by Fiona McGier
“Sorry I’m late,” he said as he approached them. “Bad traffic.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad you made it,” Alexandra said. She turned to answer a question from Katie.
Dmitri wasn’t sure but he swore he saw a look of disapproval on the newcomer’s face as he noticed Dmitri still held Alexandra’s hand. Dmitri stared at him and when Rich looked up, the antipathy in his eyes was obvious…but only until Alexandra turned back and it disappeared suddenly.
“Isn’t that the detective investigating Tom’s accident?” Alexandra asked as she looked over Rich’s shoulder. “I wonder what he’s doing here.”
Dmitri let go of her hand. “I’m going downstairs to the bathroom, then maybe outside for a smoke.”
“Okay,” she said as Rich moved to stand closer to her now Dmitri had gone from her side.
“What’s up with him? Spooked by the cop?” he asked conversationally.
Alexandra shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he just has to pee.”
The bikers continued to talk amongst themselves about the two recent losses their gang had experienced. After about a half-hour of chatting idly, they decided they had been there long enough to pay their respects to their comrade. They had already decided they would all ride their Harleys to the funeral in the morning, so they could make a fierce noise as they rode together in the procession.
They began to drift out in pairs, stopping to tell Tom’s family good-bye before they left. Alexandra waited for Dmitri to come back, but eventually the only ones left were Rich and her.
“I think I’ll go out and look for him,” she announced to Rich.
“Maybe he’s gone home already,” he suggested.
“I don’t think so. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?”
“Fine.”
She turned and walked up to tell Tom’s mother and brother their plans.
“We’ll ride as a gang in the procession. But none of us will be staying for the luncheon. I’ll have to get back to work. And besides, we don’t want to intrude. The wake and funeral are more public. The luncheon is for family.”
“If you reconsider, you are welcome to come,” Tom’s mother insisted as she hugged Alexandra.
“I’ll keep that in mind. See you in the morning.”
Alexandra decided to check the rooms downstairs to see if Dmitri was there. He wasn’t in the room that held the industrial-sized coffee urn.
Might as well pee before I hit the road.
After she was done, she walked towards the stairs leading up to the chapel. Suddenly Detective Jones was at her side.
“Have you been waiting for me?” she demanded. “It’s like you’re spying on me or something. You don’t suspect me of anything, do you?”
“No. But we had a tip today I thought you should know about.”
She sighed. “Look, I’m really tired. I haven’t had any dinner and I’ll be working late tomorrow to make up for attending the funeral. Can’t this wait?”
“It’ll only take a few minutes. We had an anonymous call come in to the station after you left this afternoon. Some guy said he had seen someone push a dark car into a lake south by Hastings. We sent a guy out there and sure enough there was a car submerged there. No one would have seen it through the weeds, unless they knew to look for it. We had it pulled up and traced it to a rental car place here in St. Paul.”
“Was it the car that hit Tom?”
“It might be. It had some damage that might indicate it was involved in an accident.”
“Did you find out who rented it?”
“We talked to the owner of the place it was rented from. He said a guy rented it from him early on Friday morning. He said the guy insisted on paying cash and used the name Mike Smith on the information forms. He said he didn’t have a license because he had lost it. When the owner balked, he offered to pay an extra c-note so he could still get the car.”
“That all sounds really suspicious to me,” she said. “And I’m not a cop. I’ve just seen things like that on TV and movies. Does he tape his customers?”
“No, that’s just the problem. And the guy had on a leather jacket, a hat, dark sunglasses, and what looked like a fake beard. But there was one thing the rental guy remembered.”
“What?”
“The guy had some kind of an accent. He thought it was Slavic…maybe Russian.”
Alexandra felt all of the color drain out of her face.
“Is there something wrong, Miss Blackstone? Do you know someone with a Russian accent?”
“Yes,” she answered in a whisper. “He…” She cleared her throat and began again, “He joined our gang about four months ago.”
“What can you tell me about him?”
Besides the fact that I’m in love with him? Besides the fact that he’s told me he won’t be happy until he has me to himself? Besides the fact that he’s jealous of all of the men in my gang?
She could feel herself hyper-ventilating while the detective stood and watched her intently. She forced herself to make words come out of her mouth.
“Um, his name is Dmitri.”
“Dmitri what, Miss Blackstone? We need a bit more to go on than a first name.”
Her mind had gone blank.
“I don’t know his last name. Are you going to pick him up?”
“We’d like to talk to him…that’s all. We need to ask him a few questions. Do you know where we can reach him?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t know where he lives. He used to work as a weeknight bouncer for one of the places we drink at on weekend nights, but he quit that job about two weeks ago.”
“Do you have a phone number we can try?”
Numbly, she nodded and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through the numbers and read them in a monotone to the detective as he scribbled them down on a crumpled note pad.
“Thanks, Miss Blackstone.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“Then good-night.”
“I’ll walk you upstairs. I need to talk to the family of Tom Taylor before I leave.”
As they neared the door to the chapel, Alexandra said, “Bye, Detective Jones.”
