It’s not a ritzy high-end place my trail leads me to, however. It’s not even a house. It’s a pretty simple, working class apartment complex. Nice and safe, but not expensive. It’s not what I expect when tracking down a deadbeat criminal bum, but since it’s his last known whereabouts, I’ll take it.
When I get there though, I notice something out of place. There’s one expensive black mustang, parked haphazardly in the lot. Like some rich prick who doesn’t care about his vehicle getting damaged by another driver — not likely in this neighborhood — or someone in a real hurry.
Either way, this hints I’m on the right track.
I climb the outdoor stairs towards the apartment on the second floor, taking my gun in hand just in case. My time in the marines and doing this job have taught me many things and one point where they cross over is this: I don't take chances. And I can’t afford pity for my enemies. Pity gets me killed in both worlds; or at least in civilian life, it puts me back in prison.
My target’s apartment door is open, as in wide open. I approach with caution, pulling my gun out of my jacket entirely. But then I hear something that causes me to throw all caution to the wind.
“Don’t touch my daughter!” a woman cries. But I recognize that voice. I recognize it all too well.
It’s Alice.
10
Alice
I grab my stiletto heel that was lying beside the closet, and I charge at the man nearest me. I don’t have a thought, not a single fear going through my mind. It’s all adrenaline. The second that man touched my daughter, I was seeing red. My stiletto heel nailed his shoulder, and his grip slackened on Cierra.
“Go to your room!” I tell her, as I strike for him again, the high heel aimed this time for his face. There’s so much fury behind my actions, and I’m sure they didn’t expect it from me. I’m still in my pink pajamas, my hair pulled back in a loose bun, and mascara rings still under my eyes from all the crying I’d done this morning before Cierra woke up.
But all my heartbreak is forgotten, and the only thing on my mind is protecting her.
These two guys are big though, and I’m not sure even a mother’s fury could overpower one of them, let alone both. I attack the guy before me all the same; it doesn’t matter that I might lose, that I might die, I just need to beat this guy down and then worry about the rest later. My daughter depends on it.
“You fucking whore!” he cries at me, punching me with the weight of an anvil, but I just keep attacking. I stab the heel of my stiletto into his shoulder and he cries out, the heel lodged in his flesh as he reels back. I don’t give in, and I claw at his eyes, push him back.
I’ve done so much for my girl. I gave up my dreams of owning and running a little bookstore and coffee shop, I’ve danced every night of the week for as long as I could handle it to pay for her future. I’ll fight these guys down, I’ll do it. I’ll make it happen. And I dig my thumbs into this man’s eyes, my nails breaking but the jagged pieces digging in all the same and making him scream out.
Nobody fucks with my daughter!
I break him down as he cries in pain, his muscles going to little use as he tries to pull my arms away from him, but it’s too late. I’m lodged in there, and no force on earth is going to make me back off.
And then he goes slack. I feel crazed, but I’m a mom now. And I’m only half done.
I look at the other guy, ready for blood. But he’s got a gun out. And suddenly reality floods back in: I’m going to die.
I could have strength enough to lift a bus, but a bullet will still end me.
I scream and get ready to attack him too, all the same. But the bang of a gun going off resonates and…
He slumps to the ground, lifeless.
I’m confused. Bloodied. But mainly confused.
Then I look to the door.
The last person I ever expected to see again.
Viktor. Standing there. Gun out. He’d shot the thug once in the back of the head, but didn’t wait, he moved to the guy I attacked. Then put a bullet in his head too, just in case.
“Is that all of them?” he asks me, sounding all business. Like a soldier.
“Yes,” I say, but my world is spinning, my arms shaking wildly. What have I done? What’s going on?
I have two corpses in my living room, and he’s standing in front of me like out of a dream. Is this heaven? Have I died, and now I’m just seeing the man I love, one final time? Hallucinating our victory before I pass over?
