The World in Reverse

by Latrivia Nelson

  All the men watched him as he made his way up to the house. Many of them knew exactly who he was and his reputation in Memphis, not only with the police department but in pursuit of their boss. They found it odd for him to be here now, walking no less. Curious eyes gazed out at him from all over the property. They walked in pairs with fully automatic weapons in black tactical gear. All of them Russian, all of them killers.

  When Nicola’s foot hit the top step of the Medlov’s palatial mansion, the doors opened and a butler ushered him in quickly. He spoke in Russian as well, telling the guards were to take Nicola.

  The mansion made his colonial-style home look shabby. He had been there a few times before, once to arrest Dmitry Medlov. He had come in with a team in the middle of the night and slapped the cuffs on him, but not before he had also pulled his beautiful girlfriend out of the tub naked and arrested her too. None of the laundry list of charges had stuck. In fact, Dmitry walked the very same night.

  He was certain that Dmitry had never forgiven him for that, but here he was anyway, about to ask for his help. The way that Nicola saw it, the most the man could do was turn him down. But he had the distinct feeling that he would not.

  “This way,” the guard said, walking out of the elaborate foyer down the left corridor. Nicola followed the man and the other guard followed Nicola. Their footsteps echoed on the marble floor. The ceilings were tall, nearly twenty-feet high and every few feet there were grand original paintings from all over the world. This man, Dmitry, had built a decadent life for himself on the back of hard work, but his labor had been in arms dealing and the underground world of the mob. He was the king of criminals, royalty of killers and thieves. Yet, his world seemed better than most. The sound of children playing somewhere in the house could be heard along with the laughter of young women. The smell of fresh flowers in expenses vases filled the hallways with fragrant aromas. And all around him was the distinct feeling of contentment. Such strange bedfellows for under lords.

  It seemed to pay well to be on the other side of the law. It seemed to be more rewarding. At least from the outside.

  The guard leading them opened the door at the end of the long hallway and stepped to the side. Nicola walked into the study, another elaborately decorated room of dark wood, leather chairs, antique furniture, expensive rugs, art, books and large monitors that gave different vantage points around the compound. A huge bay window with the view of the grounds in the backyard gave a picturesque view of a well-manicured lawn, masterful gardens of flowers, a white gazebo covered in Ivy and low hanging trees.

  “Sit there,” the guard said, roughly. He pointed toward a small sofa in the corner.

  Nicola didn’t bother to answer the man with a smart-ass comment. The guy was just a worker, not even worth the extra effort. But he did give him a look that let him know that he would have loved to punch him in the face.

  Taking a seat, he watched the guard close the door and stand in the corner of the room quietly waiting.

  Nicola smacked his lips and sat back on the sofa. Here it is. Rock bottom, he thought to himself. Taking a newspaper off the end table, he looked at the story A1 above the fold and read more about how he was a horrible person and a racist cop. Utter bullshit. He rolled his eyes and threw the paper down. Whoever said 15 minutes of fame was exciting didn’t know what it was like to be in his shoes.

  Just a few minutes later, he heard footsteps marching down the same hall that he had been ushered down. Evidently, Dmitry was a gracious host who didn’t believe in keeping his guests waiting, even if they were cops. Inwardly, he appreciated that considering he had such a long run home. Plus, he wasn’t quite comfortable leaving Ivy and the kids alone for any extended period of time. Always on borrowed time.

  The door opened and the second guard moved out of the way to let Dmitry Medlov, his son Anatoly Medlov and the newest addition to the organization, Dmitry’s nephew, Gabriel Medlov into the room. It was a parade of giants. While Dmitry and Gabriel towered physically over all they lorded over, Anatoly was a man with a reputation bigger than life in a not so colossal body.

  The Medlov men were quite the enigma when people first saw them. Dmitry was the patriarch of the family. He was an exceedingly tall man, blond, blue-eyed, immaculately dressed and well spoken. His grey pant suit fitted him perfectly, more than likely because they were tailor made. His dress shirt was cut to show the wideness of his bulging chest and his small waist. And his perfect smile was designed to put people at ease.

