Chapter Six
“Do you know where these followers of Greta’s are located?” Gennadi asked.
Aleria tipped her head back as if to stare at the ceiling for a moment.
“Let’s just say I knew where they were yesterday.
I have no idea where they are now. The man that shot me last night might have alerted them and they sure as hell wouldn’t stay there any longer.
They have a mission to do and they won’t let the Bratva stop them. ”
Gennadi sat there and stared at her for a moment. Then he got up and strode from the room.
Aleria just waited as she closed her eyes for the next few minutes.
The door opened up again as Sergi, Nikoli, Felix and Gennadi came back in.
Sergi wasted no time getting to the point, “Gennadi told us the man that ran away last night went back to the followers of Dmtricoff and you think they will continue to come here for the purpose of freeing the sisters.”
Aleria nodded slowly but she wouldn’t look at them.
“And just how do you know what they plan to do?” Nikoli asked.
Aleria snorted. “When they don’t think they have to hide their plans, it’s amazing what they discuss in the open.
Besides, they have someone watching the hotel every day.
They’re looking for a way inside.” Shaking her head she added, “And they won’t stop until the sisters are free.
And everyone else you’ve managed to capture.
And if they can’t get in one way they will try another and that might put your families in danger.
They can’t... no, they don’t dare fail in their mission.
My mother and her sister aren’t exactly the kind mama type, if you know what I mean. ”
Just then, a knock came on the door.
Sergi bid them to come in.
Kirill came inside and handed him a report.
Sergi read it then he looked at Aleria. He handed her the report.
She hesitated before she looked at it. “What is this?”
“The police report from the hospital,” Sergi replied.
She handed it back to him then turned on her side and wouldn’t look at them.
“You won’t even read it?” he asked her.
“Why would I read it?” she asked him back. “I lived it.”
“Then it is about you?” he asked. “What on earth did they do that you ended up in hospital in that condition?”
She closed her eyes and whispered, “The very worst they could do that time.”
“Help us to defeat them,” he urged. “Then they can never hurt you again.”
The silence in the room was loud until she turned in the bed to look at Sergi.
“Find me a map of the city and I will tell you every place the followers have stayed. They move from one place to another place on a regular basis and then you can have your men search for them. This bullshit has to end.”
Kirill hurried away but was back soon. He pulled a table close to the bed and set his laptop on it. He tapped a button and a map of the city showed on a screen.
Aleria sat up and leaned in really close, she studied the map for a long time then she scribbled some names of streets and some old businesses. She told Kirill these were the places. When she finally paused he had circled about nine spots on the map.
Finally, she looked up at Sergi and told him, “These are the areas I followed them to over the years. They might have more, but these are the ones I know about. If you doubt me you can ask Pippy about who I am and who I’m loyal to. It sure as hell isn’t my mother or any part of her family.”
Sergi paused, then asked her, “Do you know a woman named Briar? She lived on the streets as well.”
Aleria smiled for the first time since she had been brought in. “Hell yeah, I know Briar. She’s the one who taught me street rules.”
Just then a voice called out, “What about me? Do you remember me?”
Aleria turned toward the door as she recognized that voice. Her eyes widened and she called out, “Sin, is that you? You disappeared on us. Where have you been all this time?”
Serenity came closer and stopped beside the bed.
“I had to get to safety then I married into the Bratva. Well, Nicky is himself, but I finally got free of the trouble I was in. How have you been, Aleria?” she asked.
“I heard they caught your family. I hoped you would come around.” She studied Aleria for a moment to see the bruises then she asked, “Did they find you again?”
Aleria nodded. “Yeah, four days ago.”
Serenity looked over at the dog on the bed with her and she smiled. “I see you still got Buttercup.”
“Serenity,” Sergi called out. “How do you know her?”
Serenity smiled as she took Aleria’s hand in hers.
“We were friends ever since her mother threw her out twelve years ago. Briar helped us both survive and taught us the rules of the streets. When I had to leave to protect myself I hated leaving Aleria behind but I had to and I couldn’t take her with me.
” Shaking her head she added, “I’m so glad she still has Butter with her though. ”
“Why does she call the dog by that name?” Gennadi sked seriously. “I mean look at him... wrong name. Should be Bullet, Bear or something tough.”
The two women laughed.
“It was Briar’s doing,” Serenity explained this. “She got the dog for Aleria. Then she always told us not to whine about our hardships by saying, Suck it up, buttercup.”
Felix laughed. “Yeah, that makes sense now.”
“So why does her having the dog with her matter so much?” Nikoli looked puzzled.
Serenity snapped her head up and stared at all the seemingly clueless men in the room. “Are you kidding me? You really don’t know?”
“Know what?” Sergi barked out.
“No Sin, they don’t need to know,” Aleria told her.
Serenity stared at her. She reached out and grasped Aleria’s hand. “You need to tell them.”
“What is it?” Sergi asked.
Serenity turned and announced, “Aleria is almost blind, Buttercup is her guide dog. When her brother and mother beat her up as a kid, he kicked her in the face and broke her nose. The force of it almost took her eyesight from her. The light causes her to have bad headaches and she never went outside during the day because the light was just too much. She became a night person because she can’t see during the day. ”
Sergi snapped his head over and stared at the woman on the bed. “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”
“Because I can’t stand being looked at with pity. The way people treat someone with a disability is horrible and I’m no different than you, Mr. Big Deal. Maybe I can’t see well but I am not disabled and I refuse to be treated like I am less than everyone else. I’m just me.”
Sergi studied her for a moment then he shook his head. “And your own brother caused this? Why? Why would he kick you in the head?”
“They charged into my room and woke me up. She dragged me out of bed by my hair,” she began describing her nightmare.
“Greta had money missing from her purse and the first thing she did was accuse me of stealing from her. I didn’t even have the chance to tell her anything.
They kept hitting me. I was bleeding and sobbing.
Varga stole it and that was why he kicked me in the face, so I couldn’t tell on him.
She kicked me several times herself and I know she broke a rib or two.
She finally tossed me down the front steps.
I collapsed at the bottom in a snow pile.
When I woke up I knew I would never be allowed back in.
And I knew I shouldn’t try or they would kill me then.
The wind was like ice and unforgiving. Then someone found me later on in a dirty alley.
They called the police and they took me to the hospital.
My jaw was broken. They ended up setting my nose to straighten it out and wiring my jaw shut.
When the police came I couldn’t even speak to them.
But the one thing I knew was that I couldn’t tell them who hurt me.
My mother would have been enraged. In fact, if they managed to find her I would be dead over it.
So late one night, I walked out. I was still hurt but I knew I couldn’t stay there. ”
A stillness seemed to take the room over. The men there didn’t speak, but there was fire in their eyes. A flame that burned with intense rage for what had happened to a twelve year old girl.
Gennadi scooted forward and took her hand into his as he let out a long sigh.