Chapter Twelve
When Missy entered the hospital’s conference room, she was dressed in a somewhat revealing black dress but, since she was in mourning for Yury, it wasn’t a surprise that was what the woman at the hotel had picked out for her.
Her bra and panties were also black but those, of course, were not visible.
Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and, since she had no makeup on, she appeared to be very young.
Innocent. Right. That’s the look she wanted to go with for this interview.
She was not wearing any jewelry and there were still a few small bandages which only added to her image of someone both grieving and vulnerable.
Doctor Zhang led her into the room but he quickly excused himself and left her with two Chinese police investigators and Jiakun Wu.
They all stood up when she came in and she quickly approached Jiakun who gave her a reassuring hug.
He then introduced Mr. Daozhi and Mr. Masuto after which they all sat down around the conference room table.
Missy sat on one side directly opposite the two policemen while Jiakun sat further away but also on the same side as them.
To break the ice, Missy smiled and said, “How can I help you gentlemen. As I’m sure you must realize, I am devastated by the death of my Yury.
” She was pretty sure these men had been inside her and Yury’s suite and she was glad she had unpacked all her things in there so it appeared they had shared the same bedroom.
Let them all believe she was Yury’s mistress and concubine.
This was now the role she intended to capitalize on despite her sincere feelings of regret over his death.
Mr. Masuto answered by asking, “Can you recall anything about that final ride with Yury which might help us? Did he tell you about having any enemies? Or, perhaps was he upset about anyone?”
“No, not at all,” said Missy. “Yury and I did talk about his associates but, like last night when we were with Jiakun, those people all liked Yury from what I could see.” She looked over at Jiakun who was slowly nodding his head in agreement.
“As for enemies, I don’t know of any. I have been with Yury for several months now and have never known of anyone who might wish him harm. ”
“Was there anyone perhaps who resented the relationship the two of you were having?” asked Mr. Daozhi. “You are a most beautiful woman, Miss Kabachnik … was there maybe someone who was jealous?”
Missy shook her head no and said, “No, I don’t believe so.
Would any such man wish to have me killed as well?
Even his wife was okay about Yury being with me.
If you are looking for a motive, it probably is because of his many businesses.
Someone very well might be jealous about something to do with those, rather than anything personal.
” Again, she glanced over at Jiakun for support and he seemed to be pleased with her answers.
“We have seen some reports concerning Yury’s energy contracts,” explained Mr. Masuto.
His office had indeed been provided with numerous documents suggesting other Chinese operators were unhappy about the deals their government had made with Yury.
These had come from Stepan, of course, but the police had no way of knowing that.
“Were the exhibit booths which his businesses were displaying at our Conference … well … did Yury tell you anything related to those which suggested any special concerns he may have had?”
Missy knew they were fishing and she could see the direction this was taking. While she knew Stepan and his two buddies were Russian, these policemen both seemed to believe the assassins were Chinese. Their earlier questions suggesting otherwise had merely been a smokescreen.
Her mind had been racing ever since this horrible tragedy and she had wondered how the story would play in Russia.
Was it better for the public to believe this had been the result of some Chinese conspiracy?
Obviously, that’s what the killers were hoping for.
She asked, “Was there any forensic evidence to suggest our attackers were Chinese? As you know, I never even reached that Conference during my visit this time. I was with Yury on two prior occasions when he was reviewing the preparations for it but there were no special concerns back then.” The way she pronounced “special” made it clear she understood what they were getting at.
Mr. Daozhi nodded and said, “Actually, yes, the preliminary findings do reveal the explosives used were made in China. We also have learned there was a Chinese girl involved. She seems to have interfered with the man responsible for monitoring the security cameras in the garage where those three vehicles were parked overnight. We believe the explosives were planted when that man was, err … distracted.”
Missy nodded in understanding. Yeah, whoever had hired those three guys back in Russia was hoping to blame this on some Chinese conspiracy.
She said, “I wish I could be more helpful. Yury and I were very close but, as far as his many business arrangements, I’m afraid I don’t really have anything which I can contribute.
” She glanced at Jiakun again as she added, “I may have been responsible for helping him to win favorable terms for some of his deals, but that was due to our social interactions. Everyone really seemed to like Yury. I know I certainly did.”
With that, Missy dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief which she had been clutching all during this interview.
Yeah, she had a role to play, right? She found it wasn’t difficult to now shed some tears.
Yury had many faults which she had teased him about and she had especially chastised him for his treatment of his former mistresses, but she had never wished any true harm to come his way.
Jiakun now finally spoke and said, “I believe Miss Kabachnik has shared all she could. Let’s allow her to grieve without further troubling her. She is also a victim of this horrific assassination and only by some miracle has she managed to survive.”
Mr. Masuto looked at Missy and asked, “When do you plan to return to Russia?”
Missy shrugged and said, “There is nothing for me here. I will fly home to Moscow tomorrow provided the hospital will release me and you investigators are okay with me doing that.”
Both Mr. Masuto and Mr. Daozhi nodded in agreement and they briefly looked over at Jiakun.
