It took me a few minutes, but I finally got the picture and somehow even managed to get it sent off to Derek. Someone pounded on the door.
“Shit, Big Johnny is here to get me.”
“Who’s Big Johnny?”
“He’s the guy that fake you told me to stay with until fake you got here.”
“Claire, don’t leave the bathroom. Just stay where you are.”
“Righty-o, Captain.”
“Claire, I’m coming for you, but you have to stay awake until I can get to you. I need you to drink lots of water and try and flush as much of that shit out of your system as possible. Do you understand?”
“Yep. I need to take a shit.”
“Claire! Drink the fucking water.”
“Out of the toilet?”
He groaned and then he was shouting something, but I wasn’t sure if it was at me. “Go to the sink right now.”
I shuffled along the ground until I was by the sinks. “I’m there, Major.”
“Lift yourself up and turn on the faucet.”
I hoisted myself up and turned on the water. “Wow,” I said as I stared at the water. “It’s so pretty.”
“Claire, stick your head under and start drinking the fucking water.”
“Sure thing, Sergeant.”
I shoved my head under the water, but my hair fell in the sink and started blocking the drain. “This is good. My hair is blocking the drain. It’s making a nice little cup for me to drink from.”
“No, Claire, move your head. You’ll fucking drown. Just lay down on the floor until I can get to you.”
“Oke-do-kee, Lieutenant.”
There was banging against the door, so I lifted my head. “Hey, occupado!”
“Open the fucking door,” the other person yelled.
“Hey, it’s not nice to yell at people,” I shouted back.
“I’m gonna break down the fucking door!”
“Ooh, I’m really scared,” I laughed.
There was more pounding and I could hear Derek yelling at me through the phone.
“Hey, hubby. What’s shaking’?”
“Claire, stop taunting the man. Just tell him you’re sick.”
“I’m sick,” I shouted and then snorted in laughter. “Sick of you banging on the door!” I laughed and turned the phone to my face like Derek could see me. “That’ll tell him, right, Jarhead.”
“I was in the Army,” he growled.
“Then you should really get a new nickname.”
The door busted in and two men stalked over to me with scowls on their faces. “Man, you guys look pissed. You should really take up yoga or something. I hear it really calms you down.”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch.”
A fist shot out at me, but I easily blocked it and bent his arm backward. “Ha! Derek, did you see that? I’m like a Ninja assassin when I’m drugged.”
I was hoisted up over a shoulder, staring down at the ground over a bulky man’s ass. “Bye, Derek!” I shouted at the phone. “See you later, General!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Derek
“The note. You sent me a note.”
I stood suddenly from the bench in the locker room. Something was going on with Claire and I didn’t have a fucking clue what that was.
“Claire, I never sent you anything,” I said seriously. “Where are you?”
“Um…” Silence. So much fucking silence. Something was wrong with her. If Claire was in trouble, she’d be rambling on as she tried to tell me what was going on.
“Claire, stay with me. What did the note say?”
“Uh…I don’t know. I can’t read it.”
My heart raced out of control as different scenarios ran through my head. She could be injured and about to lose consciousness. She could be drugged and if she wasn’t in a good place, someone could take her. I would never see her again.
“What do you mean? What’s going on, Claire? What’s wrong?”
Rocco and Hunter walked into the locker room and I put it on speakerphone.
“I don’t feel so good, Derek.”
“Did you drink anything?”
“I had a…drink,” she mumbled. “It was…a drink.”
Hunter and Rocco immediately started gearing up. I set down my phone and started putting on my own gear. We didn’t have much time to get to her. If she passed out or someone got to her, we might never be able to find her.
“Who gave it to you?” I asked forcefully, needing answers.
“The bartender.”
Hunter motioned for us to hit the road. We all scrambled down the hall to the weapons center and grabbed everything we might need.
“Claire, take out the note and take a picture of it with your phone.”
“I’ll try.”
