Chapter Three
“What is your name?” Sergi demanded to know.
The woman sighed hard and said, “I’m nobody important. And I really can’t stay here long. The man that ran away tonight will alert the others that I was here. Then they will hunt me down. The next bullet from them will be in my brain and that’s something I’ve avoided for a dozen years now.”
Nikoli studied her as he asked, “Why would they do that?”
She turned to him and looked him in the eyes as she replied, “Because that’s just how they are.
My mother ordered them to do just that and she only says shit like that one time.
She’s been waiting a long time for someone to bring my head to her in a basket.
Preferably separated from my shoulders.” She shook her head then shrugged.
“I prefer to keep it right where it is, thank you very much.”
“How many followers do they have left?” Sergi wanted to know.
She shrugged and said, “Maybe thirty, give or take.”
“Do you know where they are?” Nikoli asked.
“I know where some are. They have moved all over the city so they might not be where I say, especially now. The man who ran away tonight is more than likely raising an alert and they will dig in somewhere else for a while. But that doesn’t mean they won’t try to free the sisters again.
” She paused and looked around the room.
“I only came here to warn you.” She got to her feet slowly and when she did she grabbed the table for support.
“I have to go. I told you what I wanted to tell you and now I need to find a new place to hide until this is over.”
Sergi looked at her bloody arm and shook his head. “You can’t leave just yet, malysh. You need medical help.”
The woman set her hands on the table as her mouth tightened with fury. “This isn’t the first time I’ve been shot, so don’t you worry about it. I have a friend and I know I’ll be okay when he finds me. He will dig the bullet out and can help me recover.”
Sergi shook his head. “That is not acceptable to me. You came here with a warning for us, only to get shot for your troubles. You saved Felix’s life and he is... terribly important. I can’t just let you go.”
“You can’t stop me either and you have no right to keep me if I don’t want to stay.” She glared at him.
Sergi smiled at her patiently as he stated the truth, “You will find that I can do anything I want, my dear.”
She kept glaring at him as she took a step away from the table but she swayed and started to fall to her knees.
Nikoli’s security man Gennadi stepped in and caught her before she hit the floor. When her eyes rolled back into her head Gennadi hitched her up in his arms and walked her to the door.
Sergi was right behind him and everyone followed him down the hall to the infirmary.
He gently laid her onto the table.
Dr. Badliss came forward to examine her.
He pulled the jacket from her shoulder and gasped at what he found.
She wore a tank top under her jacket and that revealed her arms. They were too skinny and covered in bruises.
Fresh blood seeped from the bullet hole in her upper arm.
He lifted her shirt and found more bruises of different colors on her abdomen. The doctor glanced over at Sergi.
Sergi looked angry as he gave him an order, “Clean her up the best you can and get that bullet out of her. Give her a bed for the night anyway.”
“She’s going to need a lot more than a bed,” Dr. Badliss told him.
Just then, everyone heard her stomach growling.
The dog jumped up and put his paws on the bed. He sniffed her and whined.
“Get the dog out of here,” the doctor ordered.
Felix shook his head. “I don’t think so, doctor. He protects her and if anyone makes a move on her, Buttercup will rip their throat out.” He stepped forward and motioned the dog down to the floor.
The dog obeyed the command but he watched everyone carefully.
The doctor shook his head and went to get his equipment.
First, he gave her an IV and added something in that to put her to sleep.
Next, he got ready to take the bullet out of her shoulder.
He washed her arm then cut the hole a little bigger.
Grasping the forceps, he patiently searched for the bullet.
After another minute or so, they all heard the clink of metal hitting metal as the bullet landed in a bowl.
The doctor set his surgical tool down and closed the wound.
When he was finished he looked at Sergi and Nikoli.
“She’s endured a severe beating in the last few days.
As well as older beatings. Looks like extreme and ongoing longtime abuse.
She’s undernourished and I don’t think she’s eaten much in the last few days.
” He studied her and shook his head. “In fact, I don’t think she’s had much to eat in a very long time. ”
“Da, I can see that for myself.” Sergi nodded. “What do you advise doctor?”
Dr. Badliss shrugged. “Just leave her here. She should wake up tomorrow. But she isn’t ready to be on her own just yet. I think rest, food and a safe place to stay is what she needs right now more than anything. And she won’t get that out there.” He motioned to the door.
Gennadi grabbed her dusty jacket off the floor and something fell out of her pocket. He reached down to pick it up. It looked like an old notebook. He looked up and handed it to Sergi.
Sergi opened the book and glanced at the pages inside.
He found it to be a diary of some sort. He went back to the front of the notebook to read it.
He got to the second page and his eyebrows shot up.
He raised his head and glanced at the woman on the bed then looked around the room at everyone else.
“Gentlemen, meet Aleria Dmitricoff. She was excommunicated from the family when she was all of twelve years old because she was accused of stealing from her mother, Greta. She also wrote in this that she refused to go along with the family’s so-called quest to overcome the Bratva here in New York.
And that is why they hunt for her all the time. ”
Nikoli snapped his head to the side and stared at the young woman lying on the bed. “Her own family threw her away?” he asked quietly.
“Da. That is what she wrote in her book,” Sergi informed them. “She has been living in hiding since then.”
Gennadi gripped the coat until his knuckles were white. He slowly turned his head and stared at the young woman. “Life on the streets isn’t easy.”
“I think this woman knows that all too well.” Sergi nodded his head at her. “No wonder she knows that family. She is part of them.”
Felix shook his head as he scowled. “But then she came all this way to warn us about their plans?”
Sergi shrugged. “Maybe all this time she’s been following them. I don’t know but I think I’ve got some reading to do tonight. Maybe she’s been recording all her family’s movements in this city since she was thrown out.”
Nikoli nodded then looked at his man Gennadi. “You stay with her tonight. I want eyes on her until morning and she wakes up.” Then he glanced at the dog on the floor. “And be careful of her animal. I would hate to find you in the morning without your throat.”
Gennadi nodded, pulled a chair over and sat down beside the bed.
After everyone left and the doctor made a final check on her, he went to the room next door.
Gennadi leaned over and brushed strands of her hair from her face that had escaped the braid. He looked at her and whispered, “You rest, Aleria. I’ve got your back tonight. I won’t let anyone hurt you again. You’re safe.”
Her dog watched him as he tilted his head at his words. Then finally, he laid his head down.