Romance: Wanted by the Alpha Lion (A BBW Paranormal Suspense Romance) (Heroes of Shifter Creek Book 2) (41 page)

VII.

              “The problem we have is that more people are disappearing, and we have no idea where they are keeping them,” Jones said in a debriefing meeting with Leo. “The politicians didn’t say anything to us. The wives did talk to the boy, but that doesn’t really help.”

              “Vasily, you mean?” Leo answered, looking over the paperwork the headquarters had sent. “It doesn’t look like they have any idea where the Gulag is. Do you think we still call it a Gulag, or should it be called a concentration camp?”

              “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t think it matters. What matters is that we haven’t figured out anything. I did see some strange guys milling around the wooded area when I parked the armored car out there. But I didn’t see any buildings or anything out there.”

              “Huh. Could they have like a treehouse?”

              “A treehouse is still a building.”

`              “I mean, maybe it would be camouflaged.”

              “I guess maybe. I wasn’t able to case the scene. I didn’t want to get out of the car while they were around, but they went away.”

              “They do say in the papers that of the victims they have found, they have dirt and brush from the woods on their clothes. So, it could be out there somewhere.”

              “I don’t know,” the commander sighed, rubbing his forehead. His eyes had dark, dark circles under them and a certain puffiness. His skin appeared clammy and pallid, like a man unwell. “We can try to case the area. I really wish they had said something. I heard some things when I found that secret meeting. I think Vasily might have heard some things.”

              “You think so?”

              “He was right by there. He said he heard them talking in Russian about something that sounded ‘007.’”

              “Did they know he was out there?”

              “Well, they came out and saw us both. I told them we were looking for the bathrooms.”

              “I hope they don’t go after him.”

              “I don’t think they take children as much. They figure without their parents, the children won’t survive.”

              “Well, that’s morbid.”

              A knock came at the door. Jones rose to answer it, keeping his hand on the gun hidden in his waistband.

              “Oh, hello,” he said. “Here for your lessons?”

              “Yes, English lessons,” Vasily’s small voice answered.

              “What if you guys do a field trip lesson? Walk out in the woods, learn the name of some plants. Leo knows about plants, right Leo?”

              Leo frowned. “I don’t know a lot of plants, but we can try.”

              “Why do you want us to walk in the woods?” Minka gave a suspicious frown.

              “I have some work to do in here. Top secret musician work.”

              “Are you calling Jane?”

              Jones’s face fell, “No, I will not be calling Janie.”

              “I talked to her this morning.”

              “Good. So, the forest lesson then?”

              “Yes! For trees!” Vasily threw up his hands excitedly.

              Minka looked unhappy, “I don’t know if it is safe.”

              “Leo can bring protection,” Jones answered.

              She looked to Leo, but said nothing. With a sigh but no words, she nodded her head and agreed to go. Vasily seemed to be the most excited to go. Jones gave Leo a look as he passed to leave that read, “Find the compound or some clues. We need them.” Yet, a hint of sadness also showed in his eyes. Leo thought about asking him if he were okay, but he wanted to keep it professional between them. Sometimes Jones seemed to want to be friends, and sometimes (most of the time) he didn’t.

              “Are you all right with going out to the woods?” Leo told her as he put his hand on her back.“We can just go somewhere else in the apartment building.”

              “No, no, it’s okay. I’ve been wanting to go out there with someone.”

              “Really? Why?”

              She looked at him and whispered, “I don’t want to talk about it in front of Vasily.”

              Leo nodded, removing his hand from her back (though he lingered a little longer, going down her back just before her perfect butt-- perfect  to him, anyway.She grasped his hand then and held it as though they were a real couple.
Are we a real couple? Why wouldn’t we be?

             
Leo hadn’t been out in the woods before. They’d walked by on the way to the apartment, and he honestly hadn’t left the apartment much at all. Something felt foreboding about them, as if doom grew in the roots of the trees. Vasily asked him the names of some of the trees, so Leo made them up. He had never been much for horticulture.

              “Gather some flowers for Leo,” Minka instructed. “If you see anything, run back here right away, okay? Don’t ask questions; just run.”

              “Yes, Mama,” the boy answered. “I learned ‘Mama,’ Leo!”

              “Very good, Vasily,” Leo smiled. “You’re my star student.”

