Anatoly Medlov (36 page)

“Something has to be done,” Yuri said in shock. “We must call the Columbians and ask for more time.”

Oleg took a heart pill and drank the glass of water on the table. His hands shook. “There is no way to reverse this. The drugs are already on the way. We made a promise...It will surely get back to the council...to Anatoly...my God, it will get back to Dmitry in Prague, and we will surely be finished.”

“This boy...no...this council and its rules are going to be the end of us. We must do something about it. We must
re-organize
,” the man pleaded. “There must be someone we can hire to do it. With the boy out of the way, there will be less focus on us. We can blame it on any number of people. Then we can have time to fix it with the Columbians and cover our tracks.” Yuri sat back in the chair and brainstormed.

“Anatoly informed us that he and his men must leave for three days. They won’t return until the meeting the morning before the drop. That will be our only chance to hit him. It will be costly. There might be other sacrifices, but we must do it.”

Yuri didn’t care nearly as much for the other 14 council members as he did for his own life – not even their own sons ho sat on the council with them.

“But who will stand against Anatoly?” Yuri asked with his shoulders shrugged. He leaned against his cane.

“We have two days to find someone and one day to prep them. Let’s go for someone
not
local. I’ll call my brother in Chicago and see what can be done. He stands to lose a lot of money in this as well. He can send down an
untraceable
favor.”

“Well, we must. We have gone too far now,
brat
,” Yuri conceded.

***

Gabriel got off the jet and nearly collapsed. The weight of the world was on his shoulders. It had taken everything in him to hide the job from Agent Lee, who was lurking around waiting for a signal, and Briggy had begged him to reveal his true identity to Dmitry before Anatoly found out who he was. “They will find out, Gabriel,” she had warned. “They always do.”

He was shocked at how forgiving she had been of his deception. She had cried for hours, holding on to him, asking him what he was going to do, if he was going to have to leave her, pledging her love and utter devotion. All those things had only made him worry more. He loved Briggy. He knew it deep inside of himself, and he knew now that bringing her here might have cost him her life as well.

“Are you alright,
brat
?” Anatoly asked, hitting him on his back. “Let’s go to my house. Renee’s cooking.”

Gabriel tried to get out of it. “Can’t. I promised Briggy...”

“Call her. Tell her to get ready and Vasily can go and get her,” Anatoly said, not taking no for an answer.

The drive over to the house from the private airstrip was a short one, but still Gabriel had sweated through his clothes and was now ringing wet. Flushed red, he sat in the back of the car, looking out of the window and contemplating suicide.

“Are you sick?” Anatoly asked finally.

“Sometimes the plane messes with me,” he said, explaining his anxiety away.

Anatoly reached down into the side of the car and pulled out a bottle of vodka. “Here, this gets rid of jet lag.” He smiled but looked at him curiously.

As soon as they arrived at the mansion, Gabriel separated from the men and went to Anatoly’s office. He prayed to God literally for an answer. He couldn’t stomach the idea any longer of being a traitor. Only now, he wasn’t sure which side he was deceiving.

He ran through the tapes quickly, looking for anything that might tell him where the drugs were.

Anatoly walked into he office a few minutes later and closed the door. “I know when something isn’t right in my own camp, Gabriel. I know when there is a problem,” he said, stuffing his hands down in his pockets past the guns that were shining in their holsters.

Gabriel turned around and faced him in the chair. Taking a deep breath, he wiped the sweat from his head and was about to confess to everything and beg for Briggy’s life when he heard the replay at Oleg’s office.

“Hold that thought,” Gabriel said, turning up the volume.

They both listened to the entire conversation. With each statement from the men, Gabriel’s heart lightened a little more. He finally, finally had found someone to take the fall. Resting his head on the desk, he laughed out loud and looked up at Anatoly, who was standing in shock and confusion.

“And you’re happy about this why?” Anatoly asked, completely refocused on his council members instead of Gabriel’s strange behavior.

“Because I’m right,” Gabriel said, revealing the dimple in his jaw as he smiled. “Because my hunch was fucking right.”

Anatoly smiled. “You’re a lucky bastard.”

Walking over to the monitor, Anatoly sat on the end of the desk. “Rewind it. I want to hear again,” he said, looking at the door as Vasily came in with a gun in his hand.

“Everything alright, boss?” Vasily asked, looking at the two of them confused.

Anatoly smirked. “Everything is fine now. Put gun away. It seems that Oleg and Yuri are planning to assassinate me. Apparently, they’ve gotten involved with the Columbians and a nasty little $6 million coke deal that they can’t afford. Gabriel found out for us. And he seems happy about it.”

“There is no telling who else knows about this,” Gabriel said, instantly covering his tracks. “For all we know, the feds could be listening to the exact same thing, because they don’t clean their office.”

Anatoly gazed nonchalantly at Gabriel and nodded. No expression was on his face. “Let’s let them plan this entire thing. And when we get back from Royal’s little reunion, we’ll deal with them.”

“You don’t want to deal with them now?” Gabriel asked.

“No.” Anatoly shook his head. “No, I don’t. I want to go and have dinner with the girls and relax. Like I said, we can deal with them when we get back. Tomorrow, we go to Jamaica.” Hitting Gabriel on the back, he stood up and rounded the corner of the desk. “Let’s go eat,
brat
. Enough with these old-ass men and
your hunch
.”

As Anatoly disappeared back out of the office, Gabriel let out a sigh of relief. He looked up to the ceiling and made the sign of the cross. “Thank you, God,” he said aloud as he stood up.

