Stranded but not Alone (Midnight Moanings Collection)

by Cora Blu

  She grasped the latch on the door, and couldn’t keep her hand gripped around the knob. She grappled with the cell in her pocket. It crossed her mind that she still didn‘t know who or why they were after her. Thankfully, she remembered to get a phone while overseas.

  Fingers trembled with every stroke of the keys. She pressed number one, frantic to see the bars light up this close to the exit. It came to life. Simone’s heart accelerated watching the little light on the phone flickering as it strained for a signal. She raised her hand to her face, and the acrid sweet scent of her blood made her stomach gripe. The stairwell darkened as she gasped into the phone. “Seth! I’m in the hotel stairwell… I’ve been shot… the man… the one from the lobby, red head.”

  She shoved the phone into her pocket. Blood from her leg stained her hand. Just as the room began to darkened, two large hands slipped beneath her. Was she dead?

  ~~~

  Vivian Romanoff, daughter to the attorney that performed the adoption thirty years ago in Russia, paced the hotel room across the street from where Seth Dragoslava was staying. Why his parent’s weren't so easy to persuade, she had yet to discover.

  Frustrated, she ran fingers through her red hair. Vivian had yet to understand why Mrs. Dragoslava didn’t do as the other mothers. Take the twenty-five thousand and drop the lawsuit. What purpose did it serve to send her eighty-year-old father to prison now? She snatched up the cell from the nightstand. After several attempts to contact Luckasz or Gregori had gone unanswered, she dialed Patrick. She needed to hear things were going well.

  “Patrick, tell me everything is set,” Vivian ranted.

  “Don’t worry. I have the entire lobby in sight. Tell me who and when. By the time they figure out where it came from, I’ll be long gone,” he said. “I could take out Seth first if you like?”

  “Relax. I need Seth alive. He’s not my target but my conduit.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Patrick said. “I never liked the big guy. He thought I wasn’t right for the military life. I’ll take the girl just to piss him off.”

  Vivian grabbed bottled water from the fridge and took a long drink. Working with so much testosterone began to work on her nerves.

  “Patrick, I’m not paying you to get revenge or think for me. I’ll decide who lives and who doesn’t,” she said. “Right now I need word from Luckasz or Gregori. Your focus is the family. If he decides the American’s are not worth it, you start taking out the Shamochernyi’s—one by one.”

  “Seth is a sharpshooter. Remember my leg? If he spots me, I’ll need to take him out or find a bullet in my forehead this time.”

  “No, I need him alive. We’ll see who means more to him; his family or his little American,” Vivian said. She’d had Seth under surveillance for months and one thing she discovered from the report was that he’s lonely. And from her vantage point in the club last night, this American woman maybe the perfect hostage after all. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Patrick,” she said, “has Seth seen you or know who you are?”

  “Never met him. Gregori met him in the hotel lobby though.”

  “I haven’t gotten a call from Luckasz. Something’s going on across the street. Can you tell from where you are?” she grumbled, her eyes pressed to the split between the blinds.

  “The paramedics just took a gurney into the stairwell. A guest could’ve passed out. The altitude gets some tourists the first time out. I wouldn’t panic. Luckasz knows what he’s doing.”

  “If they’ve killed her, it’s all over,” she argued.

  “If it’s another guest, they may have to wait until things settle,” Patrick said.

  Vivian continued to pace the carpeted room, wringing her hands. “In the meantime, you’re certain Mikhail doesn't suspect you either?”

  “Vivian, either let me do my job or get someone else,” he ordered. “I’ll contact Mikhail in a few days. I told him I had another job to get to and then I’d take some time off for my leg.”

  “My father’s freedom rests on you doing your job,” she said. “Once Luckasz calls, I’ll have the papers and the message delivered. I want this over now.”

  Ten

  Seth stormed into the lobby, wool peacoat winging in the air behind him, his brother by his side in a brown leather blazer. Both sets of parents lagged back as they took in the lobby.

