Chapter Ten
Stepan Valnovitch was with his two guys at a hotel several blocks away from the Citadines and was listening as they each repeated everything they had accomplished so far.
They had confirmed the arrival the night before of Yury’s mistress.
They were familiar with all six members of Yury’s security team and that team’s normal routines.
Since the two men who had stood guard all night outside Yury’s suite would go off duty once Yury left that morning, there would only be four of his bodyguards travelling over to the conference with Yury and his mistress.
Since Yury never had any of his security team ride with him and his mistress, the four men would be in two separate cars, one ahead of Yury’s and one behind. This was how they typically did things and today should be no different.
The drivers for these three vehicles were local Chinese people and had been thoroughly vetted by Yury’s team.
Access to the three cars had not been easy but Stepan’s two men were experts at this and had managed to place explosives under all three of the vehicles the previous evening.
Since they couldn’t be certain which car would be selected for Yury, they had done that for all three.
The explosives could be detonated remotely and it was planned to do that when Yury was about one mile away from the conference in a less populated section of the city.
All that was needed was for them to follow behind within a half mile. They needed to have line of sight to Yury’s car and they then could trigger the explosion.
“All of these explosives were made right here in China,” explained one of the men. “Likewise, for the remote detonators. There is no way anything can be traced back to us.”
“What about when you two were placing those charges under the cars last night?” asked Stepan. “Tell me again how you evaded the surveillance.”
“Well, as we explained, we managed to identify all the cameras inside the parking garage earlier since we knew which garage would be used. Then, we saw where those cars were parked when they returned from the conference yesterday afternoon. We only needed to disable one of the cameras last night as the others were not covering where the cars were.”
Stepan asked, “Okay, but if one of those cameras was disabled, won’t that have drawn some attention?”
Both of his men laughed and one said, “We arranged for a big distraction last night. They won’t be noticing how one of their cameras stopped working for a short period until after the explosion, assuming they eventually even go back and check the tapes.”
“Yeah, the man monitoring those cameras was getting a blow job during the period we had that camera turned off,” explained the other man. “We were in and out and had the camera turned back on before the poor bastard even got his rocks off.”
“Okay, what about the girl you paid to do that?” asked Stepan.
“Well, she’s Chinese and we’ve already made her disappear. She won’t be found and there’s nothing that will prove we arranged for anything. Not for her to do what she did, not for her getting paid and not for her disappearance. Nothing.”
“It will all look like part of some Chinese conspiracy, just as you asked for.”
Stepan nodded, very pleased. “Okay guys. Let’s check out of this hotel.
We’ll follow behind Yury and once we blow up his car, we can drive to the airport, turn in our rental car and fly home to Russia.
Nikolai will be pleased and we can collect the balance of the million euros he’s paying us for this job. ”
-----
Missy had made the bed she had slept in and had made sure the room looked unused.
She had used Yury’s bathroom and then had gotten dressed while he’d waited for her in the large living room area.
They then had gone down together for some breakfast, followed of course by the two burly bodyguards who had been stationed outside their room all night.
Her outfit for the day was an off-white blouse and skirt appropriate for being at this big conference and she had her hair down.
She had applied very little makeup but was wearing some nice jewelry including a small tiara containing several small diamonds with one big emerald stone in the center.
She would still look great for the many photos which she knew would be taken all day long.
Yury watched her eat and as always was amazed at how much food she always would have. He asked, “How can you sit there and eat all that, especially after the way you were drinking last night?” He had a bit of a hangover and had only managed to eat one sweet roll with his coffee.
Missy looked up from her food and grinned.
She not only had selected bacon and eggs but had also added some rice porridge congee, steamed buns and noodles.
She had orange juice as well as black coffee.
She said, “We’ve talked about my unique metabolism and how my exercise routine can be extreme.
Were you satisfied with how I handled myself last night, despite my heavy drinking? ”
Yury chuckled and said, “As usual, you were able to charm everyone there and remained as sharp as always while those around you got sloppy drunk. Having me at your side helped you fend off various lustful advances without offending anyone. Are you able to manage that when you’re alone?”
Missy smiled and said, “Oh, yes! Manipulating men was a skill I mastered early on. I find it’s best never to bruise their fragile egos while denying them what they want.
Make them believe they might yet have what they hope for while doing that is the trick.
They end up blaming themselves rather than me for missing out. ”
“And what about those men like me whom you are blackmailing?”
“We’ve had that conversation as well, Yury,” replied Missy. “I like to make things a win-win. While you might hate me for blackmailing you, you nonetheless end up benefitting in many ways because of me. Right? Isn’t that why you want me here on this business trip of yours?”
Yury nodded and with a sigh, he said, “All true. I see you’ve finished now so we can go. Do you need to return to our room for anything?”