“Are you okay?” he steps up to me, placing a hand on my cheek, looking into my eyes. But it’s not a romantic gaze, as much as my first impulse is to see it as one. He’s checking me out like it’s a battlefield, trying to see if I’m hurt. “Where’s your daughter? Is she safe? I heard you cry out about her,” he explains.
“Cierra,” I whisper, before bolting from Viktor towards her room. I open her door, and I don’t see her at first. But then I see the closet is a little ajar, and I cautiously open it, finding my little girl’s terrified face staring at me.
Tears are already streaming down my face as I open my arms for her hug. “It’s okay. They’re gone,” I coo in her ear, rocking her as she cries into my shoulder.
Viktor enters the room a little while later, looking so serious, all business. I can’t tell if it’s the gangster or the soldier in him.
“Is she okay? If so, we should go. This place won’t be safe. They won’t be the last,” he says to me, as if this all makes sense. As if two thugs showing up out of nowhere, demanding to know where John is, was somehow all normal, expected stuff that he was prepared to handle.
I cover her ears as I look back at him. “This is our home. I can’t just... just... take her somewhere else. There is nowhere else.”
“Come to my place,” he tells me. “It’s new, it’s nice, there’s room for you both. I’ll protect you and your daughter,” he says to me with such conviction and certainty. “But whatever you do, we can’t wait. Trouble is going to be here any moment now, one way or another. We really need to go, Alice.”
I’m about to argue, but I know, in part, he’s right. At least going with the devil I know will buy me some time to figure out where to go. I go to my side dresser and take out a small stack of bills, then rush into the kitchen. In the back of the oven’s drawer, I take out three envelopes: everything I’d saved for Cierra’s future. No one knew about this money. Not even John. Especially not John. I tuck it in my purse, and quickly pack an overnight bag.
“We’re going to spend the night with mommy’s friend,” I tell Cierra in her room, as I grab some clothes for her. “But first, we gotta play hide and go seek.” I hold out a blindfold, and though she looks at me skeptically, she lets me tie the black fabric around her eyes. “I’ll just carry you outside and we’ll play at his place!”
She’s unsure and confused, but I manage to assure her and get her to go along with it as Viktor escorts us out. He peers outside like it’s some kind of action movie, but after what I just lived through, I’m convinced it’s necessary.
He takes me on down to his car, a nice but simple black ride, and he opens the door for Cierra and me in the back.
“Won’t be long and we’ll chill out at my place, you two,” he tells us, speaking in a reassuring tone for Cierra. And instantly he’s hopping into the driver seat and starting up. I worry for a moment he’ll tear out of there like a bat out of hell and freak her out, but he’s both speedy and safe, taking his time.
I can hear sirens and I start to panic.
“Viktor…” I say, tension high in my voice.
“Don’t worry, Alice,” he tells me, driving away calmly as if nothing is wrong. The cop cars racing by, undoubtedly on their way to my place after reports of gunfire. But they pay us no mind, and we head on down the road at a casual driving pace.
My heart is pounding so hard in my chest, but I slump back in my seat, cradling Cierra to my chest, rocking her back and forth gently. She knows something is wrong. She
’s a smart kid, and she can feel the tension in my bones. But I can’t do anything about that. All I can do is feel relieved that she’s safe.
Viktor glances back at us in the rearview mirror and smiles handsomely, just like I knew he could.
“Don’t worry ladies. You’ll love my place. It’s almost fit for two lovely queens like yourselves,” he says in that disarming way of his. “How about I treat you both to some pizza when we get there, huh? I know a great place, you’ll love it. If you’re a good girl they even bring you some fresh baked cookie pie.”
“Would you like that, Cierra?” I ask her, and even though she’s shy and likely terrified, she nods her head eagerly. “Tell Viktor,” I urge her.
“I’d like that,” she says in a soft voice, and I kiss the crown of her head.
Though now that the adrenaline has faded, I catch Viktor’s eyes in the mirror.
Does he know that she’s his?
