KILTED DESIRE 2 - Russian Roulette (16 page)

Lots of scenarios were running through Scott’s head as he
sat on the plane. He tried to rest and put the bleaker thoughts out of his mind,
as the plane flew west. He knew he needed to be fresh and alert when he
arrived, especially if he was going to have to go and find Alexei. Soon, the
plane landed in Los Angeles. Scott made his way quickly through the airport and
located the driver that Jim sent to meet him. He called Tiffany to say he’d
arrived. He asked if there was any news. There wasn’t.

Just after 10:00 a.m., Scott arrived at the Robinson’s house
in Montecito. The feelings of excitement and awe like the last time he pulled
up to the house were replaced this time by feelings of apprehension and worry.
As he got out of the car Tiffany ran across the driveway to meet him. She flung
her arms around him and kissed him. He hugged her tightly.

“Hey Tiff, how are yer holding up?”

“I’m doing okay. Mom is a mess though.”

“We’ll find oot what’s happened. Dinnae worry.”

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said wearily as they walked
towards the house. Jim was in the kitchen and had just made himself a cup of coffee;
it was probably his sixth that morning. He was walking out of the kitchen into
the living room as Scott and Tiffany came through the door.

“Hi Scott, thanks for coming.”

“Hello Jim, nae problem. We’ll get tae the bottom of this. I
presume yer have still nae heard from Alexei!”

“No nothing yet.
We just left
another message earlier this morning.”

“Okay, yer said yer had his address. I’ll head
doon
there and see what I can find oot.”

“I’ll come with you,” said Jim, emphatically.

“It’s better if yer stay here Jim, in case there’s any news.
Can I go with the guy who just brought me from the airport?”

“He’s right Dad. You should stay here. You’re too angry. I
don’t want you going down there and hitting him. What good would that do? And
Scott you’re not going anywhere until you sit down and have a rest for a few
minutes, and I’ll get you a drink,” Tiffany said, looking at them both.

“Okay, you are both right,” Jim replied.

“And yes Scott, Joe will take you down there. Is Joe okay to
work more hours today Dad?”

“Yes, Joe’s available all day. That will be fine, he can
drive you.”

“Sit down Scott. I’ll bring you some coffee,” she said, as
she walked into the kitchen.

Scott sat down with Jim on the couch.

“We’ll know more today Jim. I will find Alexei and he should
be able tae tell us something.”

“I hope so.”

“Just hang in there. How’s Linda holding up?”

“Not good, she’s in bed. I know she’s not sleeping. None of
us have slept.”

“Aye, I know that feeling.”

Tiffany re-appeared with Scott’s coffee, handed it to him.
She then sat down with them.

“What do you want us to do while you’re gone Scott?” Tiffany
asked.

“Keep trying tae get through tae Kyle, Tom and Alexei. Sooner
or later someone has tae answer a phone.”

“Okay, we will.”

“Look, I
cannae
sit around and wait.
I’m nae thirsty. I’d rather just get going,” Scott said, standing up.

“Okay, I’ll get Alexei’s address and give it to Joe,” Jim responded,
springing up from the couch. Tiffany stood up too and hugged Scott again.

“Be careful, and thanks again for coming.”

“I will, dinnae worry aboot me. I promise I’ll find yer
brother.”

Ten minutes later the car pulled out of the driveway. They
headed back down the coast towards the College. It was located pretty close to
where they had come from earlier, near the airport. About twenty minutes into
the drive, Scott’s phone rang, it was Tiffany.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Scott, Alexei just called. He’d been asleep and just
listened to our messages. He said Kyle went to Moscow on his own. He also said
that he’s on his way up to San Francisco to see some friends, so he’s going to
stop here on his way and talk to us. You may as well tell Joe to turn around
and come back.”

“Okay, will do. See yer soon.”

Scott passed on the message to the driver who promptly
turned around. Twenty minutes later they were pulling back in the driveway. Scott
walked back into the house. Linda was up now and they all sat waiting in the living
room.

“So, did Alexei say anything else?” Scott asked, as he
approached them.

