by Ariel Arnold
“You!” Nikolai said, pointing at me. “Speak now, what’s going on?”
I shook my head. I was in total confusion as well. I didn’t know anything about this. Would Ilya think I knew they were going to do this? I didn’t want him to think I had betrayed him for my job once again. “I didn’t know they were planning to arrest Ilya. I don’t even know what evidence they have. Since they started believing I’m more likely to tell Ilya everything, they don’t include me in these matters,” I told him.
“Well, you better go find out what’s going on,” he ordered me. “I have your number. I’ll call you in an hour and I expect answers,” he growled and I wanted to tell him I was going to do that anyways. I didn’t need his order. But, it was more important to hurry down to the station and figure out what was going on than to argue with annoying ass Nikolai Prakenski.
****
I rushed down to the police precinct, still wearing my bridesmaid dress. I got looks from my fellow officers, but I ignored them. I needed to find Bobby. He always knew all the dirt as to what was going on in the department. He was sitting at one of the detective’s desk he was friends with, surrounded by a few other uniformed cops. “Hey, Bobby,” I said, interrupting whatever he was about to say. “I need to talk to you.”
“Woah, Valencia. I didn’t even recognize you for a minute. You look great.”
I rolled my eyes. I didn’t have time for this. “Yeah, I just came from a wedding, now come here. I need to talk to you in private.” He raised his eyebrows and gave the other cops pointed looks as if to say, ‘she wants me.’
I grabbed his arm and dragged him with me. “What did Detective Callahan and his partner arrest Ilya Volstolv for?”
He looked at me curiously, probably wondering why I wanted to know so badly, but he was the type who loved to talk and hear his own voice. “They picked him up for the murder of Ama Delgado.” My eyes almost popped out of my head. There was no way.
Ama was a young girl who had gone missing and was found dead in an abandoned building. There was no way Ilya could have done the things that were done to that poor girl. He just couldn’t have. “What evidence do they have? How did they get a warrant?”
“An anonymous tip placed him at the scene. Since there were blood samples found at the scene, they have brought Volstolv in to get DNA from him.”
“Wait a minute, that can’t be true. There wasn’t any DNA found at the scene,” I said, confused.
“You must have heard wrong. There was, and they have it. Once they match it to Volstolv’s, he’s going down. Apparently soon, they’ll be going after Nikolai Prakenski and his cousin, Aleksandr, as accomplices.”
I shook my head as I mulled over what Bobby had said. Something was off, I knew I was right. Detective Callahan and O’Reilly were assigned to that case and Callahan had let me look at the files when I was still in his good graces. They were at a dead end; no witnesses, no evidence. So, how did a DNA sample just all of a sudden appear? It made no sense, unless someone was setting Ilya up. It didn’t want to think Callahan, O’Reilly, or any of the other detectives on our force would be cable of doing something like this. But it was the only answer I that made sense.
“Thanks, Bobby,” I said, rushing out of the station. I wanted to go home and change, but then thought better of that plan. I didn’t have time for all of that. I needed to find a way to prove that DNA evidence didn’t exist in the initial investigation before they matched it to Ilya.
As I rode the subway to the address where Ama’s body was found, I got strange looks from everyone. Here I was in a formal gown, riding the subway, but I was solely focused on how I was going to prove Ilya’s innocence.
As I exited the station, my cell phone rang and I saw a number I didn’t recognize. I sighed knowing who it must be. “Hello?” I answered.
“What did you find out?” Nikolai asked.
“They have arrested him for the murder of Alma Delgado. Soon they’ll be trying to bring you and Aleksandr in as accomplices. They have DNA evidence and an anonymous witness that puts him at the scene.” I said rattling off what I knew.
“Shit, fuck. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have went there that night. I shouldn’t have called Ilya and Alek there.”
My heart screeched to a standstill and then instantly began racing again. They had all really been there. At the site of the girls murder? Could they have really?
No I wouldn’t believe that. There has to be some type of reasonable explanation.