Cap, Sinner, Craig, and Storm saw us practically run out of the weapons room in our gear and didn’t even hesitate to follow. They got into one of the SUVs that was already loaded up with gear and followed us through the gates of Reed Security.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hunter asked.
“I don’t know. She got a note and she said it was from me.”
“Why would she think that you sent her a note?”
“Because we’ve been doing this fantasy shit before we have a kid and we were both pretending to be someone else.”
“Things stale in the bedroom?” Rocco deadpanned.
“Derek, how do I do this?” Claire’s voice slurred through the phone.
“Open the camera app and press the round button.”
“It’s not working. Why isn’t it working? Siri, take a picture. Siri! Take a picture, you stupid bitch.”
Rocco and Hunter snorted with laughter and I glared at them. “Claire, calling Siri names isn’t going to get you a picture. Now, just try to focus and get me that damn picture.”
“So, she’s most likely drugged,” Rocco pointed out. “You’d better hope to God that we can find her. If she can’t tell us where she is, she’s fucked.”
“Thank you, oh wise one. That’s just the fucking thing I needed to hear right now. Why don’t you tell me how she’s gonna get raped and murdered too?”
“Sounds like you know the score,” Rocco said.
“Why don’t you just pull up her tracking info on her phone?”
“Because she doesn’t have any. When she got into that trouble with the drug dealers, I went a little psycho. Now she won’t let me even track her GPS.”
“Bet she’s gonna be changing her tune after this,” Hunter snorted.
My phone pinged and I handed the phone to Hunter to read.
“My darling, Myra. Seriously? Myra?”
“Just read the fucking note.”
“Meet me at Rudolpho’s at 7:30 sharp. You wouldn’t seriously take her there, would you?”
“Of course not.” Then I thought about the other place I had taken her and suddenly Rudolpho’s didn’t seem that dangerous. “Well, probably not.”
“What aren’t you telling us?” Rocco asked.
“Just finish reading the note.”
“There will be a man at the bar. He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s there to protect you. Stick close to him. If I’m late, know that I won’t be long.”
“Dude, that doesn’t even sound like you,” Rocco interjected.
“That’s the whole fucking point. We were supposed to be two different people. I was supposed to be a prince,” I mumbled.
Hunter burst out in laughter. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me. You were a prince? Oh, that’s too good.”
“Shut the fuck up. I was a dark prince. I had a seedy underbelly. I was a goddamn bad guy.”
“Yeah,” Rocco laughed. “I can see it now. Prince Derek by day, Bad Boy Derek by night. Riding through the streets of Pittsburgh on his trusty steed Tonto.”
“Why am I all the sudden the Lone Ranger? This isn’t the 1950’s. We do have cars now.”
“And he’s not Derek. Acc
ording to this note, he’s Nicholas.” Hunter made smoochy sounds while he fluttered his eyelids.
“I was a distant relative of Czar Nicholas II. It was a fucking awesome cover.”
“Yeah, until it somehow got your wife in trouble.”
“Shit, Big Johnny is here to get me,” Claire murmured through the phone.
“Who’s Big Johnny?”
“He’s the guy that fake you told me to stay with until fake you got here.”
“Claire, don’t leave the bathroom. Just stay where you are.”
“Righty-o, Captain.”
“Tell her to drink water. She needs to hydrate and flush that shit out of her system,” Rocco said.
“Claire, I’m coming for you, but you have to stay awake until I can get to you. I need you to drink lots of water and try and flush as much of that shit out of your system as possible. Do you understand?”
“Yep. I need to take a shit.”
“Claire! Drink the fucking water.”
“Out of the toilet?”
“Jesus, she’s gonna get herself killed just by being in the bathroom alone,” Hunter muttered. “Don’t let her drink out of the fucking toilet. That’s like asking for an infection.”
I already knew all this and didn’t really need Hunter’s commentary, but he was right. I needed to stop her. “Go to the sink right now.”