  He was a man who appeared approachable at first glance, until one looked him in the eye. It was then that anyone with sense realized that he was a predator, plain and simple. All of his charisma and beauty were mechanisms to lure people into his trap, and then when they were adequately ensnared in his vicious web, he pounced on them, leaving no remains to waste.

  Nicola knew Dmitry well and over the years they had had their share of run-ins, but there was also an unspoken respect between them. Dmitry respected Nicola for his integrity and devotion to the department, and Nicola respected Dmitry for the way that he handled his men and his business. It was never sloppy. No one ever stepped out of line or disobeyed his orders. Few had ever been stupid enough to cross him. As a result, Nicola couldn’t even count anymore how many bodies that he had picked up over the years because of Dmitry. Yet, nothing had ever stuck. Money and power had a way of doing that. And Dmitry was nothing if not thorough.

  Then there was Dmitry’s son. He was a completely different man.

  Anatoly was also a blond. A little over six feet tall, wide and muscular, brooding and dark with icy blue eyes that belonged on a painting, the young man was pure hate incarnate. He wore dark jeans, weathered brown boots and a navy blue t-shirt that looked like he bought it off a rack at Wal-Mart. Russian tattoos ran the length of his muscular, vein-filled arms down to his hands and up to his neck. He always seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, more than likely because he was always being discussed in some circle or another. Like his father, Anatoly was from Moscow and had lived in the slums there before he ended up in the states. After working like a slave for his father, he had been selected to serve on the council and made a leading member of the Vor.

  Over a year ago, Anatoly found out that a woman he was seeing was an undercover cop that Nicola had sent to infiltrate their organization. When he discovered it, Anatoly made her witness to a flawless murder before he drugged her and put her on tape while they had sex in front of countless people in a pool at his summer home in South Beach, Miami. Ultimately, the incident had cost the girl her badge, reputation and fiancé. However, she rebounded by writing a bestselling memoir detailing everything from his opulent lifestyle to the size of his penis. The last time that Nicola had heard anything about her, she lived in L.A. now and was working on a movie deal.

  Gabriel Medlov was a bit of an enigma to Nicola. He was a curious character that gave off a different vibe from his other family members. Raised in private schools, college-educated, and a former DEA agent, no one knew just how good or bad the man was. After a stint undercover, he too had turned for the family and had never looked back. In his early thirties, he was a black haired, green-eyed beast of a man, nearly seven feet tall and while slimmer than Dmitry, he was exceedingly brawny. His dress was a little less menacing. In jeans and winter green polo, he was something of a hybrid of the two men. The word in law enforcement was that Gabriel reported to Anatoly now, and that Anatoly reported to his father. The familial hierarchy was designed to be impenetrable.

  Looking at the three men now, Nicola felt the same. They were impenetrable. After all of the years of chasing them, it only took one glimpse after he was unshielded by the badge to really realize that the only thing that could bring these men down was themselves - one man’s greed, one’ man’s lust for power, one man’s arrogance. They were a triad of destruction that had become a force of nature in their world. And as long as they stuck together, no investigation would ever succeed.

  Dmitry
sat in the corner of the room with his legs cocked open and his elbows on his knees, an unusual seated position for such a normally poised man. But in truth, he was sort of unnerved by the impromptu meeting. From his experience, Agosto didn’t bend, didn’t ask and didn’t negotiate.

  Gabriel watched from the corner of the desk, leaning against it with his legs crossed at the ankle. Participating in this meeting was only born from curiosity for him. He was confused about why the guy in front of them was so damn important to his uncle. Dmitry was global, yet here he was entertaining a local cop. To Gabriel, this was just one more example of why his uncle was such a complicated man. He saw use in everyone, where others didn’t.

  However, the most scrutiny came from the ever-paranoid Anatoly, who sat behind the desk, fingers threaded and eyes as pensive as ever. The sunlight coming in from the window behind him shined in on the top of his head and made him appear to be wearing a golden halo with his tousled blonde locks. Such a deceptive thing. It was obviously a trait bestowed upon him genetically by his father, because his body language told a different story. Nothing angelic radiated from Anatoly. In fact, all he wanted to do was launch across the room and attack the man for all of his past troubles.

