Rhuarc Black's Scrolls  Index Page 5 страница

       The phone’s ringing sounded over the noise of the TV. The old man reached slowly for it as he turned down the volume on the TV.

       Sergei Armanov’s command was curt. “Болтать”

       Vladimir’s voice on the phone was small. The old man could tell he was trying to be quiet. “это я”

       Sergei grimaced. Vladimir had a tendency to state the obvious.

       “она умерла” Vladimir’s word made Sergei close his eyes. He had been expecting it but expectation never made the reality easier. He sighed heavily. The black one was dead.

       “Как она? ” He asked after a moment.

       No reply came to his curt question. His heart started to thud in his chest. He did not approve. What God-fearing man would approve of such things? But Natalya was still his niece. And one of the most valuable members in his organisation.

       Vladimir’s response was slow. Sergei could hear the worry in it. “Наталье не очень хорошо. Что мы должны делать? ”

       Sergei sighed once more. Natalya was not well. He did not approve but he could not disprove the evidence from his informants. Even if he could, he could never doubt what he had witnessed with his own eyes.

       Unnatural it was but Natalya was happy. Happier than he had ever seen her before.

       His answer to Vladimir was heavy. “оставаться с ней. держать ее безопасной. отделаться от полиции. ”

       There was not much else he could do. The men would keep Natalya safe. And away from the police that was already too involved in this.

       “Да, ” Vladimir replied quickly.

       Sergei put down the phone. Slowly he walked to the mini-bar at the corner of the room. He poured a single shot of Russky Standart. He kept it in his hand for a moment.

       “черная, обрети душевный покой, ” he whispered to the empty room before drinking the stinging shot in a single gulp.

       Everyone deserved to rest in peace. Sergei poured another shot. Slowly he brought it up until it was level with his eyes.

       His voice was rough, his accent so heavy that it was barely understood. “Rest in peace, Canon. ”

       He drank that shot more slowly. Everyone deserved to rest in peace. Especially villains with golden hearts.

       Sergei Armanov entered the house confidently as he did all things. Two bodyguards preceded him, another watching his back.

       He stopped just inside the living room, looking at the men gathered there. Vladimir was the first to get up at the sight of Sergei. He nodded respectfully. Sergei nodded back at him. He did not take offence. Vladimir was not much for words.

       The last to stand up was the one Sergei expected. Grigory was acting out more and more these days. Sergei looked at his son through hooded eyes.

       “Где она? ” Sergei asked without preamble looking at Grigory.

       Vladimir was the one to answer gesturing towards the closed door that led to the bedroom.

       Sergei glared at Grigory but his son was not looking at him. Sergei sighed. He did not have the time or the patience to deal with a spoilt child now.

       “где черная? ” he asked directly to Vladimir.

       Vladimir avoided his eyes for a moment. Slowly he gestured towards the bedroom once again.

       Sergei felt the blood rise to his head. With an angry glare at Vladimir he walked to the closed door. Without knocking, he opened the door and stepped inside.

       Sergei looked around the small bedroom. Doctor Ivanov looked up from where he was taking care of his patient. He met Sergei’s eyes only for a second before returning back to his work.

       Sergei looked at the young man sitting at the lone chair with narrowed eyes. He was a youngster, one of Grigory’s men. After a moment Sergei dismissed him. There was a lot of bravado in the man’s stance as he sat on the chair, a gun in his hand. Sergei had little use for bravado.

       Only after he had surveyed everything in the room, did Sergei turn back to the bed. Natalya looked pale under the inadequate lighting. Doctor Ivanov was stitching her back with small meticulous movements.

       Sergei looked at the last occupant of the room. The black woman that had brought Natalya in stood just opposite the doctor, gently cleaning the seeping blood from Natalya’s wound.

       “Как она? ” Sergei asked finally.

       Doctor Ivanov did not look up from his stitching. “She will be fine. I flushed out the infection and she is on antibiotics now. ”

       Sergei’s eyes narrowed. It was not like Ivanov to speak in English. It took him a moment to realise that Ivanov was including the stranger in their midst in their conversation.

       Another man may have said something at that moment but Sergei did not. He merely waited until the doctor finished with his meticulous work. Sergei had been meticulous as well.

       He would never have come here, nor allowed Grigory to come if he had not been certain. His contacts in the police had checked the name and the description of the woman that had delivered his niece to Vladimir’s doorstep. This woman, Canon as they called her on the streets, was no cop.

