a deep breath, he said quietly, “I understand.”

  Viktor’s head whipped up, sharp and predatory, his slanted eyes as threatening as

  a wolf’s. “No, you don’t. She’s….. She’s not.… I thought as she grew older.” Viktor

  thumped his fist on this thigh and stood. “Damn it all. What I do is one thing. Business is

  business, but Elianya...” He shook his head and raked a hand over his queued hair.

  “Children, now, Dimitri. The stupid bitch will be the death of me. She’s pimping out

  children and God only knows what else.”

  For a moment, Dimitri could only stare at the man who, if he was ordered, he’d

  have to kill. Viktor Hellinski wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination a nice man, but

  even the crime boss, apparently had his limits.

  “I heard she was opening up negotiations behind my back to the American bosses

  as well.”

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 28

  “The deal you nixed last December?” Dimitri asked.

  Viktor nodded and paced. Dimitri waited.

  “Stupid. So damn stupid. I knew something was wrong with her. Even the doctors

  she saw as a child warned me she was dangerous, but I never wanted to.…” Viktor looked

  at him, his face stamped with pain “I thought I could help her.”

  The woman had been raised in a world where vice and crime were a normal

  means, brutal as it was and she learned she liked the nice things that benefited her from

  others’ pain. Of course other crime bosses were married, had sisters or daughters and

  Dimitri had never met anyone as wicked and depraved as Elianya. No matter her

  upbringing, something was twisted within her.

  Dimitri shrugged and decided to be honest. “I’ve never cared for your sister.”

  Viktor glared at him. “You liked her enough to fuck her.”

  He didn’t deny it. “Some things one learns one can live without. No man needs a

  blowjob that badly.”

  “You think I don’t know that? She asked me to have you castrated when you

  turned her down and told her to leave your apartments.”

  Dimitri almost crossed his legs. “Thank you for not following through on that

  request.”Viktor shook his head. “Children, Dimitri. Interpol will be all the fuck over us.

  You take care of this. Clean it up. Her photographer called me. Leos. He is a good man. I

  don’t want him hurt.” Those slanted, amber eyes pierced him again. “I mean it. The man

  is decent and talented and I can use him.”

  Dimitri shuffled through his memory of Elianya’s entourage and clicked on the

  neatly trimmed man with the pony tail. Quiet, but temperamental, always behind a camera

  or computer. New age porn producer….

  “They are to meet tomorrow night for a session. I will find out where, and tell you.

  I want her.…” He fisted his hands. “Just clean it up. I can’t… I won’t.” Viktor raked his

  hands over his head, and a long blond strand fell to his shoulder. “I know some of the

  girls here are young, but damn it. I’m not a child molester for Christ’s sake.”

  That might be debatable, but Dimitri didn’t think Viktor wanted his opinion on

  the semantics of law and minors.

  “Give me your word, Dimitri. Give it to me in blood that you’ll handle this

  matter.”

  Shit.

  Dimitri straightened from his perch against the desk, grabbed the wicked sharp

  letter opener off of Viktor’s desk and pricked his finger. “I swear to you, Viktor, I will

  take care of the matter.” He wiped the knife off on his pants leg, tossed it on the desk,

  then smeared his blood on Viktor’s palm. “Contact me with a location.”

  “I should just let you take her out tonight, but I can’t find her. “

  “Do you want her found tonight?” Dimitri asked.

  Christ, kids. Why was it, just when he thought he was deep enough in the filth of

  society he realized he could still sink deeper?

  Viktor stood at the windows and waved him away. “I don’t care what you do. Or

  when. I just want it done. And.…” His shoulders rose on an inhale. “Make it fast, clean.”

  Viktor’s back was to him and Dimitri didn’t know if he should pity the man or

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 29

  admire him. No way could he sanction the death of one of his siblings, but then his

  brothers were more white bread and butter than seedy underworld negotiators.

  “Yes sir.” Dimitri turned and walked out of the office, his nose tingling with

  regular cigarette smoked laced with the sweet tang of hash.

  Grow up in a world of drugs, prostitution, and kills and what the hell did Hellinski

  expect?

  Time to contact Johnno. And he still had find out who the hell the woman was

  downstairs.

  Kids. Nausea twisted his stomach.

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 30

  CHAPTER FOUR

  11:16 p.m.

  Raven watched the man leave the club. Carefully, she walked out behind him,

  weaving through the dancing people. One girl in a sequined top, slammed into her and

  Raven tried not to throw the clearly drunk girl away. Instead, keeping her eyes on Dimitri,

  she turned the girl around and gave her a small push towards the dance floor.

