by Lee, Leona
“Yes, it is my official statement because it’s the truth. I don’t know anything about his supposed criminal activities,” she said, angry at his persistence.
He slid her statement into the folder he brought with him and turned the recorder off with an impatient snap before pocketing it.
Standing up, he reached into a different pocket. “Here, take this and please call me or anyone at the Bureau if you can think of anything that might help our case,” he said as he placed his business card on the table in front of her.
She looked down at the card on the table but didn’t bother to pick it up.
“So, what happens next?” she wondered aloud, as the agent moved to the door.
“Much of that is up to you, Ms. Vella.”
Agent Franklin’s words replayed in her head and she questioned how long it would be before Alexander was out on bail.
Getting up from where she had been sitting all this time, she moved toward the now broken door. Grabbing her purse on the way out, she nodded to the officers milling around the apartment. Moving swiftly to the elevator, she took it down to the lobby and asked the doorman for a taxi.
She jumped as she felt a presence behind her. Turning around quickly, she saw an officer as he stood there with an apologetic look on his face.
“Sorry to scare you there, miss,” he said.
“It’s okay,” she told him as she looked toward the street for her taxi to arrive.
“I just wanted to see if you were okay,” he offered politely.
She turned to face him and smiled at his gesture, but nodded yes to let him know that she was fine. The only thing she wanted to do in that very moment was leave as quickly as possible so she could mentally put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Okay,” he said as he turned away to rejoin the other officers.
She stared blankly at the street lights as the taxi driver drove her home. Her mind was filled with questions that she didn’t have answers to. How had she not spotted any suspicious activity? Did she even still have a job to go to? How long would it be before she saw Alexander again?
Tears fell from her eyes as she extended a twenty dollar bill to the driver and exited the vehicle.
Chapter Seventeen
As Alanna walked toward her apartment, she worried about what to tell her sister. Alyssa was notorious for figuring out when something was wrong and she was relentless when it came to getting answers. Both traits that would make her a good lawyer someday, but she wasn’t up for her sister’s inquisitiveness now.
“Here goes nothing,” she told herself quietly as she fumbled with her keys before walking into her apartment.
Her first thoughts went to her son, Roman, and she hoped he was tucked in tight in his bed. She wanted to sneak in and head directly for her bedroom without interruption. Her nerves had been on edge since she saw the officers swarm the place with guns. Alanna wanted that mental image erased from her mind and had lied to herself that a good night’s sleep would do the trick.
She took a deep breath as she closed the door. Quietly, she turned and locked the door, but sensed movement behind her. A lone tear dripped from her eye and hit her cheek. She stood there as the floodgates opened and tears ran down her face. Alanna stood there, frozen, as she hoped the movement she sensed was a figment of her imagination.
“Hey, I thought you weren’t going to be home until tomorrow morning,” Alyssa joked. “What happened to Mr. Wonderful?”
Alanna turned to see her sister standing there and Alyssa’s face instantly shifted to one of concern when she saw that something was wrong. She rushed to hug her. Holding her tightly, Alanna cried into her sister’s shoulder, as Alyssa rubbed her back.
“What happened?”
“Alexander was arrested tonight. They came in with guns; I was so scared.”
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Alyssa asked. Taking her hands, she walked her over to the dining table and pushed her down into the chair.
“I was just going to make a cup of tea.” Turning, her sister fussed in the kitchen as she opened and closed cabinets. Pouring the hot water into two cups, she turned and joined Alanna at the table.
“So, let me get this straight, your boss was arrested while you were at his place?” Alyssa questioned her in disbelief.
Nodding her head, Alanna played with the teabag, dipping it in the cup. “It happened after dinner. We were in the living room. Suddenly, there was a loud noise and the room was filled with men dressed in black brandishing guns. Next thing I know, Alexander is in handcuffs and I’m being questioned,” Alanna recalled.
Alanna scanned the place for Roman’s tiny, rosy-cheeked face. She hoped that the sound of her frantic voice hadn’t awakened her son.
“Wow, did they say what he did?” Alyssa asked.
“At first, I talked to an officer, but then an FBI agent came in. The agent told me that Alexander was involved in some kind of international drug trade. He also mentioned something to do with money laundering,” she recalled.
“International drug trade? Money laundering?” Alyssa questioned her. “What in the hell?”
“That’s what the agent said.” Alanna shrugged as she remembered what Agent Franklin told her. She recalled her own disbelief at the man’s words. “Honestly, I didn’t believe it at first. I’m not sure I still do.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared her throat. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Alanna added. She looked down as the pain welled up inside her.
“I guess you’ll probably have to find another job,” Alyssa offered as she sat down next to her sister.
“That’s not what I mean,” Alanna said and stared off into the distance. It dawned on her that her situation with Alexander had not only blurred the lines of professionalism, but it crossed the barrier into something more personal for her. If she were honest with herself, she would admit that she never had these kinds of feelings for anyone, not even Roman’s father.
