Chapter Nine
Lila woke up, got out of bed and after quickly using the bathroom she got dressed for her morning run.
She had made it her habit to run for forty minutes every morning ever since her decision months earlier to attend West Point.
On Friday she had graduated from high school.
She and Patrick had then come down here to stay at John’s apartment the next day.
John and Tracy were visiting Tracy’s family in Texas.
Patrick sat up in bed and watched her getting ready for her usual routine.
He said, “Hey, are you sure you don’t want me to run with you this time?
” He had asked her this question many times before but she always insisted on going out alone.
“You know I worry some crazy guy might grab you while you’re out there, right? ”
Lila chuckled and said, “Let him try. I’ll fry his ass quicker than he can get a hand on me. Your sister and her friends have helped teach me how to defend myself, as you well know.” Plus, of course, she was a fire witch. Hence, her threat to “fry” any attacker.
“Yeah, but I still worry. I won’t slow you down too much,” grumbled Patrick.
“Actually, you would. I’ve gotten myself into really great shape now and I intend to continue getting ready for Beast Training. There is no way I’m going to wash out due to not being physically able to handle whatever I might need to handle there.”
“Hey, Tracy had no problem and you’re now in as great a shape as her,” protested Patrick. He knew Tracy was Lila’s real role model rather than Missy. “Also, your recent times at the track are definitely good enough for West Point’s track team. You’re gonna do great!”
Lila would be reporting for R-Day on Monday, June twenty-seventh. They still had some time. Since they wouldn’t see one another very much after that, they were spending all their time being together until then. Lila’s mother had grudgingly accepted this situation and had given them her blessing.
Not only was it convenient to be there in John’s place in New York but since Sally had insisted on Lila being one of her bridesmaids along with Tracy, this enabled the two of them to see each other often.
They had a hotel room booked down in New Jersey near the wedding venue for when John and Tracy returned.
Sally was currently staying with Troy, of course, who had an apartment in the same building as John.
Meanwhile, Troy was having Patrick work for him, helping out with his role in the FBI Psychic Division.
Troy, a finder witch, was running the New York office for that organization and had already recruited Scott Robinson, a water witch.
The two of them were being asked on more and more cases, thanks to the very high success rate for all the ones they’d handled so far.
Having Patrick answer the phone and manage the office while the two witches worked their cases was a win-win for everyone.
Since Scott’s fiancée Sandy D’Amato had also just graduated from high school and had moved in with Scott, Patrick and Lila were seeing her quite often now and they were all getting along great.
Scott and Sandy’s wedding wouldn’t be until October but Troy and Sally’s wedding was coming up that Sunday.
After Lila kissed him goodbye and went out the door, Patrick got up.
After showering and getting dressed for the day, he prepared a nice breakfast which the two of them could enjoy upon Lila’s return.
His soulmate was a witch. She was choosing a difficult path and he wanted to support her in every way possible.
He had already found that doing that was what brought him the greatest happiness possible.
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Nikolai Vassiliev studied the man sitting across from him. Then he asked, “Can you assure me there will never be any evidence suggesting I am behind this? Yury’s death must be blamed on foreign enemies.”
Stepan Valnovitch replied, “It will be, don’t worry. And, as you have insisted, it will happen when his mistress is with him while they are outside of the country. This trip of theirs to Beijing will provide us with the perfect opportunity.”
Nikolai was Yury Borisovich’s closest associate and had carried out many investigations for that man over the years.
He had messed up, however, when investigating Yury’s latest mistress Missy Kabachnik.
He had overreached, entering her apartment while she and Yury were away in Zurich.
He had hoped to find something he could use to blackmail her with but instead, due to the surveillance camera outside her apartment, he had merely triggered her to come after him.
Somehow she had managed to discover and document some banking transactions showing where he had been stealing funds from Yury.
She then had confronted him, demanding that he now become a resource for her.