  Her eyes stung from the smoke and she had the impression her pulse matched the

  beat of the music pumping through the air. Dead good time everyone seemed to be having

  though.

  At the doorway, Ivan asked, “Leaving so soon, babe?”

  She only flashed him a smile and pointed to her mark. Dressed in dark clothing, a

  long black overcoat, he looked the part of a crime boss’s hitman.

  “Do you know him?”

  Ivan’s eyes widened as he watched Dimitri Petrolov stop by his car. Without

  warning he said loudly, “Mr. Petrolov! This fine lady here wants to know who you are.”

  The man paused and pierced her with eyes, a wicked blue, dark from here, but

  maybe cobalt? She wasn’t certain. A muscle jumped in his jaw as he studied her and

  those eyes narrowed. Squinting slightly at the edges. His hair was a bit on the long side

  and his features appeared even more unforgiving than they had in the photograph she had

  of him. Her heart did a slow flip. He put his arm up on top of the car and continued to

  study her, one long languid gaze down her b
ody and then back up to her eyes. One dark

  eyebrow cocked.

  She notched her chin up and stepped closer.

  His smile could coax angels to sin. “Does she?” As could his voice, gruff and

  deep as if he smoked. He opened his door and gave her wink. “It seems you just informed

  her, Ivan.”

  With that, the man climbed into his sporty BMW and sat for a few moments

  before the engine purred to life.

  She stood there and watched the car. To go back to the hotel or….

  She turned to Ivan. “Where does Mr. Petrolov live?”

  Ivan’s eyes widened. Then his face creased in that same gap-toothed crooked

  smile he’d given her earlier. “You do not want to go to that man’s place.” He nodded.

  “Trust me.”

  She only raised a brow.

  “Really, he’s not a nice man. You don’t cross him. No one cross him.”

  “His place?”

  Ivan’s eyes narrowed on her. Then he shrugged. “First off, I don’t know. I don’t

  even know if the boss knows.” He shook his head. “But even if I did, I’d never tell

  anyone. I value my life way too the hell much to spread that sort of information. Even to a

  pretty little thing like you, yes.” His gaze ran over her. “Now, you staying out here or

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 31

  going back in? I must know, people want in, lady.”

  She sighed and shook her head. “Let ‘em in, Ivan. I believe I’ll go back to my

  hotel.”

  Ivan’s smile was one that would probably give children nightmares. “Where’s

  your place?” He nodded to the black car that pulled away from the curb when the traffic

  let up. “Mr. Petrolov might call back and ask for it. “

  She gave him her own chilling smile and hailed a cab. Turning she said, “Nice try,

  Ivan, but I’m not that big an idiot.” She hurried to the cab and climbed in.

  “Can you follow that black BMW in front of us? But discreetly. Stay at least three

  cars behind.” She flashed several extra koruna at him.

  The cabbie stared at her for a moment, then nodded as he jerked away from the

  curb and cut off an oncoming car.

  One thing was certain. Mr. Dimitri Petrolov was a…. A…. Bloody hell. He was

  dangerous. So was she taking him out? Or not?

  That was the question. She kept thinking of him putting his arm on top of the car.

  What about… Something had been in his hand.… What?

  Bugger it.

  The data bases had yielded nothing on one Dimitri Petrolov, which she knew was

  just impossible. No one just appeared on the scene a grown man. She wondered if he’d

  ever been finger printed. A facial scan? She’d have wait on that.

  Chewing on her thumb nail she wondered…

  The car tuned left and her driver did as well. As they waited on traffic, she looked

  down the street and saw Dimitri’s car was also waiting in the jam.

  What was she doing? She’d probably turn the job down, so why was she

  following him? Well, if she took the job, or needed to know more information on the

  man, then she had it.

  They made several more turns and she realized they were heading into a quieter

  part of town. Bloody great, he’d probably make them. The traffic would thin and then

  what?

  She watched as he turned down another street, and told the driver to keep going

  straight. She glanced down the street he’d taken. His taillights came on as he braked.

  There was a building at the end of the street. She’d come back later. As the driver went

  passed, she gave him the address to her hotel and watched the Prague nightlife blur by

  outside.

  * * * *

  Dimitri drove through the streets without thought. He quickly dialed John.

  “What?” John asked without preamble.

  “Got a computer?”

  “Does Britain still have a queen?”

  “I’m sending you a photo.” He blared his horn as he swerved around a car parked

  in the middle of the damn road.

  “Of?”

  “If I knew that I wouldn’t be sending it to you. A woman I saw tonight in Nero’s

  and then she followed me out. I want an ID.”

  “I’m on it.”