“Just that Kyle went to Moscow, and that was all,” Tiffany
answered.

“I don’t understand,” Linda added.

“Alexei should be here in about an hour, Mom. We can find
out more when he gets here.”

The room was filled with trepidation as they anxiously waited
for Alexei to arrive. It was fairly quiet. No one was doing much talking.

After a little over an hour, a car pulled into the driveway.

“He’s here,” said Linda, as she jumped up from the couch
excitedly, running outside.

“Calm down Mom, just let him come inside and sit down,”
shouted Tiffany. But, her statement went unheard, or ignored.

The young man was hit with a barrage of questions, mainly
from Linda, as he got out of his car. Eventually, Tiffany managed to help him
inside and offered him a cup of coffee. He seemed to be a fairly quiet man,
early twenties, just a little
under
six feet tall and of
slight build. He had short dark hair and looked unshaved for at least a few
days. Every time he tried to talk, either Jim or Linda would ask him another
question so he never finished what he was trying to say. Scott tried to get the
facts straight in his head but was getting frustrated by all the questions that
were not relevant. He could also see that Jim was getting angrier. He now needed
to take control of the situation.

“Could everybody be quiet fer a minute? I need tae ask
Alexei a few questions. Please let him answer! And dinnae ask him any more questions
until I’ve finished. Then, yer can ask him anything yer think I’ve missed. Is
that okay?” Scott said authoritatively, in a loud voice.

Everyone went quiet.

“Alexei, did anything unusual happen on yer journey tae
Russia?”

“No, we didn’t have any problems, it was fine,” he answered,
in perfect English. His accent was still strong. But, there were no problems
understanding him.

“How aboot when yer got there. Where did yer stay? What did
yer do?”

“We stayed at my parent’s house in Sochi. We visited the
Casino site. And, we went out to a couple of bars in the evenings. I showed him
around the town. We attended a couple of meetings about the Casino and
finances. All things that we had previously planned to do.”

“Okay. Did anyone that yer did nae know approach yer or Kyle
at any time?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Were there any potential problems that came up in yer
meetings?
Aboot the Casino, finances, anything at all?”

“Not at all, everything was great. Kyle seemed really
excited to be involved in the business.”

“Did Kyle do or say anything that yer thought was unusual
when yer were together?”

“Not really. But, the last couple of days he did seem a
little distant, distracted even. But, he didn’t say anything to me.”

“So when did he tell yer he was going tae Moscow?”

“He told me the morning that we were due to come home. I was
shocked.”

“Did he ask yer tae go with him?”

“No, he said he had to go to Moscow to take care of
something. But he said he’d see me next week when he got back to California. We
are supposed to go to a party in a couple of weeks down in San Diego. He’s been
looking forward to that for a while.”

“Did he say anything at all tae yer aboot why he may have
gone there? Was he making phone calls or sending text messages tae anyone?”

“He didn’t say anything at all to me. It was a complete
shock. He never mentioned wanting to go to Moscow. And we’ve been planning this
trip for months. I don’t remember him making any calls apart from calls home. But,
he did seem to be doing a lot of texting.”

“Okay. Is there anyone that yer introduced him tae. Like yer
family, friends, maybe someone involved in the Casino, who may have some
connection with Moscow? Is there anything at all that yer can think of?”

“No, not really.
Moscow is a long
way away. I really have no idea.”

“Did Kyle ask yer tae let his family know that he may be a
few days late getting haem?”

“No, I actually asked him that. He said that he would call
and tell them.”

“Jim, Linda, any ideas at all as tae why he may have gone
tae Moscow? Has he ever mentioned wanting tae go there?

“I can’t think of anything. I really can’t,” answered Jim.

“I do have to go now. I have to get to San Francisco,” said
Alexei, getting up.

“You’re not going anywhere, until I find my son,” Jim
responded, aggressively.

Scott turned to Jim.

“Calm
doon
Jim. I know it’s
difficult. But, yer
cannae
hold him here. If he wants
tae leave, he can go whenever he wants.”