              Vasily laughed like an imp, then ran off. Leo watched him and chuckled.
Oh to be young again.
He looked to Minka, whose face looked pale and sullen.

              “Are you okay?” he asked. He wrapped his arms around her – her shoulders were trembling.

              “The woods are brimming with them,” she said silently.

              “Brimming with who?” She only looked at him, and he understood – brimming with ghosts. “Where are they?”

              “They’re everywhere. They’re everywhere.”

              He looked around him. He saw nothing, but he did still feel his stomach sinking. He didn’t want to appear frightened himself and make her feel worse; yet, he definitely didn’t want to see any ghosts. That would scar him – he could kill someone, but he surely couldn’t see a ghost.
What if the man I killed is out here?

             
“I think they’re out here,” she said incredibly softly. So soft, he almost didn’t hear her.

              “You just said the ghosts were out here.”

              “No,” her voice became even softer and dangerously more serious. “The prisoners.”

              “The prisoners?” he tried to match her tone.

              “Like Solzhenitsyn.”

              “The Gulag?”

              She nodded. Just then, Vasily’s pounding feet came toward them, startling them from their hunched, whispering position.

              “There’s men!” he yelped. “Men run!”

              “Go,” Leo said, motioning for her and Vasily to run.

              Minka grabbed Vasily’s hand and started to run. Leo pulled out his gun and hid behind a tree, keeping watch for them to make sure no one came out after them. He noticed a man behind one of the trees aiming at them, so he fired without a thought. Minka and Vasily were enough away that they didn’t turn to see who shot. Before the situation could get worse, Leo ran too but moved backwards so he could keep an eye out.

              Men started to come out of the woods from nowhere, as if they were blooming out of the ground. Leo shot them as he saw them, dropping them to the ground until he ran out of bullets. Then he turned and just ran to go faster. They somehow lost the group and got back to the apartment building, unlocking the door and racing to Minka’s room.

              She sat on the couch and held Vasily’s whimpering head. Leo kneeled down to Vasily’s level and looked into his weeping eyes.

              “Vasily, can you do something for me?” Leo asked the boy.

              Vasily nodded.

              “Can you go over to my apartment and tell Vince what happened? Tell him everything you saw?”

              Vasily nodded again and unwrapped himself from his mother’s arms. Minka watched him go, saying, “Be careful” in Russian as he exited. Her eyes then went to Leo, who still kneeled, but his head now leaned down between his knees.

              “You saved us,” she said matter-of-factly.

              He shrugged. “I guess so. I also brought you into the situation.”

              “You didn’t know. And Vince did that.”

              “I guess that’s true. Minka, I need to tell you something.”

              “What?”

              “You know when I said that I was in the Navy?”

              “Yes…” she looked at him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes.

              “Well, I am still in the Navy now. I’m a Navy SEAL.”

              “I don’t know what ‘Navy SEAL.’”

              “It’s a more elite force. We have missions we have to carry out.”

              “What is your mission?”

              “To find the Gulag and help the people there. We are looking to help take down the government by exposing what they’re doing.”

              She stared at him for a moment, her eyes trying to decide to believe him or not. Then, she leaned forward and kissed him, seeming to let all the disbelief leave her. He leaned up more to get better access to her. She pulled him up urgently, still kissing him, and guided him to her room.

              “We must be quick,” she whispered in between kisses.

              “Quick with what?” he whispered back with a slight smile.

              She smiled too, leading him further into the room. He picked her up to make the movement quicker. She took a sharp intake of breath in surprise, then laughed loudly as he carried her to the bed.

              “Is this what you were aiming for?” he asked as he laid her down.

              She nodded, “Yes. Exactly.”

              He kissed her as he positioned himself between her open legs. His mind raced – he’d thought of this moment many times in free moments, but he never imagined it would actually happen. Now, he had to keep his cool enough to finish the deal. He had to be able to exhibit confident, alpha male qualities (if he even were one) to show her he deserved her. His insides shook from lust and tension.

              He kissed down her body, caressing her neck with his tongue (which elicited a soft moan) as he unbuttoned her shirt. She sat up to shake it off, smiling at him as he then unsnapped her bra. In the darkness, her pale skin shined like a full moon against the night. He made pictures on her body with his mouth until he got to her nipples. He sucked on them tenderly, swirling around them with his tongue as she held his head closer to her, her hands in his hair.

