Chapter 14 Anton
ANTON
The park is nearly empty this afternoon, which worries me. I chose this location because it was highly public. Nikolai’s not stupid enough to send his men after me here in front of witnesses. At least, I don’t think he is. I’d feel better if it were busier out here today.
Along the cement path leading to the large fountain in the center of the park, I pass by a few joggers, a couple of young mothers on a bench chatting with their babies snug in their carriages, a couple of kids on bikes…
It’s a surreal experience for me to be in spaces like this sometimes, the green of the grass and the large trees with branches hanging over the path, providing moments of shade as I pass by.
The fresh smell in the air and the mildly warm breeze are relaxing.
It almost makes me want to lower my guard.
I don’t, however. Beyond the calm and casual faces that I come across, I’m watching for anything out of the ordinary.
Anybody that doesn’t quite fit in. Even when we’re in plain clothes, we all kind of have a look that’s distinctly ours.
After some years, you get good at spotting another Bratva in a crowd of civilians.
So far, so good. I don’t see anyone out of place.
The fountain is in sight, an angel with its wings spread and its face turned to the sky stands in the center, water springing up in arcs all around it. Seems fitting for this meeting. I could use an angel watching over me right now.
Natalya’s already here. She’s sitting on the fountain’s edge with one hand in the water, moving it slowly back and forth like she’s testing the temperature for a bath.
She’s got her long red hair up in a ponytail and she’s wearing a simple blue T-shirt and jeans.
The mood is to blend in, but there’s nothing about her that does that.
Maybe it’s the way the sun brightens the red in her hair or how her skin has a deep, creamy alabaster hue to it.
Even in T-shirt and jeans, she’s still the most beautiful woman in the room.
I take in a deep breath to force myself to focus. This isn’t a date. This is business and there’s a lot on the line.
She sees me as I walk up and her sapphire eyes brighten. She starts to stand, but I motion for her to remain sitting. “Hey,” she says, her voice shaking a little. “You made it right on time.”
“So I have.” I sit down next to her. “I wish this were a more casual meeting.”
Her smile turns up smartly on one side, almost into a smirk. “Yeah, no kidding.”
“I’ll get right down to it,” I begin. “What you saw last night… you know it wasn’t for your eyes. I figure your being Vladimir’s daughter, you probably understand what kind of trouble you might be in.”
I’m looking away from her as I speak. Partially observing my surroundings, but mostly to keep myself on track. Looking directly at her is like looking into the sun.
I see her nod out of my peripheral. “You probably know a little more than I do, though. Am I in danger?”
“Possibly,” I tell her, then, “Not from me. I have no intention of hurting you.”
She doesn’t say anything, but I see her hands relax in her lap.
“Those men,” I tell her in Russian. “They’re part of another Bratva that I’m at war with. What you witnessed was the escalation of it. More violence is going to come, and soon. Because of what happened last night. I fully expect retaliation.”
“I wish I could say I was surprised,” she replies in Russian. “Is… is it safe for you to be out here like this?”
“I’m safe enough for now,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t worry about me, though.”
She takes that in and nods slowly. “Am I in danger from the other Bratva?”
“Maybe. Probably.” He sighs. “If you haven’t already, you need to reach out to your father. Tell him the situation and ask for his protection. It’s the best way for you to stay safe.”
She doesn’t respond. I look over at her to see she’s looking at her hands.
“What? What is it?”
“I, uh, tried to go to my father,” she says. “It didn’t work out. There’s no way he’s going to protect me.”
I just stare at her. This is unexpected.
“Things have been pretty bad between us for a long time,” she adds. “I had to leave home about two months ago because of it.”
“Where are you staying now?”
“With a friend. I’ve got a little job and I’m saving up for my own place.” She looks at me, her soft blue eyes searching mine. “There’s no way I can go back home. He thinks of me as a disgrace and…” She stops herself, looking away from me and out at the park. Maybe beyond that.
“The point is that I can’t go back home. Not under any circumstances. He won’t help me.”
There’s more to this. A lot more. The story behind her eyes is a long one. One that I might want to be privy to should she survive all this. For now, though, she’s told me the most important thing that I needed to know.
“Is your friend part of this?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.
“She’s my best friend from high school. It’s a good thing she isn’t, too. She’s the only person I can trust right now.”
This is a potentially worse situation than I imagined. Some poor bystander getting caught in the middle of all this is the last thing anyone wants. “You’re going to have to leave town.”
“What?” she asks in English. Her eyes get wide with panic as she starts stammering. “I can’t leave town—”
“You don’t have a choice.” I say this in English, keeping my voice low. “If you don’t have anyone to protect you—”
“I’ve only got five hundred dollars saved up,” she says. “That’s not enough to leave town on. And even if it was, where would I go? I don’t have any other family and I can’t trust anyone else.”
Shit. I was banking on her having protection from her father or some other means of escaping this on her own. Now what? I suppose I could fund her escape, but I’m already stepping over the line just having this conversation…
I catch sight of a man over her shoulder, dressed in a track suit as he comes up the walk.
He’s not looking at us at this moment, but his face is slate.
His dark eyes look black even in the sunlight around us.
He’s walking toward one of the benches with a newspaper under one arm.
As he sits down, he opens it and starts reading.
The man doesn’t look a day over thirty-five and he’s reading the newspaper in a park. And he looks like one of us. It’s something in his walk, the way he’s sitting on the bench. The way his eyes look black and dead. My instincts are triggered.
“Let’s go for a walk,” I say to her in a lowered tone.
I spot another man in a plain white T-shirt and black slacks, thin gold chains around his neck.
He’s got the same black eyes and the same walk as the other guy.
This one’s a few yards away and jogging across the park.
As he moves, I pick out a bulge under his jacket.