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 32

  Silence stretched between them.

  “Fuck it,” he muttered. “Call me back in twenty. We need to discuss something.”

  With that he hung up. Taking a deep breath and maneuvering through the late

  night traffic he wondered how he’d gotten caught up in all this shit. He came from a

  world of privilege, and though he knew his family knew of heartache and suffering …

  they had no idea how twisted things could truly become. How depraved some were.

  He wished he didn’t know.

  He was tired. He hadn’t been this tired since Green Hell. Twenty days with little

  sleep, long treks in the jungle, pouring rain, rationed food and evasion tactics. And for

  whatever reason, since then, everything since, he’d always reminded himself he could

  have been back in that jungle with the boys wishing for the end of the damn training. It

  wasn’t so much the training itself as the unknown. The mind games.

  But here he was a world away and he’d almost trade places with one of those new

  Ranger recruits to be able to get out of this hell. God, how long had it been? He was too

  tired to think. He hadn’t lasted too long with the Rangers. After a couple of missions

  brought him to the attention of a certain man, he retired and went to work for a different

  division of the government. And here he was. Still on missions, still evading. One jungle

  for another.

  He shook off the thoughts and paid attention to the world around him.

  October in Prague was quiet, the festival was already over, though the atmosphere

  of celebration still hung in the air as surely as the independence banners and posters

  reminding all of freedom.

  Freedom. Was one ever truly free? He sure as hell wasn’t. Half the people he dealt

  with weren’t. He wondered vaguely when he’d become so cynical, so jaded? At the

  warehouse, he checked the mirrors again to ascertain he wasn’t being tagged. He watched

  a cab continue on straight and felt a prickle along his neck. There had been two cabs that

  had followed him for a while, then again, maybe they weren’t following him at all.

  Paranoia was not always healthy, even if it did keep him alive.

  He pushed the button and a door moved aside. He drove his car inside.

  Automatically reaching for his gun as he saw the man leaning against his other car.

  John.

  Well, hell.

  He cut the engine and climbed out.

  “Who’s your target?” John asked, his arms crossed over his chest, his ankles

  crossed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Dimitri knew better. John could sit for hours seemingly carefree and at ease and

  all the while devising ways to eliminate a target, carryout a mission or simply coming up

  with an idea for a new lure. John Brasher was a man of many talents.

  “We need to talk,” he said, walking past John and pulling his pack of cigarettes

  out.

  “Fuck.”

  “My sentiments exactly.”

  Once inside, he locked the door and ran a quick bug check. Switching on a

  portable jammer, he looked at his friend, and said, “I’m so sick of this game,
Johnno.”

  John’s brown eyes narrowed. “We all are.”

  DEADLY GAMES Jaycee Clark 33

  Dimitri shook off the thoughts and took a deep drag.

  “Those will eventually kill you.”

  “If I die of lung cancer later in life, I’ll count my blessings that it wasn’t a bullet in

  some God forsaken jungle, desert, prison, or brothel.”

  “You left out back street alley.”

  “That too.”

  “Quit buggering around, and just say it straight, Ian.” John walked to the window

  and looked out.

  Ian--Dimitri--who the hell was he anymore? He watched his friend and couldn’t

  imagine the hell John had gone through. Actually, he could. He’d seen it. Had picked

  John up and beat the shit out of him when he’d threatened suicide. But then, Ian couldn’t

  really blame the man either.

  Watching the man he loved as much as his brothers, he said, “Elianya Hellinski.”

  John, dressed in jeans and a dark blue sweater, barely nodded. Neither spoke for a

  long while. Dimitri finished his cigarette and stabbed the butt out in the ashtray. He sat in

  his chair, his temple on his fist as he rested his elbow on the arm of the chair.

  John’s shoulders were tight, the muscle in his jaw jumping and the pulse in his

  temple pounding. Sighing, Dimitri said, “I won’t take this from you.”

  Slowly, John turned to him, his dark eyes black with memories. “No, you won’t.”

  He remembered three years ago when he and John had worked together for

  Hellinski. They’d worked together before and their bosses apparently liked the way things

  went between them They managed to keep things smooth without causing too much undo

  problems between their governments over petty issues of agents not working together

  when they were effectively on the same team. It wasn’t a surprise to either of them when

  they learned they were assigned this operation. John had been higher up in the ranks, Ian

  coming in later from a stint in arm trafficking in Canada. John, straight as they came, also

  rejected Elianya, but she’d turned on him. When John returned to London on business--

  which was technically a leave so he could see his family--Elianya had somehow followed.

  They never knew since she’d been in Prague the whole time and no passports had her