              One of his hands trailed down her trembling thighs, sending more tremors through her body. She moaned softly, trying not to make too much noise with the paper-thin walls. In the moment, his fingers meandered between her thighs and pet her clit, making her almost shriek out but she bit her tongue.

              “We must be quick,” she said again urgently, her voice sounding more breathy than usual.

              He nodded, bringing his head up to kiss her again. They readjusted to fit each other’s bodies, his weight on top of hers. He entered her, making her moan again loudly. His hand rushed to her mouth to keep the sound at bay as he moved inside her. She responded to his movements, moving her hips up to meet him as he thrust gently. They felt to be in a perfect rhythm, like the beautiful piano melody Leo had learned only days before. He removed his hand to muffle her with his lips, his body on fire from hearing her respond to him with such ecstasy.

              Her back arched as he felt her tighten around him. He knew he couldn’t keep his own pleasure at bay for much longer. He thrust deeper, moving only inside of her as she kept tightening. Then, their bodies let go in climactic passion. He kissed her to keep her voice from shaking the walls. She pulled away to breath, her chest slowly rising and falling.

“Stay here with me,” she said softly, holding his body close to hers.

He nodded, nuzzling her ear. Softly, so soft she possibly couldn’t hear, he whispered, “I love you” into that perfect ear.

“I love you too,” she answered.

They caught their breath there together with he still inside of her until they had to return back to reality. They got dressed, she sprayed some perfume, and entered the living room with clutched hands. Visaly returned mere moments later.

“Vince wants you,” he said, looking to his mother and his English teacher.

“Okay,” Leo answered, giving a secret smile to Minka.

She unclasped his hand and watched him go, her eyes warm and full of love.

VIII.

"I don't know where the compound could be," Jones muttered, staring at a map of the wooded area where the gunfight had happened.

The two SEALs had been laboring over paperwork and intelligence documents for days, but were no closer to figuring out where the civilians were being taken. During English lessons, Leo asked Minka where she thought the prisoners could be, but she only said, "In the ground." He figured that had to do with them being buried.

Mostly, he just wanted something else to talk to her about so Jones didn't become suspicious. Leo worried Jones would end the love affair because of what happened with Cassius. Minka and Vasily felt a part of him, like an extension of his own limbs. He wouldn't be able to end it, but he couldn't shirk on his duties.

He had to help the innocent trapped somewhere in those woods. He couldn't let more die out there.

"It's weird," Jones's voice stirred Leo from his thoughts. "There are these old tunnels and bunkers it looks like from the Cold War out there, but the government say they filled them in years ago. I just don't see evidence of it."

Tunnels are under the ground. Maybe Minka was right.
"Do you think they could be down there?"

"It's possible. I don't know how to get in though. It's not clear."

"We'd have to look around there, I guess."

"Yeah, ‘cause that went so well last time."

“Maybe we could go at night?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Do you think Minka might know where it is? Has she heard anything about it?”

“She said she thought they might be underground.”

He looked up. “What made her think that?”

Leo couldn’t tell the secret Minka had confided in him. “She senses her sister out there.”

“Her sister was taken not too long ago,” he answered, looking down again. “I have confirmation of that. I guess she stole drugs from the mob. They didn’t like that.”

“The mob is working with the government?”

“Mostly the government just takes a cut of the drug money. I think Vasily’s dad got into the mob after that to help earn back her debt. He was just a kid.”

“Did we…”

Jones nodded, “One of us shot him. Square in the middle of his head. I think it might have been Canton or Big Morello.”

Leo felt his stomach drop, “Was he alone?”

“Yes. He was out in the garage in the back.”

“I shot him.”

Jones looked up again, his face darkening, “What?”

“I was the one who killed him.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“It didn’t come up.”

He rubbed his forehead. “They had cameras in that room, Rubin. That’s why Canton and Morello were relocated.  I figured they had been found out. But it was you.”

“Yes, it was me.”

“So, they know that you killed Vasily’s dad, and that you were out in the woods checking things out…” he kept rubbing his forehead, then cursed. “And I brought you to the show. No wonder we didn’t get anything. No wonder our position was compromised. Damn it, Leo.”

“I’m going to have to tell Minka that I killed Vasily’s father.”

“You’re going to do no such thing. She doesn’t need to know about any of this. The only thing we can do now is get them out of here. They’re in danger now.”