I concentrated on the road and getting us there as fast as possible. We were still a good half hour away from Pittsburgh and I still didn’t have the directions for Rudolpho’s.
“Rocco, call Cap and tell him what’s going on. Have him take lead so I can concentrate on Claire.”
“On it.”
Claire giggled a little as she came back on the line. “I’m there, Major.”
“Lift yourself up and turn on the faucet.”
“Wow, it’s so pretty.”
“Claire, stick your head under and start drinking the fucking water.”
“Sure thing, Sergeant.”
“This is good. My hair is blocking the drain. It’s making a nice little cup for me to drink from.”
“No,” I shouted. “Claire, move your head. You’ll fucking drown. Just lay down on the floor until I can get to you.”
“Oke-do-kee, Lieutenant.”
I heard banging in the background and then Claire shouted. “Hey, occupado!”
“Open the fucking door,” the other person yelled.
“Hey, it’s not nice to yell at people,” she shouted back.
“I’m gonna break down the fucking door!”
“Ooh, I’m really scared,” she laughed.
“Claire, stop yelling at him. Pretend to be sick. Just stay quiet!”
“Hey, hubby. What’s shaking’?”
“Claire, stop taunting the man. Just tell him you’re sick.”
“I’m sick,” she laughed. “Sick of you banging on the door!” She laughed hysterically at herself. “That’ll tell him. Right, Jarhead?”
“I was in the Army,” I growled.
“Then you should really get a new nickname.”
For the love of God, I was gonna beat her with a stick over the ass when we got home. Whatever they gave her, I really needed to know so she never got her hands on it again.
“Man, you guys look pissed. You should really take up yoga or something. I hear it really calms you down.”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch.”
“Shit, this isn’t good,” Hunter said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. “We’re not gonna get to her in time.”
“Ha! Derek, did you see that? I’m like a Ninja assassin when I’m drugged. Bye Derek! See you later, General!”
The line went dead. “Claire!” Nothing. “Claire, answer the fucking phone!”
“She’s not there anymore, man.” Hunter pulled out his phone and dialed. “Becky, I need you to pull feed from any cameras around Rudolpho’s. Look for a woman being carried out of there. We need to know where they’re taking her.” Hunter glanced over at me and then out the window. “Claire.”
By the time we got to Pittsburgh, we had a location of where they were holding Claire. Apparently, they weren’t aware of how easily someone’s movements could be tracked around the city. I pulled up behind Cap outside a pizza joint. Claire was being held in a steakhouse just two storefronts down. Slipping out of the SUV, I quickly went to the trunk and grabbed all the extra gear I could possibly need.
“What the fuck did you get yourself into?” Cap asked. “Those are Russian mafia in there.”
“Nothing. I swear to God. I’ve never even met anyone from the mafia.”
“Well, someone knows you, or Nicholas,” he said, raising an eyebrow. I glared at Rocco.
“What? You asked me to fill him in. I did.”
“Why Nicholas?” Cap asked. “You don’t really look like a Nicholas.”
“I was connecting myself to the Czar.”
“Of Russia,” he said.
“Yes.”
“The same Russia in which the Russian Mafia comes from.”
“Fuck off, Cap. I said it wasn’t intentional.”
“Sure thing.” I nodded, accepting Cap’s agreement that we shut the fuck up about it. “Nicholas.”
I turned to swing at him, but Hunter grabbed me around the chest and hauled me out of the way. “Your boss just drove an hour out here to save your girl. How about we go beat up some Russian mafia members, save the girl, and get our asses back home in time for a late dinner?”
“Fine,” I said, pulling my vest back down and snapping my visor in place. “Let’s go kick some Russian ass.”
“Why do I get the feeling that we’re not going to be beating Russian ass so much as killing a bunch of mafia that are then going to retaliate?” Storm asked.
“Because, my friend,” Sinner said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “We’re Reed Security and we don’t do anything half-assed.”