He had to figure out a way to get a copy of this tape to Lee and get this entire investigation under his control right then.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Anatoly did not lie to Renee when he told her a few months ago that he had a nice place in Jamaica. What he failed to tell her was that it was the size of a miniature resort. On a peninsula of Discovery Bay, the seven-bedroom, white mansion on a gentle hill sat above perfect white sand beaches with views of the Caribbean Sea. Anatoly called the place Jezebel, but Renee called it heaven.

They arrived at first dusk to a butler and staff, who waited on their every need. Food had already been prepared and the table was set for dinner, which would start as soon as all the parties had arrived.

From the breathtaking window views, beautiful hues of blue and gold skies danced across the horizon while the inside of the home was spectacularly designed for only the best living.

Renee was speechless, caught in the awe of pure beauty and decadence beyond her wildest dreams. But Gabriel and Briggy were used to the Medlov style after staying at their sprawling chateau outside of Prague.

Anatoly led everyone to their rooms, which matched the elegant, beach-style of the entire home and then took Renee to their room. He had forgone the suite, because he knew that his father was coming – hence his place as second in command.

Going into the restroom, he came back out and threw a box of Kleenex on the bed. As Renee unpacked her clothes, she looked up at him confused.

“What’s that for?” she asked, picking up the purple box.

“For the crying,” he said, lying on the bed. “I know how you women are. As soon as you see Royal and she sees you, you both will begin to cry. I just want you ready.”

Renee laughed. “You may be right.” Pulling out clothes, fresh off the racks from the boutique, she threw a black negligee over to Anatoly and raised her brow. “For after I’m done crying,” she said seductively.

Anatoly lifted it with his thumbs and bit his lip. “Let’s get this show on the road then,
eh
,” he said, pulling her into bed.

***

Royal and Dmitry finally arrived at the mansion an hour later. Sauntering in with a large entourage of bodyguards and the entire family, minus her mother, Royal held on her husband’s arm and tried to calm her nerves. She’d been crying the entire trip off and on and was only able to hide her hysterics with the large designer sunglasses that covered her bloodshot eyes.

Dmitry knew that Royal’s pregnancy had a lot to do with her current emotional state and tried to be as understanding as sible.

“It’s going to be alright,” he assured her softly.

She looked up at him and nodded silently, but inside she was falling apart. This would be the first time in her life that she had ever seen her mother. No one knew how things would turn out. It could be a disaster or the best thing to happen to Royal. Still, everyone gave their support.

As they gathered in the foyer, Anatoly and Renee, followed by Gabriel and Briggy joined them. They quickly made their way down the stairwell to their waiting family, who welcomed them with open arms.

Anya automatically ran to Anatoly. As usual, she jumped up in his arms and kissed him profusely then interrogated him about where her presents were. Only this time, after getting hugs from her brother, she found her way to Gabriel.

He bent down to give her a hug and pulled out a small box. Inside of it was a golden locket with a picture that they had taken together while he was in Prague. Gabriel didn’t know how long the good part of his history would last, but he wanted to leave his young cousin with something to remember him by.

The reunion was halted when Royal and Renee laid eyes on each other. Quietly, Royal took off her glasses and let go of her husband’s arm to make her way over to her old friend. But Renee was stuck. She stood trembling, watching the woman that she mourned laugh and smile in front of her.

“Hey,” Royal said with tears in her eyes.

“Hey, girl,” Renee said, looking down at Royal’s bulging stomach, then to her daughter. Tears marked her face in flowing streams. “You look...alive.”

They both laughed and then in one motion, they finally hugged. Holding each other tightly, they cried for everything that they knew about the lives that they had chosen and everything that they didn’t know about each other. Sisters. True sisters together again at last.

The men watched, moved by the sincerity of the act. Briggy wiped her face and held on to Anya. No one said a word for a while, taking the moment in and appreciating how treasured it actually was.

Royal finally pulled away as the baby kicked. “We have so much to catch up on,” she said, touching her tummy.

“You just don’t know how happy I am right now,” Renee said, wiping her face. She looked over at Dmitry, who nodded her way and smiled. “You better get over here and give me a hug,” she said, reaching for him.

Dmitry laughed and bent down to hug her. Picking her up off the ground, he whirled her around. “Look at you! Two seconds from being a Medlov yourself,” he laughed.

Anatoly instantly blushed. He knew it was true.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m starving,” Royal said relaxing. “Have they already cooked?”
h tears indiv height="0">

“Dinner is in the main dining hall,” the butler said, stepping from out of the corner.

“Well, let’s go that way,” Renee said, grabbing Anatoly’s hand. “Thank you,” she whispered into his ear.

Anatoly looked at her, truly looked into her. It was then that he knew that his father was right. She would be his wife. He wasn’t sure when or how, but he had to keep her.

As they all walked into the dining hall, a single person sat at the long table, behind a brilliant candelabras and food fit for a king. Nervousness was clearly present in her face. She stood quickly, smoothing out her yellow sundress.

Royal was the last to see her in the corner waiting. She walked in talking until she laid eyes on her.

She was the woman in the picture. Her mother. “I figured that I’d have her wait in here for you,” Anatoly said quietly. He looked to his father for approval, who nodded kindly.

Suddenly, everyone else in the room disappeared for Royal as if it were just the two of them. Their eyes were planted upon each other, waiting for approval, waiting for words, for some movement. But they both stood still.

Dmitry watched curiously. Feeling the need to say something, to help his wife, he touched her shoulder and cleared his throat.

“Thank you coming all of this way, Ms. Smith.” His voice boomed in the quiet room, jolting everyone back to reality.

“Thank you for having me, Mr. Medlov,” she answered.