11
Viktor
My new apartment has barely been broken in before I bring my two new guests over. It’s furnished lightly, with a stylish living room set, TV and sound system. My bedroom has a large king-sized bed, and while I turned one of the spare rooms into a workout room, the third sits unused.
I welcome them both in, carrying Cierra for Alice as I point to the washroom so she can clean the blood off of her.
“Hey now, Cierra,” I say to the young girl with a smile, “I don’t have a lot of toys around here, but I tell you what… I’ll order your favorite kind of pizza and treat you like a princess as long as you’re in my castle, how’s that sound?” I ask her before putting her down on a chair, like she was a queen taken upon a palanquin to her throne.
She’s had a long day, so I don’t blame her for the way she looks at me with that curious expression, and those big, green eyes. Her head tilts to the side, her curly blonde hair gone a bit matted against her head from the blindfold. After a few seconds of thinking about it, her eyes darting to the bathroom where her mom had gone, she nods and gives me a small smile.
“Like Prince Charming,” she says, her speech remarkably good for a four-year-old.
“Well, I won’t say I’m all that charming, but you’re welcome to Prince Charming’s castle,” I say with a smile and a wink. I place the order, take a while to hang out with the young girl. She reminds me so much of Alice, but in a mini, childlike version.
I haven’t spent any time with kids in years, but luckily it turns out the fancy new TV I bought came with a games console, and I introduced her to Minecraft on it, buying Alice the time she needs to not only clean but to cope with all that’s happened. I don’t expect any of this to be easy for her.
Most of my mind is screaming at me to go check up on Alice, to make sure she’s okay. But I know that as a mom — a tenacious mom I saw in action, at that — her first concern would be for her girl. So I shove down my own worries, my selfish concerns for the love I lost, and do my best to keep young Cierra happy. Comforting Alice would be more for me than her; comforting her daughter is the most selfless thing I can do.
And she seems like a really happy kid. Now that she feels a bit safer, I can see her opening up, giggling and laughing. But every once in a while a strange look comes over her as she looks at me, like she’s trying to figure me out. I guess it’s just having someone new around, especially after the type of day she had.
But then she smiles, and those dimples show in her cheeks as she turns back to the TV, or towards the door.
“Mommy never lets me have pizza,” she confides, and for a second I wonder if I did something wrong. But Alice never mentioned anything in the car, so I guess it’s more of a personal preference than an allergy.
Cierra starts climbing on me, and I spread my legs to let her get cozy between them, both of us sitting casually on the floor, my back against the sofa. She didn’t seem to care for sitting on the couch, but she seems to warm right up to using me as her backrest.
“So how old are you now, Cierra?” I ask, and she puts up four fingers, beaming proudly at me. “I’m almost four-and-a-half,” she boasts, and I can’t help but smile. Her beguiling smile is infectious, especially as she rests her head on my stomach, looking at me upside down.
“That’s so old,” I say, my eyes going wide, my tone teasing, and she laughs at me, her head shaking, golden curls going wild.
“Not as old as mommy. Or you,” she adds, and I grin.
“How old do you think mommy is?”
“Real old. This many,” she says, holding up nine fingers, and I laugh as I capture them in my hands.
“Wow, that is old,” I tease, and she laughs, squirming in my lap before heading for the door. I don’t know what she’s after, but just then the doorbell rings. Kid must have a sixth sense for timing.
I open the door and tip the pizza guy before taking a glance around. I know no one saw me leave, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.
Cierra makes grabby hands at the pizza, dessert, salads and drinks as I move into the kitchen, rebuking her with a grin. “We have to wait for your mom,” I remind her, and she lets out an exasperated sigh.
“She’s always in there forever with makeup,” she says, then pouts, “and never lets me wear any.”
“You want to be like mommy?”
“Mhm,” she says with an adamant nod, and I grin, stroking her hair.
“She’s pretty great,” I agree. “But so are you,” I say as I pick her up, and she happily laughs into my shoulder as I zoom her about the apartment.