“Goodbye. We’ll be in touch. And don’t leave town.”
Alexandra tried not to rush but could feel her heart pounding as she finally reached the door and pushed it open to feel the hot summer air on her face. She was sweating despite the air-conditioning, yet also shivering from the cold.
She looked around and saw that all the bikes were gone. She walked quickly over to her SUV and hit the clicker to open the door. As her hand touched the handle and pulled up, she sensed a presence behind her.
“Are you alright, Alexandra?”
She felt herself trembling.
“I’m fine, Dmitri. Where’d you go? Did you smoke a whole pack out here?”
“No. If you’ll remember, I’m in the process of getting myself a legal identity. But I’m not sure if it would hold up to official scrutiny yet, so I couldn’t take any chances. I didn’t want to answer any questions that detective might have had.”
No! No! No! Not you! No!
She felt rooted to the spot, yet her heart was racing in panic. She was trapped in a nightmare where she needed to move, yet was unable to do so.
“Are you alright, Sashka?” He had leaned closer to her and was inhaling the scent of her hair.
“I’m…uh…I’m really tired. I need to be up early tomorrow for the funeral, then I’ll have to change and head to the office and work really late to make up for the missing time. I don’t think you should come back with me tonight. And I think I’ll be too wiped out tomorrow night too.”
He reached a hand forward to caress her neck and with one finger under her chin, he raised her face up to look into her eyes. She tried very hard to project a neutral face, but knew from the look on his face she was failing entirely.
“Alright, my love. You’re under a lot of stress right now.
I’ll see you on Wednesday night, then.”
She breathed in a deep breath. “Yeah. I’ll probably be feeling better by then. It’s just that with Tom’s death and all…and now Jim’s too. I’m feeling really freaked out. I need some alone time to process everything that’s been happening.”
He leaned forward to brush his lips against hers.
“Until Wednesday, then.”
He reached over and finished opening her door and shut it behind her when she was in the seat. She pulled her seatbelt on and forced herself to smile at him once she had rolled the window down.
“Good-night, Dmitri.”
He nodded and stood back as she drove out of the parking lot. Her last view of him was seeing him watching her drive off in the rearview mirror as she pulled into the street.
She held herself together until she got her car parked and was up in her condo. Then her control broke and she cried, long and hard. She mourned her murdered friends who had been her lovers. That was bad enough.
But to think that Dmitri might be the one who killed them? What the fuck for? To get me to himself? He’s been doing a good job of that already…no need to kill anyone.
Is he capable of murder? Of course he is! He as much as told me he has killed before. He might have done this. He knows how to take a life. But is it him? How can the hands that make me so crazy with lust, be the same hands that pulled a trigger and killed Jim? How can the man who has moved so far into my life and my heart, be the one who killed Tom, whose whole life was ahead of him?
Holy shit! And what am I going to do about it? Cover for him? Or turn him in? And if I turn him in and he finds out, will he kill me too?
I’ve never been in love before. No man has ever been able to crawl so far into my head that I’d even consider covering for him, or lying for him. What am I gonna do?
It was late when she finally crawled into bed, the help she sought from the Reverend Jack Daniels only partially quieting the voices yelling in her head. What little sleep she got was fitful and not at all relaxing. She woke up almost more tired than she was the day before. Now she felt a bone-weariness that threatened to make her unable to even get out of bed. But there was a funeral to go to and she owed it to Tom to lead the other bikers in honoring him by riding along with him to his final resting place.
Chapter Thirteen
Alexandra dressed as if it was a Friday night and she was heading to the bar. The fact that she was drinking lots of coffee since it was morning leant a sense of surrealism to everything. Not that she needed anything else to remind her of the nightmare her life had become.
She picked out the business suit she’d change into when she raced back after the funeral, when she exchanged her Harley for her SUV. While taking a final look at herself in the mirror she stuck out her tongue.
You look like shit, girl! Dark circles under your eyes…everyone’s gonna see you’re not getting any sleep. And your eyes look haunted. If that cop is there he’s gonna know you’re hiding something. I did give him Dmitri’s phone number, but I’m betting he’s smart enough not to answer a call from a number he doesn’t recognize.
I’ll bet the detective will be at the funeral, but Dmitri won’t. So much for being my support in my time of need. Fuck it all…time to head out.
* * * *
As she strode into the funeral chapel for the service before the procession to the cemetery, Alexandra kept her head high and her shoulders thrown back, emphasizing the size of her breasts that were barely contained in the leather halter she wore under her leather vest. Her upper arm tattoos were on display, and that, combined with her monumental cleavage and skin-tight jeans, caused plenty of loud whisperings of disapproval from those already gathered in the room. She had expected it and ignored it.
She kept her sunglasses on to hide her eyes as she walked in, and looked around for the others she knew were there because she had counted the Harleys in the lot. She was the last one to get there, and they only had to wait a few minutes before the minister made his way to the front of the room to begin the prayers that would lead up to the sealing of the coffin.