“Dad, he’s right. You need to back off,” Tiffany added, embarrassed
by her Father’s reaction.

Jim turned and walked out of the living room, towards the kitchen.

“I will call you if I hear anything from Kyle,” Alexei said
to Linda, as he stood up.

“Thank you,” she replied.

Scott walked with Alexei out to the car.

“If yer hear anything at all, or if yer remember anything,
please call us. Nae matter how small yer think it is.”

“I will,” he replied shakily. Jim’s outburst had scared him.

“Thank yer fer coming Alexei. Bye.”

Scott returned to the house and sat down next to Tiffany.
Linda was still in the living room. But, Jim remained in the kitchen.

“I dinnae suppose yer have any idea why yer brother may have
gone there. Can yer think of anything at all?”

“Nothing Scott, he never mentioned anything about Russia at
all. Not until this trip came up, and even then I don’t remember him saying a thing
about Moscow?”

“Okay.”

Scott got up and walked into the kitchen. Jim just stood
there and stared out of the window.

“Jim, I’m nae sure whether I trust Alexei or nae. I dinnae
know him. But fer now
it’s
best if we dinnae push him
too much. We may need him. And we definitely
cannae
hold him here against his will.”

“I know, Scott. I am sorry. I’m just so frustrated and
worried. I hate not being in control of a situation or able to do anything.”

“I understand that Jim. Last year when I was in Baghdad with
Bill’s daughter, there were a couple of times that I was unable tae contact
anyone fer a while and people got worried. Those things just happen sometimes.”

“Okay, I’m trying to stay positive.”

Scott walked back into the living room with Jim to join the
women.

“Do any of yer know if Kyle has a computer here?” Scott
asked.

“Yes, he has a laptop. He was going to take it with him.
But, he decided not to. He said he could use his phone to access the internet,
so he didn’t see the point in carrying it around,” Linda answered.

“Can I look at it?”

“Yes, I’ll go get it.”

Linda returned a few minutes later with the computer. Scott
tried to gain access into it. But, Kyle had it password protected, so he was
unable to go any further. He asked if they knew what his password may be. There
were a few ideas, but everything they tried, did not work. Scott was getting frustrated.
He did know a computer expert who could easily get into it and tell them every
piece of information held within it. But, he was over five thousand miles away.

He quickly called Chris and explained the situation. But, he
was unable to help over the phone. Scott was not particularly good with
computers and some of the things Chris suggested he do, did not make sense to
him. Scott thanked Chris for trying and said he’d try to contact a local
computer specialist. But, it being a Sunday afternoon, he was unable to find
anyone. If he needed to unlock the computer, it would have to wait until the
following day. Scott also wanted to contact the main PCPS office in London, to
see if they had any other phone numbers for Tom. But, it was Sunday evening in
England, they would be closed. That too would have to wait. It proved to be a
frustrating day.

As the day turned to night, still there was no contact from
Tom or Kyle. Everyone was tired. Earlier that evening, Scott suggested they try
and contact Kyle’s credit card company to try and find out where he spent money
in Moscow. Linda was more interested in contacting the police, to report Kyle
missing. Scott told her that he didn’t think it would help. He knew there would
be nothing that they could do, after all Kyle wasn’t really missing. It seemed
like he’d just changed his mind and gone somewhere else. Plus, Scott knew that
all the police could do was to contact the authorities in Russia. And due to
past experiences, he found it hard to believe that they would take the matter
seriously. However, Scott realized that if in a few days they still hadn’t heard
anything from either man, then they were probably going to have to rely on the
Russian police to try and find them.

A little after midnight, Tiffany managed to persuade her
parents to go to bed and try to get some sleep. She told them that she would stay
up with Scott and they would wake them if there was any news. Soon after they
reluctantly went upstairs, she snuggled up on the couch next to Scott. He knew
she was exhausted, he was too. She didn’t say anything. And, he put his arm
around her and gently stroked her hair as she closed her eyes. Her head rested
on his shoulder. Soon she was asleep. And, not long after, so was he.