“Oh God,” she realized. “I’ve fallen for an international criminal.”
“Well that definitely presents an even bigger problem,” her sister said calmly.
“Maybe I was too blinded by his charms to see the big picture?” she questioned herself. “Maybe it was all there right before my eyes?”
“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it if I were you,” Alyssa stated plainly. “There’s really nothing you can do about it now.”
“Maybe,” Alanna reasoned as the events of the evening played out in her head all over again. She thought about Agent Franklin’s questions and how she felt that it had to have been one huge misunderstanding.
“I don’t think the FBI would’ve swarmed his place and arrested him without some solid proof that he was up to some shady business,” Alyssa commented. She rubbed her sister’s arm as she tried to console her.
“True, I got the impression that some of what was going on was assumed. That maybe they didn’t have as big of a case as they wanted. The agent kept pushing me to say things that weren’t true. I mean, even the photos didn’t look all that suspicious,” Alanna recalled.
“That’s interesting,” her sister said curiously. “Maybe they’re trying to build a case and they jumped on things before they had all the evidence.”
“I think I’ll find out for myself if there’s any truth to the situation. I’ll go back to the office on Monday if I can and check through the invoices and any other records I can find. There has to be something there that will either condemn or exonerate him.”
Alanna stifled a yawn and decided to go to bed, but as much as she wanted, sleep was elusive as thoughts of Alexander played in her head. She tried to replay every interaction she had with him, but the only ones that were the strongest were when he was flirting with her. She remembered sitting in his black office chair and how he’d threatened to spank her. The thought made her tingle all over again. Had she been blinded by her aching lust for her Russian billionaire boss?
Ju
st hours ago she’d been in his embrace and hadn’t had a care in the world. She thought about him sitting in jail as she enjoyed the comfort of a soft pillow and warm comforter. Alexander wasn’t afforded the luxuries he was used to and she drifted off to sleep, concerned about how he felt.
The next morning, Alanna woke up and her thoughts immediately went to Anastasia in the bathroom during their first night in Florida. She thought about the cocaine she was snorting and the comments she made, but she never once mentioned Alexander’s name.
Alanna wanted to believe the best about Alexander, but his supposed wrongdoings weighed heavily on her mind. She always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt in bad situations, and she wasn’t going to stop now.
She sat up in bed and made up her mind.
“I’ll just see if there is anything menacing about Alexander myself,” she said to herself as she contemplated the situation. She knew in her heart that she’d only be satisfied if she found out the details for herself.
She picked up her phone and studied her news feeds to see if there was any information on Alexander Denisov. She found it odd that there was no mention of his arrest.
She sighed deeply. She had a lot to think about before Monday morning.
Chapter Eighteen
Alanna walked into Denisov International Monday morning. She was intercepted by security before making it to the elevator with a message to report to Human Resources. Stepping into their office, she was surprised to be met by the company’s executive vice president.
Smiling at the older man, “Mr. Zarkov, it’s good to see you.”
Nodding curtly at her, “Ms. Vella. It seems that there was some trouble Saturday night?”
Cringing inwardly, Alanna realized that someone would have found out even if they did manage to keep it out of the news.
“Yes, sir,” she managed to say, wondering if she was about to be fired.
“Please, come with me. Our lawyer wishes to speak with you.”
With an audible sigh, Alanna followed him into the HR manager’s office where she spent the next two hours going over everything that happened Saturday from the time his door was broken down. Satisfied that she had told them everything, she was excused to return to work and warned not to talk about what happened with anyone else, particularly their clients.
“If anyone specifically asks what is going on, direct them to me,” Mr. Zarkov ordered, as Alanna nodded to him.
When she finally made it upstairs, it was after ten and she was startled that all the lights were on and there was a flurry of activity going on, as people she didn’t know were moving in and out of the offices. A bit annoyed that she wasn’t warned ahead of time, she was shocked to see Tristan step out of one of the conference rooms seeming to be directing all of the activity.
When he turned around, she spotted a badge clipped to his belt and fury began to build inside her.
“Alanna,” he began tentatively, just as surprised to see her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”
“Evidently,” she answered through gritted teeth, as she glared at the person sitting at her desk.
Walking slowly toward her as if she were a wild animal, “Come. Let’s go into Alexander’s office to talk,” he said calmly.
Nodding her head, Alanna tightened her grip on her briefcase and marched ahead of him into Alexander’s office. She stopped short, when she saw a man and a woman taking pictures off the walls and pulling the backs off.
“Get out!” she screamed as she fought the urge to cry.
“Can we have the room please,” Tristan asked as the two agents nodded their heads and quickly left the room.
Walking over to Alexander’s desk, Tristan sat down in his chair, as Alanna felt steam start pouring from her ears. “How dare he,” she fumed.
Before she could say anything, he looked up at her and realized his mistake. Jumping up from the chair, he moved around to the front of the desk and took the boxes off the chairs and put them on the desk.