       Doctor Ivanov finished after a minute or two. He carefully wiped his hands with a towel. With a respectful nod at Sergei he left the room.

       Canon wiped her hands quickly with the discarded towel. Sergei watched as she slowly turned to him. Green eyes met his gaze and held it.

       Sergei held the gaze unflinchingly. Long moments passed in a stare-down. Sergei knew he would not look away. He had looked at the eyes of the KGB and never looked away. Yet he could tell. The woman in front of him would not look away either.

       Finally he chose to speak first. No matter what the woman wanted, he owed her. Natalya was family. “What do you want? ” Sergei said slowly, enunciating the words as clearly as possible.

       Canon’s answer was clear and quick, never avoiding Sergei’s eyes. “To get out of here alive. ”

       Sergei nodded slowly. That was not what he had expected. Given who the woman was, he was expecting some deal, drugs or guns, whatever her gang needed.

       Canon tossed her head. “Ya’ll got some beef with the popo. I ain’t got no problem with that. Just wanna get outta here. ”

       Sergei’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he turned to the young man still sitting at the chair in the corner. “выйти, ” he ordered.

       The young man hesitated for a moment looking first at Sergei and then at the woman.

       “Теперь! ” Sergei hissed at him.

       The young man looked away immediately and left the room as quickly as his feet could take him.

       “Sit, ” Sergei told Canon, gesturing at the empty chair.

       His eyes narrowed when Canon shook her head negatively. Sergei was a keen student of body language. It was not the shake of Canon’s head that made him look at Canon curiously but the subtle movement of her body, as if she were trying to shield the unconscious Natalya.

       “As you wish, ” Sergei said finally.

       Canon nodded slowly at him.

       Sergei waited for a few seconds debating how to play this game. With a sigh, he spoke. “Why you take care of Natalya? ”

       A small smile creased Canon’s face. “That her name? ”

       The question was like a blow to Sergei but he let nothing show on his face. Instead he nodded simply.

       Canon inhaled noisily. “That a good name. ” She paused for a second looking at Sergei carefully. “There ain’t no reason. In my part o’ the world, ya learn to live with yar gut. Snow White here looked like good peoples. ”

       Whatever Sergei was preparing to say in answer was cut off by a single low moan from the bed. He had barely managed to take a step towards Natalya when Canon was already kneeling at her side.

       Sergei’s stomach churned as he watched Canon place a gentle hand on Natalya’s sheet-covered back. Her voice was low, calming. “Easy now, girl. Yer with yer peoples now. Easy, Snow. Easy, girl. ”

       Natalya slowly opened her eyes. Her voice was barely a hoarse whisper. “Where? ”

       Sergei watched the gentle smile on Canon’s face. “With yer peoples, Snow. Yer safe now. Yer gonna be fine. Doc stitched ya up real good. Word! ”

       A hushed grunt was Natalya’s answer, even as her eyes closed again.

       Sergei watched the change avidly as Canon’s gentle face changed to that of a hardened banger. She stood up slowly and turned to face him.

       Sergei waited for Canon to speak but after a few moments it became obvious that she would not. Sergei nodded, more to himself than Canon.

       The land of opportunity had a dark and ugly underbelly. Sergei knew that well, he was part of it after all. Yet what people often forgot, citizens and players alike, was that even criminals were people.

       Sergei knew that better than anyone. How many would believe that a Russian mob boss with a reputation for cruelty had loved his wife more than anything and that her death from cancer had broken his heart? Who would believe that a man like Sergei Armanov would love his family, his only son and his niece and nephew, and would do anything for them?

       Maybe some kind-hearted soul would believe. There were still pure people in this ugly world. Sergei laughed in the recesses of his mind, his face remaining hard and expressionless. Even such a kind-hearted soul would have trouble believing that Sergei Armanov who had cheated, lied, stolen and murdered his way to power had a soft spot for honour and integrity.

       Sergei took a long hard look at the woman in front of him. He had little to do with the black communities in this, his adopted, country. He was an Old World man with Old World beliefs and prejudices.

       Yet Sergei could recognise honour and pride when he saw it. Even if it were the wrong colour. He took a breath, not deep, not quick, just an ordinary breath.

       There was only one thing that he needed to know. Just in case. “Are you Natalya’s... friend? ”