  The concierge met them in front of the yellow tape across the door to the stairwell. Hotel guests were huddled in staggered couples around the large fireplace, gawking as paramedics angled a gurney under the tape. Simone was in trouble. Seth’s nervous were jagged edges by now.

  “Sir, the authorities are on the scene,” the concierge said. “You can’t go in there.”

  Men in uniforms took pictures of the stairs and walls.

  “Where is Miss Daniels?” he demanded as a stocky built man with a note pad crouched over the blood spatter on the floor. Fingers flexing along his side, Seth’s calm voice a cover for his building rage.

  “And you are?” the man asked as he stood, flipping a page in his small notebook. Seth caught the detective badge at his waist. “Mr…?”

  “Seth Dragoslava, I called you. Simone Daniels is the woman you’re looking for.”

  “Mikhail Shamochernyi,” his brother introduced himself.

  “Right…” the detective uttered and Seth caught suspicion in the man’s tone. “You reported that she left you a message an hour ago. What’s your relationship to Ms. Daniels?” he asked with accusation, pen poised over the curled edges of the note pad.

  “She’s a friend from the states.”

  “An American then?” His peppered blond brows rose high over one eye.

  “Yes.”

  “Visiting?”

  “What does it matter? She’s been shot,” he said, pointing to the ground. “Her blood is staining the floor and you want her travel itinerary?”

  “Step over this way, sir,” the officer ordered, ushering Seth to the corner pointing to the man on the floor. “Look familiar?”

  Seth scrubbed a hand through his hair. The man at his feet lay in an unnatural position, his arm folded under and beneath his back. Dead for certain.

  Mikhail who stood by Seth’s side said, “He is the same man who harassed her yesterday in the hotel lobby.”

  “Did Ms. Daniels know him?” the detective questioned.

  “No, we’re the only people she knows here.” Seth glanced at his watch, eleven a.m. Another officer came down the stairs and handed the detective a dark brown purse. “That’s Sim’s purse. She had it at dinner last night,” he said.

  “You were with Ms. Daniels last night?”

  “Look, detective, I gave your office a full report. There’s nothing new I can tell you. She could be lying in a ditch somewhere while we stand here.”

  He gave Seth a dark stare. “Mr. Dragoslava, it would help if you had a picture, something I can put a Bolo out with.”

  The concierge spoke. “I can download her check-in photo, detective. All our guests have a photo on file for security purposes.”

  Seth trailed the man’s movements with his eyes as he went out to the lobby desk. Seconds later, he handed the detective a printout of Simone.

  “Thank you,” the detective said, eyeing Simone’s face before handing the picture to the other officer. “Nice looking lady,” he acknowledged as the officer turned and left the hotel. He held the purse open. “You stated Ms. Daniels left you a message, but I don’t see a phone in her belongings.”

  “That’s her voice on my phone.” Seth groaned and held his temper from flaring out. This man was getting nowhere and Sim was losing blood somewhere.

  “Alright, we’ve found no bullets, but,” he said, nodding to the concierge beside Mikhail, “you stated you heard gun shots?”

  “Just one,” he said.

  “No one heard anything else?” He stared up through his lashes, never lifting his face to either of them.

  “That time of morning with guests comi
ng down for breakfast, hotel staff, deliveries—there are two business conventions booking rooms at this time—it gets very busy and hard to notice when there is that level of traffic coming and going,” the concierge told them, then turned as his assistant handed him a package. The man read the manila envelope. “Excuse me, gentleman,” he said.

  Seth caught the man’s signal and followed him out to the desk. Mikhail stayed with the detective. He read the contents of the envelope.

  “Do not play the hero, gentlemen. The lives of your parents depend on you following directions. First, find the enclosed affidavit stating that the Dragoslava’s release the doctor and the attorney from all liable claims of baby trafficking. This must be signed in front of a Notary Public. Secondly, they concede they willingly gave up all rights as parents to said child on date stated. Thirdly, there will not occur now, or in the future at any time, a claim against the Defendants will come to the court systems.