Jones stood, going for his phone and dialing quickly. He paced around the room, listening to the rings. When someone answered, he disappeared into the bedroom and slammed the door. Leo felt empty and cold. Had Minka talked to the ghost? Did she know what Leo had done? He’d have to tell her.

Before he could collect his thoughts, Anatoly and Minka flew into the room. Minka shrieked with despair as Anatoly held a bleeding wound on his shoulder.

“What happened?” Leo asked, rushing to them.

“I’ve been shot,” Anatoly said. “Please help.”

“Jones used to be a medic,” Leo said. “He can help. But what happened?”

“They took Vasily,” Minka yelped. “They just took him. Took him from my hands.”

“I tried to stop it.” Anatoly shook his head, tears starting to well in his eyes. “Was not strong enough.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get him back,” Leo said, leaning to the moaning Minka on their couch.

She looked at him fiercely. “This is your fault. You put him in danger, taking him to the music show and into the woods. You used him as your chess piece.”

“No, it’s not like that. It’s not like that at all.”

“And you killed Vlad. I know you did. That’s why he started to come by more when you arrived. You came here to finish off the family.”

“Vasily’s poppa?” Anatoly asked, grimacing at the pain. Minka nodded. “Why did you kill Vasily’s poppa?”

“I didn’t know that. He was coming for me,” Leo explained. “I protected myself.”

Jones stampeded out of the bedroom, his face even fiercer than Minka’s. He set down his phone and headed straight for Anatoly – he had the first aid kit from his bag in his hand.

“Who took the boy?” Jones asked. “Was it the government?”

She continued to weep as she nodded. “They took his mama, and now they took him too.”

“It’s okay, Minka. We will get him back. What were they wearing?”

“The tan officer clothes,” Anatoly answered. “They always wear the tan officer clothes.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely sure.”

Jones nodded, swiftly dressing the room. Anatoly screamed in pain when the bullet was removed, but his wound didn’t look to be severe. Jones was able to get it fixed up. He then went back to his phone and made another call. This time, he did not leave the room – he stated the urgency of the situation and that they needed protection for the “civilians in the safe house,” the artists. He also asked for a tan uniform similar to what the Russian “Gestapo” wore. Hearing the word again, Leo remembered how such a short time ago, Janie had still been there and they had had so much fun.

Now, Vasily might not ever come home.

“All right, I need you both to stay here with Leo,” Jones said. “I’m going down to meet the rest of the back-up. We need to act fast, or we won’t be able to save Vasily. This has gone far enough.”

The commander glared at Leo as he went, his face more tense and red with anger than Leo had ever seen. He felt worthless.

“I will not stay in this room with you,” Minka hissed, standing and heading to the bedroom.

Leo followed her. “Minka, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

“It doesn’t matter if you meant it – it
did
happen. My son is gone.”

“I love you and Vasily. I never wanted anything to happen to you.”

“You don’t love me. You just liked the idea of a Russian doll who reminded you of your dead mother.”

“That’s not it at all.”

She turned to him, her hand on the bedroom door. “You may think you are so smart, so cool, but you are no one. I thought I loved you, but I still don’t know what love is. You’re just an evil man out to kill like your father.”

With that, she slammed the door shut. Leo’s heart wrenched and turned on the inside – he’d never felt so hurt in his life. He shouldn’t have told her about his mother; he shouldn’t have opened himself up to her. He’d put her and Vasily in danger – he’d made all the wrong decisions. He only wanted to help the innocent and treat Minka right; now he’d ruined everything.

Before he knew it, the back-up arrived. They evacuated the building and took the artists away to some kind of safe house. Minka didn’t look at Leo as she left. She only walked with her back up straight and the tears still dripping down her face. She looked like a fierce warrior who’d seen the face of death and loss and now only felt numb to it.

Jones appeared again and drug Leo to the side, “They’re looking for you. We’re going to use you as bait.”

“What do you mean, ‘use me as bait’?”

“We’re going down there into the concentration camp, and you’re the prisoner.”

“Is this a good idea?”

“It’s the only idea right now. We have the blueprints for the tunnels, and we know the meeting place in the woods. It’s just getting in there and rescuing everyone without getting killed.”

Leo nodded, fear and melancholy flowing through his veins.
Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to die. What was there to live for?