  Finally, Agosto spoke. “I’m sure that you’ve seen what happened,” he said, taking off his shades.

  “How could we miss it? You made national news and started what could be a citywide riot. Have you watched TV? Hundreds are camping out downtown for your closed-door hearing tomorrow. If you walk, analysts are saying that the city will burn.” Dmitry stood up and walked over to the bar. Running his fingers over the many crystal decanters filled with a hosts of different spirits, he looked back at Nicola. “You still drinking Jack and Coke?”

  Gabriel and Anatoly exchanged a quiet glance. Dmitry was actually going to drink with this man, like he was an equal? They found the idea preposterous.

  “Yeah,” Nicola said, sitting back on the sofa. “Funny how shit happens, right?”

  “Really fucking funny,” Gabriel said, finally remembering who the guy was after Nicola pulled off his shades. “You’re in deep shit. Why did you do it? Beat that guy up like that?”

  Nicola looked over at Gabriel, face stoic and said, “He deserved it. Trust me. He was threatening to harm my children…sexually.”

  Dmitry snickered. “You’ll have to forgive my nephew. He hasn’t gotten acclimated to brutality yet. And trying to teach him is like trying to teach wine to be water.” After pouring him a drink, he walked over and passed it to Nicola as a sign of respect. “Here, this should take some of the edge off.”

  “Thanks,” Nicola said, taking a big gulp. His breaths calmed instantly. Wow, did he need that.

  “So, you’re off the force?” Dmitry asked, sitting back down, closer to Nicola this time.

  Nicola nodded.

  With a half grin, Anatoly leaned back in the chair. “Wow, I never thought it would end this way,” he said relieved.

  “Oh, it’s not fucking over,” Nicola said quickly. “That’s why I’m here. I need your help. There is a child sex ring right here in the city, and if they think just because they were able to destroy my name that they can stop me from coming after them, then they have another fucking thing coming. No, this only means that I get to take the gloves off. And I will get them…all of them, even if it kills me. I will make them pay.”

  Dmitry listened carefully to Nicola the entire time, reading every one of his facial expressions, hearing the inflection in his voice, watching the tenseness in his body. The man wasn’t lying. He sat back in his chair and crossed his legs. “Da, let’s talk.”

  Anatoly took a deep breath and rolled his eyes at his father. He was actually going to entertain this guy now? Great.

  “I need some guns, some help locating a girl and a few of your men to track down this drug dealer name Cane. I think he’s responsible for not only the murder of a guy named Twist, but also some kind of way has a connection to the Baby Boys case. I’m locked out of the police department and my partner is under a hawk eye. So, he can’t help me.” Nicola looked Dmitry in the eye. “I know you have guys on the inside. I need their help to access the databases once I turn something up and get it back to me.”

  “Why don’t we throw in a few million dollars to sweeten the deal?” Anatoly said sarcastically. “Papa, don’t listen to him. Send him out…better yet…kill him.”

  Dmitry raised a brow at his son to silence him and then turned to Nicola. “In exchange for what?”

  That was a good question. “What do you want? I don't have much to give,” Nicola answered sincerely.

  Anatoly sucked in a breath. “I should warn you. Normally, conversations like this don’t end well for the person asking that question.”

  Gabriel chuckled but did not speak.

  “You and I have been playing the game of cat and mouse for quite some time,” Dmitry said grimly.

  Nicola swallowed down his pride. “We have,” he said in a low, flat voice. He knew that the cost of coming here would be high, but he wasn’t sure how high.

  Dmitry nodded. “A man like you could have significant worth to a man like me. You are honest, far too honest, and you are good. Therefore, you are trusted in circles that I can’t necessarily sway because they don’t care about money and power.”

  Nicola shrugged. “Maybe once I was in those circles, but not anymore.”

  Dmitry leaned closer. “It might not seem like it at this moment, but you are still a very valuable resource. And I want to use you.”