Yeah, she had bragged about how skilled she was at blackmailing people whom she referred to as her resources.
Obviously, they had helped find the proof of his embezzlement.
And now he too was enslaved to her since otherwise she would reveal his treachery to Yury.
She’d allowed him to keep the funds he’d stolen but had made him promise to always comply with her wishes.
It had been two months since then and she was yet to make any demands.
He knew, however, that someday she would do so and he would have no choice but to do whatever it was she wanted.
Just as Cicero had written about centuries earlier, he was now sitting under a similar Sword of Damocles.
He couldn’t have her killed since that would only trigger his being exposed to Yury by one of her resources.
No, he must now remain at her beck and call for as long as Yury was alive.
Nikolai nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, their current visit to China will be best for various reasons. Not everyone over there is happy with the business arrangements which Yury has managed to secure. That bitch he has for a mistress has somehow influenced the terms and conditions for those recent deals to be way too much in his favor.”
“That will help convince the investigators over there that some other Chinese competitor will be responsible for their assassination,” said Stepan.
“We will make certain the media coverage reveals there are several over there who were very jealous.” They continued to discuss details for a few minutes more and then Stepan left.
Nikolai sat back and mused for a bit after that. Provided Yury died, the threat of exposure would die with him and Missy’s resources would no longer be a concern. Her death would then eliminate any danger hanging over his head.
-----
Thursday, Jun 9, 2022
Although it was now late in the day for Missy, it was only midafternoon for Lisa.
They had been reviewing what Missy might accomplish during her upcoming visit to Beijing.
Thanks to her previously infecting the electronic devices of several government officials, including Jiakun Wu, the SOD Group had learned a great deal about China’s partnership with Russia.
While not a formal military alliance, the relationship had grown significantly after the invasion of Ukraine.
Lisa explained, “There is a growing military-technological cooperation in areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing and space technology. Those contracts Yury is managing are merely the beginning. From what information we’ve been able to access, China plans to provide items like drone parts and microelectronics which Russia can use on the battlefield in Ukraine. ”
“Well, we certainly will want to mess with all of that,” agreed Missy.
“Do you have more names for me to spy on?” As always, meeting such individuals would enable her to subsequently teleport to wherever they might be in her spirit form, even should she leave her body behind halfway across the world in Turkey, Russia or the U.S.
She then could eventually infect their electronic devices giving the SOD Group access to all their data and communications.
“Yeah, I’ll send you our latest list,” said Lisa. “Knowing you’ll be at that conference we have researched who else will likely be there and whom those individuals are close to. We’ve also been adding more Chinese interpreters to our staff back here so we can process everything.”
“Great! I know Jiakun Wu wants to impress his buddies by having me go out with them. Ever since that magazine over there published the story about me tossing knives in that Beijing nightclub, with my photo on its cover, he’s been begging Yury for me to return.”
Lisa chuckled and said, “Yeah, you’re almost as big a celebrity over there as you are in Russia. Good luck on your trip. Marie and I are looking forward to seeing you again next Tuesday when you return for your full moon celebration.”
“How many new SOD Group folks will you guys have with you?” asked Missy.
With Gene and Amanda Tremblay being werewolves working at the SOD Group and with Missy being the Alpha of the New England Werewolf pack, there were always new employees who wanted to come down to witness one of these celebrations.
After being vetted to learn about supernaturals, getting to actually witness some of them as they all Shifted into their ferocious animal forms made everything very, very real.
Missy finished her call with Lisa and then went over to talk with Major Grimes. She found him still working in his office and when he looked up and saw her, he waved her in.
“You’ll be away for several days once again. China. Werewolf full moon stuff. You lead a very interesting life, Missy!” The major grinned at her as she took a seat.
“I do, sir, I definitely do. I’m just waiting for Lisa to send her latest persons of interest list and then I’ll teleport to Moscow. My flight to Beijing leaves early tomorrow morning and I still need to pack some bags for that trip.”