  If at any time this contract is breached, the Dragoslava’s will be liable for all claims incurred against the Defendants. Fourthly, this legal binding contract must be signed within twenty-four hours of receiving this notice. By four p.m. following this day, the twenty-third of April, all contracts must be notarized and returned in the courier package provided. Every hour past this deadline will result in the demise of a loved one.

  Take this with the utmost seriousness, gentlemen. We look forward to hearing from you within twenty-four hours.

  Signed, concerned party.”

  He needed to call in some favors if he wanted to see Simone alive again.

  Eleven

  The unpaved street jostled the van down the abandoned driveway. The barn had been empty for years and no one would find his guest. Luckasz shot a glance in the rearview. Seeing no other lights behind him down the desolate street, his chest loosened. No one followed from the hotel.

  Punching a finger to the display panel on the dashboard, the man crooning out the rock ballet fell silent. He heard her soft breathing—she was still alive. He needed to get her leg patched up. She was losing blood. He smacked the steering wheel. This should’ve been an easy job, but he ended up shooting the American hellcat after she killed his partner.

  She must be worth a hell of a lot, he thought. The way Vivian changed plans to take the girl instead of Seth made him wonder if she was from some wealthy family in America. She must be worth at least a hundred thousand for him to be getting twenty-five grand.

  He angled the van close to the abandoned barn. It didn’t matter the surrounding trees were still leafless—no one could see past that last curve. Jumping out he scooped up the limp woman and approached the large door. He stepped back as it swung open.

  “Gregori, go open the tackle room door. You got the cot, right?” Luckasz asked. “She’s light, but she’s bleeding all over my arm.”

  “Bleeding?” Gregori blurted out. Luckasz adjusted the woman’s body in his arms and shot him a hard stare. “I got the cot. Where’s Kyle?” Gregori said, holding back a second door in the dark barn.

  “Dead, compliments of our guest here.”

  “She killed him?” he said, lifting a chain attached to the leg of the iron bed beside the wall. He opened the cuff on the one end, clasping it to the woman’s leg as Luckasz set her limp body down. “How did this little woman kill Kyle?”

  “Kicked him over the banister and broke his neck. I warned her not to run. But she took off, jumping down the stairs.” He shrugged. “Figured she’d break her leg before I had to shoot her.”

  Both men stood looking at Simone.

  “She’s pretty,” Gregori said, touching Simone’s face stroking down her neck.

  Luckasz shot a disapproving glance at the other man. “You’ll do anybody, won’t you?”

  “How much time before we deliver her to Vivian?” he asked, running a finger over her collarbone under the sweater, then back up her neck. He started stroking her hair. “Should’ve seen her last night,” he said, running a finger down between her breasts. “Damn hot in that dress, no straps.”

  Luckasz shook his head as he locked the chain to Simone’s ankle. “Leave the chain on her ankle. I’m going out to get a smoke. Hurry up.”

  They both looked at Luckasz’s phone when it rang—Vivian. Out in the barn he put her on speaker so they could both hear her.

  “Do you have her?” Vivian asked.

  “We have her, but there was an accident,” Luckasz informed the woman on the other end. He looked across the barn at Simone through the open door. She stayed lifeless on the cot, her bloody jeans visible from the doorway.

  “Accident? I’m not paying you twenty-five thousand dollars to have her damaged. We don't have time for an accident. What happened?” She was incensed.

  Angered, he said, “She killed Kyle, tried to run, and I had to stop her.”

  “Killed Kyle!” she barked. “What do you mean, stop her? Tell me you didn’t harm her,” Vivian’s yelled through the phone. He clinched his fist along his thigh. She needed to be taught how to talk to a man. Next time he saw her he just might. “Are you listening to me? Tell me you did not harm the American.”

  “Shot her in the leg. She’s unconscious, but alive.”

  “Where is she now?” Her displeasure hung thick in the air even through the phone line.