  “When?” Nicola asked. “How?”

  “This is the tricky part. Not now. Not sure how. Just when I call, you have to answer and what I ask, you must do.” Dmitry twisted up his lips considering how this might be perceived by Nicola. “It is not easy to be in your position, but you must play the cards that you have been dealt.”

  “I don’t believe in turning on my former fellow officers just because I got booted off the force. I still have my self-respect.”

  “A pig with respect,” Anatoly huffed. “Bullshit. Men like you only have power because someone appointed it to you. You didn’t work for it. You don’t deserve it. And when it’s taken from you, you realize that you are less than nothing.”

  Gabriel did not laugh at that. He was a law enforcement officer once and could appreciate the man’s delicate situation. He cut his eyes at his cousin.

  Dmitry ignored his son, promoting Nicola to do the same. “All I ask is that you are a phone call away…”

  “And you’ll give me what I need?” Nicola asked. “Why?”

  Dmitry winked at him and grinned. The dimple in his jaw emerged. “I could give a few reasons. I don’t like pedophiles. I don’t like Cane. I don't like missing an opportunity when I see one. Even though I have millions…well a lot more than that…I still believe that human capital is a man’s best and most valuable asset, not money.”

  “How do you know that you can trust him?” Anatoly interrupted when he saw that his father might actually consider Nicola’s request. “He’s spent years chasing us and now that we finally have an opportunity to get rid of him, you offer him amnesty? Papa, this isn’t right.”

  Dmitry smiled. “I love my son. He’s so full of passion, but he lacks in his youth the ability to see the bigger picture.”

  “I lack in my youth to see the point in playing games with people who have become obsolete in purpose,” Anatoly snarled.

  Nicola’s eyes narrowed at Anatoly. He had endured just about as much as he would with the little shit. “You think not having a badge will keep me from jumping across that desk and whooping your narrow ass?” he asked with lips curled and muscles tense.

  Dmitry laughed aloud and slapped his knee. “Real men. I love it. Alpha males. True to the death.” He sighed. “I can trust him, Anatoly, because once he enters into this agreement with me, he understands what he’s risking.”

  The vein’s in Nicola’s neck bulged. Taking his eyes off of Anatoly, he look
ed back at Dmitry. “It’s already at risk. Why do you think that I’m here? It’s only a matter of time before they come after my family. My wife doesn’t fully understand that, but I do and you do.”

  Dmitry nodded. “I do.”

  “So, if I’m going to deal with devils…” Nicola said, shaking his head.

  “Then you had better deal with the biggest ones,” Dmitry said, nodding. “Call in Vasily.”

  Anatoly grunted and motioned at the guard. “Bring him in here now.”

  Dmitry looked at his watch and realized that the conversation had taken him from his guests longer than he expected. “Good then. Why don’t you come around day after tomorrow, after you have received your official walking papers from the police department and we can get started. Anatoly and Gabriel will assist you from this point on. I’m an old man. I’m sure that you don’t really need my direct assistance. But these young men can be my eyes and ears and most importantly, my mouth to get you the things that you need.”

  Vasily, Anatoly’s personal guard came into the room, and closed the door behind him. Standing six-four, he looked more menacing then all the rest with a bald head, crooked nose and a dark tan. “Boss?” he asked, respectfully.

  Dmitry stood. “Nicola, what is this girl’s name that you were trying to locate?”

  “She goes by the name Roxie. She was a stripper at The Tie. I think that she skipped town.”

  “Do you have a photo?” Dmitry asked.

  “I can get you one,” Nicola said, unsure how this man could track down the girl when he could not.

  “Good, get Vasily a picture of her. When do you need her here?” Dmitry said, clasping his hands together.

  “I need her back here immediately. She saw something, and I need to know what,” Nicola answered.

  “Vasily,” Dmitry said, turning towards his subordinate. “Find her and bring her here to me. Nicola,” he turned back around. “I’ll see you day after tomorrow. We will have some party favors for you and we’ll introduce you to one of my teams of men.”