“Why were the three of you at the crime scene Nikolai?” I asked seriously.
“I’d gotten a call from someone telling me to meet them there, someone who would give me information on who killed my grandfather. Obviously, it was a set up because when we entered the building all we found was that girls body.”
“Is there any possibility that evidence was left behind, that Ilya’s blood was left there?”
“No, none. It isn’t possible.” He said in a tone that declared his certainty.
“I know, I just had to be sure.” I told Nikolai. I then told him all about the so called blood evidence that was found when there wasn’t any before. I was walking down the street the crime scene was located on when a group of guys began catcalling at me. I stuck up my middle finger and ignored them all as I continued on.
“Where are you?” Nikolai asked.
“I’m going to check out the crime scene.”
‘Hmmm.” He replied noncommittally. “I have an idea of how they got Ilya’s blood. I’m gonna follow up on that. Call me and let me know if you find anything.” He told me before hanging up.
I rolled my eyes. Yeah thanks for letting me actually answer you back before hanging up. I don’t know how Amanda can put up with that rude arrogant asshole. I came upon the abandoned building, it was still daylight, which only made the place look worse. Their bashed in windows, debris littered all over outside, and no doubt filled with vermin and homeless people. There was a police caution tape surrounding the entrance still, but I’m sure that wasn’t a deterrent.
I looked around me and noticed that there was a fair amount of people milling around outside. The group of guys who had catcalled at me took up stances across the street and were openly watching me. I sneered at them, letting know I wasn’t afraid. I hoped that would be enough to make them think twice about trying anything because I didn’t have my gun.
Walking in heels in a yard filled with weeds was a hassle. I almost tripped three times winding my way three the tall plants leading to the back of the house. It wasn’t difficult at all getting into the building, it was however daunting to realize I didn’t even know what I was looking for. I knew from the reports Callahan had showed me that the body was found in a apartment on the third floor so that’s where I headed first. The sounds of rats scuttling around the wooden floorboards and inside the walls made me shiver. I hate rodents.
Even though it was day time it was still dim inside, the sunlight not penetrating the buildings halls. I turned the flashlight on my cellphone and swung it around as I came to the right apartment. The chalk outline of Alma Delgado was still marked clearly in the middle of the floor when you first enter. Somberly I looked around. What could that poor girl have been thinking as she was brutally murdered? I didn’t even want to imagine the time of pain she must have been in. I circled the main room, not touching anything just looking. If there was any evidence to be found here the first on site officers would have found it already. But assuming that my idea that someone of the team is crooked, which it has to be, certain things could have been overlooked.
I stopped above the chalked outline and looked down thoughtfully. Truthfully if anyone would leave evidence behind it would be in an attempt to hide it, knowing that detectives wouldn’t be returning to the scene after the initial investigation. With that in mind I began to systematically check the whole apartment. It only contained three bedrooms, A living room area, kitchen and bathroom; so it wasn’t a difficult task at all. Especia
lly with the fact that it was a abandoned building there wasn’t much left in the apartment and whatever was left behind had long been looted by the homeless.
I had just finished looking through every room and was heading for the bathroom when I started to feel discouraged. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing! If I couldn’t find some type of evidence to prove Ilya’s innocence he could really go down for this. No one cared if a known mob enforcer got a fair trial or not. I couldn’t let that happen, not when so much was still unresolved between us.
The bathroom smelled disgusting. The foul smell of feces, piss and vomit filling the small space, and was darker than the rest of the apartment. Mold, and dirt could be visibly seen all over the place with roaches crawling around. I didn’t even want to take a guess as to what those varying brown, black, and yellow stains were around the toilet.
With severe trepidation, because that bathroom was disgusting, I began moving things around in my search. Finally, I turned to the toilet and scrunched my nose. “Oh god.” I moaned out loud, remember you are doing this for Ilya. I held my breath and sighed as I very gingerly pulled up the no longer white tank lid. I placed it on the floor and shined the flashlight inside, there inside the tank water was a plastic bag with papers in it. My eyes widened as I realized that I must have found something important. Without any hesitation, I stuck my hand inside and pulled out the clear plastic bag. I ripped it open hands shaking as I inspected what they said.
