All Novel Sweet
82
She looked over at me, recognition then shock hitting her face as she saw through my disguise. “Бета Полина, ты жив!” (Beta Polina, you’re alive!)
“I am. We should get out of view, though.”
“Of course, Beta.” She opened the door and walked to the elevator, I followed along, careful not to show much to the cameras in case anyone was watching. The Moscow police weren’t as advanced in surveillance and facial recognition use as the West, but you never knew who might be watching. Soon we were in her nineteenth-floor apartment and she was making tea. “What may I do for you, Beta? Your photograph and that of your mate are everywhere, you are the highest-ranking members not captured yet.”
“Shura is dead,” I said calmly. “Alpha Yuri is no longer in control of the Pack. I have a plan, a plan to avenge my mate’s death, and for that I need your help. You will help me, won’t you Elizaveta?”
“Of course,” she said. “I owe you everything.” She did, too; her brother had been captured by a Colombian cartel when a drug buy went bad. The Moscow Pack lost their entire team in the firefight and was ready to bomb the safe house to kill them all. Her brother would be collateral damage.
Yuri sent me instead. I tracked him to the safe house being used, then seduced one of the guards in a local bar. He brought me in past the security, no one checking my tight dress for weapons or thinking a tiny thing like me was a danger to anything but a man’s virginity. I bathed the house in their blood, methodically working my way through with my knives until they were all dead. I then drove her brother out of there, along with a trunkload of cash and a shipment of cocaine. “How is Pascha doing?”
“Good,” she said. “He found his mate last year, a nice girl from Tallin. I suspect you are not here to discuss family, Beta. Please, how may I serve you?”NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.
“I need access to the basement levels of the Moscow Pack House,” I said. “Myself and four hundred pounds of high explosives.”
“When?” I smiled to myself, most people would ask why or react in shock, but Elizaveta just needed to know how to serve. Yuri had wanted to recruit her to his Pack, but I had talked him out of it. Elizaveta was still a member of the Moscow Pack, but she did my bidding when I asked.
“When the Council chair is there, along with Javier and Patrick. The more leadership, the better,” I said.
She sat back, sipping her tea. “They are arriving tomorrow. Their will be a celebration dinner with the Pack, and they will be staying late for meetings. The following morning Francois leaves for Paris, but Alpha Viktor and Mischa return to Kstovo late that night.”
“Security will be tight.”
“Yes, but the Pack will be busy. I am attending the dinner, then at eight the watch changes. I’ll be in the security control room until midnight.”
“Perfect,” I said. I handed her a burner phone. “I will call you on this when I have what I need. I will need your help to access the building and get to the basement. Once I am in place, you need to leave and never come back.” I handed her a card, it held an account number. “This will cover your escape. Travel, hide, I don’t care, but you can never come back to this Pack again.”
She looked down at the card. “I have had an escape planned since Yevgheny died. Do not worry about me, Beta, I will be fine.”
“I know you will. This you do for me, it squares our account.” She stood and gave me a hug, when I pulled away it was the end of my emotion. “I’ll let myself out.”
“Good luck, Beta.” I walked out the door, keeping my head down as I took the elevator back to the parking level. I still had a lot of things to assemble; I needed a delivery vehicle, uniform and identification. It was going to be tight, I needed to buy the explosives and detonation timer, get them boxed up, and get into the basement before the Kstovo Alpha left the building.
If revenge is a dish best served cold, it is very cold in the Moscow winter. I would bring the entire Pack down for what they did to my mate.
*******
Jessie’s POV
“I sign this and I’m in the clear?”
“Yes, and I recommend you sign it immediately,” Charles said. He and I were sitting in a conference room at the US Attorney’s offices in Minneapolis. “Mrs. Andrews and her boss have agreed that justice would not be served on balance by pursuing charges. You, John and Patrick will be listed as cooperating witnesses in the Federal investigation into a sex slavery ring. In exchange for reimbursement of search costs and the information you all have provided, and any testimony required at later trials, you three have been granted limited immunity from prosecution.”
“What is limited immunity?”
“It means that the acts you have already admitted to are immune from prosecution, but any acts not admitted to as of you signing are not immune. It’s a good deal.”
I thought about it as my pen hovered over the paper. “What about the war? We blew things up, killed people, hell it was a war.”
