Julia Gousseva - Gray Shadows - Russian Historical Thriller

“Vanya, get their key,” Nikolai said, still pointing the gun to the two men now lying face down on the snow. Vanya reached into the Lada, took the key out of the ignition and threw it far into a snowdrift.

“Now get in the car,” Nikolai said.

Vanya opened the driver’s door and got in. Nikolai sat down next to him.

“Let’s go,” Nikolai said.

Vanya started the ignition, and they sped off towards the compound, leaving the mangled Lada and the two men behind.

“What was that all about?” the redhead asked.

“Money,” Nikolai said. “It’s racket. They take an old car, create an accident with a nicer car, and demand money for repairs. Much more than needed. Then, they repair the car themselves and use the money as they wish.”

“What do the police here do about it?” the man asked Vanya.

“The police? Best case scenario, they do nothing. Or else, they are part of the scam.”

“That’s what I thought. Things are the same everywhere,” the man said.

The next two days went by quietly and uneventfully, exactly the way Nikolai had planned. Finally, Nikolai felt that all the work that he and Vanya had put in was paying off. Of course, their job was far from over as they were constantly monitoring everyone’s movements.

In the day time, they focused their efforts on Pyotr Alekseevich’s building and the conference room, and at night they put extra security in and around the hotel where the board members and Pyotr Alekseevich were staying. After the incident on the road, it did not take a lot of convincing to get Pyotr Alekseevich to move from his apartment into the hotel for the duration of the board meeting.

Meal times were the most challenging. As Nikolai knew well from his experiences and training, the clients were the most vulnerable when they were moving around. And the two board members insisted on walking to the restaurant from the building despite Nikolai’s and Vanya’s warnings that it may be dangerous.

The redhead was especially adamant about being able to walk. “It’s bad enough to be confined to this compound and have you two as constant company,” she said to Vanya and Nikolai. “I don’t want to have any more restrictions. I’m beginning to feel like I’m the criminal being guarded, not a client being protected. If something happens, so be it.”

Vanya was about to argue, but Nikolai stopped him. “Arguing won’t win us any favors. She’s stubborn, and she will only make our job difficult if we try to fight her. It’s a short walk, so let’s just offer some extra protection.”

It was not the best turn of events, but at least Upper Luzinsk was not a big city populated with many people and crowded with hard-to-control objects. Since most of the movement of the board members was inside the compound, Nikolai was confident that the situation was under control. Still, confident did not mean sloppy or careless, so he made sure that everyone, including Nikolai himself, stayed vigilant.

Finally, it was after lunch on the last day of meetings. The final documents were supposed to be signed that afternoon. After that, the board members were going back to Moscow, and so was Nikolai. Andrei was scheduled to stay as long as Natalya, and especially her dad, wanted him to stay.

Nikolai walked Pyotr Alekseevich to the conference room after lunch and returned to the security office. He was hungry and looked forward to eating lunch he brought from the restaurant for Vanya and himself. He had just put in the bowl with the chicken and mashed potatoes into the microwave when the door to the office opened.

Pyotr Alekseevich stuck his head inside. His parka was open, and Nikolai saw that the director was wearing a business suit, his white shirt starched to perfection, and his blue tie accentuating his triumphant smile. “I’ll owe you guys some champagne later today. We’re almost done. I’m going to my office right now to get one more paper that Natalya is translating, and that’s it. We’ll be signing right afterwards and having a celebration tonight. You two are definitely invited.”

“I’m coming with you,” Nikolai said.

“No need. Andrei is with me.” Pyotr Alekseevich smiled again and closed the door.

The microwave dinged. Nikolai took out the bowl of steaming chicken and mashed potatoes and put it on the table, next to the plates and silverware.

“That’s a relief.” Vanya put some of the food on his plate and pushed the bowl towards Nikolai. “I guess all our activity scared off the bad guys. You’re younger than me, Nikolai, but I have to tell you I learned a lot from you. And I even started to like you.”

“Thanks, Vanya. Me, too.” Nikolai took a bite of his food.

“So, are you heading back tomorrow?”

“Yes, on the morning charter flight, with everyone else. If you ever want to come visit, please do. You can stay with me. It looks like I’ll have my apartment all to myself, so there’s plenty of room. Have you ever been to Moscow?”

“Just once, years ago, and under pretty strange circumstances.”

“How’s that?” Nikolai said.

“My wife and I went one summer. We planned to do some sightseeing, you know, the Kremlin, the Red Square, the museums. She likes to read about the tsars and wanted to see all the historical places. So, we picked August one year, and when we arrived, we landed in the middle of all that chaos.” Vanya shook his head. “Unbelievable. The one time we went to visit, and there was that coup. We didn’t know if we were going to get out alive. So much for museums. I don’t want to go there again.”

Nikolai chuckled. “Come on, Vanya. That was a long time ago. We don’t have coups and revolutions every summer. You can come again. Moscow is very different now. More glamorous, cleaner, and nicer. Lots of things to see.”

“If I have you as a tour guide and a bodyguard, I just might.” Vanya smiled.

“It would be my pleasure.”

As Nikolai thought back to the coup, Natalya’s words came to his mind.

I was little but I remember how happy my parents were when the soldiers and all the tanks sent to the Parliament disobeyed their military orders…

My mom always told me that it was the deciding factor in the outcome of the coup…

We were all cheering and eating ice-cream…

But Natalya’s mom died when Natalya was too young to discuss politics.

“Vanya, what year was the coup? It was 1991, wasn’t it?” Nikolai put down his fork as a sudden thought produced a wave of cold sweat.

“It sure was,” Vanya said without looking up, his attention still on his lunch.

“That’s more than twenty years ago.”

“Unbelievable,” Vanya said. “Time goes by so quickly.”

“Vanya, there is no way Natalya could remember anything about that coup. She was much too young, so she couldn’t have been there. She wasn’t there.” Nikolai was standing now, checking his holster.

Vanya looked at him with confusion. “What has that got to do with Natalya?”

“She’s our murderer. Alert all posts. I’m going to Pyotr’s office.” Nikolai jumped up and rushed out of the security office.

As fast as he could, Nikolai raced to Pyotr Alekseevich’s office hoping to catch him on the way. From the corner of the hallway, Nikolai could see that the door to the office was closed, and Andrei was sitting on the chair right outside Pyotr’s office, facing the door. He looked like he was dozing off.

“Andrei!” Nikolai called out. “Wake up! Now!” He ran up to Andrei, took one look at him and gasped. Andrei’s open jacket revealed the front of his shirt, all soaked in blood. His eyes, wide-open, were clearly lifeless. A small puddle of blood formed on the floor under his chair. Nikolai reached for Andrei’s holster under his jacket. Andrei’s Makarov pistol was gone.