From the first line a smile of relief and a scoff of disbelief escaped my mouth. As I continued to read, paper, after paper, I felt sick to my stomach. The fact that he had been getting away with all these illegal and shady activities for years and no one on the force had realized.
As I was absorbed in the reading the sound of a door lightly closing echoed through the deadly silent apartment.
Chapter Fifteen: Nana
I froze for a moment. I know I’d definitely heard the door close but who could it be that entered the apartment? The group of guys from outside, a homeless person or drug addict, or someone much worse?
Thinking quickly, I took the three pages that would be instrumental in proving Ilya’s innocence and stuffed them down in between my breast. The rest of them I threw back into the plastic bag and put them back where I had found them covering the lid just in time for the bathroom door to come swinging open.
“Step out officer Valencia.” He called out.
With a grimace, I complied stepping out of the bathroom to see Detective O’Reilly holding a gun level with my head.
“You just had to go and be nosy huh? Just had to try and help out your little boyfriend.” He said with a sneer.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m not doing anything illegal so why are you pointing a gun at me? Actually, what are you even doing here detective O’Reilly?” I asked deciding to try and feign innocence.
“Don’t play stupid with me.” He said angrily. “What did you find?”
When I didn’t respond, he grabbed my arm, gun still pointing at my head, as he dragged me back into the bathroom. He lifted the tank lid and upon seeing the plastic bag of papers there he closed it. “Will I guess that’s one good thing about this fucked up day.” He pushed me along the hall of the apartment until we were in the living room once again. He looked down fondly at the chalk outline and I amlost hurled. “Good times.” He said with a lick of his lips. When he felt me shudder he turned his attention back to me. Giving me a once over he smiled, “I bet I’m better than that useless Russian. You should give me a try baby.”
“Fucking never.” I spit out in disgust.
He shrugged. “I was just trying to be generous and give you a little pleasure before you died. Your loss, but remember I can still have my pleasure with you once you’re dead.”
All of the things that was down to Ama Delgado flashed through my mind and imagining O’Reilly doing that to my lifeless body made me feel lightheaded, I swayed on my feet and he tightened his grip. “Why are you doing this?” I asked trying to get him talking, stalling for time, hoping that it would give me time to think of a way out of this situation.
“Money.” He said simply as if it was obvious. “I’ve been working with HBD for years, and it’s been pretty profitable. But you see we can, I can, make more money if we get the Russians out of the way. For that to happen we needed to get rid of their leaders. It was surprisingly easy to get Vidor Prakenski. We were thinking we’d have to kill good ol’e Nikolai to bring Vidor to America but imagine our surprise when he showed up on his own.”
As O’Reilly continued to boast about how him and HBD orchestrated Vidor Prakenski’s death, and tried to kill Nikolai on multiple occasions, I discreetly tested his grip on my arm. It was tight, but not tight enough that if I caught him by surprise I wouldn’t be able to slip out of his grasp. But once I’ve done that, then what? Do I try to make a run for it or make a play for the gun? Whatever I was going to go with I needed to decide soon. However the choice was chosen from me when my forgotten phone began to ring. I had it clutched in the hand that wasn’t being held and I quickly connected the call.
“Give me the fucking phone!” He hissed. I stalled for another second hoping he would say something else. “Give me the phone now or I will kill you slowly instead of quickly.”
I handed the phone to him but not before disconnecting the call. He took a quick look at it and sneered. “Nikolai Prakenski, you fucking him too? You’re nothing but the Russian’s whore. It’s been fun but its time to end this.” He lifted the gun again but while he was distracted by the phone call his grip on me had loosened even more. Using the element of surprise, I simultaneously yanked my arm free and shoved him with the other. The momentum of my push sent him stumbling backwards and the gun to discharge. The sound echoed through the building loudly, adrenaline thumping I put as much force as I could into it, and right hooked him in the face.