“What is it?” Natalya asks me. She’s stiffened, watching me as I pick out another two oddities in the park. We’re nearly surrounded. I lean into Natalya.
“We’re being watched,” I whisper. Her eyes widen. “Get up and walk with me back to my car. Stay right by my side and don’t look around. Look down or straight ahead. Understand?”
She nods, her lips pressed together in a thin line as if to stifle her speech.
We stand up together. I place one hand on the small of her back and the other on the holster under my jacket.
The oddities all move in casual uniformity.
Shadowing our movements. And so the disadvantage of a nearly empty park is laid out before me.
There are civilians here, surely, but only a few.
It’s not a perfect setup, but it’s enough to try and take a shot at me or at Natalya.
It’s a golden opportunity that they’d have been fools not to explore.
We get about halfway down the walk when I spot two men stepping onto the path in front of us, walking right for us. I need to act fast.
“When I tell you to,” I say to Natalya without looking at her, “run. Just make for the exit. I’ll be right behind you.”
“What’s happening?” she whispers, her voice drenched in fear.
“It’ll be fine, Devushka,” I say, rubbing the small of her back to soothe her. “Trust me. I’m not going to let anything happen to you today. Just do what I say and we’ll be all right. Okay?”
“Okay,” she says in a soft whisper.
I wait until the men in front of me get about ten steps away and I pull my gun. “Now,” I tell Natalya.
She springs forward, running to one side to avoid the men in our path.
Her sudden movement and the pulling of my gun confuse them for a split second, which is all I need to take control of the situation.
They both stop, looking at one another as if judging which to do first, both of them with their hands on their guns.
I take that half-second opportunity and fire, shooting one in the head and the other in the shoulder and chest.
They both fall and I bolt after Natalya. Gunfire rings out behind me. I twist around, opening fire. My bullets find the man in the tracksuit. He falls backward as a puff of gunpowder rises from his chest.
Chaos erupts around us as the few bystanders around us start to panic. I don’t pay attention. I just run, following the red beacon of Natalya’s hair out of the park, my hand hot on the handle of my gun.
I feel a bullet buzz past one of my ears like a fly on fire and I duck my head instinctively, running the rest of the way through the gates of the park.
My car is across the street. Natalya stops on the sidewalk, looking around with bewildered eyes. I grab her arm and pull her with me. “Come on.”
We get to the car in seconds. I open my door and shove her in. She slides to the passenger’s side and I jump in, starting the car. “Hold on.”
She grabs the door handle and shrinks in her seat and as we pull off, I see a gang of Nikolai’s men rushing out of the park and to their cars. I turn the car around one corner, then pull off into an alley and park.
“Get down,” I tell Natalya, pushing her head down under the line of the window. I crouch down as well, keeping my eye on the rearview mirror above me. Seconds later, cars whizz by in pursuit… and miss us entirely.
“Oh, my God,” Natalya whispers. “Anton, what—”
“No time.” I sit up and put the car in drive. “Stay down.”
I pull out of the alley and drive in the opposite direction toward my home.
“Where are we going?” she asks me.
“To the only place you’ll actually be safe,” I respond.
“Wait. We can’t just… I have to call my friend—”
“Later. Just keep your head down until I tell you.” The next thing I do is call Mikki. His name appears on my dashboard as the ringing sound of his phone goes off through my speakers.
“Yeah?” he says.
“Meet me at my house. Now.”
“On the way.” Mikki hangs the phone up. Even though the wheels are turning as I drive, I’m not sure what the next step beyond this is. We’re playing all this off book. I just hope it works out in the end.
I don’t let her sit up until we’re through the front gates.
She hasn’t spoken a word since we left the park and I haven’t encouraged her, either.
I can imagine all this has been more than just a little traumatic for her.
I did take a second to look her over as best I could from the driver’s seat, just to make sure she wasn’t shot.
She doesn’t appear to be in distress and there’s no blood on my seats.
It looks like we both made it out whole somehow.
I take note of the guards around my property right now. It’s the normal amount, one at the door and three patrolling the grounds. I’ll need to arrange more. I don’t want to leave anything to chance. I hate to pull any of my guys off their current tasks, but this is important.
As we pull up, I spot Mikki standing by his car, arms crossed. I park next to him and turn to Natalya. “Stay here.”
She nods obediently. As I get out, I can see the bewildered look in Mikki’s eyes as they dart from her to me and back again. “What’s she doing here? What the hell happened?”
“They tried to come for us at the park,” I tell him. “Didn’t have a choice. I had to bring her back here.”
“Didn’t have…? Shit.” He runs a hand over his short hair, the look on his face one of panic as well as calculation. “What now? You know as soon as Petrov finds out—”
“He’s the least of our problems at the moment. And even if he wasn’t, we need to get this house in order, ASAP. Go inside and wait for me. Let me talk to Natalya.”
He sighs, the disapproval all over his face. It doesn’t matter, though. One way or another, this has to happen. “Right,” he says. “I’ll see you inside.”
I walk around the car and let Natalya out. She looks up at me with a needful look in her eyes. “Are you all right?” I ask her. She nods.
“I think so. I’m just shaken up, that’s all.”
I sigh. There’s so much to do. So many moving pieces…
“First things first. You’re staying with me now,” I tell her. “It’s pretty clear that you won’t be safe on your own.”
She blinks innocently. “I… I don’t have my clothes or any of my things—”
“Anything you need, I’ll make sure you have it. Listen, if you think anyone was after you for seeing me kill someone, imagine what they must think now. This is for the best, Natalya. The way this is shaking out, there’s no place on earth you’ll be safer than with me.”
She blushes a little, then nods sharply. “Thank you,” she says.
I was expecting more resistance. I’m glad she’s clear on the situation. “Come on. Let me show you to where you’ll be sleeping.”