I pass the time with the girl some more, but still Alice isn’t out.
“Y’know what, your mom wants you to be a growing girl more than anything. So I’m sure this once time she’ll forgive you for starting without her,” I say with a wink, opening the box of pizza and handing her a slice. “How’s that?”
She cries out excitedly, taking the slice and biting into it with a big smile. I like the girl, I realize. She’s so much like her mom, it’s endearing in every way. And we get along so naturally.
But our pleasant moment gets disrupted by a crash from the hallway.
12
Alice
I shed some more tears, this time not over lost love but the frantic hell that my life became so suddenly. Or maybe not so suddenly. I was just so busy with taking care of Cierra and working, I didn’t realize what John was pulling me into.
My daughter nearly saw that gruesome display, my life turned upside down, and now I’m staying in the hands of a man I barely know. A killer.
But my hands have blood on them too. Did I kill that man when I shoved my thumbs into his eyes? I don’t know. Not for sure.
It’s gut-wrenching. And just when I think I’m ready to head out and join them, I peek my head out of the hall quietly, and see them…
Viktor, for all his faults, is sat there, playing games with my daughter — our daughter — as if she were his own. His charming smile back in full force, his natural good nature easing her tensions, making her happy.
He doesn’t look like a thug or a gangster. He looks like the man I fell deeply in love with. The man I shared my dreams and passions with as he held me for that one perfect night.
I feel the tears welling back up and I head into the bathroom again a while. When I next emerge I see them chatting, him handing her a slice of pizza. And it’s so touching. He doesn’t know it’s his daughter, but he’s so kind. So fatherly all the same.
A dizzy spell comes over me and I stumble, knocking a picture off the wall and it hits the floor with a crash.
Viktor goes for his gun, hidden beneath his blazer. But he sees it's me quickly and relaxes.
“Alice,” he sighs with relief, and luckily Cierra didn’t see the gun he hid. “Just in time to join us for the pizza,” he says, serving me up a slice on a paper plate.
“Prince Charming, mama!” she says, and I wish she hadn’t. I guess some part of those stories I told her about my waylaid love life remained somewhere in her memories.
>
“It smells delicious,” I say, avoiding her comment with a smile as I slide into my seat. I’ve scrubbed my face, and I’m sure it’s red and puffy, and my hair is still tied back in a bun. I wanted to take a shower, but I wasn’t ready to be naked. Not yet. That was a level of vulnerability I’m not prepared for.
I thought about texting John, some dumb sense of loyalty welling up inside me, but he nearly got my girl killed. He’s the one that put this blood on my hands, and he doesn’t deserve the courtesy of knowing what type of people are after him. As if he doesn’t know already.
Not just that, but being in contact with him would only put us at greater risk. I don’t know who he’s in deep with, but it’s no one I want to tangle with.
“And make sure to save room, there’s dessert after,” Viktor says with a wink to Cierra, her eyes going wide. The next while goes by so quickly, so naturally. I couldn’t have anticipated that we’d all just mesh so well as a little unit.
A family.
Before I know it, Cierra — and Viktor — are guiding me to the couch, to show me what she’s created in the game. The three of us sitting there, laughing and smiling. And it’s almost like none of the horrors of the day occurred.
Night scarcely seems to have set when Cierra falls asleep on the couch, and we quietly make our getaway to another room.
“Are you okay?” he asks me when the door’s barely been shut a half-second. There is a look of concern on his handsome, rugged face.
“I am definitely not okay,” I answer honestly. “What the hell were you doing at my apartment? Because stalking is really not the way to win me back.” All that anger and fear that I’d pushed down for my daughter’s sake is coming bubbling to the surface.
“I wasn’t stalking you,” he says in an even, patient voice. “I was looking for a man who owed a friend of mine a lot of money. I was trying to get to him before some other, nastier folk got to him first. Clearly, I was too slow.”
Redeeming Viktor Page 6