“That has been hidden from humans, all evidence was removed by Alpha Sven’s Pack. The dead will be documented as natural deaths over the next few months, allied doctors and law enforcement will bury it as is our way. You don’t have to worry about your acts coming back to you, the Council and the Alphas are on our side.”
I signed the paper. The bill for the search operation came to $152, 282. 87. “Yikes,” I said as I looked at the itemized list. “How do I pay this?”
“They accept a cashier’s check, Visa or Mastercard,” he said with a smile.
I dug through my purse and pulled out the debit card I’d been given with my Swiss account. “I can scorch the hell out of this, I guess.”
“Come on, let’s take care of this with the clerk then deliver the paperwork to the AUSA.” My hand was shaking as I signed the credit card receipt; my mother’s entire estate was a fraction of what I’d just paid. In the end, it wasn’t really my money, and the fake death kept me alive and gave me a vacation with my mate. We returned to her office, where I thanked her for coming in on the weekend. I was glad I could get this all done so quickly. We shook hands then headed for the elevator.
“Are we still on for Moscow?” I had Skyped with my probate lawyer, Olga Alexandrov, before we left for this meeting. She told me the death of Yuri would clear the way for a hearing on my father’s estate. The documents I had were enough, along with the DNA tests, to prove my claim, but I needed to be formally declared a Russian citizen.
“We leave in two hours for Washington, DC. I have an appointment for you at the Russian Embassy. I have to say, the Ambassador was thrilled to hear you were coming in and claiming your heritage. He promised they would issue you a Russian passport within hours.” The door opened, and I could see our Pack members waiting on the other side of security. Behind them, a group of reporters, cameras and paparazzi was waiting for me. “Sorry about this. Word got out you were alive, and you must have been spotted.”
“Should I say anything?”
“The less you say, the better,” he said. “But you can’t be seen as hiding, either.”
We pushed through the doors, and immediately were surrounded by his people and police that had been called in to assist with crowd control. “JESSIE! WHY FAKE YOUR DEATH?” The man and other reporters were shouting out questions. I put my hand on Charles, stopping and looking at the gathered cameras.
I took a deep breath and tried to smile. “A few months ago, my life was forever changed when I found out the truth as to my heritage. My mother was sweet and innocent, at least until Yevgheny Zubkov took an interest in her and raped her. Instead of supporting his baby, he had my mother killed and I was sent to America for my own safety.” I looked around, taking comfort in the people from the St. Croix pack around me. “My father was a vicious mobster, who wanted me dead as well. I never knew him, and I am nothing like him. His brother was no different, putting a bounty on my head so he could take his brother’s fortune, an inheritance that is rightfully mine. He tried three times to have me killed, and for my own safety I had to fake my own death. I apologize to those who spent their time looking for me, but it kept me alive and that I will never regret. I have paid restitution for the cost of my search, and the matter is closed.”
“Jessie, will you be moving to Russia?”
I thought about it. “I only found out my heritage recently, and I didn’t have enough time in my brief visit there to satisfy my curiosity. I plan to visit, but I grew up here and I plan to stay here.”
Another reporter pushed forward. “Jessie, how can you accept a fortune from a father who did this to your mother? Isn’t the money tainted?”
I laughed. “Money has no inherent morality, it is neither good nor bad. The people who have it can use it for good or evil. It is my inheritance, and I will make it a force for good. Thank you.” They continued shouting questions as we walked off, the men making a wedge until we reached the vehicles with the darkened glass and got in. I buckled up as Charles and Stan sat with me. “How did I do?”
“You’re a natural, Jessie,” Charles said. “You hit all the right themes without saying too much.” Our car pulled out, one vehicle ahead and two behind. “Are we headed to the airport?”
“Soon, but we have a stop to make first. You are no longer a college student working tables at a bar, you are one of the richest women in the world. Your wardrobe needs to reflect that,” Stan said. “I’ve made arrangements for a private fitting at Macy’s.”
We pulled into the parking lot, parking near a freight elevator where a store manager was waiting. “Is this really necessary?”
Charles nodded. “You saw what happened at the courthouse, your name is all over television and the gossip pages. You became rich and desirable overnight, and many will seek to take advantage of that or get close to it. Don’t be shocked if some humans try to woo you, either.”
I snorted. “I’m mated, Charles!”