  “She's in the room.”

  “Where’s Gregori?”

  “Right here.”

  “Gregori, make certain no further harm comes to her. If she has so much as a scratch on her, you both will regret it. I’ll have no leverage, if she’s damaged.”

  “Got it.”

  “Remember she’s an American. The last thing I need is the U.S. Embassy to get involved because they have an American reported missing. She is not to be touched. Remember we're dealing with a former Russian soldier and a career military man. I want this as low key as possible. Do I make myself clear? These men can make more trouble than I'm looking for. I'll be in touch tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow!”

  “Unfortunately, because of your mess, the police are at the hotel. We need to lay low until tomorrow. Remember I hold your parole as well. Don’t try to screw me over on this, gentleman.” She hissed in a menacing voice. He heard hear tension through the phone. “Good night!”

  Luckasz skulked around the barn like a spoiled child. He was angered by their exchange.

  He grabbed the rope hanging from the wall. Whipping it out through the air, he pictured it knocking Vivian across the room. “One of these days that bitch is going to push me too far and I’m going to snap her puny little neck.” Walking to the ladder, he leaned up against the hayloft, then sat on a rung and shot a hard stare at Simone.

  Gregori looked at him with a quizzical stare from across the dusty, empty barn.

  “Hell.” The man shook his head. “What have we gotten into? She’s gonna have to come up with more than twenty-five grand for this job,” Gregori said. “Got plans for your cut?”

  “I see myself on an island with Gretchen and a smile,” Luckasz said.

  “You still with her? I thought you ended that.”

  “How do you think I found Seth so fast? She was complaining about him on Facebook… we started talking. I told her we were old friends I wanted to surprise him. Next thing you know I had all the info I needed. Besides, she’s fun.”

  “Tell me she doesn’t know about all this?”

  “Don’t be an ass. She only knows I’m out of town on business, and when I come back, I’m taking her on holiday.” Lucas smiled.

  “Why would she tell you about him?”

  “You ask too many questions. Just do your job and take your cut.”

  “That’s who you keep calling?”

  “Who did you think I was calling? Seth?”

  “Won’t he be surprised to find out that his ex gave him up?” Gregori chuckled at the thought.

  “You going to get something to eat or do we look for barn mice?”

  “See if our little tr
ouble maker in there is up. She needs to eat too.”

  “Gregori, what’s with all the eyes for Ms. America in there?”

  “She’s hot.”

  “American woman are too much work. They’re annoying as hell.”

  “But she’s hot. Hot wins out,” Gregori said.

  “Well, until I have twenty-five grand burning a hole in my hand, Ms. Hot is off limits. Got it?”

  “Don’t worry. I can look without touching.”

  “Food! Go.”

  “Luckasz, don’t mess with her.”

  He walked out and Luckasz watched him drive off into the darkening night. The taillights bumping up the winding road until the thick of trees covered his visibility.

  ~~~

  Simone heard their whole interchange as her thigh continued to burn. Weak and somewhat dizzy, she dug her cell out and prayed for a signal, trying to wipe away the feeling of his finger sliding between her breasts. She cupped a hand over the glow of the blue light as it lit her face. Please let this go through. She typed out the message to Seth:

  Seth… barn… blood… Gretchen bad… hurry. Lov u…

  Simone slid a hand under her bloody leg and dragged herself to a sitting position in the dank, dusty room. Stretched out was too vulnerable of a position to be in with heavy footsteps approaching the door. Her heartbeat changed to a rhythm deep breathing couldn’t help. She could smell tobacco and knew it was the guy from the stairwell. As he came through the door and that unibrow shading his clear gray eyes trained on her, she felt a fight coming on. She caught the glow beside his leg seconds before he held a cellphone in his palm.

  “If you behave I’ll let you talk to your family.” He could only be referring to Seth.

  “You shot me and chained me to the bed like an animal. What else can I do, but behave?”

  “Well you leaped from the stairs like a damn mountain goat.”

  “I don’t know what’s…”

  “Just sit here and be quiet.”