“No, I’m all set,” said Missy as she pushed back from the table and stood. “Take me to your conference. I’ll try to influence everyone who visits the booths for your businesses so you can make more billions.”
They headed out of the dining room and when Yury told his men to bring the car around, they pulled out their cell phones and began talking.
Soon two more security guards approached to escort them outside while the previous two men faded away.
Their three cars were waiting for them and Yury helped Missy climb into the center vehicle.
Soon, all three cars were moving away from the hotel and began their journey over to the China International Exhibition Center where the conference was being held.
As usual, there were two guards in the car ahead and two in the car behind. Missy’s situational awareness found nothing to be concerned about.
-----
Stepan was in the front passenger seat as their rental car followed along behind the three cars which Yury and his people were in.
The ride would normally only take about twenty minutes.
He was waiting until his target reached a small bridge where he figured the explosions would have the least effect on the surroundings.
“Are you really gonna blow up all three cars?” asked the driver. “You know you only need to detonate the one we’ve marked as C, right? That’s the one for the car which Yury and the girl are in.”
“I know that but I’ve decided destroying all three vehicles will reduce the chances for anyone to survive,” explained Stepan. “I don’t want any of his bodyguards playing hero and rushing up to pull anyone from a burning car. Blowing them all up will avoid anything like that.”
“Okay, boss, understood,” agreed the driver. He glanced into the rear-view mirror and noted the man sitting in their back seat seemed okay with this decision as well. Yeah, keeping things simple was best. Blow them all up!
A minute later, it was time. Stepan pushed the three buttons labeled A, B and C.
He figured that would be the best sequence.
Since A was the car in front, he saw a huge explosion happen under that car.
It was quickly followed by explosions under the rear car and then the middle car.
All three vehicles stopped immediately and soon there were flames bursting forth, engulfing everything.
Naturally the traffic all around came to a rapid halt, but as they watched, it was obvious there would not be anyone rushing up to save anyone. No, the flames soon became too intense making that impossible.
-----
Missy would later credit the fact that the car in front of them exploded first for being what saved her life.
When the car behind them exploded less than a second later, she was already drawing in lots of energy.
Just like that time when she’d been inside a tunnel in Mount Derak, she had enough time to react before the explosion under her car detonated.
She quickly pushed an energy shield around herself but unfortunately she wasn’t able to spread that around anyone else.
When the explosion occurred, there was debris and shrapnel from the floor below them spraying up everywhere.
Yury and their driver were both killed instantly.
Missy’s force shield helped protect her but her body experienced a great many cuts and bruises all over.
She knew she needed to quickly exit the vehicle before getting trapped by the fire which followed the explosion and she instantly made the door near her burst open.
She then flung herself out of the car and into the middle of the road where she collapsed.
When the flames burst out from under the car, Missy then crawled even further along the pavement using her elbows, dragging the rest of her battered body away from the erupting fire which was quickly consuming the three cars and their dead occupants.
A man driving one of the cars traveling in the opposite direction noticed Missy struggling to distance herself from the conflagration.
Like all the other vehicles, he had immediately stopped when the explosions happened.
He jumped out of his car and rushed to her side.
Quickly he grabbed both of her arms and began dragging her further away.
A woman in another stopped car managed to pull out her cell phone and she began taking a video of the man’s heroic actions.
This video would appear on all the news channels later that night.
The identity of the girl with the red hair and the jeweled tiara would not be revealed until the following day but that tiara of hers, which was clearly visible, somehow made the incredible story that much more dramatic.
Missy realized her best action after being dragged to safety was to let everyone believe her escape had been a miracle and allow herself to be treated as a normal survivor.
She closed her eyes and soon thereafter she was unconscious.
Her clothing was ripped and torn in several places and she was bleeding from dozens of superficial cuts all over.
Yeah, she looked a mess but she knew she was okay.
She separated her spirit form from her body and began searching the area for anyone who might appear to be involved.
She suspected those detonations had been done remotely rather than by any timer and figured whoever was responsible for them might still be in the area watching everything.
Although the explosions had indeed caused everyone within sight to stop and look, Missy was able to sense whether they were doing so from shock and normal curiosity or instead because of something else. She searched for any onlookers who might seem pleased and satisfied with what had just happened.
She eventually noticed Stepan and his two men and after staying inside their vehicle and listening to their conversation, she determined it was them.
They were Russians and they had done this.
She knew she would be able to find them again back in Russia when the time was right. She then returned to reenter her body.
Hours later, she woke herself up in a Beijing hospital emergency room. She could hear several people speaking in Chinese. She slowly roused herself and tried to sit up. Then in a weak voice she asked, “Does anyone here speak Russian?”