“A little warning would be nice,” Storm muttered. “Hey, before you join our crew, you should know that we very rarely take on regular jobs and someone’s always getting kidnapped. You know, just a friendly email would suffice. Hell, I’d even take a text message.” He turned to Craig. “You have my phone number to track me in case I get kidnapped, right?”
“I’m sure we’d find you before things went too far,” Craig shrugged. “Haven’t lost anyone yet,” he grinned.
“Gentlemen, would you mind? My wife is currently being held by Russians.”
“Sure,” Cap agreed. “Gentlemen, Nicholas, let’s move.”
We split up, my team going to the front and Cap’s team going to the alley. We took our stance and Hunter looked in through the window. “Looks like we’re fucked, boys. We should have brought a bigger crew. Well, guns and glory and all that bullshit. I say we charge in guns blazing and hold our dicks.”
“In position,” Cap said over the mic.
“On three,” I said.
“Wait,” Storm said, “is this one, two, three? Or three, two, one?”
“Three, two, one, mark,” I clarified.
“Okay, I’d like to remind you all that I’m the new guy here and I’m not familiar with how you do things. Are we shooting to kill, wound, or maim?” Storm asked.
“Shoot to stay alive,” Cap said. “Can we do this now, or did you want to head back to Reed Security first and do a test run in the training center?”
“Excuse me for wanting to be prepared. I’d like to not get anyone unnecessarily killed.”
“That’s simple,” Hunter said. “Shoot them. Don’t shoot us. We good?”
“Fucking fantastic,” Storm grumbled.
“Three, two, one, mark.”
We burst through the front doors, weapons drawn, but it was fucking pointless. We were outnumbered ten to one. Mafia filled the entire restaurant and there was no way any of us were walking out of here this way.
“Stand down,” I said, hoping no one fired off a shot.
I holstered my weapon and hel
d up both hands, though if any of them tried anything, I could get to at least a few of them as long as they didn’t give me a head shot.
“I’m looking for my woman.”
A man smoking a cigar eyed me curiously. “Your name?” he asked in a Russian accent.
“Derek.”
“Derek…” He thought for a moment, shaking his head. “No, I don’t know any Derek.”
“Maybe you know me as Nicholas.”
“Ah, Nicholas. It’s so good of you to join us. Please, please sit down.”
I walked forward hesitantly and pulled out a seat. He poured me a shot of vodka and I took it, knowing that it was an insult to not drink it. I set the glass down and he nodded approvingly.
“So, what is it you would like?”
“I would like my wife back. Her name is Claire, but she was posing as Myra.”
“Yes, Myra. I’ve heard about her. Great ballet dancer. I went to see her at the theater.”
I rolled my eyes in frustration. “She’s not really a ballet dancer. We were just pretending.”
“She’s not a dancer?” the boss asked in confusion.
“No. She’s a librarian.”
“No,” the boss mumbled, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “I watched her on the stage. She had beautiful lines. Excellent movement.”
“Sorry, Egor, it wasn’t her.”
“Hey, there’s no need to be insulting.”
“Well, we didn’t exactly exchange names,” I snapped.
“I am Ivan. Egor is my father.”
“Well, Ivan, my wife is just into role-play. She’s not a ballet dancer and her name isn’t really Myra. She’s just Claire. In fact, she used to raise chickens.”
“Really? In my village, we broke their necks.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “They never laid eggs. So, when they had enough meat on their bones, we walk outside and…” he made a twisting motion, like snapping a chicken’s neck.
“Not Claire. She’s definitely an animal lover. She had to stop because her dad had Alzheimer’s and he burnt down their house. She ended up giving up the farm because it was too much work.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” he clucked, pouring another drink. “Na zdarovie.” We drank back our vodka and he motioned for Rocco and Hunter to join us. “Please, please. Come join us for a drink.”
Phoenix Rising Page 24