Mr. Masuto said, “We appreciate your willingness to meet with us today, Miss Kabachnik. And, yes, we are okay with you going home tomorrow. You can stay in touch with your friend Mr. Wu here for updates on our investigation. Both men then stood and after bowing slightly in Missy’s direction, they left the room.
Missy looked at Jiakun with sad eyes and said, “Thank you for helping me get through this today. It has all been a tremendous ordeal and my heart is very heavy. I must say goodbye and go back to Moscow. I don’t know just what I will need to deal with back there but as you can imagine, things now will be very different for me. ”
Jiakun said, “Well, I never saw Yury behave with any woman the way he did with you, Missy. You both will be greatly missed over here. If there is anything I can do …”
“No, no, you’ve done more than enough already,” interrupted Missy.
“We must now wait and see what might lie ahead in the future. Yury’s businesses helped Russia in many ways and I like to think they were good for you here in China.
If there was some conspiracy …” She let that thought hang for a while.
“Well, we may never know. Such is life. Again, I am very grateful to you and wish you all the best.”
Together they walked out of the room and Missy went looking for Doctor Zhang while Jiakun headed for the hospital exit.
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Down in New Jersey, Tracy, Lila, Sam and Sandy were wearing their bridesmaid dresses and stood in line with Matti, Sally’s maid of honor.
This was Sally and Troy’s big day and they wanted to fully support the two of them.
Their efforts, however, were slightly dampened by the news a few of them had received earlier about Missy.
While they were very hopeful that Missy was okay, knowing her billionaire had been murdered the way it had happened was disturbing.
And, of course, Missy might very well have perished along with him had those Fabulous Fates not helped her out.
Troy and Sally were standing in front of the preacher while Troy’s best man Scott and his groomsmen John, Smitty, Trevor and Patrick stood on the opposite side of the church from where the bridesmaids were.
After the happy couple had both said their vows and the preacher had announced them to be man and wife, everyone there began cheering.
Soon everyone exited the church and headed over to the hotel where the reception was being held. There were about ninety people in all and the weather was cooperating. The many outdoor photos would turn out great and inside the hotel ballroom, a good time would be had by all.
There was a table off to the side where the seating plan had placed those who were supernaturals or else knew about them but who were not at the head table.
Troy’s mother Angelica, head of the New York coven, was at this table with several other witches from their coven.
So were Captain Bonomo and his wife Linda along with Scott’s sister Emily and Donald Quigby.
At the head table, Matti and Smitty were listening to Sally explain how Troy planned to continue living and working in New York while she was eight hundred miles away at Fort Gordon in Georgia for her thirty-seven weeks of Cyber Branch training.
Sally said, “I know we’ll somehow make it work regardless of how complicated things might be. ”
Matti said, “Yeah, Smitty and I are finding that arranging time for the four of us to become a family is even more challenging than we had anticipated. We have yet to finalize a date for our wedding, mainly due to his parents wanting to make it a really huge extravaganza of an event.”
Smitty said, “We’ve also been looking at some places on Long Island where the four of us can make a home but, so far, we’ve not made an offer on anything.
” Matti had purchased a small house in Highland Falls near West Point where her aunt Shelley and Matti’s son Jacob were currently living.
The plan was to sell that and buy a much larger house.
Sally nodded and said, “Your aunt Shelley is a saint for taking care of Jacob. Having her continue doing that for the foreseeable future while you two sort things out is wonderful. I’m sure it must also help that Smitty can continue living and working in New York since you’ve been assigned right nearby at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. ”
The Army had waived the requirement for Matti to do Military Police Branch Training due to her having served for two years in the Military Police in between her second year and third year at West Point. Thus, she had received a three year assignment right after graduating from the academy.
Matti smiled and said, “Yes, that helps and our friend Missy had something to do with that. I spent several weeks training at Fort Hamilton last summer and when Missy heard how they wanted me to return for my first assignment as an MP officer, she made some calls. Since Smitty helps manage those three Roseanne Fund communities of hers … well, you know how she is.”
“Yeah, we all do,” agreed Sally. “I know she would have liked being at my wedding today only, like you, she started her first duty assignment and is overseas somewhere with that Special Forces team of hers.”
Smitty said, “She’s hoping they’ll let her return for her pack’s full moon celebration tomorrow night.
I’ll be up at the Missy Mansion for that and will be sure to share all the details about this fabulous wedding with her.
” Since he managed those Roseanne Fund communities, he typically attended full moon celebrations so he, along with Mark and Alice, could brief Missy on how those were going.
On the opposite end of the table, John and Tracy were reading the text message which Lisa had just sent them.
Patrick had also received this. Lisa’s sources had confirmed that Missy was doing well and being released from the hospital already.
She was still scheduled to fly back to Moscow Monday morning but Lisa doubted Missy would be free to teleport home anytime soon after that.
The Russian authorities were definitely going to be interviewing her and there were a lot of repercussions she would need to deal with now that Yury had died.
John looked at Tracy and said, “I’d better let Smitty know that Missy won’t be back for this month’s full moon celebration. Lisa is alerting Fred that he’ll have to lead that, same as when she missed coming back after getting blown up last year in that tunnel over in Iran.”
Tracy said, “Your sister may be a cat with nine lives but at the rate she keeps getting blown up, those just might not be enough.”