While he was momentarily stunned I decided to turn and run. My size would be no match for the bigger man and there would be no way I could subdue him so my best bet was to escape.
I made it to the front door when he grabbed me in a bear hug from behind, one meaty arm going around my neck squeezing my throat. Out of reflex and desperation I pushed my head back connecting with his face. He let out a yell of pain but didn’t release his grip. He dragged me further away from the door and I screamed loudly in frustration and anger.
I began to violently twist from side to side, both hands went behind me and began to claw at his face and pull his hair. “Fuck.” He bellowed pushing me away from him hard. I went sprawling to the ground face first but I immediately turned, anticipating his next move. He stepped closer intending to straddle me and I swept his feet out from under him. Once he was on the ground I stood and kicked him viciously in the ribs a few times then the face with so much force that his head snapped sideways and I could see blood and a tooth fly out. I grabbed his gun off the floor, standing above his prone form I considered killing him. But only for a second.
“You’re lucky I’m leaving your sorry ass alive.” I hissed. I turned my back on him angrily hiking up my dress that was hanging dangerously low after the scuffle as I walked to the door. My feet bare feet were cold on the dusty hardwood floor and I was eager to get the hell out of here. “Bitch.” I heard him say from behind me and stupidly I stooped to turn around and look, and even more stupidly I didn’t check to see if he had his second sidearm in his ankle holster. I lifted the gun just as he fired off a shot, I fired too, before I was brought to my knees. I looked down at the bright spot of red that was now covering the front of my dress before collapsing.
I was cold, my whole body was freezing. I felt as if I somehow got locked inside a restaurants freezer. My eyes felt frozen closed by a layer of frost but I forced them open. I was greeted by a darkened room, eyes staring up at a ceiling. Where was I? That didn’t look like the ceiling in my house. I tried to sit up and everything came rushing back to me. Ilya, the prescient, the a
bandoned building, and O’Reilly. I groaned in pain as I let my head hit the hard floor again. I gripped my abdomen as the searing pain became too much for me to bear silently. My hands clutched at the wound and I could feel my own hot blood spilling out through my fingers. I closed my eyes briefly and groaned before I forced them back open. No. No!
I refused to die like this. I wouldn’t allow myself to do that to the ones I loved. Not to my parents and friends, and Ilya, if he even still cared about me. I had to survive, at least long enough to let everyone know the truth and to say goodbye. I had to expose the real villain, the person who put into motion everything, the person who did this to me.
Releasing the good-sized hole that was bleeding profusely, my hands made contact with the dirty wood floor and my nails scraped across the scuffed-up surface as I dug in to give myself strength. The only thing my effort accomplished was bending a nail and getting a tiny piece of wood embedded into my finger. Strangely, this pain served to distract from the even more pressing pain of the bullet wound. I managed to make it up on my knees. Heaving, my breath could be seen circling in the cool night air. “Shit,” I mumbled. “That took more strength than I thought it would,” I said aloud. “You got this, Nana. You can do it. Don’t give up,” I said, then chuckled and shook my head. “Look at me, talking to myself. I really need to get out of here.”
Taking a deep breath, I got one leg up, foot planted firmly on the floor and was preparing to force the other to do the same, when the door flew open with such momentum that it hit the wall with a loud bang. I looked up and gasped, my eyes going wide.
How, was the only thing I had a chance to think before everything went dark.
Chapter Sixteen: Ilya
This was complete bullshit, I glared at Detectives O’Reilly and Callahan. They both looked smug as they watched me from the other side of the table. I sat in a interrogation room and they wouldn’t even tell me what I was being charged for. Sighing I ran my hands through my hair. These fucking idiots just had to choose today, right that moment? Not only had they ruined Aleksandr and Yazmeen’s wedding, me and Nana were finally getting somewhere.