“Please, sit,” he implored as he sat slowly down.
Walking toward the desk, she set her briefcase down with a loud thump before sitting reluctantly down in the chair. She continued to glare at him, as he shifted uncomfortably in the chair.
“So, um, I guess we need to talk,” he began as she crossed her arms and stared at him. “I’ll go first.” Taking a deep breath, “My name really is Tristan Avery and I work for the FBI. This is my first assignment, actually.” He looked at her, seeming to wonder if he should continue.
“As you know, Alexander was arrested on Saturday and…” before he could finish, Alanna interrupted him.
“So, have you found anything?” she demanded, hoping her curiosity didn’t come out in her tone.
Shaking his head, “No.”
“Then why are you still here? Is he still in jail? Why hasn’t he posted bail?”
“We aren’t finished looking, yet. Our sources indicate that he’s involved in activities associated with a recent influx of drugs from the Baltic.”
“And the bail?” Alanna was growing increasingly angry, as she fought to keep from screaming in frustration.
“We have seventy-two hours before he has to be charged and since he was arrested at night, it would be Wednesday morning at the earliest before he could appear before a judge to discuss bail.”
“So, all this really is a fishing expedition. Someone in law enforcement got a wild hair that because Alexander is a Russian billionaire that he must clearly be breaking the law and rather than catch him at any wrong doing, you’re looking to pin something nonexistent on him.” Alanna’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
As she spoke, she berated herself for being the one to hire Tristan. She searched her memory for anything that might have seemed out of the ordinary with him but nothing came to mind. How could she have been so blind?
Tristan seemed to read her thoughts. “Don’t blame yourself, I was at the top of my class at Quantico. I’m good at my job.”
Shaking her head, Alanna tried to fault him but she couldn’t. If Alexander really was guilty of what he was accused of, someone was bound to find out.
Sighing heavily, “So, what happens now?”
“We have the full cooperation of everyone here and I hope the same goes for you,” Tristan commented as he waited for her response. Nodding her head, he continued. “It will certainly save a lot of time if you’d give us access to Alexander’s personal computer.
Tilting her head, she looked at him, “I don’t have his password, he never gave it to me.”
Suddenly, Alanna had a thought. “No, it couldn’t be that simple, could it?” she wondered aloud as Tristan looked at her strangely. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts.
“Have you come across the invoices and shipping lading with a Russian word printed on it.
Nodding his head, Tristan excused himself and returned moments later carrying one of the invoices. Taking it from him, Alanna went to Alexander’s computer to try to figure out how to type in the Cyrillic word. Grumbling in frustration, Tristan asked her what she was thinking. Without answering him, she logged into his computer under her name and clicked on the internet icon. Typing in the word, “неоценимый”, she clicked on translate and was surprised to see that it meant “priceless.”
Frowning, she clicked on the “I’m feeling lucky” option and her search returned the name, “Anton.” Logging out as her, she returned to Alexander’s login and typed in “Anton” for the username. When she was prompted for the password, she entered “priceless” but before she clicked the next button, she looked at Tristan uncertainly.
“I’ve no idea if this will work,” she warned as he nodded at her in encouragement.
She laughed when the login continued, pleased at her own detective work but worried at what it all meant.
“Alanna, you’re brilliant,” Tristan told her excitedly as he called to one of the agents to begin downloading his hard drive. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t. I kept seeing it pop up on paperwork and I never did figure out what it meant. I was shooting blind here.”
“Well, you seem to have hit the target,” he complimented her, as she looked on, hoping that she didn’t cause more problems for Alexander. As much as she wanted answers, she didn’t want to see him hurt any more than he already was.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that he’d have his password printed on paperwork that others would see?”
Shrugging his shoulders as he watched the agent work, “More than fifty percent of people use the same password for all their logins. This isn’t much different.”
When the agent finished, he stood up and said something quietly to Tristan before leaving.
“So, what happens now,” Alanna asked.
“What did they tell you downstairs?”
“Basically, to keep it business as usual until they had more information.”
Nodding his head, “Well, then I’ll let you get to it. Most of our work is already finished here, so we should be out of here by noon.”
Alanna stood up and headed back to her desk. She frowned when she saw the condition of the reception area. Setting her briefcase down, she checked for messages and then spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the mess the agents left. When they left the building at noon, she called down to HR to see if they had anyone available to help her put the office back together. Sending up a small team of interns from the sales and marketing departments, they were able to put the file room back together before the end of the day, which helped her feel better.
The rest of the week was uneventful and Alanna felt as though she were merely going through the motions. So far, any news of Alexander’s arrest remained out of the news cycles and while some of the clients felt put out that they couldn’t speak with him, everything was being “handled,” as the VP put it.
By Friday morning, Alanna was sure that Alexander would have been bailed out by now, but he had yet to show up at the office and she didn’t want to call him. When she returned from lunch, she was surprised to see a bouquet of roses sitting in a crystal vase on her desk.