As he spoke she looked around for Dmitri, but didn’t see him anywhere. But as she had suspected, Detective Jones was there, studying the gathering with impassioned eyes, since after all, this was just another part of his job.
After the prayers were done, everyone was invited to walk by the casket one more time to say their final farewells to Tom. His mom and brother were the first ones to approach him, and they remained there, huddled close to each other, the younger man trying hard to be strong for his weeping mother. The extended family members and friends were next, lining up to say goodbye before they headed out to their cars to get ready for the procession.
Finally once everyone else had been up, Alexandra led her gang up to take their last leave of their companion. Alexandra was the first one to stand with tears in her eyes, as she leaned over and gently kissed Tom’s lips one last time.
She stood to the side with his mother and brother as the rest of her gang took their leave.
Bob put a pack of Tom’s favorite cigarettes into the casket with him. Steve put in a pint of Jack Daniels. Katie put in a nosegay of flowers.
Chuck added a pack of poker cards, “In case he gets bored.”
Angela put in a photograph from her ultrasound, “Because he was so excited to see the baby.”
Brad put in a paperback, “His favorite sci-fi author,” he explained.
Leann put in a quart of Tom’s favorite beer. The rest just stood in silence or gave the biker salute to their fellow rider one last time.
Alexandra gave Tom’s mother one last hug and nodded at her gang, “It’s time for us to saddle up, people. Let’s show everyone how we honor one of our own.”
They walked together out to their bikes and fired them up in rapid succession, the throaty roars bouncing off of the funeral home and surrounding buildings to create a satisfyingly loud echo of noise. As Alexandra looked around with pride at her friends, she saw Detective Jones standing and talking with one of the relatives. He seemed to feel her gaze and looked up to nod at her. She nodded back in acknowledgement, then they all stuck the orange funeral stickers on their windshields and got ready to follow the procession.
The ride was uneventful. As Alexandra had expected, the loud roar of the bikes drew everyone’s attention, and many stood respectfully or removed their hats as the procession went by. She had tears still unshed in her eyes.
See, Tom? Everyone can see how important you were to us. You didn’t deserve this, honey. I’ll do everything in my power to help find who cut you down, and make sure he pays.
From the back of her mind, or maybe from her heart, a tiny voice whispered, Even if it’s Dmitri? She nodded as she rode. Yes.
As they stood around at the hole in the ground that Tom was to be lowered into, Alexandra had the feeling she was being watched. She kept looking around and thought she caught a glimpse of Dmitri behind a large nearby family tomb. But when she moved to get a better look, he was gone. As she moved again, she noticed that Detective Jones was watching her intently, and looked briefly in the direction she was looking before meeting her eyes. She decided to pay more attention to the prayer the minister was intoning before the body would be lowered into the grave.
Once the family had their chance to toss a clump of dirt onto the coffin, they thanked everyone for their attendance and invited them to join in a luncheon at a local restaurant. The people began to disperse back to their vehicles. Alexandra wasn’t in the mood for talking, and neither were any of the other bikers. They silently returned to their bikes and fired them up. Since they were all heading in different directions, they headed off independently, or in pairs. Rich was the last one left standing with Alexandra.
“Are you alright, Alex?” he asked gruffly. “I know this is hard on you. Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe come and spend the night with you at your condo?”
Alexandra shook her head. �
�No, Rich, but thanks for asking. I’ve got to go change and head to my office, and I’ll be working really late tonight, to make up for leaving early yesterday, and being late today. I’ll barely have the energy to make it home and will probably collapse as soon as I get there.”
He nodded. “If you think of anything I can do to help you deal with all of this, just call me. Anytime.”
Since his bike was next to hers, they were standing close together, which was the only way they heard each other over the sound of Rich’s Harley. Rich leaned over and kissed Alexandra, a light touch at first, then gaining in pressure until she looked up at him in surprise as she backed away. She pushed at his hand that reached around her waist for her butt.
“Hold on, cowboy! I’m still reeling from burying one of my boys, and there’s another funeral we’ll have to attend soon. I’ve never been so not-in-the-mood in my life. I’m sure I’ll recover eventually. But for now? Hands off.”
“Fine,” he growled, then turned and hopped on his bike to ride off.
She watched him ride off for a second then got on her bike. Before she could turn the key, Detective Jones stood next to her.
“Miss Blackstone, a minute, please?”
“What is it, Detective?”
“We’ve been unable to contact the man you call Dmitri. But I asked some of your friends and they indicated that he knows where your condo is. In fact, though none of them have ever been to it, he’s spent the night with you. Is this true?”
“Yeah. So what?”
“So I’d like you to take my card with my number at the station on it and keep it on your person at all times.”
She looked at the card then at the detective.
“Why?”
“Because I want you to call me if you’re contacted or confronted by the man we want to talk to.”
“What if I’m not at home?”
He nodded. “Give me a location and I’ll find you. I’ll use the GPS in your cell phone if I have to.”
“But it’ll still take time for anyone to get to me, right?”
